This year we hosted the first seder (SEE HERE), but my Mom cooked the second. That means a very high bar of quality. Parker 91 for the 2001 Opus One. “Tasted twice Deep garnet-black colour. Still a lot of primary…
April rolls around and it’s seder time again, the ritual dinner celebrating the exodus from Egypt. As usual, things have to be done in full Gavin style. Various ingredients. There are all sorts of traditional requirements to this meal, the…
The Hillel Sandwich is a a traditional passover specialty. Simple in concept, it is a potent and delectable seasonal item. The base is matzah, unleavened bread (cracker-like). Seder participants recall the slavery that reigned during the first half of the night…
Restaurant: Sotto [1, 2, 3] Location: 9575 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 310.277.0210 Date: April 16, 2011 Cuisine: Sicilian and Sardinian Italian Rating: Bold flavors, off to a great start! ANY CHARACTER HERE This new venture into the crowded…
Restaurant: Bastide Location: 8475 Melrose Pl, West Hollywood, CA 90069 323.651.5950 Date: April 14, 2011 Cuisine: Cal French Rating: Good, but a little uneven. ANY CHARACTER HERE For the April Foodie Club meeting, following hot on the heels of the March…
Restaurant: Sushi Zo Location: 9824 National BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90034. (310) 842-3977 Date: April 8, 2011 Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi Rating: Top warm rice style sushi. LA is a sushi town. I eat a lot of sushi (just take a look at…
Shameless is Showtime’s latest entry in the “edgy comedy” category, a slot they’re fond of (Weeds, Dexter). In any case, Shameless is an American remake of a British show, and centers around a working class Chicago family with an extraordinarily bad and alcoholic father named Frank (William H. Macy) and a bevy of often delinquent children and associated hangers on.
Pecorino stands out as slightly different among Brentwood Italians due to its focus on the food of Abruzzo.
Really this is barely a time travel movie. Basically Marty just pops back to 1885 to save Doc from being shot by Biff’s great-grandfather (again played by the same actor). The DeLorean has run out of gas… in 1885, so they have to figure out how to get it up to 88 miles an hour.
Restaurant: JiRaffe [1, 2] Location: 502 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401. 310.917.6671 Date: April 1, 2011 Cuisine: French American Rating: Santa Monica Classic To me, it seems JiRaffe has been here forever. It opened in 1996, and to have made it…
Following up on such a gem of a movie as 1985’s Back to the Future (my review here) must have been a daunting task. And it occasioned part II and part III being filmed together, and released only 6 months apart. As far as I know this was the first time this kind of joint production was ever done.
As a writer, feedback can be essential to the process. You don’t necessarily want to spend months writing the whole novel draft to find out the voice sucks, or that your plot is boring. I’m a frantic high energy writer (I…
HBO has posted a new 25 minute Making of Game of Thrones video which is really good. CLICK here for my review of Episode 1 of the upcoming series, or HERE for more videos about the series.
Because this is a few years before Top Gun would precipitate the precipitous marketing-driven decline of filmmaking, BTTF is simultaneously incredibly commercial and incredibly good. This script, by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, is tight tight tight. I can only imagine how many passes it underwent because there is not one line out of place. You all know the story…
This new addition to the field of video game histories is a whirlwind tour of the medium from the 70s blips and blobs to the Facebook games of today, with everything in the middle included. Goldberg has wisely chosen to snapshot pivotal stories. He seizes on some of the most important games, and even more importantly, the zany cast of creatives who made them.
26 years really doesn’t show on this film. Sure the DVD transfer is a bit dated, and there are little 80s stylistic moments, particularly out in california, and it’s a tad goofier than movies tend to be now — but this is Rob Reiner in his good period.
Restaurant: Xino [1, 2] Location: 395 Santa Monica Pl, Ste 308, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 755-6220 Date: April 1, 2011 Cuisine: Modern Dim sum Rating: Ordered lighter this time for a delicious and reasonable meal. Another gorgeous 78 degree LA day, with that perfect mix…
For those of you living in a hole, it’s based on the stunning (and huge) series of novels by George R. R. Martin called the Song of Ice and Fire. The TV series is named after the first volume, Game of Thrones, and the first season covers the first novel. Currently there are four books to the series, with a fifth due this July.
