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The Hundred-Foot Journey Movie Review

August 12, 2014 by The Mom Jen 1 Comment

I knew before going in to see “The Hundred-Foot Journey” that I would either get hungry or crave certain foods during and after, because as any foodie knows, you don’t go to a foodie movie unprepared! WOW was I right about that!

Where do I begin? The movie comes alive from the start in a bustling market in India, with wonderful colors, characters, and of course food. It tells the story of the Kadam family, and why they trek all the way from Mumbai and eventually land in a small town in France. The wonderful Papa of the family, played by Om Puri, falls in love with a beautiful run down building that he envisions as being the perfect place for his family to set up their new restaurant. All of his three sons and two daughters have unique and sometimes amusing personalities, but it is Hassan, played by Manish Dayal, that you fall head over heels for. Hassan is the true chef of the five, with a love for his mother’s spices and talent for cooking that gives him passion in the kitchen and in life.

Unfortunately for the Kadam family, they have chosen to build their restaurant across the street from a very well known restaurant that serves French cuisine and is owned and run by the very proud Madame Mallory, played by the lovely Helen Mirren. The Madame is not pleased that they are moving in and sets about making life as hard for them as possible. A battle of the restaurants begins, with at first amusing accusations of one another, but eventually leads to someone outside taking it a bit too far. This changes the relationship between the two owners, making the movie take a turn that you don’t expect.

In the midst of all of this drama and laughter is a love story, that develops slowly but sweetly between Hassan and one of the Madame’s chefs, Marguerite, played by a lovely young woman named Charlotte Le Bon. She is the most welcoming of Hassan and his passion for food, and fans the flame of his interest in French cuisine. She actually reminded me of a young French Wynona Ryder through the entire film.

I don’t want to share more than that because I think seeing a movie unfold for yourself is a treasure. But I will say that there are twists and turns I did not anticipate, and all of them simply make you fall more in love with the characters as they go. This is a beautiful story, written by Richard C. Morais, that even my ten year old daughter could appreciate. She applauded at the end!

Our only downfall? Seeing the movie too late in the day, making it impossible for us to find an open Indian restaurant so that we could devour some delicious food immediately. And believe me — we tried! If you see “The Hundred-Foot Journey”, please go before dinner! You’ll thank me later.

Merrie is a writer for the Jen is on a Journey and you can also find her at her blog, Sleepless Mornings: Merrie is the mother of two beautiful children, newly married, a scrapbooker, a baker, and always fun to be around!

Passes were offered for honest review.

Disney’s Maleficent Movie Review

May 31, 2014 by The Mom Jen Leave a Comment

Disney’s animated version of “Sleeping Beauty” ever so many years ago gave us the wonderful tale of Aurora and how her loving parents tried to shield her from an evil sorceress who wanted to curse the child because she wasn’t invited to the party. As always we are made to hate the bad guy and cheer for the hero who rescues the princess, etc.

But what about the villain? What is it that makes someone so angry that they would lay such a curse upon a sweet little baby smiling in her crib? What happened to them to make them so vengeful? Who wronged them?

And this is what I love about Disney’s new movie, “Maleficent.” Because we finally get to see the side of the person we assumed so much about! We get to follow the life of Maleficent — her childhood, her first love, and her first heartbreak. We get to understand her side of the story and why she does the things she does. And I loved every single minute of it!

Disney brings to light another side of the story, with characters that you can’t believe you’re falling in love with. Angelina Jolie is excellently cast as the main character herself, with various cute blondes playing Aurora as she grows up. One was actually Angelina’s own daughter, Vivienne, because they were afraid any other young child would be frightened of her in her costume. The older version of Aurora is played by the lovely Elle Fanning, who brings a gentle kindness to her character that makes you want for her happiness in the end.

My other favorite characters were the three fairies that the king enlists to care for Aurora, just like in the original animated version. But in “Maleficent,” the fairies aren’t as clever and perfect as you might recall. They are a bit more realistic in that they are a bit inept at caring for a baby. And they don’t exactly have “mothering” instincts, either. Which makes them all the more amusing to watch as they attempt to raise this little girl. Imelda Staunton, one of my most favorite British actresses, plays one of the fairies and as always creates a character all her own.

The writing in the movie is truly well done, with more moments of laughter than I had expected. I was also impressed with the special effects in the film — Disney makes you wish you could step into the screen and play amongst the fairies and nymphs. Or grow wings and fly to the clouds with Maleficent. I can’t wait to see this movie again and share it with the rest of my family. Thank you very much to Jen and Disney for this opportunity to review “Maleficent.” It’s a hit you don’t want to miss on the big screen!
Merrie is a writer for the Jen is on a Journey and you can also find her at her blog, Sleepless Mornings: Merrie is the mother of two beautiful children, newly engaged–planning a June wedding, a scrapbooker, a baker, and always fun to be around!

