Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Movie Review (Not) - Avengers 2 (Age of Ultron)


HOT OFF THE PRESS!

It's finally been made official. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (best known for his role as Dave Lizewski in the Kick-Ass films) and Elizabeth Olsen (Mary Kate and Ashley's younger sister) will be in Avengers 2 (aka Age of Ultron, due out on May 1, 2015) as Quicksilver (hmmm, this is a character that's not well-liked by most of fandom, but let's see how he pans out in the movie universe) and Scarlet Witch respectively (yayyyy, I love her and her hubby, the Vision, who by the way is technically Ultron's "son". And since this movie will be all about Ultron, I'm quite certain we'll see Vision by the end of the movie.) 
However, it's not sure how they will address the matter that they both are X-Men arch-villain Magneto's children as both Magneto & the X-Men (Hey, there's another Marvel book title right there!) are still a franchise under Fox Studio's control.

I'm pretty happy with this development as I was quite spot on with my predictions in my 2012 post:
http://jmerb.blogspot.com/2012/05/which-avengers-should-be-in-next.html
Here's my review of the first Avengers movie:
http://jmerb.blogspot.com/2012/05/movie-review-avengers.html
By the way, I found a couple of design images of Thanos, presumably for his upcoming appearance in another of Marvel's movies. Guardians of the Galaxy maybe? However, I can't verify whether it's genuine or just fan art.
Coincidentally, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen will both be also working together in the Godzilla remake out in May 2014.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Food Review - Celsius Restaurant & Bar

Name
Celsius Restaurant & Bar
Food
Western/Fusion Cuisine
Location
Fahrenheit 88 (Bukit Bintang)
Getting there
Located in the heart of the KL Golden Triangle facing the Pavillion. You can't really miss it. It's right at Fahrenheit 88's back entrance facing away from the Pavillion.
View Larger Map
Parking
There are lots of parking options available to shoppers/diners alike in the vicinity of the mall, including street, mall & valet parking. 

Ambience
As this place is a club/bar, the ambience & decor of the place really made it quite stunning visually. There is a centre piece right at the entrance behind the bar which looks like a giant mushroom (hmmmm, subliminal programming for getting high...?) that keeps changing color.

The place is rather dark for photography and the music was kind of loud for merely food. So be prepared for some dance-floor acti
on after your meal. Yup, there is a dance-floor.

I just thought that piece alone gave this place its identity! I love it.
Variety
Bearing in mind that the main focus of this place is not so much the food but more on the beverage (especially the alcoholic variety), we kind of knew what we were getting into when we came here for a try. Unfortunately, despite having quite a number of food items and variety on the menu, most of them were not available when we went there.

Of course, this being a bar, it must have its selection of alcoholic drinks. Hence, there is an area where customers can pick their poisons.
Service
Although the staff were polite, they seem to be rather busy with getting the place ready for the club-goers than serving diners like us.
Presentation
Just for variety, we ordered the fish and the lamb items. The food was presented on large leaf-shaped white china, which made the food look all the more enticing.

Of course, the drinks looked fantastic. After all, this place specializes in beverages.
Taste
There wasn't anything for us to complain about except for the long wait for the food and the non-availability of many of the menu items. Other than that, the food wasn't bad but nothing really stood out either. 

The drinks of course not only looked fantastic but tasted good as well.


Overall
I'd say this place is worth a visit but perhaps a repeat visit just to impress friends with this place's unique look and great location. 

Alas, it is no longer there (guess that concludes the rating of this place as a food destination) as it has recently been replaced by another restaurant.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Movie Review - Thor 2 (aka The Dark World)

Movie Title
Thor - The Dark World
Year
2013
Genre
Action, Adventure, Comic Adaptation
Story
The movie starts with Odin retelling how the Universe was in total darkness before light crept in. And it was in the darkness that the Dark Elves trhived. When light was in the Universe, other life-forms flourished and the Dark Elves saw these life-forms as an infection to be wiped out. 5000 years ago, led by Malekith, the Dark Elves waged war upon the Universe. They had a really potent weapon, the Aether, that can basically do just that whenever the Nine Realms are aligned. Odin's father, Bor, led the Asgardians against Malekith's forces and destroyed them all except the Aether, which cannot be destroyed. So Bor hid it somewhere in the Nine Realms. Unbeknownst to all, Malekith had escaped with his loyal lieutenant, Algrim and the elite Dark Elf warriors, waiting for the day he could wreak vengeance against the Universe once more.

