Movie Madness: The Lego Movie (2014)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven't seen it, TURN AWAY NOW.

With that said...

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.

I was incredibly impressed by this movie. Lego always surprises me with their good sense of humor about their own company, and this film shows that in a few "meta" (i.e. self-referential) ways that amused me.

The film is about a simple Lego construction worker named Emmet (played by Chris Pratt, who I love on Parks and Recreation). He's simple and kind, but he doesn't really stand out in any way. One day at work, however, he runs across a girl named Wyldstyle (played by Elizabeth Banks) who is looking for a specific Lego piece; the "Piece of Resistance". Emmet stumbles upon it and learns of a prophecy in which he is the "Special" that is destined to stop Lord Business (played by Will Ferrell) from using the "Kragle" (a dangerous super weapon) against the world.

I didn't expect to cry when I saw this. And I mean... I'm a huge crybaby. I'm very emotional and I swear people should use me in focus groups for films if only for my deep empathetic nature. But towards the end of the film, it REALLY takes a turn that I should've expected but somehow didn't. This starts as a silly comedy about Legos and turns into a film about the relationship between a son and father. The child's perception of his father is completely heartbreaking and sobering, and though I have no children yet I still shuddered at the thought of any of my future children seeing me in such a light.

I was also kind of surprised by how dark some of the turns in this movie were. I mean when (SPOILER ALERT) Bad Cop's parents were frozen in the Kragle and (SPOILER ALERT) Vitruvius was BEHEADED? Oh wow. I kind of just gaped at the screen in shock. I mean I know they're Legos, but damn.

The movie was filled with MANY wonderful cameos, and I'm about to ruin some of them for you (although if you're still reading and haven't avoided the spoiler alert warnings, then you obviously don't care if I ruin them). Will Arnett was glorious as Batman, Liam Neeson was delightful as Bad Cop/Good Cop and I kept giggling at the thought of him in the recording booth. And I love Charlie Day so when I realized he was Benny the "1980-something space guy" and he kept screaming "SPACESHIP" at the end, I lost it (along with the last of any dignity I had). There are quite a few notable voices in this and I won't give a shout out to all of them, but hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea of what to expect.

I don't care if you're an adult or a kid, you should give this film a shot. There are many jokes that are obviously pointed at the Lego company in general, and then they talk about those who can build things with any Legos and those who need instructions (meeeee).

If you have any requests or suggestions, leave a comment or send me an email! We're expected to get some more snow around here tonight so if I end up not having work tomorrow I may have a bit of a slow day. (And I'm already planning a nice movie review for tomorrow anyway; it'll actually be a double-movie madness day!)

xo, Kate

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Fries!

So today I made the breakfast of the gods. Or uh, the breakfast of me.

I'm not really a breakfast kind of person. I like skipping straight to lunch or dinner. And when I DO eat breakfast foods, it's at dinner time. Yeah, I'm that person. Also I'm going to the movies today (which I'll review tomorrow!) and then going to stay with my parents for the night, so I wanted to blog this before I went out.

(By the way, as I blog this I'm watching The Guild on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, go now! It's still on YouTube too. It's great.)

(This is the season I'm currently on, too. And Felicia Day is one of the cutest people in the world.)

But okay, onto food!

ingredients

• your favourite kind of fries (I used about 1/4 of the bag)
• 1 cup of Daiya cheddar shreds
• 1 Gardein chick'n scallopini, shredded
• 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (or more if you're a HUGE fan of spice)*
• 1 Tbsp snipped chives

*Note: CHECK THE INGREDIENTS OF YOUR BUFFALO SAUCE. A lot of them have milk in it!

instructions:

1. Cook fries according to the package instructions.
2. While fries are cooking, cook the scallopini according to the package instructions. (I cooked it with canola oil spray so it wouldn't get too greasy, and I cooked it for about 3 minutes on each side.) When the scallopini is done being cooked, wait for it to cool and then shred it (use two forks).
3. In a small bowl, mix the shredded chick'n, buffalo sauce, and chives. Microwave for 30 seconds and mix again.
4. When fries are done cooking, move the oven rack closer to the broiler. Pour 1/2 cup of cheese on them, then the chick'n mixture, then the rest of the cheese.
5. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes (I did it for a minute and a half but you may need to do it for a shorter/longer amount of time depending on the strength of your oven, so keep an eye on it).
6. Gently transfer to a plate with two spatulas and enjoy!

Mmmmm, fries.

I originally had 1/2 cup Daiya cheddar in the recipe but then I decided to add a bit more once I saw how little 1/2 cup actually seemed.

Gardein products are AMAZING. I love the scallopini.

Let's take a second to appreciate the cute spatula I have.

The shredded chick'n.

