Vampin' it up

One of my Christmas presents was the set of all three "From Dusk Till Dawn" movies. Nothin' says Christmas like a good vampire movie! We watched the first one the other night, and I had forgotten how good it is! It's always been one of my favorite vampire movies, and it was fun to revisit it after a few years.

Spoilers ahead, along with some language

George Clooney and Quentin Tarentino play a couple of brothers, Seth and Richie Gecko, who are crooks and killers, and need to get to Mexico to meet a guy for a "business" deal. They hijack the motor home of a preacher named Jacob (Harvey Keitel), and his two kids. They make it to Mexico, and get to the meeting place, which is a biker bar and strip club called the Titty Twister. As the evening progresses, they find out that these girls really suck...and not in a good way!

This movie is just a heck of a lot of fun. There is plenty of subtle humor, as you can see in this exchange between Jacob and one of the bikers:

Jacob: Has anybody here read a real book about vampires, or are we just remembering what a movie said? I mean a real book.

Sex Machine: You mean like a Time-Life book?

I told Ken that all the great horror movies have a touch of dark humor. I liked this conversation, where Seth has just been through a very rough night:

Carlos: So, what, were they psychos, or...

Seth: Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are!

End of spoilers

I was surprised to see that this movie was made in 1996--I thought it was quite a bit earlier. This was made during George Clooney's "ER" time period (1994-2000), so it was when he was just starting to make the transition to movies and away from TV. Even though his character is a killer, you can't help but like him, because he ends up doing the right thing and being a bit of a hero. It's hard to dislike George, though, isn't it? Quentin Tarentino is great as the slimy Richie, and I always like Harvey Keitel--remember The Fixer in "Pulp Fiction?" I'm not a big fan of Juliette Lewis, but she was good in this, and Cheech Marin plays not one but three roles (the hawker outside the club is a riot). The guy who plays Sex Machine is Tom Savini, the legendary horror movie makeup and special effects guy who went on to act and direct.

We may have George Clooney in this movie, ladies, but the guys have Salma Hayek and her dance. I told Ken, "I'm a girl and even I have to admit that's hot!"

It's not a movie for the faint-hearted, because there is plenty of foul language, lots of blood and decapitations, melting, gooey vampires, and junk like that. It also has a totally kickass soundtrack, which I think I'm going to have to look for. This is a modern classic vampire movie, ranking right up there with "The Lost Boys." Hey, now that I think about that movie, there were a couple of brothers in that one, the Frog brothers. In "From Dusk Till Dawn," we have the Gecko brothers. I wonder if that was an homage?

Here's the trailer, and if you like this kind of movie, this is a great one. Thanks for the present, Honey!

It's no spork, but I'll take it!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! We've got a little time here between opening our gifts and when we need to leave for my folks' house, so I thought I'd pop on for a moment.

Was everyone happy with their presents? I know I was. We decided not to do anything big for each other, and just got things that we can both enjoy through the year--DVD's (I got the complete set of "From Dusk Till Dawn"!), books, etc. I got a rockin' cool black "Saw" (the movie) tank top in my stocking, and a new bird book (National Geographic) that will be a fine supplement to those I already have. I love my new mini-blender, too, and it will be great for making smoothies. (Yes, I love getting kitchen appliances.) Oh, and we did Christmas ornaments last night: I got a Lucy ornament, a Colts one, and a Studebaker one. Sweet! And I got a golfer S'mores one for Ken, and guess who is now accompanying Mr. Spock on his journey on our tree? That's right, James Tiberius Kirk. They're facing each other. "Christmas...the final frontier."

Oddly enough, one of my favorite gifts came in my stocking. It's a grapefruit knife and two grapefruit spoons. I've been on a grapefruit kick lately, and I can't tell you how often I've wished for a grapefruit spoon--usually while I was cleaning my glasses off after the grapefruit fought back. It may seem like a simple thing, but I think it shows great thoughtfulness on Ken's part.
Am I easy to please, or what? No bling for me...give me cutlery.

I made these Cheesecake Bars yesterday. Tasty! I'll give my modifications afterwards.

Cheesecake Bars

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make pastry: Cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the flour and nuts and stir until mixture becomes crumbly. Set aside 1/4 cup to use as a topping.

Press pastry mixture into 8-inch square, lightly greased pan and bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool on rack.

To make filling: Beat together the white sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix well. Spread filling mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle reserved pastry mixture on as a topping.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool on wire rack and refrigerate.

What I did different: I used pecans instead of walnuts, and in a stroke of genius, I added a couple of tablespoons of Amaretto to the filling mix. It gave it a great almond flavor. Hard to go wrong with Amaretto!

Off to my folks in a bit. Have a great night!