Jack, Lovejoy, and Magical Beans

How might a few beans transform your life?

Two weekends ago, we realized it had been awhile since we made black bean nachos.  So my wife rinsed off a pound of black beans, put them in a pot of water, and let them soak.  The following day, she rinsed them off again, then poured them into a crockpot with more water, and left them to cook while we went off to see “Jack the Giant Slayer.”

We arrived late (for us), with the previews only a few minutes away.  Strangely, we had the cinema mostly to ourselves.  When the previews started, only a handful of the seats were filled.  By the time the movie began, perhaps a dozen or more people had joined us.  But no more than that. 

Initially, we had not planned on seeing the movie.  But something about the images in the preview called to me, and suggested it would be fun.  Perhaps it was the fact that Ewan McGregor was in it.  We’ve enjoyed his roles in dramas such as “Mrs. Potter,” in which he played Beatrix Potter’s publisher, as a fishing expert in “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” and of course, his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” prequels.  In “Jack the Giant Slayer,” he again plays a knight, only this time he swaps his white clothing for black leather armor.  We don’t usually attend movies just because of an actor, but having enjoyed so many movies with him playing a lead role, his presence tipped the balance for us.

What came as an unexpected surprise was to see Ian McShane playing King Brahmwell, in whose land the action takes place.  Many people know him for the HBO series “Deadwood,” or his role of Blackbeard in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” but I’ll always think of him as the bohemian art dealer who played the title role in the British TV series “Lovejoy.”  Here he plays a king who views himself as largely a figurehead, but who desperately wants to protect his kingdom and retain the relevance of his position.  The inadequacy he feels is continually hinted at, most poignantly perhaps by the armor he wears.  At once, he seems glorious, strong, and yet, more like a court jester than a king.  The role suited McShane well, and in many ways, his was the performance that anchored the movie.

Bill Nighy, who constantly exhibits a wider range of abilities on the big screen, in movies from “Love Actually,” the second and third “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” again subsumed himself in his role as Fallon, the two headed leader of the giants (he played the larger head), utterly unrecognizable with his CGI makeover, and yet always the center of attention.

His depiction of Fallon reminded me of Zaphquod Beeblebrox, the two-headed man from Betelgeuse in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams, and based upon the popular radio series.  This would have been even more interesting had Bill Nighy played Beeblebrox in the movie adaptation of Adam’s novel.  (I would again be reminded of Douglas Adams the following day, when Google celebrated what would have been his sixty-first birthday with an animated Doodle on their main search page).

After the movie, we came home, warmed up some leftovers, and ate lunch (some rather fine chimichangas from a nearby Mexican restaurant) while the tantalizing aroma of baking beans filled the house.   Then, shortly before dinner, my wife took the beans out of the crockpot, drained them, and mashed them in a saucepan.  As she cooked them over the stove, she added back in some of the water from the crockpot until she got the right consistency.  Then she served them up with tortilla chips, cheese, shredded lettuce, salsa, and sour cream, for her famous black bean nachos.

In “Jack the Giant Slayer,” few of the major characters--not even his uncle--would have believed in magical beans, or Jack's ability to utterly transform himself.  Yet, because he dared to believe a young priest's assertion that the beans were magical, he later climbed a beanstalk, rescued Elmont (McEwan), the leader of King’s Brahmwell’s elite guard, defeated the giants, won the princess he loves, and captured an important crown.  My wife’s black bean nachos may not help me secure my destiny, but they tasted delicious, and I enjoyed them almost as much as the movie.  It's a shame more people didn't watch it with us.  But then, the magical properties of beans are sadly underrated.

Pocket Dalek:
You will respect the beans!
You will respect the beans!

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

An Evening at Ritz Cinema: Part 4, in which we watch "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," in James Herriot's Cinema in England.

Dining Outside is for the Bird (and the People), in which I eat outside in London, just like Lovejoy would.  (I know, exciting stuff, right?)