Finance Rant - stop here if you only want food reviews

Okay, this is going to cover some thoughts I've had on a few subjects. You may be bored. I'm not going to lie. I'm in finance and I think you should understand a few of the factors that are contributing to current events.

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http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12573630&source=features_box2

“Problems in the financial system”, explains Douglas Elmendorf, an economist at the Brookings Institution, “evolve in a matter of hours, days and weeks.” - duh. The interblags have made doing business impossibly smooth, communications incredibly efficient, and therefore, any and all historical situations incomparable to the present. There is. No. Precedent. For. What. Is. Happening. Today. We didn't have the information infrastructure to move economic events in this way years and years ago. If the world is going to peg itself against a currency (i.e. USD) then they should be aware that anything that happens in that locale's economy will dick your local economy too. Sucks that you're reliant on good ol' Uncle Sam, doesn't it? Too f'in' bad. Hope that Obama can hire competent people other than the Bald and the Bearded (Paulson and Bernanke) to head Treasury.

Paulson and Bernanke (haha the "Dream Team" .. seriously Paulson being from Goldman -- the ever-untarnished company name spoken in reverent tones in bars full of junior traders/bankers in NYC -- and Bernanke -- the textbook intelligencia representative who has written countless college editions for economics majors across the U.S.) has obviously created enough framework for there to be additional provisions to the Emergency Economy Stabilization Act of 2008. Gotta say, it's been drafted to allow for more legislation to be passed to help our economy and boost consumer confidence, revive the credit markets, et al. -- and the power that Treasury holds now amounts to having the global economy by... the... balls. So... this is not a happy job right now to be selected for. Very few would want it. And even if the Bald Ones were asked again... would they want it for the glory? The unmitigated and unadulterated fame of being responsible for fixing this international crisis? Or face the music if they plans fail?

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OH. YES. The i-banks collapsing. The U.S. gov't is totally depending on Wall St. at this point to fix their own mess. Or they were, until everyone stopped trusting each other. This is my favorite passage over the past few months:

...from 1834, it has a message written just for today's crisis: it's titled "Credit: Man's Confidence in Man". Under a picture of two men shaking hands, you can read this quotation from Daniel Webster, from a speech he gave in the U.S. Senate, on March 18, 1834:
"Commercial credit is the creation of modern times and belongs in its highest perfection only to the most enlightened and best governed nations. Credit is the vital air of the system of modern commerce. It has done more -- a thousand times more -- to enrich nations than all the mines of the world."
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-r-keith-sawyer/credit-mans-confidence-in_b_132582.html)

When there is no more trust between the banks or the bankers, or from one man to the next -- that is where we are right now. And you know what? The gubment was betting on someone taking over. There's no freakin' way that they would've just stood there wringing their hands. Barclay's was at least smart enough to buyout part of Lehman, but just letting the rest of it fail, and domino effect the rest of the market, ruining confidence internationally... this was a chance to say "Wake up" to the world, and make them understand that this wasn't just Wall Street.

I suspect that Paulson and crew wanted to wear down the competition for his beloved Goldman Sachs too. Less banks = more clients.

But confidence in man? Confidence in the market? Who's going to trust each other in an environment where the littlest man not making his mortgage payments has impacted the i-banking financier who now has even more reason to drink, and less money to do it with? Yes my friends, we are in troubled times.

BTW you did know that Washington Mutual is under the water too, right? And with the mergers going on overseas (Brazil's banks are merging as well), we are seeing some interesting situations arise from this ... shift in market dynamic.

I might take it upon myself to draw some pictures of what's been going on recently in the markets for everyone's amusement.

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I'm glad that Obama won this election, we don't have as many issues to deal with (intelligence, competence, overall stupidity of Palin; or the geriatric senility that will soon follow McCain within the next few months/years). Glad enough to drink myself silly at a bar on Tuesday, sitting at the edge of my seat. YES WE CAN! WOOOOOO~

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Mark to Market Accounting: has caused leverage ratios to dip into all kinds of disproportionate numbers (and in turn, blasting investor confidence in what is now the backbone of our economy -- did you know that 6 banks make up about $14 trillion dollars worth of assets in the U.S. ?). Valuation at Purchase Price has saved Barclay's Capital and Deutsche Bank from reporting even larger losses (see: http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12564031). What is the future of accounting, if they have changed international accounting practices in order to hastily allow banks to prevent writedowns in this manner? This is going to be a huge issue, and whoever takes this on will change how business is done... or maybe nothing needs to be changed, and the gubment just has to fix our economy...

Oh ho ho ho the questions continue...

Should Wall Street Get a Bonus for X-Mas?

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aVann0.cv9Tw

``There should be a moratorium on bonuses,'' Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters last week. ``If nobody gave them, there wouldn't be a competitive aspect.''

Really? And what would getting rid of the competitive aspect of finance render do to the economy? Finance as we know it is built on the "Greed of Man," the desire to better oneself and to in turn, better society. I'm not saying that paying ridiculous bonus amounts (5x of one's base salary) is fair (heck, I only got 5% of my salary last year), but it bears noting that without these thirsty, hungry appetites out there looking for more dough, that model trophy wife and enough money to buy a 3rd world country, the world's best minds would all do more self-effacing things.

This is perhaps where I would like to explain the different kinds of greed there are out there... a thirst for knowledge and understanding that will make one pursue a career in academia... vs. the thirst for money, or for power, or for prestige... are all different forms of greed. It doesn't matter how much you think you are above that level of "capitalistic consumerism."

Don't underestimate the power of greed, or what form it will come in. The only dangerous thing about it, is when you lose sight of your morals, and your greed gets away from you (please see recent financial crisis as example).

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Onwards to more food: My last foray was to Aurora in SoHo. May I please just note how delicious it was? We missed on the wine choice, but our food selections were absolutely divine.

The only thing still left on the menu as of today from that trip (that we ordered, there are a few more) ....
i Carciofi - Baked Roman-style artichokes with mint and shaved pecorino - I thought the pecorino would have made this dish a lot stronger than it was, given how naturally salty tasting artichokes tend to be, but it served more as a modifier because of the mint that was baked into it.

The other appetizer was a buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto dish, which was divine, simply because I love cheese, and there is nothing like fresh hand-made mozzarella, it was stringy and gooey, and I'll never look at Polly-O string cheese ever again.

As for the main courses...

