127 Hours

"3 stars out of 4"

I've been meaning to watch this movie since it got nominated for an Oscar. After seeing it about two weeks ago, I started to wonder...would this movie have made the cut for best picture nomination if they hadn't made the shortlist of nominees up to 10 movies instead of 5?

Writing a piece about a movie after waiting this long wouldn't be as detailed as it would be right after watching it when it's fresh out of the oven! So this is going to be rather brief. The reason why I waited this long is because I saw it around the same time that I decided to apply for journalism again, and yet again I panicked and held back from writing. I pushed myself to write about Gatsby and it didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped for...but I am trying to get back on track.

I've never been a fan of James Franco's and I don't consider him to be a good actor. From the first time that I ever saw him in a movie (Spider Man), I've felt this way. His acting seems "fake" to me. Kinda like Courteney Cox's in Friends...you know what I mean? She would almost laugh at her own jokes and that's not funny at all. I feel like I remember a quote saying that to be a good comedian you should play the role seriously...or something in this context. My mind associates it with The Pink Panther, so I checked the quotes by Peter Sellers and Steve Martin but I couldn't find anything. Maybe my mind is just making stuff up! But in any case, that's what I feel acting should be. Based on James Franco's Oscar hosting experience, I was more convinced on him not being a good actor. It was disastrous. He was NOT funny AT ALL. He could argue all he wants but he will probably go down as the worst Oscar host in the history.

But seeing this movie, I realized why he had been nominated for best actor. It must be his best work so far...and probably will remain to be for a while unless he decides to change his acting methods. If he was any good in this movie, must've been because of the experience he's gained over the years...otherwise, I feel like acting is not his true calling. Maybe he would be better in pursuing his English degree...but hey...we should be able to do whatever makes us happy right?! So, if acting makes him happy, so be it. He's not a terrible actor, just not the best...and I think he's not as good as he's been praised to be.

Anywho, one of the main reasons why I wanted to watch this movie was its director. Danny Boyle has made one of the movies that has made its way into my all time favorite movies' list, which is of course Slumdog Millionaire.

The other reason for watching this movie which had gotten me hung up on it for quite some time was its story which as you may very well know, was based on a true story. The plot goes as this...a young man, an adventurist if you may, goes on one of his adventures which is to bike in a canyon in Utah (or as IMDb puts it, canyoneering!). When he meets two young girls and takes them to show around the canyon, he tells them "everything moves, but let's hope not today"! I don't know if he'd actually said that in real life, but if he had, that's pretty ironic! After he bids them goodbye and resumes his journey, he slips and falls in a narrow passage where a boulder falls on his arm and gets him trapped in there. With only his camera, a knife, a rope, and a limited supply of food and water in his possession, he sets on a 127-hour battle where he starts to contemplate on life and what he would have done differently if he was able to get out and start all over.

One of the things that Danny Boyle had done in this movie was that since he knew probably everyone knows the story, he had tried to play with your mind. Making a lot of near fall moments where you would think, is this it?! Is this how it's going to happen?! And another reason for having so many shots like this was also to show the personality of the main character and how careless and fearless he was.

Midway through the movie, I was happy that the director had decided not to gross us out by showing horrible scenes (I don't want to give anything away), but he did show it to us eventually which almost made me pass out! The reasoning behind this is probably to depict his suffering and the extent of pain he goes through.

This is one of those movies that some might call unfilmable, and which are really challenging, for the director especially. A best example of these kinds of movies is Castaway which was a one man show, and the movie was standing on the shoulders of Tom Hanks...the same way 127 Hours was on James Franco's. This could be another reason why Franco was nominated. To be able to keep the audience engaged in the movie, requires a lot of passion which will entangle the people watching it. Franco showed us a wide range of feelings: regret, happiness, hope, despair, pain, relief,... all through the camera lens which let me tell you, is not an easy task to overcome at all! He was not the same actor as I the one I knew. It was really touching...the way he was describing his situation to his camera, it was moving.

