90 Movies in 90 Days: Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)

I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
Release Date: October 1980
Director: Les Blank
Production Company: Flower Films
Summary/Review:

There was a time when garlic was not known in mainstream white American cuisine.  According to this documentary the convergence of hippie counterculture philosophies on natural foods and medicines and the gourmet cooking in Northern California gave garlic new prominence.  The documentary is shot mainly at the Gilroy Garlic Festival and at restaurants in the Bay Area where Italian, Spanish, African American, and Chinese chefs, among others, ply their trade with large helpings of garlic.

Large portions of this film show cooks at work (many of them working with animals, should you be squeamish about such things) accompanied by traditional music ranging from flamenco to Cajun.  Often the musicians are performing right there in the kitchen.  This is a documentary that plays on the senses, although sadly smell and taste are not possible through film.  This is sad because this movie looks good enough to eat.

Rating: ****

50 Years, 50 Albums (2022): Midnights by Taylor Swift

I will turn 50 in November of this year, so my project for 2023 will be to listen to and review one album from each year of my life, 1973 to 2022.  The only qualification is that it has to be an album I’ve not reviewed previously.

Note: Each week I’m choosing a year randomly and then deciding what album to listen to from that year.  You can help by voting in the poll below or submitting a write-in vote as a comment!  Next week’s year is 2016:

2022

Top Grossing Albums of 2022:

1. Taylor Swift – Midnights
2. Harry Styles – Harry’s House
3. BTS – Proof
4. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
5. Beyoncé – Renaissance

Grammy Award for Album of the Year of 2022:

• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• ABBA – Voyage
• Adele – 30
• Bad Bunny – Un verano sin ti 
• Beyoncé – Renaissance
• Mary J. Blige – Good Morning Gorgeous
• Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days 
• Coldplay – Music of the Spheres 
• Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers 
• Lizzo – Special

Other Albums I’ve Reviewed from 2022:

I posted 44 Album of the Week reviews last years, so I’m not going to list them all here but you can check out my ten favorites.

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Album: Midnights
Artist: Taylor Swift
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Label: Republic
Favorite Tracks:

• Maroon
• Anti-Hero
• Snow on the Beach (featuring Lana Del Ray)
• Question…?
• Labyrinth
• Mastermind

Thoughts: Since I’ve been listing Grammy Award winners and nominees in each of these post, I thought it would be fun to review an album from 2022 in the same week the Grammy’s for 2022 are announced. Taylor Swift is the biggest thing in the world right now, but wasn’t up for a Grammy since Midnights was released too late in the year.  I’m sure she’ll be taking home awards at next year’s ceremony because all the hype is earned.  For this album, Swift adopts a bass-heavy electronic sound reflecting the up-all-night feel of the album.  Lyrically, Swift is going to some dark places, often self-critical and depressive.  Taylor might need a hug more than she needs all those awards.

Rating: ****