Yeah, it's not the prettiest. I was just thinking the other day about how a lot of the food I cook isn't "pretty", but hopefully the tastes speak for themselves.

(I forgot to take a picture of when I added the other 1/2 cup of cheese because I was excited about food.)

Ta da! Fries!

Hope you guys enjoyed this! If you have any suggestions, leave a comment or send me an email.

xo, Kate

The Elvis Sandwich

Now, I was never really an Elvis fan. I like a lot of classic rock and you'd think I'd have all of his songs on my iPod, but no. And I kind of hate that I can't really appreciate how revolutionary he was in the music business considering it's so vulgar now. (And I am by no means a prude, but oh my goodness.)

But I guess I can appreciate his culinary taste, because this sandwich is amazing. I've never had it until today. I stayed home from work because I've been feeling a bit under the weather, so naturally the solution is to make something like comfort food, right? (I'll admit that my stomach already regrets eating this while being sick. But at the same time I have no regrets because it was delicious.)

Look who I've had staying with me for the last few days though.

"Mommy, mommy! I'm using the internet!"

(I'm still sleeping on the couch, my bedroom ceiling still hasn't been fixed. Ugh. But at least Catsby has been stickin' around with me.)

So let's get to this block of deliciousness. But don't worry, it won't clog your heart as much as a non-vegan one would, so there's that! Sugar aside, this is actually a pretty powerful protein meal!

Now there are a few different variations of this sandwich. There's a whole Wikipedia page on the subject, in fact, but I went with one that I personally thought sounded the most appealing.

ingredients:

• two slices of your favourite bread (I used a nice potato bread)
• two slices of Lightlife Smart "Bacon"
• your favourite peanut butter (measurements are based on your personal preference)
• half of a banana, sliced
• some Earth Balance (about a Tablespoon's worth)
• optional: a splash of agave nectar

The mise en place!

instructions:

1. In a separate small pan, cook the bacon. Cook on each side for about two minutes, and once it's done put it on a piece of paper towel to drain any "grease".
2. Once the bacon is done, butter the bread. 
3. Put a little bit of butter in the pan and let it warm and bubble a tiny bit.
4. Put one of the slices on the pan and gently put peanut butter on it. (Any amount you want; if you're a peanut butter fan, go nuts! I know I did.)
5. Gently stack the slices of banana on top of the peanut butter.
6. After the banana, stack on the bacon.
7. Finally, add the splash of agave nectar.
8. Let the sandwich brown on each side and flip occasionally. Some people might like theirs darker or lighter than others. I did mine on each side for about five minutes on a medium heat.
9. Serve and enjoy!

In my pre-vegan days, I was never a fan of bacon. I never ate any pork products as I was heavily influenced by the movie 'Babe' and the book/movie 'Charlotte's Web'. After I saw those in my childhood, I decided to never eat anything that came from a pig. (To this day they're one of my favourite animals and I still hope to have one someday.) 

Despite not being a bacon fan back in the day, I actually tend to really like this stuff. The smell of pork bacon makes me desperately ill (as my boyfriend and his mother can vouch for; I need to leave the first floor and wait until the entire floor is Febreeze-d before I can come back downstairs) but this is nice and not nearly as greasy. 

Some people, when they grill sandwiches, only butter the bread. And some only butter the pan. I do both. Mmmm, double butter.

Look at that peanut butter. Mmmmmm. It ended up getting really watery at the end, but that might've been because I used a frozen banana and not a fresh one.

I know I said the agave nectar was optional, but really I think you're missing out if you don't add it on. Honestly I wish I had added more. It adds a nice hit of sweetness that compliments the bacon.

Flipping this was a little nervewracking. Only because there's SO MUCH on it and because the peanut butter gets a little "slippery". I used two spatulas to flip it but honestly if you're a brave soul you could probably get away with one.

Heaven on a plate.

That BACON though.

I hope you all enjoyed this! It's definitely not as unhealthy as it would be if you made it with actual bacon. In fact, I thought this was still going to be a lot greasier than it was. It's still a bit messy from the peanut butter though, so be prepared with an army of napkins!

Hope you're all doing well! If you have any food requests, feel free to send me an email! I'll do what I can!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012)

So today I'm not really feeling well. I'm not working today (thank goodness), so I've been on the couch watching stuff on Netflix in my spare time.

This is a movie you don't want to watch by yourself. Oh no, this is the kind of movie you watch with a big group of people while you're casually drinking. This is not a movie you watch by yourself or while you're sober.

'Attack of the 50 Year Foot Cheerleader' feels like it's trying to be one of those 80s "college films". You know, kind of in the camp of 'Revenge of the Nerds'. Except without any lovable characters or endearing wit.

Cassie (played by Jena Sims) is an awkward, nerdy girl that's trying to get on the college cheerleading squad. She injects herself with an experimental drug that makes her beautiful and athletic, and obviously there are gonna be some negative consequences.

