Leo is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

The movie looks and sounds awesome. The story, as any good thriller should, makes you wanna know what in tarnations is going on.  I liked almost everything about  Shutter Island, and I wish more big budget studio movies were as daring as it was.

My only complaint, and it’s a big one, is that very similar unraveling sanity plots have been done before, and I think done better (The Machinist and A Tale of Two Sisters, for example).   Perhaps I’d have been completely wowed if I’d seen it ten years ago or had I not seen the “big twist” coming since I saw the trailers for this movie months ago. It might have been a 5 star mind-blower of OMFG proportions.  Sadly, neither of these are true.

Still, the journey is always what matters most, right?  Some of the clues to what’s really going on along the way are subtle and clever – in the opening moments, I pondered why the agent from Seattle spoke with a thick Boston accent.  Others are a bit confusing – I’m still baffled by a mental patient pantomiming drinking a glass of water with an empty hand and then setting the empty glass down in the next shot.  No idea.

There seems to be a split amongst viewers in terms of Teddy’s insanity/sanity. I interpret his final line in the way it would make the most satisfying end to his story – That he is indeed insane and over the course of the film has been made aware of this fact. He murdered his wife after she murdered their children, and rather than live with the awful truth, he is choosing to be lobotomized so that he can be at peace. So while the twist doesn’t give much bang for its buck, the ultimate resolution almost makes up for it with an emotional punch in the gut.

Shutter Island will be released on DVD and BluRay on June 8, 2010. The movie is based on the novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

Behold, the pineapple and wild boar pizza!

Pineapple and Wild Boar *cough* bacon *cough* pizza

Ingredients

1 cup pizza sauce (recommended: Dei Fratelli)
1 recipe pizza dough (I like the frozen stuff by Tiseo’s)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 oz. parmesan cheese, shredded
6 slices of boar bacon, fried and chopped (or regular bacon, if that’s all you can find…)
1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/8 cup dried pineapple
1 green onion, chopped
olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. I like to use cast iron pans to cook my pizza, but use whatever you like best or have on hand – pizza stone, cookie sheet, pizza pan, etc. Slather your vessel with olive oil.
3. Roll and stretch the dough into a 12-14″ circle and place on your greased pizza vessel.
4. Slather with sauce, stopping about 1″ from the edge of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan evenly over the top, followed by the bacon, tomato, pineapple and green onion.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes or ’til golden brown and bubbly.
7. Slather generously with ranch dressing.

And jerked chicken and goat cheese pizza for the baconphobes.

Jerked Chicken and Goat Cheese pizza

Ingredients

1 cup pizza sauce (recommended: Dei Fratelli)
1 recipe pizza dough (I like the frozen stuff by Tiseo’s)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 oz. parmesan cheese, shredded
1 jerked chicken breast, grilled and chopped
1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 oz. goat cheese
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. I like to use cast iron pans to cook my pizza, but use whatever you like best or have on hand – pizza stone, cookie sheet, pizza pan, etc. Slather your vessel with olive oil.
3. Roll and stretch the dough into a 12-14″ circle and place on your greased pizza vessel.
4. Slather with sauce, stopping about 1″ from the edge of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan evenly over the top, followed by the chicken, goat cheese, tomato and red onion.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes or ’til golden brown and bubbly.
7. Slather generously with ranch dressing.

For dessert, a tropical fruit trifle

Tropical Island Trifle

Ingredients

1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (9 inch) angel food cake, roughly chopped
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla
pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
3 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
2 small mangos, peeled and sliced
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and diced

1. Mix instant pudding and cold milk per package instructions and let set.
2. In a large bowl, mix the whipping cream and powdered sugar, and then whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. Mix prepared pudding and sour cream, and then gently fold in whipped cream mixture.
4. Line a large serving bowl with half of the strawberries and all of the kiwi slices.
5. Cover with 1/3 of the cake pieces, followed by 1/3 of the pudding/cream mixture.
6. Layer half of the pineapple and all of the mango slices, followed by 1/3 of the cake pieces and 1/3 of the pudding/cream mixture.
7. Top with the remaining strawberries and pineapple, followed by the remaining cake and pudding/cream mixture.
8. Top with a few strawberries and kiwi slices.
9. Slather generously with ranch dressing (Okay, not really.)

Notes: The trifle tastes best if you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, but it will get soggy overnight, so I recommend only making as much as you can eat in one sitting.

Bon Appetit, namaste

Jimmy Smits is a hotshot lawyer who plays by his own rules… but he gets results! I’m glad to see that NBC is going for a fresh take on the courtroom drama. I haven’t seen a hotshot lawyer play by his own rules like this since every other courtroom drama on tv (plus House is the same thing, just set in a hospital). It also reveals the conclusion of the pilot in the trailer, which seems like a dumb move. There’s a moment where, as Jimmy Smits is loose-cannoning around his apartment, he is slapping a baseball bat against his palm for no good reason. For a split second, I thought it was a gigantic black dildo. That was the best part of this trailer.

Fail

Chase

This is a straightforward US Marshals show. They intend the hook to be the hard boiled female lead, but this is not a hook. At this point, it’s a cliche.

Fail

Harry’s Law

Kathy Bates is a hotshot lawyer who plays by her own rules… but she gets results! The opening of this trailer is awesome (what’s not to like about Kathy Bates tootin’ on a big ol’ hogleg?), but it starts to lose me when it says “from the creator of Ally McBeal”. And what’s with these lawyer shows revealing the end of the pilot? They’re basically just letting you know that every episode will be completely predictable.