(Now, we know why this installment of Thor is called the Dark World)
That time has come and 2 years have passed since Thor was last on Earth. Jane Foster has moved on and relocated to London. It had been 5000 years since the Nine Realms were last aligned. The Alignment is happening again and the dimensional walls between the Nine Realms are overlapping and things can literally pass thru' between them. When Jane was studying this phenomenon, she literally fell thru' one of these dimensional breaches and coincidentally discovered the secret location of the Aether. Moreover, the Aether "infected" her and used her as a host body.

As Thor had been pining for Jane since their last meeting, he had Heimdall keep an eye on Jane regularly. When Jane had falling thru the dimensional breach, Heimdall could not see her. That was when Thor went to Earth to find out what happened to Jane. She reappears but Thor knew that there was something not right with her and brought her back to Asgard for help.
Malekith was then awakened from 5000-year wait by the Aether's re-activation and mobilised his forces to regain it for the renewed onslaught. Malekith and his forces invade Asgard and basically defeat the Asgardians' but was unable to locate Jane who was hidden by Queen Frigga.

Thor, having no choice but to work with the imprisoned mischievous Loki, seek out Malekith and stop them before they return with more firepower and raze Asgard.
Fanboy Gripes (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Where is Thor's helmet?! C'mon. Loki not having his helmet is fine as he is technically a prisoner but Thor, he's the next in line to be Asgard's King. Plus we know how proud Thor is. He never removes his helmet, even when he kisses Jane or Sif!

Egads! Hogun is not Asgardian! This was established when Sif and the Warriors Three were quelling uprising factions across the Nine Realms. Hogun received Thor's blessing not to return to Asgard after that battle.

I also can't remember if I'd griped about this before but Heimdall being black. Sigh! It's not that I'm racist, but Heimdall is Sif's brother, so unless Sif is also black then it's OK.

Malekith - I prefer the comic book version as in there, Malekith has funky looking hair that makes him look menacingly insane just like the Joker. Here, he just looks like a battle-hardened warrior out for some revenge, albeit on a universal scale.

The Dark Elves and their tech. For a moment there, when they invaded Asgard in their cloaked ships, I got confused whether I was watching another installment of Star Trek or Thor! The Dark Elves use Laser Cannons and Anti-Matter Grenades. C'mon!

KURSE! Wow - altho not having appeared in any of the trailers I've seen, he's in the movie! And for long time readers (A personal thank you to all of you), you'd know that I was talking about KURSE waaaaay back when I reviewed Thor's 1st movie back in 2011.
http://jmerb.blogspot.com/2011/05/movie-review-thor.html

Do not leave after the movies ends as there is a mid-credit scene (As if you didn't already know this by now...)

The Collector appears in this extra scene!
While I am extremely glad to see characters like The Collector in movies, but a lot will be lost in the translation to the big screen as these characters are really complex and difficult to explain to cinematic audiences. However, having said that, as I said earlier, I am really glad to see it!

And from the scene, we discover that the Aether is none other than 1 of the 6 Infinity Gems that fit into Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet. Again, another artifact that was shown in Thor's 1st movie. This one really sets the stage for future Avengers movies (yes, I said it in plural.) as the Avengers would potentially face off against not only Thanos (whom we have glimpsed in the Avengers post credits scene) but also the Elders of the Universe, of which the Collector is a member.
Also, Benicio Del Toro, I think he had a hard time taking the role seriously cause I can see him trying hard to stifle bursting out in laughter. (...or maybe I was wrong...)

I'm also very happy to see Odin's Ravens Hugin and Munin in the movie. Another point I really like is that the viewers are told a little bit of Asgardian history - specifically the battle between Odin's father Bor and the Dark Elves right at the start of the movie (so, don't be late into the viewing hall).

Overall
I did like the movie. I would have liked it more if it was a little longer. But then, for general audiences, I guess the length was just right at under 2 hours.

Plus, I really enjoyed watching the Captain America 2 (Winter Soldier) trailer as well. Am really looking forward to it next April.

This is a movie that would entertain almost anyone except for nit-pickers who would nit-pick a lot more than I would. So, if not for anything, just go watch it at least once. It's pretty entertaining.

Rating: 6.5/10