No Hangover This Time Around

By now we've all read plenty of reviews of "The Hangover: Part II" saying it's a repeat of the first, so I don't need to mention the stars (Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms) and I don't need to include that it made over $100 million dollars in the domestic box office by Sunday ($137.4 million to be precise). It's still a great movie in its own right, and the characters are equally defined and hilarious in this installment.

What I will do instead is wonder aloud about the numerous Billy Joel references in the movie

1. Above Alan's bed is a giant poster of the cover art to Billy Joel's 1980 album "Glass Houses"
2. During one of the landscape montages, Billy Joel's 1989 song "The Downeaster Alexa" plays (the irony about this, is that I was watching it in a theater on Nantucket, one of the places in the song, but unfortunately no one else in the theater picked up on that)
3. Stu's song in this movie is "Alan Town" a clever play on Billy Joel's 1982 song "Allentown"

I'm sure there are more references that I didn't pick up on, but it's cool that Todd Phillips threw them in there. I'm sure I'll be watching it again, so I can pick up more of the references and I can actually try and hear all of the jokes over every laughing this time.

SPICYYYYYY

Super delicious awesome tasty awesomesauce sandwich from The Dancing Pickle for lunch today. I went back to an old favorite for me: the Chicken Finger Wrap. This sandwich has everything: boneless chicken strips, lettuce, tomato, bell peppers and chipotle mayo. I'd rather not dissect the sandwich too much, as I might ruin the magic behind it, but if you're on Nantucket this weekend for the Figawi Race, stop in and check it out.

Interestingly enough, for the second day in a row, I have had a spicy sandwich with chipotle mayo. It's delicious and I'm not 100% sure why I'm so into it this week, but this might have something to do with it.

Smoked Ham & Swiss

Pardon the lack of a catchy title for this little post, but I just finished the sandwich and I haven't had time to come up with one. Maybe I'll come back and change it when I think of it, but I highly doubt that will happen.

First, the sandwich. Smoked ham (obviously), swiss cheese (again, obviously), lettuce (less obvious), red onions, and chipotle mayo on portuguese bread. Fantastic combination from all the above, and it might have been a little too spicy if not for the lettuce. Accompanied by a cool "Big Cranberry" Nantucket Nectars, this tasty sandwich was worth every cent of the $8.75 I spent on it.

Secondly, and almost more importantly, the location. "Provisions" is a little sandwich shop tucked away on a wharf on Nantucket Island and is unfortunately overlooked by most people because of the Gazebo (a popular watering hole) that day trippers flock to and get schwastey at. But if you're not a drunken idiot you can appreciate it. "Provisions" makes up one third of "The Big Three" (my three favorite sandwich shops on Nantucket, stay tuned for the other two) and it was a perfect place to start my summer.

Captain Jack's Back!

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" sailed into theaters this weekend to tumultuous applause from pirate fans and lukewarm reviews from critics. Personally, I loved it. And now that we're closing in on 24 hours from viewing time, I'm still of the opinion that it is as good or even better than the first.

Jack Sparrow is up to his old tricks and I'll save you all a plot summary, because if you're reading this now, you most definitely already know it. The only real differences we have between "On Stranger Tides" and "The Curse Of The Black Pearl" is instead of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom we have Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane and instead of the beloved Black Pearl we have the terrifying Queen Anne's Revenge as our flagship.

The actors and director Rob Marshall have been claiming in all their press runs that they've done something new and fresh, which is rather debatable. But it's not a bad thing at all, because I for one just love watching Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow getting in and out of trouble and am perfectly content watching that for two hours. Like all the advertisements say it is "the perfect summer movie", it won't be winning awards but it's awesome good fun. I love it and I'm sure others will feel the same way after seeing it. Well, Michael Bolton will at least feel that way....

PBJT (Peanut Butter Jelly Time)

Well, it's certainly been a while since my last post. Blame it on the rain, college, some other stuff, but mostly me. Now I'm back and I promise that this little blog o' mine is going to be better than ever before.

