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Pork Two Ways at the California Grill: An Old Friend Returns, Only Better.

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I have a confession to make:  I’ve been having a deep, personal relationship with the pork two-ways from California Grill.  You may say “Oh, it’s just another pretty dish” or “How can it be any better than its previous incarnation, the pork loin?” Well, it’s better, trust me. And it’s completely worthy of its own post.

If you dined at the California Grill before the recent refurbishment, you know that the pork loin was its number one dish for two decades. It was simple peasant food really, just a basic polenta flavored with goat cheese and topped with a few slices of lightly seasoned tenderloin and some button mushrooms. It’s simplicity, of course, was also what made it perfect.  But while it was filling and satisfying, it had gotten a little bit boring. In recent years, I’d found myself straying over to the scallops or, if I was feeling especially adventurous, the sushi.  It, not unlike the décor and the overall feel of the rest of the restaurant, was in serious need of an overhaul.

When the California Grill opened back up a few weeks ago, I was pleased to see that they had updated, but not removed entirely, some of its best dishes, the pork being one of them. Now you’ll get a smaller serving of pork loin topped with fried sage and another serving of pork belly. Pork belly, you say?  Think a big square of bacon. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.Read More »Pork Two Ways at the California Grill: An Old Friend Returns, Only Better.

Iron Man 3 Review – Spoiler Free

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Who is Tony Stark? Who is Iron Man? Those questions are given a lot of attention in the third film in the Iron Man trilogy. Taking place after the world changing events of The Avengers, Iron Man 3 is really a sequel to that film, and yet, it seems to exist in a universe entirely separate from it. None of the characters from The Avengers appear in Iron Man 3. There is no S.H.E.I.L.D., no of Thunder, no sign that The Avengers ever happened, except, Tony Stark’s struggle to overcome some perfectly understandable anxiety after having pushed himself to his limits to save the world and almost failed. If I had one problem with the film, it’s that it could have been clearer that this was the reason The Avengers were kept at arms length by Stark. Read More »Iron Man 3 Review – Spoiler Free

Wreck-it Ralph DVD Review

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It’s been a few weeks since Wreck-it Ralph hit the shelves and if you haven’t already added it to your collection, what are you waiting for? Walt Disney Animation Studios’ latest hit shows that it still has the ability to craft great stories and to provide the artistic ability required to tell them. That’s a unique combination you won’t find in too many other places in the animation universe.

Plus while Wreck-it Ralph is a love letter to the gaming industry, it’s also thoroughly understandable by someone with even just a passing interest in video games. This is the attention for detail that old Disney classics were famous for.

I won’t go into the plot details of the move as you can read that in my review here.

There are multiple ways to get your copy of Wreck-it Ralph: HD Digital and HD Digital 3D, 4-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack, 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, SD Digital and On-Demand. That’s a nice variety. But you’ll have to check the descriptions carefully to make sure you’re getting the bonus materials.

The bonus materials for include:

  • Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of “Wreck-It Ralph” – Fans of the film will get a look at five new worlds created for “Wreck-It Ralph.” The short takes viewers into Game Central Station with the artists who brought Sugar Rush, Hero’s Duty and Fix It Felix Jr. to life.
  • Alternate & Deleted Scenes – Four separate scenes are highlighted with an introduction and optional audio commentary from director Rich Moore.
  • Video Game Commercials – Viewers can check out the commercials created for the video games featured in the film – Fix It Felix Jr., Sugar Rush, Hero’s Duty and Fix It Felix Hammer.
  • “Paperman” – This animated short film played in theaters before “Wreck It Ralph.” It tells the story of a young man in an office who sees the girl of his dreams in a skyscraper window across the street. But how can he get her attention?

Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Materials Includes:

  • Disney Intermission: The Gamer’s Guide to “Wreck-It-Ralph” – When the film is paused, host Chris Hardwick appears on screen to guide viewers through a series of 10 video segments offering an inside look at the many video game references, Disney references and other hidden surprises featured in the film.

Paperman is pretty amazing and the Intermission thing is cool, but my favorite are always the alternate and deleted scenes. Definitely would have been a different movie had these been in there.

Read More »Wreck-it Ralph DVD Review

Restaurant Review: T-REX at Downtown Disney

While in Downtown Disney Orlando this past summer we could not resist the urge to pay a visit to the T-REX Restaurant and Shop. As we walked in we were greeted by the coolness in the air which we welcomed since it was so very hot outside. The first thing we noticed was this enormous and almost life like T-Rex towering over us. To the right a place to shop for all your Prehistoric needs and to the left was the restaurant a.k.a archaeological dig site filled with small, large and extra large animatronic and audio-animatronic creatures.

