Random movie July 13th 2018

Movie: Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation
starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James
genre: Comedy, Cartoon, Action, Adventure,
year: 2018
format: Cinema

SPOILERS!!

plot: The gang - Drac, Murray, Frank, Wayne and Griffin are being hunted by Van Helsing, in 1897. The guys end up having to disguise themselves as women in order to sneak on a train. But Van Helsing realizes it's them and chases Drac in all his animal forms. (rat, bat, wolf etc) They eventually end up on a cliff and Van Helsing falls to what we believe is his doom.  Fast Forward to present day, and the gang are at the hotel for another wedding. Drac finds himself the last single monster of the entire group, and begins to feel just how lonely it can be. Mavis decides to cheer him up by planning a surprise vacation for everyone, refusing to tell Drac anything about where they are going. They end up on a cruise in the Bermuda Triangle where Drac meets the captain- Erica. He soon finds himself falling in love with her, and unable to do much of anything around her. Wanting to know if she feels anything for him, he secretly follows her one night after the ship docks, only to have to save her life more than once. While this is going on, Wayne and Wanda are attacked and drugged by Abraham Van Helsing back on the cruise ship, and the kids - Dennis and Winnie are trying to hide the fact they broke the rules by bringing along their puppy. Erica, unknown to anyone, is a Van Helsing, and comes to regret her family's grudge against Drac. Before long, she finds herself falling in love with Drac as well, but Mavis just doesn't trust Erica. Specially after Erica unleashes the deadly Kracken; who the Van Helsings can control with music. It's up to Johnny with his skill for DJ-ing to find the right song that will break the spell and save the day. Once everyone is back home in Transylvania, Drac asks Erica to marry him.

Okay, so there is a lot going on in this movie. It's moved from the typical buddy comedy the franchise has been known for in the first two films, and is a big action-adventure story complete with a Raider's of the Lost Ark style scene. And keeping with the nautical theme, instead of the henchmen being zombies as in the first two, we've got fish-men. They are fish heads with feet.

The timeline is not given, but we know a few years have past because the werewolves have a new litter of kids, expressed with the addition of the second female werewolf. (Winnie having been the only one in the first two movies)  And we've got a role reversal with Mavis being overprotective of Drac's love life; letting us explore the jealousy and feeling of abandonment a lot of kids have when their parents re-marry.

I am torn on this one. I really love the first two in the series, and have literally been waiting for this one to hit cinemas, but it left me little disappointed. There were so many characters that were just left out of the story that we've come to see as main ones. Like Frankenstein, Murray, Wayne and Johnny that were barely there this time around. As the story arch comes full circle with one of the Draculas falling in love with a human, this one feels like it got too wrapped up in being bigger.

Honestly, I am hoping for a fourth film that deals with Dennis and Winnie.

Random movie May 26st 2017 (Food n Flix )

Spudguns! It's that time of month, when I offer you up my dinner and a movie, for the blogging group Food n'Flix. This month is being hosted by Debbi at  Kahakai Kitchen  .... and it's Princess Bride.

movie: The Princess Bride
starring: Cary Elwes, Chris Sarandon
genre: Comedy, Adventure
year: 1987
format: DVD

plot: When a young boy's grandfather shows up to read to him, his imagination is sparked with a story about pirates, true love, evil murder plots, revenge, and things that are not always what they seem. We follow the characters in the fairy tale - Westley and Buttercup- as their adventure unfolds. Buttercup believing Westley is dead at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts, agrees to marry the prince. The prince is trying to start a war with the next kingdom, and plans on doing so by killing Buttercup and blaming it on the neighbouring kingdom. But his plans are foiled when Westley who is not only alive but in fact the Dread Pirate Roberts shows up to rescue her.

Based on the 1973 novel.

This is one of those stories everyone loves. It's got something for all tastes.  My favourite scenes are Westley sword fighting with Inigo Montoya; who has like the coolest line in all of moviedom  "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you have killed my father prepare to die".  I mean, who hasn't at some point in time quoted that like for no other reason then it's damn cool!  My other favourite scene is when Inigo and Fezzik take Westley half dead, to see Miracle Max. The comedy timing of Carol Kane and Billy Crystal is as perfect as the sword fight is earlier.

Notes:  cheesies, cow, chicken, pig, apples, garlic, leeks, bread, carrots, dough, celery, water, herbs, goats, buttercup (her name) brandy (mentioned) peanut (mentioned) cheese, eel, wine, "cinnamon" (the sand made me think of it) "swordfish" (the fencing made me think of it) sandwich, juice, coffee, sliced ham, pears, rabbit, soup/stew, lemon juice (mentioned) mutton-lettuce-tomato sandwich (mentioned) chocolate, muffin (mentioned) potatoes, wheat, onions, walnuts, mango, grapes, pineapple

I have to confess something. My recipe didn't work. And I did not have a back up plan. I had said in another post, I'd be back that week with this, but my recipe failed and I wasn't sure I was going to do this at all. And if you've been following this for any length of time, you know I like to think outside the box as much as I can.  What I ended up doing, was going with the obvious. I ended up making a soup.  My inspiration scene being where Inigo is drunk and falls face first into his soup/stew.  And it used more than half the ingredients from my notes.

 Ingredients for mom's beef soup

1 package stew beef
2 large potatoes or 3 small ones
1 cup chopped carrots
2 stalks celery chopped
half onion chopped
1 cup instant rice
1 can tomato soup
1 can veggie soup
1 container beef broth
half a turnip chopped
salt to taste





Rinse the beef in cold water until most of the colour is out.  Then put it on to simmer for about an hour, at which point you remove any scum from the top. Let simmer for another half hour,

Chop all the vegetables, adding in the celery and onion first.
Stir in the beef broth

Let simmer for another fifteen minutes, before adding remaining ingredients

With the lid half way on, let simmer for another 45 minutes, so that the rice can plump up.

