Mariner’s Landing: Olcott

As appearing in The Niagara Falls Gazette 11/25/19

Another weekend another restaurant. This time my wife, my buddy and I decided to hit up the Mariner’s Landing restaurant in Olcott. It had been about a year and a half since I had been there so it was about time for a return trip. They have been open for over 18 years at their present location. It is unusual for a restaurant to be open this long so they must be doing something right. We entered the restaurant and saw the décor hadn’t changed much since the last time we were there.

They had paneled walls, a couple fireplaces and ample windows that would let in sunlight during the daytime. They also had a nautical based motif with several model ships, lighthouses and sailor figurines on the high shelves that went all around the dining room. There were a few fish tanks with several small fish swimming around to add to the calming atmosphere.

The hostess told us to sit anywhere and we selected a table near the door. The table was set with real tablecloths but they ruined it by having paper place mats. I haven’t seen a tablecloth in a restaurant for several years and it was a nice touch. The server brought our menus and took our drink order. My wife had her usual water with lemon, Ed had a glass of wine and I chose a Coke with light ice (2.50) and she headed off to get them.

When she returned with our drinks, she took our order. My wife selected the fried oyster appetizer (8.95) for her dinner and Manhattan clam chowder (3.95). Ed selected the salmon special with a bourbon/maple glaze and sautéed vegetables. I selected the New England clam chowder (3.95) and the Fried Seafood Platter (23.95). This contained shrimp, scallops, a stuffed clam and a 10 OZ piece of Icelandic cod. I had an option of several sides and selected a baked potato with sour cream.

Shortly after we ordered, the server showed up with a basket of warm bread and some butter. The butter was soft which I highly appreciate

My wife’s Manhattan clam chowder had a robust tomato taste and her fried oysters were scrumptious. She also asked for a cup of cocktail sauce on the side. The oysters were moist and tender and the coating did not fall off of them. I could have eaten them all night.

My clam chowder was very creamy and rich with diced potatoes and chunks of clams throughout. Everything on my Sea Food Platter was delicious. Everything was cooked properly and I even had to bring some home for lunch the next day.
Ed’s salmon had a maple glaze that blew my mind. The pairing of the tender and flakey salmon with the maple glaze was phenomenal. I would have never thought that it would work so well. Ed pronounced it perfect. Dinner was delish.

Our server was the Lisa and was quite pleasant, quickly answering any questions I had about the menu. She stopped by frequently to see if everything was OK with our meal.

The food was great, the ambiance perfect and we had a good time. Prices were reasonable and portions were ample. We would have liked to have tried desserts, but we were too full from the meal. We are looking forward to returning and trying other menu items, but I will probably always order the clam chowder.

However there was one downside. I had occasion to use the men’s room and this is definitely not ADA compliant. The first door had a knob on it and when I turned it, it felt funny. As I opened the door I found out why. There was no latch mechanism or even an inside doorknob, just holes where they should have been. This door opened into a small vestibule with another door. When I tried to close that door, it kept hitting on the first door’s automatic closer arm, bad planning. When I opened the stall, the only way you could enter was to step over the bowl. Talk about the bathroom from hell. If you plan on dining there just, don’t plan on using the bathroom.

Mariner’s Landing;
1540 Franklin St in Olcott, New York.
Phone number is (716) 778-5535

Their hours are:
Wednesday and Thursday 4 – 9 PM
Friday and Saturday 4 – 10PM
Saturday 12 – 8PM.

I give them an 8 out of 10 spoons because of the bathroom.
I am looking forward to our next dining adventure.

The Club 747

NORBERT RUG

In the 60’s and 70’s, the drinking age was 18 in New York, which meant I was sneaking into bars when I was 16, and I was not the exception. Live music was everywhere. I learned a lot about life, love, music and myself in places like The Inferno, and other bars that are long gone.

On a Saturday nights in Buffalo, New York there were several discotheques where young adults would go. The crowd headed to The Club 747 a disco in what looked like a Boeing 747 jetliner. This was situated right across Genesee Street from the Greater Buffalo International Airport.

WKBW Radio disc jockey “Super Shannon” was “in the cockpit” playing records and bringing plenty of energy to the microphone and atmosphere. The Club 747 was so trendy that it was written up in Billboard magazine in 1978.

