Maui Film Festival- Films, Fun, Food, Friends

Wow, what an amazingly, delicious, spectacular four days!

I first have to say Thank You to MauiTime for the media passes we received that allowed us entry to EVERY event and film. That's the amazing part. With my love for events and Chris' love for libations.... this was a recipe for success and deliciousness.

First the date and description of the event followed by our ratings of each event/film.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16 OPENING NIGHT TWILIGHT RECEPTION AT CAPISCHE?

"Capische? owner and award-winning chef Brian Wetheredge will wow attendees with truly unique, inventive and delicious selections complimented by refreshing Stella Artois Beer." This was one of the two favorite events we attended. Complimentary hord'eours and cocktails and our first celebrity mingling. The place was a little small, but the fresh and eclectic food by far overshadowed anything. Christopher was in Heaven with his Stella. To top off the night we met Josh Radnor, Ted Mosby of "How I Met Your Mother." Great and down to earth guy. He has a new movie coming our happythankyoumoreplease - really great and inspiring movie - a must see when it hits theaters. This was part one of the delicious part.

Next, the film Bran Nue Dae. An Austrialian musical comedy. Not the greatest film we saw- super cheesy at parts but kept me smiling at others. This one is a renter if you like musicals. Before the movie, Zac Efron was being honored with the "Shinning Star" award. PLEASE, for the love of god tell me why this child even got one?He has been in THREE, count it, THREE movies, that's it! And he didn't even have a movie in the festival. On a side PR note Maui Film Festival, when you're honoring a star, he is usually in a movie! No picture-proof here because he is DOUCHBAG with a capital D. That's all.

Last up for the night, STARRY NIGHT MOONDANCE "known as the festivals hottest dance party..." you already had us at hottest dance party. We had such a great time! Indulging in more cocktails and pupus (that's appetizers people) and dancing the night away like when we first met, there were smiles on our faces the whole time! This comes to our second celebrity sighting with Dan Byrd of Cougar Town. Chris and I watch the show every night and he is great on the show. So it was a pleasure to meet him. He is starring in the upcoming NORMAN movie. Needless to say, we had a GREAT first night!

FRIDAY, JUNE 18 Film time and Taste of Chocolate (Debauchaery)

Nowhere Boy: "Biopic about the misspent youth of a Liverpool lad named John Lennon who grew up to form some band." I would have to say this was probably one of the best movies I saw at the festival. Great story about the legendary John Lennon. I thought it was going to be more about The Beatles and the musical part of his life, but this was abut his youth and how bad his childhood was his his mom. Just an amazing story. Definitely a theater movie, not a rental.

To finish off our night there was the TASTE OF CHOCOLATE AT THE FOUR SEASONS MAUI RESORT. "MFF's over-the-top event for chocolate lovers." I am there! I could not hold my excitement the entire day! Chris wasn't a big chocolate fan, but the never-ending Stella Artois kept him satisfied, the champagne wasn't a bad touch for me either. Chocolate decadence every where we looked. Chocolate and banana milkshake, nitrogen chocolate shorbet, chocolate fondue with the best lilikoi marshmallows and various fruits for dipping, Cheesecake graham cracker chocolate ball and soo much more. I was literally in chocolate Heaven. This was part two of the delicious part. Not to mention this was our third celebrity sighting with Malin Ackerman, best know for her part in The Heartbreak kid and her upcoming movie happythankyoumoreplease. Such a beautiful and sweet person. Picture-proof soon :)

SATURDAY, JUNE 19 TASTE OF WAILEA- WAILEA GOLD & EMERALD GOLF COURSE

" The crown jewel of MFF's culinary arts celebrations, Taste of Wailea will be presented by Wailea resort's most celebrated chefs and restaurants, complemented by an engagingly robust and delicate assortment of fine wines, refreshing Stella Artois on draft and exotic Maui-tinis from Ocean Vodka" This was my second favorite event and part three of the delicious part. I loved sampling all the food from the different restaurants. Some restaurants I heard good things from, but Chris and I haven't had the time to get to those places and just weren't sure about the reviews. But because of this event we will definitely be dining at MaLa (tried some juicy, fresh fish burgers); a meatloaf dish from Joes was tasty; my favorite was a seared scallop dish from Four Season's restaurant. Chris did not partake in all the deliciousness of the night because he filled his belly with the nastiness that is Taco Bell (while I was at work)..... his loss! Here we also mingled with our buddies Josh and Dan :) The mingling was the spectacular part.

Movie of the night: happythankyoumoreplease "A New York lothario has his life turned upside down in this quick-witted comedy." Chris was super excited to see this movie. And it was pretty good. A feel-good movie, think "Woody Allen"- esk. The most exciting part for Chris was that after the movie, he was able to tell Josh how great the movie was because he ran into him on the way to the restroom. That's pretty neat. Josh was overwhelmed.

Then we stayed for the following movie: Cherry "A virginal teen simultaneously embarks on his college and sexual education." So you pretty much know what you're getting with a premise like that, but it was surprisingly laughable. I would recommend it to those with a sense of humor and still a child a heart.

SUNDAY JUNE 20

A little of a disappointment for me. I had the day off because I was expecting a lot. There is usually a closing night reception and other events. But not here in Maui. They had a couple of films, only one looking pretty good, and NO closing night reception. Move: Cyrus "Your classic tale of boy(John C. Reilly) meets girl(Marisa Tomei) and girl's strange adult son (Jonah Hill)." Yes, I know super weird casting, but it worked. It worked really well, minus the Jonah Hill lack of dramatic acting ability. John C. Reilly was a breakout surprise with his dramatic acting. His connection with Marsia Tomei is very believable. On the other hand, Jonah Hill was nothing to brag about. He needs to just stick to slap-stick comedy.

Since there wasn't any closing night reception, Christopher and I made our own. We took the day to do a little shopping, had happy hour and nice conversation at Kahului Ale House, a wonderful fajita dinner at Koho's (a very local place btw) and then the movie.

All in all, we had one of the most fun-filled amazing weekends/couple of days here in Maui. It was good to just not worry about work, indulge in the finer things Maui has to offer. Which isn't a lot of the time. It reminded us of being back in Houston.

With our hectic day-to-day schedules, take time out to appreciate the things your town has to offer with the company you keep.

I know I do every day.