Mas de Caralt - 2003

originally posted on SurfJedi's Musings

Label: Mas de Caralt
Vintage: 2003
Type: Tempranillo
Country: Spain
Region: Penedes

I picked up this bottle about a year ago, and finally opened it up tonight. When I first opened the bottle I could smell a pleasant, fruity aroma. It smelled a lot like one of my favorite wines, in part because the Tempranillo grape is part of the blend. I am a huge Tempranillo fan. I let my wife smell the bottle too, even though she is not a red wine person. She thought it smelled pretty good.

When I swirled my glass I was able to see it had some pretty good legs on it. Not too thick, but definitely enough to notice. The taste followed the smell, and I could pick up the fruit pretty clearly. The next test was to put it together with my steak, and it worked perfectly.

I had a grilled 18 ounce New York Strip, with sauteed mushrooms and onions. My wife sauteed them with olive oil and butter, and once the mushrooms had a nice crust, added some salt and some of the red wine. Add some garlic bread and some jalepeno corn, and my meal was complete. The corn recipe involves a fresh jalapeno pepper, white corn, and cream cheese. I was a little nervous that the cream cheese would throw off the taste of the wine, but it worked out.

The bottle says that the wine includes Penedes, Tempranillo, Granache, and Monastrell grapes, and it is aged in oak. It says to expect fresh berries with floral notes, and describes it as smooth and silky. I think the bottle was not exaggerating here. My above description seems to fit with the one from the bottle. I always look at the bottle after the tasting, so it won't influence my interpretation.

If you are looking for a decent table wine, I recommend the Mas de Caralt. Beverages and More (BevMo) sells it for about $5, so it is a really good wine for the price. I think they only sell the 2006 now, but I am sure it will be just as good.

RATING:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

originally posted on SurfJedi's Musings

I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight. I am going to have to disagree with a lot of the critics on this one. This was definitely an Indiana Jones movie. While I could have done without a few of the scenes, I think it still came out well in the end.

The movie begins in Roswell, New Mexico, which is an indication of where the rest of the movie is going. Meet Indy's new brother-in-arms, who has an irritating habit of calling Indiana by the nickname "Jonesy". "Jonesy." Really? What about "Indy", or "Indiana", or even "Junior?" This was one of my few gripes.

For the first 20 minutes or so, it was hard for me to get behind the fact that it was really Indiana Jones, with the exception of the escape from the warehouse. He wasn't wearing his trademark jacket, and the hat seemed to morph from the trademark, to some bleached out, white-ish hat, and then finally back to the one we know and love. Once he gets to Peru with Mutt, things get back on track.

This movie was full of improbable fights, action sequences, and escapes, which is why we all watch Indy movies. Again, parting ways with the critics, these things are why we watch summer hits. We don't want excellent dialog, or well-manicured lines. We want to see stuff blow up. George Lucas has a habit of ruining dialog, so none of us expected anything good in that department anyway.

If I could change something, I would have Indy use his whip more. He gets it out a couple times, but it seemed like he forgot he had it for a while. Another element missing was the name "Indiana Jones". He went by Henry for most of the movie, only referring to himself as Indiana once, but then catches himself and goes with Henry. I think the point was to honor his dad or something, but I thought it was a little lame.

The above gripes notwithstanding, this is a MUST SEE, though I doubt I needed to tell you that. This installment definitely was more appealing to me than "Temple of Doom", so I would rank this one 3rd place of the 4 movies. As far as comparing to other movies, 4 out of 5. I loved it.

RATING:

Iron Man

originally posted on SurfJedi's Musings

This is a bit overdue, but I have been wanting to write about this for a couple of weeks. If you have not seen Iron Man yet, I would highly recommend that you do so. I am assuming all the comic book fans out there have seen it by now, but this movie isn't just for them. Normal people should like it too.

Iron Man is not as well known as some of the other Marvel, or even D.C. superheroes. He is one of the rare ones who doesn't have a super power. He is just an everyday guy with everyday problems. He is easier to relate to in some ways than even Spider-Man. Marvel Comics itself was showing a vulnerability this time around, as this was their baby all the way. Marvel is now in the movie business in a big way.

All comic book movies have been adapted for the big screen, and this one is no exception. There are some minor changes here, but for an Origin story, I thought this worked out pretty well. Tony Stark is a wealthy playboy who drives fast cars and dates beautiful women. He makes his money selling high-tech weapons to the military. One day his own weapon nearly kills him, and he ends up creating a device to keep shrapnel out of his heart. He then goes on a crusade to undo the damage he has done with his weapons.

The acting was particularly good in this film, especially in comparison to Elektra, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect Tony Stark. All the weaknesses Downey has been famous for are shared with the character Tony Stark. I am not a Gwyneth Paltrow fan, but I thought she did well in her roll. Jeff Bridges was great. A lot of people didn't even recognize him with the bald head and thick goatee.

While the movie was somewhat predictable, I expected it and was looking forward to it. I don't know where Entertainment Weekly and all the other reviewers get the idea that fans don't like the same old routine. We flock to the same old movies every year, in spite of the critics. I think it is time some of them looked for work elsewhere. I go to a comic book movie to see explosions, to laugh, to be excited as the hero saves the day. I don't care that it has been done a hundred times. A blockbuster is just that...a blockbuster. The critics should leave it at that.

The special effects were particularly good in this film. When Iron Man was flying, it looked like he was flying, not some computer animation. The jet battle was a pretty good example of the realistic look and feel of the movie.

Good acting, good writing, and a good director make this movie a must see. This was a great Marvel debut. I am even looking forward to the Incredible Hulk, in spite of Ang Lee's attempt to mess up the franchise. Summer movie season has begun. I give Iron Man an 4.5 out of 5.

RATING: