Crazy Heart Movie Review

I haven't watched the Golden Globes yet, but I can see why Jeff Bridges was nominated as Best Actor for Crazy Heart.

Everything about him, from his years-of-smoking cough, to his whiskey addled voice and the way he drawls--he embodies the perfect portrayal of the once famous, still talented, burnt-out country star he plays. It's a bit eerie how much he looks like a mix between Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard; that's precisely the kind of heartfelt, bad living cowboy crooner he's playing.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, who I've never been a fan of, was fantastic in the role of a free spirited, passionate woman tamed by her protectiveness for her son and let free by her love for Bridges' Blake. She is the portrait of a woman who is amazed and feeling too lucky to be loved by Blake, because her bones are telling her he's bound to hurt her. Love her he does...whole-heartedly, in a way that the audience knows is special. Hurt her, he does as well.

This is a story about the redemption and comeback of a talented has-been and Bridges plays it like a pro. Making the film that much richer is Robert Duvall playing Blake's friend and only permanent tie to the world. Any film with Duvall playing a cowboy or western cohort, is made richer by his presence.

This film is also a love song about country music and the west, as the camera lingers on scenes of blue sky, big white storm clouds, wheat and red canyon rock. "Crazy Heart" isn't bloated or too big, just on point enough with big actors who play it accurately and quietly, in a film about a man's crazy heart and the love that inspires his return to life and notoriety.

Sherlock Holmes Movie Review

I was raised on British television; I remember Masterpiece Theater, Diana Rigby introducing that night's mystery in her velvety tones and intriguing voice. I remember the really cheesy and low budget original Dr. Who with the fuzzy edged monsters. I was raised on Babar and Tintin cartoons and I'm always mystified that so many people mistake the boy detective of Tintin with the dog on Rin Tin Tin. No, they are not the same thing---go get yourself an Herge comic book and learn something from Tintin and his brave dog Snowy. I was raised on British productions of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and think no one could portray that detective better than David Suchet.

I was raised on British television. One of my fondest memories stems from watching the Sherlock Holmes series that featured Jeremy Brett. I have an extreme fondness for Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, (something about them being great actors and my weakness for tall, dark and handsome men), but I wasn't sure I wanted to see someone else attempt to portray a character I associated so closely with the skilled arrogance and wise deduction of Jeremy Brett's Holmes.

However, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Downey's Sherlock. He's taken a page from Brett's book---Downey plays the character with a mix of conceit, arrogance, brilliance and social awkwardness. But Downey's Holmes is a bit more rakish; he deduces things about people Brett's Holmes wouldn't care enough about to even speak to. Downey's Holmes has a bit more warmth in his eyes as well. This new Holmes does not act as if Watson is a companion, but more like a best friend, a brother. And that's where the film's conflict comes from.

For Law's part, this Watson plays better than Holmes' sidekick; he's Holmes' adventurous equal--brave, strong, able to clock a man or two in the face. This Watson is also more fleshed out. We know about his engagement to a woman he cares for, and how his curiosity leads him into dark corners and dangerous alleys with Holmes even though he knows there's a good woman and warm household waiting for him.

If you haven't seen Sherlock Holmes and you think it might be your type of movie, or you're not sure if Downey and Law can pull off the first dynamic duo---go see the film. I'll warn you it's a bit long. But if you're down with a little occult mixed in with your crime mystery and thriller starring two great actors in beloved roles, you won't be let down.

"Revolution" by Miranda Lambert

When I'd first read previews of Miranda Lambert's latest album release "Revolution," I wasn't sure this "softer, more feminine, more well-rounded" Lambert was one I was going to like. Soft? From the woman who blazed into Nashville with the Steve Earle sound-alike-tune of Kerosene; that song where she growls "light 'em up and watch them burn." It was this very harshness and brashness of the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that I liked.

And by the way, just so you're clear, I am so enamored of Lambert's strong voice, style and boldness that if she were my guy's crazy ex-girlfriend, I'd want to knock a beer down with her, lean over and kiss her, all the while being terrified of her vengeance. Make no mistake, when it comes to Lambert, I'm an unabashed groupie.

The real shocker of "Revolution" is that her softer, more wistful songs of which there are a good handful on the album, don't detract from that wild, brazen, fun-loving blonde we've come to admire and fear. Her sweeter, poignant songs enhance her personality as if to show that within a lioness lies a lamb and the heart of the lamb is as fierce as a lioness.

The same strength of character a person needs to make country music on traditional and pop-driven Music Row all while singing about burning tradition to the ground is repeated in songs like "Love Song" and "Makin' Plans." Are these softer? Undoubtedly. Amongst beautiful melodies Lambert knows herself well enough that she can sing about that strength of her relationship...."I'm not easy to understand/ but you know me like the back of your hand/ I'm your girl and you're my man." And in "Love Song" where she knows that sometimes the truest signs of love is when her man knows when to hold her when she's crying and she knows when you love a man, sometimes all he needs is some space.

