83rd Academy Awards

I wasn't sure what to expect of Academy Award hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway, but they did okay with the opening montage. Using "Inception" as the concept for the montage made it really easy for the two to seamlessly mention every movie in the best picture category. Alec Baldwin and Morgan Freeman's cameos were very amusing. The best spoof was that of "The Fighter," in which Anne Hathaway channeled here inner Massachusetts rough girl and then socked James Franco.

Anne Hathaway's play on "On My Own," seemed only to be a way to lead into a joke with James Franco in a dress with a Marilyn Monroe wig on. It might have been worth it for his jab at Charlie Sheen who has lately been off his rocker more than normal.

Overall, the skits with Anne Hathaway and James Franco weren't all that funny. About 7:30 p.m., I was really ready for it to be over, but I stuck it out to see the top awards.

Now a bit about the winners in some categories:

Art direction
Alice in Wonderland takes home for the best art direction. Though I didn't like the movie all that much, it did look pretty cool.

Cinematography
"Inception" won and it is deserving for the crazy, upside down dream world the cinematographer caught on camera.


Supporting Actress
So it seems that the Academy does like to honor women who make themselves look awful on screen for the sake of their art. Melissa Leo wins for her turn in "The Fighter," as mother/manager of boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). For the movie she looks 20 years older with frosted blond hair and a trashy '80s wardrobe. She did a good job since there wasn't much likeable about her character.

Animated feature
The other films in this category never really had a chance. "Toy Story 3" has a history with it as the final chapter in a franchise that many film goers grew up with. It has a feeling of nostalgia that appeals to adults while the Buzz Lightyear and Woody characters certainly appeal to kids. Any movie - especially if its animated - that can make grown men cry deserves an award.


Adapted screenplay
No surprise that Aaron Sorkin won for best adapted screenplay for "The Social Network." The screenplay is based on a book about Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. I'll give him credit for turning a movie that is essentially about lawsuits into a tense movie that was interesting to watch. Who knew computer geeks could have such intense lives?

Best original screenplay
I would have guessed "Inception" would take the win with its crazy dreamscape, but "The King's Speech," actually won. It is great to see David Seidler win for his screenplay since he waited so long to make the movie. He joked that he might be the oldest person to win the award. He had the idea for a film about Kind George, and his struggled with stammering, decades ago. But he held off until the King's wife passed away because she said it was too painful to relive the memories in her life time. The movie is a great watch, and my favorite of the year.


Supporting Actor
I said a couple months ago that if Christian Bale is nominated for an Oscar, the other actors should just bow out. Bale deserves the win for his turn as Dickie Ecklund, a former boxer who became a drug addict before getting clean. While the movie is focused on Micky Ward, Dickie's half brother, Bale really made it. It was great to see Bale get joked up as he accepted his award since he is such a great actor - it was a just to see him as himself. A testament to what a great actor he is - when he started speaking in his natural British accent, my mom said, "He's English? I didn't know that."

Visual effects
"Inception" takes home the prize over such movies as "Alice in Wonderland," "Harry Potter," and "Iron Man 2." It's not a surprise since the movie includes plenty of effects, what with the multiple layers of dreams in it. They deserve the award for the slow-motion fighting scene in the hotel hallway.

Directing
Tom Hopper takes home the award for "The King's Speech." He drew out some great performances from all of the actors with whom he worked. During his speech he talked about how his mother was actually the one to discover the movie and recommended it as his next film.

Best actress
I only saw two of the five performances in the best actress category, but Natalie Portman got my vote. Even though I didn't really enjoy Darren Aronofsky's take on Swan Lake, I though Portman did a great job in "Black Swan." She stretched herself for the role, losing tons of weight and practicing ballet moves for months. She balanced the vulnerable role of Nina with a dark decent into madness.

Best actor
First off, Sandra Bullock was the best presenter of the night as she introduces the nominees for best actor. She had a natural way with the usually canned banter that the presenters read off the teleprompter. Her jokes her funnier than anything else on the show and better delivered than anything the hosts had to say all night.

