The Magnificent Seven

One fine day, Yul Brynner is in a movie theater watching The Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa's epic classic. He is so blown away that he immediately decides that it must be adapted for Hollywood and western audiences. This is how the Magnificent Seven was born. Once word got out that the movie was being made, Hollywood's biggest clamored for the roles. Actors cast include Charles Bronson (He cleans house!), James Coburn, Robert Vaun and Eli Wallach (also in the Good the Bad and the Ugly). Steve McQueen was originally unable to be in the film because he was working on something else. So he crashed a car and while "recuperating" he shot the Seven.

Anyway on to the film. This movie is about a Mexican village where the farmers are terrorized by local bandit Calvera (Wallach). He rides in with his gang and takes whatever he wants leaving the villagers just enough to live. Now if you saw this movie (Jake Willis is a stubborn jerk face), you will note that Calvera looks EXACTLY like El Guapo from the Three Amigos. Just a note.

So the villagers decide they are fed up with the situation and go to buy guns. They meet Chris Adams (Brynner) who convinces them it would be cheaper and more effective to buy gunmen. So he recruits 6 other guys and they go to protect the village. The first time Calvera comes he is driven off. But the victory is short lived. Some of the villagers have a weak stomach and their fear persuades them to turn on their seven protectors. Calvera drives them away, but like the good men the west was just full of, they return and drive off the bandits, killing Calvera in the process, though all but 3 of them die in the process. 

So I enjoy this film very much. Great actors, great story, lots of action. And it is a more accessible version of the Seven Samurai, which, while brilliant, is a long and deliberate film. Favorite line: 

Calvera: What I don't understand is why a man like you took the job in the first place, hmm?

Vin: It's like a fellow I once knew in El Paso. One day, he just took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him the same question, "Why?"

Calvera: And?

Vin: He said, "It seemed to be a good idea at the time."

Some fun things about this movie. Although it is a western, three of the gunmen aren't "Western." Brynner was born in Russia, Bronson is Lithuanian and Horst is German. I think Bronson pulls it off best. Brynner's accent is just too strong and Horst is so freaking German that he can't move without it being really obvious. 

Steve McQueen was constantly trying to upstage Brynner during the film. Any scene that includes the two of them will usually find McQueen playing with his hat, or make some kind of distracting action or gesture. Apparently it drove Brynner crazy.

Bronson's character Bernado, in my opinion, is the inspiration for Dusty Bottoms. He has kids following him around and asking about what they can do for him when he dies. I was hoping he would ask if there was anything else to eat besides Mexican food.

Anyway, good movie. So tell me what you think. Also, the August Movie of the Month Category (via Steve Snow Jr.) is Audrey Hepburn Movies. I am way excited. I have to admit I'm semi-obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. I consider her to be the Queen of Hollywood. If I have another daughter, probably gonna slip the name Audrey in there somewhere. Seriously if you have never watched one of her films then I am really excited for you. So I'm suggesting the film Wait Until Dark. Actually pretty scary with an evil Alan Arkin and Colonel Trautman. Let me know what Audrey Hepburn film you want to see and I'll have the poll up on August 1st.

Heath Ledger's The Dark Knight

Oh my freaking gadget that was so good! Go! Right now! Steal a car and go right now!

So last night I went to the midnight screening of The Dark Knight. I rarely do this. But the reviews were so good and I've been waiting so long that I couldn't bear the thought of this movie showing and me not seeing it yet. However, I couldn't get anyone to go with me (people tell me that they work Friday morning) so I went alone. I hope Jon appreciates that.

So everyone knows the plot. I won't rehash. And no spoilers here. So let me just say that Heath Ledger steals the show. This is HIS movie. He is amazing. Absolutely amazing! There's lots of little details like constantly sucking on the inside of his cheeks, or reinventing the story of how he got his scars to his absolute giddy delight he experiences at anyones pain including his own. Brilliant. He should at least get an oscar nomination. Fine jobs by Eckart, Bale and the supporting cast as well. I just re-read that. It really does feel as though everything else in the film plays a supporting role to Ledger's Joker. Again, amazing.

