December 2009
John Casey Presents: So you want to be a deadly...
Chuck’s John Casey (Adam Baldwin) tells us what it takes to be a deadly spy in an Amazon-exclusive clip. —David
Best Director, 2000-2009: Clint Eastwood
Who is the greatest director of the last 10 years? It certainly could have been Martin Scorsese, who finally won his Oscar for the terrific film The Departed but also was nominated for The Aviator and Gangs of New York. It could be the Coen brothers, who churned out No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and O Brother Where Art Thou? And you could certainly make a case for Peter Jackson, he of the...
Best Actress, 2000-2009: Your Thoughts?
As we looked at the Best Actors of 2000-2009,
we had an even harder time determining the best leading actresses of
the last 10 years. Even with the dearth of female leading roles, some
elite members not only achieved new artistic heights but mass appeal as
well. The hard part is, it really only came down to three actresses for
us: Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, and Cate Blanchett (everyone
else had a...
The Greatest Gift: A True Family Cookbook
I must have been awfully good this year because I got some very cool Christmas presents. On the top of the list is a self-published cookbook of family favorites from John Egerton and his clan. I was tickled to thumb through The New Lovin’ Spoonfuls and consider which recipes to try first: Hoecakes, cheese grits, coconut chess pie, maybe Mama Bleidt’s Yeast Rolls. “That’s...
"Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace" YouTube...
Ten years after the movie’s 1999 release, a YouTube critic called RedLetterMedia has created a seven-part review of Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It’s quirky, but surprisingly watchable. Part 1 is below. (Warning: spoilers and language.) —David
Which Toys were a Hit at Your House this Year?
Now that I can finally get some sleep am prepping for the new 2010 toys, I wanted to figure out what was hot this year - not just based on sales, but on what kids actually liked and are still playing with. Though not exactly scientific, I am hearing some “buzz” as to what kids responded to now that Christmas is over. My niece loved her Zsu Zsu Pets (she got 4 of them —...
Apple's Magic Mouse Cuts Largest Slice of Mouse...
Amidst all the talk of speculation regarding iSlates tablets, new iPhones, and the success of the iPod Touch, Apple has another headliner as 2009 comes to a close: according to AppleInsider, for the first time, Apple’s mouse sales have captured over 10 percent of the mouse market share. All thanks to the Magic Mouse.The Magic Mouse debuted in October of this year, touting a buttonless,...
Best Actor, 2000-2009: Your Thoughts?
Forget Oscars. Forget box office. Which leading actor and actress had
the best batting average of the last 10 years? The most consistent body
of work, the highest good-to-bad, one-for-me, one-for-them ratio? In
this case, one or two totally awesome movies does not a contender make
if they filled the rest of the years with total dreck (that’s you, Hilary Swank). Also, we’re focusing on...
Three Suggestions for New Year's Cocktails
Italians have made many noteworthy contributions to the world: art, architecture, the Renaissance, the Roman Empire, Madonna, Paolo Maldini, pizza, and too many others to list here. But order a cocktail in Italy, and on top of having to explain to the bartender how to make your desired drink, you’ll likely be handed a stiff, undrinkable beverage with an exorbitant price tag. There are a few...
Bites from the Apple: You Say iSlate, I Say iSlab
One of many fanboi mockups of the iSlate/iTablet/iPad (via the iPhone Blog). The unreleased 1990s MessageSlate prototype (via MacRumors). Based on rumors and patent filing conjecture, this is what some thought the iPhone would look like back in 2006.
While visions of sugarplums and iMacs danced about in sleepy holiday heads this past week, the gadgetosphere was in rumor churn overdrive with some...
Culling the Shelves
The New York Times Room for Debate blog has a post on how to sort your books to keep the wheat and sell the chaff. It’s tied to the changeover of the year but, man, this strikes me as the most reliably groovy way to pass a few hours regardless of the season. Whenever my wife gets into a Mike-should-do-some-organizing phase I offer to take responsibility for the bookshelves, and that means...
Mashed Potatoes, Round Two
In the rare event that you have any leftover mashed potatoes from your Christmas dinner (they are among the first dish to be devoured at our table), this is a great way to give them a second life. We used a similar recipe at my restaurant in Capri, but instead of onions we used diced prosciutto, and shaped the croquettes by hand into small logs instead of using an ice cream scoop. Ingredients: 2...
