Everything I Learned From Movies #eilfm

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Tuesday night, we finished off the Softball regular season with a great barbecue and… a 24-12 victory over our biggest rival (another branch of the company). I didn’t play a whole lot as we had something like 15-16 players, but I did get one at-bat, single, and run it in. So… if memory serves me correctly, my regular season stats are 9-for-11 batting (all singles) with two walks, and 8 RBI, with 6 runs. That’s about 85% on base percentage… which ain’t bad at all, even in softball. Anyway, championships are on Tuesday but… I have a scheduling conflict with the SF Homebrewers Guild monthly meeting so… I’ll probably have to be there in spirit only. We shall see…

Saturday, Izzy & I helped out at the Meals on Wheels Fallfest Gala which is where dozens of vintners & high-profile restaurants in the Bay Area come down to Justin Herrmann Plaza near the Ferry Building to help raise money to feed the elderly. Annually, this event raises MILLIONS for this great cause & we’re always glad to help out in any way that we can.

The other night, we watched “The Relic” starring Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Linda Hunt and directed by Peter Hyams (“Timecop”, “End of Days”, “Sudden Death”, etc). This movie is essentially set in the Natural History Museum in Chicago… and is about a superstitious homicide detective (Sizemore) and an entirely too hot anthropologist (Miller) trying to find a vicious killer… and then discover that it’s actually a South American beetle-lizard god running a rampage in the museum (and nowhere else). The weird thing about watching this movie… is that I kept thinking that I had watched it last week when it was called “Mimic” and as I looked into it… yeah, it’s pretty much the same movie… released the same year (this one just a few months before in 1997) but yeah… some mysterious supernatural being is killing a lot of people in surprisingly dimly lit areas (not sure why no lights in the museum EVER, but subways at least made some sense) and there’s a superhot scientist in the middle of it all… but yeah, honestly if you’re going to watch one of these things, watch “Mimic”. This movie wasn’t good at all… well… you know, it wasn’t horrible… but yeah, you’ve seen the movie before or some cookie cutter version of it probably. Not a lot here… and the superstitious stuff was just irritating. Oh, you have a problem with black cats? Then you probably don’t want to be a f**king homicide detective in Chicago.

Sunday night, we watched a 1990 independent movie called “Hardware” starring Dylan McDermott & Stacey Travis, directed by Richard Stanley (the guy who was originally going to direct the 1990’s Island of Dr. Moreau disaster). The story is set in a bleak apocalyptic future that’s kind of Blade Runner meets Mad Max… it’s a barren red radioactive desert wasteland… but with gritty metal & wire kind of cities as well with toxic green rivers… and if there’s one thing about this movie that was REALLY impressive, it’s the atmosphere & setting this really f**ked-up future that global warming will apparently lead to. The red tones & darkness kind of make your eyes hurt, there’s a lot of quick subliminal shots that are just odd & upsetting, you can almost feel the dirt and broken glass and grime that this world has all around them. Anyway, in this future, there’s a scavenger who comes to town and sells a cyborg skull to another scavenger named Moses (McDermott) and he takes it to his ladyfriend (Travis)’s super-secured… I guess, art studio apartment… and she wants to use the skull as the center of one of her pieces that she does. Well, they soon find out that this skull can actually rebuild itself into a six-limbed killing machine. Now, this movie was… awkward to say the least. It’s a very unique & memorable world… and the ladyfriend is kind of a badass… and there are strange turns in the story where you’ll find yourself yelling at the screen… and there are some extremely violent, bloody scenes (was apparently cut a bit to become R rated in 1990) but overall, it’s actually a pretty twisted little sci-fi horror tale without being too predictable or cliché. I highly recommend watching it with some friends this Halloween season… and best of all, I’m pretty sure that none of your friends have seen this little flick. Fun game: See if you can spot Lemmy from Motorhead.

Monday night, Izzy & I hung out with my neighbor J-Mo and we watched “The Dead Lands” starring a mostly New Zealand / Maori cast. Essentially the movie starts at a peaceful Maori village… and they have visitors from another tribe / former rivals… so you know some sh*t is about to go down. Anyway, there’s a burial ground that’s sacred to the rival & they come back saying that the grounds have been desecrated, so basically… this means War. Well, instead under the guise of going back home, they attack like thieves in the night & slaughter the peaceful tribe, leaving behind only one teenage son of the chief who was able to escape. Now… the son wants revenge… but he’s just a boy, what can he do? Well… there’s a mythical monster in the area known as The Dead Lands who may be able to help him… if he/it doesn’t decide to just kill him. This movie… is awesome. It’s a total Man Movie with plenty of fighting involving blunt force trauma, cannibalism, tales of vengeance and honor, talking with dead people thanks to deprivation & mushrooms, but overall… it’s just a great hard hitting movie along the lines of “Apocalypto” a few years back where even with the “primitive” time setting & traditions involved… you find that it’s really still a human story just in their context & beliefs and beautifully shot (except some of the camera work with the fight scenes may cause seizures). I highly recommend checking it out if you can handle the little bit of gore & reading subtitles. Enjoy!