It became the blue print for quite a few discotheques throughout the country.Up to 5,000 people a week were hustling their way through this airplane-themed club. In the first three years it since it opened, it had already been renovated to the tune of $100,000. This was done by the exact same lighting crew that did the lighting in “Saturday Night Fever.”

In the late ’70s, you would buy a “boarding pass” to gain entrance to the club. This cost $1 or $2 on Saturday nights. This sounded better than a cover charge. People were expected to be properly dressed. Dancers were expected to be dressed appropriately, no sneakers, sweatshirts or “non-dress jeans” (remember, this was the ’70s) were allowed. The men wore dress shirts and pants and the women wore dresses.

Club 747 was a part of the Executive Inn complex. This also included a Playboy Club (yes Buffalo had a Playboy Club). It was renamed Kixx Nightclub throughout the 1990s and was torn down to make way for a Courtyard by Mariott hotel in the mid-2000s.One of Buffalo’s hotspots of the 1970s disco scene was Hertel Avenue’s, Mulligan’s.

There was a little of everything there. The place was like ones recommended by Stefon on “Weekend Update,” a city correspondent of sorts who gave quirky recommendations about clubs and destinations in New York City. It was even the scene of a mafia hit in 1974.

When a renovated Mulligan’s opened in 1975, it was billed as “a dancing and dining emporium modeled to suit the far ranging and capricious fancies of all who enter its doors.”A trip to Mulligan’s might include a sighting of any number of national celebrities known by only their first names, like Cher or OJ, along with Rick James and his girlfriend Exorcist’s Linda Blair.

Today Uncle Sam’s is the name of a Buffalo surplus store, but back in the 70’s it was first a disco known for its reverse dance floor and later became one of the earliest punk clubs in Buffalo.

Uncle Sam’s was on Walden Avenue. They actually booked some big name groups. The Pretenders, The Ramones and the Plasmatics played there. Uncle Sam’s was featured in the July 19th 1980 edition of Billboard Magazine

The Inferno was “the” premier place to go to hear music from 1965 until 1968. I spent many lost weekends there. My favorite drink there was a gin and tonic. Not because I liked it but because it glowed an eerie pale blue under the black lights they had. After about a half dozen, it didn’t matter what you were drinking anyway. Many was the morning I would wake up with my head pounding like bass drum at a rock concert.

On Wednesday nights, long lines of people formed through Glen Park and even over the Glen Avenue bridge, many of them waited for hours to get into the Inferno. The Inferno was formerly known as the “Glen Casino”.The nightclub was noted for featuring the bands like Wilmer & the Dukes and Raven on a weekly basis. This would help launch their careers. Additionally, national recording acts like Ike & Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, Wilson Pickett, Junior Walker & the All Stars, The Butterfield Blues Band, The Bob Seger System, The Esquires, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, Wayne Cochran & the CC Riders, and Arthur Conley also played this famous nightclub.

Ironically The Inferno, was destroyed by fire. The Inferno is one of the largest fires in Amherst in terms of equipment used at the scene. An estimated 13 fire companies and 200 fire fighters were there with 25 trucks before it was extinguished.

Lovin Spoonful: Somewhere

By Norbert Rug

The three amigos, my wife Donna, my buddy Ed, and I ventured out looking for somewhere to go for dinner. We ended up at “Somewhere” a quaint looking place at 681 Blairville road in Youngstown.

When we first pulled up, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go inside. I thought someone was pranking me when the said I should try it out but don’t let the outside appearance scare you off. The facade reminded me of an old west saloon. When we pulled up in their small, gravel parking lot, I could see four full size, sand volleyball courts.

We walked under a surf board and through a homemade screen door to enter the place, still not knowing what to expect. Wow! This tiny bar was way better than I had expected, nothing very fancy just a warm friendly, Irish, country bar.

When you first walk in, it’s kind of just a regular neighborhood bar. We sat down at a table with a Kraft paper tablecloth and started taking in the sights. The floor was painted concrete, none of that fancy hardwood or laminate here, and the walls, oh the walls. There wasn’t much room to put anything else on the walls. I can’t begin to explain the amount of Irish paraphernalia on the walls. I understand the owner is Pat Stack, a retired Niagara Falls detective.

Kenney, our server/bartender came over to take our order. He emphasized that all the food is fresh. He said even the rolls are homemade and the meats & vegetables are locally sourced.