First off, yeah I did a meat dish. Which of course I did not eat. But mom seemed happy with it so... And second, it ironically fit. This was one of those weird situations, where I was banging my head against the wall with lack of inspiration, and was literally walking around the apartment with the damned dvd in hand when mom called asking me to go to the grocery for her. When I saw how the shopping list was turning out;  it made perfect sense. And yes, I walked around the grocery with the movie in my purse cause I'm spiffy like that.

That's it for this month. If you try this one, let me know what you think cause this is one recipe I didn't taste myself.    Next month the group will be doing the movie Volver and is being hosted by Evelyne at  CulturEatz

Random movie April 19th 2017

Spudguns!  It's National Film Day here in Canada, -beauty Eh? - and I decided to dig through the vaults and offer for you one of my favourite Canadian films.  Strange Brew.   But since I'm lazy cause I had too many donuts Eh?; I am not going to write about it, I'm just going to pop the top on this and give you my video review.  Beauty.

year 5 day 176 (night bleeds Sept)

movie: Dark Crystal
starring: Barry Dennen, Joseph O'Conor
genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Adventure,
year: 1982
format: DVD

plot: Being told he is the only one left of his kind, Jen is given a quest to make the great crystal whole again. He is given the missing piece of the crystal, and instructed to save the worlds in which the crystal controls. Along the way, he meets Kira; who has also been told she is the last of her kind. The two, Gelflings, then find themselves on a journey against time, as each member of the races of both the Mystics and the Skeksis are dying. The Skeksis who currently own the crystal, are unwilling to see it repaired, as it would mean they will die out completely. They have for the last few hundred years been able to cheat death by draining and drinking the lifeforce of other creatures.

This whole movie is about duality of life. Light and dark, male and female, positive and negative, and how it all balances each other out.  When the one race splits into two; the Skeksis become the more physical representations of "human nature" while the Mystics become the more enlightened representations.

I like the little addition of the "drained creatures" becoming zombies and aging rapidly once they have been juiced for their life energy. Shows once again the direct link between the vampire genre and the zombie genre.  They become the slaves to the Skeksis, in a way very similar to Renfield in Dracula. Completely under the spell of the ones who drained them.
I've always said this isn't a kids movie. From the vampires to the witch to the young lovers, this really is something heavier, something darker than a kid's movie.  The fact too that the creatures look like vultures (animals that represent death/rebirth/new way to view things)  and sloths (the need of a different perspective/the way will be slow but you will reach your destination/psychic insight) adds an undertone that makes you think if these were picked for those reasons? I like the touch of the idea that the Skeksis have to sit in the "light of the sun as it is prismed through the dark piece of the crystal" hinting at it as if it were moonlight. (another toss back to vampiric folklore)

You also have this coming of age story. The character of Jen is sent out into the world alone, to deal with very adult issues when his "parent" dies. He discovers girls and violence, and revenge.  The "grandmother" figure of Aughra, is a psychic/hoodoo/hedge witch; who puts him on the right path in his "crossroads".
There is also the fact that the female Kira, is drained almost to the point of death, then does die having sacrificed herself, only to be brought back to life once the crystal has restored everyone else. You could look at it as her being "turned" by the vampiric energy. It's the sacrifice that makes the point that to enjoy life, you have to know when to let go. (birth/death/rebirth)

what do I think I learned? I'm an adult and I still get creeped out by the one character's "hhmmmmm". Will haunt my nightmares for a few days trust me.

Okay, so this month, I decided to do something bit different, I gave you the movie, which was Dark Crystal, and told you to pair it up with a vampire book, expressing the combo of it. Think of it as a mid-term test. I want to see how good you my lovely Spudguns! have gotten with finding the vampires in things.

My personal choice for the book half of the combo is ...Sweet Blood by Pat Graversen (1992).

plot: Adragon and his mother Elsbeth are never seen apart. They look alike, act alike and have spent almost every moment of his seventeen years together. That is until the night Elsbeth gets invited to the Society of Vampires. They want her to write a novel about them, and their secrets. Adragon accompanies her to the strange private party, where he meets Del. A twenty-six year old woman who he quickly falls for. Against his mother's wishes, he begins an affair with Del. After their first night together, she informs him that what he saw at the party was real, and that she is a vampire. Refusing to believe her, Adragon begins to fall deeper under her spell, choosing his new lover over his mother. Before long, Del lets him feed off of her own blood, awakening the vampire side of him. Adragon discovers that for one to become a vampire, one has to have already been one in a past life or at the very lest, one parent must currently be one. To his horror, he finds out both to be his fate. He learns his mother Elsbeth is in fact a vampire, and that they have both lived many lifetimes as such. When he confronts Elsbeth, she confirms this; letting him know they are one in the same. They share a soul, and have been punished in this reincarnation to be only parent and child, and not lovers. This truth begins a downward spiral for Adragon, as he begins to deal with his new life and new choice of who to trust, and who to love.


My "combo connection" was the idea of soulmates and duality and how one can't exist without the other. As we see in the movie, how the creatures of the Skeksis and the Mystics are each soulmated to each other, unable to move on to the next incarnation without the other (originally one being who was split when the crystal cracked), and how the Gelflings can share psychic/telepathic connections. And of course, the taking of "life essence" (souls in the movie via liquified sweat like, and blood in the book) in traditional vampire fashion.

I found it a little ironic that one of the sub-themes in this novel, is that of the "vampire pretending to be human pretending to be vampire -author" which became a strange sub-genre in the 1990s in vampire fiction.