A squid ink lasagna made with crab and seafood.... strange, to see layers of black ink pasta interspersed with deliciously fresh seafood. A friend of ours didn't like crab generally and still liked the dish, it was that fresh and well prepared.

Fresh diver sea scallops, tender and melting at the mouth, with a tomato-mango salsa base that complemented it with just the right amount of sweet-tangyness. The scallops were large, and cooked medium rare (for those in the know, this is the optimum level of cooked you want in scallops, lamb, and most cuts of steak, unless its a really thick cut, in which case medium is best). If you like your meat burned to a crisp, I generally won't like eating with you. Also vegetarians, because I can pick off their plates, and they can't share mine. Actually. Scratch that, I like eating with vegetarians.

Another dish of risotto and mushrooms.... with this ricotta cheese sauce and gooey texture, simply amazing, since the ricotta was cool and added flavor to an otherwise fairly bland tasting risotto. It was one of the specials, but I didn't think it was that great.

I preferred my dish of rabbit ragu tagliotelli ... simply phenomenal, it was very strong and flavorful, with bits of rabbit (I had to pick out some bones, but I don't care, means its the real thing IMO), and a bit on the salty side. I like salty things, so this might not be a good dish for those who are watching their sodium intake...

... they changed the rest of the menu!!! My taste buds yearn to return and try the new dishes!!

I'm so broke...

Response to the Bailout

For lack of time, since I have been busy

1. getting drunk
2. watching my industry fail
3. horrified at political jumbo about the economy, leading to more of (1.)

I will now explain where the $700bn number came from.

In September 2008, 10 investment banks got together and decided to create their own "credit line" in case any one of them would fail (BofA, Barclay's, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche, Goldman, JPM, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, and UBS). This silly endeavor resulted in a $70bn credit line pooled together, with each bank putting up a cool $7bn: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/n14815043-lehman-banks-facility/

Good ol' Uncle Sam thought "well.. if all ten of these things go down the chute..."



$70bn x 10 i-banks = $700bn

There it is. That's your money at work. Don't make any assumptions about how the bill is supposed to help anybody other than Wall Street cover the mess we're in. There's better ways, like creating stricter lending guidelines, educating people about their personal finances.. but those are just too long term, and means teaching too many people the truth.

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On a more food-related note, anybody with money left in their wallets during this time in our economy should check out Novecento down by Tribeca/Soho. Pricey as all heck, but food was pretty good.

Novecento cooks their steak on the rare side, so if you like medium rare at most restaurants, I would recommend ordering it medium to get that pink center. I ordered the 'Ojo de Bife con Fritas,' a 13 oz grilled ribeye steak with fries. It wasn't pink, it was more red, and kind of cool in the middle. But still delicious:





My friend ordered the 'Linguine con Fruto de Mar,' which is linguini with shrimp, calamari, mussels, and clams -- delicious, but not as flavorful as my steak was. Novecento is after all still an Argentine bistro.. so meat is the main theme here, folks.



Good rating on the food, but it is CRAMPED. The place tries to recreate a "coziness" and only succeeds in being cramped as hell. I'm not the biggest person I know by any means, but any of my six-foot carnivore counterparts would not feel comfortable rubbing elbows with the next chap chowing down next to him... unless it wasn't a chap but a lady.



There's a decent wine list, but the best really is showing up and eating with two fresh-out of college marketing/advertising girls with 10 layers of makeup and too much energy for an old lady like myself at the end of a workday. It was trying to listen to 2 girls who had just split an 8-ball. No offense or anything, but I am glad I'm not in their category of "high energy."

*glaring omission update*

i clearly forgot the ceviche. that was delicious too. get that as appetizer. its small though.. that's why i forgot it. :P

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Would greatly appreciate not being publicly berated for being busy building a career path in this kind of market, thanks Solo.

Sorry folks

Hello to my 5 (maybe less) readers. Sorry about the lack of posts after the summer ended. I've recently moved and I still do not have any internet at home as a result of Verizon's complete incompetence. Hopefully, it will be up by Friday, and I can review Katz's Deli in the city and other places I can think of.

Additionally, my absence should not have kept mooriffic or Kent from contributing... tsktsk, im very disappointed.

The Dark Knight

i wasnt fortunate enough to see the new batman movie as soon as it came out, so my expectations grew along with my anticipation as i listened to the general public rant and rave about the new batman movie. two nites before i went to watch, i was at a bar near my place here in SF, and i overheard a guy and gal talk about the movie. the woman hadnt seen the movie but was complaining about how she's was so disappointed in how the production company was using heath ledger's death to promote its own movie, with his Joker face plastered everywhere. she felt that the movie was only doing well because of that publicity. what about the fact that MAYBE heath ledger's Joker was the best performance of his career, and probably the best Joker ever? (this was before i saw the movie) the previews i had seen all gave the notion that this was going to be a great movie in every way. the next night, the bartender at the bar said she saw it and she loved it. i was skeptical, but she assured me about her love of comic books and Frank Miller's Batman. i was sold.

the plot of The Dark Knight starts with batman, lt. gordon, and new D.A. harvey dent (aaron eckhart) all working to put the mafias out of business in gotham city. the joker shows up, new on the scene, and proceeds to wreak havoc upon gotham without any particular reason but to fuck shit up. he's dark, creepy, and completely sadistic, the way batman readers love him. this movie was so good, i really dont want to ruin it for any readers that havent watched it yet (what are you waiting for??? GO SEE THIS MOVIE, DUMMY). all i have to say is that its pretty good throughout because it mainly progresses through such a wonderful joker. but beware, the movie is 2.5 hours long. ull think its over, but it wont be. at least everytime that happens... something or someone is about to have a bad day.

the acting in this movie is superb and makes the decent plot so much better. all the hubbub about heath ledger's joker? its true and so much more. non-comic readers are especially creeped out by this joker because theyre so used to the dancing, smiling, mirthful nicholson joker. ledger does the joker some real justice. the way he looks, the way he speaks, the way he licks his lips nervously... all sum up to one of the best performances i have ever seen by any actor in any movie. he definitely deserves the oscar for best actor in a movie, but he will most likely not win it because superhero movies probably aren't on oscar voters' minds. but maybe its time that people take summer blockbusters more seriously, not just for the excitement but for actual compelling stories and performances. there's really no need to go further into the other actors in the movie, but they are all very good. ledger simply just steals the movie, and its really a shame that he's no longer with us. one thing, christian bale needs to stop making that stupid fake gruff batman voice. oh, and i think maggie gyllenhaal is so very hot in a not very hot way... she's definitely a better choice than katie holmes was, looks and acting ability. aaron eckhart gets a thumbs up.

