TV Bites: Goldfinger

THE MENU:
Golden Tomato-Basil Soup w/Cheddar Goldfish Croutons


Well, I suppose you've been wondering where I've been (or not). My herniated disc problem came back and so I was laid up again for another six weeks through Christmas. Then, I've just been busy reassessing my life and since I haven't been able to get anyone interested in the Chef du Cinema book, it's just time for me to move on.

Depending on where my life takes me over the next year, I may return to publish more posts and another class here and there. But for now, it's time to take my chef's hat off and go on a new adventure and see what happens.

Since I had already written this post, here it is.

I loved James Bond as a kid. I was just the right age when Goldfinger came out and I decided then I was going to be a secret agent when I grew up. Or at least try to be as suave and cool as Sean Connery (and also throw in James Coburn in the Flint movies). I bought all the toys and used to play secret agent in my backyard. Like Dr. Who, I guess your first Bond is always the "real" Bond to you, and Connery is it for me.

So that's that. Let's get on with it....

TV Bites: The Good, The Bad, The Weird (좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈)

THE SNACK:
Grilled Pork Bulgogi Tacos w/Korean Slaw & Asian Pear/Cucumber Relish


Okay, here we are at part two of the "Good/Bad" double bill. Korean director Kim Jee-woon was inspired by Sergio Leone's classic The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (aka the part one of the double bill) to make his film.

I remember when I first saw this movie. It was during Fantastic Fest a few years ago. I sat down, the lights went down and within the first ten minutes I remember thinking, "Oh my god. This movie is amazing." But then a sudden feeling of dread came over me. "What if this is it? What if these ten minutes is all there is and the movie just goes downhill from here? There's no way it can sustain this awesomeness, can they?" But I comforted myself in the thought that at least these first ten minutes just rocked my world. But the movie completely did me in. It never went downhill and it sustained the aweseomeness throughout. As director Kim Jee-woon notes below, so many of the movies he loved growing up inform this, and apparently he and I have enjoyed a lot of the same movies. It's so rare these days to be able to just sit and let a movie not only wash over you but also carry you along on a great adventure. And while some critics panned it as too derivative or whatever, screw 'em. They tend to like movies than make your squirm or hate yourself or the world at the end - not that I don't like such things at times, but this is one of those "strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride" kind of movie. On repeated viewings it holds up and leaves me feeling like a happy 12 year old boy.

Meanwhile, while the east coast is being dumped on by another bout of winter, here in Austin it's already springtime. (And as I write that I have a sneezing fit, thanks to the springtime allergens). And, of course, springtime means one other thing here, time to get ready for South by Southwest. Hopefully, I will discover some great new films and new bands, but mostly it's an opportunity to spend time with out-of-town friends.

TV Bites: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

THE SNACK:
The Formosa Cafe Sticky Ribs


One more Chinese food recipe! Who knew?

First off, let me get this off my chest.... This was going to be part one of the "Hollywood Celebrity in a Fictional Story" double bill with the second feature to be JCVD. I had seen JCVD at Fantastic Fest before it opened and really, really liked it. But I hadn't seen it since. When I rented to view, I discovered that when it was theatrically released (and on the DVD) they had "Tarantino-ed" it, i.e., they jumbled the timeline of the movie in such a rotten way that I think they completely ruined it. The version I saw was linear, beginning to end. So I decided to pass. It's a real shame. I kind of understand why they probably did it - some idiot told them to move the action sequences forward. But they should have trusted their initial instincts. Sorry, Claude. And what really pisses me off is that I really wanted to make Mussels in Belgian Ale to pair with it. You can do it, but I ain't.

Alright then. Let's move on.... When I was like 10 years old, there was only one thing I wanted to be when I grew up.... a secret agent. I was obsessed with James Bond, Derek Flint, (all one day coming to Chef du Cinema!) and The Man from UNCLE. A life of intrigue, danger, espionage, and mysterious women. Sign me up. I guess that's why I relate to this movie so much.

The Class: Raiders of the Lost Ark

THE MENU:
(Nepalese) Shrimp Curry
(Peruvian) Warm Wheat Berry, Quinoa, & Mango Salad
(North African) Lamb Stew w/ Cauliflower "Couscous"
(American) Strawberry Shortcake



First off, this is part one of my "of the" double bill. And by that I mean the next film is also titled "Something of the Something." So try to guess what that'll be.

Class went extremely well, though we were a bit rushed. I had a lot of food and movie to discuss before serving and eating. But everyone seemed quite pleased. Also, always glad to see how many return attendees I had. We even had one person who hadn't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark before. It's always a treat for me to see a movie with someone who's never seen it before.

