Task 37 - "Lincoln Lawyer" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (6/26)

Movie: Lincoln Laywer

Rating: 4-Stars

The Lincoln Lawyer is based on the bestselling novel by Michael Connelly and tells the story of a L.A. criminal defense lawyer named Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) who conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile Beverly Hills client Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe).

Accused of a savage attack on a prostitute the slick, suave playboy real estate agent Louis Roulet claims his innocence and hire’s Mickey Haller to represent him. Roulet’s overbearing mother will do anything to clear her son's name. With cost being no issue Mickey has his first high-paying client in years and quickly begins the messy journey to finding justice. Digging into the case, Mickey and P.I. Raul Levin (William H Macy) reveal a darker picture of Roulet's personality and evidence of a past crime. When another murder hits close to home and his family is threatened Mickey questions if he's finally in over his head and how can he make things right with a past client who was wrongly convicted. His pursuit becomes a question of morality and even a question of his own mortality.

The lawyer has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn't recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. What he should have been on the watch for was evil, evil as pure as a flame.

Task 37 - "Sucker Punch" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (5/26)

Movie: Sucker Punch

Rating: 4-Stars

Dan and I went and saw Sucker Punch at the Verizon IMAX Theatre at Jordan’s Furniture in Natick.  First let us talk about the theatre. The Verizon IMAX theatre features a screen that is seventy feet high, 12,000 watt surround sound, & 272 Tempurpedic seats with "butt-kicking" sub woofers built in to help you feel the action. This is definitely the way to see an action movie.

Now the movie. Sucker Punch is an epic action fantasy that takes the audience into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. It begins with the death of Baby Doll’s (Emily Browning) mother and the murder of her sister at the hands of her evil stepfather. A traumatized Baby Doll finds herself committed to a mental hospital where she is at the mercy of an unscrupulous orderly named Blue (Oscar Isaac) who arranged an unnecessary lobotomy to protect the stepfather in exchange for money.   With five days until the procedure she begins a journey to find freedom for her and fellow inmates Rocket (Jenna Malone), Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Blondie (Venessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung). 

With the help from a Wise Man, their unbelievable journey…if they succeed…will set them free. The wiseman tells her that she must acquire 5 items to achieve freedom:  a map, fire, knife, a key, and finally an unknown item only Baby Doll can find. Each will require her to fight to get and to survive. She is convinced they work in a brothel where Blue is the Club Owner/Pimp and they are just tokens to satisfy the wealthy visitors he brings in.  When Baby Doll dances her audience is transfixed and she believes she and the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents to capture the next piece of the puzzle.

The plan sadly unravels and three of the girls end up dead as their hits a roadblock and Blue discovers they are plotting an escape.  With only two girls left and one final roadblock to freedom Baby Doll realizes she must sacrifice herself to save Amber. The movie ends with her lobotomy completed and Amber finding freedom.

Task 30 - Maria's Italian Villa Restaurant (Milford, MA)

(30) Eat in 10 New Restaurants (3/20)

  

Restaurant: Maria’s Italian Villa
Location: 67 Medway Road, Milford, MA 01757

Rating: êêê

Having worked in Medway for nearly 5 years and eating out regularly for lunch I had never been to Maria’s and decided to give it a try for lunch with the boys.

Maria’s touts itself as an Italian Villa with homemade American-Italian food designed to satisfy a hearty appetite. In a town of chain restaurants this sounds like a recipe for success but Maria’s falls short of a win.

Its interior was divided into smaller more intimate rooms which gave hope to a quite meal with good conversation, but the bright glow from the Keno screens over powered intimate ambiance.  It was also very cold and we were forced to put our coats back on to be comfortable.

Our waitress was what I would refer to as a “Townie” and I’m sure after work you would find her in the bar having a rowdy night with the locals chatting loudly. She was nice and fairly pleasant but proper etiquette and table side manners left a much to be desired.

We each ordered from Maria’s lunch menu which offered the “Best of Maria’s” according to our waitress. Each lunch special starts with a soup of your choice. We all selected the Italian Wedding soup. For our entrée’s I ordered the Housemade Eggplant Parmigiana and the boys ordered the Italian thin crust pepperoni pizza.

