Rogue One: Storm Trooper Cocktail Recipe
/It’s billed as a “stand alone” Star Wars movie, but Rogue One really isn’t. It “stands on the shoulders of the giants” that have gone before it.
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Often 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.
Frozen: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches and Easy as Pie Ice Cream Dessert
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The original Frozen won the 2013 Best Animated Feature at the coveted Critics’ Choice Awards, but the younger crowd was not so easily impressed. Introducing Emmett, 7, and his brother Gram, 10 , who are bucking the establishment right out of the gate.
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Cars: Route 66 Chili Recipe
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This razzle-dazzle racing epic is fine family fun, though it seems more geared to NASCAR dads than the tots they may take with them to the theatre. The little ones will love the racing scenes, and while the nostalgic tribute to the old Route 66 sandwiched in between them is a bit too long, it’s sure to please any grandparents in the audience.
Read MoreJack Ryan Season 2: Venezuelan Style Sangria Recipe
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Amazon’s Jack Ryan Season 2 has him fighting corruption in Venezuela instead of tracking down the wily terrorist Suleiman as he did in Season 1. The cerebral analyst becomes a man of action – and there’s plenty of it, but too bad they use the weak tea of semi functioning Venezuela instead of the hellhole that failed state has now become.
Read MoreJack Ryan Season 1: Lentil Soup with Kibbeh Recipe
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Ok, Hunt for Red October it is not. And you might want to forego episode 3 altogether if you have children under 16 in the house, (or maybe even if you do not, since that episode is so poorly done.) But as a made for streaming Amazon Prime feature, John Krasinki’s Jack Ryan is pretty decent.
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Red: Stir-Fried Beef with Peppers and Bamboo Shoots Recipe
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Not a bad way to while away an hour or two, but this is mostly froth with very little ale, and it’s very pale ale at best. This cast deserves a better script, yet they seem to be having fun with their two dimensional characters, laughing all the way to bank, I’d bet.
Read MoreAvatar: Screaming Banshee Cocktail Recipe
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This breath-taking spectacle works best as superlative eye candy, a high tech version of a Saturday cartoon, complete with cardboard villains, flawless heroes, and a storyline built on “standard-issue counterculture clichés.” But this bigger than life Sci Fi Fantasy is such a delightful lark, such a soaring adventure, you might not even notice it’s really just another end of the world flick wrapped in a prettier package than its doomsday companions.
Read MoreSpider: Overnight Oatmeal Recipe
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If you missed its 2012 debut in theaters, be sure to watch this excellent portrait of one man's spiraling descent into madness.There are both tricks and treats in this superb exploration of the shadows of the human psyche with all its dark turns, blind alleys, and webs of deceit.
Read MoreSplit: Philly Cheese Steak Soup Recipe
/Okay, it’s not another Sixth Sense, but M. Night Shyamalan’s latest venture is pretty decent. Certainly much better than the trailer, which doesn’t do it justice.
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Coraline: Sautéed Swiss Chard Recipe
/Ghoulish charm and creepy playfulness permeate this sparkling animation about a lonely girl who learns the real meaning of “too good to be true.” It also measures out a healthy dose of domestic common sense, though it is neither preachy nor direct, as well as a good bit of dark-humored irony more tuned to the adults than the young people in the audience.
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The Da Vinci Code: The Perfect Cup of Tea Recipe
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For all the controversy, The Da Vinci Code goes out not with a bang but with a whimper-- like a celluloid version of Dungeons and Dragons, so adolescent that even the stars can’t really take their roles seriously.
Read MoreThe Adventures of Tintin: Tfah, a Moroccan Apple Dessert Recipe
/You owe it to yourself and your kids (or grandkids) to see this intriguing fusion of Indiana Jones and Treasure Island, with just a tad bit of Martin Scorsese’s delightful Hugo thrown in for good measure. Or you might compare it to more sophisticated Scooby Doo, with both Shaggy and his dog laying off the weed and elevating their IQ’s by about 30 points or so.
Read MoreHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: Mrs. Weasley’s Rock Cake Recipe
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This final showdown between Harry and Lord Voldemort – we can actually say his name now – will keep you on the edge of your seat with its nonstop action and unraveled secrets. But there is very little of the early magic that penetrates the gray darkness casting its pall on this ultimate battle between good and evil.
Read MoreHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1: Deathly Hallows Hot Chocolate Recipe
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The magic is over, for me at least. This is a film for the legion of Rowling fans who camp overnight for the privilege of buying her latest screed, who probably know more about her odd set of characters and curses than is actually good for them. Those anonymous ranks of pasty-faced devotes who devour her pages like innocuous Death Eaters rendered mute and immobile.
Read MoreHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Cold Butterbeer Recipe
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The sixth in the Harry Potter series (2009) is a smorgasbord of delights – the majestic gloom of Hogwarts medieval corridors, Harry and his cohorts in the midst of adolescent angst, the dark minions of Voldemort nibbling at the edge of their world - but sometimes all these tastes only tease us.
Read MoreSin City: Carnivorian Steak Recipe
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How sick does it get? Did you ever hide one of your Easter eggs so well that you didn't find it for about six months, when the rancid odor of what you believed to be dead vermin gave away its hiding place? That's the kind of "hard-boiled" you will find in Sin City.
Read MoreHanna: Schnitzel Hunter Style Recipe
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This 2011 film, the precursor for the current Amazon series, is a perfect fit for our current culture – superb eye candy. All style and very little substance. A thriller shot like an MTV sequence, with a blaring sound track by the Chemical Brothers that varnishes it with a cool mystique that promises more than it delivers.
Read MoreBright Star: Orange and Walnut Crumpet Recipe
/In the dark sky of current movie releases hovers a single Bright Star that is incandescent. This tender love story of romantic poet John Keats and his ladylove is as delicate, ephemeral, and beautiful as the butterflies that flitter across the fields beyond his doorway.
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V for Vendetta: British Fried Bread and Egg Recipe
/We’ve all seen them. Those ragged bumper stickers whose ideas are as worn and outdated as the car’s paint job. Guess what! These guys have put together a movie, and its plot is as convoluted and clichéd as the slogans on their rusty vans.
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The Spy Behind Home Plate: Tokyo Iced Tea Recipe
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He’s been called the Jewish James Bond. Moe Berg, “the brainiest man in baseball,” was a whiz at languages, speaking somewhere around ten foreign tongues, and he used that ability to spy for the OSS, which later became the C.IA.
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