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Movie Review: 2012

Every character serves a purpose, but none are fully developed

Until I sat down and actually looked at the billing on IMDB, I thought John Cusack's character name is Curtis Jackon (50 Cent? No, Its actually Jackson Curtis). While that is laughable, it is not as ridiculous as Carl Anheuser (the name of Oliver Platt's character). In my mind, I kept on thinking, "I need a beer!" and "When the hell are they gonna introduce a character named "Busch" whenever they mention his name. If the movie theater actually served alcohol, I would think this is subliminal advertising.

As ridiculous and laughable as the names are, the # of times that the main characters escape every disaster situation virtually unscathed is out right unbelievable. Its almost as if the writers were hinting, "We're not trying to make this movie real, just enjoy the eye candy as the masses succumb to every predicament nature can come up with".

At 2 hours 38 minutes, this movie is hovering the line of being uncomfortable long. But once the first disaster hits, the pacing is quite fast. I wasn't bored throughout the movie. It did come at a cost though. I didn't feel any connection with any of the characters, with maybe the exception of John Cusack's on-screen daughter. Amanda Peet, playing John's ex-wife, was stilted and lifeless. The special effects was more interesting than she was. Woody Harrelson was the scene stealer. I wouldn't say he saved this movie in terms of the acting, but without him, they could have replaced all actors with robots and I wouldn't have noticed the difference.

I can forgive the bad acting and the badly written script. After all, it is a disaster movie. It doesn't need either to draw in the audience. The idea this movie presents is enough to attract tons of movie-goers, as the $65 million weekend box office suggests. But as disaster movie goes, this is pretty low on my list.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Cha Cha's In Bocca Al Lupo

All sorts of weird, but in a good way

Decor: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4

If you gave me the name of this place and said its somewhere in Little Italy, I will never be able to find it. Although listed as a restaurant, it looks like a tiny bar or coffee shop from the store front. Its only after you walk in pass the long hallway that you realize this place is much bigger than its store front suggests.

As food goes, it was ridiculously good. Well, that is, if you count dessert as a food group. My gf and I came here for her friend's b-day post dinner, which counting all his friends that were already there, is somewhere around 17 ppl. At least that's what the waiter said even b4 we all walked in (because of the long hallway and small entrance). Its so weird cuz I'm sure he's dead on for the count.

My gf and I ordered the Choco Hazelnut moon w/ hazelnut ice cream on the side (yes, we both love hazelnut, but one of us loves it more). It was huge and felt like it could have fed 3 ppl on empty stomachs. We couldn't possibly finish this since we were coming from Congee Village for dinner.

But let me get back to weirdness. There were more Asians in this place than anywhere I saw outside of Chinatown (yeah, I know its like next door), and it wasn't because of us. Every group that came in after us were Asians. And the final weird thing of the night was Ang Lee (Director of Broke-back Mountains) was chilling out at this place the whole time while we were there. One of my gf's friend went up and took a pic w/ him b4 he left. I'm not too fond of his work (esp. the Hulk) so I don't really care for him too much.

But yeah, tiny restaurant that is actually big, a waiter that can predict how many ppl are coming in, so many Asians gathering in a Italian restaurant, and Ang Lee. This isn't just coincidence. Its definitely weird.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Cha Cha's In Bocca Al Lupo
113 Mulberry St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-9755

Guantanamera

Closer to Guantanamo Bay than a beautiful woman

Decor: 3 stars
Food: 1 stars
Service: 3 stars

If you have paid an inkling of attention to what's been happening during this decade, you would have heard of the prison for terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. What you probably didn't know is before it became well known as a prison (or a black eye on a America, if you're from outside USA), Cubans sing a song about Guantanamo Bay. The song's title is Guantanamera, the same as the name of this restaurant, and it means a beautiful woman from Guantanamo (learned this from reading the Confessions of an Economic Hit man).

Having explained all that, this restaurant is nowhere close to a beautiful woman, more like a $5 crack whore. I say this because of several things. While the decor is decent and they had a live band when we went there for dinner, the place is too loud for any sort of conversation, unless you're trained in reading lips. The table that they sat us on is so close to the back wall, you have trouble getting in and out. We had around 10 ppl in our party and 1/2 of us had a hard time getting in and out because of the poor setup.

Then there's the food. The appetizer portions are really small. Its good for 2 ppl, at most. So we had to order multiple dishes, and they are not that cheap (or good). But then it gets worse, I ordered the "Filetillo Salteado El Chinito", which is described as "slices of prime beef sauteed with garlic, onion and chopped green pepper mixed with Cuban fried rice". I don't know why it didn't cross my mind when I order this, but this is EXACTLY the same as green peppers and beef over rice (one of my favorite Chinese dishes). I paid $17 for this! I could have got it for $5 from a Chinese takeout. It didn't even taste as good as the real thing. What a rip!