The soup was hearty and satisfying but a bit on the cool side.  It was packed full of more than just broth but lacked flavor and taste. Each of us felt the soup had its pro’s and con’s.

The entrée’s took entirely too long to come out and left us feeling abandoned at the table. My Eggplant parm with rigatoni was a total failure. The pasta was cook to about an inch of its life and the pasta drowned in a canned sauce with no flavor. The eggplant parmagiana was clearly not freshly made. It was piping hot on the outside and ice cold on the inside suggesting it had been a poorly timed microwave reheat. The breading was soggy and the eggplant chewy.

Sadly the thin crust Italian pepperoni pizza left the boys disappointed. It was more like a greek pizza in style and was dripping with oil and soggy at the center.  It too shared the tasteless flavorless sauce as the eggplant parmagiana.

We exited quickly and all commented that 5 years in the area and we had never eaten there and laughed that we hadn’t missed much.

Task 30 - Bella Costa (Framingham, MA)

(30) Eat in 10 New restaurants (2/20)

Restaurant: Bella Costa

Rating: 3-Stars

Bella Costa is a small family owned restaurant in Framingham at the corner of routes 30 and 126. Dan and I decided to give it a try since we had a $5 off coupon and have driven by it many times.

This place is your typical “grandparents go for early bird specials” kind of place. It has a nice welcoming dining room with a decent sized bar in the far corner. We were seated very quickly and our booth was in the corner near the bar. It was a little noisy and the wait staff seemed to hang out in this corner.

We placed our drink order and asked the waitress what was good. Immediately it was clear that our waitress had no idea how to pronounce most of the items on the menu. The drinks took forever to arrive and I thought that maybe the waitress had forgotten us but eventually she found her way back. Dan started with a glass of wine and it was served with an individual mini-carafe.  We were served dinner rolls and an olive oil dip. The dip was bland and without flavor and the bread was dry but had a nice buttery flavor.

For our entrees Dan got the Fettuccini Alfredo with prosciutto and I ordered the Veal Saltimbocca.  Dan’s entrée was tasty and well cooked. It was a nice light alfredo sauce with just the right amount of cheese and the prosciutto was perfect touch to make it flavorful and appealing. My entrée however was average. The veal was a little chewy and the sauce was bland and too thick.  I would give this restaurant another try but I wouldn’t order the veal again and only if I had another coupon.

Super Moon - March 19, 2011



My picture of the moon from last night

Yesterday featured the closest full moon of 2011. Some called it a supermoon because the moon shines opposite the sun in our sky at full moon, you saw the moon beaming all night tonight from dusk until dawn. This extra-close full moon likely caused large tides along the ocean shorelines especially if these high tides are accompanied by strong onshore winds.

Why is this moon so close? The reason is that the 03/2011full moon falls on the same date as perigee (moon’s closest point to Earth for the month). At perigee today, the moon lies only 356,575 km (221,575 mi) away. On March 6, the moon swung to apogee – its farthest point for the month. At that time, the moon was 406,583 km (252,639 mi) distant.
3/19/11 presents the moon’s closest encounter with Earth since 12/12/08. The moon won’t come this close again until 11/14/16. The extra-close moon in all of these years – 2008, 2011 and 2016 – finds the full moon occurring on the same date as lunar perigee.

How often does the full moon coincide with perigee? Closest full moons recur in cycles of 14 lunar (synodic) months, because 14 lunar months almost exactly equal 15 returns to perigee. A lunar month refers to the time period between successive full moons, a mean period of 29.53059 days. An anomalistic month refers to successive returns to perigee, a period of 27.55455 days. Hence:

14 x 29.53059 days = 413.428 days and 15 x 27.55455 days = 413.318 days

This time period is equal to about 1 year, 1 month, and 18 days. The full moon and perigee will realign again on 5/6/12, because the 14th full moon after today’s full moon will fall on that date.

