"THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES" (1990) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES", the 1990 television adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1920 novel. The movie starred David Suchet as Hercule Poirot:




"THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES" (1990) Photo Gallery

DISNEY’S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE: Food & Wine Festival 2022

 

Recently, my family and I had enjoyed a day at the Disneyland Resort, where we attended the 2022 Food & Wine Festival at the Disney’s California Adventure theme park.  The festival ended on April 26.  Below is a selection of the food and drinks I had enjoyed at the festival:

DISNEY’S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE:  FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL 2022

Carbonara-Garlic Mac & Cheese - This was a delicious macaroni and cheese dish with peppered bacon and garlic.  My only complaint was there seemed to be a bit too many bacon bits, making the dish a little too salty.

Gyro-inspired Flatbread with Impossible Ground Beef - I found this gyro-inspired sandwich with ground Impossible beef, chipotle hummus, tzatziki and spiced crispy chickpeas spicy and surprisingly delicious.  I believe many vegans and vegetarians may have found it a welcoming addition to the festival.

Honey-Orange-Glazed Verlasso Salmon Salad - This was the only dish at the festival that I did not care for.  I had no problems with the salad, the vinaigrette or the pickled chopped black olives and peppers that topped the salad.  I did not even mind that the salmon was served cold.  However, I thought the latter lacked flavor and could have been marinated before being cooked.

Snickers Caramel-Peanut Milk Chocolate Mickey Macaron - This macaron was probably the largest I have ever eaten.  It was also very rich, very sweet and very delicious.  Many YouTube influencers claimed that it actually tasted like a Snickers Bar.  I cannot say that I would agree.  But I did enjoy it very much.

Glazed BBQ Pork Belly - I will say this about the Disneyland Resort.  Its cooks seemed to be better at preparing pork belly than their counterparts in Central Florida.  I thought the pork belly was cooked perfectly - not undercooked or overcooked.  The BBQ sauce proved to be a great addition to the dish.  However, the macaroni salad that accompanied it struck me as incredibly bland.  I barely touched it.

Aji de Gallina - This Peruvian dish consisted of stewed chicken with spicy yellow chile , along with jasmine rice and olive tapenade.  And it was delicious.  I honestly believed this would be something of a miss, but I have always been a chicken and rice fan.  Although a bit salty at first bite, this dish proved to be my second favorite at the festival.

Black & Tan Beef Potato Puffs - This is it, ladies and gentlemen!  This beef and potatoes dish proved to be my favorite dish at the festival.   The dish consisted of pot roast with chives, lager micro sponge and tater tots, topped with a Karl Strauss Wreck Alley stout gravy.  O-M-G!  The flavor of this dish took my breath away.  What can I say?  Two thumbs up!

If you had attended the 2022 Disney’s California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, what were your favorite dishes?

"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE" (2010) Review

  

"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE" (2010) Review

One of the movies that struggled at the box office during the summer of 2010 was Disney’s 2010 live-action adaptation of its 1940 animated classic, "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE". Directed by Jon Turteltaub, the movie starred Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel.

"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE" is a fantasy-adventure about a long-living sorcerer named Balthazar Blake who is fighting against the forces of evil and his arch-nemesis Maxim Horvath in modern-day Manhattan. During this fight against evil, Balthazar searched for the person who will inherit the magical abilities of the powerful wizard, Merlin. This person turns out to be Dave Stutler, a physics student at New York University, whom Balthazar takes on as a reluctant protégé.

Did I have any problems with "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE"? Well, I had a few. Although some of the movie's scenes managed to capture shots of Manhattan in the daytime, most of the scenes were filmed at night. Manhattan makes a vibrant and colorful setting. I found it frustrating that I got to see most of it in night scenes, when it was not really necessary. The special effect of the flying gargoyle from the Chrysler Building really did nothing for me. And the movie criminally – in my opinion – underused actors and actresses such as Omar Benson Miller, who portrayed Dave’s roommate; Monica Bellucci, who played Balthazar’s fellow sorceress and secret love, Veronica; and Alice Kriege, who portrayed the evil Morgana le Fey from the King Arthur legend.

Despite all of this, I managed to enjoy "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE", much to my surprise. More than I thought I would. There were no cheesy lines. And there was plenty of sharp humor. Thanks to the screenplay written by Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard and Matt Lopez, the movie also proved to be a solid adventure story about how Dave Stutler who learned to achieve his full potential and a good deal of self-respect. Dave’s mentor, Balthazar, also learned a good deal about patience and overcoming one’s past regrets. With a great deal of humor, the pair not only taught valuable lessons to each other; but also formed a solid pair to take out Horvath, who had hoped to raise the evil Morgana le Fey, and stop them both from destroying the world.

Despite too many nighttime scenes, I must admit that I found Bojan Bazelli’s photography to be colorful and impressive. I also found the special effects supervised by John Fraizer very impressive – especially during the Chinatown sequence and the scene featuring Dave’s use of Tesla coils.

And despite the film’s failure to utilize performers such as Omar Benson Miller, Monica Bellucci and Alice Kriege; the "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE" could boast a very entertaining cast. Nicholas Cage was perfectly cast as the intense and sometimes impatient sorcerer, Balthazar Blake. And he had excellent chemistry with the deliciously wry and sardonic Jay Baruchel, who portrayed physics student-turned sorcerer, Dave Stutler. Alfred Molina seemed to be in his element as the sarcastic and villainous sorcerer, Maxim Horvath. He also managed to produce a surprisingly effective screen chemistry with Toby Kebbell, who portrayed the young and self-absorbed celebrity magician, Drake Stone. And although I did not find Teresa Palmer’s portrayal of Dave’s lost interest, Becky Barners, particularly memorable; I must admit that she managed to prevent her character from becoming bland.

Looking back at "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE", I cannot help but wonder if producer Jerry Bruckheimer had refrained from allotting a bigger budget to the movie. I think it had the potential to be a major crowd pleaser but failed to do so with too many night scenes and an unwillingness to utilize the entire cast. But the movie still had some dazzling special effects, a solid adventure story and a talented cast in Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel and Alfred Molina. In the end, "THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE" proved to be a pretty good movie.

"ARROW" Season One (2012-2013) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from Season One of "ARROW", the CW adaptation of the D.C. Comics hero, the Green Arrow. Created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg; the series stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen aka the Arrow:




"ARROW" SEASON ONE (2012-2013) Photo Gallery