The future of Star Wars: JJ Abrams

Hi, all!

JJ Abrams

Star Wars. One of the most lucrative and influential film series of all time. The fans are rabid, the rumors always generate buzz, and there has always been the mystery of "what's next?"

Late last year, George Lucas sold all of Lucasfilm to Disney for a crazy 4 BILLION dollars (what?!). Discussions for the purchase date back to 2011. Episode VII was announced at the same time that the purchase was approved and people pretty much went ballistic. Lucas said he wouldn't direct it which ignited a maelstrom of names being thrown around.

Yesterday, it was announced that JJ Abrams would direct. He's responsible for shows like Lost (!!), Fringe, and Alias. He has also directed movies like Star Trek and Super 8. I think he's a great director and has an excellent creative mind for the science fiction genre. He's well known for his lens flares, which appear in most of his movies. I'm excited to see what he does with the series. Nothing he has done seems very similar to the Star Wars style, so it'll be interesting to see if he adapts this style or takes it in a different direction.

George Lucas signing away
Lucasfilm to Disney.

We do know that Lucas will be involved as part of the creative team, but Abrams is the leader on the project. Sources also say that the plot won't be from any novels from the published Star Wars canon; it'll be an original plot line. The universe grows immensely in the novels so it'll be interesting to see where they take it.

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer, and
Mark Hamill

Adding more fuel to the fanboy fire are rumors that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford will reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. If the announcement of Episode VII isn't enough to make you rejoice, maybe seeing the original Luke in jedi gear will get you excited. I know I'm ready.

Overall, the last month of Star Wars announcements has me ecstatic. I grew up wanting to be a jedi. The movies (yes, all six) are the type that you have to watch whenever you're flipping through the channels and they're on TV. I'm excited about JJ Abrams' take on the series. I know it'll be different, but I think he's made great decisions in the past. I'll be looking out for a lens flare in this one.

An Abrams lens flare in Super 8.

Let me know what you guys think of the purchase and if you're excited for Episode VII/JJ Abrams. =]

Fun things to do in NYC: Free day at The Met!

Hey, guys.

I want to start a series of posts that focus on fun, FREE things to do in the City. One of the best attractions in New York is The Metropolitan Museum of Art. With a Bank of America membership card, you can get into the museum at no charge. While this offer is only available on the first Saturday and Sunday of every month (click here for some information), it's still a great opportunity to see some of the best art and artifacts in New York City. They do have a suggested donation of $25. If you feel guilty for getting in for free, you're more than welcome to donate. The surrounding area (upper east side) is also nice to walk around and Central park is right around the corner. Bring some lunches and you've got a no cost day in the City (other than travel expenses).

I went with Matt and our friends, Mike and Lauren, several weeks ago. 

There's so much to see. I had been to the museum before but hadn't seen everything because the size of the museum is overwhelming. It would be easy to spend several days going through each part of the world and trying to absorb all of the information.

Here are some of my pictures!

Andy Warhol's Marilyn. Awesome, right?

I definitely recommend taking a few hours to visit the museum, especially if you're a BofA member. If you can spare an entire day, there's definitely enough to see. Let me know what you think.

Have any suggestions for free things to do in the city? Comment or email me at dant1089@gmail.com

=]

The best movies of the year.

Hey, guys.

I spend a huge portion of my spare time watching movies. I'm a huge fan. What sucks is that so many fly under the radar because of Hollywood blockbusters that overshadow the good ones. (There are good blockbusters, though; The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises)

I generally use Oscar season as a guide to what movies I should be watching (although I usually disagree with some of the nominations). Luckily, this season has some good selections. Of nine best picture nominations, I've watched six so far. I just wanted to talk about some of my favorites and which one's I didn't like as much.

So I've seen Django Unchained, Les Miserables,  Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Life of Pi, and Silver Linings Playbook. Silver Linings was probably my favorite so far. It was damn entertaining and sooo unexpectedly good. Maybe I was just pleasantly surprised. Who knows.