This movie is gross on so many levels. There's a whole sequence at a sorority party in which the new pledges do a "canine challenge" and these girls let themselves get dragged around on leashes and fetch tennis balls? I mean is this what college is supposed to be like? Ew. The feminist in me was really hoping that the protagonist would fight against this and be like "NO STOP TREAT WOMEN LIKE PEOPLE" but no. She seemingly gives up her intelligence and dignity in order to please the masses. This movie brings out the worst stereotypes of my generation and amplifies them by one hundred percent. Ugh.

My boyfriend was half-watching this while playing video games and he jokingly said, "This is basically softcore porn. I mean this is porn acting". And I totally agree. It's just so cheesy. It's such a B-movie.

Maybe I would've had more fun with this if I had watched it with a big group of people, but by myself this is just a waste of time. Ugh.

Also, Jena Sims kind of reminds me of Alicia Silverstone. Except she's not as good of an actress, I guess.

If you REALLY want to watch this train wreck it's available on Netflix, but I'd avoid it if I were you.

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: Haunter (2013)

For those of you who are new or who don't actually know me, let me make something perfectly clear. I'm a movie snob. If I had to be more specific though, I'd put that movie snob emphasis on the horror genre.

Did you ever have a dream when you were young? I bet you did. There was probably a few half-cooked ideas lingering in your brain, ideas of grandeur. You probably wanted to be an astronaut or a writer or a veterinarian. And, like most childhood dreams, you probably put these ideas away on a shelf. You were stopped by money or time or yourself, so you hid these sad little dreams away and let them fade away.

I had quite a few of those. One of them was to be a film director. I wanted to make a wide variety of films, but I always wanted to specialize in horror. As with many, it started with Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. After seeing that film for the first time, I couldn't shower for over a week. I developed habits that eventually turned into lifelong quirks (locking the bathroom door even if I was alone, turning on the light before entering a room, etc). And though that movie scarred me for a brief period of time, it taught me so much about horror. So in the back of my head, there are a thousand ideas for terrifying pictures but for now they'll stay in my head. And I'll try to show others some "good" horror films. They're rare and rather hard to find, though.

The people I know seem to either love or hate Abigail Breslin. I happen to be a fan, and I think she's going down the positive road that Dakota Fanning did - cute kid, talented adult. (Thank god she's staying away from the Lindsay Lohan track, child stars with wrecked lives make me terribly sad.) You may know her from her first "breakout" role in 'Little Miss Sunshine', and more recently she was incredible in 'The Call'.

I happened upon 'Haunter' through Netflix. Bless Netflix. I'd say it's definitely the best luxury in my life at the moment. I never understand these complaints about how it's too much money or how people can never find anything to watch? I'm having the opposite problem, I've completely filled my queue!

I went into this with some hesitance. I'm always wary of any horror films, but especially the more recent ones. People really like to be flashy and they keep trying to outdo themselves when in reality it's the simplicity of imagination that truly scars people. While I don't mind the occasional monster, I prefer to be left in the dark. I prefer to frighten myself. I don't know why so many directors insist on giving themselves more work by creating such intricate monsters when just a simple flash of flesh or a quiet noise in the dark will give you a greater effect.

This film surprised me. It's definitely not a classic, let me emphasize that right now. There are large flaws within this film. But I expected this to be a stinker, so this is still far above my expectations.

Lisa (Breslin) is living the same day over and over again. Think 'Groundhog Day' but with more death and crazy paranormal stuff. As she realizes that she has died, she goes on to discover how she died and fights to get herself and her family out of this never ending day.

Now, I really like slow films. But there are times where things need to move. Where things need to actually progress. This film is just a smidge too slow in the beginning. I like the Groundhog Day concept but we get it, okay? You don't have to do it over and over and over again. We GET IT.

Breslin does a wonderful job as a desperate woman trying to wake her family up and show them the truth of their deaths. But honestly, her acting was pretty much the only incredible thing about this film. No one else really "stands out" and the slow yet interesting idea of this film is not strong enough to float on its own.

I recommend seeing it once if you're a fan of horror films just to gain some perspective on the genre, but overall I feel as though this is going to be a forgettable film for me.

Have a movie you want me to review? Leave a comment or send me an email!

xo, Kate

An accidental Toby Jones marathon.

I have accidentally fallen in love with Toby Jones.

Last night, I rewatched 'Captain America: The First Avenger' when I came home from work. That movies gets me incredibly worked up, and one day I'll write a detailed review of that.

But boy, do I love Toby Jones.

If you've seen the movie, you'll probably know that he plays Arnim Zola, a supervillain from the Marvel comic book universe. He'll be reprising the role in 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' as well.

