A Super Movie

"Super 8" is THE must see film of the summer.  Yeah, I really liked "Thor" and I think the finale to "Harry Potter" is going to be great, but even I'll admit that those movies aren't for everybody.  "Super 8" is for everyone over the age of 15...I say 15 because there is some language. 

Directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, "Super 8" is a nod to Spielberg's sci-fi films of the late 70's and early 80's, but made relevant to today's audience by J.J. Abrams.  This movie is really a combination of "E.T.", "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind", "Goonies" and "Star Trek" (the new one).

The first thing you have to realize is that "Super 8" isn't about the alien that escapes during a train crash.  "Super 8" is a story about the 6 kids who witness the train crash and film the alien escape on their Super 8 brand film.  It's sort of a coming of age story about friendship and moving on after tragedy.  The 2 main kids are Joe Lamb (played by Joel Courtney) and Alice Dainard (played by Elle Fanning).  The other kids are important to the story, but the movie really focuses on Joe and Alice, who we find out are somewhat bonded by the tragedy that killed Joe's mother.  Both of these actors do a great job, especially Elle Fanning.  The Fanning kids can act.

After the alien escape, mysterious things start happening around town, and the Air Force shows up to "help".  The 6 kids continue to try to make their movie, despite the mysterious happenings, while Joe's father, Deputy Jack Lamb (played by Kyle Chandler), tries to get a handle on the things going on in their small town.  Meanwhile, Jack and Joe struggle without Joe's mother, and their relationship is a secondary story line throughout.  Everything builds to a great crescendo and really cool final scene.  Oh, and the credits are worth sticking around for too.

I laughed a lot, jumped a few times, and was reminded of how good a movie can be by "Super 8".  This is a 5 star movie and definitely worth the $9.25 I paid to see it.  I'm so glad the coworker told me that this movie was worth seeing, and I hope you'll get out there and see it too.

Now That Was Tasty

Living in Iowa, our grocery store is HyVee.  Back in April, HyVee announced a partnership with Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone, which I thought was really exciting because I've seen Chef Stone on the Food Network before.  Chef Stone is providing recipe ideas for HyVee shoppers, and a few weeks ago, we saw the recipe for Seared Steak with Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola.  I followed the recipe exactly, so I won't rewrite it here.  Follow the link if you want to make it.

Here's what I would suggest if you decide to make this.  Make a lot of the onions...they are soooooooo good!  Also, the Gorgonzola is really powerful, so I would recommend going easy on the cheese.  I made this recipe using New York Strip steaks, but I got less expensive steaks because I was dressing them up.  I just tenderized them a little bit by pounding, seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled them.  I cooked them for 4 minutes over high heat, and then moved them to the cool side of the grill for 7 minutes.  This got the steaks to medium well.  These were 5 star steaks.

For a side dish, I made one of our favorite grilled sides...roasted potatoes with red peppers.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
3 russet potatoes diced, skin on
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
Combine olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and whisk together.  Toss the potatoes and peppers in the olive oil mixture.  Wrap the potatoes and peppers in non-stick aluminum foil, sealed tightly. 

Preheat grill to 400 degrees.  Cook potatoes and pepper packet on the grill with the lid closed for 45 minutes.  Serve immediately.

This was a magical combination, and was pretty easy to make.  Try it some evening at your house and let me know what you think.

Movie Review: "Space Cowboys"

In keeping my promise to go back and watch more Clint Eastwood directed films, I watched "Space Cowboys" last night on Netflix Instant Watch.  Another solid Eastwood movie.

Frank Corvin (Eastwood) is a retired engineer.  Corvin was a test pilot and engineer in the late 1950s, right before the formation of NASA.  When NASA was formed, Corvin and his team were shut out of the space program by James Cromwell.  Now, forty years later, an aging Russian satellite is about to fall back to earth, and the only team that has the knowledge to fix it is Corvin's team, that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garvin.  But, can they handle what the find when they intercept the satellite?

This is a solid 4 star movie that is really focused on the relationship between Eastwood's character and Tommie Lee Jones' character, with Garner and Sutherland providing solid support.  The relationship between these 2 characters is complicated, but both have to learn to get over their past if they want to get to space.  It makes for a really compelling story.

If you skipped "Space Cowboys" when it came out in 2000, go back and give it a shot now...it's better than a lot of the stuff that is coming out lately.