Last Monday we had lunch at Nong's Khao Man Gai. It is a Thai food place. We went to the SW Ankeny location. The inside is very colorful. There are red paper lanterns and streamers hanging from the ceilings. The tables have bold and colorful table clothes. It also has a industrial feel. Like most Portland restaurants this space clearly used to be something else like a loading dock. The menu items are mostly simple chicken and rice dishes. But they are so good with not a lot to them. I got the most popular dish. It is just chicken on rice with some broths to dip the chicken in. My sister's pork dish was marinated in Coca Cola. I had some bites and it was good. The food is very healthy. They were also playing some Asian pop music which gave it a cool vibe. I would go back. There is a peanut chicken and rice dish that looks good.
Monday: Nightmare Alley (1947)
Stanton starts out helping a psychic with her show in a circus. He wants more than that. He wants to play in actual theaters and earn more money. The psychic and her husband have a code that helps them trick the audience into believing she actually has psychic powers. Stanton desperately wants the code so he can become rich. The psychic wants to be back on the big stage but her drunkard husband is holding her back. Stanton gives the husband strong alcohol knowing it will probably kill him. He is run out of the circus with another performer. She knows the code. He becomes a famous psychic. Then he meets a psychologist. He figures out that he can use information she has on her patients to further trick them into believing he is a psychic and spiritualist who can talk to the dead. But he is discovered. The psychologist convinces him that he is crazy so that she is not implemented in his crime. He escapes capture and becomes a drunk and then a geek at the same circus. (Geeks were beast like men who use their teeth to bite the heads of chickens.) This movie was good.
Tuesday: Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Steven is a reporter who comes back from the war to find out that his idol Robert Forrester has died. Everyone wants the latest story surrounding his deadly accident. Steven just wants to write an article to honor the life of the man he admired. The only way to do that is to interview Forrester's wife Christine. She won't talk to anyone. Steven makes friends with the gate keeper's son and gets into the house. Christine agrees to talk to him. But she never seems to tell the truth or really answer his questions. He starts to figure out that maybe Forrester's death wasn't an accident and that he wasn't as good as he seemed. Steven has to figure out what story he needs to tell now. I liked this movie a lot. You can't go wrong with a Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn film.
Friday: Dark Phoenix (2019)
The X-men are on a mission in space to save a NASA rocket. A strange force is headed toward the rocket and will kill everyone. Jean holds the ship together so they can all get out. She ends up getting the full blast of the strange force and absorbs it. Once they are home she seems ok. Then a new power develops that she is not able to control. She learns that Professor Xavier was was keeping things from her. She goes to Erik to try to get answers but no one will help her. An alien race lands on earth. They had been chasing the strange force. They want to control it to build a new world. So they now seek to control Jean. Everyone battles to either help or hurt Jean. This movie was bad. The acting and writing were not good. I know these actors are good actors, so I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it also had to do with the director. It's sad because the other two X-men first class movies were good.
Saturday: Cold Pursuit (2019)
Nels is a simple man living in the mountains in Colorado. He drives a snow plow on the same road everyday so people can get into and out of town. His son gets mixed up with a drug lord because of the son's friend. He is killed. Nels wants revenge. He finds the man responsible for his son's death, and then finds out who his boss is before Nels kills him. Then Nels works his way up the chain till he gets to the drug lord. The drug lord believes all these deaths are done by a Native American drug gang that had gone back on a deal that was made. So he starts a war with them. Nels gets mixed up in it even though he just wants revenge for his son. This is a dark comedy film. So there are a lot of funny moments. I liked it. Clearly someone needs to watch out for Liam Neeson's character's kids, because they always seem to be getting kidnapped or killed. I also really liked the Native Ameircan gang's headquarters. It is in an old theater with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with murals on the walls. It was no longer at it's former glory but still beautiful.
Sunday: Rocketman (2019)
This is based on the true life story of Elton John. There are some fantasy elements to it. It starts with him coming into a AA meeting. He starts to tell his story. His parents were not very loving or supportive. From a young age he was a musical genius. As he grows older he gets better and better. He meets song writer Bernie Taupin. They come friends and a successful musical partnership. Elton gets discovered by a record company and is sent to America. He is an instant hit. Elton soon becomes very famous. He struggles with his sexuality and finding a partner. He ends up becoming a drug, alcohol and sex addict. It spirals out of control. Luckily he got help and was able to recover and continue to make great music. This is a really good movie. Within the first 5 minutes I had goosebumps. He is such a good musician. All the songs are so good and iconic. The movie was well made. And it's nice knowing the real Elton John approved of it.
