Being busy isn’t my favorite thing, and I have so many things to catch up on writing (wedding planning, Wedding Shower, movies and games), but Matt took me on a date night after I got off of work on Thursday. It was so nice, especially with how stressful everything has been lately.
Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse
Matt has been trying to get us to go to Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse off of Westwood Bvd for months now, thanks to his friend at work recommending it. Things haven’t worked out with timing (the last being when we went to pick up my wedding dress from the seamstress and them opening in the afternoon), so he decided to surprise me before we went out to see our movie. He didn’t tell me where we were going, besides changing into jeans and a button up and trying to drop a hint to get me to change (to which he asked if I was going to be cold in yoga shorts and a t shirt in the theater and I told him no I was going to put a sweatshirt on), so of course I didn’t listen and looked like a bum in the middle of this nice restaurant.
Everything is a la carte, so we decided to get a few different things and split them. His friend said we had to try the East Eutica Greens, which were greens sauteed in garlic, prosciutto, bread crumbs, romano a hot peppers, and we got some bruscetta for our sides (both of which were really good). Our main meal was the Delmonico’s Delmonico Steak, which was a 24 ounce steak, and it came with the mushrooms, peppers, and onions it was cooked with as well as a side of penne pasta. I had also got a pomegranate martini, and Matt had gotten a (very strong) blue eyes martini. The steak was so good, and days later I am still wanting more. Splitting the meal was such a wonderful idea, and I’m so glad we went that route instead of getting separate meals.
The decor inside was also super cool. They had different caricatures of different icons on the walls, as well as Italian jester masks, which I always loved because my mom used to have some. It was such a beautiful place, and I hope we come back soon!
Alien: Romulus
We drove to the movie theater right after dinner, and took our seats even though we were super early. I had read that the director was playing The Last of Us: Part 2, and took inspiration from that, and so it already added to the excitement I had for the movie. Right off the bat, I adored the special effects and the sets that they used, making it look like it was taken from the set of the original film. I loved the opening scene with the ship floating in space, and just the way it looked. The film had a specific look to it that I don’t know how to describe besides grainy and slightly aged, and it looked beautiful! I will say, however, I was not a fan of the CGI (and now finding out it was AI) effects of Rook’s character. It looked off when he was first introduced, and now finding out it was AI just furthers my case (along with my major dislike of AI).
I also really enjoyed the variety of cast, of course first calling out Cailee Spaeny’s portrayal of Rain. Since going through the film with TLOU2 in mind, I feel like I am super biased, and thought her role was really good (due to comparing her to Ellie’s character). She’s caring for her friends and brother, and by the end of the film trying her best to hold her own. I feel like seeing Spaeny in Civil War (which I actually enjoyed but my dad and Matt both didn’t like), where her character was younger and naive, it shows her range of acting where you can see growth from Rain comparing the start and the end of the movie. David Jonsson as Andy took me as a total surprise, because of the difference of character once Rain installs the chip from a station’s android was amazing. He was sneaky, well spoken, and was aiming to get his directive done without Rain or Tyler knowing at the beginning. His mannerisms were just perfectly contrasting his original system. Archie Renaux and Spike Fearn as Tyler and Bijorn were also wonderful. I thought their personalities were totally different from each other. As young adults, I feel like they all didn’t think this plan through entirely, but you could see who was a little bit more mature than the other. I will say, Fearn did a great job of portraying Bijorn as a more “in your face” character. He made me mad with how he treated Andy, even with a history with androids. I feel like Isabela Merced and Aileen Wu as Kay and Navarro weren’t given enough screen time, and I really wish we saw more of them. I liked both of the characters (especially with having TLOU2 counterparts), and it just seemed like they were used to just kind of throw away. Granted one lasted longer than the other, I just really wanted to see more of them.
The story I feel like was pretty simple and straightforward. I could also see some people wanting more, but I enjoyed it. I loved the characters, I loved the xenomorphs and the facehuggers and chestburster. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the offspring. Kay being pregnant was a given that something was going to happen to the baby, but for them to make the choice to have the offspring as what it turns in to was an extremely odd choice. I can’t complain too much, however, because I loved the majority of the film!