Plot is well written. All about crossing lines and trying to fight crime in a corrupt world. The way the Joker sets up Harvey Dent in the last portion of the film was a wonderful surprise. 

Quick notes:

There is a major character that dies and I'm pleased that I guessed it right.

There is a major character that does NOT die. That surprised me.

I am still bothered by the Batman voice that Bale does. What can you do?

The movie did not end at all how I expected it to as far as setting up a third film. But I am pleased because I didn't like the prospect of what I thought the third film would be. Wish I could be specific. See the movie and we'll talk! 

The movie is very dark but there is plenty of humor in it to keep things from turning into a bleak abyss of a film. Still no kiddies. Not as intense as I thought, most of the really gruesome stuff occurs off camera and the first really gory act of violence by the Joker happens so fast that you don't really see it. But it got a huge reaction from my audience. I think maybe my oldest could handle it. I'll have to take Val first see what she says. By the way, Dad if you read this, you should know that you are going to hate this film. 

My one tiny complaint. It is a long film and at one point I sort of felt how long it was. Could be just because it was very late and I was very tired. But it IS 2 1/2 hours.

Will I see it again tonight at a more sane hour? Probably. By which I mean yes.

Simply MAVROlous! Our 10th Anniversary Dinner

So for our 10th Anniversary Val and I decided to really eat well. We checked out all the places here in Hawaii and Found Chef Mavro's. This restaurant was named to Fodor's top 10 restaurants in the world in 2006 and to Gayot's top 40. So we made our reservations (way in advance) got all gussied up and went. The restaurant was great although in a seedy location. What can you do. The interior is fine and you can almost not hear the police cars outside. Our  head waiter (we had a team of waiters actually) reminded me of John Locke on LOST. But that's all sillyness. One caveat before we continue. I was gonna take a bunch of pictures but it became evident as soon as we sat down that this was not the place to act that way. So I chickened out. All these pics are stock photos or images from the web. Sorry for being a wuss. Anyway, let's get to the food.

First thing we got was our Amuse Buche. The idea is to give your taste buds a jump start before the real food comes out. I expected it to be sweet but it wasn't. I think our waiter said it had coconut, curry and some sort of grass in it with tapioca for texture. Really tasty but odd. 

1st course: Valerie got the Foie Gras (above) with yellow and red baby beets and other fancy stuff. I was really excited about this but very nervous. Not real big on liver, but foie gras is famous right? Well it was pretty yummy. Extremely tender with a good flavor. The beets were a great addition. My dish was better. Escabeche of Diver Scallops (below). I only understand the last part of that name but it was my second favorite course. That green stuff that the scallops is sitting in is amazing and the scallops just melted in my mouth. I would have like 4 more courses of scallops!

2nd course (Fish Time): I don't really like fish. But this is really expensive fish so it had to be good! Valerie got the Confit Hamachi in Olive Oil Leek Emulsion. Sorry I can't find a picture. Her fish was pretty good but the leek puree that it was in was fantastic. I had the Day Boat Catch Marseillaise in rock fish soup with safron and aioli sauce. My fish was better and the safron sauce was tasty but not as good as the leek puree. So our dishes tied.

3rd course (I wish Pinchy were here to share this!) We both got Keahole Lobster A La Coque (above). I think that means Lobster on Sweet Corn even though there doesn't seem to be any corn in this photo. Well it was there on ours. This was Val's favorite dish. My third favorite. It was really really good! For reals! Next time you cook lobster put it on top of sweet corn.

