Francophilia and Self Love Alive and Well in Hollywood - A Look at the Years Oscar Nominees

With the Oscars a mere week away, it is time to look at the nominees for Best Picture.  And as we look over the field there is a real continental feel to the movies nominated.  As in North America and Europe.  Save for The Descendants which is based in Hawaii (which, as we know, is in fact a US state) every story comes from one or the other.  Some might argue The Tree of Life is actually based in someone's dream, but they speak English enough to guess it is set in America.

This seems to point to the state of movie making in general.  With the economy still in its recovery, ever increasing ticket prices, and quality content being provided on any number of platforms, people need a good reason to go to the movies.  To attract the public you need to have ingenuity, intrigue, and interest.  The best way to do that is to go with what you know, return to your base (a lesson most often learned in politics, it is an election year after all).  This year there are no tales from exotic far off lands, strange alternate universes, or alien planets.  This years crop are based in well known familiar settings.  That is not to say that there are not elements of the fantastic.

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Arrested Development Returning for a 4th Season

In case you have fallen in a "Sudden Valley", or are forced to live in an attic since your escape from prison and the Polymouth is your only source for current events, do we have good news for you!  Arrested Development, AKA the funniest sit-com of all time, is returning for a truncated 4th season to set up the long awaited feature film.  They are expecting a 10 episode mini-season catching fans up on "The Lost Years" since the premature cancelation of the cult classic.  This is all hearsay and rumor, but here are some links to some sites that seem pretty certain, including some tweets from the cast confirming reports.

http://bluthfamilyreunion.com/41/arrested-development-to-return-for-4th-season/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/arrested-development-will-return-with-new-episodes-and-the-movie/2011/10/02/gIQAMszQGL_blog.html

http://news.yahoo.com/arrested-development-announces-4th-season-movie-230333253.html



We're gonna get "Hop-Ons"...

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127 Hors (D'oeuvres)- (Dish Made for 127 Hours for the 2011 Oscar Party)

127 Hors D'oeuvres

As I was trying to come up with a dish for 127 Hours (you know, the movie about that real guy Aron Ralston who was trapped by a rock and ended up cutting his own arm off to escape to rescue) I felt like I might need to gnaw MY arm off.  For some reason every year there are a couple movies that just don't lend themselves to making dishes about them.  Granola or Power Bars crossed my mind.  There was talk of chicken wings...  but that seemed a bit morbid.  What ended up winning out was a play on the visual look of the name itself: 127 Hours.  Just drop the "u" and you get 127 Hors.  Add some fancy French stuff and you get 127 Hors (D'oeurves).

127 Hours mural in the 100 Mile Hallway


This one is actually more about the total items than any specific recipe.  It is made up of 5 different little appetizers.  3 of them in a 25 count and 2 of them in a 26 count.  25+25+25+26+26= 127.  You can really make any hors d'oeuvres you would like, but here are the five that were served at the 2011 Oscar Party: Fried Olives, Pita Chips with Hummus (topped with a slice of Kalamata Olive), Bread Rounds with Rondele (topped with Pimento and Chives), Caprese Bites with Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella, and Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus.

Most of these are pretty basic, 2 of them are a cracker/spread type snacks, and 2 of them are small skewer types on toothpicks.  But, the Fried Olives are a dish I had never made, and in fact had never even tried.  But I saw this demonstration and wanted to try the recipe.  I skipped the cheese, and used Panko bread crumbs instead (if you are not yet aware of Panko bread crumbs, do yourself a favor and give them a shot, your taste buds will thank you),  but I basically stuck to the technique.

It actually came together nicely, and they were some of the most popular bites of the night.  It was unfortunate that as soon as one person tried any of the dishes it threw the number off and the whole effect was lost.  But just getting something pulled together had me feeling like James Franco's character must have felt like once he saw that med-evac helicopter landing.

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Oscar Party 2011 (Menu and Recipes for the Academy Awards)



Mural of the 10 Best Picture Nominees

The last few years I have thrown an Oscar Party.  Who knew that if you got tasty food, cocktails, and (ahem) some friendly wagering all in one place you could get even the most hardened anti-award-show types to have a great time?  I will eventually go back and post recipes and some pics from previous parties, but lets begin with the most recent.

The main components to the shin-dig are threefold: A dish for each of the movies nominated for Best Picture, fun decorations including the free hand Mural in the 100 Mile Hallway, and the Oscar ballot game where everyone guesses who wins for prizes at the end of the night.  Throw in some top flight movies, some over priced fashion, and some mediocre comedy and you gotta party baby!  Let's roll out the red carpet and take a look at the nominees...

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Blackberry Flan (known as "Black Flan" for the 2011 Oscar Party)

I have a love-hate relationship with flan.  It never sounds good.  It is not something I would order after dinner.  And there is something about it that just looks... odd.  But every time I do venture out and give it a shot I'm always surprised just how tasty it is.  I mean off-the-charts-good.  I sit there with a look of confusion as to why I don't eat flan every day.  I should have by this point of my life realized that, despite all of my thoughts to the contrary, I like flan.

I think many other people have a similar reaction.  Hesitation at first, followed by bewilderment, and finished with cravings for more.  The problem is getting people to try the first bite.  Which can by quite an obstacle.  This is why serving flan at a party is a bold move, especially if you are straying from the deliciously traditional caramel custard. 

