Trick or Treat?....TREAT!!!!

Lord help us sinners…..

MOVIE: “Se7en” (1995)

I still remember seeing this movie for the first time on the big screen. What an experience!!! What a movie!!!!

Brad Pitt plays Detective David Mills who just moved to the city and is joined with a retiring veteran, Detective Somerset, played by Morgan Freeman to show him the ropes. Well, are they in for it. They end up on the trail of a serial killer whose calling card is the seven deadly sins.

For me it’s not about solving the crime but the nuances of the performances. This is Brad Pitt’s movie folks. He gives the cockiness of a rookie, the hunger of a detective who wants to solve the crime and the vulnerability of a family man (wife played by Gwyneth Paltrow). Morgan Freeman is not to be out shined with his performance as a jaded cop who has seen too much. I also noticed Kevin Spacey as an actor in this movie for the first time. He plays the villain with just the right amount of sociopathic kookiness that you take him seriously.

Take a look at this movie and let the story unfold on you.

MUNCHIES:

Diner Grub!!!!.... And hey, if you’re gonna go……

“Chili Cheese Fries”

Ingredients:

Frozen Fries

Chili (homemade preferred)

Colby/Jack Cheese

Bake fries according to package directions and warm chili. Cover fries with chili and then with cheese. Microwave to melt cheese.

If you are not using homemade chili and are getting out of a can please doctor it up with Cumin, Garlic powder, Chili Powder, Onion Powder, and Pepper (no salt, the canned stuff has enough sodium).

Make sure that doctors are on standby for the open heart surgery and Enjoy!!!!!

(In all seriousness, this is not the way to eat too often…. Indulge at your own risk).

Get Cooking and Keep Watching,

Cecily

Halloween.... more than just a Holiday!

How to make a remake…..

MOVIE: “Halloween” (2007)

This is a remake of the 1978 classic which starred Jamie Lee Curtis in her big screen debut. It is the sad story of the Myers family. The son Michael has some….uhhh….issues (to say the least) and takes them out on the world around him in a violently mechanical way. Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake really does a good job of delving into Michael’s world and WHY he does what he does.  Zombie does a fantastic job of sticking to the original plot of the movie, putting a little more meat on the bones of a classic, while at the same time updating it where appropriate. Is there still slicing and dicing? Yes. Is Michael Myers still a killing machine? Unstoppable. The difference? I actually came away feeling like….. If ONLY. If only he’d been given the love and attention he’d craved, if only he’d had different parents, if only someone had been able to get through to him. Oh well…. It makes for a crazy ride and a fun creep fest. It’s only a movie….. (gulp)….right?

MUNCHIES:
Just right for Halloween Night (and I don’t mean Oct. 31^st only)

“Homemade Pizza Sauce”

Ingredients:

1 14oz. can diced tomatoes (San Marizano preferred)1 small onion (diced)

1 medium green pepper (diced)

2-3 cloves of Garlic

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Italian Seasoning

Salt

Pepper

In a Medium sauce pan, heat 2-3  tbsp. of olive oil over Medium heat. Once pan and oil are hot, put in fresh onion and garlic and sweat until translucent. Then you can add tomatoes and Green pepper. Cook through and then either blend with an immersion blender or put into food processor (or counter blender) for blending. Season the sauce with Garlic and Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, Salt and Pepper to taste. You can spread on Pizza dough, biscuits, or English Muffins to make pizza and top with your favorite toppings. I’d also stock up on my favorite candy treats (Jelly Beans, Sweet Tarts and Twizzlers).

Get Cooking and Keep Watching,

Cecily

Who says men don't understand women?

To me….This is the best “Chick Flick” directed by a man.

MOVIE: “Hope Floats” (1998)

It’s all about opening yourself up, taking chances and relationships. So you’ve gotta have a strong cast and fearless director. Sandra Bullock, Gena Rowlands, Harry Connick Jr., Mae Whitman and Forrest Whitaker all fit the bill here.

It opens with a surprise, not just for Birdee Pruitt (played by Sandra Bullock) but for the audience as well. Birdee has the rug pulled out from under her and ends up back in her old home town of Smithville, Texas. She is fragile and hurt, but, learns to be courageously authentic. Her vulnerability with an underlying strength is never more apparent than in the scene where she is looking for a new job and a former classmate is the door that she had to go through to get there.

Then there is Birdee’s mama, “Mona” (Ramona), played by the iconic Gena Rowlands. What a strong, encouraging character who tells it like it is. She is the wind beneath Birdee’s broken wings who has some fantastic one liners. Some of my favorites are: “Get out there! Go get the stink blown off ‘ya” or “You’re going to school today Rocky”.

To round out the females is the power house Mae Whitman. She holds her own with Sandra Bullock and Gena Rowlands as Birdee’s daughter Bernice. The scene that always gets me is where she is trying with all her little might to leave Smithville and go with her father. It hit especially close to home when I first saw the movie for the first time as I had just lost my father.

As for the males, Harry Connick Jr. quietly, powerfully plays Justin Matisse. Justin is not a “studly” man with tons of “swag”, but, a persistent man who knows what he wants and goes after it…..in ALL aspects of life. He helps Birdee learn to trust and love again and THAT is sexy!

There is a scene that is not to be missed in the movie when Bernice has a really rough day and her family and friends come together to cheer her up in a unique way. The scene always brings a smile to my face. It also highlights the music that Whitaker chooses to use in the movie and what passion he has for the movie as a director.

MUNCHIES:  

My suggestion for munchies is a little different this time. Go to your favorite diner to eat…..and go ALONE!!!! It was a liberating experience for me and as much I enjoy company while I’m eating, I found out that I have the stern stuff to go stag too. My favorite diner is Marietta Diner in Atlanta. Don’t forget to get dessert too….just to spite ‘em. 

Get Cooking and Keep Watching,

Cecily