movie nite

a return to form

2008-03-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

W.B. Yeats famously started his poem, Sailing to Byzantium, with "That is no country for old men."

a theme later picked up by the Village People in their 'Frisco Anthem, Go West.

anyhoo. On Friday we'll watch the Coen's take as we watch Josh Brolin blunder his way through Texas and Javier Bardem sport Worst Haircut Evar.

For dinner I think Mike and I are making this and this. Admission is booze. We'll see you there!

fistful of what?!

2008-01-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

we are on track for a movie nite, and we are actually going to watch a movie (groans all around). i've wanted to see duck you sucka for ages, and now that it's finally released on dvd i'm not going to let good times, fraternity, or a bottle of wine stand in the way.

i mean, this is coburn at his swaggering, shit-eatin grinning, handlebar mustachioed best.

for dinner i think we're going to make a nice winter time meal of french onion soup . we havn't done this one in awhile and it's certainly one of my faves (mike you are in charge of beef stock, kelly and I have the rest covered). what else goes with this soup? maybe some braised veggies? if you know for sure, bring it!

we'll see you at mike's on friday.

let's break a raw egg right on top!

2008-01-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

there's no mn this week, but we'll get together soon. we still have to watch 'duck you sucka' and i hear we're eating something called 'jukebox heroes.' i don't know exactly what it is but my guess is that it's on the menu here. i doubt the version we'll serve comes with the same happy ending though.

last week's pizza theory, though...jfc, was that delicious. i'm glad we recorded some of the highlight pizzas, everyone was on their best game.

i had the first pie into oven (all pizza's described from the crust upwards):

marinara
smoked mozzarella
sauteed fennel and shallots
shitake mushrooms
polish sausage
romano cheese

-perhaps i'm partial, but this was a definite favorite of mine. i came in knowing that the fennel would be good, but i was blown away by how well it married with the excellent sausage mike had on hand.

i think kelly's was next:

marinara
roasted garlic
fresh tomato
artichokes hearts
gorgonzola
fresh
basil
cashews

this pizza was really solid too, i was a litte skeptical of some of the flavor combos there, but it worked!

mike's first pizza:

marinara
mozzarella
roasted bell pepper
olives
porcini mushrooms
sundried tomatoes
basil
and a raw egg cracked across the top

-who would believe that a raw egg would be delicous on pizza. i thought it the worst idea ever. "but this is pizza theory,' mike reminds me. and it was awesome. the egg baked in with the other toppings and whole thing became crazy good. i would egg on pizza consistently if it were offered.

jodie's pizza was also really solid, the closest thing to a meat lovers:

marinara
mozzarella
portabello mushroom
pepperoni
polish sausage
olives
cashews

-again, the polish sausage shone through. i would certainly venture it to be a far better match for pepperoni than italian sausage. certainly better than those disgusting sausage turds that roll around on top of most deliveries.

next was mine and mike's co-concocted mexi/thai fusion:

marinara mixed with a lot of red curry paste
mozzarella
sliced tomatillo (quickly sweated first in a pan)
portabella mushroom
roasted pasilla peppers
prawns marinated in coconut milk and cilantro

-holysh, was this one delicious. and spicy! the tomatillo functioned a lot like lemongrass does in many thai dishes. and the curry/marinara combo (which was really tasty) offset the creamy cool shrimp beautifully. we need to make this one again.

lastly randy, our noob, took a stab.

first he made a puree of artichokes, olives, roasted bell pepper & roasted garlic to which he added some red wine and reduced to a sauce.
sundried tomatoes
portabello
pepperoni
basil
parmesan cheese

another really solid pizza, his sauce was good and didn't clash with anything else. at this point i'm running out of room though.

the remaining pizzas were a bit of a blur. mike made a breakfast pizza with more eggs on it, i think there was some ham in there, and i don't know what else. also, there was a dessert pizza on it with butter, cinnamon, pecans and more i don't know what else.

easily the most successful pizza theory nite we've ever had.

Vote '08: Do chix hate Blade Runner more than Westerns?

2008-01-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

Due to overwhelming disinterest movie nite last week was a fairly quiet affair. Undaunted, we're going to regroup for another attempt at revitalization this week.
Unless I hear strong objections, Pizza Theory is still the primary meal choice. Besides, I've been scheming some new 'theories' y'all may be interested in. Delicious, Delicious theories.