4th course (manly meat): Val ordered the Roasted Mountain Meadow Lamb Loin (above). She ordered it medium but it came out so rare I thought she wouldn't dare. But she ate it and enjoyed it. I also liked it. There was a yummy curry lemon sauce. Not in my top half but pretty good. I ordered the Filet Mignon and Corned Short Rib (below). This was my favorite course. Both selections of beef were fantastic but the filet was the most amazing piece of food I have ever consumed. I have no idea what that dark sauce was but I wanted to marry it. And the beef was so tender that when it looked at my approaching knife it just split on it's own. Good gadget it was good! My course definitely won. After this course they brought us some sorbet to cleanse our pallet. 

5th course (first dessert): On the waiter's recommendation we both got the Mousse of Brie De Meaux (Below). It was pretty tasty. The Brie was almost too bitter but the mango short bread it was on balanced it out nicely.

6th course (second dessert): Val ordered the Bitter Chocolate Bar in Avocado Sauce with Vanilla Sorbet. OK I hate avocados but this was a fantastic balancing taste to the dark chocolate. Pretty good. I ordered the Lilikoi Malasadas (below). Malasadas are a Hawaiian dessert like donught holes but better. Very tasty and very moist. Also came with pineapple coconut ice cream! Both melted in my mouth. Our dishes tied on this one.

After our desserts they gave us this plate of chocolates(below) and truffles (not pictured) I love truffles so no complaints from me.

They asked if we were celebrating anything and I told them it was our 10th Anniversary. They made this dessert (below) for us as a final treat. I thought it was really cool. Tasted pretty good too.

One of the cool things is that we saw Chef Mavrothalassitis come in and out of the kitchen several times. It felt like being at a movie and seeing the star walk up and down the aisles. I know that sounds silly but it was true. This guy had been so decorated and celebrated that it gave me goosebumps to see him. Not to mention the relief that he was actually in the kitchen that night.

So we had a great time though it cost us a bit. I won't say how much but it was more than $20 and less than $239 before tip. I know all the portions look small (they are) but six courses later and we were stuffed. We planned this as a once in a lifetime meal but now we think that we will make it a tradition to use a chunk of our Tax Return to eat well on our Anniversary. We think next year we will go to Alan Wong's (the other highly celebrated chef here in Oahu) but since Chef Mavro changes his menu on a regular basis we might just go back. Anyway, best meal of my life. If any of you ever come out here and want one really good meal we highly recommend Chef Mavro's. 

WALL-E!

So I am on vacation in Southern California with my in-laws (having a great time!) and I saw WALL-E the other night. I didn't take any kids cause I heard it might be too boring for the little tykes. While I do think it is geared more towards adults I think kids will probably still enjoy it. More on that later.

I know that WALL-E has gotten a lot of hype so I feel stupid saying it but this is honestly easily the best movie I have seen so far this year and perhaps the best Disney Pixar collaboration to date. That's hard for me to agree with because I really like The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. But WALL-E is just...more.

Quick plot summary. Humans left Earth 700 years ago because mankind made it uninhabitable. But we left behind a handful of robots like WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) to clean up the mess. WALL-E has been taking all the garbage and crushing it into cubes. But WALL-E at some point found a copy of Hello Dolly. All of his knowledge of interaction between individuals, and more specifically love, comes from Hello Dolly. Consequently he has become very lonely. I never really liked Hello Dolly but it is perfect in this film. In fact we see and hear it so much that Michael Crawford probably ought to get his name in the credits. So one day a new robot EVE is sent to earth searching for life. WALL-E immediately falls in love and follows her back into outer space where they find themselves on a mission to bring humans back to earth.

So visually the film is stunning. It ought to be. Pixar has had plenty of practice. But the story is sublime. It really is just a love story between two robots. If you don't like romantic films you probably won't dig WALL-E. I've heard some people say they slept for part of the film. I can see that. Part of that might be due to the very little spoken dialogue. There are human actors but they don't have many lines, especially for the first half. So I'm just saying if romance isn't your cup then, well I'm just saying. Kids aren't really gonna get the relationship stuff, but there is plenty of humor and and action so that most kids should still dig this film.

