Bargain Biatch

Movie Review: 500 Days Of Summer

Billed as an “off beat” romantic comedy, 500 Days Of Summer is getting Juno-like hype, as the MUST SEE summer movie…blah blah…. Well, it was cute and better than watching another Judd Apatow loser boy who won’t grow up but inexplicably gets the hot chick flick.  But 500 Days of Summer wasn’t all that.  It’s the story of two 20 something’s who meet cute, then the story jumps back and forth over the 500 days of their relationship.  There are the beginning flirty days, the getting somewhat more involved with each other days (really just sleeping together) and the painful last 100 days. The characters are charming but as for their relationship, Summer played by Zoeey Deschanel makes it clear from day 1 that she doesn’t want anything serious.  The fact that Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom stubbornly refused to accept this made me not terribly sympathetic to his subsequent heart break…. Dude, she’s just not that into you.  I guess I didn’t care if they stayed together, what they had for lunch, what they sang at Karaoke Bars or anything else about either character.  The most compelling part of the movie was Deschanel’s uber-blue marble like eyes, amazing and a bit creepy.  Overall the movie was just rentable.

Going Going Gone Built in NY sale as Kings Lane Is Hot!

Don’t miss this great sale at One Kings Lane. Built in NY is having a sale and their colorful fun and functional totes are half off.  I go this Note Book Carrier for my Mac Book Pro but I see now they’ve sold out.  So act fast.  There are still laptop carriers and backpacks and wine totes.  

Fancy Food And Wine Pairing For 20 Large

New York Vintners, the wonderful wine purveyor in Tribeca is offering a hell of a deal.  Today’s Groupon Deal is a wine lovers fantasy and allows you to up you’re your game and can buy your way into one of their fancy food and wine pairing classes for only 20 bucks, less than half of the regular price.  You can choose from which one, what the hell, for a Benjamin you’ll attend all of them to become a can be a totally well rounded, and drunk connoisseur.  You can buy multiple tickets so you and your friends can have a very cheap night out but act now.  Classes will fill up and there’s a limited quantity of tickets and spaces available.   

I Love Restaurant Week, Now Give Me Some More!

Food Glorious Food! Even though I’m fairly certain that the shit economy will push restaurants to extend Restaurant Week through the end of summer, I’m greedy and want to gobble up as many discount meals as possible.  Last week I hit two spots and both sated my inner glutton gourmand.  First I made a reservation at The Sea Grill. I’d already checked the menu to make sure they weren’t trying to pawn off fried porgies and whiting as part of their regular fare.  My meal was exceptional and kept with the high standards for all three courses.  Over the weekend I was in Times Square with millions of tourists, all gawking, walking slowing and taking pictures of absolutely everything. To escape the sweaty poorly dressed masses, I ejected myself from the throng and escaped into Blue Fin.  And although the lower level was noisy the delicious food quickly obscured the din.  And to go with their restaurant menu, Blue Fine was offering several choices of perfectly acceptable wine for $35 a bottle.

Movie Review: Seven Pound....Two Hours Three Minutes

Will Will Will, what’s up with your movie choices?   Now I’m a big fan of Will Smith but his last few films have been clunkers.  But even when he headlines not great movies, his engaging and charismatic personality, and hot bod at least make them watchable.  But in the maudlin, Seven Pounds, he plays a damaged depressed character without a hint of spark.  He plays a man who’s essentially given up on life because of some tragic mystery in his past.  But the storyline never really pulls you in.  Smith is flat and monosyllabic and the big “mystery” of the story isn’t all that, in fact I figured it out in the fist 20 minutes.  Unfortunately the movie is over 2 hours long.  The few highlights were watching Rosario Dawson looking pretty damn beautiful for a very sick/dying woman and when she and Will shared the screen he became slightly more animated.  So I’d pass on the movie and hope that Will goes back to saving the world from aliens, preferably shirtless

Good Beer (And Food) at Bam

Next Wednesday Beer lovers can look forward to being over served at the upscale beerfest at Bam.  Beer guzzling gurus have curated a selection of beers and paired them with suds friendly fare.  And we’re not talking stale doughy pretzels and watered down Bud Light.  You can sample fare from fine food establishments like Porchetta, Ici and Palo Santo.  The price tag is $45; half off if you subscribe or renew your subscription to Edible Brooklyn and you’ll get unlimited tastings and lots of brew to wash it down.  And if it was anything like the Bacchanalian Wine and Food version a few months ago, you’ll want starve yourself and go early.  What’s next, weed paired with the best food for munchies.

