We stayed in on the Eve again. I made a pizza, we watched a movie, the kids went to bed at their usual time, and so did I. I think I am in the running for Most Boring Person ever, but since the cats got me up at 5:30 and we have to drive to Connecticut today, I'm pretty sure it was a good move to get some sleep.
We watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I had never seen it before, somehow. As teenage wish-fulfillment goes, I don't think it gets any more harmless, and it had its cute moments.
Here's to the new year! Time to stare at a book draft for a while and pretend I'm working on it.....
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2010
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Last night was pizza-and-a-movie night at Chez Moi, and the Netflix delivery was something I've been meaning to see for ages, having liked everything they've ever done. I was mildly apprehensive about how well W&G would take to the longer timespan, but the movie was sans filler and, as hoped, an absolute delight in just about every way.
My only teensy tiny quibble was that the beginning reused (albeit in expanded form) some of the gadget stuff from A Close Shave, which I've never seen them do before. Well, that and Hutch parrotting, "I do like a bit of gorgonzola!" when he has clearly just eaten a Swiss-type cheese, but I admit that's verging on lunacy.
Anyway. It was an excellent film, funny and enjoyable even for those (like me) who have only the briefest prior experience with classic horror. Grommit should have an animation school named after him, or something, since as usual his expressions were worth more than most people's dialog.
My only teensy tiny quibble was that the beginning reused (albeit in expanded form) some of the gadget stuff from A Close Shave, which I've never seen them do before. Well, that and Hutch parrotting, "I do like a bit of gorgonzola!" when he has clearly just eaten a Swiss-type cheese, but I admit that's verging on lunacy.
Anyway. It was an excellent film, funny and enjoyable even for those (like me) who have only the briefest prior experience with classic horror. Grommit should have an animation school named after him, or something, since as usual his expressions were worth more than most people's dialog.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Chicken Run
The Netflix subscription is having its hoped-for effect; pizza-and-a-movie night is becoming a semi-regular event, giving me both excuses to make pizza (which I love to do) and a chance to finally see movies that I've been meaning to get around to for years and years.
Such as Chicken Run. There's a thousand sites out there that can tell you the plot, so all I want to say is that we thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was wondering up to the end just how things were going to fall out (I mean, I knew the chickens were going to win, but just how that would happen I wasn't certain of). The movie gets full marks for style, humor, and likeability. I think L liked it, too, at least I'm pretty sure that she said she wanted to watch it again on Sunday.
JJ is old enough now to be mesmerized by the TV, making it occasionally difficult to give him supper (one reason I love our place's open floor plan, I can sit with him by his high chair at the kitchen table and still watch the movie). He had some sort of Gerber mac and cheese for dinner and seemed to like it okay, but we need to put him on regular table foods (hoping to avoid what we're going through with his sister...). He had a rough night, and is up now, so I'm going to have to cut this short!
Such as Chicken Run. There's a thousand sites out there that can tell you the plot, so all I want to say is that we thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was wondering up to the end just how things were going to fall out (I mean, I knew the chickens were going to win, but just how that would happen I wasn't certain of). The movie gets full marks for style, humor, and likeability. I think L liked it, too, at least I'm pretty sure that she said she wanted to watch it again on Sunday.
JJ is old enough now to be mesmerized by the TV, making it occasionally difficult to give him supper (one reason I love our place's open floor plan, I can sit with him by his high chair at the kitchen table and still watch the movie). He had some sort of Gerber mac and cheese for dinner and seemed to like it okay, but we need to put him on regular table foods (hoping to avoid what we're going through with his sister...). He had a rough night, and is up now, so I'm going to have to cut this short!
Friday, January 2, 2009
A Very Quiet New Year
Our plans to drive to the city for a party were derailed by the latest winter storm warning. As it happened, the storm didn't amount to much, but by the time this became apparent it was too late to go (the perils of living an hour away from pretty much everything).
Instead, I made cookies -- Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal, and some more cutout ones to replace the Christmas cookies long since devoured -- to take to a friends' open house New Years Day.
Try though I would, I could not seem to relax and get into a groove with the day. JJ was cranky, L was pesky, and I was snappish, and finally several cookies slid off the sheet as I was putting them into the oven and commenced burning into a smelly mess. Deep breath time. Open windows, turn off smoke alarms, turn on fans. The cookies got done regardless, and I spent some time playing with L before it was time to start dinner.