Not only does this novel jump into the idea of what a real soulmate is, it's main theme is addiction. We have the character of Adragon, who becomes addicted to the vampire blood of his lover, Del. He's seventeen, with the temperament of someone who is used to getting their own way. Though the character doesn't start off that way, it only shows itself after he starts the affair. He's also, in his own innocence, experiencing the emotions of that first real love. The two elements begin to counteract each other, making the character a violent greedy one. (much like the character of Chamberlain in the Dark Crystal) He becomes possessive of her, but at the same time disgusted with the situation. He flounders back and forth between wanting to be with his girlfriend Del, and wanting to be with his mother. And then he begins fighting the instinctual desire to be with his soulmate on a sexual level. This brings up a whole new set of insecurities within the character and becomes a new undertone to the story. (I've said it before you can't escape the theme of incest within the vampire or werewolf genres. Whether it's on purpose or not it's always there.) 

Just like in the movie, we have the character of the "girlfriend" being the teacher to the young male hero. Who's real history has been kept from him.

In another ironic twist, both the movie selection and book I picked this month, has a "society lead by an ancient vampire".  In the case of the book, we have the character of Raymond, who has lived in the same "body" without dying for centuries. He's reluctant to let go of his physical life to restart the next phase, because he is alone; without a soulmate of his own. It's only when a willing sacrifice by one of the main characters is offered, does he accept his fate.

I think that is the big theme here that you can say truly runs through both stories. Knowing when you have to give up the thing you are clinging to most, and face the big fear.

And I will stop there for today. October's selections are Salem's Lot (book) and Fright Night (1985) but I will be back later in the week with the official post for it.

year 5 day 169 (zombie day)

movie: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
starring: Tye Sheridan, Cloris Leachman
genre: Comedy
year: 2015
format: Netflix Canada

plot: When a town is suddenly struck by an unknown virus that turns everyone into flesh eating zombies, it's up to three boy scouts and one cocktail waitress to find a way to stop it from spreading.

This film is right in there with Zombieland, Return of the Living Dead, Zombie Strippers and Monster Squad. It's like the best ideas from all these just rolled into one.

This is one of those movies that are for fun. There really wasn't a whole lot of "the moral of the story" going on, other than not to prejudge anyone. We see the scientist who is "containing" the virus in the beginning, being momentarily stupid, by leaving the undead dude for a bag of chips. Turning his back on the lab. You just want to yell at him to look behind him. Lest I did.  There is another scene later on when the two main characters hit a deer on the road, assuming it's totally dead, only to have it jump up and kill their scout leader. It's like horror 101, never assume anyone is dead-dead.

I have got to say, the whole Dolly Parton thing the scout leader has going on, was never fully explained. I don't know if he was obsessed in love with her, or if he was suppose to be obsessed female impersonator? But props to the props people for finding so many bits of Dolly Parton collectables.

There are a few sexual jokes, that although are really funny, such as the extendable zombie penis, that actually distract from the action. You're in the middle of what should be this extreme panic mode, and then the gag reminds you this is a bunch of teenagers.

what did I learn? It's a good idea to always be prepared for everything.

So, as my title says, it's zombie day. My friend Heather, over at All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, has started a group of posts called In the Kitchen with Zombie Fiction.  Basically, zombies are to her what vampires are to me. When she said she had in mind to cover this movie, I told her I'd jump in this month.

I didn't see a whole ton of food in this, but here's my notes : vending machine snacks, mints, beer, hot dogs (mentioned) canned beans, deer, chocolate, marshmallows, water, alcohol, poptarts, pork, bacon (mentioned) tacos (mentioned) and a full corner store of convenience food.

I wasn't too sure what to do for this one, but I just could not get the scene out of my head where the neighbour played by Leachman, looses her dentures while attacking the one character, gumming at his arse. The fact there is a lot of convenience food in this film, had me thinking along the lines of something out of the vending machine.
I also have this theory that soup is the ultimate survival food. If you can find a few ingredients and water, you can make soup.  So, I ended up going with a version of a black bean soup.

1 can of black beans, drained
salt
water
1/2 cup frozen hashbrowns
half a green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1/2 cup frozen mixed carrots and corn
parsley
paprika
1 can tomato paste
corn chips for the side

As I said, I drained the can of beans, because I personally do not at all care for the "black colour" you get when using them. It's unappealing to me on so many levels.

I really wanted to give this some cute little title to tie it in with the whole Dolly Parton theme in the movie, but I just could not think of anything.

Okay, so don't forget to run over to Heather's blog now and see what she came up with.

year 5 day 157

movie: Quest for Fire
starring: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman
genre: Drama
year: 1981
format: Netflix Canada

plot: After their tribe is attacked, a group of hunters are sent to find some fire in order to save the tribe.

Based on the novel

Okay, so this is straight forward and one of those movies that you have to pay attention to, because, there is no dialogue.  I was watching this thinking it's got more in common with the latest zombie genre then it really does with any of the fantasy genre or for that matter Tarzan.  This is truly the real beginning of the survivalist genre in films.

One tribe of Cro-Magnon man is attacked by another more ape like tribe, which decreases the number of tribe members, as well as destroying their fire-pit. Which, is what the second tribe wanted to begin with, their flame. The tribal elder then sends three of his hunters out to get more fire. Which, at this point can only be gotten by either waiting around for lightening to start a forest fire or by stealing from another tribe's fire-pit.  The small hunting party find themselves at the camp of a group of cannibals, and have to define themselves. In doing so, steal their fire-pit and rescue a young woman. The four now have become a tribe of their own, but eventually end up back at the camp of the woman's tribe. Here, they learn how to create fire themselves with sticks, how to build shelters, and pottery.

I'm not sure how I feel about this movie? It's funny when you wouldn't think it would be, like when the three hunters have to climb a tree to get away from a couple of lions, and when the Perlman character is making advances towards the third hunter but is told to back off (well kicked actually)
There are also moments when, even though it's done in a slightly humourous way, are darkly deep. Such as when the McGill character is rescued from a patch of quick sand, and forced to mate with all the women in the tribe; while the tribe watched. You can feel the humiliation factor more from the actual love interest, as she is not allowed to see him. Or when the hunters first find a freshly put out fire, enjoying the heat only to realize the ashes contain human remains.

what did I learn? My tribe would die if I ever got sent out for flamage.

