Music Mondays: Wardell "Opossum"

This selection for Music Monday is a unique find. I stumbled across this song by Wardell, "Opossum," when I was scrolling through Instagram. It was an Instagram hole, actually, and probably the least logical path to find new music, but there you go. One of the celebrities I follow tagged their friend, Sasha Spielberg, and so I devoured her feed for, hmm... a couple hours.

Anyways, it turns out, this daughter of director Steven Spielberg is in a band with her brother Theo. That band is Wardell. Their music has a indie pop feel, and when I heard this track they put out in 2011, I did everything I could to find more music. Turns out, their first full album, which includes "Opossum," was released digitally two weeks ago. I just had to share my newfound love with you. Check them out, I think they're going to be big.

Artist: Wardell
Song: "Opossum" | download
Album: Love / Idleness

AFI Top 100: #70 "A Clockwork Orange"

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Before pressing "play" on our AFI Top 100 movie this week, I made a point to tell myself that no matter how I felt about it after this viewing, my feelings would be decidedly different than the first time I saw it. There is something about the #70 movie, A Clockwork Orange, that demands multiple viewings. It's hard and traumatizing while still being thoughtful and sarcastic. Director Stanley Kubrick creates motifs of brutality, teen boredom, and a perverse future in this film adaptation of Anthony Burgess' dystopian novel. It is also a vibrant experiment in language.

Set in London in an unknown future (one that seems to be a hybrid of British and Russian idiosyncrasies), Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his collection of brutal friends, or droogs, spend their days cutting school and their nights wandering the streets, battling other gangs, each other, and innocent victims unlucky enough to cross their paths. They steal, rape, and torture, all while waxing philosophically as if they're in a Shakespearean comedy. Alex and the droogs lack any notion of compassion for anyone or anything, other than themselves of course. Our story takes a shift when Alex is apprehended and imprisoned, before being transitioned into a rehabilitation program meant to strip him of the ability to do bad things.

My 2015 Oscar Predictions!

© Timothy A Clary

This weekend, the 87th Annual Academy Awards will be airing, and the streets of LA are all in 'prep mode'... and so am I. A little Oscar party celebration is in the works, and I can't wait to watch the show. I didn't see every single film nominated this year, but I managed to see all the movies in the big categories, including Best Picture. I'm taking part in two Oscar pools this year, even though I'm hardly confident about all my choices. But hey! Where's the fun in not playing just because you're unsure?

For my picks, it's always a battle between going with my heart and going with my head. I know what the Vegas odds look like, and I usually know better than to buck the odds, especially if I have a crisp $5 bill at stake. But most times, by Sunday night, I'll throw my hands in the hair and say "Screw it, I'm picking my favorite!".... which promptly makes me lose the pool by, you know... that one category.

Needless to say, in this, my own personal spot to blog, I get to share both selections without marring my chances at winning the pot. I marked a ✓ to indicate what I think will win, and a ♥ to mark what I wish would win. I'd happily lose my fiver to see a Whiplash upset. What? A girl can dream, can't she?

What about you? Did you fill in your Oscar predictions? See mine below and let me know who you're rooting for!

BEST PICTURE
• American Sniper
✓ Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
♥ Whiplash

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
• Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"
• Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"
• Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
• Michael Keaton, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
✓♥ Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
• Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"
✓ Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
• Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
♥ Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
• Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
• Robert Duvall, "The Judge"
• Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
• Edward Norton, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
• Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
✓♥ J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
✓ Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
• Laura Dern, "Wild"
• Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
♥ Emma Stone, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
• Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Food & Lib: The One Up

I'm noticing a trend of adult nostalgia restaurants opening along Ventura Blvd. Perhaps this is a response to the hipster locales growing in popularity, but regardless of the reason, the prospect of going out for dinner or to get a drink becomes evermore exciting when there is something offered that seems catered just to you.

That's how The One Up in Sherman Oaks feels to me. For different reasons, probably, than other fans of this new restaurant & arcade, which has created a hybrid rustic, adult haven and 80's throwback nostalgia. The colorful and quirky interior houses a massive bar to the left of the entrance, with shelves and drawers of books, trinkets, and pop art teetering above a counter lined with turquoise blue cassette tapes.

John and I hopped over during lunch on this recent holiday weekend right when the place opened at 12-noon. The tables and seating are purposefully slapdash and mis-matched, big leather couches and curved sofas lined beneath the side windows. Neon lighting beams cult favorite quotes from popular '80s movies and songs, too, which admittedly, made me feel all the feels.