In a small footnote to the above paragraph, I must say compared to Life of Pi, which was also said to be unfilmable, I found 127 hours more interesting. One reason could be that you want to see which way he would choose: surrender and die, or fight for his life. I remember a few years back I was chatting with one of my friends who'd moved to Europe. He had been feeling lonely and his heart had been broken by a girl, so he felt miserable and decided to take his own life. After slitting his wrist, he had just realized that there is more to life and had called his friend to come and save him and he'd survived. He was telling me later that all the people who take their own lives certainly (in his opinion) regret doing it but there is no one around to save them. He now is married and has an adorable daughter. It is amazing how someone can not only survive such a drastic moment, but more importantly return to normal life. I think nothing can bring you down after going through such a low point in your life.

So you see what I am trying to say by elaborating this point? When getting cornered by life, by its hardships, when faced with death, anyone would choose life. Even if they don't at first, they will choose life when it's too late...unfortunately. Whenever I feel suicidal, I remind myself this story!

The finishing was meh! I was hoping to see more details...after it was finished (again, don't wanna give the story away). It seemed too abrupt.

Overall it was definitely a good movie. But if it was worthy of being nominated? Maybe...but definitely not in a 5-count nomination list.

Huh! Didn't turn out to be a short review after all!

Mud

"3 stars out of 4...or maybe 2.75! Haven't decided yet"

I saw Mud the other day. My first impression after seeing this movie was giving it 2.75 stars. But as it sinks in, you start to like it more. Maybe that's the magic in it that sets it apart from other movies that have kind of the same story...see, when I saw it I thought that I have seen this kind of movie before...or maybe even read it, since it reminded me of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in a way. This similarity between stories is what made me somewhat disappointed in this movie and made me wonder if it was overrated. Another thing that made me disappointed is that from the trailer, I had been expecting a darker theme here. But was let down.

However, what made me change my mind and have a better feeling towards it is the acting. Matthew McConaughey has given a performance of a lifetime in this movie. He's never been better. But I should praise the acting of the young actors who can make you laugh in one scene and make you cry in another.

The other thing that makes this movie different than others is the ending. I don't want to discuss it at this point in case some of you haven't seen it yet, but will get more into it at the end of this post. So, beware of the spoiler!

The story is based in Southern US. Two teenage friends, Ellis and Neckbone, go on a small journey to an isolated island nearby, where they search for a boat on a tree they have heard of. They find the boat but find a mysterious guy living in the island, who is called Mud (McConaughey). He tells them that he's there to meet his girlfriend and needs help to rebuild the boat since it is the only thing that the police wouldn't be looking for. But what has he done and what makes him want to be incognito? They see a mysterious girl, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), back in town and know that this part of Mud's story must've been true. Ellis decides to help Mud, as his parents are getting a divorce and he is starting to fall in love himself, so he tries to help Mud's love survive, not knowing what kind of trouble he is getting himself and everyone around him into.

You see what I mean by dark? Even my description of the story seems darker than it is, now that I look at it!

There are "wholes" in the story, as Bijan Ashtari would've liked to call them. One of them that kept pounding in my mind and wouldn't leave me alone was that the people who were after Mud could've easily followed Ellis after one of his visits to Juniper, especially that they claimed they had hired someone to watch Juniper all the time. This was a huge gap in my opinion. I was willing to overlook it if the movie was deserving of more than 3 stars...but unfortunately it was not.

Another thing about this movie that I found "interesting" was that it was obviously anti-women. I don't know what kind of a problem the director had with women, or maybe even Ellis was based on himself, but all the women in this movie were debased, heart-breaker, self-involved people who were ruining the lives of the men around them. Are we really that horrible?! And the message I got from this film was that if a girl breaks your heart, just move on, because that b**** deserves it! And you can get someone better in no time!

*SPOILER* Below, you might find some info about the ending but that part of my review is frankly my favorite, so...if you don't want to find out how it ends, please come back later.

After we left the theater, my friend was insisting that they shouldn't have shown what happened to Mud and should've left it to the audience's imagination. But the thing is that when Mud was floating on the water, she had thought that it wasn't obvious if he was dead or alive because we didn't see his face! Whereas in my opinion he looked dead in that scene and I think that the director's aim was to make us think he was dead and surprise us later on. So I was happy that they made the clarification, but my friend was not and insisted that he could've easily been alive based on that shot. But whatever!