visually, the movie is great. its not neon, thank god. its not bright, just the way it should be. gotham city is a dark city in need of a dark knight, and nolan's gotham amazingly depicts that with its chicago-style buildings that block out the sun in the daytime and its cold and grimy streets during the night. i read somewhere that the scenes where batman overlooks the city and glides through it were filmed using IMAX cameras, they looked like it.

aurally... lets not talk about music, its really not that important in the scheme of things. one note tho, some people really found certain sound(s) annoying, such as this ear aching one whenever the joker would do something suspenseful. it was annoying, but if one steps back and thinks about it, its really sort of the joker's theme. there's no melody or tune when dealing with this complete psycho, its just... a painful noise anticipating more pain.

the dark knight is especially good for fans of frank miller's batman stories, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: First Year. miller brought batman out of the silver age of comics, he was no longer the adam west sort of batman, but a whole different animal... tougher, grittier, cruel-er. miller not only created the best batman stories to date, but influenced the majority of batman stories to come. gotham city's villains became some of the most demented figures in comics and their depraved lunacy festered and grew within arkham, occasionally escaping and destroying a life in batman's world. nolan's movie captures this realism and is what makes it so incredible to see on the big screen. i really would have never thought that people who made superhero movies would stay true to their source material, and i am glad we are at a point where a movie does not need to pander to the general public in order to attract moviegoers. WARNING: its a superhero movie, but don't bring your kids. the movie is pg-13, so please don't bring a child under that age. unless you think your child should be allowed to watch scenes of torture, the psychological carnage caused by the joker could be far worse than any blood and gore.

in conclusion... this is the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR, thus far. its not only the best superhero movie ever made, but also a movie filled with several solid performances. go for all that, but if its not enough, go because you will never see an actor more perfect in his role as heath ledger was.


great: heath ledger
good: everyone else in the movie
bad: bale's batman voice

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

it's always grueling for a comic book reader/fan like myself to try and watch a superhero movie. the characters and their stories are never completely transferred over when a big movie production movie decides to take that intellectual property and create something they think would appeal to a mass audience in order to recoup costs and to profit immensely. one tragedy, albeit a great movie, is Wanted. i downloaded the original mark millar comic series the other nite and spent some time getting through the 8 issues or so. whereas 300 was 99% like Frank Miller's original comic, Wanted is 99% not like Mark Millar's creation. (according to algie, he was paid handsomely to let them). there are a few things in Wanted that are similar but the comic is a whole different animal about the same guy who becomes a supervillain and there's no curving of bullets, he's just a natural born killer.

back to Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the plot revolves around Hellboy (for an explanation on who he is and where he comes from click here) who likes beer and pancakes, oh, and he works for the B.P.R.D., a secret government agency that deals with all things paranormal. he's big, red, gruff, and has a huge right fist for punching paranormal baddies. in this second movie, we delve deeper into the world beneath the one that humans only know and find a whole kingdom of other beings. Prince Nuada had exiled himself after the long-forgotten truce between the humans and elves... he's back and ready to lead the non-humans in a war to reclaim the world. To do that, he seeks the power to control the Golden Army which, built by goblin smiths and indestructible, were golems that laid waste to human race until the truce made by the compassionate elven king, Nuada's father. big secret, he eventually activates the golden army. part of the movie also centers on hellboy's dreams of exposing the truth to mass society and trying to co-exist and maybe be a hero to all the people that don't know theyre being protected everyday by him. the movie does a decent job depicting the prejudices big red encounters when his dreams are finally realized.

the plot of the movie kind of sucks. ill be the first to say it because the stories written by Mike Mignola in the comics were already so good. after a few scenes in the beginning, it was clear what was going to happen at the end of the movie. penning a whole new script for the sake of attracting a new movie-going audience is not necessary. im a big traditionalist when it comes to comic book movie adaptations (ex. hate any and all batmans between 2 and begins). dont get me started with the love between red and liz sherman(Selma Blair), thats just for the movie-goers, there is no such thing in the comics. hellboy fails me with its plot, but what it does best is capturing who the characters really are. Ron Perlman plays big red magnificently, he's hard and gruff but there is a part of him underneath that cares for others and is important because he's prophecized to be the hellbringer, an internal struggle the character constantly has to deal with.
abraham sapien is my favorite character in the movie. he's intelligent and well-meaning and is much more fleshed out as a main character in this sequel. the best scene in the entire movie involves a drunken karaoke with abe and red. on the other hand, selma blair is not good. her acting consisted of three things, angry, pouty, and some kind of sweet lovingness. usually, thats not bad, but she never makes the character stand out on its own, liz sherman is always reacting to some outside stimuli.

the visuals are where its at with hellboy2. director guillermo del toro is of Pan's Labyrinth fame, which won oscars for best art direction, cinematography, and makeup. he is a master of creating dark fantasy worlds with hosts of indescribable that inhabit them. i cannot wait to see his work on the upcoming tolkien Hobbit movies, pan's labyrinth was a visual masterpiece. in this, del toro's fantasy world and people are just as good as they ever were. the troll market was like entering mos eisley for the first time and stepping into someone's vivid and untapped imagination.

i had a real problem with the soundtrack and score for this movie. outside of the singing scene with red and abe (amazing), everything else really annoyed me. the rock songs that segued/transitioned between changes of scenery were too loud and always started a little late and too abruptly. too much attention was paid to how the movie looked and not how it sounded.

overall, this is a decent summer movie. its not a comic book movie masterpiece, but its not really that bad if you're not expecting the greatest experience ever (save that for the new batman!). if you're torn between Hancock and Hellboy this summer, i'd say give hellboy a shot, hancock has will smith but hellboy is at least based on a proven comic book character and looks great.

good: visuals, hellboy, abraham sapien
bad: selma blair, predictable cookie-cutter plot

How to Fix the Economy

Force each investment bank / higher education institution / branch of government to transfer 5 of its top performers to form a new branch of government to fix the problem, with the stipulation that they will return to their old jobs with additional bonus from the government if they get it done within 2 years.

Each govt representative pairs with one higher ed rep to get a crash course on how the economy actually works, and they brainstorm with 5 i-bank quantitative analysts crunching numbers 120 hours a week to support/refute/provide feedback on any proposals.