So what makes this film so extraordinary is that they have created a story and characters that work so well that you care deeply for them. You hope that WALL-E and EVE find a way to be together. There is especially a scene at the end that I won't give away but if it doesn't get you just a little bit then...well I don't know but it just should.

Anyway, highly recommended. Barring 7 or 8 really amazing films this year I honestly expect WALL-E to get a Best Picture nomination. We'll have to see. But in the meantime, if you haven't seen it yet I strongly recommend that you do. Enjoy!

What "The Living Daylights" Was That?

I would like to start this review by asking a question to those who voted for this film: What were you thinking? Seriously I want to know. So many good 007 films to choose from and THIS won? Most people acknowledge this as one of the worst Bond films, and now I can officially agree. As soon as it was over I had to watch Thunderball to remind me that James Bond movies are actually enjoyable. Anyway, let's get through this.

The Living Daylights stars Timothy Dalton as James Bond. James Bond helps Russian General Koskov defect to Britain. Once there he is recaptured by what looks like the Russians, but it is a ruse so that he can team up with Mitchell. More on that later. Meanwhile, British agents are being killed with messages pointing to the KGB. But it's not them. It's General Koskov and Brad Whittaker, an arms dealer, who are trying to get the US and Russia to go to war with one another. All so that they can smuggle diamonds out of the country and use them to buy drugs in Afghanistan. It's just easier to do that sort of thing during a World War I guess. James Bond figures it out with the help of General Koskov's old girlfriend. Together they foil the plan and help those brave Afghan Taliban defeat the forces of Koskov and Whittaker. That's basically it, I'm sorry to say.

Poor Timothy Dalton. I actually like him. Pretty good in Flash Gordon and I think he could have been a decent Bond. Well maybe. Problem for him is that this script was written for Pierce Brosnan who was stuck in his Remington Steele contract. Dalton isn't great with the one-liners and it's painful to watch. 

This film also suffers from what I call Ladyhawk Syndrome. Let me explain. Ladyhawk is a good story, decent actors (Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pheiffer both faves of mine) and plenty of action etc. But there is a terrible 80s synth soundtrack that is present throughout the entire film. Who ever thought that the Dark Ages and the keyboards from Strange Brew would be a good match? So same problem here with Living Daylights. Terrible synth soundtrack. I'm not talking about the theme song written by a-Ha. It was OK. Not nearly as good as A View to a Kill by Duran Duran but not bad. It was the constant really early depeche mode sounding stuff throughout the action sequences. The opening credits were also pure 80s and equally terrible. Now don't get me wrong, I like 80s films. But this is a James Bond film, not an 80s film. I thought, well I can look past that if the story is good. And it started out just fine. Then it all collapsed as the evil plot unfolded.

The evil plot is so subpar in this film. World domination shmorld domination! Who needs that when you can just buy cheap drugs and sell them for profit? What kind of weak James Bond plot is that? When I figured out that was what they were really after I wanted to put the dvd in the microwave. But Blockbuster might not have liked that.

Now let me get to one of the few redeeming aspects of this film: Mitchell. 

By that I mean Joe Don Baker playing the part of Whittaker. Everytime I saw him all I could think about was him grabbing a 6 pack of beer with his toe, or asking for some more butter on his gravy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Joe Don Baker was in a film called Mitchell. He plays the worst cop ever. It is one of the funniest not-supposed-to-be-funny movies I have ever seen. Right up there with L'Uomo Puma(Puma Man)! I highly recommend you watch the MST3K version of it. It has the most intense car chase ever with HOT MERGING ACTION! So I did enjoy that. But that's about it. I'm sure I'm being too critical, so tell me what else I should have liked about this film.

Alright on to July. The category of the month as suggested from Jon Madsen is: "Westerns or Tron". So you can either suggest your favorite Western or you can suggest Tron. I think that's a good American category for the month of July. I hope to see a good ballance of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen and Tron movies. My suggestion is A Fistful of Dollars. Tell me what Western or Tron movie you want in the poll and I'll put it up on July 1st.

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Here's the trailer. Watch it or else.