Year 5 Day 155 (what that movie inspired me to do 47)

movie:Aladdin
starring: Robin Williams, Gilbert Gottfried
genre: Family
year;1992
format: DVD

plot: A young thief is tricked into sealing a magickal lamp by a wicked sorcerer, and manages to stumble across a Djinn who grants him three wishes.

Loosely based in the classic story

We all know the story, watched the cartoon either as kids or with kids, and find ourselves singing along without thinking about it. Right. So, I'll skip right to the moral of it...be yourself. That's really the whole thing. That and don't be greedy.

We see Jafar loose his chance to have the magick lamp because neither himself or his first henchman were worthy. They tried to fool the all knowing knowingness, and the henchman got turned into supper. Which, has always left me scratching my head about cause if it was just a giant sand castle how would he really eat anyone? I mean, do they just get buried or does he turn them into mud and expel it through a hot spring or something? Yes, these are the weirdo questions that I spend my day thinking about, which is why I am a writer.

We then see Aladdin stealing bread with his monkey, nearly getting killed by the royal guards because of it, but giving up the food for some children who are looking better than him. This makes Abu the monkey feel threatened, eating a large bite from his share only to hand it over to the kids too...is that hygienic?

In comes the princess who is one bad date away from being the queen, only to need to be saved by Aladdin. They fall in love and realize they can't be together because of their class-status.  Enter the magick genie who makes Aladdin prince for a day.

And suddenly, we have a murdering plot twist on our hands, as Jafar decides to marry the princess becoming king, and killing everyone who gets in his way.

I love this story. It's clearly not for kids. It's just the way fairy tales were meant to be, okay with way too much singing and dancing, but it's harsh, dark, and puts the fear of your personal god into you. It also is one of, if not the first Disney film to have the lead female strong enough to help fight.

what did I learn? Disney makes me cry.

Guess what....It's theme day again here! My friend Heather at All Roads Lead To The Kitchen, and I like doing these random movies every so often. And once again, neither Heather nor I told the other what movie we picked. I actually find this part of the game, very interesting. Can't lie, the big reveal is always my favourite part of it.

So, obviously this was my pick for today's theme, which is "Your Favourite Disney Movie".

My notes on what was seen- coffee, fries, bread, "salt" and "cinnamon" (I thought of because of the sand and snow) fish, melon, pineapple, banana, apples, lamb, wine, crackers, sugar-dates, pistachios, figs, roast pig, "jasmine rice" (her name) turkey, baklava, lobster, cheesecake, grapes, hummus, caesar salad, chicken ala king, goat, kababs, ice cream, pears, plums, oranges.

I wanted to do homemade crackers, but I really didn't know where to start. (it's now on my to-do list) so instead, given the amount of fruit in the film, I decided to go easy on myself and made a fruit salad.

I did a slight cheat, and used half fresh - banana, apple, blueberries, raisins, - and half canned - oranges and pineapple.  Though, I suppose you can't technically ever call raisins fresh...

 I added a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a sprinkle of nutmeg. The nutmeg I find works beautifully with the sweetness of the bananas and the raisins, while not being as sweet as cinnamon might.

Okay, so this is the point where if you haven't been to Heather's blog All Roads Let To The Kitchen, yet, you have to go there now...

year 5 day 141

movie: Conan the Barbarian
starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones
genre:Sci-fi, Adventure
year: 1982
format: Netflix Canada

plot: After witnessing his entire village slaughtered, a slave sets off to get revenge on the man who's responsible.

Based on the novels/stories of Robert E. Howard

So this is the character/serial that all sword and sorcery branch from? Huh.  Religion runs amuck in this, from snake gods, to weapons forged by gods, to one character becoming one of Odin's Valkyries, to the lead being left to die by crucifixion.  It's got a lot of trials/tests happening, that even the lead character is unaware he's taking part in. Like, having to "survive" the pits in the beginning, with his wits as much as his strength, and later; after his "death" which has nothing to do with him as much as it does his companions. 

It's no secret, as I've stated it more than once, I am not a fan of Schwarzenegger at all. But, I found the film's peppering of comedy decent enough. The story being laced with paganism and occult notions from book end to book end was the only reason I was still watching it after the first ten minutes.

I would have liked some more explanation on the why and how of James Earl Jones's character though. Here's this all powerful god or witch or shapeshifting genius, and it's never explained on how he got to be so? Was he always supernatural or did it happen after his years as the warlord?  I was half way expecting there to be some big reveal about Conan being descendant of Doom given the fact Conan was the only one who had been able to defeat the uber snake.
 
what did I learn? The witch, the warrior and the woman...got a ring to it right?

Year 5 Day 122 (What that movie Inspired me to do 40)

movie: Labyrinth
starring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly
genre: Fantasy
year:1986
format: DVD

plot:When a teenaged girl makes a wish out of anger, she discovers her baby brother has been kidnapped by the King of the Goblins just like in her favourite fairy tale, and only has one night to get him back.

Everyone I know loves this movie. Everyone I have ever talked to loves the songs in this movie.

There are so many elements in this that remind me of Alice in Wonderland, from the double headed card guards, to the needing to stay on the good side of the king, to the fact you're never completely sure who can be trusted. (think the Cheshire Cat)  As well as Little Red Ridding Hood. The idea that innocence is fleeting and not every promise is one of good intentions.