Early screening passes were given in exchange for this honest review.

Review: Go See This Weekend’s Most Wanted Movie, Muppets Most Wanted!

March 21, 2014 by The Mom Jen 2 Comments

When I was a kid I dearly loved the Muppets. First there was the Muppet show, which we religiously watched every single week. Even when we lived in Germany in the 80’s and had only three channels, we were able to get the Muppet Show, and we never missed one. As I got older the Muppet movies became favorites — especially “The Great Muppet Caper,” which to this day I can practically recite.

Given the opportunity to go and see the newest Disney Muppets movie, “Muppets Most Wanted,” I jumped at the chance. My son Charlie and I attended a preview and what a great time we had! From beginning to end, “Muppets Most Wanted” is a comedy with humor for everyone, big and little. For us bigs, there can never be enough cameo’s by well known entertainers who pop up for minutes or mere seconds. Half the time the littles don’t even realize what they’re missing, but that’s just fine because they’re too busy loving the Muppets and their antics. (Which by the way, so was I!)

Right from the start this movie held our attention. We see our favorite Muppets pick up where they left off in the last movie, when suddenly they’re approached by an agent who wants to help them get to the top. Enter Ricky Gervais, aka Dominic Badguy — that’s pronounced “bad-gee” of course. “It means really good guy.” Ha! Shortly after you’re introduced to the worlds most evil frog, Constantine, who mysteriously looks a great deal like our own Kermit the Frog. Coincidence??

Naturally there’s a lot of craziness and mix-ups to follow once the two frogs are switched, making “Kermit” suddenly sound Russian and “Constantine” help the gulag prison put on a variety show. Hijinks and hilarity ensue as we follow each storyline play out and reach a perfect climactic ending.

Some highlights for me included the power play between Ty Burrell’s Interpol character and Sam the Eagle’s CIA agent. Sam’s deadpan look and voice crack me up every time. Another favorite moment was when Constantine the evil frog said, “It’s not easy being mean.” Ha! Another laugh came from realizing that the Muppets took their train from New York to…Berlin. Um, I don’t know about you, but how does a train cross the ocean? Oh never mind — it’s the Muppets! Lastly, in the few shots through the movie where they performed their show, I was feeling so happy and nostalgic to see them perform their opening act and hear, “It’s time start the music, it’s time to light the lights!” Ah, pure joy.

I don’t want to give much away because I want you to go out and see it for yourself and feel like a kid again doing so. After the movie ended, I asked Charlie (my 12 year old) if he felt like the movie was better for me as a long time Muppets fan, or if it was just as good for him even if there’s little history for him. He mulled it over and decided that the best way to explain it was that it was both! He might not have appreciated all the cameo’s that I did, but he certainly enjoyed the humor and the acting and the story. That sounds like a good balance to me.

And does life get any better than seeing Sweetums dance with Christoph Waltz? I really don’t think so.

Merrie is a writer for the Jen is on a Journey and you can also find her at her blog, Sleepless Mornings: Merrie is the mother of two beautiful children, newly engaged–planning a June wedding, a scrapbooker, a baker, and always fun to be around!

Screening was offered to facilitate review, all opinions my own.

Starbucks Verismo Brewer Review

December 23, 2013 by The Mom Jen 3 Comments

Coffee Lovers — Gather Around!

This means you, too, Latte and Mocha Lovers!

Today might be one of the best days ever, because I finally found the coffee maker of my DREAMS.
Say hello to the Verismo System by Starbucks — the single cup home café experience. And I have Staples to thank for it!

I’ve seen these wonderful coffee makers in both Starbucks and Staples, and I was intrigued by the idea of something that could bring the Starbucks coffee experience into my home, but I couldn’t be sure until I tried it. As it turns out, it’s as easy as pie to use. To begin with, the system comes with a starter welcome kit that gives you the ability to make both a latte with espresso, as well as regular brewed coffee. Setting up the machine was super easy — simply add filtered water to the canister on the back, run a rinse cycle five times to get it all clean and ready to go, and then brew your first cup. It took hardly any time at all before my fiancé was enjoying a hot cup of Starbucks coffee in our kitchen.

Now for the Latte! My biggest complaint in the past when trying to make a home made latte or mocha has been that there are too many machines and too many steps to accomplish it. A few years ago I had a mini espresso machine that could only make one shot at a time, and then you had to steam your milk right afterwards. Not only was the espresso or water amount never quite right, but the I could never quite get the steamer clean and I can not tell you how many times I burned myself with hot milk. I was a failure after numerous tries and the machine finally found its way to the very back of my kitchen cabinets, never to be seen again. But this isn’t the case with Starbucks Verismo System.