Movies though, are a different matter. We have two up on the block:

in Bay 1: Blade Runner: The Final Edition

in Bay 2: Duck You Sucka aka A Fistful of Dynamite

Both are excellent movies. Both have been reviled for decades by the fairer sex, and I don't get it.

The real question is, which do the chicks hate more? ie. which one this week, which one next?!

night of the living fed

2007-12-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

it's been a very long time since the last post here, but it's been awhile since i've been to a proper movie nite too. the moratorium is lifted, hey, we'll see ya friday.

if we can get enough of you to show up, we'll bring back pizza theory too. comment if you can come or not on the message board. once enough people ante we can start deciding who will bring which, um, 'premises' for our theories.

also, i don't have any definite plans for a movie either. if you have any excellent ideas, or have seen anything brilliant lately, comment that in too.

i dunno about you, but i'm ready to reeelax in good company for an evening of post-holiday decompression.

cars that shift themselves

2007-11-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

i know we've already done buffalo '66 for m.n. before, but i think we need to do it again. the reasons are several:

it's really good, it was in my all time top 5 at one point even
guy didn't like it when he saw it last, and needs to be convinced otherwise
we're making a monster batch of the best wings you'll find outside of upstate ny.
guy drives a 'shifty car'

just need volunteers to bring the crudite and bleu cheese (and bevvies, of course!). we'll see you at mike's on friday at seven.

mushrooms

2007-11-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

and there is a movie nite tonite. regular time. regular place. regular crew? whose can come?

mike and i are going to put together some pasta with a wild mushroom cream sauce and wilted greens. maybe some potatoes too.

movie? dunno. i was expecting netflix to ship me some gems that we could choose from, but it doesn't look like they are going to ship until today. does anyone have any suggestions from thier own collection?

pics from movie nites past

2007-11-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

i finally got around to developing some photos. you can discover them here and here. enjoy!

hope it's better than 'darkman III'

2007-10-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

have you seen the adds for 30 days of night? it looks pretty cool actually. but the first thing it boasts is that it's produced by sam raimi: how long can that guy trade on his 'evil dead' fame? i mean, okay, he's done some work since then, i hear he did some spiderman thing or something, but in the horror schtick i think they're still leaning too hard on long, long past productions in the marketing material.

did you ever see his movies in the late 90's when he was attempting to make coen bros movies? both 'the gift' and 'a simple plan' were great. but i don't think anyone went to see them.

anyhow, are we doing anything tomorrow nite? mike is going to some concert i think, anyone want to see 30 days with me?

its playing in everett at midnight, is that our only option?

[UPDATE: There are quite a few shows all over the place, I was only looking at yesterday's showtimes when I posted the message above-forgot what the date was]

what the pho

2007-10-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

it didn't used to be, but october is now my favorite mn month. i don't seek out horror movies most of the time, but the time that we make them the focus in october really is a lot of fun for me.

this week we'll be watching an unknown. its called reeker. it's about some really smelly stalker of marooned teenagers. despite a little cheekiness it's supposed to be pretty good.

and for dinner, my goodness we've been talking about this one for weeks and weeks, we're taking a little trip to southeast asia. thai noodles with shrimp, green pumkin curry (that's green pumpkin/red curry), jodie's bringing in the hot pho (details below). should we do a themed dessert too? fried bananas or somthing?

show up, bring your friends, bring your appetite, bring some banannas (somebody?). we'll have a great time! see you friday.

pho details: pho is best served piping hot and fresh. jodie will be showing up promptly at 8pm with pho for everyone. please have your order in to her by high noon on friday. if you are unsure about what to order, uh, try it with leg tendon, its the, uh, very best.

jodie: please order mine with brisket, thanks.

a return to form

2007-09-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

i kinda miss movie nite. we haven't had a proper one in a long time. are we back on this week?

i understand alyssa is having a birthday party down at brouers (sp) in fremont, i could see how that might be enticing. but if spiz is willing i'm going to plan on bucking the trend and watching a flick. i hope to see some others there, but i understand if you don't. the states largest selection of imported specialty brews is tempting.

i'm going to start out a short series that i've had in mind for months. this week we'll watch michaelangelo antonioni's blow up. seminal film of the 1960's.