Given the uncertain planning, we kept it simple -- pizza and a movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. We had seen it before, but not since just after L was born, and for some reason, I always manage to forget the musical aspect. It remains a very well-done, stylish, and funny film. I was a bit concerned about L, but she didn't seem to be scared by anything that was going on. It's hard to tell at age 4 what she thinks about most things; she has picked up the concept of "scared," but I have yet to see her really frightened about anything. She certainly isn't afraid of dogs or the dark or anything like that so far.
In the course of replying to a post in an online forum, today I opened up the recipe tracking file I started at the beginning of last year. I was astonished to see how much cooking I did back then, and how many new recipes I was trying (62 in three months!), even after I went back to work. Lately I seem to be all out of energy for that sort of thing, and I really hope to get it back.
Instead, I made cookies -- Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal, and some more cutout ones to replace the Christmas cookies long since devoured -- to take to a friends' open house New Years Day.
Try though I would, I could not seem to relax and get into a groove with the day. JJ was cranky, L was pesky, and I was snappish, and finally several cookies slid off the sheet as I was putting them into the oven and commenced burning into a smelly mess. Deep breath time. Open windows, turn off smoke alarms, turn on fans. The cookies got done regardless, and I spent some time playing with L before it was time to start dinner.
Given the uncertain planning, we kept it simple -- pizza and a movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. We had seen it before, but not since just after L was born, and for some reason, I always manage to forget the musical aspect. It remains a very well-done, stylish, and funny film. I was a bit concerned about L, but she didn't seem to be scared by anything that was going on. It's hard to tell at age 4 what she thinks about most things; she has picked up the concept of "scared," but I have yet to see her really frightened about anything. She certainly isn't afraid of dogs or the dark or anything like that so far.
In the course of replying to a post in an online forum, today I opened up the recipe tracking file I started at the beginning of last year. I was astonished to see how much cooking I did back then, and how many new recipes I was trying (62 in three months!), even after I went back to work. Lately I seem to be all out of energy for that sort of thing, and I really hope to get it back.
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Cat Returns
Even if I don't have much time to cook lately, I should be using this blog for something. Last night, in between fretting over what to do about the house, I made a pizza (and remembered to put the salt in the dough, something I'd forgotten about last time) and we watched The Cat Returns, an affable little movie from Studio Ghibli. I've yet to see something of theirs I didn't like, and while this isn't up to their highest standards, it was likable, beautiful, safe to watch with a small child, and on occasion made me laugh. Although criticism of the shallow characterization is fair, it didn't take itself seriously, and had more than a touch of the surrealism that makes Totoro such a delight.
I recommend it.
I recommend it.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Dinner and a Movie: Ratatouille
Every once in a while we have a movie night here. It's traditionally been an MST3K episode to celebrate the end of some long week or other with minimally brain-straining fare, but we've recently decided to experiment with Netflix and see if our hectic lives can support actually watching something new once in a while. We inaugurated the experiment with Ratatouille, a movie everyone I know liked. Now that I've seen it, I'm not sure how I went so long without it. I mean, I knew it had something to do with cooking, but has any other animated film in history given a visual shout-out to Microplane? My admiration for the Pixar crew continues to expand; they get so many details right. L, surprisingly to me, lost interest after a while, but a lot of it was pretty well over her head, too. It may be that a second viewing would draw her in.
Along with the movie we had pizza. I have been working on my pizza for a while now. I use a basic pizza dough recipe from Cooking Light, purchased sauce, lots of cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni. To the sauce I add some Italian herb mix and crushed red pepper. Bake it on a pizza stone (now that I've finally learned how to get it on the stone rather than the oven floor--parchment paper!) for about twenty minutes. Resorting to delivery pizza has become an option accepted with a resigned grimace.
Along with the movie we had pizza. I have been working on my pizza for a while now. I use a basic pizza dough recipe from Cooking Light, purchased sauce, lots of cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni. To the sauce I add some Italian herb mix and crushed red pepper. Bake it on a pizza stone (now that I've finally learned how to get it on the stone rather than the oven floor--parchment paper!) for about twenty minutes. Resorting to delivery pizza has become an option accepted with a resigned grimace.
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