Now for the winner, Colin Firth won for "The King's Speech." He was nominated last year for "A Single Man," and while his performance was good in that movie, he was even better as the king with the stutter. He showed the restraint that is required of a royal, but had enough depth to play through the occasional outbursts. He made a movie about a man with a stutter exciting to watch.

Best motion picture
Of the 10 movies nominated, I saw eight of them. I had my own personal favorites, which I have blogged about before. "The King's Speech" was at the top of my list. I wasn't sure what to expect of it since I knew it was a movie about a king with a stuttering problem. But the movie is really about much more than that. Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth portray two men who become unlikely friends, forming a bond that last the rest of their lifetimes. The movie was my favorite of the year and I've been recommending it to everyone who asks about it. I was glad to see a movie I personally enjoyed win for best picture.

A breakfast item from north of the border

After eating a whole pile of sweets - Valentine's day chocolates, cupcakes, homemade banana bread, lemon bars and slices of lemon tart - not to mention eating out twice in one day last weekend - I thought it might be a good idea to find some healthy recipes for the week.

I spent some time on the Food Network under the "heart healthy" link and found quite a few dinners that seemed appealing. But I also found one breakfast option that seemed perfect for a light morning meal and also offered a chance to try out another ingredient. The recipe, from Ellie Krieger, was for healthy breakfast sandwiches and the ingredient is Canadian bacon. Sure it's not really an exotic ingredient, but it is one I haven't used before so it counts toward Resolution No. 12. In fact, I rarely cook bacon at all unless you count tossing some bacon bits on a meal.

I don't really like the smell of bacon frying and the need to get rid of all the grease that is leftover after cooking it. But Canadian bacon offers a lighter option without all the messy clean up.

So Sunday morning I put the recipe to the test after my boyfriend and I went for a three-mile run in Campbell (despite the temptation to stop at a place called Psycho Donuts that is right down the black from the track.) The recipe is basically a healthy take on egg McMuffins. It called for one whole egg and one white egg per serving - I even used brown eggs that my boyfriend's mom gave us when we visited a couple weeks ago from her chickens (those eggs also went into some of the lemon desserts.) To give the eggs lots of flavor, I finely chopped fresh parsley, chives and basil, mixing the herbs into the eggs. I cooked the mixture in an omelet pan and then folded it over into quarters to fit on a toasted double fiber English muffin (Orowheat actually makes great double fiber wheat bread and muffins.)

To cook the Canadian bacon, all I had to do was add a little cooking spray to the pan and brown it up over medium heat. It was way easier than using regular bacon and I actually liked the way it added just enough saltiness to the meal. From there, the egg and Canadian bacon was topped with a slice of tomato.

I thought it tasted great and it was filling even after a long workout. My boyfriend liked it, too, though he admitted that the few ways he thought to improve the dish (like adding cheese) would only make it unhealthy. In the future, I might compromise and add a little Parmesan cheese in with the egg mixture.

Photo by MelissaFlores

Healthy breakfast sandwiches include an herb omelet, Canadian bacon and tomato on a whole wheat muffin.

Hot stuff - trying out a new ingredient

In between all the eating out, I have been cooking at home but I haven't devoted much time to those five new ingredients (Resolution No.12) I want to try this year.

I actually bought a bag of sunchokes at the beginning of the year, but I didn't get to cooking it that week and by the time I got to them they just didn't look that appealing anymore. Sunchokes are not much like artichokes, but more of a root vegetable. The recipe I had for them also called for saffron, which turns out to be about $20 for a couple strands so if I see them in a grocery store I might buy the sunchokes but find a different recipe.