Donna had water with lemon, Ed ordered a glass of wine and I had a Pepsi. When he came back, he brought a salt and pepper shaker which I thought was a bit odd. Maybe they don’t have enough to go around.

They have a small menu (7 items) plus specials. Ed had the Cha-Cha-Chicken, which is fresh chicken breast marinated and grilled in their herb infused marinade served over a classic salad ($10). Gluten free

In a surprise to both her and me, Donna ordered the “Meatball Puff”. Donna would be a vegetarian if I let her. She said it just intrigued her. This is a meatball wrapped in pastry with homemade sauce on it. She said it was cheesy inside and out. She was wondering why she didn’t get the choice of a side but when it arrived she understood. This was a one pound meat ball, you didn’t need a side. In fact she brought half of it home.

I tried to order the Ruben that was on the specials board and Kenney told me they were out of that. He suggested the “Lola” to me. A Buffalo chicken sandwich with a side of homemade blue cheese dressing ($10). I selected potato wedges as my side. The potato wedges are seasoned with black pepper, paprika, garlic and salt. The chicken was fall apart tender. The roll was perfect, not too crusty and the potato wedges were excellent.

This small place had a neat log-cabin atmosphere, 60’s music, 4 tables, an 11-seat bar and featured a number of items from another era. Outside, there are four well-maintained volleyball courts on the west side of the building. The east side and behind the building include a patio and a stage for bands. They put on inflatable pool parties, tortoise races and a St Patrick’s party that had 532 guests according to their Facebook page.

I was completely blown away that I found this food of this caliper in a place I’ve never even heard of before. It was friendly, very low key and drama free. I will make it a point to return here again in the future. It was Delish. Thanks Michele for suggesting it. I give it 9 spoons out of 10.
Hours are:
Saturday              11:30AM–11PM
Sunday                Closed
Monday               Closed
Tuesday               11:30AM–5PM
Wednesday         11:30AM–11PM
Thursday              11:30AM–11PM
Friday                   11:30AM–11PM

Phone: (716) 262-2337

Rejection:

person using macbook — Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

I am getting up for a glass of Pepsi when I get an email. Any writer, author, or journalist knows this email moment. The notice pops up in my inbox and my heart takes a wild, insane, roller coaster ride. First, my heart goes up, way, way up, as my expectations climb. Then, it plunges because I remember just how the deck is stacked against me. I open up my email and my eyes quickly scan, looking for the words, “pleased” or “unfortunately” or “we regret”.

It gets much easier though. I have gotten quite a few rejections. In fact less than half of what I have written has been published. I take pride in the fact I have learned how to isolate someone rejecting my work from someone rejecting me as a person. There are many, many reasons why an article might not be suitable for a newspaper, magazine or blog and not one of these has anything to do with me personally.

If I get a rejection email but it is encouraging and positive, it is even worse. Maybe, just maybe if I had just been just a little better at writing or if I had changed one word in my 900 word article, it would have been acceptable.

I would like to say who the hell cares, but I do. It’s about the constant fight to advance in my craft. If the newspaper had accepted my work, that would have been it. But, seeing as they didn’t, I’m back right where I was, without any hope that I am headed towards my goal of being a respected writer.

Well, this is the part of being an aspiring writer that is much worse than the movies show. This portion really hurts. But rejection is as much an element of being a writer as writing the words onto the page. It’s as much a component of being a writer as the late night editing and the early mornings doing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest marketing. This is as much a part of becoming a writer as is every submission or every query letter.

These are the writer’s baptisms by fire, and the hot coals we have to walk across in order to make this our vocations. I have to constantly sell myself and my writing. If it were simple, everyone would be a writer. Every person that took a creative writing class would be a writer for the Associated Press. Every kid who worked on his High School newspaper would now be writing for The Washington Post. But it’s not that easy. There isn’t any clear path to my goal, no directions.

Rejections just flat out suck. It might slow me down a bit and make me question whether writing is what I really want to do but rejections won’t kill me. It’s great to be a writer the days when the words just seem to flow. It’s awesome to be recognized also, whether it is on the street in a store or in a restaurant. It’s a rush when people ask me questions about my mysterious job, when they say they enjoy my writing.

It isn’t these trouble-free days that separate the weak from the strong, the successful from wannabes. It’s not about the stress-free days. It’s about the hard days where my work is rejected or the days when I get writer’s block. No one told me the life of a writer was going to be painless. But, if I’m still standing at the end of the day, it might just be worth it.

