herbiehancock

Dry rub Meaty! Seasoned rack After braising Put on broiler pan Barbecue sauce brushed on Broiled and done Eat! Oven Roasted Ribs with Barbecue Sauce Ingredients 1 slab pork ribs, about 2 pounds Dry Rub 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1/2 tablespoon New Mexican chili powder 1/2 tablespoon Ancho chili powder 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning 1/4 teaspoon thyme 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg Method Make an aluminum foil boat for your ribs. Combine all seasonings, then sprinkle on rack of ribs, massaging it into the meat. Fold foil over and refrigerate at least one hour. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Place the wrapped rack of ribs, meat side down, on a foil lined sheet pan (for easy cleanup) and braise the ribs in the oven for 3 hours, until very tender. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Arrange rib rack on broiler pan. Brush on sauce of your cho...

November 17, 2011. R and I went to see La Princesse de Monpensier (Bertrand Tavernier, 2010). Tavernier is back. Very decent movie indeed, though uneven (French timing), with lovely bits of acting. With Gaspard Ulliel!

January 16, 2011. R and I went to see The Green Hornet (Michel Gondry, 2011). Very entertaining and rather sutble, for a superhero movie with comic actor Seth Rogen. Actor Jay Chou should go far.

Before we get into the rights and wrongs of this movie, let's consider this. Roman Polanski's first movie Knife in the Water was released in 1962. When he made Chinatown , the year was 1974- a year that him lock horns with Godfather-II for Oscar for Best Director. Out of the 4 other directors who were nominated that year for the award, Bob Fosse(Lenny), John Cassavettes(A Woman Under the Influence) and Francois Truffaut(Day for Night) are no more. The fourth director was Francis Ford Coppola who in the entire decade of 2000s gave us nothing to write home about while Roman Polanski gave us The Pianist . 48 years after he made his first movie, the man still knows what glue works best under our seats. What I am trying to underline here is that Polanski's methods, like his peers Coppola and Woody Allen who in the 1970s ushered in the New Hollywood, will perenially be under surveillance. Is this new-age filmmaking too fast for him, are his subjects relevant anymore, will he ab...

Channing Tatum was born in a small town called Cullman, outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up, he was full of energy and somewhat troublesome, so his parents decided to enroll him in different sports such as track and field, baseball, soccer, and football to keep him out of trouble. In the ninth grade he was sent to catholic school. It was there that he discovered his passion for football and his hopes became centered on earning an athletic college scholarship. Channing's goal was finally met, and in his senior year in high school, he was recruited and earned a full athletic college scholarship to a school in West Virginia. Tatum is also skilled in Kung Fu and in Gor-Chor Kung Fu, a form of martial arts, in which he has earned belts in both. Channing later left college and, in the meantime, worked as a construction worker, a stripper, a mortgage broker and salesman. He has modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Gap, Aeropostale, Emporio Armani, and has been featured in ...

Jessica Stroup was born October 23rd 1986, in Anderson, South Carolina, USA. At the age of 17, she received a scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, but turned it down to pursue acting. At only 17, she moved to Los Angeles and immediately took acting classes and received both modeling and acting offers. Since then, Jessica has starred in several hit horror movies including Prom Night (2008/I) and The Hills Have Eyes II (2007), and is booked a lead role in the brand new spin-off "90210" (2008) as one of the lead characters, "Erin Silver". In her spare time, Jessica enjoys hanging out with friends and family, watching movies, playing volleyball and listening to music.

for those of you who have been a long-time reader, you may recall the free hug booth at SF outside lands two years ago.  there was a big guy giving out free hugs, with a variety of hug options from which you could choose.  i got the bear hug, because i mean, how could i not?  it involved a great big burly hug which even picked me off the ground a little.  i loved every second of it!  now that was a pretty big deal for me because i am not a hugely affectionate person and i really don't like to have physical contact with people i don't know, including handshakes.  but there was something about this that just felt right - human connection.  several weeks ago i saw on alli's blog, reasons to smile , that someone had started a free hugs campaign .  the idea began when juan mann traveled back home during a pretty low point in his life.  he arrived at the airport and watched as loved ones embraced in hello's and goodbye's, only to find no one had c...

-Because airbrushed Natalie Portman is no Natalie Portman of mine. -For once, a movie that must rely on the charms of its female cast. Mindy Kaling, Greta Gerwig, and Olivia Thirlby are wasted, but make the most of it, as second-bananas to Natalie Portman who, as funny as she is here, is too adorable for me to buy as a cynic. I wanted the entire movie to be about them and Guy Branum. And then, of course, there's Lake Bell, neurotic coworker of Ashton Kutcher's. Even Abby Eliot shows up to do a Drew Barrymore impression. -This movie is fun. I mean, a lot of romantic comedies, are oppressively self-serious, gimmicky, sexist and stupid. This here...it knows it's limitations, a very confused Judd Apatow underling, but it's fun. Enough quirky sidekicks and frolicking about the city at night to make it entirely, utterly pleasant to watch on a plane. -Here's what confounded me: I forget where exactly they all lived (I'll say LA or San Francisco), but it looked f...

-Isabelle Huppert shrinks your balls. -Shitshitshit that scene in the bathroom SHIT. That was just fucking unpleasant. I mean, I can handle most vagina-adjacent mutilation in cinema, but this was fucking... -Speaking from modern sensibilities, I can easily call Black Swan a spiritual prequel. I mean, had Nina been a piano player who didn't end like she did, she might've grown to be Huppert. We already see the releasing of unconventional sexuality and physical altercations with her mother. Nina can't stay innocent forever, but she's unaccustomed and ill-prepared for healthy adulthood, and, we might imagine, not in possession of enough of an education to pursue any alternative field, or live apart from her mother. -Right. So.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, my mother passed away this morning.  She went quickly, and I'm grateful that she wasn't in pain and didn't suffer.  I'll be away for a while so that I can take care of matters here.  Thanks to all for your prayers for us.