next week we'll watch brian de palma's blow out. it has john travolta in it.

originally i think we were planning on dining across southeast asia, mike and i were going to cook a couple thai dishes and jodie was going to bring her best pho. why don't we postpone that plan until next week.

this week? i have a few quarts of my dark chili thawing out from deep freeze in the fridge. why don't we dine on that? mike, can you pick up some crusty bread and maybe a few veg for a side? do you still have some corn from natches?

then guess what? in two weeks it's sausage fest! I won't be able to attend mn as i'm on set up committee (and tear down committee) this year, and i think jess is working the kiddee games and/or bingo on friday nite (so i'll be charged with the kids) but we can still certainly hit the carnival hard and fast!

but i really had my heart set on a scotch ale

2007-09-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

just realized how long it had been since the last post, sorry about that. i hear le maison spiz is unavailable again this week so we have to find ~~someplace else to get sloshed~~ something else to do.

last week's trip to the brewery was good, no? despite the serious lack of full bodied ales? out of scotch ale and a really disappointing stout - what's the deal, big e? nonetheless, methinks we can give ellersick a chance to redeem themselves.

as you might have heard, this weekend is mukilteo's annual lighthouse festival. the diamond knot brewery, with which we are all familiar, is sponsoring the beer and wine garden. diamond knot will certainly be featured, but so will ellersick (who better show up with some scotch ale). so will lazy boy brewing from everett (better ipa than d.k.), and so will scuttlebutt (mmm boy), and so will the brand new skookum brewery from arlington. skookum's only been in the biz since february, but i tasted their aged-in-oak pale ale at the beerfest this spring, was fantastic. i hope they'll have that available again.

oh, and also the columbia winery will be there.

there is allegedly going to be some live music (i'll best the lighthouse fest draws only top notch acts) and the weather looks like it'll be nice out.

i'll likely just head down after work, i think it opens at 4pm. goes till midnight. $10 cover gets you in and your first drink. $3 per after that.

parking will likely be a bear. worser than normal. anyone want to carpool from work?

bujalski revisited

2007-08-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

last week's movie, funny haha, was very refreshing for me. some of my very favorite films are the great new wave movies of godard, rivette, truffaut, et al. barely moviesl, they are often just flimsy scenes in succession that, as a whole, inform on little more than a single emotion or feeling. oh, jules et jim, what a stupid little film you are: not about much at all, just a silly love triange, some jealousy, some confusion. but the film is so obviously crafted, in the sense that all the seams are apparent, that it becomes so much more lovable me. i may not associate myself directly with a specific character, or lose myself into the movie as easily as i would with a slicker, hollywood production - but afterwards, i'm much more likely to have an empathetic response to the movie as a whole. the 'feeling' of it will resonate much more with me.

funny ha-ha fit that bill well too. and no french subtitles or attitudes to contend with! instead, it was just about a confused girl that had (lord knows why) a crush on an even more confused dork. it was a nice little snapshot of how some new-to-adulthood twentysomethings were expected to behave and fudge their way through complex emotions and situations without any experience. reminded me of that same period of my life (not that i'm any better at adulthood than they). its not like we felt satisfied as the movie ended, ipso facto, it kinda left us hanging. can't say it really had cohesive beginning, come to think of it, but that first scene was definitely a favorite. the next day though, and a week on, as i think on it...the movie is sitting well. it didn't need resolution. it was really wasn't even about enough of anything to require it. instead it was just some stuff that happened, and we got to peer into that world for a while.

this week more of the same .another 'small film' from the same director, mutual appreciation. i'm really looking forward to this, hopefully it satisfies in the same way that last week's did.

oh, and we'll grill another salmon, that should satisfy too.

adriane mclaughlin's husband caught this particular fish in alaska. along with many many others, which is why i this one. i'd like to try my hand at grilling on an alder plank, i've had fish prepped in this way but havn't ever done it. i'll stop by the lumber store tonite and buy a plank. what else would you like with the fish?

sorry to wax romantic there. i have a glass of wine in hand and today is my anniversary.

schnizel and spaetzle

2007-08-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

mike met kristina and i at the budapest bistro for lunch today; we tried our hand at hungarian quisine. mike kept saying that it was a lot like, or identical to, traditional polish fare, which, if you recall, is world-renowned for its blandness. so i guess the food was okay, nothing to write a blog entry about or anything.