So this month we honor the passing of our friend Charlton Heston by watching and discussing Ben Hur: A tale of the Christ. I hope everyone enjoyed it. So here we go.

Ben Hur was made in the day when huge epics with elaborate sets and thousands of extras were the norm. Back then people had no problem going to the theater and having an intermission. Can you even imagine that today? What would you do for 15 minutes? Probably steal someones seat while they are in the bathroom. So in an age of Epics, to me this was the Epic film. Ben Hur tells the tale of Judah Ben Hur, a Jewish prince. His childhood friend Messala returns from Rome to be the tribune in Judea. He asks Judah to help him put down local unrest. Judah refuses and loses Messala's friendship. The new Roman governor, while entering town, is struck by a loose tile from the roof of Ben Hur. Ben Hur is condemned to be a galley slave. En route to his ship Ben Hur is given water by a man that he does not know but who is obviously Jesus. Then, while at sea his ship is lost but he saves the life of Quintas Arrius who adopts him as a son and teaches him to be a great chariot driver - 5 time champion at the Roman Circus. Judah returns to Jerusalem to find his mother and sister and to exact revenge on Messala who could have freed all of them. Judah teams up with an Arab horse owner to race against Messala. In this race Messala is defeated and mortally injured. Ben Hur visits him on his death bed and declares to Messala "I see no enemy." Messalla with his last breath reveals that Ben Hur's mother and sister are lepers who live in the valley of the lepers. Judah finds them. He brings them into Jerusalem in the hope of finding Jesus who is known to heal the sick. they come too late and find Jesus just as he is being led away to his crucifixion. It is only then that Judah realises that this is the same man who offered him water while he was a slave. Later, while reflecting on who Jesus was, Ben Hur's mother and sister find themselves healed.

One of the first things I want to bring up is the title of the film: Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. I really wanna hear your comments on this. Why go with that title when we only see Jesus (and never his face) for more then 2 minutes in the entire film? The most important scenes are the ones that mirror each other: As Judah is dying of thirst Jesus gives him water to drink. Then as Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross he is bearing Judah returns the favor and offers him a drink. The other times we see him from behind as he preaches to a crowd but he seems to follow Judah with his eyes as Judah walks away. We also see him lifted up on the cross. So why call it A Tale of the Christ? Why not call it Ben Hur: Chariot Racing Barrel-Chested Hunk? My own take is that story of Jesus is perhaps best told on the role he plays in the lives of those who benefit from His great gift. Judah's life is touched several times as his life is sustained by miracle after miracle, but perhaps the greatest miracle is that Ben Hur learns to forgive. There is also a great image in the end where the rain washes away from the crosses and (it may just be my poor quality copy) but there seems to be blood washing away with the rain. How appropriate since it is the blood of Christ that washes us clean from our sins, as rain washes the earth. Anyway, let me know what you all think.

Charlton Heston won Best Actor for this role. Deservedly so. This is probably his best acting work. He kinda get's John Wayney in his later films where he just plays Charlton Heston no mater the role (which is fine with me), but he really pours himself into this role and it shows.
Ben Hur won 10 other academy awards. So, good for it. I also learned that despite what I had always held to be true, no one was killed during the filming of the chariot race. In fact there was only one minor injury. The footage of Judah flipping over the front of his chariot and climbing back over wasn't supposed to happen, but it looked so good they kept it in. The stuntman got a cut on his chin. Anyway, great film.

On to June. The category, ala the Chapman Family, is series films. For example the Police Academy movies, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars. The way this is gonna work (sorry Monique but I'm about to take some licence) is that everyone will suggest a series. For example I am going to put forth the Jason Bourne movies. I will do a poll and one film series will win. From that series I will do a new poll with all movies from that series (Ex: Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum) and we will choose the best one and watch it, perhaps commenting on it's place within the series as a whole. So suggest away.

Where Magic Happens

Sportswise this is the hardest time of the year for me. This helps a little bit.