On my trip to Whole Foods yesterday, which is rare in general, I was aiming to pick up only few items that I had a coupon for or that were on sale. I was excited to find coupons for Kite Hill and Field Roast products, so I definitely put those coupons to work!

Oooooh Fancy!

I had been wanting vegan ravioli and had been wanting to try Kite Hill's version for some time and splurged all because of that coupon.  From the fancy packaging to the tasty content, I'd say the experience was worth it.





The pasta only takes few minutes and few kitchen supplies to make. I paired it with some marinara sauce, baby kale, and go veggie vegan parm (which I also had a coupon for). The result with and without the fixings, were amazing.

I have tried a different vegan ravioli before and it was awful.  Kite Hill, on the other hand, did an amazing job of recreating the classic American favorite!


+ Positives: Tastes better than the original. It is a hyperreal, veganized (healthier) experience of original ravioli. Even though it's not a health food, it doesn't contain the chemicals and unnaturally over-processed animal products that would usually be found in ravioli. It goes beyond the real thing and improves in quality, taste, and ingredient list.

- Negatives: The price tag is no joke! For the amount in comparison to the price, I (as many people who are not within the highest incomes brackets) would question their decision to get it. But I figure, it's a one-time try and I had that coupon so-


Overall, if you don't have a frugal mindset and want to try an improved and/or vegan version of ravioli, this is the product I recommend.

However, their yogurt is not a favorite, but I'll save the vegan yogurt talk for another post.

Taxi (2004) is one of my favorite comedy movies, a remake, that focuses on the friendship between two unlikely characters portrayed by Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon.

Queen Latifah. Jimmy Fallon. Taxi. 20th Century Fox. 2004.

Queen Latifah is a taxi cab driver stationed in New York City with an interest in racing that generated an adroit knowledge and utilization of cars. Fallon, on the other hand, plays a dopey NYPD cop with a history of crashing police cars. The two characters, Belle and Washburn, paths soon cross as Washburn's last car wreck left him without a car and with a suspended licence. As a result, he decides to take a taxi to a bank robbery, headed by the bad guys of whom turn out to be Brazilian supermodels like Gisele Bundchen who leads the criminal crew. The most interesting aspect of this  film is the fact the women are the bad-ass drivers who know what they are doing and are either committing crimes (the model crew) and/or solving those crimes (Latifah).

Jennifer Esposito. Jimmy Fallon. Taxi. 20th Century Fox. 2004.

In years well before his late night talk show, this was actually the first film/show I saw featuring Jimmy Fallon. Sure it's not a five-star movie with great critic reviews, but it is a move that I love and have seen several times. It's a movie wherein the jokes, silly moments, and humorous dialogue still make me laugh. So if you're silly and enjoy a little bit of silly, or just need a feel-good movie, this one isn't bad. Car chases, comedy from start to finish, and an interesting cast converging entertainment professions. I almost forget to mention, it has a pretty jamming soundtrack too.


trailer:




Lieutenant: "Drop to the ground!"
Her response: "In this skirt? I don't think so."

Bridesmaids and Miss Congeniality are both funny female-dominated films but even more hilarious and insanely funny is The Heat. This brilliantly hilarious and completely outrageous buddy-cop comedy has Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy breaking female stereotypes, which is still scarce to the film industry.

Sandra Bullock. Melissa McCarthy. The Heat. Dir. Paul Feig. 20th Century Fox. 2013.

Melissa McCarthy. Sandra Bullock. The Heat. Dir. Paul Feig. 20th Century Fox. 2013.

Melissa McCarthy is the tough and outrageous local Boston city cop while Bullock portrays the uptight, always correct and labeled "arrogant" FBI agent who have to learn how to work together in order to solve an important case. Bullock and McCarthy are absolutely hilarious leads in this action-comedy as they bring something new to the film industry one joke at a time. This something that audiences don't really get to see enough is women at the focus of the film, not as mere accessories in the background told to do "pretty", but as talented and hilarious women in the forefront who work hard and are the best at their jobs.

Despite the fact that there are many, usually dramatic, films with leading actresses depicting strong and powerful women, the majority of people these days seem to go more for light comedies and action as opposed to intense, powerful dramas (depending on the names of the leading actresses/actors). And this film is exactly that; it is both an action and comedy genre. The only difference between this and the majority of action-comedy films is that the main characters are female.

Sandra Bullock said, "I’ve always wanted to do a female buddy film, the kind the guys get to do. This didn’t have anything to do with getting a guy, and it didn’t involve shoe shopping. It was about two human beings who are great at what they do..." Director of The Heat, Paul Feig has said, ''I would love to erase the term 'chick flick." While on late-show Jimmy Kimmel Live, Feig exclaimed that The Heat is a "female buddy-cop comedy with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, which you can't go wrong with!" 