Restaurant Review - Davide (North End, Boston)

Restaurant: Davide
Location: 326 Commercial Street, Boston, MA 02109 

Rating: êêê

Last night struggling to decide where to eat a freind and I decided we would venture into Boston and head to the North End.  Keeping my budget in mind we used a restaurant.com certificate that I had purchased nearly a year ago. Having had a great several times before at Davide I suggested we try it again. When we arrived we noticed that what had been a quiet restaurant before was now packed with people. We quickly discovered that Davide had been featured on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.

FOX Kitchen Nightmare's Episode 7 Season 3

Sadly this doesnt qualify as completing one of my tasks since I have been here before but I thought I would write a review anyways. As a fan of Gordon Ramsey's two shows I was excited to give the new Davide a chance. Immediately I noticed that the interior had been updated. It had been one of those old dated well used restaurants with old world charm but I didn't go for the ambiance I went for the food. I care more about good tasty food then a restaurant with too much overhead but I have to admit that it was a definite improvement.

It took a while to be seated and almost thought we had been forgotten at the door. It seemed that Kim the hostess was struggling to keep everything running smoothly and spent too much time helping waiter's that seemed unable to handle their own jobs.

We started our meal with the caesar salad made tableside. It wasnt exactly tableside. It was more like three tables down in the diningroom. I would have prefered if the waiter preparing our salad had put the rolling table right next to our table and made it for us to watch. Why offer a show if the patron can't see it without having to rubberneck three tables away.  Even though I got a sore neck from twisting to watch the ceasar being made it was very tasty and overall an excellent start.

For our entree's I ordered the Veal Scallopini and my friend the Cod Acqua Pazzo.

The entree's seemed to take forever to come out and we discovered that they had an issue with the printer in the kitchen and our order had not made it to the chef. The bread had quickly run out as we were both very hungry.

First the Veal Scallopini. The veal had a base of polenta and was covered in mushrooms with a madiera sauce.  The veal was not as tender as it should have been. I also felt it was too thin a peice of veal and had an over abundance of mushrooms on top. The madiera sauce however was very flavorful and helped mask the bland texture of the polenta.

Second the Cod. The cod also started with a base of polenta. While the fish was cood perfecly the polenta like with the veal was bland and uninspiring.

In summary while the inside seems much nicer the food has lost some of its fantastic flavor and the portions are much smaller. It went from old world charm to typical Boston for me. It isn't the run back again next week kinda of place but it was an enjoyable meal at a fair and reasonable price.


Task 37 - "Red" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (4/26)

Movie: Red
Rating: 4-Stars

Retired Extremely Dangerous or RED is the status given to an ex-CIA wetworks operative (CIA Hitmen) named Frank Moses (Bruce Willis).  The movie starts off with a lonely Frank living a solitary existence who finds excuses to call Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), who mans the Government pension hotline. After a small well armed group of killers try to take him out he discovers his past has come back to bite him in the ass.  Realizing that he isn’t the only target he kidnaps his love interest Sarah to protect her from certain death by association. With nowhere to go he seeks the assistance of his fellow retirees to uncover why he has become so popular.  The happy-go-lucky Joe (Morgan Freeman), the paranoid Marvin (John Malkovich), and the classy British dame Victoria (Helen Mirren) are more than happy to help.

The team soon realizes that the order to take Frank out comes from someone high up and the only way to discover who is to work his way through the CIA. Ordered to kill him company man William Cooper (Karl Urban) is essentially a younger version of Frank.  Cooper is happy to do his job and honor his country until he realizes he may be chasing the wrong bad guys. Of course until he comes to this realization that he is part of a high-level conspiracy he chases Frank like a cat and mouse using every resource he has to find Frank and finish his job.

The out-gunned retirees quickly make good in using their maturity and experience at disposing of everything tossed at them without much trouble while discovering that it was war crimes in Guatemala committed by a fictional vice president that has made them targets.

The plot of the movie is predictable and fairly generic and it isn’t new to have Bruce Willis running around having gun battles in the streets of New Orleans but the inclusion of Helen Mirren manning a high caliber machine gun and John Malkovich as an LSD-overdosed uber Paranoid ex-spy steals the show. It’s evident from the start that this action-romance-comedy is also an old timers on the war path seeking payback and excitement with the inclusion of Morgan Freeman. The movie would be a disappointment if you went into it thinking or expecting it to be anything else but an action packed funny love story for the more mature crowd. 

