When [It] Strikes Me

I’m going to keep this rather simple and short, as a negative review need not layer on too much emphasis on the awfulness that is Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad.  We’ll start with the fact that I’m not entirely certain that this was directed by just one person, because at times the movie seems to jump from genre to genre, if not from style to style.  It is a film that falls short on so many very levels, not the least of which is an utter failure of the production team and the director to present a coherent vision.

Which is not to say that there isn’t one redeeming characteristic of Gangster Squad, because there is: it is, in general, a pretty fun watch. What, say you?  Yep, if you’re in the right mindset and can overcome the shortcomings of the whole, you’ll generally enjoy the movie.  You’re not going to ever be on the edge of your seat (as you would with Argo, my runaway favorite movie of 2012) and you won’t ever connect with any of the characters (as with In the Bedroom, the 2001 drama which perfected that element), but if you go in to it with the expectation of the violence and historical accuracy of 300 and the seriousness of Leslie Nielson’s Police Squad / The Naked Gun series series, you stand a pretty good chance of enjoying it.

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So I broke my normal rule and went and saw a highly anticipated movie on its opening weekend (or at least I think it opened this past weekend). After a full day of playing basketball and sweltering at a Yankees game, I headed out trying to get hydrated and air conditioned at a jam packed theater for Captain America.

I had pretty high hopes for Captain America. It is one of the follow-ons to one of the better superhero adaptations, in Iron Man. Indeed, in some ways this serves as a prequel to Iron Man, with Tony Stark’s father playing a prominent role and edging further toward the awaited Avengers series of films.

Captain America also featured some pretty solid casting. If you thought of one actor who could best serve as an action star and embodiment of what Hollywood would imagine as the truly American look, you’d probably end up with Chris Evans. Toss in Tommy Lee Jones as his grumpy commanding officer and Hugo Weaving (of Matrix Agent Smith fame) as your bad guy and you’ve got a start for some good scenes. Brits Dominic Cooper (as Howard Stark) and Haylee Atwell (as Agent Peggy Carter) rounded out the principal roster.

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So I ventured downtown a couple of weeks ago for a concert by an indie rock band I really hadn’t heard much about before. That’s partly because I just don’t do enough indie tunes or live concerts to get around. On a friend’s enthusiastic recommendation, I got tickets to see the Mountain Goats.

The Mountain Goats are fronted by John Darnielle, who in the past actually performed as a literally-solo act, acoustically and still under the plural Mountain Goats name. He did play solo for a few songs in the middle of the concert. He’s known as one of the truly great indie songwriters and I can say that, going in with no background of listening to the band, I was impressed with the concise, interesting story-telling accomplished by the songs.

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The Vicious Kind is a well conceived and well acted tale of revelation and story-telling. While the subject matter is a bit hard to watch at times – the characters and relationships between them are dysfunctional at best and disturbing more commonly – it’s presented in a calm, almost rustic manner that is, above all else, watchable.

Without going into too great detail as to the plot lines, it is a journey that starts with a boy, Peter (Alex Frost) and his girlfriend Emma (Brittany Snow) who come to Peter’s home for Thanksgiving vacation from college. As they are picked up by Peter’s older brother Caleb (Adam Scott), we get our first glimpse into the bizarre world in Norfolk from whence the family came. There the three delve into the confused web of a family torn apart, with the ultimate conflict being between Caleb and his father Donald (JK Simmons).

The film is very well acted and earned Scott and filmmaker and writer Lee Toland Krieger honors on the independent film circuit in 2009. I’m not quite sure what has to flow through the mind of someone to craft a story that is, for lack of a better word, vicious in its depiction of family strife and the means by which attempts to heal wounds can be made.

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I caught Hurt Locker late night at my buddy’s on the first night of my Los Angeles vacation last February. Given that it was competing with drunken viewing of Olympic curling off his DVR on the other nights I spent during my vacation there, it should come as no surprise that Hurt Locker just didn’t stand up. The film had garnered a whopping nine Academy Awards nominations, so I was genuinely excited to give it a look-see. Unfortunately, the film just doesn’t do enough to warrant the awards season hype. This remains true as a complete this review almost a year later after watching it on DVR and gritting my teeth as it cleaned up at the 2009/10 Oscars.