Black Swan section from the 100 Mile Hallway Mural

But when this years Oscar nominees were announced, I had a sinking feeling once I realized I had to do it: I had to make "Black Flan".  Not only was I going to try making a dish I wasn't sure I even liked, I was going to be making a dish I had never made before, and with a twist that could ruin the whole thing...  Gulp.  But that feeling seemed to fit right in line with the scary, uneasy, psychedelic nature of Natalie Portman's Oscar winning portrayal in Black Swan.  And much like the dancer in Black Swan, the dish had to straddle both traditional beauty and technique, with avant-garde danger and risk.  Ok, that's a bit dramatic, adding blackberries to custard ain't exactly a Warhol painting, but just go with the metaphor here will ya?

So after some practice and trying out a couple different recipes it came down to 3 basic steps:

1. Making Blackberry Simple Syrup
2. Making the Flan Custard
3. Baking and Serving

Really that's it.  There are a few steps in between, and a couple little tweaks for fun, but that is just about it.  So let's get going...

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The Social Knockwurst (Dish made for The Social Network at the 2011 Oscar Party)

This dish was a fun play on words, but it also has a fun adventure in the making of the recipe too.  It's a real basic cracker snack appitizer, but there was a little searching around and a taste test involved.  All the dish entailed was Sociable crackers (get it, "Sociable" for the "Social" Network... oh you can't script stuff like that), some stone ground musturd, a german style sausage called Knockwurst (learn the difference between Knockwurst and Bratwurst here), topped with the first recipe ever put on The Polymouth: Caramelized Onions.

The Social Network section of the 100 Mile Hallway Mural

So Knockwurst doesn't exactly grow on trees.  You have to do a little digging.  You probably won't find it at your local super market, so this will give you a chance to try some of your local mom and pop butcher shops.  In our search for the best option we tried out 3 of Portlands favorite butcher shops: Otto's Sausage Kitchen, Edelweiss Sausage and Delicatessen, and Phil's Uptown Meat Market.  There was no traditional Knockwurst to be found, but we selected a close enough facsimile from each spot and got to the fun: Sausage Taste Test!!!  The winner ended up being Otto's Bockwurst.  It is a lovely, smooth, soft and flavorful sausage, and well worth the trip.

The dish itself is real easy: Stack a cracker with mustard, a thin slice of sausage, and top with caramelized onions.  I think a garnigh of flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest, or chives would be nice, but you don't need them.  Serve this at your next party and your "Freinds" will "Like" them so much they will be "Requesting" more...

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Willie Lyles vs. The Big Lebowski

For those college football fans out there I am sure by now you have heard the name Willie Lyles.  He has been all over ESPN and sports talk radio explaining his side of an NCAA investigation of improprieties by The University of Oregon  in the recruitment of some players (RB Lache Seastrunk in particular).  Real quick, here are the main points. 

1. Willie Lyles knows and "mentors" many high school football players in Texas (RB Lache Seastrunk was one of these players)
2. Willie Lyles also runs a recruitment service, where he provides footage and stats of players to college football programs for a fee
3. Lache Seastrunk signed to play football at the University of Oregon
4. The University of Oregon paid Willie Lyles $25,000
5. The University of Oregon did not ask for any footage or stats for a year after the payment to Willie Lyles
6. It is unclear if Lyles was paid for his recruitment service or if, in his roll as a mentor, he "steered" players to the University of Oregon for money
7. Steering players to a specific school for pay, at best designates someone as an employee of the university which is highly regulated and requires transparency, and at worst designates them as a booster, and recruitment by boosters is a big no-no in the eyes of the NCAA
8. There are no allegations that any student athlete was paid to go to the University of Oregon
9. Willie Lyles denies that he steered any students to any school
10. Lache Seastrunk "Redshirted" last year, meaning he practiced and was on the team but never played in a game, so he retains his 4 years of college eligibility
11. The University of Oregon is cooperating with the NCAA investigation and has made no further statements on the subject, and the silence is deafening

Ok, those are "the facts" up to now.  NCAA investigations being as they are, this issue is going to be out there for a while and we might not see a resolution for months or years.  So in the mean time, why not have some fun with it...?

YouTube legend and friend of The Polymouth keeerrrttt has put together some clips of various news outlets discussing the situation.  And since all things must and do relate back to The Big Lebowski, he created a hilarious comparison of the two.  It is a little long, but well worth it (keep in mind The Big Lebowski has some rather coarse language, and might not be appropriate for the office or around children).  Take a look...  Willie Lyles vs. The Big Lebowski

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Child Piano Prodigy (Video 1946)

I first received this video in an e-mail reading "'LITTLE RICHARD' WHEN YOUNG".  Intrigued but skeptical I took a look.  It is mesmerizing, and if it doesn't put a smile on your face I hold out little hope for anything ever putting a smile on your face.  But I still doubted the claim that it was Little Richard, so I did some digging.

It turns out it is not Little Richard but footage of child prodigy Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson.  Robinson won his first talent contest in Detroit at the age of 3!  He was unable to tour due to child labor laws but played guest spots with Lionel Hampton in Detroit as well as on the radio.  As his popularity grew there were more and more outlets for people to see him play.  Hollywood came calling, and the clip below is footage of the 1946 movie "No Leave, No Love" where Robinson performed "Caldonia", a song he later performed for President Harry S. Truman at the White House.

After a few year of touring (with special permission given to avoid any legal entanglements) he "retired" from music at the ripe old age of 13 to focus on school.  He went on to receive a Ph. D. in Psychology from University of Michigan.

It might not be Little Richard, but it was a great chance to do some research and learn more about a really amazing person.  Check out the video and let me know what you think...

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