I can’t allow my emotions to get the best of me when I receive those inevitable rejections. So I pick myself up and try again. I question, I edit and I resubmit. It’s just not about me. Those who are rejecting me are making decisions based on my commercial marketability. My personality and personal life play a very, very small part in getting published.

I don’t waste any energy anymore being angry or holding a pity party for myself. I have been to this rodeo before. I still go through rejection, but it’s healthier for my well-being and self-esteem to concentrate my energy on taking the feedback positively and utilizing the information someone gives me to grow and enhance my writing style. To focus on being a better writer.

I work on trying to hone my skills every day, writing and rewriting and rewriting again, reading the periodicals I want to work for to learn their focus and slant on the issues.

In all honesty, being published is an adrenaline high for me, an ego boost. I set my sights high and have my goals. I have to show my passion for writing and be courageous enough to bare my soul. I have to have confidence in my talent but also be willing to learn if I want a successful writer.

So I know the skyrocketing heart rate is normal when opening an email. It’s a very challenging journey that I am on. I can tell you from experience, it is well worth it. But hey, I’m 71 and have nothing to lose, so I continue learning the writing craft. And the best thing is, I will have something concrete to leave my children and grandchildren, yay!

I am a freelance journalist from Lockport.

Reel to Reel: Beautiful Boy

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Beautiful Boy is centered on the two books “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction” written by David Sheff and “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines” by Nic Sheff. The movie stars Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, and Amy Ryan. It deals with the stressful relationship between a father and his son who was addicted to drugs.

New York Times writer David Sheff notices his son, Nicholas has gone missing. Two days later, he shows up in their home again. Seeing noticeable signs of of his son’s drug use, David takes him to a rehab clinic. Progress is achieved, and Nic asks to be transferred to a halfway house where there is less security and unsupervised time is permitted outside of the facility. Both Nic’s doctors and David agree. A few days later though Nic does not return home and David locates him in the streets.

Nic reveals that he has been consuming not only marijuana and alcohol, but other drugs for example cocaine, ecstasy and crystal meth back at the rehab facility. After Nic completes his rehab program and when he sees his improvements, combined with a big dose of wishful thinking, David decides to send him away to college to become a writer.

Nic’s newfound freedom and sobriety are off to a great start and starts a relationship with an attractive classmate. At his girlfriend’s parents’ house however, during family dinner, he discovers a bottle of pills while nosing around in their medicine cabinet. He takes one, and then goes back to dinner. After this, he slowly relapses. This causes his girlfriend to break up with him, and his substance abuse to intensify.

Ultimately he starts using heroin using the money his father sends him. About this time, David begins to become suspicious at his son’s slowly changing behavior. When David finds Nic’s diary he decides to read through it. Much to his shock, Nic had filled half the diary with drawings that described his growing addiction. On one of the last pages, Nic mentions that it is hard to obtain crystal meth in college, but he managed to score some heroin. We flash over to see Nic is looking into the safe techniques for injection online.

For more than two hours, I watched the Sheffs’ agony become worse as David attempts to help his son in any way he can. What was even worse was seeing Nic become substance free for over a year where he worked in a working in a rehab facility before he relapsed.

The story jumps around a bit Ala Pulp Fiction with flashbacks inside flashbacks that sometimes were reminiscent of Pulp Fiction.

Nic Sheff’s story is unfortunately, not uncommon. What is uncommon, though are his circumstances. The viewers can deduce by the Sheffs’ Bay Area home, from the Los Angeles skyscraper that Vicky lives in, from the breaks Nic had in college and in rehab that they have money. A limit to these resources is mentioned just once in the film, that’s when David and Vicky reject a rehab option due to the fact it would cost $40,000 a month.

This doesn’t imply that this story isn’t worthy of being told, but it’s not a coincidence that it’s Nic’s story that is being told. Beautiful Boy is a movie because the Sheffs were able to secure numerous book deals and caught the attention of producers and agents. It’s not just any drug addict movie that is being distributed by Amazon Studios. It stars the extremely popular Timothée Chalamet. There’s is Oscar buzz about it since the trailer was released in spite of the fact that it’s just one of many addiction movies.

