The Ox & Jay-Z

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

Year of the Ox

We had our big family dinner for Chinese New Year on Saturday at SUteiShi. There were 30 of us at 4 tables and we had a ton of delicious food. On the menu for each table was edamame, kani salad, pork and vegetable gyoza, fried oysters, chicken and scallion skewers, salmon teriyaki, and vegetable udon. There was a huge platter of sashimi, a sushi platter with lots of ikura and uni, vegetarian sushi and rolls, and a selection of special rolls including the Pearl, Spider, and Sakura rolls which are some of my favorites!

On Sunday, Chinese New Year's Eve, I had another dinner at home with my mom, aunt, and David.  We had our traditional dishes like chicken, roast pork and pork with crispy skin, rice vermicelli, sweet and sour chicken from Red Hot, vegetables, and of course rice.  We usually eat at the dining room table and use the nice bowls and chopsticks.

The same Sunday evening, David and I were planning to go to Lucali, an amazing pizza place in Carrol Gardens, with Chris, Sarah, Warren, and Bronwen.  Lucali is Chris's favorite / number one pick for pizza in the city.  We had to pass and as my luck would have it, it was the night Jay-Z decided he also wanted Lucali pizza!  The ironic part is that the 4 of them were only sort of excited that they were eating in close quarters with Mr. Carter himself (Sarah even said she wished Beyonce was there instead), while I am a huge fan of his and would have been going crazy!  I was so upset to find out that I missed him but it's good to know that he also appreciates the wonder that is Lucali and hopefully I'll have the chance to see him there sometime!

Movies [08]

My Movies of 2008:

In the theatre:

Iron Man

Sex and the City

The Hulk

Wall-E

Hancock

Pineapple Express

The Dark Knight

Role Models

On DVD:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Baby Mama

Harold and Kumar 2

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

And my favorite movie of 2008 goes to..

THE DARK KNIGHT

Didn't you see that one coming?...  But seriously, despite all the initial hype, it IS a pretty awesome movie!  I saw this one in the IMAX and it was completely insane.  With its star-studded cast and non-stop action, it blew my mind.  The screen being practically three stories high didn't hurt either.  There's no doubt that Heath Ledger will get the Oscar nomination and hopefully win for his role as The Joker.  The bad pod was pretty vicious, especially the wall-flip maneuver.  The choice of Maggie Gyllenhaal over Katie Holmes was definitely a change for the better.  I can't wait to see this again on DVD or preferably blu-ray on a big screen with surround sound!

WALL-E

The lovable Disney-Pixar movie follows in second place.  I thought this story was adorable and could be enjoyed at any age.  I have an obsession with Rubik's cubes so I have a soft spot for the Rubik's cube scene.  I think it's just so cute and I love it!

SEX AND THE CITY THE MOVIE

The Sex and the City movie comes in a close third place.  When one of your favorite TV series of all time makes the move to the big screen, it's hard not to love it too!  I know some fans of the show who were less than pleased with the movie version (Cate) but I think it was a well done and appropriate adaptation of the series.  It was funny and the fashion was amazing, obviously, with all the fabulous shoes, bags, and especially the montage of designer wedding dresses.  I always love seeing the city in movies, and the stories of the four ladies were enjoyable.  Although it's not at the top of my list like the HBO series, I definitely liked this movie!

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was my favorite movie viewed on DVD.  It was hilarious, and  the Dracula musical was an unexpected silly surprise.  I thought Jason Segel was pretty good and I'm sure we'll be seeing him again soon.  I also loved the tropical summery wardrobes, especially this dress that Kristen Bell wears during the 'Inside You' scene.  If anyone knows who makes this dress and where I could find it, please let me know!  I really really like it!  I'll be forever grateful!  Ok thanks!

HONORABLE MENTION

Although I can't say these made it to the favorites list, they still deserve to be mentioned for various reasons.  Iron Man was unexpectedly fun and entertaining, and I thought Robert Downey Jr. was pretty badass!  I have yet to experience his role in Tropic Thunder.  I'll probably see The Avengers when it comes out.

Role Models was also better than I had initially expected.  It was pretty silly in general, and Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott were funny as usual.  I thought Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin'!) was awesome and Jane Lynch was absolutely hilarious.  The story was cute, and so was Ronnie.

Lastly, Baby Mama gets a shout out too.  I was excited to see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler team up as big screen leads and the movie was funny and quirky.  It fell slightly short of my expectations, but it still deserves an honorable mention because the exterior of Tina Fey's office building was SUteiShi!!  SUteiShi is a Japanese restaurant in downtown New York's Financial District owned by my cousin Victor, which my cousin Renee manages and I've worked there as well.  I thought it was pretty exciting that they filmed there!  The sunflower decals are still on the windows!

A few of 2008's movies I missed but would still like to see..

In the Theater:

Slumdog Millionaire

The Spirit

Gran Torino

The Wrestler

On DVD:

Tropic Thunder

Burn After Reading

Be Kind Rewind

Zach and Miri

Nick and Norah

The Strangers

The Happening