Also, what I liked about one of the last shots was when Mud comes to the deck and sees the open water ahead and smiles. It takes us back to the start of the movie, where Ellis and Neckbone have embarked on their journey and what they feel when seeing the exact same scenery, is fear of what lies ahead, but for Mud it is relief. Where you are in life makes you have different impressions on things that are happening around you. The same thing that would seem tragic to you could be the uplifting of another.

Moreover, what made me like this movie and not think of it as a cliche was its ending. If it was any other movie similar to this one, it would've sacrificed one of its main characters to make it tragic and maybe more touching. But I liked that it had a happy ending. If you remember Jon Stewart's first visit as the Oscars host back in 2006, he was saying how all the movies that year were brutal, like No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, and Sweeney Todd, and said jokingly "...all I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy (Juno)!" Then went on to say "Does this town need a hug?!"

I think it is a good thing for Hollywood to give us a hug with its movies and their happy endings once in a while! Don't you agree?

By the way, isn't it nice that technology has got to the point where it saves your notes automatically?! I just hit backspace to delete something and it jumped to the previous page and I panicked saying no no no no! Then I remembered the auto-save...and relief!

Top 10 Actor-Villains! -WatchMojo

One of my (kinda) guilty pleasures is watching WatchMojo lists on YouTube!

By suggesting videos that I might like, YouTube with its grand vision and courtesy, draws me even deeper into this chasm (being over-dramatic? Don't think so...when you've got a lot to do and don't have time for any distractions!).

Today when I signed into YouTube, it suggested me watching the latest video by WatchMojo where they have listed the top 10 actors who always play villains. The thumbnail picture of the video is one of Dennis Hopper's, but by seeing the title, the first name that came to my mind was Alan Rickman and I was happy to find out that he has actually made it in the list! With his deep voice and non-animated eyes that when looking at them, you feel a cold breeze passing through you, he must be the ultimate villain and one of the most brilliant actors.

Some actors as Hopper owe the crazy look on their faces as part of what makes them good villains. But then there are those actors who are so versatile, like one of my all time favorite actors Ralph Fiennes, who can  play a heartless bad guy in one movie (Schindler's List), and a bashful, hopeless romantic in another (Constant Gardener).

But who can overlook the talent of Malkovich. By reading the screenplay of Being John Malkovich, I realized why Kaufman had chosen him as the main character in his script. Who else could've played such a crazy role?! Playing himself and at the same time fighting back someone who's controlling him...just crazy!

But one of the surprises I found in this video was Jeremy Irons. I never would've thought that the voice of Scar in the Lion King was him, where he could scare the hell out of you by only using voice and intonation. I never thought of him as a villain...remember Lolita or Man in the Iron Mask...who would've known?!

As the narrator in this video says, Kevin Spacey's bad guys are just SO COOL! He has never been in my shortlist of favorite actors but after seeing his impersonations in his appearance on Inside Actors Studio, I have developed a new level of respect for him (here's the link to his impersonations).

As this video puts it, British dudes make the best villains. I don't think scientists have broken down the mystery of why British actors are incomparable yet. I remember when Polanski was searching for actors for his Oliver Twist, he was insisting on finding British actors because he thought they were the best actors in the world...and in a way I couldn't agree more (with my favorite actress, Kate Winslet, being a Brit). What I hypothesize as an explanation is their strong and famous theaters in England that provide stage experience, a setting where almost all actors agree upon being the best place to learn acting techniques. British actors also have a very gentle sense of humor. Jeremy Irons's acceptance speech in Golden Globes keeps coming to my mind or who would've thought the shy Colin Firth can make an auditorium laugh by his acceptance speech at the Oscars.

In case of Hugo Weaving being in this list, I think they forgot to mention his role(s) in Cloud Atlas. But what tops my list as one of the times that I was shocked by finding out who the actor in a movie was, must be his V in V for Vendetta. He wore a mask throughout the movie but I remember literally falling in love with him by the end. I couldn't wait for the credits to roll to see whom I had fallen for! And I was taken aback. Could V be the same person as the "Agent" in Matrix?! I was talking to my brother after seeing this movie and told him how surprised I was that such a mean character had been played by the same actor who's played V and he told me that this shows how good that actor is. When an actor who has been able to make you hate him that much, can bring out the complete opposite feeling in you...he is nothing short than a genius. Now I am wondering if he could've pulled off being the good guy in Vendetta without the mask!

