eclectika

Not long ago, a good friend of mine had me over for dinner. He kept going on and on about a better way to cook meat and how I had to try it. I'll admit that I had serious doubts that he could boil  me a great steak. I stepped back from him waiting for the gods of beef to strike him dead where he stood. I cringed further when he showed me the amazing cuts he had procured for our culinary adventure. My friend was trying to convince me that sous-vide, a method of cooking vacuum-sealed foods in a vat of temperature-controlled water, would be worth the wait. I decided to look it up to see if it's legit: First discovered in the late 19th century, the sous-vide (pronounced "soo veed") really became popular in the mid 1970's when a restaurant in Roanne, France began preparing foie gras with the technique. Later in Virginia, the chief scientist of Cuisine Solutions conducted a series of experiments to determine the ideal temperatures at which to prepare different ...

Like so many of the streaming services today, Amazon has become a production house to provide engaging content for its subscribers. One of the things that Amazon does differently than the others is test the waters with limited runs of a show or just create a pilot to gauge interest and see where things go from there. Oasis is currently just a single pilot episode designed to generate interest for the show and, if a full-scale production run looks as promising as this pilot, I'm in. Not only does the pilot introduce us to a rogue's gallery of interesting characters but it somehow manages to make us care about them in very short order. As I mentioned earlier, Amazon releases shows like to this to test if there's an audience willing to watch. When you're done, you can write a review on their site or (in some cases) even fill out a short survey about what you saw to more formally gather data. Out of 12,000 viewers/reviewers on Amazon, 85% of them rate it five sta...

Some days you're untouchable. If the enemy is careless enough to run near your crosshairs, you arrange their personal face time with God. Other days, you spend more time in the great beyond than on the battlefield. Regardless of how well you do, a losing streak melts away the moment you make that impossible shot or pull off an unbelievable maneuver in a vehicle. For those moments when the teamwork just 'clicks' or you're the one that captures the flag when all others fail, Battlefield 2 truly makes you feel like the hero of the hour—even if your score is the lowest on the server. It is a remarkable mix of weapon and vehicle balance that allows players to play on their own terms and have fun with wildly different play styles. I like to fly choppers (the AH-64 specifically) and am happiest swooping down on enemy tanks, hovering over flag capture points or simply providing a steady platform for my gunner to mow infantry down. When I'm not flying, I'm sniping—yo...

I'm always excited to find another epic tale. Based on the Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, this anime series retains the concept of a rag tag group of heroes thrown together against insurmountable odds. As an animated series, the artwork is a hybrid of traditional cell and computer generated images. Also, while the anime faithfully recreates the original beat for beat, it offers up its own twists and tweaks as well—the greatest of these being the era in which this all takes place. Samurai 7 is set in the future. Giant mechs powered by samurai who have given up their bodies to control these leathal machines now terrorize the countryside. Villages have no choice but to pay the harsh extortion fees. All villages, that is, except one. In this town, the oppression has forced them to seek out mercenaries who will fight off the mechanical bandits in exchange for their only source of value—rice. The first DVD in this series essentially lays the ground work for each of the cha...

The Brother's Grimm is no fairytale. This film (as released) is one of the most disappointing and painful experiences I've had to endure. It was Shrek without the wit. Terry is plagued by rotten luck when it comes to shooting a film or even getting one released. This bad luck has also cost him the clout needed to maintain creative control. Without that control, the film manages to break through the guard rails of good storytelling and plunges into the abyss of mediocrity. What we have, instead of brave and bold storytelling, is the tale of a Studio's might stamping out the passionate flames of a brilliant director. I am a long-time and die-hard fan of Gilliam's work. I consider him to be a cinematic visionary and a master of wonder. All of his films bring a heart, warmth and depth outdone only by their lush characters and deep visuals—except this one. If there was something to be salvaged from this poorly cobbled script, I honestly believe Terry did it. I also be...