In a fast-paced modern world, it is only natural to want to have as many hours in your day as possible. Problems arise, however, when you choose to sacrifice sleep too regularly. Although the conventional wisdom suggests it is women who need “beauty sleep,” the fact is that men who stay awake past the recommended amounts also start to suffer. Here are several reasons why being sure to get a comfortable night of sleep is important to everyone interested in maintaining their health.
Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.
WHAT: In 1963, during the height of the Cold War, the United States and Russia agree to temporarily put aside their differences and combine forces when they learn that a secret criminal organization has kidnapped former Nazi scientist Udo Teller to build an atom bomb. The CIA and KGB assign their top agents – Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), respectively – to infiltrate the cabal and prevent a global disaster.
WHY: Hollywood hasn’t been shy about its love for sequels, reboots and remakes this year, but as far as big screen adaptations of mildly popular television shows go, you could do a lot worse than “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” In fact, though director Guy Ritchie has admitted that he wasn’t overly familiar with the 1960s TV series before signing on to the project, it’s the ideal property for a filmmaker like Ritchie to tackle, because it allows him to cherry-pick the show’s best bits and put his own spin on the material without worrying about stepping on too many toes. It worked well for “Sherlock Holmes,” and it has a similar effect here. While Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer may not sound like the most exciting duo on paper, they form a surprisingly charming team with lots of great banter between them. It’s the kind of polite but playful English wit that’s present in most of Ritchie’s films, and it allows the movie to be self-aware without resorting to winking satire “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” runs a little long despite its relatively straightforward plot, and the half-baked romance between Hammer and Alicia Vikander’s characters never really takes off, but it’s an entertaining homage to retro spy films that makes up for what it lacks in substance with plenty of laughs and undeniable style.
EXTRAS: The Blu-ray includes six featurettes highlighted by a behind-the-scenes look at production and recreating the music, costumes and props of the 1960s.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
WHAT: After successfully defeating Smaug, Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) and the surviving citizens of Lake-town head to the Lonely Mountain seeking refuge. Thorin (Richard Armitage), who’s since been consumed by the dragon sickness, refuses to help, leading the humans and elves to declare war on the dwarves. But when Azog the Defiler and his battalion of orcs attack the dwarven stronghold, the three armies must fight together in order to stop them.
WHY: Splitting “The Hobbit” into three movies has been a point of contention among fans since it was first announced, and the futility of that decision has never been more evident than with “The Battle of the Five Armies,” a 144-minute marathon of masturbatory excess in which the titular set piece – one that’s contained within a single chapter in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel – makes up almost half of its bloated runtime. (The new extended edition tacks on an additional 20 minutes of footage, including more from the actual battle, that only adds to the film’s pacing issues.) Though the movie has its share of great moments just like the first two installments, they’re surrounded by a lot of extraneous filler that pushes its main hero even further into the background. But while “The Battle of Five Armies” is arguably the weakest entry in the series, it’s a nonetheless fitting end to a trilogy that’s biggest problem was taking so long to get there. Could it have been better? Absolutely, especially when measured against the far superior “Lord of the Rings” films, but fans will love it regardless, and that’s to the credit of the fantastic ensemble cast, incredible visuals and Peter Jackson’s limitless creativity.
EXTRAS: In addition to an audio commentary by director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens, there are two discs filled with over nine hours of supplemental material that covers virtually every aspect of production.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Keeping your car in great shape is one of those things that sounds like a lot of work, but is actually just a series of small, easy-to-manage jobs that don’t take up much time at all. Basic maintenance will help you keep your car on the road longer and will mean fewer repair bills due to parts failing or breaking down. Here are a few ways you can keep your car in better shape without breaking a sweat.
On average, Americans have four alcoholic drinks a week, a Gallup poll revealed. At the end of a long day at work, when the sun is setting and the day is done, the most natural thing in the world appears to be a beer, although wine comes in a close second, and liquor last because it favored by only 22% of the population.
Though I’ve written about 007-related matters quite a few times on this here site, including the matter of Bond and booze, I actually haven’t seen “Spectre” yet.
Nevertheless, amid all the Internet back-and-forth about the latest entry in this most mammoth of all film franchises, it seemed apt that I stumbled upon a drink apparently named after the slim but exciting pulp novel that started it all…and then restarted the whole thing when it was finally turned into a canonical James Bond movie called “Casino Royale.” (At least on paper, Ian Fleming’s novel was actually adapted twice before that, but it’s a very long story why neither of those two productions, one a live TV broadcast and the other a lavishly misbegotten 1960s cinema curio, actually “count.”)
However, the drink itself turned out to be a little too serious, perhaps — a charge that’s also been leveled against some of the more recent Bond films as well, though not necessarily by me. Still, I took it upon myself to lighten things up. In the movies, maintaining the balance between light and dark elements in something like a Bond film can be pretty difficult to pull off. In an over-tart/under-sweetened drink, however, it’s really just a matter of boosting up one of the sweeter ingredients and maybe doing a Mary Poppins and adding just a spoonful of sugar. To wit…
The Casino Royale (Rebooted)
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 dash orange bitters
1 orange slice (optional garnish)
Combine the gin, juice, liqueur, egg yolk and sugar into a cocktail shaker. Dry shake (shake without ice) to emulsify the yolk. Add ice and shake again very vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If the oranges from your supermarket are sufficiently sweet, consider adding a slice for a garnish. If not, don’t sweat it. There’s enough going on in this drink.
*****
For the record, the original version of the Casino Royale, which I found on various web sites, contains only one teaspoon of maraschino and no other sweetener of any sort. That version is not for everyone and I’m not even sure it’s for me. On the other hand, it’s definitely less fattening and great for people who don’t mind very tart drinks softened by an almost yogurt-like softness, courtesy of the egg yolk.
Still, though it might be less kind to my waistline and my A1C, I like my sweetened up version. It worked very well with a few different gins. Bombay Dry, Plymouth, and value-priced Gordon’s all produced dandy results, lending the drink the right floral/boozy backdrop. I also had good results with both Maraska and Luxardo maraschino. The latter was more sweetly inviting, with a vaguely vanilla-esque back-taste. Luxardo added more overtly complex flavors in ways I simply don’t have the vocabulary to fully describe right at this moment, other than to say it was kind of interesting.
Now, it’s time for an appropriate musical interlude from one of the worst spy movies with one of the best scores not composed by Sir John Barry.
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