How Weaving and Oldman ever played good guys (namely in Lord of the Rings and Batman, respectively) I'll never know. Or maybe I do know...because they are excellent actors. This makes me wonder if listing actors by the number of Oscars they have won or have been nominated for, is just. (no disrespect for Meryl Streep because she did actually deserve every single one of them by transforming from a devilish boss in the Devil Wears Prada, to a cheerful, rosy-cheeked, cook in Julie & Julia in a year and being nominated for both) but when you see that Oldman has only been nominated once...just makes you wonder...

The first time I ever saw Irons and Malkovich in a movie I was just a kid and it was the same for both: the Man in the Iron Mask. Sometimes I wish I had seen these movies when I was older to better have appreciated their acting. Of course this movie is not a good example of their best work, so this is not the best example for a loss! But still...

Here's the link to this video:
Top 10 Actor Villains

I have come to understand that many actors are shy by seeing their interviews like Ralph Fiennes, Nicole Kidman, or Gene Hackman, and they have found acting as a way to express themselves whereas they couldn't have done in the real world. Sometimes I wonder if I should've gotten into acting. I always dreamed of becoming an actress by seeing the glamor of the Oscars and being someone who was good at making people laugh by impersonating myself. But now I think it was a good thing that I never got the chance to be an actor mostly because I wouldn't have been able to take being turned down or criticized (I can see the irony too!). I have been devastated by only one failed application recently, let alone take a career path where being criticized is part of the job!

Brando

He might have been criticized for many things in his life. His arrogance and being hard to work with...asking for unreasonable salaries, namely for his short role in Superman when as far as I can remember he had asked for (and got) $3 million for only appearing in the movie for about 15 minutes! (This happened after the video I am about to share was recorded...so still no idea why such a wonderful person would do something but I am trying to justify his actions...what I try to do when I see good in people...first of all nobody's perfect. But Hollywood is not a fair place...maybe he was trying to play dirty with the people who fight dirty! Or maybe he just saw an opportunity and took it. Maybe he wanted to put it into good use. But whatever the reason...I don't care...he was much more than this petty thing.)

But this doesn't mean that he was a bad person. People might do crazy stuff, but first of all we don't know the rationalization behind their decisions and secondly, it doesn't mean they have bad intentions, especially if what they did wrong was in their personal life. In the end, we should look at the whole picture...what they contributed to the world...in what way they wanted to change it...

YouTube suggested this video today that I watched, in which Brando explains what message he was trying to send by sending an Indian-American to accept the Oscar he won for The Godfather on his behalf. I was really touched by what he had to say. Respect!

Brando interview - 1973

By the way, I had always heard that he was a very charismatic person but I had never have felt it in the way they put it. Don't get me wrong...I, too, always thought he was handsome. But until I saw his video today, I had never been drawn to him this way! I was busy doing something and had put this video on to just listen to it but I couldn't take my eyes off him! Maybe it was the personality thing...but whatever it was, now I know what all the fuss had been about! But as I said, watching his movies never made me feel this way...so it's not about the "actor" Brando, it must be the real life Brando-effect!

I also recommend you watching the Larry King interview...although Brando is old there and might not be as charismatic as I said, but he'd still got the charm! Enjoy!

The Great Gatsby

"3 stars out of 4"

Finally...the much anticipated The Great Gatsby.

Before we start discussing the film let me just have a small moment with movie-goers who don't LOVE movies and only look at them as a source of entertainment (which was probably what the initial intention of making movies was). When you decide to go see a movie and want to invite a friend along with you, go ahead and do it but please, I beg of you, invite a friend who you see frequently! Because, and I couldn't put more stress on this, a cinema theater is not the place to catch up with old friends! There is a nerd sitting nearby who is actually trying to take in every word that is coming out of the mouth of the actors and who doesn't like hearing your gasps of sudden realizations of what other movies you've seen this actor in and make it sound like you've had the discovery of the century. Please...calm down.

The movie...what a vision! The director had used bold colors to show the extravagant lifestyle of these people and specifically that of Gatsby's. No one other than Baz Luhrman could have done it. It reminded me a great deal of his Moulin Rouge. But I had liked Moulin Rouge better. It was one of the movies that made me get interested in the 21st century musicals, and by that I mean musical movies that were made over the last decade, even if their stories were old, like Chicago.