Honestly, I've never totally seen this as a kid's movie. There is that hint of forbidden relationship between Sarah and the King Jareth. Specially the notes of jealousy when Jareth sees her interacting with Hoggle, and tosses them both into the bog of eternal stench. And has anyone else noticed there are more than a few shots of him only from the waist down...just saying. And can we talk about the dream sequence for a second. It has such a Dionysus vibe to it. The whole masked ball never felt "safe or innocent" to me. It always had a sexually charged vibe and a down right creepy vibe too. As if you expect someone to either get raped in the middle of things or an axe to the neck. There is just something sinister about it. (her hair in that ballroom scene always put me in mind of Bride of Frankenstein, with the up do and silver/white barrettes)

Like any sword and sorcery movie, you've got the brave knight going on a quest to save the princess...er okay in this case the prince, as our "knight" is the Connelly character of Sarah and the "damsel in distress" is the baby brother. Here you've got a girl who makes a faustian deal and because she never thought it through, regrets it. She's then sent on this trail of redemption, all the while hitting these pitfalls, which challenge her character. Both morally and physically(intellectually/emotionally/spiritually)
In the end, she sheds her childhood taking responsibility for things, which is seen in the metaphor of her passing the teddy bear on to her brother, the object of her disdain to begin with.

what did I learn? Life can be easy but not always fair
 
What that Movie Inspired Me to Do...Guess what? It's 80's day! At lest on my blog. On my blog and my friend Heather's blog.(All Roads Lead To The Kitchen)  We were chatting about our favourite movies from the 1980's when we were both a million years younger, and got it in our heads to do another one of these just the two of us. (You might remember we both did our takes on the Cher movie Mermaids back few months ago) The big twist this time is; neither of us has yet to tell the other what movie from the 80's we took our inspiration from.

Obviously, Labyrinth was my pick. So my notes on this film were - mushrooms (the all eyes creatures in the wall of the labyrinth) tea, sausages, pig, chicken, beer, cheese and crackers, cake (mentioned) turkey (the hat) chili (the song Chilly Down) peach, BBQ (again during the song Chilly Down) berries (mentioned) ambrosia salad (one of the dog's name is Ambrosius) wine, lobster (one of the masks in the ballroom scene) grapes, pears, apples, "sugar cookies" (her dress in the ballroom scene) "popcorn" (the strings of pearls in the ballroom scene) onions and cucumber, pasta

I took my inspiration from the forest dance scene, where the Fireys are singing "Chilly Down" and made chili.  Yep, the crazy little red fuzzy dudes are called Fireys; which I didn't know until I re-watched it earlier and actually watched the credits. All these years I thought they were called Foggies. I seriously thought the lyrics said "chilly down chilly down with the Foggies" but it seems I've been wrong.

The baseline of my chili was sloppy joes, made with veggie soy-meat, sloppy joe mix, tomato paste and water.

So basically, follow the directions on the sloppy joe package.

That only took about two minutes, from there I added half a chopped onion, some chopped green peppers, some chopped mushrooms, one can of red kidney beans, salt, ground black pepper, minced garlic, half cup of pasta uncooked, some crushed red pepper flakes, and about a half cup of cheesed diced.

I let that all simmer together for about twenty minutes, just long enough for the beans to soften and the pasta to cook.


I have to say, I haven't watched this in years, so re-watching it had me singing along, laughing and just as giddy at my age as it did 30 years ago when I was 12. David Bowie was one of my favourite singers and actors, and I always thought he had such a mysterious quality to him.
The character of the Goblin King, looks like a cross between a member of Motley Crue and a vampire. There is just this seductive witchiness to him, that you don't see too often in films anymore.

 Now, I'm off to see what movie inspired Heather on her blog...

year 5 day 115

movie: Krull
starring:Ken Marshall, Leam Neeson
genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
year:1983
format: Hollywood Suites Channel

plot:On the night of their wedding, a princess is taken hostage by a powerful sorcerer, leaving the prince on a mission to find the hidden castle she's been taken to.

This was one of those films where I kept thinking of about a dozen other movies. Knowing that the Dark Crystal came out a few months before, the similarities between the castle and the evil guards' armor was interesting. I also kept thinking about The Princess Bride, which came out four years after Krull (but the original novel of Princess Bride came out ten years before Krull)  There is a scene nearer to the end, where one character who happens to be a cyclops, is holding a large stone door open for his companions to crawl through, much like Sloth does in the Goonies. (the Goonies came out two years after Krull) And of course, there is the whole sword in the stone thing happening in the first half of the film, when the prince pulls a starfished-dagger out of stone. 

We've got a romance torn asunder, a dark forest filled with quicksand that drowns a few of the noble warriors, a blind wizard who gets got, a scatterbrained coward of a witch who can't get his magick right, a castle that looks like kit-kat bars, and a big bad who looks like a cross between Pumpkinhead and an overgrown Ghoulie.  (Ghoulies came out in 1984, and Pumpkinhead in 1988)

And it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Given it is over 30 years old, the bad green screens are forgiven. The idea is solid, though the pacing at points are a little long. There are little mini-quests that happen within the larger one. For instance, the wiseman has to convince his former love, who is at the mercy of a giant spider for help, and to do so, must climb through a spider's web in a massive cave or fall to his death. There is also a scene where the hero prince and his band of hero warriors, need to tame a bunch of wild horses in order to ride half way across the planet in like a day. The horses are magickal and have blue flames that makes them fly. But the taming of them isn't really explained before hand, you just suddenly see them trying to saddle these things for like 6 minutes of air time.

I would have liked more sword fights. It needed more hand to hand swords and magick. I would have liked to know why the princess was the target of the big evil? Was it the big evil loved her or just wanted to steal the kingdom or was he bored? And how come, if the prince and princess were an arranged marriage, they were desperately in love? Are we to believe they knew each other ahead of time, or wrote letters or something? And if the prince was capable of being a human flame thrower, shouldn't the princess have been able to manipulate water too, given they created their "bond" with both elements not just the fire?

what did I learn? Krull influenced more than a few

year 5 day 111

movie: Romancing the Stone
starring:Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner
genre: Adventure, Romance, Comedy
year:1984
format: Hollywood Suites Channel

plot: A romance writer learns her sister has been kidnapped, and must hand over a map left to her by her dead brother in law. Along the way, she not only finds herself followed by a drug lord, but a man who embodies all her books heroic traits.