To top it all off, they have the balls to charge $50 for a pitcher of mojito. That is more expensive than anything that they have on the menu. Why would they have something that is 3x the price of their entree? It just doesn't make sense in my mind. To mix (kinda) budget price food with something this expensive makes no sense to me. There's so many better restaurants than this one in the area. Next time I'm in the area I would avoid this place like its an STD.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Guantanamera
939 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019
(212) 262-5354

Hallo Berlin Food Wine and Beer Garden Hall

Great brauts, decent price beer per pitcher, but not enough bathroom

To me, this place is better known for their food than drinks. Having been to both their cart and the store, I didn't even know they serve drinks until I got here. The decor is kind of interesting on the bland side. What do I mean by that? They have bench tables and umbrellas indoors. I don't know what ambiance they are trying to create, but it doesn't work.

As for the food, they serve the same menu as their store and cart, and they work great as bar food. I still love how they equate each sausage to a type of car. The price of each pitcher isn't bad, but its no bargain either. You can definitely drink gallons of PBR for that price, although I can't imagine doing that. Especially since they only have 1 bathroom (per sex). That is something I will never understand. Why would you only have 1 bathroom when you serve a beverage that is 95% water?

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Hallo Berlin Food Wine and Garden Beer Hall
626 10th Ave
New York, NY 10036
(212) 977-1944

Product Review: Winegard SS-3000 Amplified HDTV antenna

Incredible ability to pick up reflected signal, but still directional

This was the antenna that I thought about getting when I first looked into HDTV antennas. But the unwieldy size and the above $50 price tag pushed me away, even though it got excellent ratings (4.5 stars at the time). Having been disappointed by the poor reception of the RCA 1450M in my mom's house, the Winegard SS-3000 was my last hope for an indoor antenna. If it didn't work, I would have to climb up on to the roof to install an outdoor antenna.

Assembling this antenna is a pain. They included 3 coaxial cables in the antenna, and I mixed them up multiple times. I thought the thin coaxial cable is for the AC adapter, but it is for the antenna. I also had to loop that cable through a hole in the base, and connect that wire to the "wing". I attempted to tighten that wire when I already tighten the base to the wing (which is impossible as you have no grip on the wire through that hole). Then I found that you were suppose to connect the reflector panel before you connect the base. I probably had to unscrew the 2 screws that hold the reflector panel and the base at least 3x before I got everything right. This could have been avoided if they labeled each piece with an alphabet and if the pictures of the cables actually matched the thickness of the cables

After finally setting everything up, I plugged it in and turned on the tv and the DTV converter box. A green messed appeared on the screen. Navigating to the signal strength screen, I was shocked the antenna only got 21 out of 100 strength level (for NBC). I have acquired so much experience from trying to setup other antennas, I knew this could be a directional issue. I then pulled out a compass and aim the antenna as instructed by Antennaweb.org (14 degrees due North). It barely improved to a 26, but still no picture or audio. I was confused, but undeterred. I then pointed the antenna towards the window (as per the manual), which made the antenna stick out from the top of the cabinet. Surprisingly, this worked (picture and audio, signal strength jumped to 40). It didn't make much sense at first since this almost place the antenna on the opposite direction of the broadcast towers. But after referring to the manual, it turns out that the reflector panel (the back of the antenna) might be better at picking up reflected signals. So I turn the antenna 180 degrees from where I originally pointed it, and the signal improved to 52. That's the best I can get the signal strength to be. Having re-scanned for channels, I was able to pick up all four major networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC) and their non-HD sub-streams. But I could not pick up PBS or Univision (the 1450M was able to pick up only that channel).

I'm satisfied with this antenna, although not impressed by its ability to pick up HDTV signals. I have read multiple reviews about this antenna and expected this antenna to pick up all HDTV channels in the area. It fell far short of that, and the directional requirement means if my mom decides to clean the top of the cabinet, she will probably need me to re-adjust the antenna. Although the sturdy base and the thin coaxial cable which doesn't affect the stability of this antenna will at least mean it won't be knocked off its perch like the Terk HDTVa.

Gold Mountain Restaurant

Good food, but not very clean, and don't come for afternoon tea

This place have delicious dim sum, as long as you don't mind the average cleanliest of this place. The table they sat us on had soy sauce spilled on the floor, which they had no intention of mopping. Upon arriving of our first dish of dim sum, I caught small fly hanging around and knocked it down, but it ended up on my empty plate, so I had to go get one for myself (sparse service).

We got here at 2:30 and literally they were locking their doors at 3 PM sharp and proofing their register (just like a bank). They didn't kick us out, but they did ask for us to pay before we finished. They have a daily 2 hr siesta between lunch and dinner at 3 - 5 PM. I don't see the purpose of it and Chinese restaurants in NYC don't have that. They also screwed up on the bill and shorted themselves $2.10, which they had to asked for from us before we left. Very odd restaurant overall.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Date Visited: August 2009

644 Broadway

San Francisco, CA