It also reminded me of the new Anna Karenina. These classics have been made more than once in the past by other film makers and a remake wouldn't suffice. That's why they are trying to add new colors, to bring a new dimension to these stories. A new era of remakes, if you will. They try to make unconventional films. I was watching an interview of Scorsese on YouTube and I just remembered that he had done almost the same thing with his Age of Innocence, 20 years ago. I hadn't appreciated it when I got to watch it a few months back but as I get in deeper into his thoughts and images that he had in his mind for his movies, I come to admire him more and see new aspects of his films that I had missed. I wonder if we can call him the father of the new remakes. I am not quite sure if anyone had done anything alike before him.

Anyway every story has been told. This cheesy song came to my mind when I wrote this last sentence, "Every beautiful song has already been sung...lalalalala"! I got a Kindle for my birthday from my friends and before leaving on my trip, copied a selection of my e-books on it and brought it with me, including many screenplays. I have just started reading Being John Malkovich, which unfortunately I haven't got to see yet, by one of the greatest screen writers ever (in my opinion at least...but I'm sure almost everyone would agree), Charlie Kaufman.
There hasn’t been a movie written by Charlie Kaufman that I haven’t liked! I can’t remember if I saw Adaptation first or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but either way, I was struck by the power of cinema in both of them. Eternal Sunshine turned out to be my second favorite movie of all time (second to Forrest Gump). After seeing Adaptation, with my favorite actor Nicolas Cage being nominated for his role in it, I began to admire him even more and my jaw was dropped by his brilliance (Kaufman's I mean). Of course, his masterpiece to this day would definitely be Eternal Sunshine but every single piece he writes is just mind blowing. 

While watching Inside Actors Studio in the episode where the guest was (the adorable and talented) John Cusack, he said that he wanted his production company to make a different movie and he had gone and asked for a script that no one would even touch because it wasn’t doable, and they had given him the script for Being John Malkovich.
The point I wanted to get to from this stray of mind was that I remember this quote from Cameron Diaz (one of the actors in Being John Malkovich) who had said "It's been said that in Hollywood there are only 14 different scripts. Well, this is number 15". I want to say there is more of that new breath needed.

In my opinion, counting in Eternal Sunshine and Adaptation, now the total scripts in Hollywood are 17!

This Gatsby story line, again, seems a lot familiar. Off the top of my head, Aladdin! A penniless boy, falling in love with a rich girl and trying to show himself as a rich person. Of course, in Aladdin the ending was different but I am sure I have seen ones similar to that of Gatsby's. I have no idea why it was chosen the second best novel of all time. I am not sure if the other stories were adapted from Gatsby or it didn't have any novel idea of its own. But what I am guessing is even though other authors might have had the same idea in mind but the way Fitzgerald has verbalized it is what sets his apart.

DiCaprio seemed to be emphasizing a lot on the script at first but soon he fell back into the amazing actor he's become and was comfortable in his role. People have different opinions about movies and actors they see and all that matters is "the eye of the beholder"! After the movie, my sister told me that her friend had not liked DiCaprio in this movie and had said that he's not a good romantic actor. Whereas, my sister told me that for the first time she had liked DiCaprio. My family has never been fond of him! Probably because the first movie we ever saw from him was Titanic and let's be honest, he wasn't really good in it. But maybe it was because my parents disapproved watching movies with love scenes (and they should have because we were kids!) and maybe that's why made us not like him! But I'm not sure. I think this movie wasn't his best work either but he was OK in it. Overall, he's come a long way as an actor.

Sometimes I feel bad about being a critic. I mean, this is the career I would die for but I always ask myself: is this right, what I want to do and am doing? People spending a lot of energy, time, and money and present their work to us and we sit at our desks and type sometimes vicious things! I mean, I am for all that "constructing" criticism but people have different opinions as I mentioned. What makes my opinion worthy and different from others? I must be lucky to have people agree with what I am saying...or I just need to have brilliance as Ebert had!

