Alamo Drafthouse Celebrates "The Princess Bride" this Valentines Day

(Via Slackerwood)

The Alamo Drafthouse has combined several of their signature events -- a quote-along, a feast, and Sommelier Cinema -- and taken them to a new level with "The Princess Bride Feast," taking place on February 14 and 15 in Drafthouse locations around Texas. In addition, they're also launching yet another business endeavor -- this time involving wine.

If the special sneak preview that Austin press were treated to recently was any indication, the Princess Bride feast is sure to be the hottest ticket item for food, film and wine lovers this Valentine's Day. Tickets for the Feb. 14 event sold out so quickly that additional screenings were added for the following day. Personally, I prefer to avoid the busiest romantic day of the year and recommend you buy tickets for the available February 15 screenings.

Be advised that for this signature event you are not only allowed but encouraged to talk during the screening (if it's related to the film, of course). The Alamo Drafthouse's Action Pack has added subtitles to their favorite Princess Bride lines in key places, but you can quote along for as much or little of the movie as you like. The Action Pack has other special surprises to make the Princess Bride a date night to remember.

The spotlight of the event is the wine selection -- not just because Drafthouse Beverage Director Bill Norris has paired some incredible wines with Executive Chef John Bullington's menu, but because two of the wines were created exclusively for Alamo Drafthouse. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Princess Bride, the Drafthouse has launched the "Bottle of Wits" signature Princess Bride Wine program in honor of the iconic battle of wits scene between Westley and Vizzini. The inaugural wines include As You Wish White, a surprisingly complex wine with tropical fruit notes, and Inconceivable Cab, a full-bodied 2009 California Cabernet. The wines will be available at Alamo Drafthouse locations starting Feb. 14.

As a wine enthusiast, my expectations weren't too high as I usually find signature wines created for restaurants to be pedestrian, lacking in depth and character. However, the first thought in my head as I tasted As You Wish White was, "Wow! Bill picked a great white selection for this course, what winery made this fabulous wine?!", as I momentarily forgot which wine was in front of me. This medium bodied white wine's acidity is nicely balanced with a lovely citrus finish.

Inconceivable Cab is a versatile robust medium-bodied wine, wonderful on its own but also holding up nicely and complementing the main course food pairing that evening. I loved the dark fruit flavors, especially the hint of plum and currant and well-balanced tannins and acidity, and the apparent American oak aging by subtle oak in the nose and vanilla in the finish.

Although I typically prefer red wine over white, I have to credit Bill Norris with expanding my palate with The Skin I Live In tapas and wine pairing selections and also the Kila Cava sparkling wine served as an apertif at the Princess Bride feast. The one wine selection of this event that I felt was under-appreciated by the audience was the final selection of Niepoort Tawny Port, as I observed several unconsumed glasses. If you are a port fan, be sure to save room -- and if not, give this sweet smooth fortified wine a try!

The Princess Bride Feast features one of John Bullington's most elaborate and creative menu selections that I've enjoyed at the Alamo Drafthouse. The first course of a MLT with smoked mutton "sliced paper thin" had an incredibly flavorful truffle aioli, and the blood orange vinaigrette drizzled alongside the Screeching Eel Salad was equally tasty and featured local greens from Bullington's personal gardens.

The defining moment of the feast was the Seared R.O.U.S., a New York strip steak rubbed with tellicherry peppercorn, mustard seed and espresso, and served in a pool of port demi atop roast enoki mushrooms, with mushroom risotto and grilled rapini. The menu descriptions state "roasted medium rare," but pulling off timed service to a theater full of filmgoers had me doubtful. Once again I was proven wrong -- not only was my Seared R.O.U.S. still hot, but it was the perfect medium rare, with a warm red center and the risotto freshly plated and warm.

Chef Bullington's dedication to Princess Bride in his gastronomic homage is most evident by the final course -- Twue Wuv Truffles, remarkably resembling Miracle Max's miracle pills. These dark chocolate truffles rolled in cacao nibs and caramel crisp with peanut creme and candied strawberries were a perfect end to a feast befitting a true princess bride and her beau, or just lovers of Princess Bride, S. Morgenstern's (and William Goldman's) timeless "classic tale of true love and high adventure."

RJ Licenses Get Some Super Bowl Lovin'

Some RJ licenses got some lovin' yesterday as advertisers capitalized on some Ferris Bueller and Arrested Development references.   Among the hilarity was an entire spot for History channel's Swamp People.

'Arrested Development' Revival: Entire Cast Confirmed For Netflix Series With Original Writers

Piggy backing on last week's Arrested updates from Ron Howard, a Netflix exclusive series has been confirmed by writer Dean Lorey.

(Via Huffington Post)

The entire original cast of "Arrested Development" -- Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Michael Cera, Portia De Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter -- will be back for the new season on Netflix, according to writer Dean Lorey.

Lorey took to his blog to share the news.

"We're really doing this thing," he wrote. "Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely and I are off writing the new season of 'Arrested' to premiere on Netflix in 2013."

