Well at least the salsa was good.

Recently i've come to the realization that i am a reluctant fan of westerns. I downloaded The Good The Bad and The Ugly with every intention of watching it, but constantly passed it up to watch something else. And yet, when i finally forced myself to sit through it i was blown away by how much i enjoyed that movie. and so, when our random number generator selected Butch Casidy and The Sundance Kid i was stoked! having accepted my love of the western, i was ready to be blown away by this classic movie that tops almost every "must See" list out there.

Two good things came from watching this movie. I got it over with, and i discovered a cure for my insomnia. I don't know if it was the mood we were in, or if the ber had gone to out heads, but Mo her husband and myself spent more time yawning, and watching the clock than actually enjoying the movie. I'm still not sure which part is supposed to be so great, was it the 27 minute long chase scene? How many times did they have to drive home the fact that Butch and the Kidd were in deep shit? They actually stop three or four times to consider the men chasing them, and each time their conclusion is "well, better keep running". Finally they escape by jumping off a cliff into the river below. If only that river could have been a bed of rocks i may have saved 45 minutes of my life.My favorite part (asides from the ending) was the opening tavern scene. Watch it on youtube, and then move on to somthing better. you're not missing anything.

But all sarcasm aside, i would love for someone to explain why this movie is so well regarded. What is done in this film that isn't done ten times better in other movies?

To go with southwestern feel of the movie, Mo made up a batch of her simple yet delicious salsa (with some cilantro from my very own garden). Its was amazing, and as always salsa and beer make a perfect couple.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

Have you ever gone to a funeral, and all of a sudden you can't resist the urge to laugh? Maybe its the sounds of the church pew squeaking under your ass,or maybe its the way Aunt Esters moles look like the constellation Orion. Once it happens, you're screwed, and all that is left is to imagine that special place in hell you will soon occupy. Once you boil the situation down to its base hilarity, there is no turning back. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly what the 1960's felt like for Stanly Kubrick. At the very height of the cold war, when both sides were just waiting to give each other a thermonuclear kick in the ass, he made a film that made the whole mess seem... well, silly.

Based on the novel Red Alert, Dr.Strangelove is an amazing example of satire. Nowadays i feel like "satire" and "spoof" are interchangeable terms when it comes to comedies, but Kubrick nailed it. Take for example my favorite scene from he whole movie (and i now have many), when the American president Merkin Muffley has to call U.S.S.R president Dimitri, and inform him that all hell has broken loose and a wing of renegade bombers are about to nuke Russia. The conversation boils down to a banal exchange over how much the two leaders enjoy speaking to one and other, and who is the most sorry for the situation. meanwhile in the background we can see the US bombers displayed on a map getting closer and closer to their targets. I could feel myself getting incredibly tense as these two world leaders wasted time over trivialities, while the destruction of the world was edging ever closer. And that's in 2011! I've never had to ask myself what a nuclear bomb would do to my city, but in the 60's this was all people could think about. The whole thin is very effective, and incredibly funny.

In Honour of our first Black and White film, Mo came up with a meal to match. Black Bean Soup, with jalapeño and Cumin. As well as black olive, and Mozzarella skewers. She used a little bit of tzatziki as a garnish, and the whole meal was amazing.