Task 37 - "Megamind" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (3/26)

Movie: Megamind
Rating: 4-Stars

Megamind by DreamWorks may not be thought-provoking, but it is fun and entertaining.

In spoofing the superhero genre, DreamWords and the screen writers have provided the kind of smartalecky humor that keeps grownups from feeling disenfranchised and kids entertained. But their narrative is a bit too close to that of Despicable Me, which offered villain Gru, a character with numerous similaritied to Megamind.

After blue hued super-villain alien Megamind (Will Ferrell) kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), he becomes bored with no one left to fight. He creates a new foe in dingbat local TV camera-man, Titan (Jonah Hill), by infusing him with Metro Man’s powers. Instead of using his powers for good, Titan sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day and wins the girl Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) for the first time in his life.

Task 37 - "Despicable Me" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (2/26)

Movie: Dispicable Me
Rating: êêê

Despicable Me is the story of a villain named Gru (Steve Carell) so maniacal that he will fashion balloon animals to console distraught children, only to pop them with a pin. As he aspires for greatness and seeks approval from his mother he will do anything to succeed at his biggest caper yet: Stealing the Moon. He stoops to new lows when his plan includes adopting three orphaned girls to use as pawns to help beat his nemesis Vector (Jason Segel). As he is forced to share his world with three adorable tikes he quickly realizes what he might just be harboring a heart of gold and has to make a choice. He decides that being the world biggest super villain isn’t as important as being a good father to Margo, Edith and Agnes and rescues them from dastardly Vector just in the nick of time.

It's a paint-by-numbers tale whose outcome is obvious from the start, but it nevertheless win over its intended audience. Despicable Me offers enough modest laughs for all ages and sweet moments to warrant a recommendation. It’s a mix of the Grinch who Stole Christmas and the Incredibles bundled nicely into an animated caper film.

Task 37 - "Faster" Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 movies. (1/26)

Movie: Faster           
Rating: 2-Stars

Faster has three main characters; Driver, Killer and Cop, each character battling their own personal addiction.

In the first five minutes Driver (Dwayne Johnson) gets out of prison, drives a bad-ass Chevelle like he stole it, and shoots a guy in the head. His actions are motivated by revenge on the people who murdered his brother and sent him to prison.

The Cop (Billy Bob Thornton) is a detective days away from retirement, a disgrace to the department, and estranged from his family because of his drug addiction.  These two would have been enough but then a third character is introduced; Killer (Oliver Jackson Cohen).

Killer’s involvement is more of a distraction then an addition to the story. Killer is a bored pretty-boy millionaire who moon lights as a hit man and can’t live without the thrill of the hunt. Killer is hired to take out Driver by the person responsible for his imprisonment and brother’s death before Driver completes his revenge.  While the movie is action packed it lacked fluidity and instead seemed choppy and incomplete.

Task 56 - Origami Dinosaur

(56) Make 10 Origami Figures. (1/10) The first of the 10 origami figures I am going to make is a dinosaur. It is a very simple origami figure and requires only a single piece of origami paper and includes 12 folds to create the bird base, and a final 12 folds to finish the dinosaur. Find attached my video on how I made my Origami Dinosaur.

Task 30 - Welcome Fine Indian Cuisine

(30) Eat in 10 New restaurants. (1/20)

Tonight Dan and I decided to work on one of his 101 goals in 1001 days to eat authentic meals and it just so happend it qualifies as one of mine, to eat in a new restaurant. We went to Welcome Fine Indian Cuisine in Framingham on route 9. It isn't much to look at from the outside and the inside isn’t much better. What it lacked in exterior and interior ambiance it more than made up for with delicious food.  We started our meals with a Taj Mahal 22oz beer and a Sweet Lassi to drink. For appetizers we had some Vegetable Pakora and Aloo Papri. Both were equally tasty.  For the entrée we shared a Chicken Murg Tikka Masala, Beef Curry and some fantastic Garlic Naan.  Sadly we didn’t save any room for the Kheer. Portion size was more then adequate and nothing dissappointed. We will definitely be going back and all that for less than $50. I rate it 4.5 Stars.  www.welcomeindiacuisine.com