Mon nouveau livre est sorti. Roman: Après Hanoi : Les mémoires brouillés d'une princesse vietnamienne . Available now Disponible sur Amazon

127 Hours marks Danny Boyle's return to movies after the heights of stardom he and his cast achieved worldwide with the Slumdog Millionaire in 2008. The movie catapulted Danny Boyle in the big league although his first movie Trainspotting was probably a better one. Needless to say, his next effort was going to followed very keenly and judgements would've been drawn on whether Danny just got plain lucky with Slumdog Millionaire or whether he was a filmmaker who was indeed one among the world's best. Once you've seen it, 127 Hours will leave no such doubt in your mind. The movie is the true story about an incident in the life of Aron Ralston - a passionate rock climber who got his arm inextricably caught between the proverbial rock and the hard place. (The name of the book on which the movie his based is called Between a Rock and a Hard Place). James Franco plays the spunky Aron and is introduced to us as a crazy individual who loves his climbs over the weekends. The...

Leighton Marissa Meester (born April 9, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Meester gained fame for playing the role as Blair Waldorf in the CW young-adult television series Gossip Girl. She subsequently ventured into motion pictures and has many successful films to her credit, including Flourish, Remember the Daze, Drive-Thru, and Killer Movie. She most recently appeared in the 2010 country drama film, Country Strong. As of January 2011, she is set to appear in three big screen movies: The Roommate, Monte Carlo and The Oranges.

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She went on the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film entitled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful. She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). C...

No 453 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Director - Steven Spielberg So 20 years have past since Indiana Jones rode away from Petra... and the question that some people might have been asking is "What is he up to now?" Well.... turns out he's still up to the same old shenanigans. This is a difficult film to analyse because all the pieces are there, everything SHOULD work, and yet.... somehow.... it doesn't. I don't want to turn this into a purist rant about how the trilogy didn't need to be revisited, but I will talk about the things that did work and (in my opinion) the things that didn't work. Before I go on.... I want to say, I don't mind the Aliens - sorry, Pan-Dimensional Beings . I don't really see how they are any more unbelievable or ridiculous than the sheer bonkers nonsense that is the old old old man guarding the holy grail. The first one of these is that it really feels like it is trying too hard to appease fans.... ...

No 306 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Director Steven Spielberg When watching the films as a set in succession (as I have just done) - the qualities of this film (which I always remembered as the weakest of the original trilogy) really shine through. After the darkness of face melting and nightmare tribes, the far more jokey vibe of this film seem a lot more appropriate. There is a lot of good in The Last Crusade.... lets check it out. Really - what we're doing with the trilogy is building and then - to a certain degree - deconstructing a legend. So where Raiders of the Lost Ark gave us the hero and a romantic foil who is his equal, the sequels begin to look at how he behaves with people less suited to his adventurous lifestyle. Whether they be children and civilians (Short Round shows Indy's paternal streak far more beautifully than his relationship with Mutt... but I'm jumping forward a film) or whether they be his own estranged family. The films show us just enough...

No 233 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Director - Steven Spielberg Well... Whilst the sight of a Nazi's face melting off may be a dark ending to Raiders of the Lost Ark, it is nothing compared to the outright horror that makes up Temple of Doom.... We are in for some rough times in our PG rating. Some tough times indeed. However, firstly, Spielberg lulls us into a false sense of security by offering what must be the campest introduction in all of his career: So... we're in the fab 30's before war has broken out and before Raiders has taken place... And Indy is getting himself into trouble - and after an awesome little shoot out we are saddled with Indy's new sidekicks for the film.... and this is where Temple of Doom falters. After the excellent double bill of Sallah and Marion, leaving us with Willie and Short Round feels like a punishment. Especially as most of their character seems built around screaming. In fact about 95% of Willie's screen time is scream...

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and raised in a strict household. Her father worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and her mother was a former schoolteacher and author. Heather and her sister, Aimee Graham, were forced to relocate often as a result of their father's occupation, and Heather became increasingly shy. Surprisingly, she had a passion for acting from an early age and despite being labeled a "theater geek" by her peers, she was voted Most Talented by her high school senior class. Unfortunately, her love of acting created a tension between her and her family, although her mother obligingly drove her to auditions in Hollywood throughout her adolescence. Shortly after graduating high school Heather moved to Los Angeles and got small roles in a variety of films, including Drugstore Cowboy (1989). When her career did not take off as quickly as she had hoped, Heather enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles to get her degree in...

No 2 - Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Director - Steven Spielberg A hand brushes through the jungle. The brim of a fedora throws a strong jaw into shadow. A leather jacket is seen through the dense foliage. A gun is produced and then WHIP CRACK we see our hero... Much like the introduction of James Bond (something I know a lot about now thanks to BlogalongaBond ) - Spielberg teases the audience before finally unveiling his hero. It is that subtle and masterful presentation (and a fucking cool crack of the whip) that makes a star. And Indy is a star. And... lets be honest... Harrison Ford is the kind of awesome that means you can fully imagine his classrooms filled with dreamy eyed girls going all gooey over him and his brainy tweed and spectacles. - I also like the Superman- esque imagery of it all. How by donning glasses, he can put on a disguise of academia and mask the fact that he is a globe trotting bad ass. And yet a bad ass who is prone to mistakes (which is impo...