Archive for "Reviews"
Sabor Latin Bar and Grille
Posted on January 20, 2008 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
A friend of ours we play OGame with told us about Sabor Latin Bar and Grille a few weeks ago. He said it was outstanding. I think he was a little inebriated when he was giving his recommendation so I didn’t pay too much attention.
I did have the opportunity to try Sabor at lunch with a couple of coworkers on Thursday. He was absolutely right! Food at Sabor is outstanding!
I saw the “Tostones” banana chips on the appetizer list and was immediately drawn to it. I love banana chips. Whenever we went to Healing Waters, they had these muchie bags and I would always pick out the banana chips. Sometimes we would buy banana chips at the grocery store for muchies at home while watching TV. So I ordered some for us to try.
The “Tostones” were nothing like I expected. These are actually plantain chips, sliced very thinly lengthwise and salted. So they were not sweet like regular round banana chips. I had never savored anything like these before. I’m not sure how they are prepared. They look like they have been dehydrated and then fried. They are very thin and crispy. They’re served in a vase-like presentation vessel with sauce holders on either side for chimmichurri (a delicious concoction of olive oil and herbs) and avocado crema for dipping. Avocado crema makes me think of guacamole, but this is ten times better. Personally, I don’t like guacamole but I really enjoyed the avocado crema. I preferred it for my chips over the chimmichurri. (more…)
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Must-See Movies Part 2
Posted on January 16, 2008 by Brian under Movies, Reviews.
Here are the rest of the films that I want to see in 2008. I had several Trailers lined up for these but Blogger is having an issue with its Video uploader and I was not willing to postpone my post another night. I can’t express how excited I am for this year and the movies that are going to be released. I will keep updating this as more and more movies are revealed.
5/16 – The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian
The next installment of the Magical World of Narnia is here. The 4 Pevensie children have returned to Narnia, this time 1300 years have passed and an evil King rules the land. This looks like it is going to be another hit. The previews look like there is more action this time and the story is more complex. Look for it to hit theaters on May 16th.
5/22 – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Harrison Ford is at it again, this time with Shia LaBeouf as his side kick. On May 22nd we will be dazzled with another Indiana Jones hit, this time to search for a city built around a cursed Crystal Skull. As with all the other Indiana Jones films, there will be danger, traps and I am not sure if they followed tradition, but it sure wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones film without Nazi’s. This looks to be the only blockbuster that is anticipated for Memorial weekend so mark your calendars and dust of your bull whip because the the adventure begins again.
6/13 – The Happening
The Happening is a paranoid thriller in which a family must survive a global environmental crisis. The film will portray the earth’s plants unleashing airborne neurotoxins that cause people to commit violent suicide. Mark Walberg and Zooey Deschanel star as an estranged couple who must escape this apocalyptic epidemic. This may be one of his better movies. I am looking forward to this because Mark Walberg is in it and he has become a great actor. Look for this one opening on June 13th in theaters.
6/13 – The Incredible Hulk
In what some are calling a reboot and others are calling a sequel the new Incredible Hulk hits theaters on June 13th. This time Bruce Banner is on the run from the United States Army and General “Thunderbolt” Ross, trying to avoid capture long enough to cure the condition that turns him into the Hulk. Meanwhile, a soldier named Emil Blonsky repeats the accident that gave Banner his powers, but as he is unable to change back to human form, he blames Banner and seeks his revenge. I am looking forward to this because Edward Norton is playing Bruce Banner and from everything I have been reading, the effects, story and dark edgy feel of the film are everything that the first one should have been.
6/27 – Wanted
A young man finds out his long lost father is an assassin. And when his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father’s old organization and trained by a man named Sloan to follow in his dad’s footsteps. I am looking forward to this as I was a big fan of the comic. The action sequences are tight and the story is pretty original. Look for this to be a favorite among the fan boys and a hit with the action junkies.
7/2 – Hancock
A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who’s trying to repair his image. This look like a riot, Will Smith is funny and the thought of a Superhero bum is just great. I look forward to lots of laughs with the regular wit that is Will Smith.
7/11 – Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hellboy is at it again with his team mates right behind him. This time the creatures of the Mythical world that once ruled over earth, before the times of man, want to retake there place on earth. Lead by a warrior that has Hellboy out skilled and out numbered, Hellboy must use all the resources at his disposal to insure that his home on Earth remains intact and free of evil. I loved the first Hellboy and I am looking forward to the sequel. With the creative team of Pan’s Labyrinth heading up the show its bound to be a visually stunning and absolutely incredible film.
7/18 – The Dark Knight
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of
8/1 – The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick and Alex O’Connell unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin — a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago. I am a fan of the Mummy series and I think this is going to be another great addition to this already popular franchise.
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Must-See Movies Part 1
Posted on January 14, 2008 by Brian under Movies, Reviews.