Beautiful Boy doesn’t gloss over the horrid portions of addiction. Nic is occasionally depicted as a monster and statistics regarding how discouraging the success rate for rehab is. This is discussed during the course of the movie. The mental and monetary toll on families is clearly shown. The film also shows that addiction crosses all classes and having a good family, wealth and a beautiful house doesn’t insulate you from this problem.

Beautiful Boy doesn’t skirt around anything. It shows Nic diminished to stealing $8 from his younger step-brother and pushing his girlfriend to use. This is important to see, the drug culture at it’s most troublesome.

It was disturbing to witness Nic descend more and more into his drug addiction, but I was happy to read the in postscript that Nic is, alive and drug free in 2018. That Nic is staying sober today through effort and is taking one day at a time.

It’s about as happy of an ending as Beautiful Boy can have. It’s just not inspiring or triumphant. It underscores just how few addicts will end up like Nic. However I am glad he has remained clean and sober long-term and I’m thankful to the Sheffs for allowing others look at their pain on the big screen.

I give this movie 8 out of 10 popcorns

For home-style breakfast, try Toast and Roast Cafe

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In my quest to try and hit as many eateries in Niagara County as I can, Donna (my wife), Ed (my buddy) and I popped into the Toast and Roast Cafe for breakfast one Saturday. They have an ample parking lot and we had no trouble getting a place by the door. When we entered I noticed how fresh and clean the place looked. They also had memes posted on all the walls.

This quaint little place is near the intersection of Military Road and Saunders Settlement Road. The atmosphere is homey and comfortable. The diner is very small, maybe 15 tables and a counter and they serve breakfast all day and lunch.

We grabbed a table by the door and Michele came over to take our drink order. Donna had water with lemon, Ed had his usual coffee ($2) and I opted for a Pepsi ($2.25).

They have a rather limited menu so it wasn’t hard to select our meal. When Michele came back, we told her we needed separate checks and she didn’t flinch. Sometimes it is a problem to get severs to separate the meals for you.

Donna ordered a #4, 2 eggs and toast and homefries ($5.95). When Michele asked how she wanted her eggs cooked, Donna told her poached and put them on the toast. Michele informed her they don’t do poached. Who doesn’t do poached? Michele said they could have them basted. We had never heard of “basted eggs” so Michele explained they cook it under a metal cover. She said it was like poached so Donna selected this way. Ed picked the #8. A bacon and cheese omelet with homefries (8.75). I picked a #4, 2 eggs, over easy, homefries and toast ($5.95).

Our meals arrived rather quickly and Michele even brought ketchup and hot sauce. The one thing I was missing was a “set up”, a placemat, napkin and silverware. She corrected this quickly and we all dug in to breakfast.

Ed pronounced his omelet delicious and that it had a good amount of bacon in it. He also said his coffee was good. My eggs were fine but the homefries were definitely not homemade. They were like uniformly sized, short, fat French fries. I thought they even seemed deep fat fried and were a bit crisp for my liking. My toast was thicker than most but it was so lightly buttered that I could not tell which side the butter was on. There was plenty of grape jelly packets table side though. Grape jelly is my favorite. Donna’s basted eggs weren’t at all like poached eggs and her yolks weren’t soft, more like medium. Donna loves having runny yolks that she can soak up with her toast.

Like most small local diners, the staff and the customers seemed to know each other and engaged in small talk and chit chat. It looked like they had a number of regulars.

The bills arrived just as we were finishing our meal and when we looked at them we noticed neither the prices nor the totals were on them. They just listed what we had for breakfast. Off they went to get this error corrected. I joked with Michele saying that I thought maybe breakfast was free.

Open daily, Monday thru Saturday 6:30am till 2:00pm and Sunday 8:00am till 1:00pm.
Takeout available.
Phone 716-297-4172

I give them 7 out of 10 spoons.

Previously published in the Niagara Gazette.

Reel to Reel: Green Book

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The premise of the movie “Green Book” seemed, at least to me, a bit mind-numbing, but I decided to give it a try and I am glad I did. It is a fictionalized account of the interaction of Tony “Lip” Vallelonga and Donald Walbridge Shirley. In the movie, despite some early friction with their differing personalities, the two became good friends. However, Maurice Shirley, Don’s brother, said, “My brother never considered Tony to be his “friend”.” He was considered by Don to be an employee, his bodyguard, his chauffeur.