Holiday greetings from "Big Love"
Holiday greetings from the Juniper Creek folks of HBO’s Big Love. —David
Four Decadent Ways to Recycle Panettone
Panettone seems to be Italy’s version of fruitcake. Not everyone looks forward to it, or knows how to best enjoy it. In my first (and only) Christmas in Italy, I enjoyed a slice with a glass of prosecco after midnight mass as I mingled with Milanese parishioners in the church hall. What a civilized way to kick off Christmas morning! The twenty-fifth of December comes but once a year,...
Ten Years of Terror: The Best Horror Films of...
Editor’s note: We asked one of our movie reviewers, Paul Gaita, to list his picks for the top 10 horror films for 2000-2009. Most had theatrical releases, and a few only released on DVD.
Selecting horror films from any decade is a daunting task;
so much of them is wrapped in the visceral elements of childhood fears and
obsessions, which tends to make for close guardianship and fierce...
The Bordeaux Cup Brings Extra Holiday Cheer
Here’s to cheery holidays, holidays full of friends and family, delicious food, fun, frolicking, and the Bordeaux Cup in every cup. If you don’t know the “cup” family of drinks, then I suggest you add them to holiday invite list. Basically a quick wine (or other base) punch spiced up and served over ice, the “cup” has been consumed for, well, at least over a hundred plus years, for holidays and...
Coquito! Eggnog With a Puerto Rican Accent Makes...
I was watching the Christmas episode of “Daisy Cooks” the other day. But what made this special extra special was that my husband watched it with me. He’s not into cooking shows. Unless it’s “Iron Chef.” He got sucked in by Daisy Martinez’s adorable screen persona and her vibrantly seasoned recipes. One holiday tradition that was especially intriguing was...
What's your holiday movie or TV tradition?
One movie we always try to find time for during the holiday season is Eloise at Christmastime, a made-for-TV Disney movie about a precocious kid who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Before that sets off your Suite Life of Zack and Cody alarm bells, Eloise at Christmastime is based on the book by Kay Thompson and has a great cast that includes Sofia Vassilieva in the title role, the...
An Easy and Elegant Side Dish: Fennel Gratin
If you, like me, are still planning out your holiday dinner menu, you might be starting to panic. Well don’t! Here’s a suggestion for easy and elegant side dish that is a nice complement to roasted meats or poultry. We made a variation of this dish in culinary school, and it remains one of my favorites from the hundreds in our repertoire. Raw fennel has the texture of celery, and the...
Sprucing up Christmas with Nigella
While doing some Christmas shopping last week, I decided to purchase a little treat for myself—a copy of Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson.
Nigella Christmas was so appealing, that I just had to have a copy. The traditional red and green color theme permeates the book, and Nigella does a fine job of covering everything from holiday baking and mass catering to homemade presents and...
One Last Present - Guest Blogger Wendy Smolen
Oops! I need one more present. My daughter’s roommate is dropping by this weekend. My husband’s colleague invited us to a family gathering. Our neighbors are having a last minute get-together. No matter how carefully I plan, I always end up a box or two short. So in the spirit of giving, I’m giving you my fail-safe list of 10 under $25, non-gender specific gifts for anyone from two to ninety-two...
How About Some Raw Dog for the Holidays?
One of the pleasures of visiting Baltimore was getting a chance to meet the editors of Raw Dog Screaming Press, an indie publisher that has been putting out fiction that might otherwise fall through the cracks. RDSP books tend toward the gritty or the surreal, often flirting both with what you might call “literary” and what you might call “pulp.” There’s a...
Trailer Park: "Sex and the City 2"
Here’s the trailer for Sex and the City 2, the next movie based on the hit HBO series, opening in theaters May 28. —David
Holiday Treats for Everyone
My husband decided to make some different treats for his office potluck this year. One of his new colleagues has celiac disease, and, while he could have brought a savory gluten-free dish without much trouble, he wanted her to enjoy some holiday goodies just like everyone else. We opted for making our friend Shauna Ahern’s gluten-free version of David Leite’s famous chocolate chip...
Best Movies of the Decade
Editor’s note: We asked one of our reviewers, Robert Horton, to give us his picks for the best films of the decade. Robert has been a film critic in Seattle for 25 years, writing for The Herald (Everett, Wash.), KUOW-FM, and the Seattle Channel.
“Best films of the decade” is such a grand concept it seems to place an undue amount of gravity on the process: this ten-spot had...
