Thor: Ragnarok: The Hulk Cocktail Recipe
/Goodbye, Marvel. It’s not you; it’s me. I can’t take it anymore. No more dumbed down mythology, tissue thin characters, or convoluted plots that serve mainly to to set up action set pieces.
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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, too.
The Perfect Host: Roast Duck
/Almost too clever by half, this Netflix streamer featuring Frasier's David Hyde Pierce strives for a David Mamet cross/double cross complexity. And it almost achieves it.
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Guardians of the Galaxy: Light Seven Layer Dip Recipe
/It’s a campy derivative of Star Wars with a touch of Indiana Jones thrown in for good measure. Bold unconventional hero with father issues; check. Female lead at odds with him; check. Fury nonhuman companion good with a gun; check. A plot that resonates long after you leave the theater; I’m afraid not.
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La La Land: LA Moscow Mule Cocktail Recipe
/This sweet little film is certainly a pleasant 2 plus hour diversion. But is it deserving of its gushing praise and frenetic Oscar buzz? That’s a definite no from this film critic.
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Philomena: Authentic Irish Coffee Recipe
/For 50 years Philomena has kept the secret. Now she wonders what has happened to the son she was forced to give up for adoption. It’s a heart-wrenching true story, one that could easily turn sentimental, maudlin, or preachy. But Judi Dench does not allow that to happen.
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Jason Bourne: Greek Chicken Pasta Recipe
/This is the blockbuster action and thrills we’ve come to expect each summer just as certainly as cookouts and a day at the beach. But this year we had to wait almost until August to get it.
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Riddick: Peanut Butter Fudge
/Hollywood, the slick seducer. And Riddick, with his whiskey voice and hypnotic eyes, draws us into his world of swift brutality before we realize its core of degeneracy. What a guilty pleasure!
Read MoreThe Connection: Marseilles Style Spicy Clams and Mussels Recipe
/He’s no Popeye Doyle, this elegant French police magistrate who’s after a nasty Marseilles gang of heroine traffickers. But he is every bit as determined and relentless.
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Battle: Los Angeles: Marine SOS Breakfast Recipe
/Like a perfect roast beef, this film is not subtle, nuanced, or dripping in French chef political sauce. It is delicious, completely satisfying, and a bit bloody. Just the way I like it.
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Kathy’s Oscar Picks: February 2015
/Different Drummer has never been one to follow the herd, so my Oscar picks, as I noted last year, are not predictions. My picks are based on the excellence of the films and actors in themselves.
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The Blue Room: Crème Brulee Recipe
/Billed in our local paper as a “Hitchockian story of l’amour fou or "crazy love,” The Blue Room lured me to it like a weary traveler finding a magnificent guesthouse in the middle of nowhere. This weary traveler and film critic warns you to stay away.
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Planes: Fire and Rescue: Campfire S’mores Recipe
/Pack your bags as we head to the Fusselodge, where Dusty Crophopper, famous for winning the Wings Around the Globe rally, becomes the world’s first crop-duster/firefighter.
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Firewall: Greek Pizza
/Nonstop action propels this high tech thriller grounded in good old-fashioned greed, cunning, and one man’s determination to protect his family. No hat or bullwhips here, but a mature Harrison Ford wields his cyber sword with as much lethal force as Indiana Jones’ legendary snap of the braided leather.
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Weston Reviews Maleficent: Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Recipe
/I thought that the movie called Maleficent would be a great film and I don't think I was mistaken either. It portrays the side of the "evil witch" left unrevealed in the original movie Sleeping Beauty.
Read MoreX-Men: Days of Future Past: Water Gate Salad Recipe
/The critics demonstrate once again that they are astonishingly easy to impress with hi tech pabulum as long as it hits the right politically correct notes.
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Noah: Triple Berry Crisp Recipe
/Noah goes New Age. Or is the Biblical hero lost in one of the more cheesy “Star Trek” reruns with giant rock creatures emerging like stone versions of the Transformers to help build the Ark? This abominable mish mash of a film offends not just Judeo Christian sensibilities, but our cinematic senses as well.
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Kathy's Oscar Picks, February 2014
/Different Drummer has never been one to follow the herd, so my Oscar picks, as I noted last year, are not predictions. I will not, like the malleable Academy members, be influenced by the likeability of the actors, the politically correct social causes their films espouse, nor the predictable pack of gushing or scornful critics who seem to care more about what others think of them than making sound and independent judgments. My picks are based on the excellence of the films and actors in themselves.
Read MoreThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Fiery Dragon Stir-Fry
/Intense combat, thrilling chases, and daring escapes fill this 161 minute long sequel to The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey.
Read MoreThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire: No Manners Needed Chocolate Cake
/No wonder everyone is fired up over this latest “page to production” release. What burned off the pages in the second of The Hunger Games trilogy ignites on screen with futuristic/gladiator age battle scenes and slow burning rage against the totalitarian machine.
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Moonrise Kingdom:Campfire Fish
/Do your kids savoring those last golden moments of the summer before school starts? Here is a film that captures that feeling. Deadpan, quirky, and almost a little too stylized for its own good, this tale of love and loneliness breaks through all those trappings because it really does penetrate the human heart.
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