The Green Book was published for more than 30 years and is from a period when Blacks who traveled often would put themselves in peril while traveling in the Deep South. Blacks were denied service in many restaurants, hotels and even had to use different drinking fountains. They even faced being jailed or killed in so called “sundown” towns, where they were told they weren’t welcome after sundown.

In answer to policies like these, a postal employee named Victor Hugo Green wrote a guide that was designed to, in his words “give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable.” The Green Book finally ceased publication in the late 60’s.

Racism made the Green Book a necessary travel companion for people of color. The movie “Green Book,” is mix of buddy movie and road trip combined with social history. It mixes the reality of the times with Hollywood sentimentality that feels both relaxed and cautiously blended.

It’s the story of, a bouncer from the Bronx, who was making his living at a New York nightclub in 1962 and was trying to get out of working as hired muscle for the local mob. He loses his job and puts his amazing appetite to use in a hot dog-eating contest to make ends meet (pun intended). Eventually, he answers a call from a Manhattan pianist who was looking for a driver for a tour he had booked. He shows up for his interview, ready to take almost anything that pays a salary.

He finds a Black man named Don Shirley, an accomplished musician and composer who conducts the interview from what appears to be an ancient Egyptian throne. Shirley, the darling of Park Avenue and other wealthy areas, had booked some dates for a tour that is supposed to end around Christmas. His classically infused jazz is very popular with white audiences but he doesn’t want to take any chances traveling for his concerts through the Deep South. He hires Tony to act as both a chauffeur and bodyguard in case he has any problems.

The journey progresses very much as you might expect. The unkempt, tough talking Tony and the quiet, perfectly mannered Dr. Shirley begin to bicker about everything from the music Tony listens on the car radio to the brand of cigarettes he smokes in between his nonstop babbling. But “Green Book,” turns out to be much more than “Driving Miss Daisy” meets “The Odd Couple.” As might you might expect, Dr. Shirley and Tony meet their share of danger in “Green Book.”

Even though at first the uncouth Tony does not understand Dr. Shirley’s brilliance as a pianist or his cultured opinion of etiquette. He recognizes the two-facedness of celebrating Dr. Shirley’s talent one minute and then relegating him to a “Negroes Only” bathroom the next. But Dr. Shirley isn’t comfortable with the black servers, bartenders and domestic staff that he meets either.

It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that both Tony and Dr. Shirley undergo a powerful transformation in the movie. “Green Book,” starts out with Tony throwing away two water glasses that were used by black workmen hired by his wife, Dolores and ends up with Tony and Dr. Shirley liking each other.

“Green Book” is a remarkably enjoyable movie, both visually and to listen to, photographed in rich color and filed with gorgeous music. The result of all this is that “Green Book” hits all the numbers, and is the kind of pleasurable middle-of-the-road movie that is well worth a look-see. However, Maurice Shirley, Don’s brother, said, “My brother never considered Tony to be his “friend”.” He was considered by Don to be an employee, his bodyguard, his chauffeur. Watching this romanticized movie is time well spent and may just open your eyes to a historical time.

There was a time when a movie like “Green Book” might have been about a racist who had a heart of gold who is actually saved by an African American. However no one is in fact saved in this movie however they do both gain respect toward each other. The success of “Green Book” lies in its unpretentiousness, and the way it identifies the change that happened in a couple of human beings.

The movie is rated PG13 due to mature thematic elements, strong language, racial name calling, smoking, some violence and suggestive material. 130 minutes.

I give it 8 out of 10 popcorns, , well worth the price of admission.

Reel to Reel: Replicas:

food snack popcorn movie theater — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What can I say about the movie “Replicas”? I saw this last week and it seems like I have seen this all before. I have. This movie seems to be put together from the cutting room floor debris of several better cloning movies to me.

The plot is so predictable and slow, you can go make popcorn in the middle and not miss anything. The plot of this thriller has so much potential that it is sad it never hits the mark even once. It has more holes in it than a pound of thinly sliced deli Swiss cheese. It might however make a good drinking game. Every time you see a part stolen from another movie, everybody else has to chug their drink.

William Foster (Keanu Reeves), in a lifeless performance that should have been released to VOD is cast as the top neuroscientist at the Bionyne research facility in Puerto Rico where he’s trying to invent a way to download a human brain into a robot body (can you say Robocop). it’s a hard enough job that’s made even more difficult by William’s intolerant boss (John Ortiz), who gets extremely upset when he finds out that William may not achieve “the world’s greatest technological achievement” in time for the company’s next quarterly earnings report and threatens to shut the experiment down.