The one new ingredient I have cooked with so far this year is one that is quite familiar, but one that I usually avoid. Last month, when I was on a healthy cooking quick I decided to make some chicken and vegetable fajitas. The key to the recipe was to marinate the chicken and vegetables for a few hours with a strong mix of ingredients. The marinade included a mix of green onions, cilantro, spices and jalapeno. Now usually when a recipe calls for jalapenos, I just leave them out because the pepper is a little too hot for my palate. But this time since I was cooking for a couple people who like dishes that are a lot spicier, I decided to put in a little bit of it. After roasting the pepper over the flame on the gas burner, letting it sit in a plastic bag for a few minutes and peeling off the skin, I tossed in about one and a half peppers into the blender with the other ingredients. Perhaps it was the mix of other items, including honey and chicken broth, but the marinade had the slight flavor of the jalapeno without all the heat. Of course, I didn't actually use any of the seeds from the pepper.

For the same meal, I made a side dish of chile-cheese rice. The rice called for chunks of poblano peppers. I bought the largest peppers available in my grocery store, a couple of light green Anaheim chiles. Since I cooked a dish at a different kitchen than my own, I had to improvise on getting the skins off the without a gas flame. Instead I cooked the peppers in the oven for a few minutes, then slipped them into a plastic bag. When I pulled them out, the skin slipped off easily on one side of the pepper, but it wouldn't come off on the side that was face down on the cookie sheet in the oven. It seems it needs to get a little cooked on both sides so I had to put it back in the oven for a little more time.

The Anaheim chiles were mild enough for me and they packed in a lot of flavor into the rice dish. It was a perfect compliment to the chicken and vegetable fajitas. Since these ingredients are so similar, I'll count the jalapeno and Anaheim chiles as one so I've got four more to go before the end of the year.

Photos by MELISSA FLORES

Chicken fajitas with guacamole sauce and chile-cheese rice.

An easy resolution - eat out more

So far this year, some of my New Year's Resolutions have been easier to keep than others. I'll be honest and say I've been more focused on the early stages of a relationship than on meeting those 14 goals I set for myself. One of the easiest, of course, is the one thing on the list that fits easily in with dating.

Resolution No. 13 is to eat at five new restaurants this year and just two weeks into February, I'm more than half way there. A few weeks ago I dined at Flames Restaurant in downtown San Jose. I was torn whether to include this visit as one of the "new" restaurants I had tried because I visited the Flames Restaurant on Winchester Boulevard more than 10 years ago. But I didn't actually eat there. I barely had a drink there. I was out on a date with a guy who had taken me to dinner at the Elephant Bar Restaurant nearby. We were to follow up the meal with a movie, but it wasn't quite time for the next showing. He asked if I wanted to hang out at Flames to kill a bit of time. I said okay, assuming we would order a drink or dessert. Once we were seated inside, he said we should just order water because he didn't want to spend anymore money. For anyone who hasn't guessed it, that was the last date for him.

But my companion on a recent Sunday was much better company. We originally planned to have lunch at Flames, on the corner of Fourth and San Fernando streets, before a trip to the Tech Museum. We arrived to a busy crowd and put in our name for the half-hour wait. But as the wait stretched to 45 minutes, and we realized we really weren't that hungry since we had a late breakfast, we opted to leave before our names were called. Instead we returned later in the afternoon, when the crowd had moved on.

We ordered a tri-tip sandwich with sweet potato fries along with an appetizer of asparagus fries. For anyone who is wondering what asparagus fries are, they are dipped in batter and deep fried into crispy goodness, served with a dipping sauce. The sweet potato fries were tasty and seemed a little less greasy than typical French fries. The sandwich was tasty and filling enough to split. Though the restaurant had a full display of desserts in a case near the entrance - including cookies that we decided were about the equivalent of five regular-size cookies - I opted against dessert. I am sure we will go back and try out some more things in the future. I'd love to go back in the evenings for one of the exotic drinks on the menu.

A couple weeks later, I dined at a Mexican Restaurant in Merced called La Nita's Restaurant. The reason for being in Merced is a long story, but we were there in the late afternoon and I'd developed a headache from not eating enough or drinking enough water throughout the day so by the time I arrived at La Nita's, it was more about sustenance than good food. I ordered a two-item combo with an cheese enchilada and a shredded beef enchilada. Those were pretty average. But the one thing I loved on the plate was the rice, which was fluffy and moist in a way I can never manage to get Spanish rice to behave at home. I also liked the warm tortilla chips that a dinner companion claims are made fresh. If I end up back in Merced, which is not too likely, I'd eat there again.

