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 Maltese Falcon

THE SNACK:
Sam Spade's Lamb Chops



Hey, it's part two of my Humphrey Bogart double bill. Now while To Have and Have Not was filmed after The Maltese Falcon, I wound up doing this one second. No real reason other than the John Huston books were checked out of the library last month, but not the ones on Hawks. Does that clear up that mystery for you?

This was the big transition role for Bogart. He was no longer a bad guy, he was the hero. And he even got to kiss a girl, albeit a psychopathic one, but still. Strangely, I wound up not talking much about Bogart below and instead wound up focusing more on Huston and all of Mary Astor's stories. I hope you won't hold that against me.

Now please indulge me as I rant a bit. You'll read a lot online that people consider this to be the first Film Noir film. I don't particularly think so. It is clearly an antecedent, but I wouldn't call it the first Noir. I mean, you might as well say Fritz Lang's M is the first, no? Some people say it was Stranger on the Third Floor. (Note: M, Stranger, and The Falcon all feature Peter Lorre, if you didn't notice that.) Others might even say it was Citizen Kane. But this is just cinemagraphic masturbation as far as I'm concerned. Film Noir is a style that evolved and to pick the first film which incorporated all of its elements.... well, friends.... you'll first have to decide what exactly are those elements, which are always up for discussion and disagreement, as well. So there.

The Class: Singin' in the Rain

THE MEAL:
Parma Ham, Apricot Preserves and Dijon Mustard Finger Sandwiches
Tossed Green Salad w/ Donald O'Connor's French Dressing
Gene Kelly's Real Irish Lamb Stew
The Hollywood Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake



Well, it's still winter, I suppose, though we didn't get anything close to winter weather here in OSP (oh, so precious) Austin. But there's a little chill in the air, having given us a tease of rain last night, and the sky is currently all cloudy and gray. I mention this because I'm going to be nursing leftovers of Mr. Kelly's lamb stew this afternoon as I snuggle up to work on the next Chef du Cinema blog post (I'm always working for you, friends).

Class went very well again tonight. Good audience, good crew. No complaints.

Singin' in the Rain is one of those movies that just fills you with that feeling you can only get from the movies. Just pure cinematic joy. Seriously, if you are depressed and your meds aren't doing it, just watch Donald O'Connor's Make 'em Laugh sequence, and I promise you that dark mood will be gone by the time he finishes flying through the wall.

TV Bites: A Hard Day's Night

THE SNACK
Scouse (Beef & Lamb Stew) w/ Sir Paul McCartney's Mashed Potatoes



Earlier last year, the Vatican decided to "forgive" the Beatles with this odd pronouncement written in the L'Osservatore Romano, the official Pope newsletter: "It's true they took drugs, lived life to excess because of their success, even said they were bigger than Jesus and put out mysterious messages that were possibly even Satanic, [but] what would pop music have been like without the Beatles?"