This weekend should prove epic… as Saturday is the Bay Area Mashers’ Sacramento Brewery Tour where we’re going to take a bus ride up to Sacramento to tour FOUR breweries… all four new to us… New Glory Craft Brewery, Device Brewing, Track 7 Brewing & Oak Park Brewing Company. Also, we’ll be introduced to other fellow homebrewers from the East Bay area… and it’s always good to spread the culture. The SF Homebrewers Guild’s Brewery Tour is coming up in December too… but more on that as we get closer.

Then on Sunday is the bottle sort portion for the California State Homebrew Competition which the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild is taking control over now… so yeah, a lot of awesome beer related things to come… as well as…

WE’RE FINALLY RELEASING OUR PODCAST TO THE WORLD!!!

We found a little time on Sunday to finally focus & get some structure to our podcast “format” and this podcast is called… EVERYTHING I LEARNED FROM MOVIES!!! #eilfm Yes, there’s some resemblance to the Audrey Hepburn quote (and book I think) “Everything that I learned I learned from movies” but essentially… to start, our podcast will include movies reviews, some beer talk, and we’re working out some of the musical aspects… but until then, you get to witness the beautiful harmony of our voices in accapella versions of theme music… and just trust me, you’re going to love it. Check it out! Our first episode… we review the new Netflix release “Tremors 5: Bloodlines”!

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Learn to Homebrew Day & Meals on Wheels

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Thursday night, we kegged our Milk Stout in preparation for Learn to Homebrew Day on Saturday... here are some pictures...

Saturday, we started around 10:30 AM and we had about 8-10 guests for our Learn to Homebrew Day. We had our first one about six months ago in early November... and during it, we basically explain the process of brewing beer (much like this blog), share some of our homebrew to show what can be done, share some of their own (some have done a handful of brews), and share stories, answer questions, just plain have fun. This time around, we did a partial mash English style Porter. Here are some pictures...

Above: Our fabulous potluck

Below: Spent Grains 

The whole brew took about four hours total, so a pretty quick spiel... and everybody had a good time... and hopefully we'll have a few more readers of this blog. For those new readers, please feel free to go back through some of the past entries. There are LOTS of pictures and further explanations of past brews. I'd also like to thank everybody for coming out to the event & please check out the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild page for details on how to learn more... join their mailing list... join the blog... or just read our blog too... it's pretty awesome! Comments are always welcome & I can certainly recommend past entries & answer questions if you want to know more. It's truly my pleasure.

After the event, since we had all of the gear still out... we also decided to transfer our SMaSH English Pale Ale to secondary as well...

 Beer Lacing Alert - Beer Turkey!!!

Sunday, we helped out at the Meals on Wheels Fundraiser Gala where they annual raise MILLIONS of dollars for elderly individuals who cannot provide food for themselves... so a great cause and a great night with a LOT of great individuals helping out those less fortunate. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures... but yeah, everybody dressed to the nines, a lot of great restaurants & vintners donating... and yeah, I highly recommend helping out, if not this charity, charities in your areas... just do it! Pay it forward!

Anyway, that's about it for this entry... unfortunately I'm just a wee bit busy... but please leave comments, check out some past entries & just enjoy your wonderful lives! Have a great day everybody!

Sly: The Next Generation

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

This weekend was pretty chill… not gonna lie… basically it was a bunch of running around for groceries & such… and then Saturday night we had a wonderful Portuguese dinner with Izzy’s Aunts and some of their friends. We ate suppas… which apparently some Portuguese sweet bread with roast beef, cabbage and au jus over the bread… and we also had Easter Bread… and some of our amazing homebrew. Good times…

 

Sunday morning, we then met up with a few at a small restaurant called Joy of Eating in Vallejo for a Portuguese breakfast… which was very similar to an American breakfast but with sweeter bread. I had chicken fried steak with scrambled eggs & potatoes with scallions. Mmm mmm mmm…

 

Aside from that, not a whole lot to report… we relaxed a bit… watched some shows… did that whole thing. The movie we watched though was a great little kids flick called “Song of the Sea” which is an Irish animated tale from director Tomm Moore (“Secret of Kells”) and the voice talents of… well, honestly the only I knew was Brendan Gleeson. Anyway, the story is about a family that mans the lighthouse out in the country… it starts with a pregnant mother (you know where this is going, right?) reading a story to a young boy… and then there’s a sweet family moment, putting the kid to bed… and then UGH time for the baby to come out… and the mother is never seen again… but the sad father has a little girl named Saoirse… who the little boy now kinda hates because… you know, this baby took my mother away. Rrrrr! Six years later, the little girl discovers that she has some mystical powers… and the stories go from there… but all I can say… is go f**king see this movie! With your kids! It’s a great kids flick… the animation is absolutely amazing & inventive… voice acting is okay… seriously, it’s pretty sweet, go see this movie now. I’ll say it again, rent it & check out this flick with your family… it’s cute, funny & everything that you want in a kid’s flick. Enjoy! You’re welcome!