I'm not really counting this in the tally, but I did eat at Bill's Cafe in Willow Glen over the weekend. I'd already eaten at another Bill's Cafe a few miles away, but my boyfriend said the one in Willow Glen has a better atmosphere. When we arrived for a Sunday morning brunch, I understood what he meant. Despite a large crowd, we were seated in under 20 minutes. Prior to seating, we ordered drinks from the bar - a mimosa for me and a drink of beer and lime juice in a glass rimmed with salt for the boys. We were seated on the patio, perfect for the unseasonably warm weather.

Bill's menu is great and there are so many more things on it that I'd like to try. They offer half a dozen different takes on eggs Benedict, a bread pudding French toast and tons more. Last weekend I went with an egg white scramble which included tomatoes, Jack cheese and mushrooms. It seemed like a lighter option given the mimosas. The waiter was attentive and the service was quick, without feeling like we were being rushed out.

Photo by MELISSA FLORES

Enchiladas, rice and beans from La Nita Restaurant in Merced.

When a restaurant is named 'burger' its easy to guess what's on the menu

When I went to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago, I figured it would be a great opportunity to meet a one of my New Year's resolutions to eat at five new restaurants (Resolution No. 13.) Driving on Hwy. 1 toward Natural Bridges State Beach, I noticed a brick red restaurant along the road called simply Burger.

So after walking around to visit the monarchs and visiting the beach for a time, I was ready for a late lunch. As I drove back up Hwy. 1, Burger again got my attention. My boyfriend and I decided to stop there since we were pretty sure we knew what would be on the menu.

Burger has just that on the menu - plenty of burgers. But they also have a full dinner menu with a lot of other items. The burgers are just the typical cheeseburger, bacon burger or barbecue burger. The menu runs the gamut from burgers topped with unique items such as the Don Ho - garlic aoili sliders with a slice of pineapple on top - or the Bada Bing Boy - meatball sliders served with garlic fries. There were also vegetarian burgers, salmon burgers and turkey burgers.

In addition to the burgers, there are milkshakes on the menu and though we didn't try it, they even serve beer shakes and beer floats. There is a bar full of a variety of beers, although my boyfriend laughed that several of the TVs in the bar area were atypically showing something other than sports.

Customers order at a central cash register area and then are given a picture of a movie star instead of the typical number to let staff know where to deliver the goods. We got an '80s shot of Winona Ryder, pre-shoplifting charges. Other tables had Keanu Reeves circa "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" or other stars from yesteryear.

The bathroom walls had a monster theme, including werewolves painted in the bathroom.

More important than the decor was the fact that burgers were really tasty. The burgers are made with free-range beef. My sliders were tender and tasty. The hawaiian sweet bread complimented the tart pineapple well. The fries were crisp. The only complaint I had was that my meal came out well before my strawberry shake.

The sliders we order were reasonably priced and if we didn't have to drive home on Hwy. 17, I'm sure the drinks or beer would have been great, too.

Photo by Melissa Flores
The Don Ho sliders
The Bada Bing Boy sliders

Academy Awards noms get some right, some wrong

I see a lot of movies, but most years I don’t see a lot of Oscar nominated movies until after the awards ceremony or when they come out on DVD. But this year I managed to see eight of the 10 movies nominated for best picture.

Now first, I have to say that I still don’t really like that the Academy decided to open up the field from five nominations to 10. I understand the reasoning of doing it so that more popular movies have a shot so that it’s not just all about high-brow art movies that no one ever sees. But the truth is most years there aren’t even 10 good movies, let alone 10 that deserve to win a best picture award. So in some ways the increased number of movies nominated kinda dilutes what it means to be Oscar-nominated. Of course, we all know some of the movies don’t really have a chance.