It's been decades since I've seen this, and completely forgotten how funny it was. And also, how it's become the beacon of light for these romantic fish out of water stories. (Leap Year, The Holiday, Laws of Attraction) And of course, it does play out like one of those romance novels (ironically the later 1980's early 1990's follows it more than the novels that came before the movie)

Here you've got a heroine who doesn't at first see herself as such, in fact she's awkward, shy, and completely unprepared for what's she's been asked to do. She hits every misdirection a person can before being reluctantly saved by someone who's life she's just tossed into chaos. And our hero in this, is more than the typical anti-hero, he's practically the role model for the typical anti-hero. Not only does he rescue her from being shot, he removes the 4 inch heels from her shoes, so they can walk through 6 foot high plants. That's I believe the first time I've seen or read for that matter, the hero being smart enough to do that.

The scene where they are stranded on a crashed plane using a crop of marijuana for a fire, and the Douglas character leaning over for a mouthful of smoke had me laughing out loud.

I do have one little question about it all. From the look of the map they are following, it is suppose to be turn of the century (late 1890's-early 1900's) yet, the statue they dig up is from the 1950's-ish. Are we to believe someone else got there first and reburied it? or you know, ignore that little bit of continuity?

what did I learn? Romance can find you when you lest expect it, even in a mud puddle.

year 5 day 82

movie: Excalibur
starring:Helen Mirren, Nigel Terry
genre:Adventure, Fantasy
year:1981
format: Hollywood Suites Channel

plot:The fable of Camelot and King Arthur unravel as he's betrayed by those around him.

It's no secret that I love stories that fall into the "sword and sorcery" genre. Specially when there is more sorcery then anything else, and for years every time someone started mentioning this film, I would say I hadn't seen it, and they would raise an eyebrow at me promptly telling me how much I'll love the film.  They all lied.  There is something about the whole King Arthur thing that just doesn't interest me. I can't put my finger on it, but the stories in general leave me cold. But, for some reason, it keeps popping up lately.

Here, we have what could only be described as one of the most contrite few hours of storytelling. It is suppose to span over about 50 or so years, but there is no real indication of time, which made it jarring to sit through. 
A lot of it happened in dream sequences. Sort of on the idea of astral projection, specially with the spell work that seemed to be happening. The knights ended up in odd vision quests/hex induced nightmares that really lent itself to the era it was coming off from. Very trippy.

The beginning introduced the idea that Arthur's father was just beyond greedy, a letch who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. And he does in the form of stealing his once friend's wife, killing his friend, and using a spell to do so. Years later, the step daughter uses the same glamour spell to seduce her brother Arthur and gives birth to their son. You almost get the impression that there is an incestuous relationship between Morgana and her son as well. Merlin is sort of this ambiguous character who you never really know what side he's on? He put me in mind of a trickster through all his scenes. Almost like the magick mirror in Snow White, telling the truth only to infuriate.

what did I learn? This movie was unclear in it's motives and about an hour too long.

year 5 day 74

movie: Robin and Marion
starring:Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn
genre:Adventure
year:1976
format: Hollywood Suites Channel

plot: After spending 20 years fighting in the crusades, Robin Hood returns to find everything has changed, including the fact Marion is now a nun.

There is a great line in the first few minutes when Robin learns the big treasure he was sent to collect from a broken down castle isn't real "I'm fighting for a rock."  And then it's pretty much down hill from there.
I was expecting more of a traditional Robin Hood story, and was bit let down. Robin makes this grand return to England only to find that nothing is how he remembered, no one is waiting around for them, in fact everyone has moved on with their lives. He then acts like he barely remembers Marion, all the while asking about her first change he gets. And eventually tracking her down at an abbey.
He then tries to save her against her will, as she's about to be arrested because the current king isn't religious. Not too mention the old grudge with the Sheriff, which ends bloody.

For the first fifteen minutes this is a comedy, then for the next hour it's a romance, and the last twenty minutes it's one long fight scene. All the time pointing out the fact everyone has gotten old. Even the big battle at the end, the Sheriff is practically begging Robin just to given in for both their sakes. Kinda makes you wonder who's really out to prove what?

I do however, like the idea that true love never dies. That there can be that one person who you just never shake and who never quite shakes you.

what did I learn?: There is a fine line between stubbornness and honor.

year 5 day 20

movie: the Ridiculous 6
starring:Adam Sandler, Nick Nolte
genre: Western, Comedy
year:2015
format: Netflix Canada

plot:After a visit from his dying father, and seeing him kidnapped, a man goes on a quest to find the ransom to get him back. As he travels around he discovers that he's got 5 half brothers who decide to blindly follow him. All the while, two other bank robbing gangs are hot on their trail.

Where to start? A) I can't believe I sat through this. B) I can't believe this got made. C) I can't get over the less then lowbrow humour. D) Vanilla Ice needs to pick better movie roles.

It's crude,racist, frat boy style jokes that no grown man should be still trying to pull off after high school, but with the names in this - Nolte, Steve Zahn, Harvey Keitel, Danny Trejo- I knew the acting would be okay.  And those are the characters that keep the story in some check. Just an inch, that is until Keitel's character is beheaded in a slapstick sort of way.
It was interesting to see Taylor Lautner play something so completely different than the few movies I've seen him in before (Twilight series, Abduction) in this case the village idiot, literally. And technically, the narrator as his character writes letters home.

I sort of get the homage to classic westerns from the 1960's with the attitudes the characters have, but at the same time it's a shame they went so far with it.

what do i think i learned? I don't know man, my mind is goo after that.

13 days of Hallowe'en Day 11

Goosebumps

plot: After moving to a new town, Zach believes his neighbour is being held against her will by her dad. Breaking into the neighbour's house, Zach and his new buddy Champ, discover that their neighbour is none other then author R.L.Stine. Curious as to why he has all the original manuscripts to his famous books under lock and key, the two boys decide to open one. To their horror it unleashes one of the monsters from the story. Too bad for them, it wasn't the only one, as a ventriloquist's dummy, Slappy, has been awakened as well. Slappy steals all the remaining books and begins to free the monsters, wrecking havoc on the town.