Monday: Nightmare Alley (1947)
Stanton starts out helping a psychic with her show in a circus. He wants more than that. He wants to play in actual theaters and earn more money. The psychic and her husband have a code that helps them trick the audience into believing she actually has psychic powers. Stanton desperately wants the code so he can become rich. The psychic wants to be back on the big stage but her drunkard husband is holding her back. Stanton gives the husband strong alcohol knowing it will probably kill him. He is run out of the circus with another performer. She knows the code. He becomes a famous psychic. Then he meets a psychologist. He figures out that he can use information she has on her patients to further trick them into believing he is a psychic and spiritualist who can talk to the dead. But he is discovered. The psychologist convinces him that he is crazy so that she is not implemented in his crime. He escapes capture and becomes a drunk and then a geek at the same circus. (Geeks were beast like men who use their teeth to bite the heads of chickens.) This movie was good.
Tuesday: Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Steven is a reporter who comes back from the war to find out that his idol Robert Forrester has died. Everyone wants the latest story surrounding his deadly accident. Steven just wants to write an article to honor the life of the man he admired. The only way to do that is to interview Forrester's wife Christine. She won't talk to anyone. Steven makes friends with the gate keeper's son and gets into the house. Christine agrees to talk to him. But she never seems to tell the truth or really answer his questions. He starts to figure out that maybe Forrester's death wasn't an accident and that he wasn't as good as he seemed. Steven has to figure out what story he needs to tell now. I liked this movie a lot. You can't go wrong with a Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn film.
Friday: Dark Phoenix (2019)
The X-men are on a mission in space to save a NASA rocket. A strange force is headed toward the rocket and will kill everyone. Jean holds the ship together so they can all get out. She ends up getting the full blast of the strange force and absorbs it. Once they are home she seems ok. Then a new power develops that she is not able to control. She learns that Professor Xavier was was keeping things from her. She goes to Erik to try to get answers but no one will help her. An alien race lands on earth. They had been chasing the strange force. They want to control it to build a new world. So they now seek to control Jean. Everyone battles to either help or hurt Jean. This movie was bad. The acting and writing were not good. I know these actors are good actors, so I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it also had to do with the director. It's sad because the other two X-men first class movies were good.
Saturday: Cold Pursuit (2019)
Nels is a simple man living in the mountains in Colorado. He drives a snow plow on the same road everyday so people can get into and out of town. His son gets mixed up with a drug lord because of the son's friend. He is killed. Nels wants revenge. He finds the man responsible for his son's death, and then finds out who his boss is before Nels kills him. Then Nels works his way up the chain till he gets to the drug lord. The drug lord believes all these deaths are done by a Native American drug gang that had gone back on a deal that was made. So he starts a war with them. Nels gets mixed up in it even though he just wants revenge for his son. This is a dark comedy film. So there are a lot of funny moments. I liked it. Clearly someone needs to watch out for Liam Neeson's character's kids, because they always seem to be getting kidnapped or killed. I also really liked the Native Ameircan gang's headquarters. It is in an old theater with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with murals on the walls. It was no longer at it's former glory but still beautiful.
Sunday: Rocketman (2019)
This is based on the true life story of Elton John. There are some fantasy elements to it. It starts with him coming into a AA meeting. He starts to tell his story. His parents were not very loving or supportive. From a young age he was a musical genius. As he grows older he gets better and better. He meets song writer Bernie Taupin. They come friends and a successful musical partnership. Elton gets discovered by a record company and is sent to America. He is an instant hit. Elton soon becomes very famous. He struggles with his sexuality and finding a partner. He ends up becoming a drug, alcohol and sex addict. It spirals out of control. Luckily he got help and was able to recover and continue to make great music. This is a really good movie. Within the first 5 minutes I had goosebumps. He is such a good musician. All the songs are so good and iconic. The movie was well made. And it's nice knowing the real Elton John approved of it.
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