There’s reason for optimism though when William’s assistant (Thomas Middleditch) wheels in a fresh new body from the morgue. Everything goes well until the android body, a CGI robot that looks like a cross between the robots in “I, Robot” and C3PO rejects the dead man’s consciousness.

All of this is merely a lead in for the real plot though. William has an accident during a storm and his wife (Alice Eve) and their three kids die in the accident. In a hyped up B grade movie like this though, death isn’t the end. And it’s not surprising that William won’t leave the crash site before he decides to map everyone’s neural networks into a “hard drive” for later use. This hard drive looked to me like a love child between a Betamax cassette and an eight track tape.

At this juncture is when the Swiss cheese fest begins. You might think you know where this is going and you probably think that our hero is going to turn his family into a bunch of robots as a way to atone for his poor driving and to save the company. WRONG. That would make way too much sense. In the outlandish world of “Replicas,” screenwriter Chad St. John throws us a curve. William decides to clone the dead members of his family and steals the equipment to do this.

This plan raises several questions in my mind that the movie seems to have no interest in answering. Questions like how you grow human beings in a cube full of Kool aid in your basement. More than that, why is William working on robots if he has the ability to bring the dead back to life in their own skin? I don’t understand why it takes exactly 17 days for them all to be cloned, even though his wife and children are all different ages. And why nobody is looking for the missing equipment during this time.

For most of the movie we are cooped up in William’s house as he toils to bring back his family without raising suspicion. Brace for a whopping 90 minutes of Reeves shuffling around wearing a ratty bathrobe. This is an ideal time to get some snacks, make some phone calls or maybe take a nap, you won’t miss much.

The film is immobilized by all of the competing story lines that are trying to control its plot. It starts to feel as though the movie is simply changing gears from psychological horror to corporate espionage to a lame car chase in a desperate bid to distract from the faulty script.

There is a jaw dropping reveal at the end that still has me wondering what I watched.

“Derivatives” would be a better title for this movie as it derivative of many previous movies. Too bad it didn’t pick better parts to copy.

I give it 4 bags of popcorn out of 10

LOVIN SPOONFUL: Dee’s Sugar Shack

stainless steel spoon — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Donna and I had a day off so we took a ride to Sugar Shack, 460 West Ave, Lockport, for breakfast.

This is another one of the diners located in Lockport. Dee’s is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch only with the exception of Thursday and Friday when they also serve dinner. We hadn’t been there in years and for the life of me I don’t know why.

First thing I noticed was the cleanliness of the place, very, very clean. It looked like they had just done a deep clean minutes before we walked in the door. I was impressed. It looked like we could eat off the floor. The specials were written on a chalkboard that you could see as soon as you came in. Also listed were the “Pies made to order” that they sell and they all sounded delicious. We grabbed a booth and our server was right there with menus and to take our drink order. I felt sorry for her as she seemed to be the only server but fortunately for her there weren’t many patrons in the place.

I had a Pepsi (2.19) and Donna ordered water with lemon. When the server came back with our drinks, Donna ordered a bowl of soup of the day, beef vegetable (3.75) and I asked for 2 eggs over easy, home fries, no salt and white toast (4.50). I also ordered grape jelly, my favorite. The server came back and said the home fries are preseasoned and that I could substitute the hash browns if I wanted to limit my salt. This was refreshing, never has a server offered me a reduced salt option to me. I said sure, even though I don’t usually like hash browns, but I did have to watch my diet.

I was surprised at how fast the meals arrived. Our food was at our table in record time. When she delivered our meals asked for hot sauce which she promptly got for me. Donna’s soup was delicious. It had a beef bouillon taste to the broth and plenty of noodles and vegetables. The beef was a ground beef and that indicated to me the soup was probably homemade. A bit salty for my liking but tasty nevertheless. I’ve been on a reduced salt diet for a few weeks now and I can taste it in foods where I couldn’t previously.

My breakfast eggs were cooked perfectly. The eggs had a smooth flowing yolk with a nice firm white. The hash browns were very flavorful for a salt reduced product. They were hash brown patties rather than a pile of loose grated potatoes. Obviously these weren’t home made. The toast was nicely toasted and came with one serving of the requested grape jelly and one serving of mixed fruit jelly. I figured this was going to happen because when she was taking our order, she skipped writing this down.