To all the skeptics out there, Lorey confirmed that production is underway, even though the schedule is under wraps. "There are offices and parking spaces," he wrote. The new season is slated to debut on Netflix in 2013, with a film to follow.

"Arrested Development" creator Hurwitz first announced the series' revival in October 2011 at the The New Yorker Festival. "Arrested Development" originally aired for three seasons on Fox from 2003-2006 and movie rumors kicked off soon after cancellation; but now, more than five years later, the Bluths are officially returning.

The current plan is for a 10 episode series for Netflix followed by a feature film. Series star Bateman confirmed the news shortly after it was announced in October.

"'Arrested Development' is one of the finest American comedies in TV history and its return through Netflix is a perfect example of how we are working closely with studios and networks to provide consumers with entertainment they love," Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, said in a statement in November.

Let the chicken dancing continue!

Ron Howard gives “Arrested Development” movie updates

Fans have been clamoring for an “Arrested Development” movie since the day the show went off the air in 2006. It was in that final episode that narrator Ron Howard uttered the now-famous suggestion that maybe the Bluth’s story should be made into a movie. Since then, no one involved in the production has managed to escape an interview without being asked about the highly anticipated film and, even after its announcement, that hasn’t changed a bit.

Howard recently sat down with Collider at Sundance and talked about the “Arrested Development” movie and Netflix-owned TV show. He’s agreed to voice the series’ narrator again, but unfortunately doesn’t have too much of an update on when production will actually get started on both projects.

“There’s not a specific start date, but Mitch Hurwitz is definitely working to quickly get it all underway,” Howard said. “I don’t want to burden him with any release dates, but I know he’s well underway and it’s something he’s been thinking about a lot, over the previous year.”

That being said, it sounds like we’ve taken a few steps back from the big reveal of Hurwitz’s planned TV-series-into-a-movie idea. Howard’s implication seems to be that more “Arrested Development” is still a ways off.

“It’s a huge challenge ‘cause we’re talking about 10 episodes, or almost character studies, individually featuring various characters from the Bluth family and showing where they are now and updating audiences, as we build to what we eventually expect and hope will be a movie. So, we need to re-acclimate everybody,” he said.

If fans need re-acclimation, they can just catch one of the many airings of “Arrested Development” on IFC nearly every day. But we understand that it takes some time to organize all the crazy shenanigans that the Bluths have likely been up to — like Buster getting an iPad for a hand — into a cohesive story.

“He’s got some hilarious idea about where these characters are in the world now, four or five years later, what they’ve been up to, what their frame of mind is now, and how they relate to each other,” Howard teased. “It’s pretty hilarious, outrageous stuff. Mitch is really enjoying delving back into the Bluth family.”

(Via IFC.com)

MythBusters to launch explosive new series, 'Unchained Reaction'

The MythBusters are at it again.

In a tweet this morning, Adam Savage, co-host of the hit Discovery Channel show, said that he and his co-conspirator, Jamie Hyneman, have gotten the green light to produce their new "sooper secret project," "Unchained Reaction."

According to Deadline Hollywood, Savage and Hyneman will executive produce the new Discovery Channel show and serve as judges on what will be a six-part series. The show will pit "two teams of varying backgrounds--artists, rocket scientists, animatronic specialists, engineers, and even your average Joes--against each other to build an elaborate chain reaction contraption on a massive scale. The teams are provided with identical sets of tools and materials and given five days to complete a series of mechanisms based on a specific theme."

Each team will be given identical tools and material and will get five days to finish their contraptions. They'll be assigned a specific theme. And, Deadline Hollywood wrote, "refined mechanical movements, pyrotechnics, and large-scale destruction are encouraged."

After five days, Hyneman and Savage will welcome an additional guest judge, and together they'll determine a winner.

"We wanted to craft a show that puts the process of problem solving and ingenuity front and center, and we've done exactly that with 'Unchained Reaction,'" Savage told Deadline Hollywood.

In addition to creating the new show, which is expected to premiere in March, Savage and Hyneman are currently in the middle of the national tour of their live show, "Behind the Myths."

(VIA Cnet)

Portlandia The Tour: Behind the Band

As you know, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein have taken their show on the road and created “Portlandia the Tour.” The live version of their hit sketch comedy series “Portlandia” has been a smashing success, selling out venues from Portland to Los Angeles to Chicago. The excitement has been so big that Fred and Carrie took time out from their busy schedules starring on “Saturday Night Live” and touring with Wild Flag to add even more dates in Atlanta, Boston, D.C., and more.

In each city they visit, Fred and Carrie have invited friends (Daniel Handler! Dan Savage! People not named Dan!), performers (Thao and Mirah! Susanna Hoff!) and others to join them on stage as they bring a little bit of Portlandia to the rest of the country. But to make the magic happen, Fred and Carrie do not work alone. Let’s take a moment to meet the hard-working group who are on the road with Portlandia:

Check out the entire band on the IFC Blog.