This film is honestly the funniest movie or show I have seen in a long time and really does give headway to doing away with the overused and sexist term "chick flick." It has the action, comedy, a great leading cast of two hilarious women, and cannot be underestimated as that terrible sexist term "chick flick." There really should be, just as there is a need, for more films like this.


REDBAND TRAILER



I don't think the those super-short trailers on television give the film real kudos and show how funny it really is. The Heat was so good and entertaining, I can't wait to see it again.

I'm not one to watch the CW network unless it syndicates older 90's sitcoms or comedies of the like, but I came across this interesting comedy with a 90's sitcom-style. The First Family is a 2012 series featuring an extended African American family in the White House.

The First Family. Creator Byron Allen. CW. Entertainment Studios. 2012.

At first glance, this family sitcom appears as though it was produced right out of the 1990s, when syndication actually began in 2012. The show gives screen-time to a great cast with very familiar actors such as Jackee Harry (Sister, Sister) and John Witherspoon (The Boondocks; Friday). Even the nonfamiliar or not-so familiar actresses and actors carry out their roles as they cater to a younger audience. Christopher Duncan and Kellita Smith may take on the roles as President and First Lady, but the show creates a nice balance for the several main characters represented in the show to have their own platform. 


Had it not been for my television not having a remote which led to me having to flip channels, I probably would have never come across this wholesome sitcom, something television viewers may not see very often these days with the slight decline in amount of wholesome, popular television in recent years. Either way, The First Family, with its canned laughter, slightly corny jokes, and comedic irony, is like a modern throwback to those popular, irreplaceable 90's comedies audiences love, remember, and never stop talking about.


The First Family airs on the CW channel Sunday nights at 8 P.M. (Eastern time zone).

Moonrise Kingdom, a film gazing upon the young, insightful perspectives on life and adventure. Set in 1960's New England, this is a film you won't often see.

Moonrise Kingdom. Dir. Wes Anderson. Focus Features. 2012. Film Still/Poster.

"This is our land!" yell the two adventurous escapees as they proceed to dive into the waters from off a low cliff. One escapes ostracizing foster homes and scouts as the other rebels against seemingly absurd parental authority. It's any romantic's dream to run away from the places of distress with the one you love. Something of which these two adolescents put into action. Properly planned and scheduled, of course.

Moonrise Kingdom. Dir. Wes Anderson. Focus Features. 2012. Film Still.

This Wes Anderson creation is one that evokes a sixties feel and purge of interest through the music selection/score, dialogue, and overall cinematography. It's slightly comedic, a little dramatic, romantic and all- but mostly, it's a strange film (in the good way of course) in that these very articulate 12-year old characters act a lot like young adults. This is a cute, light, funny, little love story. It is a film I could, and have, watched over and over again.

The 1994 New Jersey located film that seems a little over-the-top "90s" but in the way to remind and evoke a feeling of the 90's-era nostalgia in its viewers - mostly those of us who, of course, were existing at some point in time during the 1990's. Clerks.

Kevin Smith. Clerks. Miramax Films. 1994. Hypbeast.com.

About a month ago I sort of had a Kevin Smith movie phase, watching most the films I haven't already seen including Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which all started with two movies: Mallrats and Clerks (both shown to me by a roommate). All humorous and/or dramatic in different ways and among different subject matters but still related through the actors and references to previous films within the Kevin Smith film series. Smith's reference-related films usually showcase similar actors, some of whom have become very well-known like Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. Even a young Matt Damon can be seen making short cameos in some of these films. But when most audiences think of Kevin Smith films, they're reminded of the one that started it all, Clerks (1994).

Photo: Clerks. Kevin Smith. Miramax Films. 1994. Gothamist.com

The famous Kevin Smith film follows a loosely-related series of off-beat, yet still very on-beat characters in and around the location of a New Jersey gas station (where the whole independent production took place). Between the quick, smart, and seemingly philosophical conversations that bounce back and forth off the characters to the odd sense and feeling that comes from watching a work-of-art film, Clerks is "where it's at."  Shown and filmed entirely in black and white, only manages to add to the distinction and, possibly, nostalgia that eludes from screen.


The background behind this film, and films after, is very interesting. In other words, a lot more could be said and added to topic, but I think I'm just going to try to leave it short.

From the hilarious, and sudden, culture shock of the off-beat comedy movie to recently televised animated series, which was actually doing pretty well, is Napoleon Dynamite.

Napoleon Dynamite Animated Series. 20th Century Fox. FOX. 2012.

When I first heard about the show I knew I had to see it, especially since the same cast members from the original movie are still taking on the role of the same humorously outrageous characters. The animated version of Napoleon Dynamite will still nostalgically remind viewers of the original film with its silly and bizarre storylines.




Whether or not the show will return on Fox is still unclear to me but I sure hope it does continue.