This is the 2015 comedy horror starring Jack Black and Dylan Minnette

So, yay me, got to the cinema.

Try to do this without spoilers as it is still in cinemas.   Even though Jack Black has three roles : Stine, Slappy and the voice of the  Invisible Boy; there wasn't enough of him on screen for my tastes.  Yes, I get this was targeted to kids, and therefore the teenagers were the "stars" of the piece, but Black stole the scenes he was in.

There wasn't a whole lot different then anything you've seen on the tv show, it kept it's pace and managed to keep the large assortment of monsters in check. There were by my count, seven featured bad guys in this with the "rest" being crowd filler. Which, given the source material, was a feet in itself. This could have branched off into a ton of different story lines, but managed to keep it tight enough to be easy to follow.
I loved the little nods to The Shining, and the typewriter. I actually felt there were a few threads that kick back to the bases of The Shining and Stephen King's Dark Half and Secret Window.

Did I mention I hate ventriloquist dummies?  I think that was the perfect selection for the big bad in this. 

What would I like to see in the sequel...more Jack Black.

May Food n Flix/ Theme Week

I will never betray my goon dock friends
We'll stick together till the whole world ends
Through heaven or hell or nuclear war
Good pals like us will stick like tar
In the city or country or forest or boonies
I'm proudly declared a fellow goonie.

30 years later and I still remember it. Scary right!  GirliChef is hosting Food n Flix this month, and if you haven't figured it out yet, her pick is the Goonies.  You might remember the first year of the blog (Sept 10th 2012) I did the Goonies as the quote of the day. I also mentioned it on my top 5 Corey Feldman movies, and top 5 movie nerds.

Normally, I give a heads up few days or so before I post the actual  post for it, but...it's the Goonies!   I'm sure I'll think of another dish or two and wish I had waited but...I sort of wanted this to kick off my theme week as well.

This should have been the easiest Food n Flix selection for me. And anyone who knows me, or even knew me 30 years ago, knows how obsessed I've been with this movie over the decades. I mean O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D! to the point of wearing out a couple vhs copies, a couple of dvd copies, reenacting scenes in drama class (when I was 12) to collecting everything I could get my hands on back in the day when it first came out in cinemas.  I ate more goonies chocolate bars then any person should ever admit to. (which I recently learned was just a Canadian thing! And basically just a Baby Ruth in a "Sloth" wrapper)
So, this is part of both Food n Flix series of posts, and my personal theme week; which this week is Corey Feldman movies.

Now, I said this "should have been the easiest" Food n Flix selection for me, but it was the hardest so far, this movie being what it is to me.

Plot: About to loose their homes, a group of kids- Mikey, Brand, Mouth, Data, Steph, Andy and Chunk- find a treasure map in Mikey's attic. The excitement leads to them believing they can save their homes if they find a 300 year old buried treasure that no one else was able to. As they follow the map and begin their adventure, they stumble upon a family of ex-cons-the Fratellis- who are running a counterfeiting scheme.  They also find a dead body in the ice-cream freezer. The kids realize the basement of the hideout is the entrance to the treasure. Chunk gets left behind to inform the police, but is kidnapped by the Fratellis, and stuck into a room with Sloth, the youngest Fratelli son who is deformed.  The Fratellis then decide to track down the rest of the gang in the underground tunnels. Before long, everyone ends up finding out "x" really does mark the spot as a fight for the treasure begins.


Okay...little excited here, but here's my notes for the classic 1985 adventure starring Corey Feldman and Sean Astin...

Baby Ruth bars, pizza, "turkey" (the opening scene the cop says turkey) "hangman's bluff" (same opening scene where we see Jake faking his own death) crackers, crab, strawberry milkshakes, chips, "vegan sausage" (the statue that Chunk breaks) pop, corn (hanging as a wall decoration on the outside of Mikey's house) "gumballs"(there are a few booby traps that have canon balls) chicken/eggs, tongue, "truffle shuffle", "fondue" (hearing Copperpot over and over just made me think of it) whipped cream, coffee, "that's what I said salad" (Mikey and his mom constantly say "that's what I said" whenever they get a sentence wrong) matzo balls, "shut up chunk cake" (they tell him constantly to shut up) twinkies, veal scallopini, wine, fettuccine, ice-cream, "Sloth's platter" (hard to see on my screen, but I always thought it meant to look like it was leftovers of potatoes, cabbage, eggs and beets...) "cobweb soup" (there's a few scenes where they are in the tunnels with both spiderwebs and water which never made sense cause wouldn't that much water melt the webs?) chocolate sauce, "counterfeit confetti cake", water (it's everywhere!) tomatoes, "nuts and bolts" (the scene where Andy goes crazy in the tunnels talking about her body) "skeleton keys", "fried bat wings" (the bats fly out of the tunnels into the hideout) "salt water taffy",  "shish kabob" (Data falling with his pinchers of peril onto the spikes) "organ meat", "mudslides" (the drink because of the waterfall scene) "peanut brittle" (Data falling through the ships deck) rum, "Captain Chunk's Brownies"(Chunk has a lot of chocolate related scenes and he does wear the captain's hat) sushi (Data mentions an octopus in the scene where they are rescued, plus the old music video has one plus if you are a freaky-geek like me and watch the deleted scenes there's an octopus)


And with so much water, all I could think was soup. I also couldn't get the shot of the character Steph fishing for crab out of my head. I thought of chowder. But, since I'm vegetarian, I was struggling to figure out how to make a vegetarian one...then remembered the corn decoration on the house. So I decided to make "Chunky" corn chowder and biscuits. 






Biscuits

1/2 pound butter
4 and a half teaspoon baking powder
4 cup flour
3 tablespoon sugar
vanilla
1 egg
half cup milk

Form dough, roll out and shape, bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes depending on your oven.