Other than that, the service was flawless and I appreciated the fact the server took the time to help me with my special request. We left the place quite satisfied and decided we would put Dee’s back into the breakfast rotation. Neither one of us needed lunch that day as we were still full from our breakfast.

460 West Ave
Lockport , New York
(716) 433-9538

Hours:
Monday – Wednesday 6 AM to 2 PM
Thursday 6 AM to 7 PM
Friday 6 AM to 8 PM
Saturday and Sunday 7 AM to 2 PM

I give them nine of ten spoons but only because I didn’t get all grape jelly, like I had asked and the soup was a bit salty.

Norb is a restaurant reviewer for the Niagara Gazette and the Union Sun and Journal, Night and Day supplement.

Lovin Spoonful: Cheeburger Cheeburger:

Cheeburger Cheeburger is a 1950s-style burger restaurant chain that started on Sanibel Island, Florida in 1986. They specialize in cheeseburgers, French fries, onion rings, and milkshakes. There are 64 locations across the United States. (1)

When Cheeburger Cheeburger opened a restaurant in Glenview, Illinois, they were sued by Billy Goat Tavern, which had served as the inspiration for the original Olympia Cafe Saturday Night Live parody. (1)

The Olympia Cafe was a fictional greasy spoon featured in a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch. All the staff, led by John Belushi as Pete Dionasopolis were Greek. As various guest stars discovered, only three items on the long menu could actually be ordered successfully: the cheeseburger (pronounced “cheeburger” by Belushi), chips (pronounced “cheep”), and Pepsi. Attempts to order Coke were invariably met with the retort, “No Coke! Pepsi!” Likewise, those who ordered French fries got the response, “No fries! Cheeps!” According to Don Novello, who penned the first Olympia Cafe sketch, the diner was based on the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and was still operating when they aired the skit. (1) I can still remember watching this late one Saturday night.

Cheeburger Cheeburger likes to be known as the most creative and fun restaurant on Earth. Cheeburger Cheeburger offers dozens of free toppings for their burgers. They also offer grilled chicken, wraps, fries, salads, sundaes and more. Take a seat at the soda fountain or pull up an old fashioned chair. Look around at the neon lights, nostalgic signs and posters many of which are for sale. Check out the cool T-shirts, gifts and collectibles also. Listen to the fifties and sixties music as you enjoy your meal. (1)

Cheeburger Cheeburger quality starts with 100% Angus beef with no additives, no added hormones and no antibiotics. The fries and rings are made from scratch every day. And the quality continues with everything Cheeburger offers. (1)

Challenge yourself to their “Pounder” burger that consists of 20 ounces of beef. Finish the entire burger and have your picture taken for Cheeburger Cheeburger’s Wall of Fame! Feel free to invent your own cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, grilled cheese, salad, shake or malt! (1)

There are five sizes of burgers. And with all those free toppings, you can create more than eight million burger combinations. And more than a million shake flavor combinations. (1)

Donna and I decided to go there for dinner on a Sunday night due to the fact we had a Groupon (We seldom pay full price). We had been there previously with a Groupon and that is the reason I purchased another one. The place was packed. There were only two tables open that I saw, a two person and a four person one. The hostess whisked us to the two person table and as soon as she left, the waitress appeared and took our drink order.

Donna ordered the Lemonade and I ordered a Pepsi. They both arrived in their signature Mason jar glasses. When the waitress returned, I ordered the semi-serious burger which is a 1/3 pound burger (7 ounces before cooking). I added American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers, 2 onion rings, and relish. Donna had the Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich.

My burger was made perfectly but it was a bit sloppy. I guess I had tried to have too many toppings on it. It was hard to wrap my mouth around it and every bite squeezed the burger and toppings out the other side. It was delicious. Donna said she would get her Portabella sandwich again.

Cheeburger Cheeburger is located at 1593 Niagara Falls Blvd, Amherst, NY 14226
Phone: (716) 836-1002
Hours: Open Monday thru Thursday 11:30 AM to 8:30 PM, Friday Saturday and Sunday 11:30 to 9:30 PM Features: Accepts credit cards. Has highchairs available, outdoor seating, parking lot parking and is wheelchair accessible.

We go there about once a year and can’t wait till we get another coupon. I give them 8 out of 10 spoons.

(1) Attribution, Wikipedia