Posted 1:36 am Saturday, June 23, 2012
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Enjoy An ’80s Oscar Winner With A Timeless Italian Dish
‘Moonstruck’
I almost didn’t like “Moonstruck.”
When the film ended and the credits began to roll, I was a bit soured. I’ve grown quite weary of films that throw two characters together and expect us to believe they’ve fallen forever madly in love with each other after mere days together. But as I took a step back and looked at what director Norman Jewison and writer John Patrick Shanley have constructed and I realize that it’s not a movie about love so much as it is a movie about how we love.
You have Loretta (Cher), a Brooklyn bookkeeper who finds herself falling for her fiance’s estranged younger brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage). Their breathless, borderline unreasonable whirlwind courtship is reflective of the fact that we can’t always choose who we fall in love with. Reason quite often is pushed to the side when it comes to matters of the heart.
When the film ended and the credits began to roll, I was a bit soured. I’ve grown quite weary of films that throw two characters together and expect us to believe they’ve fallen forever madly in love with each other after mere days together. But as I took a step back and looked at what director Norman Jewison and writer John Patrick Shanley have constructed and I realize that it’s not a movie about love so much as it is a movie about how we love.
You have Loretta (Cher), a Brooklyn bookkeeper who finds herself falling for her fiance’s estranged younger brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage). Their breathless, borderline unreasonable whirlwind courtship is reflective of the fact that we can’t always choose who we fall in love with. Reason quite often is pushed to the side when it comes to matters of the heart.
Then there’s Loretta’s parents, Rose (Olympia Dukakis) and Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia). Even in the face of her husband’s revealed infidelity, she cannot help but love him. She has to remind him that his death is inevitable and that she won’t have any more of his running around, but Cosmo realizes that she is who he truly loves and that the life he has lived with her truly means something.
“Moonstruck” might seem a bit slight at first, but I feel it’s a case of Jewison saying what he needs to without being overly verbose. What he says rings true and he seems content to leave it at that.
Cher won a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance (one of the three Oscars it won), and while I don’t quite think she was Oscar-worthy it’s good work and a nice reminder of what she could do as a performer before her career swallowed an audio mixing board. Meanwhile, Nic Cage has essentially made his career playing weirdos, but few of them have ever felt so earnest or honest or heartfelt as Ronny.
— Stewart Smith
“Moonstruck” might seem a bit slight at first, but I feel it’s a case of Jewison saying what he needs to without being overly verbose. What he says rings true and he seems content to leave it at that.
Cher won a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance (one of the three Oscars it won), and while I don’t quite think she was Oscar-worthy it’s good work and a nice reminder of what she could do as a performer before her career swallowed an audio mixing board. Meanwhile, Nic Cage has essentially made his career playing weirdos, but few of them have ever felt so earnest or honest or heartfelt as Ronny.
— Stewart Smith
Full Moon Stuffed Pizza Pie
In the theme song for this movie, Dean Martin sings, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore." Well this is a pizza to fall in love with as you enjoy this classic movie with a classic Italian dish. Fill the pie with whatever ingredients you typically enjoy on top of a pizza. This version uses Italian sausage and mushrooms. A nice vegetarian version would be sliced tomatoes and spinach with caramelized onions.
INGREDIENTS
2 cans Pillsbury pizza crust refrigerated dough
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1-8 ounce ball of mozzarella, sliced
8 large mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Roll out the pizza crust on a floured surface into 2 - 12 inch circles. Place one of the circles in a greased and floured pie plate and form to the shape of the plate. Pour in the marinara, then layer in the mozzarella, mushrooms and sausage. Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese. Place the other crust over the top of the filling. Trim the excess dough from around the edge of the pie plate and crimp the edges together with a fork. Cut a few slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle the top with additional parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees until crust is golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve.
— Recipe by Christine Gardner
INGREDIENTS
2 cans Pillsbury pizza crust refrigerated dough
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1-8 ounce ball of mozzarella, sliced
8 large mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Roll out the pizza crust on a floured surface into 2 - 12 inch circles. Place one of the circles in a greased and floured pie plate and form to the shape of the plate. Pour in the marinara, then layer in the mozzarella, mushrooms and sausage. Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese. Place the other crust over the top of the filling. Trim the excess dough from around the edge of the pie plate and crimp the edges together with a fork. Cut a few slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle the top with additional parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees until crust is golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve.
— Recipe by Christine Gardner