The menu is pretty expansive, ranging from Americana to Vietnamese and fusion of everything in between. I debated about getting an appetizer of Cap'n Crunch Chicken Wings, just to give them a try, but I decided to leave it for another time and order my main dish instead.

Let me just say right now, if you love burgers, you've gotta try one from this menu. They have slider options so you can try all of them if you inevitably can't decide (John and I did that when we came by for Happy Hour a few months ago), but this time, I knew exactly what I wanted: the Jalapeno Whiz Burger. Fried jalapenos w/ a drippy, gooey provolone "cheese whiz" sauce... it is positively to die for. Just scroll down and tell me that's not the yummiest burger you've seen in a long time?

Like I said, it is messy. I learned really quickly that the more sauce I could get to drip out onto my plate, the more sauce I'd have to dip my hand-cut garlic potato fries in. It was a win-win!

John decided on the Neapolitan Burger (pictured immediately above), which is just as ooey-gooey with its burrata topping as mine was with the whiz sauce. The fries are also a must have side.

The best thing about this place is that you can grab a beer, order your food, and then hop over to one of the couches (if they're available!) to check out the movies that they show in constant rotation around the restaurant. Different flicks screen on every television (there are currently three), and they play on repeat every two-ish hours. When we were there, they were showing Back to the Future, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Goonies. (When we were there a few months ago, they were screening Big Trouble in Little China and Weird Science, so the '80s movie love runs strong with the One Up crowd.

Then... there's the game room. Just through to the back section of the restaurant, you pass through the bar (order your drink first and they'll bring it to you wherever you are in the back) and you'll come to a line of perfectly retro-fitted arcade consoles. Vertical, horizontal, and Street Fight Plus options... each arcade housing hundreds of classic 8-bit games, ranging from Donkey Kong Jr. to Dig Dug to Gun Smoke. So just like I was in heaven with the '80s movies playing out front, the boyfriend found his mecca standing in front of a console in the back.

The best part? The games are FREE. No quarter slots, so worries... just you, the game(s), and - if you're like me - dying over and over and over again. Click here to check out the lists of games they have right now. The only time you have to give up your spot at the controls is if there's a line to play... then you have to be a good sport and step away if it's GAME OVER. For me, that would be every 60 seconds! But if you go during an off-hour, mid-day or at Happy Hour, you won't have any trouble wasting away an hour reminiscing over all the old classics.

The One Up's space is not only fun, it's beautiful. The staff is nice and accommodating, and it struck me that this would be the perfect place to hold a birthday celebration or get-together. They even mentioned to me that the entire back room can be rented out, so I'm already planning something that could bring all my friends together to enjoy a good drink, crazy-amazing and messy food, and a couple (or a lot) of games.

Place: The One Up
Neighborhood: Sherman Oaks (Ventura Blvd)

MY TOP FIVE: Sexiest Movies

The movie box office this weekend was dominated by the phenomenon that is Fifty Shades of Grey, and regardless of your feelings about that particular movie (I shared my thoughts on Sunday), everyone loves a good sexy movie. The hope is that when you go to a movie that promises passion and chemistry (maybe even a little romance), it will actually deliver.

I saw a dozen or so articles this past week that touted "__ Movies Sexier Than Fifty Shades of Grey" with lists of, well... kinda pathetic recommendations. Movies that were romantic and mainstream, and a bit vanilla—not really sexy. That got me thinking about what I consider to be My Top Five Sexiest Movies, of which I had plenty to choose from. Movies that, and this goes without saying, I would recommend any day over Fifty Shades (not to add any hate!) if you're looking for something a bit more titillating.

Give these amazingly sexy movies a watch, and you'll know what I'm talking about:

5. Bound (1996)



Coming right out of her legendary performance in likely the least sexy movie of all time, Showgirls, Gina Gershon stars with cartoon-trapped-in-a-woman's-body, Jennifer Tilly, in the steamy crime thriller, Bound. This is the Wachowskis back when they were simply "The Wachowski Brothers" in their first directorial venture, and they knocked it out of the park. Violet (Tilly) plays the dutiful stay-at-home girlfriend to Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), a rough and brutal mafia goon. Complacent with life, Violent meets Corky (Gershon), an ex-con who drops by their apartment to perform some much needed plumbing work. No really!

Much to Violent's surprise, Corky's masculine energy pulls her in and they begin a heated, secret affair. Not only that, they decide to ban together to steal millions from Caesar's mob ties. The realistic lesbian love sequences are the reason Bound takes a place on this list. No fluff, no cheesy exaggerations... just the seductive pair that is Tilly and Gershon. I think every woman walked out of this movie wishing Gina Gershon would show up at their door with her toolbox.