Chili Verde Helps Christen Pretty New Pot
Green is one of my favorite colors. Which is just one reason I am crazy about my new Lodge Cast Iron Pot that looks like a Granny Smith apple. Since I got it, I haven’t even put it in the cupboard. I keep it on the stove top to admire it. I stewed long and hard about what would be the first dish I would make in it. A simple soup just wouldn’t do. I wanted it to be memorable. Then, I...
At what point when opening a package do you call...
We’re making a wild guess here and thinking some of you are giving and receiving gifts this time of year. We
are interested in hearing from those of you who have frustrating
experiences to share and, particularly, at what *time* in the opening
process you became exasperated with the whole experience. 5 minutes, 35 minutes? 5 seconds? What is/was your tipping point? Add your experiences...
Easy Mac 'n' Cheese alla Romana
Back in my apartment in Williamsburg, I was starting to enjoy the company of my new roommate Lorenzo, a thirty-one-year-old architect from Rome. He was in New York for three months, ostensibly to learn English. Though I tried to engage him in English, awkward constructions tumbled from his mouth, landing in our kitchen with giant thuds. Clunkers. He, no doubt, felt self conscious about speaking...
Mad Science, Cincinnati Style
My law school classmate Jeff sent me a photo of a car for sale which he saw on the streets of Cincinnati: Bargain hunters, take heed: to judge from the sign on the window, the seller is what they like to call “motivated.” We do not know what motivated this individual to trick out a fourth-generation Camaro with a monster truck lift kit, hip-hop donk wheels, and a two-tone scheme from...
Reporting from the Road: Richmond, the Poe Museum,...
(The kind folks at Fountain Bookstore, including owner Kelly Justice, created a wonderful display for Finch; meanwhile, a flagging author stands next to a bust of a dead one; more on Poe below…)
I was on the road from October 28 through December 12 traveling up and down both coasts promoting my books Finch and Booklife with a series of gigs at indie and chain bookstores, universities...
Decant and Unwind: The Perfect Present
Wine—one of the most-gifted items during the holidays. No one’s going to have a problem with this, but why not step it up this Christmas by pairing your bottle with a nice decanter? Whether you just want an easy vehicle for your vino to breathe, or you’re in the market for something that doubles as art, the options are endless. A few of my favorites:
Libbey’s 5-piece...
2009 Wrap-Up: The Year in Movies
TELL US THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN: Nine / 9 / District 9; A Single Man / A Serious Man; The Uninvited / The Unborn; 12 / 12 Rounds BEST FIRST 10 MINUTES: Up BEST LAST 10 MINUTES: Duplicity BEST TITLES: Drag Me To Hell, The Hurt Locker, The Informant! WORST TITLES: Knowing, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans MOST UNDERSTATED TITLE: The Hangover TITLE TREND: Recycling the original franchise...
Torrone, Turron, Nougat: Whatever You Call It,...
I’ve been eating my way to Christmas Eve, one tasty treat at a time. Cultures around the world celebrate the holidays with a wide assortment of sweets, and I like to try them all. Marrons glacés from France. Panforte, panettone, and pandoro from Italy. Lebkuchen from Germany. One of my favorite holiday confections is made of honey, sugar, egg whites, and nuts, and is enjoyed all over...
Claudio Corallo Makes World's Finest Chocolate
Yes, that’s a pretty bold claim. And I admit there are quite a few chocolates in the world I’ve yet to taste. But here’s what sets this outstanding product apart from others: Its purity. There’s very little added to the minimally processed chocolate, so the flavor is intense. But it’s not bitter, unlike some chocolate with high percentage of pure chocolate. Even the...
Pomodorista: The Sharper Your Knife...
How many of you have never sharpened a kitchen knife? Based on my own experience, and what I have observed in the kitchens of my friends and family, I would say it’s a pretty high percentage of you. I’d guess 90 percent. Removing culinary school grads and professional chefs from the equation, I’d bet the number is closer to 99 percent.
My first several days of culinary school...
The Sharper Your Knife...
How many of you have never sharpened a kitchen knife? Based on my own experience, and what I have observed in the kitchens of my friends and family, I would say it’s a pretty high percentage of you. I’d guess 90 percent. Removing culinary school grads and professional chefs from the equation, I’d bet the number is closer to 99 percent.
My first several days of culinary school...
The Best Book Cover of 2009: "Pride and Prejudice...
I thought the ancient proverb that would come in handy for our inaugural Best Book Covers of the Year poll would be “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but the one I keep thinking of instead is “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Starting with the nearly unanimous disgruntlement our slate of nominees were met with, followed by some surprise upsets in the first...