2008 is going to be a great year for movies. I look forward to all of the hits that I have been reading about for the last couple of years finally coming to the screen. I will list all the movies that I am looking forward to with a little insight on how I think they will be.
1/18 – Cloverfield
As I stated in my last post, unless you have been living under a rock, you all know that there is little info circulating about the film “Cloverfield“, releasing January 18, other than a few choice teasers and some interesting stills that have been leaked to the web. I just hope it is all worth it! Some are concerned that the film is not going to live up to the hype. However, if you are a J.J. Abrams fan, you know that he never disappoints.
5/2 – Iron Man
The much anticipated and much awaited Iron Man starts on May 2nd and let me tell you I can not wait. I have been following the all the little tidbits of info on this since I first read about it in Wizard Magazine 2 years ago. At first I was very skeptical about Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark, but then I saw the sneaked trailer that was floating around the net and it all fit. I think Robert Downey makes a great Tony Stark and I think this movie is going to be the big hit of the summer. Look for it in theaters in May.
5/9 – Speed Racer
This is something that I thought I would never see, yet I am completely drawn to it. As a kid I remember watching all the Speed Racer episodes on TV. Then I got older and continued to watch them on the Cartoon channel late at night. Now I can find them occasionally on the Boomerang channel, and even in my 30’s I am still fascinated by this show. I guess this is the next logical step for this animated icon. I am certainly going to catch this live action version of the popular cartoon when it debuts in theaters in May.
This is the first part of my review of the upcoming 2008 blockbusters. Stay tuned and I will fill you in on other great hits that you will want to catch.
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Cloverfield
Posted on January 11, 2008 by Brian under Movies, Reviews.
The anticipation of this film is starting to drive people mad! It looks like the PR people at Paramount Pictures hit a home run with the media hype on this film. Unless you have been living under a rock, you all know that there is little info circulating about the film “Cloverfield“, releasing January 18, 2008. Other than a few choice teasers and some interesting stills that have been leaked and placed on various web sites. I like the concept of a film that is done from the peoples point of view instead of watching it from a distance. I think this will add to the suspense of a film like this. For those of you that have been living under a rock and don’t know what I am talking about, let me fill you in. “Cloverfield” is rumored to be filmed entirely from the point of view of a group of friends and their Handycam. What was supposed to be a going away party for a good friend turned out to be a fight for there lives to not only get out of the city, but to get a glimpse of the monster that was devastating New York. Now the concept of a Handycam generated movie is not new, “The Blair Witch Project” did the same thing back in July of 1999. However, I think this is going to take it one step further. This will be done with more suspense and more action and from what I am reading, you don’t get to see the monster till like the last moments of the movie, everything else is glimpses and shadows that entice you and keep you guessing. I know that the Handycam changes hands several times in the film and from what I am hearing about it, they begin with a large group and end up with a few left. Nothing is concrete and as I said earlier, this is all very tight lipped at the moment. We only have a week left before we can finally put the rumors to rest and get the facts on this highly anticipated film and then I can do a proper review. Until then, enjoy the teaser.
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The Invasion
Posted on January 10, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.
For those of you that missed “The Invasion” in theaters because you thought it was yet another remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (myself included), never fear. “The Invasion” releases on DVD on January 29, 2008. I recently had a screener pop across my desk and decided that I needed to give it a fair chance. After watching it I was mildly surprised at the film overall. There were some aspects of the film that did remind you of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. However, unlike those films there were no pod people or Gigantic plants roaming the streets. Instead this take was much more plausible. In “The Invasion”, starring Nicole Kidman and Danial Craig, the aliens are actually a complex spore that invades the human body and essentially rewrites the basic aggression sequence and other essential strands of our DNA and takes over like a parasite or a virus. There are some people that are immune to the invaders and through out the film these people are hunted down and we assume, destroyed. The invaders can only take over the body at its weakest state, when you are asleep and inactive. This is when the spore takes control and start to do its little deed of converting you into one of them. mind you, this transformation is mealy mental, but there are a few physical side effects. Like a large membrane that forms over you while you sleep, like a cocoon. It also seems that the converted people are working like one large community or Hive, kind of like a collective. I found a few flaws to this, in one scene a man on the subway tells Nicole Kidman that you can fool them, you just show no emotion. In several other scenes they state that they all know what each other is doing and they are all connected. If this was the case then they should have known who was converted and who wasn’t regardless of how you acted. This to me was a major flaw in the story line. I liked that the invaders were thwarted by science instead of gunning down a small town or nuking a city into extension like we see in so many of these films. in this you could step away from the film and say to yourself “I can see this happening”. They took the most logical form of an alien invasion and built the story around that. All-in-all I think the film was ok, regardless of it flaws. It kept me entertained and intrigued. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig make a great on screen team and the underlying message that is in the story will leave you thinking, are we truly alone and would we be better off being ourselves, or one of them.
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