Back to the movie...I first thought the 3D was unnecessary as I had seen discussions online and explanations by the director...but let me tell you something. This movie was made to caress your eyes. It's like a visionary poem. A fairytale. And without to make this vision stand out, the 3D helped a lot. This movie would not have been half as good without the 3D...maybe that's not fair to say...let's put it this way: you wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much as you did without the 3D. But if you decide to see the non-3D version, it's OK. Don't feel bad.

Now how I grade a movie? After watching a movie, I ask myself "would I be likely to watch this again"? If the answer is "Absolutely" then it means it's a 4 star movie...if I say "with open arms!" it means it's a 3.5 star...if I say "meh...probably" it means it's a 3 star...if I say "it wouldn't hurt", it's 2.5...if my mind says "hopefully not!" then it's a 2..."God no!" is 1.5..."Why did I watch this sh**" is a 1..."somebody show me the bathroom" is 0.5...aaand "kill me...kill me now" or "deadly silence" means disaster or aka 0!

This movie fell somewhere between it doesn't hurt and meh! So I gave it 3 stars. What would make me go back to it would be the music. WOW! Modernized classics to different versions of recent songs.

To give you a brief summary of the plot, in case you don't know it, this story takes place back in the 20's, after the first World War, when "the parties were bigger and liquor was cheap...", an era that Fitzgerald had named the Jazz Age. The story is told by Nick Carraway (played by Tobey Maguire), who might be the biggest admirer of Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), this mysterious person who almost no one has met and there are different stories from his past. Some say he was an Oxford man, some have heard he's fought in the war,... but nobody knows for sure where he's got his wealth and fame from. One day, Carraway gets invited to one of Gatsby's famous parties for which nobody gets invited and they just show up! But why? Yes, you've guessed it right...there is a girl involved (Daisy played by Carey Muligan) who happens to be Carraway's cousin. He throws these parties for a chance to meet her and has accumulated all this wealth to win her love. But is Gatsby really the person he claims to be? Where has he got all his wealth? And will Daisy be willing to face her husband and tell him she doesn't love him, so she could be with Gatsby?

Back in Iran I remember that my brother had bought it's book and I picked it up one day and after reading only a few pages I got bored! I was talking to my roommate a couple of weeks ago about this and she said "It IS boring"! So, whew! I'm not that weird. What I want to get at is that mid-way through the film, I asked myself if I was bored and the answer was "not at all"! So, to be able to make a movie out of a book that seemed boring in a person's (my) eyes and turn it into an entertaining film earns 3 stars just for that! 

Furthermore, I cannot say that it didn't live up to my expectations from the trailer. I was looking for something upbeat and I got what I came to the theater to find. But maybe it was TOO upbeat...at times I felt the scene was unfinished and it skipped to the next one. It did NOT feel good. You couldn't take in the amount you were supposed to, because you simply didn't have the time to do so. This might be the biggest flaw I found in this movie.

Speaking of DiCaprio, in my sister's graduation ceremony last week, the commencement speech was given by Frank Abagnale Jr (the person whose role DiCaprio played in Catch Me if You Can). He had talked about his life, the frauds in his youth and how he has got married after being released from prison and had been working for the FBI for the past twenty-something years. Now our question was, what were the students supposed to learn from this?! If you don't finish high school and do all sorts of crimes and cheat in everything, you'll end up being successful and work for the FBI?! DA HELL?!

Of course, the only regret he had had was not seeing his dad, who had been a great influence in his life, when he was dying. Maybe it was the down point of his life and the lesson was that if you do something wrong you might miss important moments of your life. I dunno!

Amherst and food! Vol. II

So, we didn't get to see The Great Gatsby. Surprised?! Not me! Therefore, here comes the next few places you can enjoy while visiting Amherst:

 

6. Lone Wolf (Downtown Amherst):

I am not doing this place justice by putting it in the number 6 position. Actually, the order, at least in this case, is irrelevant. I was so proud of myself after having written the last post when I thought that I had evened out all different kinds of restaurants (Asian, Mexican,...), but it was only after posting it that I realized I had missed out my favorite brunch place. I now regret not putting it at the top of my list!

The following day of my first day in Amherst, me and my family decided to go out for brunch and after an online search we decided to go to "The Lone Wolf", and I am so happy that we did. Because even now it counts as one of my favorite places that I've ever had brunch at (followed closely by Waffle Shop in State College!).

