Sundance 2008 + The Savages

It's been a while since the last blog post, so here's a recap of the most recent movie and food doings. We cruised out to Sundance during opening weekend a couple of weeks ago to catch the happenings. The New Frontier Film Lounge on Main was really cool. My favorite piece in there was a piece by Daniel Rozin. The wooden pegs as an image screen is one of the single most incredible pieces of technology I have ever seen. The technology coupled with the organic wood was a fantastic juxtaposition.

Movie-wise we caught two films. We saw the Shorts Program V of which Isabella Rossellini had 3 called Green Porno. I believe all of the short films will be available on iTunes. The most dramatic, and overall best, of the program we saw was August 15th by Xuan Jiang. The film follows a fateful bus ride that is robbed by two men who subsequently rape one of the passengers. Her drastic actions at the end of the film bring it to its tragic and difficult moral conclusion. When this one finished, during the silence of the credits, someone in the audience simply said "great", and that was all that needed to be said.

We also caught Anvil: The Story of Anvil. This documentary about the almost forgotten, but nonetheless important and influential heavy metal band Anvil, garnered a standing ovation from the audience. I think this speaks for itself. I hope this gets distributed. Not only does this legendary band need a break (they are still together after 30 years!) but it's a moving and touching film. Imagine if Metallica weren't a bunch of whiney cry babies in Some Kind of Monster and you actually cared. This is that movie.

Tonight we caught the Savages with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. The film was an accurate portrayal of the difficulties and hardships of having a parent in a nursing home that is dying with dementia. I've said it before, Hoffman is one of the great actors of our time, as is Linney. Her Oscar nod is deserved, but I don't think her performance will cut it against the cinema stealing prowess of Ellen Page. But this isn't about Juno, it's about the Savages, and I would recommend it. Perhaps my favorite scene was of Linney's character having an intellectual fight with the man she is having an affair with. The combination of such a sad and pathetic situation with the obvious intelligence of both characters lent a new face to the age old 'sleeping with a married man' scenario.

On to the recipe:

Asian Slaw
1/2 of a napa cabbage chopped
1 carrot matchsticked
1/2 a red bell pepper julienned
1/4 of a red onion diced
small handful of cilantro chopped
dash of red pepper flakes

dressing:
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T lime juice
2 T sugar
3/4 tsp. salt (I use more salt because I don't use fish sauce)

Blend dressing and pour over the other ingredients. You can use any vegetables you like, but those are what I had on hand.

5 Word Movie Reviews

Here we go:

Stardust - fantasy plus comedy equals winner
Charlie Wilson's War - good movie, and hoffman rules
Simpson's Movie - decent funny 2 hour episode
Spiderman 3 - what? less dance more venom
Live Free or Die Hard - surprisingly kick ass, yippee kiyaye

I made a coconut soup last night. not quite the soup from noodles and co. i was going for, but oh well:

2 cups vegetable broth
1 can lite coconut milk
2/3 block of tofu cubed
1/4 of an onion chopped
1 cup nappa cabbage chopped
1 T soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 clove garlic minced
3-4 T lime juice (to taste)
1 tsp sriracha
cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 T curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 tomato sliced
rice noodles cooked, rinsed, and kept in drainer

Cook onion, garlic, and ginger for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add curry powder, coat. add the rest of the ingredients (except cilantro) and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Taste to make sure flavors combined, add anything that is missing.

Put noodles in the bottom of bowl and ladle soup over top. Put cilantro on top to garnish.

Enjoy!