You know when I began this adventure I was just sort of randomly picking movies I love and seeing what I could do food-wise with them. But I also avoided some movies I love mostly because I wanted to get this all figured out before I tackled them, and also because they tend to have an abundance of material written about them already (and that means hours and hours of research!) While some films don't have much written about them at all - either in print or online - others have enough material to fill a skyscraper with... like this one. But that doesn't mean Raiders of the Lost Ark is a "better" or more "important" movie than say The Lady Vanishes, for example. I just want to make that clear. The Lady Vanishes was made at a time when entertainment was not as dissected nor studied even in universities the way it is now.

TV Bites: The Lady Vanishes

THE SNACK:
Alma Hitchcock's Crêpes Elizabeth


A shorter version of this post appears on the Criterion Collection website.

Finally, finally, finally! This is finally part two what was to be my Hitchcock double bill.

If you read the previous post on Hitchcock's The Birds, you'll know I recently got a book with some of Sir Alfred's wife Alma's recipes. And since I had all these other books on Hitchcock already out of the public library, I figured why not kill two birds as The Lady Vanishes is just being released by Criterion on Blu-Ray.

TV Bites: The In-Laws

THE SNACK:
Grandma's Turkey Split Pea Soup



Happy Thanksgiving!

So instead of a Hitchcock double bill, you get a caper comedy double bill. Not bad....

I've been dying to add this movie to the "Chef du Cinema collection," as it may well be the funniest movie ever made. But the reason I chose it for Thanksgiving was that one of the only foods referenced in The In-Laws is pea soup, which comes in the scene when Sheldon and Vince are in the cafeteria early on after the shoot-out at Vince's office.

Now I have two associations with pea soup. One is that whenever I drive I-5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles, I always make it a point to stop at Pea Soup Anderson's for lunch. The other is that in my family, usually a few days after Thanksgiving, my grandmother or my mother would make this soup with the leftover turkey carcass. The smell of the soup cooking always takes me back to childhood and it's a big comfort food winter meal for me to make ever since.

So then how perfect is it that early on during the commentary track on the DVD, Peter Falk notes: "How many people in America take this picture, The In-Laws, and whether it's on Christmas, Rosh Hashanah – some holiday – and they get the whole family together and they run it? And they run it every year. And they've been doing it for 10 years."

TV Bites: Escape from New York

THE SNACK:
Isaac Hayes' "Gonna Get Some" Cornish Game Hens w/Wild Rice Stuffing



Had a rough week last week. Caught a respiratory infection from breathing too much smoke and ash in the air from the wildfires, combined with a bad allergy attack, that pretty much turned into a bronchitis. I was down for like five days. But then had to get better because it was ACLfest last weekend here in Austin. I only caught a couple of acts - Manu Chao (at an after show), Black Dub, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Newman (at a separate ACL taping). But that's all I really needed to see.

Now yesterday was the first day of this year's Fantastic Fest, so I thought it appropriate to feature one of my favorite genre films of all time. It's also part two of the September New York double bill. And boy do I love this movie. John Carpenter has sadly been relegated, I think, to being lionized by only genre film fans. And his films - statements about the times he lived in disguised as genre films - as far as I'm concerned, should be studied more seriously.

While this film was made in 1980, Carpenter first wrote the script in 1974, right after Scorsese made Mean Streets. (If I were going to make this a triple bill, the 3rd movie would be The Warriors, for sure.) So yeah, New York was a tough place in the late 70's and early 80's. A park like Union Square - which today is filled at night with people walking their dogs and playing chess - was considered utterly unsafe to enter once darkness came. That Carpenter - and audiences at that time - could believe New York City could shut down and be re-purposed as a maximum security prison - was not so much science fiction. In one interview as it was being released, when Carpenter explains that New York has been turned into such a prison in the film's future-present, the British fanzine reporter quips: "Isn't it one already?" I got to see some crazy s#!t when I was growing up, I tell you. But more on this later....

TV Bites: Sin Nombre

THE SNACK:
Chile Verde Chicken Tacos w/Creamy Avocado Sauce



Well I survived my month long adventure in Southeast Asia. I am actually starting to work on this during the first leg of my 28 hours total of airplanes and airports before I close the front door of my house with me inside and lay down in my own bed again.

The Class: Charade

THE MEAL:
Audrey's Kippered Herring Salad on Roasted Potatoes
Italian Tossed Salad w/Audrey's Vinaigrette Dressing
Audrey's Spaghetti Pomodoro
Rosemary, Garlic & Sea Salt Focaccia
Fresh Vanilla Ice Cream w/Maple Swirl (her favorite dessert)



Once again I really want to thank everyone for coming. And the staff at Central Market who did a great job getting everything made and served. I hope everyone had as good of a time as I did tonight.

TV Bites: Mad Max

THE SNACK:
Australian Beef & Mushroom Pies



It's the end of September here in Austin and that means one thing -- FANTASTIC FEST!!! So, I'm going deep for the next week watching films and to tie in with it, I decided to go with one of the great genre action films of all time, a film that redefined and reinvigorated the genre.