This place is so good that I have never seen myself or any of my friends be disappointed, or actually not be highly satisfied, with what we've got. You just can't go wrong with what they have to offer. Friendly staff is a plus at this place. Unfortunately, and surprisingly for me, I have never taken a picture of my food at Lone Wolf. This is actually another good sign that you should try this place. It means that it looks so good that I have never even gotten a chance to take a picture before I had gobbled down what was on my plate!

This place will keep you going back for more :)

 

7. Hangar Pub & Grill (5 minute drive from down Amity road from downtown Amherst):

With their website named "Wings over Amherst" you can guess what this place is famous for. Their chicken wings are to die for. They also offer ribs but I, personally, am not a big fan of ribs and it seems like neither are my friends because we have always ordered chicken wings. Since I only like chicken breast (not because I am a weird nutritionist, it's just about the taste!), I always order the boneless version but from the looks on my friends' faces when they were having their "actual" wings, I can tell that it's as tasty. They also have a variety of flavors and sauces that you can choose from and are so delish!

As a side, we always order the waffle fries (but this time I am a weird nutritionist who disapproves, but eats the waffles anyway!), just because my friends love them. Have never tried anything else as a side myself.

As for drinks, I have never been there to have drinks but once I ordered a glass of Shiraz (who on earth drinks red wine with greasy wings???) and didn't like it.

 

8. Go Berry (Downtown Amherst):

I know there are different places for Frozen Yoghurt in different parts of the country, but if you are ever in this area, the place to go is Go Berry! I don't know how many branches and in what parts of the country or area they have, but I have seen one in Northampton too.

Unlike many other FroYos, this one is not one of those self-serve ones where you can pour and weigh your own but they offer three different cups and sizes (being S/M/L) and the small one that I have always gotten is more than enough because the texture is so thick and great. The toppings are a little pricey but I think it's worth it. Unlimited chocolate/honey sauce for the topping! For the topping get the Bobba-something (I can't remember the actual name), which pops in your mouth and has a funny feeling to it!:D

 

9. Antonio's (Downtown Amherst):

While writing the previous paragraph, I was thinking of where I should write about next, when Antonio's popped into my head and made me cut the Go Berry paragraph short!

Antonio's must be one of those places that would count as a landmark in Amherst! It is one of the "musts". If you ever ask a local where you can get good food with great price, I am almost certain that this name will come up. So, the order number in this case can also count as irrelevant.

On its door head it says "Pizza by the slice". You can choose different types of their never ending variety of pizzas and as a girl actually 1 slice and if I am reaaally hungry 1.5 suffices! If you're a guy, I would say at least get two!

I have never met two people who have liked the same kind of pizza at this place only because they offer different kinds enough to meet all kinds of expectations and cravings. I, as a humble "opinionist", am a big fan of their mushroom-steak. But you will definitely get what you came looking for at this place.

 

10.  Moti (Downtown Amherst):

I wanted to make this a top-10 list, so this last one was a tough one to choose from the list I had. But since I wanted to even out different kinds of places in my shortlist, although I had better options in mind, I am going to go with Moti as my number 10 but mention the other places as a "p.s.".

Moti is actually owned by an Iranian lady called "Mohtaram", hence the name Moti! It claims to serve Persian and Mediterranean food but it does not offer authentic Iranian cuisine. Its menu is kind of westernized/Americanized.

The food I would recommend for you to have is their "Famous NY lamb and chicken" which is delicious with a reasonable price. They are famous for their wraps, which are OK but I wouldn't call them GREAT and they wouldn't be my first choice. As for the appetizer, I would say their hummus. (I just remembered this table that tracked down your religion based on your food choices and the cutoff point between being a Jew and a Muslim was liking hummus! :)) If you like it you're most probably a Muslim!) Anyway, their salad, doogh, and I've heard their Mirza (-ghassemi) are also good. But I am dying to try their Dolmades once, especially that this dish is the specialty of my hometown! (It is almost like sushi...rice and herbs wrapped in grape leaves, not with fish though! But I know some like adding beef to the combo, but I don't like it that way!

I wouldn't go near their Koubideh wrap but the chicken wraps are OK and the best wraps (from the ones that I've tried) would be the Barg wrap.

