Adjusted and Expendable Movies

It's been a really long time since I've reviewed any movies.  That's because I haven't been watching many movies lately...ok, any movies.  But, I have watched movies 2 of the last 3 nights, and I'm planning to watch "Captain America" tonight.  I suspect that one will merit it's own movie review.  Here are a couple of other movie reviews.

"The Adjustmet Bureau":  This Matt Damon film is based on the short story The Adjustment Team by Phillip K. Dick.  Damon plays a Congressman, David Norris, who is a rising star in the political scene.  And, or course, he's a Democrat, because politician heroes are always Democrats according to Hollywood. 

Anyway, after losing a bid for the Senate, Norris meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and feels an immediate connection.  Meeting Elise inspires Norris to give a concession speech that sets him up for another Senate run 4 years later.  On his way to work a few days later, Norris meets Elise again on the bus, and again there is the immediate connection.  When he arrives at work, David Norris sees something he should never have seen...the Adjustment Bureau changing the world to meet "the plan".  We learn, along with Norris, that the Adjustment  Bureau is a group of beings that work for "The Chairman" and are responsible for ensuring that the world follows, "the plan".  After explaining all this to David Norris, the Adjustment Bureau agent tells him he can never see Elise again and take steps to ensure that they don't meet.  But, three years later when chance intervenes, David and Elise meet again.  At this point, even the Adjustment Bureau struggles to keep them apart.  Which will win out...David and Elise's free will or the predetermined plan?

"The Adjustment Bureau" is a really good movie.  I rate it 4 stars.  I can't wait to see what Nuke rates it.  I think it poses some interesting questions about free will vs. predesination.  Frankly, this could have been a "deeper thinking" movie, but it does leave you thinking.  In fact, my wife had take aways that I didn't see.  I'm really looking forward to Nuke's review on this one.  Overall, a very good movie.

"The Expendables":  I watched this one last night on Instant Watch.  "The Expendables" is Sylvester Stallone's attempt at a star studded action film starring action heroes from the past and present.  The cast is a who's who of action movies.  We've got Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke and Julia Roberts' brother (a.k.a Eric Roberts). 

Look, this is not a great movie.  It's a 3 star "guy movie".  But if you are looking for a movie filled with senseless violence, explosions, fast paced fist fights and no plot, then this is the movie for you. 

Book Review: The Son of Neptune

I absolutely love Rick Riordan as a writer, and my favorite character is, of course, Percy Jackson.  When The Lost Hero came out last year, I really enjoyed the book, but I did miss Percy.  Well, I miss him no more...with the release of The Son of Neptune, Percy Jackson fans don't have to wait any longer for the return of their favorite hero.

Just like Jason in The Lost Hero, Percy has lost his memory.  All he knows is that he's supposed to head south, and eventually he finds Camp Jupiter...the Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.  At Camp Jupiter, Percy meets Frank and Hazel, 2 other demi-gods.  Soon after Percy helps the Fifth Cohort of the Roman Legion regain some respect, Frank, Hazel and Percy are sent off on a quest to free Thanatos, the angel of death, so that people and monsters will start dying again.  Can our heroes succeed?  Will Camp Jupiter be saved?  And what of the new prophecy in which 7 demi-gods must band together to save the world?  Well, I can't give it away...you'll have to read to find out.

The Son of Neptune does a fantastic job of mixing playful banter, pulse pounding action, suspense and the right amount of feel good moments.  Really just another masterful book by Mr. Riordan.  I can't wait for the 3rd book in this series, due to come out next fall.  We already know the third book is called The Mark of Athena so one would have to conclude that it will center around Annabeth.  A year is going to be a really long time to wait.

It's All About Experience

As I mentioned in my last post, my son and I got a smoker and we were planning to smoke some ribs.  Well, we executed that plan on Sunday, and overall, it was successful.

We got an inexpensive Master Forge Charcoal Smoker from Lowe's so in case we didn't like it, we weren't out a lot of money.  This smoker is really easy to use.  You load some charcoal  and wood chips in the bottom of the smoker, then put water or some liquid in the water pan above the charcoal/wood. Above that there are 2 racks for food.  When cooking, the meat gets smoked, of course, but the water also steams the meat to keep it moist.

We followed a cooking method for ribs that I found online, which was supposedly for "competition" ribs.  This involved putting a rub on the ribs 24 hours before cooking, then cooking at 225-250 for 3 hours.  After 3 hours, you wrap the ribs, loosely, in foil with apple juice and return it to the heat.  Then you cook for another hour, then unwrap the ribs, sauce them for 30-60 minutes over the heat and serve.

The ribs turned out very tasty.  I made my own sauce and rub which makes a good combination.  Most importantly, I loved the hickory smoked flavor.  Now, the downfall is that the ribs weren't as tender as I would have liked.  From what I understand, "competition" ribs aren't fall off the bone like you get at Chili's, but should pull off the bone easily.  The key is to be able to get a clean bite mark in the ribs.   These ribs came off the bone, but it was a little work.  We'll have to work on that next time.

Here's what I learned this weekend:

1 - Kids don't have patience for 5 hours of cooking, so my son and I will continue to tackle this little by little.
2 - Next time I make ribs, I'm going to wrap them in foil a lot sooner.  I think most of the smoke flavor was imparted in the first 90 minutes and I think more time being wrapped would make the ribs more tender.
3 - I can get away with using less charcoal.  I didn't realize that having a bunch of food on the top rack would affect the temperature gauge as much as it did.  When I took the ribs off, the temperature shot up 30 degrees.  So, I probably cooked the ribs too hot...you live and learn.
4 - I'm going to try something easier next time, like a pork loin, turkey breast or brisket. 
5 - Smoking is a fun way to cook...I am really looking forward to my next adventure and I hope my son will help a little more each time.