Think Manhattan Project on steroids and cocaine.

I can guarantee that we will get results.

kung-fu panda

Image via Wikipedia the name Kung Fu Panda really makes a person feel like its another dumb movie made just for kids, but hey... its dreamworks and they made shrek, one of my favorite animated movies of all time. i had heard good things about the movie from everyone that's seen it, so july 4th was as good a day as any other to go check it out.

the plot involves a fat panda bear named Po who loves kungfu, but is stuck working in his family's noodle shop. after being chosen to fulfill a prophecy, fat Po's dreams of learning kungfu come true as he joins china's greatest masters in training. there's a baddie that believes he should be the one to fulfill the prophecy and he's coming back to take what he believes is his, and Po eventually, as the chosen one, fight him. moral of the story? (SPOILER!!!) true power is inside oneself.

the visuals in the movie are really good. like in shrek, dreamworks does its usual great job of rendering lifelike animal characters and backgrounds. additionally, the opening scene in the movie itself is one of the most gorgeous in any animated movie yet. its not super hi-tech or anything but is more of an artistic rendition of Po's dreams of being a kungfu master in the style of Okami.

the music of the movie was... chinesey. its sorta the usual fare with any movies for white people about chinese culture type of music. it wasnt bad or anything. on the other hand, the voice acting was superb. jack black is pretty perfect for the role of Po because he's sorta the same kind of character in real life, a fat, lovable, galoot. in addition to Po, there are a buttload of big name actors. in addition to black, there's dustin hoffman (as master shifu... which kinda means master master cuz shifu means master...), angelina jolie (as tigress), jackie chan (as monkey, so very fitting...), seth rogen (as mantis), lucy liu (as viper), david cross (as crane), michael clarke duncan, kyle gass (the other half of TENACIOUS D), wayne knight (newman!), and the greatest asian american-cinema actor of all, James Hong (as Po's father). its an all-star voice acting class.

overall, this movie is fantastic. the story is good, the voice acting superb, and its really really funny for all ages. its even better because i was expecting it to be bad when i first heard about it. go catch this movie if you can, and if you gotta wait... try to get it on blu-ray, its a beautiful movie.


good: very funny, great voice-acting, great animation
meh: music was not inspiring

wall-e

disney pixar is the probably in the top 5 best things to ever happen in the history of civilization. it all started with toy story (1995), then came toy story 2 (1999), monsters inc. (2001), finding nemo (2003), ratatouille (2007), a few others that are great but not on the same level, and now in 2008 they bring us Wall-E.

wall-e is essentially a story about a lonely robot who is one of many wall-e robots left on earth to clean up the mess humans have made of the world, this one particular robot is apparently the only one still functional and its much more than just a robot. the humans, during more than 700 years waiting and relaxing in space, have become fat boobs that no longer require the use of their own limbs to move around or do anything but eat, sleep, and talk on the videophone. ironically, humans have lost what makes them human and the robot wall-e is more human that anyone or anything because he yearns for more than complacency. wall-e is very much like will smith's i am legend character in that he has no real companions other than his pet (cockroach in this movie) and is the only person around to clean up the mess set forth by the movie. eventually, wall-e meets eve who is a super high-tech robot who has come from the human mothership to look for any signs of vegetation, so that the human race can return to an earth thats a little less messy.

the first 30 minutes of the movie actually dont involve any dialogue, its really cool that this direction was taken because it shows that conversations are very inconsequential to our understanding of what is going on and where the movie may be going. as usual, disney/pixar has created a movie where grownups and children can enjoy the same visual jokes but on different levels. most kids probably dont know what a rubik's cube is, or why an ipod in the movie is funny, but everyone definitely has a good laugh at the very well done utensil joke. the plot is good, its pretty simple sci-fi stuff and its well executed. wall-e is a great protagonist because he feels. he can be lonely, sad, happy, brave, timid... more than those in the movie, he is everything humans are and more, while only capable of beeping out three words.

the visuals and score for the movie are good for what it is. its not the best anyone has ever seen, mostly because so much of the movie is spent on a dust-storm covered earth and inside a neon infused spacecraft, both of which do not have the same visual appeal that nature itself has. the best visual portion of the movie is when wall-e and eve are moving around in space, but thats only a small percentage of the movie. additionally, its also not a leap above the animation in previous movies such as finding nemo or ratatouille. aurally, the music can be described as ... whimsical. its about a robot that acts human, its good, not breathtaking, but its expected.

overall, this is a movie that should be seen in theaters, its worth the 10bux to see it with other people on the big screen. its really great to experience scenes where everyone in the theater, children included, are laughing at the same joke. this movie doesnt quite crack my top3 or even top5 animated movies of all time, but its still really good.


good: nice plot, all the robots, fat babies
bad: not everyone would let themselves get so fat, forcing message on me to take care of the earth...

Where to begin...

So.. I've been asked by Big Brother Glen to contribute to his project. Over the following week or ... month, I plan to review most if not all of the restaurants I've tried around here (and it's been quite a few places) and the movies that I've seen. If I check out anything else, like art exhibits or concerts or what have you, I'll consider tossing those up on here as well. I don't have pics for most of the stuff I've eaten but I'll try to be descriptive enough that you can imaginate the dishes in all their fantastical glory.

First up, Food. I currently work/live somewhere in the center of several areas of Brooklyn; Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, and Downtown Brooklyn. Because of this, there's a lot going on. Lots of great restaurants of all types of food in all price ranges. I'll start with Smith st. where most of the places I've been have been on.

Things get interesting once you hop off Atlantic ave. and get onto Smith. From a fish shack, to italian ice, to Peruvian, French Bistros, Middle Eastern markets, Japanese, whatever. Smith is full of great places to eat, drink and be merry. This street, for many blocks, is filled with deliciousness until fairly late in the night.