The buttons on the machine are simple — rinse/brew espresso, brew coffee and steam milk. You simply drop a pod into the machine for what you want, press the button and it does all the work — burn free! The milk is the coolest part, in my opinion — you drop a mild pod into the machine and it makes a frothy and foamy cup of milk that you can then add espresso to with an espresso pod and the push of another button. I confess I made mine with a bit of cinnamon syrup at the bottom to try my hand at a cinnamon latte, and it was extremely successful. The amount of milk and the amount of espresso that went into the cup were perfect, and I drank up every last drop. I can’t wait to pick up some mocha powder and make my first mocha. I have no doubt at all that I’ll finally be able to make myself a home brewed Starbucks mocha right in my kitchen, and it will taste amazing. And more importantly, it will be easy!

The Starbucks Verismo System can be purchased at Staples online or in the store, and comes in three colors — piano black, champagne and burgundy. The pods can be purchased there as well, and there are a variety of flavors to work with. One thing that I love is that the espresso pods can also be purchased in decaf, making it possible for me to have a brewed drink in the evenings without the worry of staying up all night afterwards. For that I am also thankful!

Alright, coffee lovers, that is all. Now be on your way to Staples to pick up your Verismo System by Starbucks and partake of all its coffee goodness.

Afterwards you’ll be joining me in saying, “That was easy!”

Merrie is a writer for the Jen is on a Journey and you can also find her at her blog, Sleepless Mornings: “I’m the mother of two beautiful children, newly engaged, a scrapbooker, a baker, and sometimes I’m even fun to be around!”

Product provided to facilitate this review, all opinions my own.

Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks Movie Review #SavingMrBanks

December 13, 2013 by The Mom Jen 4 Comments

Disney fan that I am, I took great pleasure in the opportunity to see “Saving Mr. Banks” in theaters a few days ago. I have so many thoughts and feelings about the film, but first, a little insight.

Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks” is the backstory on how Walt Disney himself spent 20 years pursuing the author of Mary Poppins, trying to get her to release the rights to her book so that he could make a movie from it. P.L. Travers, the author, finally begrudgingly went to Hollywood and met with Walt, but she was unhappy about it from beginning to end. As she very clearly stated, Mary is family to her, and she didn’t want to let her go. She fought them tooth and nail on every detail that was going into the movie, and was most unhappy about it being a musical with animation, which is the only kind of film Disney had produced up until then. That absolutely crossed the line! As the movie progresses, with scenes from P.L.’s childhood dropped in throughout, you begin to see how her life shaped the stories that became the books, and eventually, begrudgingly, the movie. While you never really fall in love with P.L. Travers, you do understand her, and based on your own experiences, perhaps even empathize with her.

The cast of “Saving Mr. Banks” was spot on! Tom Hanks was a wonderful Walt Disney (who it seems was a distant cousin of his!), and the beautiful Emma Thompson brought P.L. Travers to life with her well practiced surly frown and creased brow. I dearly love both of these actors and greatly enjoyed watching them on the big screen for hours. Another person I loved seeing was Paul Giamatti as the driver for Mrs. Travers while she was in Hollywood. His character unfolds as the movie progresses, making him something special and a nice addition to the cast. An actor I wasn’t expecting and who knocked me out with his skills was Colin Farrell. He plays P.L. Travers’ father in the flashbacks. I found him to be very versatile and able to become something I didn’t expect from one minute to the next. His character was the most personal for me on several levels, and I found myself crying off and on because of him. Well done, Colin!

Another impressive feat that the movie accomplished was setting the movie in the early sixties. Everything felt authentic, from the clothing to the sets to the food. (A Mickey Jell-O head was classic!) But best of all was the walk through Disneyland, where everything looks as you’d expect, only perhaps a little newer and brighter. Those scenes alone made me want to toss my responsibilities aside and head to Disneyland!

Directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, this movie is a must see for anyone who loves Disney or even a good biography. Though I did some research following the movie and saw that there was a lot to P.L. Travers I didn’t know, I am still glad that the movie reflects Disney’s experiences with her and gave us some insight to our dear Mary Poppins. Knowing now that there are multiple Mary books out there, and that my childhood is a little bit sadder having never read them, I think I know what books will be crossing our family path very soon.

The only recommendation I can make, beyond telling you to see this movie, is to not take your younger children. There are a few reasons why this movie is rated PG-13, which I did not realize before bringing my 10 year old daughter with me. The movie held a few moments that were beyond her understanding and maturity, as well as being a bit dull in parts for someone her age. While I was riveted through the movie and crying buckets by the end, she was laying down on seats and asking if she could go for a walk. Take a friend or your loved ones and enjoy this movie with people who will appreciate it as much as you. Go on now — spit spot!

SAVING MR. BANKS opens in theaters limited on December 13th and opens wide on December 20th!

Media passes were provided to facilitate this review, all opinions my own.