Their Lamb Stew is funny in not having consistent taste! Once I tasted it and it tasted like Abgoosht (an Iranian dish that I don't like...I know I know...you're mad at me...calm down!), and the other time it tasted like Khoresh Gheyme (which I love! Hah?! Right?! Right?! Like me better now?!) but I don't want to take the chance in case it is one of the days that it tastes like Abgoosht!

Anywho, I think I basically covered every single option there was on Moti's menu!

I would like to say Bon Appetite in advance. Hope you have enjoyed these two posts. I am sure you did if you love food.

In Ratatouille (the cartoon), there is a scene where the boy (can't remember his name...Renato, was it?!), tells Ego (the food-critique): "You are too thin for someone who likes food"! and in response Ego says: "I don't like food, I LOVE it, and when I don't like it, I don't swallow"! Unfortunately for me, I have swallowed so many not so good tasting foods! :D So I don't look thin. But first of all, I am not a picky eater...not anymore at least! I mean, I can tell what food is good and which one is not but I don't complain a lot about what I eat. And secondly and most importantly, how would I have ever known all these good foods to write these posts, to guide you, if I hadn't tasted all these foods?! :)

The other places I would recommend goes as follows:

Pasta E Basta (Downtown Amherst): I've only been to this place once and it was AWESOME! I don't know why we don't go there more often! We ordered a large pizza for three, and we weren't even near finishing half of it! I think it was Alfredo pizza but I am guessing all their pizzas would be delicious based on only one. Yes...it was THAT good!

The only complaints I have about this place is that our food was brought to our table late and some parts of the crust was actually burnt! But overall it was a good experience.

Packard's (Northampton): This is a good place to have drinks. Don't recommend the burgers. Do recommend the fries!

Arizona Pizza (Hampshire Mall, Hadley): I just searched their menu online to look for the name of the pizza I had the first time I went there and found out that it's not actually a local place and have many other branches in other places like Florida, so this one doesn't count but I'm gonna go ahead and write about it anyway.

I didn't find the pizza I had there the first time. They have either eliminated it because it wasn't that popular or haven't gotten the chance to add it to their website yet, which is unlikely since this is 8-months ago we're talking about! Anyway, it had bleu cheese topping and it was good. But the best one would be hands down their Cheese-steak Pizza. Again...satisfaction, guaranteed!

I also had a glass of Chardonnay there once (again, who the hell has wine with their pizza??) and it was so gooood! But this one is probably local...I don't think they'd serve the same brand of wine in all of their branches...or maybe they do! I'm not sure. But anyway...so...yeah...go for it!

Speaking of pizza, still the best kind of pizza I've had in the US so far would be Domino's Extravaganza! I mean OH MY GOD! Even, thinking about it makes my mouth water! I made a few alterations while ordering it online, but I think it would be good any way you'd try it.

Ooh, one other place, non-specific to Amherst, that I just tried and obviously am excited about is the Friendly's ice-cream...I mean YUM-MY!

There are many other places in Amherst I still need to try, namely Judie's and Chez Albert. Judie's just because everyone else has tried it. What I've heard is good there are their pop-overs and cheese cakes, but I am not sure how accountable the opinion of these people was! Chez Albert is a little pricey, I've heard, so that's why we've never been. And I have no idea what it would be like. I think it was mediocre compared to their prices but again...I'm not one hundred percent sure.

There is a bagel shop and a doughnut bakery in downtown Amherst which have the priority in my list! I'll definitely try them and get back to you as soon as I get back to Amherst! ;)

I miss that place! Amherst I mean. It's amazing how attached you can get to a place in only a few months and call it home. It's the place with all the wonderful people. There's something to it. I can say I've never met any "bad" person per se in Amherst...what draws them all to this tiny place...I don't know!

But if you are ever around, try to visit it and just let me know and I would be more than happy to show you around! :) But try to visit some time between April and October because other than that the weather is just YUCK and I hate to stay out in the cold! :D

So...yeah...that's about it!

By the way, It's funny how I didn't have any pictures of any of the foods I've had at these places!
This must've been a bore for you to read a photo-less post! Sorry about that :)

And oh! Happy birthday to me! :) Finally! The quarter of century is here!