Trout - on the corner of Smith and Pacific. It's got an indoor and outdoor area, both of with separate entrances. I believe the outdoor area used to be a different establishment but they now share the same owners (as does the restaurant next door, Pacifico). The outdoor area is very different in scenery from most anything else you will find in the city. It's like a cross between a fisherman's shack and a tin-roof shack you'd find in a Havana. It's a very welcoming space. Not pretentious like many Manhattan bars, but not exactly homey, unless of course your family had to build their own shack to live in.
The drinks are what you would expect in a place like this. Mojitos, Margaritas, LI Ice Teas ("Brooklyn Ice Tea"). Beers. Their drinks are pretty well constructed. Taste good. Perhaps a bit strong for some. I personally tried the Mojito. Very minty, a bit on the sweet side, lots of liquor. My friend told me that the Brooklyn Ice Tea was too strong, but hey, who the hell gets an LI Ice Tea for the ice tea taste?
The food leans towards the marine side, but with a name like 'Trout' would you really expect anything else? I had the catfish po'boy and Old Bay fries. The po'boy was delicious. But it must have been constructed by a retard. The individual parts were good. Well-seasoned, perfectly fried, and tender catfish. Crisp sour pickles. Fresh veggies. Good bread. But it was like eating an open-faced sandwich, and one that needed the mouth of a horse to get a good bite in. On the side were hushpuppies and slaw. The hushpuppies had bits of jalepeno pepper and cheddar in them. And let me tell you... that is fucking genius! Delicious little things, if I could, I'd order a basket of just those hush puppies. The slaw was a bit more lackluster. But it wasn't bad. Crisp, tart, and drenched with sauce. Too bad there wasn't much flavor to it compared to the rest of the basket. The Old Bay fries are exactly what they sound like, fries seasoned with Old Bay. Well-seasoned and crispy. But some of it was a bit too crispy and I think the oil might've been a bit old.
Overall, the place left a very good first impression on me. Nice atmosphere. Good drinks. Decent food. 7/10

Louie G's - on Smith b/w Atlantic and Pacfic (oh haha, I get it now). From what I hear, this is a chain Italian ice place. Whatever, first time for me. Very good to have around especially during the Summer. Very simple idea. Serve italian ice and ice cream in many many flavors and have cute girls (mostly) serve them. I've only had the ice but that's kept me busy. Flavors like kiwi, strawberry, lime, chocolate mousse, orange, blue raz, etc. etc. etc. Some flavors are awesome, like the lime, others miss the mark, like the kiwi. But it's a good place to go to cool off on a hot day. Overall - 6/10

I'll continue with the food next time. Gonna move onto movies for now. In the past month I've seen (aside from older movies) Kung Fu Panda, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, and Wall-E. I'm not going to review all of them, mainly because I don't have much to say about the former two. Neither was spectacular, but both were fun movies, just... not worth $10.

Wanted - action. Pure action. That's all this movie is about. That's all this movie needs to be about. And goddamn, Bekmambetov did it right. If you're looking for an oscar-winning story-driven masterpiece, go watch Sex and the City. But if you're looking for THE next summer action blockbuster, Wanted does it right. What little story the director tries to present is It's bloody as hell. The hits are so visceral you can feel each punch, you cringe at each slash, and don't blink, cause you'll wanna see every bullet leave the gun and eventually leave its target. As for the "story," it was fine. It held the movie together. A lot of it was pretty inconceivable, but the main character's narration acknoweledges the ridiculosity of it all. The story wouldn't win any pulitzers and it strays from the actual comic quite a bit, but I suppose the creators of the movie felt that there needed to be SOME dialogue. As critical as I may sound, it really isn't all that bad. And Angelina. What can I say about Angelina... she's what gets the people who don't like violence to watch this movie. One word, three syllables, one hyphon... booty-shot. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece and you might just find yourself with 1 hr 40 min of pure genius. Overall - 9/10

More to come when I feel less lazy...

momos & a movie about a mongol

its been a pretty busy Friday at the ol' legal beagle office, but ive got some time before a meeting with a client at 2:30 so im gonna start this post. the SF gang had ourselves a nice evening of asian delights this past sunday (after dominating in a kickball game, YEAAAA!!!).

after washing off the sweatiness and pouring the dirt out of our sneakers, we had dinner at Yak and Yeti (2985 College Ave., right off of Ashby). its a nepalese restaurant which is sort of like indian food with chinese influences, which makes sense because of where nepal is.

my dinner companions, lillian (i am the bff's bf's bff, yes, he did win Carmen San Diego, with an asian rat tail) and amy, already reviewed this place on yelp!, so ill just add my thoughts...

si.. i did think the mahi was the best thing i had all night, but the rest of the food was really great too. i really enjoyed the lamb dish, mostly because both of my chunks were pretty tender, and i like it when my lamb tastes predominantly like lamb. makes sense to me, i usually dont put sauce on steak. i also completely agree about the desserts. their naan was exceptional.

the restaurant has a lot of 'vegetarian dishes', but theyre prolly not as good cuz its just veggies. im very glad we didnt have to sit on the floor, racle and i are too tall for that.

client meeting rescheduled, lets keep blogging.

after Yak&Yeti, we got some Ici ice cream... (ill review Ici another time, ITS AWESOME, just go!)... deep breath, stop salivating..

after ice cream, we went to see Mongol playing at the movie theater across from the restaurant. its a movie about the origins of genghis khan, who i like to say is my ancestor. odds are he is... or isnt... he did father a lot of babies, and my last name is han... we'll say he is. but its a great story about how Temudgin (his real name) became the fierce, proud, and revered leader of the mongol hordes.

the movie does a great job of depicting Temudgin as a very honorable leader who is respected by his people because of his compassion and his fair treatment of those that fight and die for him. it also is a great look at how genghis khan was also a man who loved his wife and his children, even those of which that were not fathered by him. the fight scenes are very cool, some were pretty brutal and bloody, and made me giggle a little in joy. oh, and i hate that chinese guy that didnt listen to the prophetic monk who told him that the mongol dude would wreak havoc upon the chinese in the future if he bought him as a slave, wtf man, look what u did... (thats not a spoiler, its history)

good: mango mahi, meat, great movie, ici!!!
bad: service a little slow at y&y, not enough table space

saigon sandwich shop (ca), oh, and dallas

i went to dallas for a weekend. my family there took me to the same chinese restaurant twice (Maxim)... it sucked, i got nothing else to say about it.

