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