Close Pass

The Cape

I don’t even know what to say about this one… a superhero trained by secret underground circus folk, with a magical cape that he uses as a weapon. The idea that his family wouldn’t recognize him in his superhero get up would be a lot easier to swallow if the show were called The Mask.

Fail

School Pride

It’s Extreme Home Makeover for schools. I’m not into that show, but this seems like a better premise for people that are into that kind of thing. Also, mold is gross, so I’ll give a pass to any show that involves network money being spent on mold removal.

Pass

I’m moist with anticipation for the season finale of The Mentalist. I’ve been waiting for another crack at that dastardly Do-No-Gooder, Red John, since the season one finale. You don’t even know how bad I want that bastard behind bars.

Or should I say… that BITCH.

And that’s where we get to the spoilerish speculation. I’ve had this theory since last season’s finale that Red John is a woman. In a The Usual Suspects style twist, I thought it would be revealed that Rosalind Harker is Red John.

If you’re rusty on your Mentalist history, the season one finale introduced Harker (Alicia Witt), a blind woman who had dated Red John. Of course her blindness makes her incapable of describing “him” physically. I was hoping it was all a ruse, that her blindness was a hoax so well done that she fooled even Patrick Jane. Who would expect the quiet, blind, pianist?

I started doubting my theory towards the end of season two. Worse, I started doubting that the show could resolve and/or develop the Red John situation to my satisfaction. I was worse than right. I was wrong.

I happened to catch the trailer for the season 2 finale, and it all fell into place. Remember last year when supposed psychic Kristina Frye (Leslie Hope) told Jane that his daughter died peacefully in her sleep? What at the time seemed like an attempt to give Jane some peace was actually an admission that she is the killer!

Need more proof?

• Last week, Hightower referred to Frye as “the blond”, and I immediately launched into a five minute tirade about her hair being far more red than blond, how dare she refer to it as blond, blah blah blah. Duh.
• She’s the only person that has come close to rivaling Jane’s intellect and cunning.
• Jane asked her out. Oh, the painful, painful irony.
• She’s been hiding in plain sight since early on, making her first appearance in the 7th episode, which is necessary for a satisfying reveal.
• Tim said, “Maybe she’s Red John,” during last week’s episode, but apparently I didn’t hear him. I was probably still ranting about her hair being red.

All of Red John’s accomplices so far have been women, which acts as both a misdirection (all of the accomplices refer to Red John as a man) and foreshadowing that Red John is actually female.

I am tempted to immediately drop to my knees in fealty to the almighty writers of The Mentalist, ye who have crafted such a kickass mystery and deftly written the subtle sleight-of-hand required to pull it off, but I don’t want to jinx it.

As a fan of J.J. Abrams, I was looking forward to this one the most. Unfortunately, I was already saying “meh” at the 10 second mark. Too cheesy. Then I got to “sexspionage” and I kinda wanted to throw up.

Fail

Friends With Benefits

I was pleasantly surprised at the beginning, but less so as the trailer went on. I’m a fan of Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, Party Down), not so much when it comes to Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), though a comedy should suit him better than a drama.

Pass

Outsourced

The lead actor is weak. The jokes are dumb – intentionally I’m sure, but dumb all the same.

Fail

Love Bites

The voice over (and hair) left me cringing. It seems to be going for a Sex and the City type vibe. Ugh. (Tim says: Having a penis, I was not even remotely interested. Lex says: Having a vagina, I was not even remotely interested.)

Fail

Perfect Couples

Despite myself, this one made me laugh. More than once.

Pass

Paul Reiser Show

I don’t even have to watch the trailer. The name says it all. I’d honestly prefer a remake of My Two Dads.

Fail

The Event

I’m not expecting a lot from this after being severely disappointed by both V and FlashForward, but the trailer piqued my interest which is all you can really hope for with a trailer.

Pass

FUCK YES!

I can sleep well tonight knowing Sandra won.

To be honest, I was pretty convinced Parvati was going to win again once they showed the first few votes during tribal council.

Okay, back to what I was thinking…

– Colby crying was one of the funniest Survivor moments since Boo sliced himself with an axe, got something in his eye, and fell out of the hammock in the course of one afternoon.

– Can we please get rid of the damned Final Passage? Ten minutes of cheesy slow motion flashbacks is too much.

– (When Russell voted Jerri out instead of Parvati:) Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I hate Parvati.

– Parvati says she’s put her “heart and soul into this game.” MAYBE IF SHE HAD A SOUL.

– Three of the best bullshitters (and I mean that as a compliment) made it to the final tribal council this season. Ultimately, Russell is the weakest… while he at least tried to exercise some humility this time around, it probably won’t be enough to get him the votes. Russell is the kind of cat that hunts the mouse and then wants to play with it instead of killing it, and no one will vote for you after you tortured them and then gloated about it.

What’s with the gooey black stuff coming off of Locke here?

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have apparently quit doing interviews between now and the finale, but they did a good one with Alan Sepinwall a few days ago that is worth reading. Here is a little taste:

Damon Lindelof: In terms of what Jacob allowed, what he didn’t allow, what The Others did of their own volition, with Ben basically saying “This came down from Jacob” is all in the area that is subject to interpretation purposely. What our intention was is that there is a repeating vicious cycle that seems to happen on this island, where people come to the island, they try to figure out what makes the island work, and the closer they came leads them to their own inevitable demise.

Check out the rest here.

To move on to remembering some of the fonder moments, we start with a sweet Hurley montage. His epitaph will read “Hugo ‘Hurley’ Reyes. He said ‘dude.’ A lot.”

And last but not least, my favorite moment in Lost history. I suppose this gem could work pretty well on a gravestone, too.