(the one on top is cheesy lobster...eww... the crab was better)

back in SF, there's this vietnamese sandwich shop near where i work, so i took an extended lunch with some coworkers and we went to try it out. the place is called Saigon Sandwich Shop (560 Larkin st), just google it, there's lots of foodies that blog about it. usually the bay area lacks a real sense of taste for food, but this is one exception.

the sandwiches are awesome. they cost 2.75 for a pretty big sandwich, enough for one normal sized person. i bought three, but i used my whole afternoon to consume them. i got the roast chicken (ga), roast pork (thit), and the Jambon, cha & pate sandwich, which is like... traditional viet sandwich filling. it was all very good and i spent less than 10 dollars for a huge amount of food. the breads were pre-baked, and heated up in smaller ovens before they fill them with meat... it was a little bit too crunchy perhaps... but this place was built for speed.

the place is super small as you can see in the picture. thats the space behind the counter filled with all sorts of asian snacks and buns and sweet rice/meat wrapped in banana leaves. now add about half of that space... thats the rest of the store. there's a long line that goes out the door because its close to the civic center here in SF with all the government workers and lawyers. its a pretty long wait for sandwiches, but its worth the trouble. there's not really anywhere to sit, so find some grass nearby closer to the gov't buildings, its probably better that way.

i had a little gripe about the lack of sriracha in my sandwich, but maybe it doesnt come automatically and i need to ask for it. the jalas are pretty spicy tho, one rubbed across my mouth at one point, and the right side of my lips were feelin it for an hour or so. i bought some "lobster crackers", theyre really shrimp chips, very good, a little spicy. overall this was a great lunch experience.

good: so very inexpensive, good sized sandwich, tasty
meh: me want sriracha, long wait for food

Nerd Moment at 4am EST

NYC Summer Restaurant Week 2008

NYC Restaurant Week Summer 2008 July 21-25, July 28-August 1. 10 Days. Over 230 NYC Restaurants. Lunch $24.07 Dinner $35.00

Reservations open June 26.

American Express site lists some of the restaurants:
http://www.americanexpressofferzone.com/selectsdraftweb/SearchHandler.aspx?page=B&searchtype=merchant&countrycd=us

seriously this is important. all the good places are booked on the first day.

Sunshine (2007)

i got to watching Sunshine this past sunday after the bball game because i was pretty bored and too poor to go out and drink. ive had this on dvd since... february maybe, but i never have time to watch all the movies ive 'acquired', and have wanted to see.

(insert joke about staring directly into the sun)

the movie is sort of a drama/thriller in a sci-fi setting. sunshine is set about 50 years into the future and something has happened to the sun in our solar system and its quickly extinguishing. after a mysterious failed first mission, the plot centers around a mixed crew of scientists and astronauts who are tasked with bringing a second giant bomb, and last chance, through space and into the core of the sun so that they might re-ignite the dying star and save mankind from extinction. the premise of the plot is pretty cool, and the sun is dying, its just that it will probably take hundreds of thousands of years to get to that point instead of the fifty in the movie. the movie people take a little bit of liberty with their science facts...

the main protagonist is cillian murphy, most would know him as the scarecrow in the more recent christopher nolan's Batman Begins. or in that movie Red-Eye, i think. the dude has some seriously interesting eyes. he plays a physicist who knows the most about the bomb and how to use it if the computer system would ever malfunction...

the casting is pretty good. i liked all the asian cast members (unbiased?), which include Michelle Yeoh as a biologist, Hiroyuki Sanada as the ship captain, and Benedict Wong as the navigation type guy. the potential love interest for Murphy was pretty good as well. another well known actor, Chris Evans from fantastic four is also in this movie, but i thought his acting lacked any substance.

the movie is really a great look at human behavior and interaction facing not only a battle against extinction & self-preservation, but also the effects of being in an environment so different from what we may be used to on Earth, isolated with no communications with our loved ones. additionally, there's also a bit of philosophy in the movie, the ship in the movie is called the Icarus II, so its named for the son of Daedalus who crafted wings for himself and his son to esape imprisonment in Crete... Daedalus warned his son to not fly so close to the sun or else the wax would melt and he would die, but as we all know, Icarus did not heed that warning as he flew, joyfully in their escape, too close to the sun and soon fell into the sea, which is now called the Icarian Sea. the movie sort of follows this idea when the crew makes the decision to check out a distress signal, detouring the mission... the commentary also notes technology and man's misuse, intentional or otherwise, of it. overall, its about the value of human life as a whole and the individual sacrifices made to preserve it.

visually and aurally, this movie is stunning. if you can watch it on a big hd screen with 5.1 surround, do it. the images of the sun and planets is just so impressive that you actually feel like you are on the mission. the cg in this movie is even more impressive because it only cost about $40million to make, compared to other huge CG blockbusters which usually cost five times that amount.

the extras are... decent. there's director commentary, but the best part was a separate commentary by dr. brian cox, a real-life physicist who was also the science consultant on this film. his commentary about the science of space is informative and insanely interesting. there's also deleted scenes with director commentary as well

one gripe i really had about the movie was that the ending and plot twist were pretty bad... this movie is so very close to being the best sci-fi movie of this decade until certain elements were added to make it more exciting or whatever. nevertheless, overall its a movie worth watching.

boyle and gardner worked on 28 Days Later, so any fans of that movie should check this out. i recommend the movie to all, just dont expect it to be very action-y. its sort of like... I Am Legend... its about human behavior more than beating up mutants or killing aliens. this is perhaps one of the better sci-fi movies in a very long time (see George Lucas), and i recommend it for anyone that doesnt mind things progressing a bit slower in order to paint a better picture of the setting and premise of the movie.


good: story premise, overall acting, visuals, sci-fi
bad: climax/ending

New Bloggers! yay

i'm a pretty lazy guy, so WELCOME KENT AND MOO!!! yay. blogger gets an A+ for allowing contributing writers for blogs. xanga wouldnt be dead (its not dead dead, just not as good) if we couldve done this as easily.

moo is a big foodie and likes to write, and she has a job, whereas im a broke law student, so she gets to try a lot more fancier places than i usually do. this recent new orleans post is hers, but i was there too during that same time so i guess ill add a couple of NO places while im bored at work.

kent is my younger brother, he likes to eat and do things that people do. he's currently working near and living at my place in Brooklyn Heights, so hopefully he continues to try out all the great places around there and updates the blog with what he thinks.

im thinking of adding a vegetarian cuz the three of us are big meat eaters, and the herbivores need lovin too. so we'll see.