 

Tuesday night, we had some training for a big Meals on Wheels event this weekend… and because I had done it a few times before, guess who was nominated to be a captain for the event? And guess who found out about it at the training last night? Not that it’s a huge deal or anything… or that I’m really ill-prepared, because I have the utmost confidence in my competence… but yeah, odd that I volunteer to help out & it’s like “Hey, you’re taking this over, is that cool?” “Ugh… sure? Yeah… so… anything changed since last year.” “Oh yeah, a whole new thing… but you’ll figure it out & teach others.” “Yup… can’t fail!” Anyway, we went through it last night & yeah, it’s gonna be a great event to raise a few million bucks for a great charity!

 

After training, Izzy & I watched “Find Me Guilty” starring thespian Vin Diesel as a low-level gangster who represents himself during the longest-lasting RICO case in the history of the United States with the Mafia… and yes, it’s based on a true story. This movie is directed by Sidney Lumet (most famous for the classic “12 Angry Men”) and also stars the likes of Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”) and Ron Silver (bad guy in “Timecop”). The premise of the story is that Tony (Diesel) is a guy who’s serving a 30 year prison sentence for drug trafficking… when he’s brought into a conspiracy case against the Mafia, basically because the state thinks that they can get him to be a witness on their side in return for a reduced sentence… but they’re wrong, Tony won’t turn on his friends. While everybody else on the defense is lawyering up, he decides to represent himself since… well, his last lawyer took $250,000 of his money to completely screw the pooch & get him 30 years. More on the lead actor later… but I just want to mention that Peter Dinklage and Ron Silver are amazing in this movie. Dinklage always is... as Izzy put it last night during his speeches, “What’s happening is totally boring… but he has my attention with every word.” Or something like that… not sure if that’s an exact quote. Basically, he’s able to keep you captivated during otherwise boring blah blah blah that you see in most courtroom movies. Ron Silver also does a great job as the judge… like where it actually stands out in a few scenes, which was kind of unexpected. Basically this movie is a little odd (hence why it wasn’t a large release) as a lot of the context & music choices make it seem like a f**king black comedy… which it kind of is at times… but it’s also a courtroom drama… and a heartfelt drama most of the time… so it’s got a really weird feeling throughout. Overall though, I’d say check it out… it may just blow your mind… but probably not.

Okay… I’ll admit it… I’ve never really seen Vin Diesel as a real actor. I’ve mentioned before that he’s basically the Sylvester Stallone of our generation… like a caricature of what an action star should be, more than a real thespian. However, I’m starting to realize a few things about that comparison that is quite prophetic… and also reassuring for his career. They may be two of the smartest mother f**kers in Hollywood. I mean… think about it. Okay, Sly back in the late 70’s had what very well could’ve been a one-hit wonder in “Rocky” that he turned into six (and counting with “Creed” later this year & let’s face it “Grudge Match” is another Rocky) movies based on that fairly one-note character… the semi-likeable, dim-witted, ultra-motivated boxer. Not only that, he then also had the “Rambo” franchise… and “The Expendables”… that’s AT LEAST THREE TRILOGIES!!! Including two in the 80s! That itself is commendable… and the man can barely talk! Let’s not forget one-off masterpieces like “Demolition Man”, “Tango & Cash”, “Over the Top” and all that. Occasionally he tries some more dramatic stuff like “Copland” & something like whatever “Oscar” was supposed to be… but he knows his strengths & has now basically rebooted his career in his SIXTIES to continue his money-making empire with “Expendables” and “Bullet to the Head” and stuff like that. It’s f**king insane! Vin Diesel… seems to be modeling his career after the same kind of thing… but with a few key differences… first off, he can actually speak. Yes, the voice is deep & gravely… but he also has the ability to annunciate when needed, hence voice over work like Groot and just less parody & frustration from the movie viewing public.  Here’s food for thought… the original Rocky won Best Picture and had a sh*t ton of sequels… and nobody watched “Rocky Balboa” except me. Conversely, the original Fast & Furious was so critically acclaimed that VIN DIESEL DIDN’T EVEN STAR IN THE SEQUEL & the 3^rd movie went straight to DVD… and yet #7 in the serious is breaking every Spring release record and grossed a billion dollars in the past ten days! The Riddick trilogy is his Rambo… in the dark. “The Pacifier” is his “Stop! Or my Mom Will Shoot” but Vin’s was actually kind of funny. He pulled out some great acting in this “Fine Me Guilty” flick which I argue that Sly really hasn’t been able to do in any of his films. All I’m saying is that this guy could be one of the smartest guys in Hollywood… and we’ve all underestimated him because there’s no way that he can look the way he does AND be super-intelligent… like Stallone… like Schwarzenegger… like The Rock. All I’m saying is… keep an eye on this guy… he’s making studios stacks of cash… he’s social media savvy… and he & Terry Crews could be governors of your state sooner than you think.

 

This weekend is going to be fun… we have Learn to Homebrew Day this Saturday & Sunday we’ll be helping out at the Meals on Wheels event! Lots of good times! Have a great day everybody!