World War Z: Zombie Mocktail
/This movie grabs you by the throat and bites you in the neck. World War Z drops you in the middle of an apocalyptic panic on a quest to find the cure for the ultimate sickness.
Read MoreOften been surprised by a movie after what a film critic said about it? Ever felt cheated out of big bucks on the recommendations of a punk 24-year-old? Or really loved the ones they panned? Well, you no longer need to feel out of step with the current movie review band. Different Drummer is for you. Read more about our take on the film world. And get ready to relive your favorite movies with the recipes that follow each review. You can find many other great recipes in Different Drummer’s own Appetite for Murder: a Mystery Lover’s Cookbook, too.
The Hunger Games: Roast Wild Boar Recipe
/Maybe I’m out of touch. But I cannot garner much enthusiasm for a film that celebrates – while pretending not to – children killing children.
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In a Better World: Danish Dilled Shrimp
/Great films ask more questions than they answer. The 2010 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film, In a Better World, almost misses the mark with a few too many pat answers. Yet its wonderful understated cast brings a bracing authenticity to the story that succeeds best when it doesn’t try so hard.
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Star Trek Into Darkness: Klingon Bloodwine Recipe
/Long on style, short on substance. This latest J. J. Abrams reboot goes boldly, but it’s hardly where no man has gone before. Like the best of sugary confections, this film rides high for its 2 hour plus screen time, but there is the inevitable letdown afterward.
Read More Iron Man 3: Swiss Potatoes au Gratin
/Is Tony Stark morphing into a metrosexual? Has he been paling around with Pepper Potts (or Gwyeneth Paltrow) too much lately? Yeah, the bad boy is certainly more sensitive, caring and committed in this third installment, a better man, so to speak. that doesn't mean we have to like it, though.
Read MoreIron Man 2: Ice Cream Tiramisu Cake
/He’s back. Iron Man, that is, zooming into our theaters to pack a second cinematic punch that is almost as much fun as his first unexpected knockout in 2008. Tony Stark’s unabashedly American Superhero breaks the rules with no apologies and plenty of pizzazz, an arrogantly charming man-child who wins hearts and kicks butt in equal measure.
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Prometheus: Alien Urine Cocktail Recipe
/The technology tail wags the dog in this visually stunning “prequel” to the Alien with Ridley Scott from the original back at the director’s helm. Too bad he gives such short shrift to the old-fashioned art of story telling.
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Juno: Benihana Ginger-Cream Shrimp
/It’s not just witty dialogue and a knockout performance by its elfin star, but the unmistakable ring of authenticity that propels this independent film into a mainstream contender. And it is further evidence that comedies are perhaps the most effective medium to deal with serious subjects, lulling us into a receptive affability that opens the mind.
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Jet Li’s Fearless: Lotus Seed Mooncakes
/The flurry of Jet Li’s fists is but a backdrop to this epic tale of overriding ambition and tragic fall from grace. The real core of this martial arts saga is the uphill path from rebirth to redemption that follows. Maybe only in conjunction with bloodied bodies and crushed bones are we allowed to muse on man’s need to attend to his inner as well as his outer strength.
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The Expendables 2: Blugarian Shopska Salad
/The second outing for this crew of Hollywood-action-hero-has-beens opens with an over the top action sequence that verges on self-parody. But it is that self-aware irony that gives this popcorn film some heft.
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The Expendables: Gallo Pinto: Costa Rican Beans and Rice
/Yes, it’s a guilty pleasure, but actually I feel no guilt whatsoever in my intense enjoyment of this testosterone – or perhaps human growth hormone –charged adventure that gives us another shot of those wonderful Hollywood-action-hero-has-beens who somehow never read their pink slips from politically correct tinseltown. And it is their self-aware irony that raises the exploding blood bath of a film to another level.
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10,000 B.C.: Mammoth Burgers
/Imagine a Saturday matinee from bygone days. A bigger than life, whimsical epic sweeps across the screen, brushing aside in its huge wake such trivial distractions as historical accuracy and geographical reality. You’ve got Ice Age mammoths, tropical rain forests, a friendly saber-toothed tiger, and great pyramids reaching into the desert skies. What’s not to like?
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Battleship: Picante Chicken Rice Burrito
/Don’t be put off by the carping critics who have tried a preemptive strike to sink this Battleship. In fact, their bombast has been so blustering that it almost put me off as well. Yet this film has everything that the old-fashioned summer blockbuster once did – great action, likeable characters you learn to care about, and just the right touch of sentiment.
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Priceless: Champagne Punch
/Think of words you never thought you’d be using together, such as delightfully decadent, innocently seductive, or wickedly wonderful. And then those that seem made for each other, like sophisticated, French, sex, and farce. Combine these with the same light touch those Gauls use in their pastry, and you get this cream puff of a film - sweet, airy, and utterly delicious.
Read MoreLeatherheads: Prohibition’s White Lady
/Are you addicted to car chases, fiery explosions, and bigger than life bad guys? Unrelenting nihilism, sexual acrobatics, and violence in all its shades of gore magnetically attract you? Then pass on this one. But if you long for those forgotten virtues such as witty repartee, and a kind of savvy innocence, you will really enjoy George Clooney’s latest venture.
Read MoreBroken Flowers: Ethiopian Cheese Dip and Injera Bread
/The critics gush while Bill Murray sleepwalks through a film that tries its darnedest to be devoid of meaning. Guess what? It succeeds.
Read MoreElizabethtown: Hash Brown Casserole
/Like a Hallmark greeting card Elizabethtown is sweet, earnest, and well meaning, but it lacks any real depth or insight. You pass a pleasant two hours under its ephemeral spell but never really connect to the leads or take their situation seriously.
Read MoreInglourious Basterds: Rote Grütze (Raspberry Dessert)
/It’s an adrenalin-pumping roller coaster of a film - one filled with the same heights and depths as the carnival ride. Fine acting shines next to ham-fisted farce; suspense dissolves into brutal bloodbaths, and appalling violence is not rejected but repeated on a grander scale. Enjoy it at your own risk, but leave your moral compass at home.
Read MoreEat Pray Love: Balsamic Black Cherry Gelato
/Julia Roberts, that coltish beauty with the 100-mega watt smile, is the perfect actress to play the lead role in Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir about her yearlong spiritual quest. Ms. Roberts transforms what otherwise might be seen as self-indulgent into the stuff dreams are made of, just as she elevated prostitution to a higher plane in Pretty Woman.
Read MoreSalt: White Russian Cocktail
/Did Columbia Pictures actually hire a cadre of extras to pose as Russian sleeper agents to hype the release of Angelina Jolie’s latest thriller? Those alleged spies were certainly whisked off to Moscow before we could blink an eye, weren’t they? It’s enough to make you wonder is they merely disappeared into central casting to pick up their checks and former identities.
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