Being the ghoul that I am, having  Hallowe'en cookie cutters, I tried to make the biscuits shaped like skulls...only they didn't really turn out looking like that as much as just thick.

"Chunky" Corn Chowder

1 medium onion chopped
2 large potatoes peeled and cut
1 stalk of celery chopped
1 tablespoon butter
salt water
4 cups milk
1 large can of corn
black pepper
2 tablespoon flour

Boil potato in salt water for about 10 minutes until it starts to become tender, drain,

add milk to cover them, simmer for 5 minutes,
add corn, onions, celery, black pepper and cover simmering for another 15 minutes. 

Take off of the heat, and add butter and flour stirring till blended.





The original recipe called for corn on the cob to be added and boiled in the soup, letting the corn fall off naturally, but I took the easy route on the corn, plus I had canned corn in the kitchen and wanted to use it up.





You will notice, some of my Goonies collectables here.

The magazine which has been taped back together more then once, half the lining from the soundtrack, the spoken script on 45 record...I couldn't find my actual soundtrack which was a record as well or my novelizations, of which I have two. One is the "movie tie-in" and the other is the full "script novelization".  Somewhere in the amount of stuff I own, I also have a few of the collectors cards, the 6 poster set, the old case to the worn out vhs copy and one single wrapper from the chocolate bar.





Told you I was...er I suppose I have to admit still slightly am obsessed with this movie...Okay a lot obsessed with it still all these years later.

And you can see I made one biscuit with raisins to try to make it more "skeleton" like and represent the key they use to unlock some of the tunnels, but...One Eyed Willie he's not. 

That's my take on a Goonies' dinner, and don't forget it's Corey Feldman theme week here.

And as I always say, not the prettiest dish on the table but "good enough for me"

till later...

Random movie Feb 21st 2015

The Big Year

plot: Three birdwatchers, spend a year competing to be listed that year's best. Dropping everything at a moments notice to travel across the United States and Canada, they find themselves making choices about their personal and professional lives that they didn't think they'd be forced to make.

This is the 2011 movie starring Steve Martin and Jack Black.
It's based on the non-fiction book.

This was listed as a comedy, and there were moments that were funny, but this was a drama in every real regard.
The characters each had their own personal journeys they had to dive into, each at different stages in their lives. One character starts off with nothing to loose and looks at it as a once in a lifetime adventure, while another character sees it as a missed opportunity. And the third main character is afraid of live beyond what he's created, afraid to let go of his record.

I like that it managed to mix the buddy road trip film seamlessly with the dramatic point of having to find your own balance. All three of the main characters have to learn what they are comfortable with loosing in order to gain their real prize. So many of us now a days find it hard to balance our real passions with our responsibilities.

Random movie Feb 1st 2015

Book of Life

This is a 2014 cartoon starring Diego Luna and Danny Trejo

plot: The Mexican gods of the dead make a bet after seeing three young friends. The two boys are both in love with the same girl, and the bet is to see who will finally marry her. Whomever wins the bet wins the right to rule the Land of the Remembered. 15 years later, we see the two boys Manolo and Joaquin, are the town's stars, both for different reasons. Manolo is tricked into dying for love, while Joaquin is tricked into believing he's the town's only hope against a warlord. Manolo has one chance to reclaim his life and the woman he loves before the town is destroyed and everyone ends up in the land of the Forgotten.

I wanted to love this film, I really really was looking forward to seeing this few months back when I first heard about it. The cast boasts names like Danny Trejo, Cheech Martin, and Ron Pearlman, so how could it not be wicked? 
Well, I found the story tired. I didn't realize there would be so many musical numbers which for me killed the flow, and I think it would have been more interesting had it been a live action film then a cartoon. This could have been done in the vein of Labyrinth and worked.

year 3 day 117

movie: Percy Jackson and the Sea Monsters
starring: Logan Lerman, Douglas Smith
genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
year:2013
format: Netflix Canada

plot: In order to save their home, Percy and his friends are sent on a quest to find the golden fleece. But someone else has already stolen it and plans to awaken Kronos.

Based on the book

Second movie in the series.  I'm sort of neutral on this one.  I loved that Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Stanley Tucci are in this, even if they only have seven minutes of air time.
It's almost like the film gets lost in itself, thinking of the setting first and the story second. There are a few characters that seemed out of place compared to the first movie, such as the satyr, and the god Hermes. It's almost as if their storylines were chopped in half.
And the line about the zombies who gave their lives for Ares...funny but again, felt like there should have been more to it. 

Big lessons...believe in yourself, have faith that you're on the path meant for you, and always remember team work might get you half way or it might get you there and back.

year 3 day 116

movie: Willow
starring: Val Kilmer, Warwick Davis
genre; Action, Adventure
year: 1988
format: DVD

plot: A dwarf is given the task of keeping a baby safe as he tries to return her to where she came from. Along the way, he finds himself having to trust a thief, as they try to stay one step ahead of the queen's army, who want the baby for themselves.

It's been years since I watched this. I love sword and sorcery films, there's just something about them that really unlocks the imagination.

Okay, so on the usual, we've got a goofy buddy movie that happens to have a few "car chases" (carts and horses) a dashing hero that has a heart of gold, and smelts...okay no smelts; trolls, brownies and a few ogre-ish brutes that might as well have been trolls, and an evil queen.  (You know, just because you happen to be over a certain age and know you're way around a grimoire doesn't mean you're evil...)

The one real flaw in this is, it's never really explained what the fear of the baby is? They just say "the prophecy has come true."  But what exactly is the kid suppose to do?

Just once I'd like to see a movie where the hero gets pounded by smelts, for no reason other then it would be funny. Smelts, minnows, anchovies, capelins...like in a major battle where everyone is running around the castle with swords and battle-axes, roaring and screaming about death to the enemy, and just a big bucket of smelts getting tossed at them...with a line like "I said smite our enemies not smelt our enemies..."