Napoleon House - New Orleans, LA

I have not had the privilege nor time to write about food recently, other than with short and really bad descriptors like "good," "great," or "awesome." with that in mind....

most people who think of new orleans think of things like this:



(i'm not going to look for pictures of girls with beads. there were sets thrown at me even in the off-peak season of Lent and therefore non-Mardi Gras insanity. from several other 1st person accounts, Mardi Gras in full-swing involves a lot more vomit and sticky beer on the sidewalks than at a frat convention afterparty.)

when i think of New Orleans, I think of food. first off, there are a few rules you should know when you're headed there:

1. you are not on a diet. even if you were before, the drink and/or the food will break you.
2. you must not be allergic to seafood or dislike spicy things. you miss out on the full experience. it's possible for you to enjoy other things (read on for details). by the way, i cannot consider those who are unwilling to try new foods because of strange appearance/smell to be true foodies. you can debate me on that if you want.
   
3. the French Quarter is for people who like noise. if you don't like noise... don't stay overnight in it. there are a lot of burlesque-type establishments and downright strip clubs, so perfect for that bachelor party of excess, but not for that family entertainment. daytime is best, it gets very rowdy at sundown.
   

with that being said, here's some highlights...

we went to the Napoleon House as soon as we dropped our luggage off.



the muffuletta is the huge italian sandwich you see here. it's about a foot in diameter. in Napoleon House's version, there is ham, Genoa salami, and pastrami, with provolone cheese and a thick layer of Italian olive spread, which tasted like a combination of celery, olives, and a few bits of carrot and red pepper for show. these things are usually served unheated, but we all liked the heated version -- the bread was warm and crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside -- deliciously proportioned with olive spread and a minimum of the italian meats. high on sodium, and good for starving fresh-off-the-plane folks like us. $11.95 for something bigger than your face to eat? stellar.

the Boudin sausage on the left is fresh sausage made with onions, pork, liver, and rice, sometimes with pigs blood. i think our version didn't have the pig blood, but i could be wrong. it was definitely a hit, and was slightly sour tasting. i think it had been boiled in a combination of brine water, peppers, and onions, sort of sauerkraut-like, and then seared in a pan for good measure. it wasn't bad though, and was again, very heavily seasoned. i had expected it to be mushier because of the rice inside, but it wasn't, so there was a good texture to it too. i think the sausage encasing protected much of the rice from being too overcooked.

being as i am asian, and with two other asian girls in tow, we ordered a side of jambalaya for good measure. another staple for the area, it is usually a combination of chicken, shrimp, and sausage cooked in rice. verdict? wasn't spicy enough to us (i happen to love habanero (sp?) peppers, and once had 4 of them in under a minute in an effort to win a $50 dining hall credit... on an empty stomach ... the follies of college life). on the bland side, but it served to clear the senses after the sandwich, and alternating the three made it possible to finish most of it. we did leave the jambalaya -- it wasn't the most exciting of dishes there.

decor? Napoleon house is old -- one of the oldest buildings in the area, it was reputed to be one of Napoleon's hideouts, and is decorated with pictures and paintings from that era on painted, peeling walls, with an inner courtyard for outdoor dining:



and to drink... what's not to love about drinking? the specialty of the area is the local brew. Dixie's beer (in the picture below, background), which was light tasting and refreshing. the original brewery has since been shut down from damage done by Hurricane Katrina, but it is still in production at other breweries in limited batches. it's a good beer to wash down the salty and spicy combination we signed up for.



in the foreground is a glass of the local drink special: Sazerac. i'm an avid whiskey drinker (usually Irish), but even for me, it was an acquired taste. i wonder what it would have tasted like had the glass been prepped with a layer of absinthe. :-) it's rye whiskey, with bitters, a lemon peel, and a grape-tasting brandy. tasted like 'tussin and Jager, so if you're into either one... you're a winner on this drink. i'm personally not a fan. i had a better tasting version of this in NYC at Bua, a small bar on the Lower East Side with a half-price draft and drink special on weekdays. they used the same rye whiskey, but i don't quite recall the variant, it tasted much less like Jager. i dislike Jager. licorice is not on my top-foods list.

...whew, that was a long entry for one place. i'll find some time to critique and write on another spot sometime later.

Bay Area's best pizza?

i finally got some Zachary's Chicago-Style pizza. it was meh... im not really sure why theyre always packed and how they won so many awards for their pizza, i guess people in the bay area have never really had great pizza. i noticed that the NYTimes article isnt a review but about their business model and how it got started, so really, only the bay area likes the pizza.

what every pie looks like... is it spinach or some kind of meat?

this guy apparently is a transplant from chicago and was happy with it... i dont know if i can trust his food blog because his taste obviously sucks.

anyways, we got a spinach pie and the zachary's special (sausage, green pepper, onion, and mushroom. A classic combination!!!). these pizzas are fuckin loaded. each pie probably weighed 5 lbs. i dont think ive ever carried a heavier pizza pie in my life. unfortunately, theyre mostly loaded with tomatoes and tomato sauce. the ingredients had the usual cali freshness but the pizzas still fell flat.

as you can see in the picture above, the pies are big, deep, and have a lot of sauce on/in them.

first up, the spinach pie. not bad, lots of tomatoes and sauce so that was pretty much all i could taste on the pizza. the spinach was fresh but it was undercooked as a pizza ingredient. i prefer spinach to be raw so that theyre crisp or overcooked til theyre popeye-style mush. in between is no good because its just tough to chew through.

second was the special. sausage, peppers, onion, mushroom, it sounds great. it wasnt that good. i think i had maybe 2 slices of sausage, at most, on each large slice i had. and the rest of the ingredients? i dont know, i could only taste the copious amounts of tomatoes. for a meat pizza, it tasted almost like the spinach pizza. thats not good.

what zachary's does do right is the deep dish crust. its just thick enough to carry all the toppings and the gallon of sauce on top and there's a nice crisp to the sides and the bottom. if i could have zachary's crust and extreme pizza's toppings, i would be in pizza heaven.

it wasnt all bad. if i wanted a tomato pizza, zachary's would be awesome. i will definitely go back at least one more time to try their chicken pizza though. this guy i met while playing bball works there and said its the best one... so zachary's will have one more chance to impress me with its 'bay area's best pizza'. i wonder if i can ask for less sauce?


good: crust, cali freshness, extremely filling
bad: all i taste is tomato, bay area's taste in pizza, expensive!!!

lets go mets

the mets were in town so i had to see them.

b4 the game, amy and i went to the crossroads cafe. we both ordered the ahi tuna salad with manga salsa, but the results were not similar... my tuna was overcooked. so it sucked. if i were to review my salad based on that...

