Film review: Butter

Butter
2011
Written by Jason A. Micallef, directed by Jim Field Smith
Rated R (language, sex)

This was an odd movie.


A champion butter sculptor (Ty Burrell) in Iowa retires at the height of his fame to make way for new talent, to the great consternation of his singlemindedly ambitious wife Laura (Jennifer Garner) who had planned to parlay their butter power into political power. Stymied and furious, Laura decides she will take up the reins in his stead, but she meets with unexpected competition on her way to the State Fair in the form of Destiny, a young black girl in foster care (Yara Shahidi) whose white foster parents think that butter sculpting is "awfully rednecky."

There's also a stripper with a vendetta (Olivia Wilde) and a used car salesman who's slick and sleazy and pretty damn dumb (Hugh Jackman!), just to spice things up a little.

It was not a brilliant movie, not incisive or especially witty or tremendously truthful. But it was a fun movie, despite its occasional clumsiness, and there are a couple of scenes that really broke through into excellence, particularly Destiny and her foster father talking about the Worst Things that Could Happen (e.g. being attacked by racist ninjas).

Light, fun, a movie to watch when you're not looking for much substance and are possibly a little tipsy.

IMDB Link: Butter

Robert Parker's Wine Glossary

An excellent glossary of wine terminology from the internationally acclaimed wine critic Robert Parker and publisher of The Wine Advocate:

eRobertParker.com: A Glossary of Wine Terms

I expect to be returning to it frequently.

Wine blogging in general

I have started reading some other wine blogs - not professional ones, I'm frankly not as interested in those - and am quite humbled by the level of expertise and quality of content out there.

To be very clear to the Potential Reader: I post my wine reviews not in any authoritative way, or to set myself up as someone at all knowledgeable.* Rather, it more traces the slow journey of someone first learning about wine.

Adult Content?

When creating this blog, one of the settings is whether my blog contains adult content. The options are, predictably, "Yes" and "No."

I feel like there should be a third option: "Maybe?"

I've barely written anything yet. How should I know what I'm going to say in the future, let alone what exactly constitutes adult content? Does swearing sometimes (which I have done and will cheerfully continue to do) count? Does saying "Tintin is totally asexual" count? Does discussing R-rated movies or liquor, both of which are supposedly adult, count? I assume not. But still.

So:

WARNING: This blog does not yet contain adult content (except for aforementioned cussing). It may in the future. It will very likely link to adult content in the future. If there gets to be a lot of it I may change the setting, but right now I think it's a bit pointless. Make your own, adult, choice.

St. Chapelle Ruby Red

St. Chapelle
"Ruby Red"
Oregon, 2007

Cuvée A, Müller Thargau, Château Benoit (white)

Cuvée A, Müller Thargau, Château Benoit
White wine
Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2007

Cellar No. 8: Cabernet Sauvignon

Cellar No. 8
Cabernet Sauvignon
2007, California

Film review: Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin
2011
Based on the comics by Hergé, screenplay by Stephen Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish, directed by Steven Spielberg

This fantastic computer-animated adaptation of the Tintin books (specifically The Secret of the Unicorn) is not only incredibly well done animation-wise, but also, I felt, provided an excellent adaptation of the original. It hewed very, very closely to the original, both in terms of dialogue and visuals (frequently shot-for-shot), but it gave itself a little room to play, too.

Film review: Love and Other Disasters

Love and Other Disasters
2006
Written & directed by Alek Keshishian

This was so much fun. British romantic comedy, a bit of an "Emma" interpretation but not strictly.

Complementary centers of gravity

I think one of the reasons John gets on so well with Sherlock is that he does not feel intimidated or threatened by him, and by his brilliance, in any way.

Sherlock timeline

The canon timeline of the BBC "Sherlock", and a couple of thoughts thereon.

Quite long and with complete spoilers, so hidden under the cut:

Nahe Kreuznacher Kronenberg Kabinett

Nahe Kreuznacher Kronenberg Kabinett Germany,
2007

Montecillo: Rioja

Montecillo Rioja
Spain, 2006

Melini: Chianti

Melini Chianti
Borghi D'Elsa, Italy, 2007

Cycles Gladiator: Cabernet Sauvignon

Cycles Gladiator
Cabernet Sauvignon
California, 2006

Ravenswood: Merlot (Vintners Blend)

Ravenswood
Merlot (Vintners Blend)
California, 2006

De Loach: Cabernet Sauvignon

De Loach Cabernet
Sauvignon
California, 2006

Monkey Business: Cabernet Sauvignon

Monkey Business
Cabernet Sauvignon
 Califonia, year unknown (prob. 2006)

Barefoot Champagne

Barefoot Wine
Champagne
California, year unknown

This is the worst sparkling wine I have ever had. It is weak, pathetic, and bad. Very little flavor, no subtlety, no spark.

DO NOT BUY.