We were seated right away and attended to almost instantly. Trying to take in our surroundings time seemed to just escape us. We looked over the menus and although there were plenty of choices I was not overwhelmed by them. There is something in the menu for everybody from Spare ribs, Chicken and Pasta to Burgers and Seafood. For the future little paleontologist in your group there is a kids menu of course, it includes various choices like Pizza, Pasta, Sliders, Popcorn shrimp and even Dinosaur shaped chicken.Read More »Restaurant Review: T-REX at Downtown Disney

A Visit to Splitsville for Dinner

Editor: Please welcome new guest author Paula Garcia!

My husband, 5 year old daughter and I recently visited Orlando. We arrived on New Year’s day settled in to our hotel. It was a nice night out and we were starving so we decided to take a walk to Downtown Disney and find a restaurant there. There were so many people it was difficult to walk around much less find a table at any of the restaurants.

We didn’t give up and kept walking all the way down to about the end of Downtown. Just when we were about to walk back to our hotel my husband walked into Splitsville Lanes and to our surprise they had open tables with no wait.

Although there were many people inside, I didn’t get an over crowded, claustrophobic feeling. We were greeted by a young lady and taken up the escalator to our table. We sat down and were handed our menus. My daughter received her own kid’s menu and some crayons. As a mom I really appreciate this. It took a little while before our order was taken. Many people were being seated in our area at the same time. Our server was right on top of it he was very attentive, fast, kind and apologetic about the delay.Read More »A Visit to Splitsville for Dinner

Castle on ABC

Castle 5-8: After Hours

Castle on ABC

While last week was a bit of an attempt to change the usual formula for the show, last night really change things up. It reminded me in many ways of “Cuffed” from last season, but it was still a well done episode.

It all started with a meet the parents dinner, or at least dessert. Beckett’s Dad has joined Beckett, Castle, and Martha at the loft. Martha has even made her one dessert, death by chocolate. Unfortunately, Martha and Beckett’s Dad aren’t really getting along. He insults her lack of seriousness since she is an actress, and then she turns around and calls baseball boring. (It is, but we won’t go there.) Castle and Beckett are relived to be interrupted by a phone call about a body.Read More »Castle 5-8: After Hours

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Sofia The First and other Disney Channel reviews

November 18th was the premiere of “Sofia The First: Once Upon A Princess”, the TV movie that introduced the world to Sofia and is the precursor to the series coming to Disney Junior in January. Starring Ariel Winter, Sara Ramirez, Tim Gunn, Wayne Brady, and a slew of others, the show takes place in Enchancia, a land where Sofia’s mother has just married the king, thus making her a princess.

In the film, it goes through her trials and tribulations of becoming a princess, though she feels as if she doesn’t fit (which was explained in song, a welcome surprise for the film). In response to her tepidness, her new father gives her an amulet that for every good deed she does, will give her a gift in return (for example, she puts a baby bird back into its nest…gets the ability to talk to animals). She also has to deal with a mean step-sister (shocking, I know), an evil sorcerer (with a raven voiced by should-be-Disney-Legend Jim Cummings), and going to school at Royal Prep, the academy where all new royalty goes to study such things like manners and etiquette (with the teachers being Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, also a nice addition to the movie).

Read More »Sofia The First and other Disney Channel reviews

Wreck-It Ralph

John’s Review of Wreck-It Ralph, Disney Animation Gets Top Score

Wreck-it Ralph Poster

This year Disney released two animated features (Three if you count Frankenweenie, but we won’t include stop-motion for the purpose of this article). One stars a princess who breaks from tradition and discovers that family is at the core of what’s important, the other features incredible worlds crafted from scratch, ground breaking computer animation, and a story that is full of heart. Normally, you’d say Disney Animation released the Princess film and Pixar the other, but this year the roles are reversed. With Brave, Pixar ventured into what was traditionally Disney’s territory, so it’s only fair that Disney Animation Studios returns the favor.

I’m happy to say that with Wreck-it Ralph, Walt Disney Animation Studios has returned to the top of the animation game, matching, if not surpassing, anything you would expect from its more successful partner up in Emeryville. It does this while remaining true to the core values of Disney animation, which is a focus on great story and characters who you really feel for.

WRECK-IT RALPH Sugar Rush Game Cabine

In Wreck-it Ralph, Disney attempts to do for video games what Pixar’s Toy Story did for toys; Give us insight into the world that goes on when humans aren’t around. In this case the movie starts inside the classic 1982 arcade game Fix-it Felix Jr. The titular character is the game’s bad-guy; always destroying and then being defeated night game after game. After 30 years this begins to weigh on him so much that he visits a support group for video game bad-guys. But what really sets him off is when the other characters have a party celebrating the game’s 30 years of being plugged in and fail to invite him.

Read More »John’s Review of Wreck-It Ralph, Disney Animation Gets Top Score