Her brilliance for wordplay doesn't falter especially on her tune "The House That Built Me." Returning to a childhood home with a shattered sense of self, she revels in finding who she is; houses are built, but this song emphasizes how sometimes, a home can build a person.

Okay. Now that we've established her soft side isn't sickening, but strong in its vulnerability, I must return to what Lambert does best-singing rollicking songs to the gut. In her rougher-hewed album opener, "White Liar" she adds a twist to the story. Yes, he's a white liar and she doesn't understand. But Miranda, fed up with the lies of a bad liar let's him know she's vindictively been lying too.

When "Only Prettier" starts with a hard pounding guitar, thrashing drums and a fearsome scream--you know she's having fun when she's telling "high life people" she's just like them, only prettier (and cooler). She gives this same strict crowd a good one-two when she reminds them in "Heart Like Mine" that if Jesus could calm storms and speak of eternal forgiveness, He would be the perfect person to understand a rough heart like hers. Yes He would, and we do too.

Buy her album, turn it on, listen through, and you'll come to love Miranda more for her personal revolution.

Buttermilk Truck Review: Tasty, Cheap, Small Portions

Buttermilk Truck. The name reminds me of the days when milkmen brought freshly bottled, wholesome milk to the front door twice a week. Reminds me of black and white television days, homemakers straining to prepare hearty, large dinners of pot roast and pot pies.

Buttermilk Truck provides a niche service in the burgeoning market of gourmet lunch trucks in our City of Angels. The truck's menu consists of breakfast goodies like buttermilk pancakes, cinnamon french toast sticks, rosemary hash brown patties, coffee, tea, bottled orange juice and such. They offer a Friday and Saturday night "late-nite" munchies menu similar to its day time menu. Look out for the LA soul food special item of waffles and chicken!

REVIEW:
I ordered my favorite college breakfast menu item: the breakfast sandwich. Buttermilk upped the ante with a lightly greasy, dense-yet-fluffy biscuit which housed a fried egg, yummy apple chicken sausage and cheddar. I added a rosemary-hash brown patty and the total food tab came to $3.50. Not bad. Really not bad.

So the price and the food is tasty; just beware that as possibly filling as protein + biscuit + cheese is, for some, it may not be enough, which is okay, seeing as how Buttermilk Truck also offers up additional pancakes, pastries and french toast sticks for good prices as well.

Just beware: sodas, juices and especially water bottles can be expensive at $1.50, whereas other trucks will sell these beverage items for $1 or $1.25.

BOTTOM LINE: Korean-Mexican food truck fatigued? Go enjoy Buttermilk Truck for good, cheap, breakfast food.

Good Ol' Soul Food Cookin' at Larkins in Eagle Rock

I had heard many a thing about Larkins and knew that it had already been reviewed by Los Angeles Magazine (with whom I currently intern), and given great reviews. I'd driven past it's craftsman home location countless times as well, and even stopped once or twice only to find it closed on Monday AND Tuesday.



But this last Wednesday, November 4, I drove there with the intention of finally sitting down and eating the food I'd heard about. Why my haste? Even in the best economies, opening a restaurant and having it stick around is tricky; I couldn't be so sure this one would tough it out in these hard times.

Not to fear; I entered the restaurant and found two couples already sitting there, and while sitting with my eating companion, my mother, Karen, we saw at least six people come inside to eat. Apparently Larkins ain't doing so bad.

But how was the food you ask? Tasty, and a bit unexpected. To my delight there were more than a few bbq items smothered in bbq sauce. The menu featured the consummate corn-breaded catfish, meatloaf, gumbo and jambalaya. I was in the mood for fried chicken, and I ordered macaroni salad and potato salad as accompaniments.

The fried chicken plate consisted of three all-dark meat pieces (just the way I love it) and fried to a crispy finish. No complaints here.

The only thing I can complain about are the salad sides. Both were two sweet and pickel-y for my taste. The macaroni salad was cooked to an al dente finish, impressive, since most people cook pasta until it becomes flimsy and soft. The potatoes were cut chunky style, instead of mushy, but in the end tasted too much like vinegar and pickle.

Karen ordered an amazing hot links bbq po' boy that offered everything it claimed it would. The hot links were meaty, smoky and hot enough to leave a burn in the back of your throat. The bread was pillowy, and the bbq sauce was smokey, thick and sweet; the way good barbecue sauce should taste. Her sandwich came with a dainty salad side.

To finish everything off, Karen ordered unsweetened iced tea and I ordered bottomless house-made lemonade. She didn't liked her iced tea and thought it had a bit of a weird aftertaste. I tasted it and summed it up to being over-brewed (not altogether a bad thing, either, considering that under-brewed tea tastes like nothing). I couldn't ask for more with my lemonade--it was sweet, tart, refreshing, bottomless and served up in a mason jar.

Mama Larkins came out and served us our dessert: a triple layer red velvet cake with three layers of cream cheese frosting. Nothing too complicated or gourmet. But a tasty, moist, rich finish to an all together tasty meal.

Would I go to Larkins often? No. But if ever the mood strikes me for southern barbecue or soul food, Larkins is first on my mind.