Though I loved “Toy Story 3,” and I am happy to admit it tugged at my heart strings in a way that most movies don’t manage to do, I don’t really think it deserves a best picture nomination. As an animated film, its unfair to compare it to movies that have to deal with actually actors. Sure, the voices are great in “Toy Story,” but it’s really not acting in the same sense as say, Natalie Portman in “Black Swan,” or Jeff Bridges in “True Grit.

The two movies on the list that I haven’t seen yet include “127 Hours,” which is now in general release, and “Winter’s Bone.”

Of the best picture movies I have seen, my vote still goes to the one I thought should have won the Golden Globe. “The King’s Speech” was the best 2010 movie I saw, and perhaps I am biased because I’ve always loved Colin Firth in anything, but the movie was the one that seemed to tie everything together – acting, directing, screenplay – and so I think it deserves the win.

The one movie I did see that I really don’t think deserves the nomination is “The Kids Are Alright.” I know the critics loved it and all the reviews talk about how it was a movie that broke down the barriers of what it means to be a family or a married couple – but my big gripe with it remains that at its center I find it hard to believe that a lesbian woman (Julianne Moore) would just fall into bed with the first donor dad (Mark Ruffalo) that comes along. Really?

As for “Black Swan,” I have mixed feelings about it. I think Natalie Portman did a great
job as a driven ballerina, and she deserves the nod for best actress. But overall, I just didn’t really enjoy the movie. Maybe Darren Aronofsky’s deeper meaning was lost on me, or maybe I’m looking for a deeper meaning where there is none.

“The Fighter” is another movie that deserves the supporting actor nods for Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, but overall the movie isn’t strong enough to win the best picture nod. It feels like a story that’s been told before.

“Inception” is a story that feels completely new, even though its heart it really is a story about a man trying to get over his heartache. This movie should win for best original screenplay and art direction, but it’s not as strong a contender as some of the other films. In a field of five, this more mainstream movie probably would not have been nominated.

“The Social Network” won the Golden Globe for best dramatic movie so it’s likely to make a showing at the Oscars. The movie was good, given that it was basically about two lawsuits filed against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin took something everyone is familiar with and gave sort of an insider’s view of how it started. I think people – and critics – like the movie because of the juxtaposition that one of the biggest ways people stay connected with friends was founded by a guy who allegedly screwed over his friends. Personally, I think Facebook is overhyped enough without the movie winning a best picture Oscar.

“True Grit” was the last movie I saw in 2010, on New Year’s Eve, and it was one of my favorites. I guess I just like Jeff Bridges as a grizzly old man. I did enjoy newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. I don’t like westerns, and I enjoyed this movie, so maybe that’s why I think of it as a favorite. But Bridges character might have been a little too close to his turn as the alcoholic country singer in “Crazy Heart” last year to edge this into the best picture win.

For best picture, my pick is “The King’s Speech,” though I think the Academy will go with “The Social Network.”

Some thoughts on other categories:
Lead Actor – I saw three of the two movies in which people are nominated. Colin Firth is the clear lead for his turn as a stutterer in “The King’s Speech.” Not only was his stuttering superbly painful to watch, but he also showed the way in which royalty can stunt one’s emotional growth.

Supporting actor – I saw four of the five movies nominated and I think if ever Christian Bale is nominated, the Academy should just cross out all the other nominees. I’ve never seen Bale turn in a bad performance and he changes not only his appearance, but all his mannerisms when he becomes a character. According to magazine reports, residents of Lowell mistook Bale for Dickie Ecklund, the jittery boxer turned drug addict he plays in the movie. I believe it.

Lead actress – I saw only two of the five movies in this category so it’s kind of hard for me to make an informed comment on this category. I didn’t really like “The Kids Are Alright” or “Black Swan,” the movies I did see. I give the edge to Natalie Portman over Annette Bening, though Bening won the Golden Globe and is probably a shoo-in for the Oscar.