It occurs to me that despite the title of this blog being "Movies and Sandwiches" I have yet to do a post on sandwiches. That ends now. For the past week, everyday I have had two (yes, two) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Lay's Potato Chips and a glass of Snapple Iced Tea. Most people think that PB&J is a super unoriginal sandwich, and they may be right. You can't add anything to it and it's always the same two ingredients, that's never going to change.

It may be unoriginal, but it is delicious and after a week of two a day, I'm still not bored. Which is why PB&J gets my vote for "Most Underrated Sandwich." Keep on the lookout and follow this blog to get more of my personal "Sandwich Awards."

Meet The Parents (And Cats)

Yesterday I got in on the classic argument of cats vs. dogs and which one is better, smarter, faster stronger, etc. I am a cat person at heart (mainly due to being terrorized by the dalmatian next door for most of my childhood) and I do not understand why people prefer dogs. I mean you have to walk them, you can't ever leave them at home, and they drool all over the place. Most people I come across are ardent supporters of dogs and so it's nice to come across someone who is on my side of this issue.

And who better to have on your side of an argument than Robert De Niro? I don't know about you, but I would never want to disagree with that man. In my personal opinion he shares one of the best pro-feline arguments that I have ever heard in the 2000 comedy "Meet The Parents."

"So you need that assurance do you? You prefer an emotionally shallow animal? You see Greg, when you yell at a dog, his tail will go between his legs and cover his genitals, his ears will go down. A dog is very easy to break, but cats make you work for their affection, they don't sell out the way dogs do."

I cannot agree more with De Niro on this one. Since you have to work for the cat's affection it means that much more when you get it. The bond is stronger and it's something that you can't achieve with an animal that you can hit repeatedly and will keep coming back. The best relationships are those based on mutual respect, which is something a dog will never have, but something a cat needs.

"A Hard Day's Night"

Sorry for the absence of posts everyone! I'm just getting back into the swing of things here at college and it's hard to try and find time to keep up with the blog. Last night I watched The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night" for my College Writing class and my professor told us to think about whether this movie was still relevant in 2011 or if it had become "dated" over the years. And it's been a while since I've reviewed a movie so below I've included my response to this prompt. Enjoy.

Despite being made in black and white over forty-five years ago, The Beatles shine in “A Hard Day’s Night” and the core of the movie is still understandable and true today. The film has hardly “dated” at all, there is little that we do not understand because we are living in such a different time period. There are several reasons for this. The first reason is the legend of The Beatles has lasted this long and this movie is part of the legend of The Beatles. If you ask people today, a large majority will praise The Beatles as the greatest band of all time. A band is only as good as its music and we still know and listen to The Beatles music all the time today (especially with their full catalogue now available on iTunes). Since this movie is first and foremost about the music of The Beatles and they are performing for most of the movie it is easy for us to understand and enjoy all the scenes of them performing their songs. Second, when The Beatles are not performing they are generally being chased around by their adoring fans, which are mostly comprised of screaming teenage girls. This phenomenon is familiar with us today, for a variety of acts ranging from rock (Coldplay) to rap (Kanye West) to pop (Jonas Brothers). In fact, the Jonas Brothers even stole the idea of being chased down the street by fans for the opening scene of their movie “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.” Finally, the goal of the movie when it was released (other than making tons of money) was to foster the idea that The Beatles were just four normal (very talented) guys from Liverpool. They want to have fun, go out at night, avoid work and in the end they are only human. This works just as well today as it did in 1964. We all grow up with the idea that The Beatles are some sort of music gods; even Lennon declared that The Beatles “are bigger than Jesus.” Coupled with his assassination in 1980 Lennon has become this mystical figure that generations after him hardly understand. “A Hard Day’s Night” shows us a little into the personality of Lennon that is never seen anymore. But overall, The Beatles are just regular guys, they crack jokes, they look for the fun in everything and they want to go out and meet girls. In 1964 this was the first time many had seen The Beatles (other than The Ed Sullivan Show) and it was their primary base of knowledge about the band. For people now in 2011 with biographies and YouTube and countless documentaries we know (or think we know) quite a bit about The Beatles. This movie has not dated at all and if anything improves our knowledge and appreciation of The Beatles more than it did for the people watching it in 1964.