The most notable nomination always is for Best Picture and Best Director. Hurt Locker took home both awards with Katheryn Bigelow becoming the first female Best Director award winner. It also took home the award for Best Original Screenplay (from embedded journalist Mark Boal, who spent part of 2004 with an Iraq-based bomb disposal unit), Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. While the three technical awards are more than well-deserved, even when up against the formidable technical accomplishments of Avatar, the three creative awards were probably less spot-on.

This is not to say that Hurt Locker isn’t very good or that it isn’t a film (this most certainly isn’t a “movie” like Avatar). I just take the position shared by veterans and military-aware reviewers that the film lacks authenticity and presents itself as “gritty” and realistic, even though the story is grossly ridiculous at times.

Read more of why I didn’t fully enjoy being stuck in the Hurt Locker. Read more…

A special Tuesday version of #FollowFriday as I’ve been hitting the food trucks and have another scheduled for this Friday. Check out past Food Truck reviews here.

OK, so last week I had a little hissy fit when the new Korilla BBQ (Twitter link) ran out of food… at 12:40 PM… with me on line. I did not appreciate the opening day hiccup as I was really looking forward to trying them out. I had loved Los Angeles’ Kimchi21 Korean BBQ Taco Truck when I was back out west in February — granted that those visits were 2 AM runs — so I had really been looking forward to the new East Coast truck.  To calm down, I Schnitzified (Schnitzel Truck review here) later in the week and decided to give it another shot when they returned to 55th and Lex. Today was that day.

I actually canceled plans to bring in Waffle Truck (review here) for breakfast for me and a colleague when I saw that Korilla was going to be in the hood.  In lieu of breakfast, we embarked early, being wary of the long lines that follow a newly hyped truck (especially one which lets users vote on where they will show up). Arriving just before noon, the line was already 30 deep. That said, we got through in about 15 minutes or so (or about as long as it took Mexicue (review here) to serve a shorter line two weeks ago). The assembly line system the Korilla guys have established works very efficiently and effortlessly, to the point you have a hard time believing they’ve only served eight lunches. They have a protein guy who starts you, a kimchi (veggie) guy who finishes and a separate cashier in the front seat.

My review and picture evidence of the deliciosity, after the jump. Read more…

It’s Pilot season in America. There certainly seems to be more shows that at least have the potential to be intriguing. There’s the can’t miss in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, the LOST clone in NBC’s The Event, the waiting-to-see-if-it-can-deliver in AMC’s The Walking Dead and a host of other intriguing new shows. I may not drop thoughts on all of them, but I will try to give my initial thoughts on some of those that catch my eye. After some work related delays, I’m getting back into it with HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

• Monday: The Event (NBC)
• Wednesday: Undercovers (NBC)
• Thursday: My Generation (ABC), Outsourced (NBC)
• Sunday: Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

So of all the shows that were hotly anticipated, perhaps there was none more so than the HBO Steve Buscemi vehicle Boardwalk Empire. Promising production values that rivaled Band of Brothers, a cast of very solid character actors and a storyline and period setting that reeked of promise, it was hard not to be excited for Sunday nights with Boardwalk Empire and AMC’s Rubicon (my Quick Hits reviews thereof) and Mad Men.

Although I have been a bit delinquent in previewing the show, Boardwalk Empire is undoubtedly the best new pilot so far this season. It lives up to the billing of a Martin Scorsese production. Scorsese directed the pilot and serves as executive producer on the series. The pilot, in particular, was shot brilliantly with a heavy dollop of film cinematography. In particular, the initial boardwalk scene, traversing the Atlantic City shore with a single shot, had a tremendous, almost epic feel to it.

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A special Tuesday version of #FollowFriday as I’ve been hitting the food trucks and have another scheduled for this Friday. Check out past Food Truck reviews here.

Wafels & Dinges (follow them on Twitter) (full website, including menu, here) is venerated here in the New York food truck scene.  As early as a year or two ago, most would laugh at such a suggestion, but the food truck industry is really big business and to be heralded as a breakthrough venture in the street food world of Manhattan is no small feat.

I hadn’t really kept an eye out for W&D, largely because I’m neither a sweets person, nor a breakfast person.  But I do like my waffles, so when I temporarily moved home to my parents’ for three weeks while renovating my apartment (fulfilling the Greek prophesy for all 30 year old sons), I took note that the truck would be en route to the office on Tuesdays.  I woke up this morning, called my paralegal who’s been working long hours and asked her if she wanted me to pick her up breakfast.