Supporting actress – I saw four of the five movies and my vote goes to Helena Bonham Carter, in “The King’s Speech.” She proved that she can play a role that is not outlandish (as she often plays in Tim Burton films) and still be phenomenal. I like Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit,” but I just don’t like that studios can campaign to have an actor in the supporting actress role instead of lead so they have a better shot at it. Steinfeld was clearly a lead actress in “True Grit,” as a main character, but the studio campaigned for her to be in the supporting character because of her age. She is still unlikely to win.

Animated feature film – I didn’t see “The Illusionist,” and I probably never will since I tried once to watch “The Triplets of Belleville” from the same creator and I just didn’t like it. “How to Train Your Dragon” is a fun film, but it’s “Toy Story 3” that really has heart.

Art direction – I don’t really know what the academy members think about when they choose best art direction, but I think “Inception” was pretty damn artful in creating dreamscapes that feel real, but are just off enough to feel like an alternate reality. The thing that makes me vote for “Inception” is that it created so many different realities, including the heartbreaking world that Cobb longs for with his wife and children.

The winners in these categories, and all the rest, will be announced Feb. 27, at 5 p.m.

Golden Globes miss the mark with two 'best' categories

Award season is officially started with the Golden Globes, the awards ceremony put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press to honor work from the small and big screen.

Click on movie titles to read the movie reviews that ran in the Pinnacle newspaper.


The Golden Globes are no Oscars for a couple of reasons. First, they honor both television shows and films. Second, they divide up movies into two categories - drama and comedy/musical. It is the later with which I have some issues. I like the way the Oscars does it - all the best picture movies go into the same pool so there is only one best picture. With the Globes, you get two best pictures of the year, though one is almost inevitably better than the other. With the two categories, there are certainly movies nominated that don't really deserve the nod.

The two categories follow into the best actor, best actress, supporting and director categories, so again twice as many people are nominated as would be for the Oscars. The field would certainly be more narrow if there were just one category for all those - and though I loved "Easy A," I am not sure Emma Stone gave one of the best actress performances in 2010.

The one thing that miffed me the most at the Golden Globes is that many of the movies, actors or actresses nominated for comedy/musical didn't actually seem to be in movies that fit the category. The best picture winner was "The Kids Are Alright," a movie that critics seem to love but that I didn't really like all that much. The movie is much more of a drama, with its storyline of two teens raised by lesbians who decide they want to meet their donor dad. The donor dad disrupts the family in all kinds of crazy ways and the movie isn't very funny. If the movie had been nominated in the drama category it would not have won out.

The best actresses nominated in the comedy/musical category also seemed not to be in very funny movies. I enjoyed Anne Hathaway's "Love and Other Drugs," and it had a few funny moments but overall it was more of a melodrama than a ha-ha film. Two of the actresses (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) nominated were from "The Kids Are Alright," which I've already said I don't believe should have been dubbed a comedy. The other movies included "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie, which I thought was an action film and the aforementioned "Easy A."

I saw four of the five movies nominated for best picture - comedy or musical and I think my vote would have gone to "Red" because it was the movie of the bunch that made me laugh the most. Helen Mirren sports semi-automatic weapons - what could be funnier than that.

For once, I saw all the movies nominated in the best picture - drama category. I enjoyed all the movies, except for "Black Swan," which I have to admit was a little "artsy" for me. Natalie Portman's acting was great, but I didn't really get or like the ending of the film. "The Social Network" won for the category and I can only imagine it was because everyone is so familiar with Facebook and hardly anyone knows someone with a stutter or a British monarch, the subject of the movie that should have won the honor. "The King's Speech" was the best of the movies I saw that were released in 2010. It turned a movie about the British monarchy and a man with a stutter into a taut movie that kept me engaged throughout. At least Colin Firth won the best actor award for his performance.

If I were to rank the best picture - drama nominees in order of my favorites it would be "The King's Speech," "Inception," "The Fighter," "The Social Network" and in a very distance last place "Black Swan."

I'll look forward to seeing how my favorite picks line up with the Oscar nominations, especially since he best picture field has been expanded to 10 since last year. I am sure a lot of the same movies will be nominated, but it will be interesting to see what of the actors/directors/actresses get dropped when the other categories drop down to only five slots.