Barter For A Bargain

Before there was cold hard (rapidly devaluing) cash people still had to acquire shit so they traded for it.  And now with dollars in short supply, many resourceful folks have gone back to Let’s Make A Deal and are bartering for good and services.  And if you have even the tiniest bit of talent or skill at doing anything, you can probably find someone to trade for something you want.  I recently read an article about bartering for everything including a husband and wife team, he architect, she designer who bar bartered for lodging at an upscale B&B for their services.  And depending on what you have in your bag of skill sets, your bartering position could be very is strong.  For example accounting service are always in need and knowing how to cook the books and keep everyone out of jail is even better.  And along those lines, legal services are popular, along with proof reading and editing since particularly in my hood, everyone is a fucking writer.  I’ve done a bit of bartering myself and traded Pilates for deep tissue massages. That afforded me a fabulously blissful, stress free year until my massage goddess moved to Italy. To get linked to who’s trading what, go to U-Exchange or for good and services, check out Craig’s list in your area, post an ad and see if how many “sensual massages it’all take to get that free boob job.

 

Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

The over the top reviews got me to go see The Hurt Locker but I really had no desire to have a full frontal view of the “war” in Iraq.  But from the opening scene the movie grabs you by the throat and blew me away (pun intended).  The Hurt Locker is a realistic portrayal of an elite group of specialist soldiers who are part of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit.  The story follows three squad members including their reckless new sergeant who takes over after their old sarge is ummmmm, “incapacitated”.  The movies is a taunt thriller and I was on the edge of my seat nervously watching the team comb the streets of Baghdad looking for roadside bombs and then working to disarm them and not kill themselves or civilians.   The acting was great and Anthony Mackie completely captured his character and the conflicting emotions about the war, service to his country and the need to stay alive. And unlike traditional movies where the big stars are basically bullet proof, in the Hurt Locker, even the big name stars and Oscar winners won’t necessarily make to it to the credits. So big recommendation and 5 stars for the movie and zero stars for the war.

Brad’s Daily Deals

First off, who the hell is Brad, but really, who cares?  He’s probably a friend of Jared’s, the formerly fat Subway Sandwich geek, no offense of course.  But think of Brad as your underemployed loser friend who has waaaaaay to much time on his hands and instead of surfing for porn he’s trolling the web for the best deals of the day.  The deals are a broad of offerings from free, or damn near free  magazine subscriptions to freebie menu add ons of gut busting treats from your favorite heart attack take out joint.  The best past is that Brad has down the work for you and complied all of the bargains into one huge online buffet.  The site’s center aisle lists the featured deals and on the right side you’ll find a list of coupons for retailers like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond offering fairly sizeable discounts and free shipping. So whoever you are, Brad you rock!

Celebrate Summer With Restaurant Week

Yeah horary, once again it’s restaurant week.  The bi-annual food fest that requires us to pick through discounted but often dumbed down versions of high-end eateries regular menus.  But thankfully not every participating establishment has cheaped out and some are serving up authentic versions of their fine fair.  Before you reserve, check out the restaurant’s website to get and idea about what they’re dishing up.  Dinner is $35 and includes some top chef restaurants.  And if you can do lunch. At $25 it’s a steal, and particularly good if you’re between “situations” and can spend hours in the middle of the day checking out the want ads eating good cheap food. And the best thing is that since the economy remains in the crapper and restaurants are desperate to put fill tables, restaurant week will likely sprawl into restaurant summer with specials running through Labor Day.