I also really like Django, Zero Dark Thirty, and Life of Pi. They're all worthy of their nominations. I'd swap out Les Mis and Argo for Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Hobbit. I enjoyed both of those much more. Django comes from my favorite director, Quentin Tarantino, who goes balls to the wall with this one and seriously doesn't apologize for it. Leonardo DiCaprio particularly stood out but was denied a nomination (boo). ZDT was suspenseful and so well directed. I'm really surprised Kathryn Bigelow was snubbed, too.  Life of Pi was extraordinarily imaginative and beautiful. It was reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth in that it kept you thinking about what was truth and what was fiction. Really great.

I think Perks was the best 'coming of age' or 'high school' movie in recent memory (Yes, it was better than Mean Girls). I particularly loved that Chobsky directed it so what we saw was his vision from beginning to end. The Hobbit needs no explanation. I like Les Mis, but there were some problems with direction. I didn't mind that the actors weren't the best singers, it was more about the plot and emotion for me. Argo was good as well, but it didn't leave an impression on me like the other movies did. It didn't blow me away.

So I still have to see Lincoln, Amour, and Beasts of a Southern Wild. I also want to see The Impossible and The Master. I'll check back in once I have those under my belt.

Some notable acting performances: Everyone in Silver Linings (maybe except Chris Tucker. He was still good). The main four were so great. Jessica Chastain, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway, and Ezra Miller (Perks). I'm sure there will be more once I watch some other nominees.

Let me know your thoughts. Are there other movies from 2012 that I have to see?

Restaurant Week!

Hello, world.

To celebrate restaurant week, I went to Porter House New York for their lunch menu with my boyfriend yesterday. The restaurant is on the 4th floor of the Columbus Circle shopping center, right across from Per Se, one of the best restaurants in the city.

The decor is really nice. I would have preferred to sit near the windows to enjoy the view, but we were seated in the center of the restaurant. The wait staff was great, tending to our requests promptly and kindly.

The starters; caesar salad
and potato leek soup.

To drink, we both ordered tap water and Sprite. The Sprite came in nice glass bottles that our waiter kindly poured into glasses containing ice. I also ordered a glass of a cabernet sauvignon called Double O. I don't drink wine too often, but I really enjoyed it.

The restaurant week deal offers a three course lunch for $25 (or dinner for $38) at participating restaurants. PHNY only offers the lunch menu on weekdays and Sundays. So for $25 each, we both got a starter course, an entree, and a dessert.


I got the potato leek soup. The portion was much larger than I expected and filled me up quite a bit. Matt, my boyfriend, got their caesar salad. The salad was also larger than expected. Both were delicious.

Steak with mashed potatoes.

My salmon with quinoa.

For my entree, I chose the grilled salmon with cauliflower and quinoa. The salmon was well cooked and yummy. It seemed like they incorporated fruit into their quinoa preparation. It was very good, but I had never tasted quinoa prepared this way. Matt chose the filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes. The steak was petite so it was a great lunch portion. The steak was cooked nicely to his order (medium) and had a really nice sear that we both enjoyed. The mashed potatoes were good but nothing beyond other recipes we had before. The filet also came with a small leafy salad.

Flourless chocolate cake.

Plain cheesecake.

These two courses were portioned to leave just enough space for dessert (disclaimer: we did not eat breakfast. Our lunch was at 1pm. so we were very hungry going in.) I ordered a flourless chocolate cake. It was shaped like a muffin but much more dense. It had a satisfying crunchiness to the outside but the inside was soft and moist. There was a dollop of thick whipped cream on top. It was possibly the best whipped cream I've ever had. There was also a drizzle of chocolate sauce and half of a strawberry on the plate. I could have eaten this dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was so freaking good. Matt ordered a plain cheesecake that was just as good. It was very think and creamy. The crust seemed to be graham cracker, which I love. There were also some blueberries (I think) on top and beside the cake, although not enough in our opinion.

So we got great service and food for a reasonable price. In the end, we were extremely satisfied. The rest of the menu was much more expensive but make sure to check out PHNY before restaurant week is over.

Recommended.