I ate at New Edokko again last night and it was the bomb. I wanted to get the same thing I got last time (mabo tofu) because it was so good and I have been craving it but I got the wanton men instead, which had bbqed pork and wontons in it, and it was soooo good. And I ate and ate and am still eating it for lunch today. GW got udon with a raw egg on it and that was really good, too.
I also saw Pan's Labyrinth and liked it a lot more than I expected to. The director, Guillermo Del Toro was on Fresh Air today and he's really rad. He has written a book on Hitchcock and says he feels a kinship with him because they are both "fat, Catholic and repressed". He also talked up Hellboy so passionately that I guess I will have to check it out.
I'm interested in what DB (and others) think about the Academy Award noms. I am sick of reading about how Dreamgirls got shut out. It's not even that good and I can't believe that people would argue that it is possibly one of the best movies of the year! It's a flawed movie with a lot of cool outfits in it, and that doesn't deserve an Oscar.
i'm psyched that ryan gosling is up for best actor. he won't get it, of course, but it's nice to get a major nod for such a great movie.
ReplyDeleteThat interview was great. it made me want to see that movie too.
ReplyDeleteHellboy (the film version) is mediocre at best. I really wanted to like it, but it didn't pull off what it was trying to do. I thought Mystery Men actually succeeded more in doing a similar thing, albeit in quite a bit different manner.
I only hope that Martin Scorsese gets an Oscar for Best Director. I mean, fuck. As for Dreamgirls, in the immortal words of Frank Booth, fuck that shit. An overrated musical about the Supremes starring an American Idol contestant? Yeah, that's a move I want to see ...
ReplyDeleteOn that Florin Road Edokko, it's the bomb? Do they have anything like the New Edokko's "stamina ramen," which contains enough rhinovirus-obliterating garlic to take out the entire vampire population of the Carpathian Mountains?
Also, pho joints: Haven't been to many in Sacto, but I do like Pho King 3 on Stockton Boulevard. Anyone else?
I agree that Scorcese needs to get at least one, if not two, Oscars this year; but I don't agree with the hating on Dreamgirls. I think it got just the nominations it deserved, no more no less. The costumes were tight, and you'd have to have a heart of stone not feel Jennifer Hudson in the break-up scene with Jamie Foxx. And Eddie Murphy was great! He delivered a perfomrance both funny and touching.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint was that Christian Bale didn't get nominated for the "hottest potrayal of a tortured magician ever" award.
-michele
I like Saigon.
ReplyDeleteSome other pho places on yelp:
http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=pho&find_loc=Sacramento%2C+CA&action_search.x=0&action_search.y=0&action_search=Search
Yea, Edokko II (aka Florin Rd. Edokko) is great. I usually stick to the simpler offerings like bbq pork ramen or the wonton ramen and have always been satisfied with price/portion/taste. They always have $2-3 off coupons in the Greenhaven/Pocket Monthly Shopper too...
ReplyDeletePresident,
Sacramento Appreciation Society of San Francisco
I ended up stopping by the new Mana two nights ago. I know folks here have said it was mediocre, but I guess I just had to see it for myself. I've had the cold from hell and I heard that they still sell the Challenge Ramen, so I had high hopes.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the worst ramen, but it was really bland. I told them to make it spicy, but it wasn't nearly spicy enough. Guess I should have taken other people's word for it.
JG, I wouldn't exactly call Dreamgirls overrated musical. Yes, it is a bloated spectacle with the thinest of plots and by-the-numbers character development. But that's true of 99.9% of musicals. If there were enough musicals being made in Hollywood, they would probably have to make up some kind of alternate award for them.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really appalling is that Little Miss Sunshine got an Oscar nom. I liked LMS a lot, and in fact I argued with people on this very thread when it came out, because they dismissed it as utter shit. LMS isn't utter shit, but it is by no means worthy of an Oscar. Maybe a nom for the screenplay, but best picture?
As for the Oscars, I'm just glad for Jackie Earle Haley. I mean, "Breaking Away" was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteOh, and it would be, er, sort of nice for Scorsese to finally win an Oscar. You don't want to have to wait around all your life, after a body of great work, to get an "honorary" one. Look what that did to Altman.
Jackie Earl Haley got a nom? That's so rad! I was really disturbed when I noticed that the tough kid from Bad News Bears was playing a sex offender. I felt bad for him, but now I don't.
ReplyDeleteI'm not hating on Dreamgirls, I just don't think it was anywhere near the best movie of the year. I was mad when Chicago won, too. I like musicals but I guess I just think you can't make a good modern one. It's like making new film noir, the time has passed for the genre and you can't really recreate what was so rad about it (do you hear me Soderbergh?).