Remembering Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy,
who died suddenly of cardiac arrest on Dec. 20, at the age of 32, got
her start in a number of television shows and bit parts in movies, but
it was her role of Tai in 1995’s Clueless at the age of 18—alongside Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd—that really brought her to the public’s attention. Murphy
had a long and varied career, starting in regional theater...
Brittany Murphy, 1977-2009
Actress Brittany Murphy is dead at the age of 32. Initial reports are that she suffered a heart attack in her California home. I met Murphy once, when I was on a press junket for Sin City, in which she played Shellie. It was my first press junket and she happened to be my first interview (to be followed by Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Robert Rodriguez, and others), and I was quickly put at ease by...
Wir lieben Lebkuchen
I’ve been writing about tasty holiday treats from around the world and inviting readers to share their own holiday traditions. Thanks, Marco, for sharing yours with us! No German Christmas is complete without “Lebkuchen”, somewhat resembling gingerbread and dating back to the 13th century. We got a big care package from Germany, but Amazon has them as well, see...
The James Cameron movies: Rank 'em!
OK, I admit I wasn’t thrilled with the Avatar trailer (and the fact that it was on TV every 15 minutes didn’t help), but there’s so much buzz around it that I think I gotta see it, and in 3-D. Plus James Cameron’s track record and limited output makes practically every film a milestone. And that brings up the next question: What’s your favorite James Cameron film?...
"Sherlock Holmes" world premiere
You’ve probably seen heavy advertisting for Sherlock Holmes, opening Christmas day and starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams. Watch footage from the world-premiere screening below. —David
Bites from the Apple: Last-Minute Shopping (and...
A fairly slow news week on the Apple front, what with holiday falderal moving into overdrive, so let’s get right to the Apple-y goodness (and get back to gift shopping before it gets too late)… If you’re considering a GPS app for your iPhone, now’s a great time for purchasing as the competition has been driving down the price in time for holiday giving. Currently, the...
Omni Personal Shopper: Let's Do Something
This Omni Personal Shopper project is not getting any easier. Jude says:
One of my kids doesn’t have lots of interests. He’s 15 years old, plays bari sax in band (but doesn’t really care about it), gets straights “As” without trying (and feels no passionate interest in any of his classes, although he likes a few of the teachers), and seems to only be truly happy...
Omni Daily Crush: "The Imperfectionists"
We’re a fortnight away from the end of ‘09, but I’ve already found my first favorite read of ‘10: Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists (available April 6, 2010). With a narrative that shifts between humor and despair, Rachman’s debut novel peers into the world of a once-proud (but increasingly dysfunctional) international newspaper. The staff is an eclectic...
Hands-On With the ioSafe Solo
For the uninitiated, the ioSafe Solo is really the Helm’s Deep of external hard drives. For those among us with the desire to preserve data in the face of total meltdown, ioSafe does just that: according to the company the ioSafe Solo can withstand temperatures of 1550F for a half an hour and can be fully immersed in 10 ft. of water for three days (with their DataCast and HydroSafe...
Graphic Novel Friday: Wasteland, The Apocalyptic...
Just a glimpse of some of the cool extras in this Apocalyptic Edition of Wasteland…
I’ve been a fan of Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten’s Wasteland for awhile. It’s a complex, always exciting look at the world many years after the fall of civilization. When Johnston contacted me about doing an intro for a deluxe hardcover to commemorate the first few years of...
A Warm Cup of Cheer
Rest assured I’m not much of a poet (as you will soon see below). But one day in late November, as I sat in my office, with bone-chilling winds whipping past my window and the persistent patter of raindrops beating a rhythm in my head, the following rhyme popped into my mind, unbidden but welcome: As the weather turns colder, And the holidays draw near, ‘Tis the season to celebrate With a warm...
Please Don't Eat the Decorations!
After reading yesterday’s post about panforte, my friend Terry, who spends most of her time in Modena, told me she had to add her “two cents” regarding Italian holiday breads. The two most popular at Christmastime are panettone and pandoro. Panettone is a specialty of Milan, a sweet bread typically made with candied fruit, while pandoro, also a holiday bread but the sweeter of...
A Polar Express Party - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari
It’s quickly become a classic. If you are looking to enjoy a Polar Express Party this season, here are some ideas to help you plan your kids’ fantastic train journey this season: Make a ticket invitation to the party providing all of the details. Use gold paper, much like the tickets in the movie. Request that the kids bring their tickets to the party.
When the kids arrive, use a hole punch to...