Remember: Coffee Break is full of odds and ends I’d like to discuss including films I’m watching, links I like, stuff I’m into and oh yeah, coffee!
I picked up this mug at a favorite restaurant of mine located in Canton/Baltimore called the Annabel Lee Tavern. The restaurant is named after the poem ‘Annabel Lee’ written by famous Baltimore poet Edgar Allen Poe. It’s small bar & restaurant with a constantly changing menu that’s great for both romantic dates (I went there for an anniversary dinner) and also laid back hangouts with friends (it’s especially nice to sit outside on a breezy summer night.) If you are ever in Baltimore and looking for a neat little place to grab a bite, I’d recommend trying out Annabel Lee.
On a side note, I have no idea what I’m doing in that photo. It appears that I am salivating in presence of the coffee. Actually, that sounds about right.
Last weekend, I was slammed with stuff to do. Most of the time was spend out of the house but a brief section of my Sunday allowed me to wrap up some errands at home so I had two hours to multitask with a movie. I decided to be a good little Netflixer and watch one of the DVD I had out: Match Point. I’m conflicted about Woody Allen the man vs Woody Allen the director, but I would still like to give his movies a shot. I’ve only seen a handful of his films (no where near the staggering number it would take me to reach the end of his filmography) but I was eager to check out Match Point because it seemed to be a bit of a genre deviation from the Allen I was used to. That turned out to be an adequate deduction as the film is thriller of sorts that plays with the themes of class, fate and justice within the universe. The acting is solid, both Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson seem to fit well with Woody’s dialogue but overall I wasn’t as bowled over with the movie as I should have been. It was a nice afternoon watch but I doubt much from the movie will stick with me over time. I did enjoy the exploration of what ‘luck’ has to do with the outcome of one’s life, and whether or not true justice exists.
Back to the work week, Monday offered a special treat for yours truly. The indie movie theater in Baltimore The Charles runs revival series and was currently showing one of my favorite films, Mulholland Drive. It’s the film that sparked a curiosity of cinema for me and introduced to me a side of film I hadn’t seen before. I’ve consumed a lot of David Lynch since then (to mixed results) but nothing has ever left quite the same impression as Mulholland Drive. It was a great experience to sit down with the whole film, start to finish, coffee in hand, of course. I think this is the first time I felt really strongly that I was able to follow the narrative. There are only a few small pieces to the puzzle I have left to play with and in all honesty, might never be explained. But the movie is really an incredible cinematic experience. I know it’s hard to give a movie as trippy as this one a blanket recommendation but anyone who is open to it should seek it out. Even when all of the FTS crew was confused and skeptical, every last one of them said they would love to rewatch it after it finished.
Okay so then Thursday gave me the greatest gift of all. Yes, it was JURASSIC PARK TIME! I know, I’m a little late as I’m sure Oblivion will be knocking JP3D out of theaters soon, but it was imperative to me that I take my brother and nephews. It was making me sick that none of them had ever seen it before! I KNOW! Well on our way to the show I basically spend the whole car ride hyping the movie up like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, which, let’s be honest, JP is better than sliced bread. Like, I would give up bread over Spielberg dinos any day. As long as I could still have pizza. Shit, where was I? Oh right, well thankfully the movie didn’t disappoint. It was really cool chatting with the boys after the film about the special effects work and neat tidbits from the film (for example, have you ever noticed the part when the group is arriving to the island via helicopter and everyone is hastily fastening their seat belts, but for whatever reason Dr. Grant has two of the same seat belt ends? Two female ends of the seat belt. What does he do? Just ties ’em together. Why? (say is with me now) because life finds a way.) Overall, it was a blast and doubly awesome because I listed it on my top 3 list for the ‘Movies You Want To See in Theaters‘ podcast and now it has come true!
Anna Kendrick’s Twitter Account: I’m almost entirely sure that I’m the last one to get to this party but I just recently started following the delightful Anna Kendrick on Twitter. Not only does she seem just as ridiculously adorable as she looks, but also just seems to be a fun, well rounded chick. I rarely follow celebs, especially if they aren’t comedians so I was pleasantly surprised to find AK. I’m pretty sure this is one of her tweets that will live in infamy:
Ugh – NEVER going to a Ryan Gosling movie in a theater again. Apparently masturbating in the back row is still considered “inappropriate”
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) January 14, 2013
If you’re not following Kendrick, get on it: @AnnaKendrick47
The 2013 Lammy Awards!: Holy Cow! This year’s Lammy nominations were announced on Monday via the Lambcast and I couldn’t believe it! FTS snagged FIVE nominations! I don’t even give a hoot if we win, it’s just totally boss that we were nominted. I mean, it would be super cool to win something but it made me feel real warm and fuzzy inside that we even got placed on the ballot. There are so many other awesome/amazing/badass blogs out there that it makes me feel honored to be counted among them. We were nominated for:
- Best Design (Yahooo! I’m really glad people enjoy the look of FTS, it’s a constantly evolving animal.)
- Best Rating System (So cool because we just did a complete re-haul of our Rating System graphics!)
- Best Festival Coverage (All props go to Nick for his informative coverage of the Maryland Film Festival!)
- BEST PODCAST (This really means a lot to all of us at FTS. We work hard to deliver the podcast each week and after 140+ episodes, I’m glad to know that at least a few people are listening!)
- BEST BLOG (Uh, did I die and go to heaven? What a total honor. Damn voters, you guys rule.)
Sorry if I sound like a nerd. It’s just pretty cool to see a little recognition for something you put so much passion into. If you are a Lamb member, you can vote for us if you would like. FTS is down to selecting winners in only two categories before we finally cast our vote! Good luck to everyone in the running and kudos to all those other amazing blogs out there doing their thang!
GAME OF THRONES: This ain’t new, Game of Thrones has been badass from season one. I’m excited that it’s back because now I have a show to look forward to every Sunday. It’s a great show to dish with people about on Monday and there is so much going on that I’m constantly anticipating things to come. If only the rest of FTS would catch up …*cough* Jess & Rob *cough.*
That’s a bonus coffee break shot from Sunday when FTS went out to watch Nick perform stand up! He did great per usual and I had coffee at 10 o’clock at night, per usual…
That there is my new at home coffee bar! I love it, except I always want coffee when I walk past it.
I recently restocked the K-cups.
That’s our old coffee pot and some left over coffee.
There’s our Keurig which works well. Behind the big guy is our grinder and in front is the french press.
Mulholland Drive coffee mugs actually play a crucial role in decoding the mystery of the film. Play close attention to the various mugs located through out the movie.