Exploring Food and Movies

Monday: Girlfriends (1978)         Susan is a young photographer. She has a hard time getting work. Her photos aren't selling very well. Mostly she helps her rabbi by taking photos for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Susan lives with her best friend Anne. Anne meets a man and they get married. After Anne moves out Susan is sad and lonely. Her lack of work doesn't help her situation. She does her best to move on. Later she starts to get some work and to date a man. I thought this movie was ok. Not a lot happened. It wasn't that exciting. The most interesting part was just seeing New York City in the 70s. Tuesday: The Unsuspected (1947)          Victor is a radio star known for his dramatic readings of real crimes. His secretary dies of apparent suicide. But the cops are not convinced. Victor lives with his niece and her husband. One night they have a party. A strange man appears claiming to be the late husband of Victor's ward Matilda. He claim...

Tuesday: Throne of Blood (1957)          This is another Japanese film. Two generals coming back from war get lost in the forest near the castle they are going to. There they meet a spirit who haunts the woods. She tells them a prophecy. Washizu will rule the biggest fort. Miki will run the second biggest fort. Later Washizu will be the ruler of the castle for awhile before Miki's son takes it over. Both men don't believe the spirit. But once they reach the castle it all starts to come true. Washizu is satisfied running the fort with his wife. His wife pushes him to be more ambitious. She wants him to rule the castle. Even that isn't enough for her. Her ambition brings disaster. I didn't like this movie as much as The Hidden Fortress. The wife is really creepy. She has these drawn on eyebrows that are almost to her hairline. Wednesday: Father is a Bachelor (1950)           Johnny is a performer who travels with a professor who sells ...

Tuesday: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)            A group of armed men take control of a subway in New York City. They hold the passengers as hostages. They contact the police in charge of the subways. They want one million dollars. If they don't get it in an hour they will start killing one hostage every minute until they do. The head of the subway police does all he can to negotiate with the men. He works to get them their money. The whole time trying to figure out how they plan to escape from a subway train underground. I thought this movie was good. Way better than the 2009 remake. I love the attitude of the New Yorkers on the train. Saying things like "Can you let me off at this station? I have an appointment." Totally unfazed, at first, about being held hostage. Or the woman who was passed out the whole time. Wednesday: The Hidden Fortress (1958)          This is a Japanese film. It is about two peasants n...

Monday: White Heat (1949)          Cody is a thief. He and his gang rob a train. They go into hiding until they can safely travel with the money. The cops have figured out that Cody did it. There is no way for him to not get caught. So he confesses to a lesser crime so he will have to do less time. The cops can't pin the robbery on Cody. They send in a cop to go undercover. The cop, Hank, becomes Cody's cellmate. He gets Cody to trust him and hopefully tell him where the stolen money is. Cody is very close with his mother. He also has psychological issues that are slowly making him crazy. When his mother dies he is pushed over the edge and things go downhill. This movie was good. I'm not really sure what psychological issue he was supposed to have. It looked like a mix between a migraine and a panic attack. Wednesday: Underwater! (1955)          Dominic and Johnny are scuba divers. They are diving off the coast of Cuba when they disc...

Tuesday: One Potato, Two Potato (1964)          Julie is a white woman who's husband left her and her daughter. When he didn't return she got a divorce. Some years later she met a kind black man named Frank. Their relationship starts off slow. They are friends first before they start having feelings for each other. Frank and Julie fall in love and get married. Julie and her daughter go to live with Frank at his parent's house. His parents are resistant to his marriage at first, but they come around. Then Julie's ex-husband, Joe, shows up. He want to spend time with his daughter. When he realizes that her step dad is black he is outraged. Joe doesn't want his daughter raised by black people. So he sues Julie for full custody. This movie does not have a happy ending. I thought this movie was ok. It's an important topic from the time when interracial marriage was still considered a major problem. It's just the acting is not very good. The actors who played Jul...

       I went to the first restaurant outside of Oregon on my list with my mom. It has been on my list for awhile. It is the Pink Adobe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Like most restaurants in New Mexico it was Mexican restaurant, with New Mexican dishes. We sat outside in the courtyard area. The back of it is surrounded by an adobe wall with wooden windows and a wooden door in it. There are hanging lights. The inside of the restaurant feels like an old adobe home. Most of the tables are by an adobe wall with a seat carved out of it. The adobe is painted with different patterns here and there. The ceiling is low. The Dragon Room bar is cool too. There are also hanging lights in there. We shared a Trio appetizer. It is tortilla chips with salsa, guacamole, and chile con queso. The queso was really good. Almost all the entrees have green chiles on them, even the burger. I got Steak and Enchiladas. It was good. A little spicy for me, but when I scrapped off the green chiles on...

Monday: Young Cassidy (1965)           John is a young man living in Dublin. He needs to work but his ideologies prevent him from keeping a job. He wants to fight the English to make Ireland free from English rule. John joins a army of local men to fight the English. Needing ideas for battle strategy he tries to steal books. The young woman who works at the shop, Nora, catches him. He doesn't put up a fight and gives the books back. Later she has the books sent to him. The fight is unsuccessful. John takes up writing. He gets closer to Nora. She encourages him. He turns to writing plays. His plays do ok in the beginning. They are controversial. Still his success comes later. I thought this movie was ok. Nora is played by Maggie Smith. I think this the youngest I've seen her. Tuesday: Von Ryan's Express (1965)            During WWII a pilot named Col. Ryan crashes in Italy. He is taken as a prisoner of war. The camp he goes to ha...