But today I watched another movie of his. This seems like a weird choice to watch, especially in the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, but I had DVR-ed 'Infamous', another film in which we follow Truman Capote in his quest to write the book In Cold Blood.

As I expected, Toby Jones seems to slip into Capote's shoes effortlessly. One can't help but compare and contrast Jones' performance and Hoffman's. They're both fantastic and they're both different. So as hard as it may seem, try your best to remain unbiased if you've seen 'Capote'.

I was a little disappointed in Sandra Bullock's performance as Harper Lee, though I think that was more due to the writing than her actual acting ability. She's been growing on me as a performer lately, but when I was younger I really despised her. But it's okay guys, I've seen the light! (By the way, did anyone else here have a total anxiety attack during 'Gravity'? Because I did.)

The absolute surprise here was Daniel Craig! My god, I wouldn't have recognized him if I hadn't looked up the cast beforehand. I'm assuming they applied some sort of prosthetic nose, and his hair was far darker than I'm used to. I've been watching 'Skyfall' on repeat for months now so I wasn't expecting to see this from him.

Now, a lot of this film is fictionalized. It seems to be overall more sympathetic and "warm" in terms of how Capote is portrayed, as well as the criminals. I'd like to really sing the praises of the costume designers, as they were really able to capture the feel of the elite New Yorkers of this time period. I had the feeling I was truly at one of Capote's parties and that all I was missing was a well-made drink.

Overall, we're brought a fair film that, while giving a nice interpretation of Truman Capote and Perry Smith, seemed a bit slow and lackluster. Unlike 'Capote', this seemed a bit more scattered and sensationalized to the point of absurdity. But perhaps that's more to Capote's nature, and perhaps that makes this a more fitting film.

If you have any requests for a movie review, leave a comment or email me! I love movie recommendations and I'll give everything a chance!

xo, Kate

Recipe Review: Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Chocolate Chip Cookies (with an extract surprise!)

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I've been kind of absent. For some reason I couldn't get onto the website that easily for the last few days. I tried writing this up and poof, my screen was blank! How annoying.

Today I've been having a few house troubles (there's a new, lovely hole in my bedroom ceiling that's leaking profusely to the point that I had to move a bookcase by myself, move the cat to a different room, etc) so I'm rather grumpy. Actually, I'm really grumpy. So I'm pretty much just going to write up a quick entry and then drink some wine and watch American Dad via Netflix. That's what all responsible adults do, right!?

So today I'm doing a recipe review! For those of you who are new to the vegan community, you'll thank me later for introducing you to her, but Isa Chandra Moskowitz is basically a vegan goddess.

She has this pretty awesome website called Post Punk Kitchen that has some really awesome recipes! I've yet to make one from her that's ever been less than stellar.

Today we're going to focus on her chocolate chip cookie recipe, which you can find here. I also happen to have one of her cookbooks!

This cookbook is FABULOUS. Simply fabulous. If you don't have it, vegan or not, you need it. All of the recipes are incredibly easy, and her way of writing is so cute.

Anyway! The other day I was craving cookies, and I keep seeing mint chocolate chip cookies all over Pinterest. But they're a Betty Crocker recipe and it includes her sugar cookie dry mix, and I doubt it's vegan (I can't confirm this, I haven't looked) so I just used Isa's recipe and modified it!

So, like I said, Isa's recipe is really easy to follow. Obviously I'm not going to repost it, but I can show you what some of the steps look like!

I love this brand. I really didn't want to use the mini ones (they have a chunk form too), but the shelf was almost COMPLETELY clean. I guess people have been freaked out by the amount of snow we've been getting. (And Philadelphia was in a "snow emergency" the other day - are we still? Who knows.) So, mini chips will have to do. Talk about a first world problem.

Uhhhh, I'll admit. I didn't really set up a cute little mise en place picture because COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES. My desire for cookies outweighed my desire to make a pretty picture. Oh well.

Throw that stuff in!

My pictures weren't really what I wanted for this entry. But I was uh, kind of shaking because I was really excited for COOKIES.

GREEN, GLORIOUS GREEN.

COOKIES.

So basically, I used Isa's original chocolate chip cookie recipes and modified it very slightly to make some mint chocolate chip cookies instead!

I added in about 1 1/2 teaspoons of mint extract, although that makes the mint flavour fairly subtle. I'm not a HUGE mint & chocolate person, so if you're really a fan you might want to go for the full 2 teaspoons. But I really enjoyed the subtlety of this.

And to get that green colour? Honestly, I lost track of how many drops of food colouring I used after about 20. So just experiment until you find a colour you like!

Now that I can get back on Blogger, I'll be posting more again! Hurray! I have my jalapeño popper dip recipe ready and waiting for you guys, hehe! Be prepared!

xo, Kate