Oh what a breakfast it was.  We both went with the liege wafel, the chewy, moist version of the Belgian waffle that is, for lack of a better term, the most ridiculous, melt-in-your-mouth experience one could possibly have with a bread-like food.  Good gawd, that first bite was unexpected.   Admittedly, I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself, because the blueberry pancakes at Nashville’s Pancake Pantry are still slightly more nom-nom-nomalicious, but this was so unexpectedly excellent texture wise.

The flavor, I knew would be good, so I didn’t overdo it on the dinges (their word for toppings).  I went for natural flavor of the liege wafel, topped only with their Belgian pearl sugar and a healthy dollop of sliced banana and strawberries.  My colleague was a bit less faithful, topping hers with maple syrup and the pearl sugar.

The fruit was fresh, the sugar was light enough to not be too overwhelming (or give me a head rush).  All in all, it was great.  I wish I’d been able to stop and eat it there (their Tuesday parking spot on 52nd and Lexington is outside a Starbucks with outdoor seating) for freshness and the full experience of the outdoor waffle, but I’ll live as it was still delicious.

Photo evidence of excellence after the jump, so click through.

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So Rubicon has finally started to pick up, putting a little umph into the faith I’ve had that the show has what it takes to grow into a real winner and a hit. To read prior Quick Hits for the show, click here on my posts tagged #Rubicon.  Here are my Quick Hits for Episode 1.12, “Wayward Sons.”

This episode was a bit unique in how it was shot. Unlike the dark, stuffy character of most of the Rubicon episodes, we were treated to more wide shots showing off views or airy spaces. Even in Katherine’s safe house, it was a light atmosphere. And the shots from the Harbor High, New Jersey field command were sweeping in nature, both in the windowed cafeteria and looking over the gym headquarters. The technology, too, was eye popping, something that had been missing from the old-research library feel of API.

That style of cinema played through to the plot, as well. This was the most ambitious episode since the premiere, with legitimate action and endpoints reached in advance of the finale. True, much of the action remained off-screen, but it was a bit thrilling nonetheless. You had confrontation, an active chase of conspiracy on two fronts, and the great reveal of at least two key elements to the seasons plot arcs.

The scene with Kale and Katherine in the safe house (accompanied by a still useless Maggie) was well done and reflective of the grander vision of the episode. In the first interaction between Kale and Katherine, they played well off each other, particularly as Kale spoke of the show’s namesake. He told the story of Cato the Younger, an opponent of Julius Caesar who, upon Caesar’s legion crossing the Rubicon and with defeat inevitable, took his own life so as to permit his family’s reconcile with Caesar. The parallel, of course, is that Rhumor took his own life as a way out that permitted the escape of his wife Katherine from the consequences of his sins. That’s all well and nice, of course, but the historical accuracy is somewhat dubious. Cato killed himself while on the run in Africa after repeated stands and defeats at the Thirteenth Legion’s hands. The historical record hardly seems to look too kindly on his act, indicating that Cato chose to kill himself rather than to seek mercy and a pardon because of his pride. Historical accuracy aside, there’s a nice element of literary ties therein. And I’m not going to beg accuracy from a show that loves its Mercator Projection Maps.

The style of the episode wasn’t always more poetic, though. In many ways it was simply more cinematic. The way it was shot and the action therein reminded me immediately of two terror-related movies: The Siege, in which Islamic fundamentalists hold New York hostage in fear, and The Jackal, in which the criminal justice and intelligence communities track an assassin across the country. I liked both movies and I loved this episode.

Dang, Rubicon is finishing strong. Click on through for my quick hits. Read more…

So Rubicon has finally started to pick up, putting a little umph into the faith I’ve had that the show has what it takes to grow into a real winner and a hit. To read prior Quick Hits for the show, click here on my posts tagged #Rubicon.  Here are my Quick Hits for Episode 1.11, “A Good Day’s Work.”

Alas, twelve episodes in, Rubicon realizes its potential. Good grief, that was good television. In a season dominated by the best episodes Mad Men has to deliver, finally Rubicon held it’s own on a Sunday night. You had outstanding acting, particularly from Miranda Richardson. You had legitimate action, even if not always of the traditional sort, until the episode’s end. You had the piecing together of the conspiracy, deftly done so that the audience is permitted to follow along, neither ahead nor behind the API team. Heck, you even had a near “Sheeeeeeeet” moment from Clay Davis, himself, Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

In sum, this was the first real time where so many of the pieces with potential in the show all came together and made the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

I’m a couple weeks late in getting this review up, so I’m going to keep it concise and shoot it right through with the Quick Hits.  Click through to read. Read more…