Exploring Food and Movies

 Tuesday: Widow Clicquot (2024)      This is based on a true story. It is about when the Veuve Clicquot champagne family business started in the late 1700s. Barbe Nicole (I'm just going to call her Barbe for the rest of this) marries into the family. She falls deeply in love with Francois. He is a visionary, who also suffers from severe mental illness. He dies and leaves the vineyard to her. Barbe does her best to get it back on its feet.  She wants to continue Francois' work and develop new kinds of wine. There are many obstacles in her way. In the end she finds success and the legacy of their wine lives on. I thought this movie was good. There is a lot of back and forth between when Francois is alive and after he dies.  Wednesday: The Luzhin Defence (2000)       Natalia in on vacation with her mother at a resort in Italy next to a lake in the 1920s. Her mother is trying to set her up with a wealthy bachelor. The resort is also hosting a che...

      Tuesday I went with one of my best friends and her fiance to 1927 S'mores Company for dessert. It is on SW Alder. There is a public parking lot as well as some street parking. It is very small. It is decorated like a national park lodge. The walls are stone. There are lanterns, smokey bear stuffed animals, a canoe used as shelves, and more to make it feel like a lodge near campgrounds. The menu is in the shape of a national parks sign with the same font. They have unique s'mores that change each season. The marshmallows are different flavors like whiskey or espresso paired with other unique flavors. I ended up getting the s'mores parfait. Which had a graham cracker base, chocolate mousse, and vanilla marshmallow fluff on top. It was good, but small. My friend got the same as me. Her fiance ended up getting a normal s'mores. He said it was good. For a place specializing in unique s'mores I thought they would be bigger or something. But they're normal size a...

      I was able to go to three places on my list last Monday. I went with one of my best friends and her fiance. We started out by playing mini golf at Wonderwood Mini Golf. It's in the St. John's neighborhood. There is also a coffee shop and restaurant next door that is connected to it. All the art work is done by the same guy. It's a very unique cartoon style. The mini golf course is small, only 9 holes. Each hole is a different theme with his artwork. The holes themselves are different. One hole is on a disc under the green that rotates. Another is cheese themed so there are several holes. If you look in them some have wooden planks blocking the ball from going through saying things like "nope" or "wrong". There is a very small one that has the tee on top of a wooden box. You have to stand on a stool to try and hit it. It then goes through small wooden posts, then down to a narrow strip to the hole. As you play you can search for a different bug at e...

 Tuesday: Fruitvale Station (2013)        This is based on a true story. It is about the last day a young man named Oscar lives before being killed. Oscar was a young black man living in he the Bay Area. We learn a little about his past. He had done time in prison and sold drugs. But he was doing his best to turn that around. He spent that day trying to get his job back and helping his mom with the New Years Eve party that was happening that night. Oscar was also trying to be a good father to his little girl and patch things up with his girlfriend. They planned to go into San Fransisco and see the fireworks. To make it easier they decided to ride the train. The ride back was when everything went wrong. I thought this movie was good. It starts out with the real footage of what happened to Oscar. It was the first film by Ryan Coogler who went on to direct the Black Panther and Creed movies. Which also star Michael B. Jordan (Oscar). Thursday: Weird Science (1985) ...

 Tuesday: Call Northside 777 (1948)         This movie is inspired by a true story. A man named Frank is sent to prison for killing a cop. Elven years later an ad is put in the paper by Frank's mom. She wants to prove his innocence and has set a reward. P.J., a journalist, is told to interview her and write an article. P.J. is skeptical and believes Frank killed the cop. His first article is a hit and his editor wants him to follow the story. As he continue to investigate he starts to doubt if Frank is guilty or not. The closer he gets to an answer the more interface he gets on all sides. I thought this movie was good. It was the first movie filmed on location in Chicago. Friday: The Bikeriders (2024)        This movie is based on a book written by a photographer who followed the bike gang around. Kathy meets her friend at a bar to lend her money. It turns out it is a biker bar. While there she meets Benny. At first she wants nothing to do wi...

 Tuesday: The Smiling Ghost (1941)       Lucky is an engineer who is struggling to make ends meet. He gets hired to pretend to be the fiance of an heiress, Elinor. Elinor is believed to be cursed. Her last three fiances have been killed or seriously injured. Her family wants to prove that there is no curse. So Lucky must pretend to be her fiance for a month and survive. Once at her house he learns that there are some who believe that a ghost, known as the Smiling Ghost, is responsible for harming the other fiances. Lucky soon finds himself in danger. He ends up working with a reporter, Lil, to get to the bottom of what is really happening. I thought this movie was alright. Friday: Inside Out 2 (2024)        Riley is now a teenager and about to enter high school. She goes to a weekend hockey camp. It could affect her making the high school team. While there she has to deal with the pressure of trying to be a top player and personal friendships. Ins...

 Tuesday: Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023)        Ruby and her family are krakens. They are living on land and pretending to be humans. Ruby does her best to fit in in high school. She wants to go to prom with her friends. But it is being held on a boat on the ocean. Her mom forbids her from going in the water. One day she falls in and discovers what happens. Soon she meets her uncle and her grandmother who live in the ocean. She learns more about being a kraken and where she comes from. At the same time a new student arrives at school. She reveals herself to Ruby as being a mermaid. They have a lot in common, but not in the way Ruby thinks. I thought this movie was alright. It's cute. Wednesday: Music From Another Room (1998)         After losing his mother Danny, who is five, spends Thanksgiving with his father and his mom's best friend, Grace. Grace is heavily pregnant and goes into labor. Danny's dad is a surgeon and is able to deliver...