The Big Year

Hey Guys!
I'm not really sure why I capitalized "guys" up there. Maybe I just thought those of you who actually read my blog are a special group who deserve a capitalized group title.
Anyhow, Zach and I have recently moved into a house, and put in place a superior bird hot spot, complete with wide-rimmed bird (and squirrel) feeder, bird perch (which is what makes it super easy for the squirrels to feed) and bird bath/watering hole. We then grew quite excited to see who came to our yard to partake in what we'd set up. We even found a great website for looking up what birds were frequenting our bird spa. After not only enjoying, identifying, but also texting about these single-life-is-over interests, my super-cute mother-in-law recommended we watch The Big Year.

As you could probably guess (or have seen) The Big Year is about bird-watchers. But not just silly kids like Zach and myself, serious Bird Watchers, who do indeed deserve a capitalized title. These guys (Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin) are trying to break the record for most species of birds seen or heard in one year. Sounds like it could be entertaining, but the problem was is... it wasn't, really. It had a couple of moments where we laughed, but it was more because we felt the pressure to, than because we were entertained. You're supposed to root for Jack Black's character, as he is the main character and narrator, but I liked Steve Martin better, which I suppose just means that his acting was great in this movie, as I've never felt so comfortable with him in any other role.
The characters - They felt only semi-fleshed out, to me. They had backgrounds and goals, basically all the same goals, and the personalities seemed like rough outlines. I had to struggle to feel for any of the characters, which led to a lack of caring about what happened in the movie.
I also didn't care for the flashback scenes, where they used an oval cutout in the middle of the scene taking place. I know everyone's trying to reinvent the flashback and dream scene, but this felt cheap, in my opinion. Ugh, and the credits show birds, but FAR too fast for anyone to see what the birds freaking looked like... any of them! That said, perhaps they should have hired a different editing team.
My final complaint was with the writing. It was safe and predictable. I know it's a comedy, but I feel that the most successful comedies are those that allow some sort of challenge in the viewers.
I absolutely love my mommy-in-law, and can appreciate why she recommended this to us, but at the same time, I can recommend that you don't bother with this one, unless you are a serious bird watcher who understood what The Big Year meant before you saw the trailer or read this review.

Marinated kale salad!

Okay, I know I'm so behind the times, but this was my first time trying raw kale salad. I'd been hearing all about massaged kale salad (which I thought just sounds like silly hippie-talk) and marinated kale salad (sounds too healthy) and always thought it just wasn't for me. Psssh! I was proud of myself for liking cooked kale!

BUT... I read about why someone would actually go through the trouble of massaging their kale, and it made me interested to try some. For those who don't know, massaging kale removes the bitterness, and makes it tender. It's like cooking it, without actually cooking it, so you don't loose the nutritional value of raw kale!

We recently bought some kale, and I had about 6 recipes to choose from. I went with this one for Marinated Kale Salad. It includes carrots, avocado, onion, lemon, tamari (I used Braggs) and sesame seeds (which  I omitted as we didn't have any) along with kale. I felt like I was eating a delicious creamy green salad with a little tang. You could definitely taste the avocado, a pinch of saltiness, and the perfect amount of citrus. So good! But what about the kale!?! It was like any darker green lettuce. It wasn't tough anymore, and it lost that bite that kale can have. I highly recommend it, and I can't wait to play around with the other kale salad recipes I have.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

* UPDATE *
We had some left over, and both agreed that it does not taste as good the next day. The recipe posted here makes 4 servings. I would half it next time for just the two of us.

Dangerous Beauty

It's been quite a while! We've been moving across the country and visiting with relatives, but we're finally settled in! And I've got a new movie review for you guys.

Again, it's a Netflix instant movie, but only until July 1st! Dangerous Beauty is based on a true story, and takes place in Venice in the 16th century, when women were allowed very little rights. The main character is in love with a man who is of a higher rank than she is, therefore his family forbids him to marry her. Her mother convinces her to become a courtesan (creepy) so that she may still be able to have some way of seeing him, and also because it's the only way a woman is allowed a decent education.

Dangerous Beauty balanced fun with drama, laughter with heartfelt moments, and promiscuity with undying love. The cinematography was decent, the acting was very good, but the dialogue did seem a bit too recent in some spots. It felt like it was a British-made film, but apparently it was made in the old US of A. It does raise a question: why then did everyone have British accents? 

Overall, the message was something that I felt was still semi-relevant today, and that is about the role of women in society. I don't want to give anything away, so just watch it, but it did make me think about some similarities between then and now.

P.S. There's also a good deal of boobs shown in this film, which does make sense with subject matter, and almost made me shut off the film at first. I did decide to give it a chance, as it wasn't completely out of nowhere or TOO distasteful, but I do think it was a little much. I always wonder how films would be directed if boob shots weren't relied so heavily on...

The Help

Er'ybody's been raving about! Have you heard? The Help was one of the best films of the year! If I do say so myself! My husband says it's just okay because he didn't like the music, or the topic of the film (although he doesn't think it was poorly made) and he still liked the acting. It won 39 awards (I looked that sh*t up on IMDB!) and with good reason! The story is about The South in the 1960s (I've been watching a lot of Southern movies lately, because honeybear and I will be moving there shortly. Oh dear, I'm afraid I'll become one of those "y'all" slingin' southern belle stereotypes...) where one young white woman writes about the black maids she has grown up knowing, but from their perspective of things. The main character identifies her own maid as the person who raised her, and begins to ask questions that are considered dangerous at the time. The film is eye-opening, and also very funny. It's that perfect balance between serious issues and laughter. I felt that it worked perfectly. The lighting had a lovely contrast between the white and black homes. Both were welcoming, but in entirely different ways, which suited each perfectly. The acting was fantastic! As my satirical husband couldn't dismiss, the acting was spot-on. I believed every one of those people, and as for the main character, I hadn't even noticed at first that she was Emma Stone (Easy A; Crazy, Stupid, Love). The film flowed like any brilliantly weaved story your grandma (may or may not have) told you. I loved characters that I didn't expect to. That to me, is one of the tell-tale signs of a good story, but, I do love character studies. (Otherwise, if I don't care about the characters, I don't care about what happens!) I strongly recommend, if you haven't seen this, give it a shot.

5 stars; sexy!