but i wont. amy let me have a piece of her very well seared ahi tuna, so ill write about that piece. the tuna (amy's) was great. well seared, the middle was still raw, the only way to eat tuna. the greens were tossed lightly with a vinaigrette? very fresh (cali, duh). the mango salsa was pretty good, it was mostly mango tho, i really could have used some spice to it. the salad itself was good, but overall it needed pepper and a little hot sauce.

food aside, the service was great. all the people that work there are ex-cons and its sort of a reintegration program, im guessing, for them. a lot of times, ex-cons get out and cannot find jobs so that increases the number of rescissions and many go back to prison as a result of society rejecting them for their past mistakes. the service was actually more than great, probably better than most waiters at other places.

the cafe itself looked like a great place to hang out and eat, there was a section with magazines and sort of a shop. it was a little too hot inside, so we ate outdoors in a garden area which had an abundance of seating.

overall, the crossroads cafe was a great place to eat. the portions are a bit on the small side, but the prices are very affordable. the staff was friendly and eating here just feels and tastes better knowing im doing my part in the reintegration of persons that have served their time and deserve a real chance.


good: benefitting society as a whole
bad: could use a bigger portion, but that might just be me


met up with Phoebe and then we were off to AT&T Park to see my Nigh Mets play the (s?)crappy SF Giants.




what can i say about the park? its beautiful. definitely better than shea and yankee stadium combined. luckily we have citifield and the new yankee stadium to look forward to next year.

short and sweet... view from bleacher seats, great... wind? holy shit windy and cold(i wore 5 layers, one of them was underarmour and it was still cold)... but...garlic fries? AWESOME!!!... giants fans? more enthusiastic than A's fans

after the 7th inning, we headed down from the bleachers. before we checked out field level seats, we had to try out the coke bottle slide. its like this huge coke bottle thing, you can see it in the picture, its to the left of the scoreboard... and inside are a few slides that go through the bottle. the slide gets an F-, only because i cant give it anything lower. its made of metal so someone (me) wearing jeans basically gets stuck and has to just crabwalk the whole way through.

we finally get to the field level which is pretty amazing. a lot of people left because the mets had an 8-run lead before the 7th inning, so we sat right up the left field line along with lots of mets fans that had stayed behind to cheer. it is really cool sitting so close to the field. and its a much better view of the jumbotron which is really cool. its a giant widescreen HD-looking screen.

(meet luigi francisco seal, now picture him thrusting his crotch in those kids' faces)

oh and the giants mascot is a dancing, crotch-thrusting seal. its all good til he's thrusting it at underage kids


great: garlic fries!!!, the park itself
good: jumbotron, field level seats
bad: coke slide sucks, WINDINESS

ive never had a more extreme pizza

so ive got an extreme pizza across the street from where i'm living and we all know that there's nothing like trying something with a stupid name... (oh their website).

(there's about 64million images when i google"extreme", i dont know who this is but he looks like a pretty extreme douchebag)

anyways, i ordered by phone and i was on hold for a bit before the guy took my order. i got the "yard sale" and all i had to do was walk over in 10 minutes. i entered the place, and the half-asian lookin guy was like... what's up brah? very extreme.

the pizza was good. yard-sale is very much like pizza hut's super supreme, which imo is one of the best signature pizzas for any franchise. the ingredients were much fresher than PH's. which seems to be the case with everywhere i go in cali. the crust is what PH does better. this was good, simple and crispy... but it was too thin for a pizza with so much substance on top. i got the indie sized pie(8" diameter) and it was a great size for one normal person. the price was alright, its no nyc slices.

the ultimate test, of course, is the cold pizza test. i left 1/4 of it in the fridge, and about 4 hours later, the slice was probably the best cold pizza ive ever had. there wasnt any of that gross... refridgerated old cheese on top, i could only really taste the toppings, as the god of extremeness (extremities? no, thats not right) intended.


good: fresh ingredients, so close i could crawl there if i had to, just enough extreme-ness
bad: crusticity to toppings ratio, a little on the pricey side

indiana jones and the wish it remained a trilogy SPOILER ALERT!!! (but really who cares)

i was going to review EXTREME PIZZA!!! first, but i'm at work and i dont really have access to the crappy notes i made on a napkin about it... so heeeeeere's indy!

it was terrible. i want my money back, AMC theater in emeryville. and your mall sucks because all your restaurants were closed by the time the movie was over before 11. you made the experience even worse by closing at a non-realistic hour.

back to the movie. it was bad. harrison ford looked like he didnt want to be there, his voice sounded really weird, like he is still Star Wars - age. shia lebeouf is a good actor, but there's no way he's indiana jones' kid... c'mon, he has the body of a junior high school boy!!! ill admit there's a certain cheesy funniness to the movie, like the previous indy's, but those moments were so often that the movie never really had a serious feel about it, there were no moments where the movie conveyed a dire sense of peril. one such scene that was supposed to do that was with the ants... but it ended up looking fake and more funny that scary. it is really surprising that with today's CG tech, especially with LucasArts, that the animals, the effects, the backgrounds lacked any sense of realism (not to mention the plot). fuck, even the people looked fake, there wasnt much blood, and i dont think anyone other than the chubby triple agent had sweat glands.

ill have to agree with racle that the idea behind the plot was solid. aliens spreading knowledge to human civilization during that time period is a pretty convincing theory as to how the human race was able to advance itself so rapidly in such a short period of time., especially in quasi-scientific areas. nevertheless, lucas and spielberg still managed to come up with a plot thats convoluted and weak. the ending... was terrible. im going to spoil it, itll save someone 11bux. the aliens are in fact archaeologists, just like indy!!! and they find their little treasure trove of treasures from all the different human civilizations. and there's this throne room and the crystal skull gets put back on a body, and the whole place was actually a spaceship which disappears and there's a big CG effect of water filling up the giant whole where the ship was and creating waterfalls that lead to this basin... and the commies die, the head commie lady gets all the knowledge she wants, but then the stupid alien disintegrates her, for some unknown reason. bam.

overall, this movie was bad. i dont recommend watching it in theaters, so maybe rent it when its out on dvd. if you've ever seen the Spielberg ending to Stanley Kubrick's A.I., this movie is basically a 2 hour version of that. or StarWars:E 1&2... basically, south park was right... spielberg and lucas MUST BE STOPPED!!!


good: cate blanchett, swordfight, great picture of Sean Connery on desk
bad: plot, effects, lack of peril

this blog is terrible

what is this? what is this?!? this blog sucks. i dont understand why its so empty. get crackin on the reviews already. and do something about the dots.