for starters, mike and i had a bowl of cauliflower soup and kristina had chicken noodle. the chicken soup looked pretty straightforward, though i didn't sample it. the cauliflower soup was not cream of cauliflower, just some veg and noodles in broth. it was okay, not fantastic.

that's where mike's meal ended, he doesn't believe in lunch. he really only showed up because he's sick of staying at home with no one but his exchange server to keep company.

kristina has the stroganoff and i the weinerschniztel. the stroganoff (i did sample it) was better than that which i've made at home, but mine has just been the recipe from the back of the bag of egg noodles. nothing to be proud of. this dish was made with better ingredients but the food was still somewhat bland. my schnitzel was about the same, it was a pan-fried tenderized pork cutlet served over spaetzle (noodles made from batter). it was fine, but didn't have a lot of flavor. i don't think there were many spices in the breading, certainly not 17 secret ones like the colonel boasts.

would i go back? i dunno, maybe. I think i'd still like to try the goulash sometime, and the pastries looked pretty good. also the staff and setting was really quaint and homey. i think we had fun today, but the food was not the standout highlight of the meal. mike recounted for us some of his trip to budapest back in 2001. he mentioned some of the eateries, but not many anecdotes about how terrific the food itself was. i think i know why.

mulligan.

2007-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

do over. we'll try this again.

breakfast for dinner, funny haha for movie.

mike, will you comment in an updated ingredient wish list? (and get crackin on our wiki!).

see ya there.

breakfast for dinner?

2007-08-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

so what are we having? i know i totally got overruled on the pancakes v. french toast debate, whatevs. but pancakes make a breakfast do not. eggs, bacon, potatoes, mimosas? what do y'all want to bring?

also, dave's going away thing is tomorrow nite, any of y'all planning on attending that (prefunc)?

2007-08-06T21:55:00.002-07:00

dinner was fantastic! (if i don't say so myself). mike's gazelle's horns were awesome too, nicely chewy, not too sweet, and the floral almond flavor of the marzipan was really subtle and delicate.

the movie was really good too, it just wasn't the one we intended. whoops.

you see, i wrote out a long list of all the things i needed to bring, ingredients from home, ingredients to buy, cooking devices and vessels, recipes to consult. the meal continues to be the real highlight of movie nite for me and i lost sight of eponymous essence of the evening and my netflix selection lie on my counter top at home. remembering everything on a list is not a commendable accomplishment it doesn't contain all the items in the first place. thankfully amber (and her penchant for the macabre) came through in the clutch. 'the dead girl' is now on my own queue, i want to show it to jess. the first chapter was my favorite though.

so we'll do funny ha-ha next week, and, thank karma, i'm stuck with a netflix movie i can't watch for a week and can't exchange it for one i can until next week. i should be able to remember it though this time though, as it's all i'll being held responsible for: breakfast for dinner is up to y'all. see you friday.

sup yoz

2007-08-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

welcome to movie nite dot com.

well, not quite, but i think this will replace the weekly email that i sometimes send on time. I'll add more junk here later, and please try to help me think of some more fun content for this (some of you already have the ability to post). for now, i'll keep this one short.

tomorrow nite I think we're going to start watching all the movies (in a row) by andrew bujalski. lucky for us he's only been making movies for a year and has but two movies under his belt. neither are really about anything, nothing much really happens in them, but we've got to fill the time somehow, right? this week it's funny ha-ha. next time, mutual appreciation.

next week? hmmm, i had a ton of fun at the tour de terrace last week (mike, insert camera phone photo here). are there any other snohomish county summer festivals coming up? we missed klayhaya days, the strawberry festival, aquafest. does anyone know about salty sea days or the taste of edmonds (or any others?) i'd love to see if we could find another carnival. if nothing else the sausage fest will be back in october.

anyhow, for dinner this week i'd like to go to morocco. roast a bird with lemon, chickpeas, saffron, cinnamon. hummus. and stuff to dip in hummus. a chard tagine. mike, can we make fresh gazelle's horns (kaab el ghzal) for dessert? i've got a good recipe here but you can get the idea on the net. you should have the lot of the ingredients in your pantry, except maybe the almonds? and i've got orange flower water.

hey, we'll see y'all there.