Hi all,

Yesterday was quite interesting. I took a day trip to visit some film locations that were in MY COUSIN VINNY and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES. Those movies were both filmed in South Georgia, USA, for those who don’t know :)

We started the day at a coffee shop in the Monticello Town Square, where the courthouse stands on one end. The courthouse from MY COUSIN VINNY. And it’s true. They make it look bigger on TV.

Then we went past the Sac-O-Suds, the place where Ralph Macchio accidentally steals a can of tuna fish and that sets the whole MY COUSIN VINNY movie in motion.

Then we went to see the little town of Juliette, Georgia, where FRIED GREEN TOMATOES was filmed. And yes! I was so excited because we had lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Besides having absolutely incredible food (and of course, fried green tomatoes!) it was lovely to see the actual location that was used for Iggy’s and Ruth’s cafe in the movie.

We couldn’t go there and not have some of the tasty Fried Green Tomatoes!

After lunch and some browsing through the quaint town of Juliette, we passed the tiny place that served as Smokey Lonesome’s place in the movie. This is where he slept while Ruth brought him a blanket.

Overall, a fantastic day. If you ever get down that way, definitely make time to stop in at the Whistle Stop Cafe. It’s crowded on the weekends–especially in the summer–but the food was absolutely delish!

Happy Saturday and weekend, all :)

Today’s post is filed under random because…well, it’s random. I usually post about books and grits and such. But I have no planned post on those topics today.

On movie reviews, I have a few. So enjoy, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy your weekend!

Elaine’s Movie Reviews…

GONE GIRL. Really intense, well-acted and well-written. That being said, this is the kind of movie where the ending bothered me and I was left thinking about it for several days. Some people liked the ending. I grossly hated it. But the main actors/actresses deserve big time Oscars for their performances.

HECTOR & THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS. This one was very strange. I actually think this was a writing collaboration, where one person wrote the first half of the film and another person wrote the last half. The two halves never made a whole. The first hour (if you can survive it) is dull, quirky, without much happening at all. You could sum up the entire first 60 minutes of the film by saying: “Hector is a boring psychiatrist who has no excitement in life.” There. That’s 60 minutes of film time.

The 2nd half of the film, however, was wonderful. This is where we see conflict, pain, redemption, etc. All the qualities that make a good movie but were absent in the first half. The problem with the second half being good is that most people walk out of the theater before they see it.

THE MAZE RUNNER. Really good, really liked the characters and the plot. This one is the start of a series and I’ll likely see this again.

That’s about all for now, so enjoy your weekend!

Today, I feel like I’m channeling Joe Pesci in the movie, “MY COUSIN VINNY.”

His argument scene concerning Grits in the South is hysterical, and right now I have a few more lines of dialogue I would add. See, I have another series coming out this fall (Book #1 – NO GRITS, NO GLORY, releases in early October) and I want to have grits incorporated on the book cover somehow.

Only grits are not very photogenic. Even if they are, they are at the wrong angle for my graphic designer to use them. So here I sit, cussing out grits as I search. I can just hear Joe Pesci’s tone as he would say the following:

* Why aren’t there any photogenic grits out there on the Internet?

* Are these vampire grits that don’t allow themselves to be photographed?

* Exactly what would make a great photo of a grit?

And more…

Look for #30DaysofGritsRecipes starting on 9/1. It’s the gear up to the book release in early October.

For now, I’ll leave you with a photo I took of grits (that of course won’t work…see Joe Pesci rant once more!)

Hi all, For those who have traveled to New Orleans (and even those who haven’t), do you ever wonder what movies portray the city accurately and those that don’t? For my listing, check out the guest blog today, where I list some of my faves and dislikes. The nice Casey Ryan from Twitter is hosting my article: Read guest blog here.