Drive

I try very hard to make my reviews spoiler free.  There are actually some critics that give too much away in their reviews, resulting in my complete avoidance of their writings.  While I have tried not to be that way, I'm going to be somewhat spoiler-ish with my discussion of the film Drive.  What this means for you is that if you have not seen the film, you should stop reading now.  I'm going to try to not give away specific plot points, but I am going to talk about the film as a whole, which could give away some aspects of it.  I have specifically written an entire paragraph, so that nothing that could seriously influence you is accidentally seen.  That also means you shouldn't say anything spoiler-ific in the comments, either.  At this point, I suggest you go rent and watch Drive.  You can get it in the Redbox for a $1.50 plus tax.  If you don't care about undue influence, feel free to keep reading.

Alright, at this point, I should only have two or three people still here, as Drive wasn't exactly a blockbuster film.  Rick, if you are reading this, stop unless you have seen the film.  I know you don't like to be influenced too much.  For the rest of you, let's get into Drive.

Drive is a film that follows a man who drives for a living.  In the begining of the film, we see him act as a wheelman for a couple of men.  Later, we see him drive for a film.  Eventually, we see him drive to help someone.  All in all, that doesn't sound like much of a film, but it comes together to be so much more.

You see, when the film gets going, we are treated to the opening credits, as is the way with your average film.  These credits are in a neon pink font courtesy of the 1987 film Mannequin.  With what I knew about the film, that font in that color was bothering me.  It didn't fit at all.  Throughout the film, I spent a good bit of time trying to make sense of that silly font.  As such, I have a theory.  Drive is an amalgamation of classic 80s film ideas.  It's like somebody cannibalized parts from all the 80s movies and made the best Frankenstein ever!

You start off with the pink font, which I'm sure Tara can identify.  After that, you are treated to scenes of an awkward romance, evocative of a John Hughes film.  The film perfectly captures the sweet yet awkward silences between these people, subconciously putting them in traditional 80s roles.  You expect the driver to a kind, yet unusual man with a set of flexible morals who wouldn't hurt anyone.  Because the film is evoking these thoughts, it comes as a surprise when the main character gets his rage on.  

The movie suddenly changes from an awkward romance to a revenge flick.  80s violence is alive and well in Drive.  As a bonus, there is even a scene with boobs.  Why?  Because that is what the 80s would do.  When you get near the end of the film and we are suddenly treated to a masked killer, you have a multitude of classic 80s film tropes.  From montages and fade ins, Drive pays homage to the 80s without most people realizing it.  They've taken great ideas and classic ideas from 80s film and created a modern film.  It's like when they are assigned a classic dish on Top Chef but have to modernize it.  They've taken out all the cheese.

Aside from all the possible 80s parts, Drive is just an excellent film.  There are strong performances from all involved, especially Albert Brooks.  There is not a bad performance in the bunch.  The screenplay is strong, putting as much of an emphasis on silence as on dialogue.  Silence is a key part of Gosling's character, but it never does him a disservice.  The music is also very fitting, carrying on with the 80s feel, but it works.  At first, I worried it would not come together, but the film makes all the pieces fit.

In conclusion, Drive is an excellent film.  The more I think about it and discuss it with Mark, the more interesting facets of the film we notice.  I didn't even touch on the symbolish of the jacket the Driver wears, but let's just say there isn't really a lot of positive imagery related to scorpions.  Let me know what you think.  If you have seen the film, did you sense the 80s, or am I crazy?  Have at it!

(Moved from FB - February 3, 2012)

Dr. Who - Desktop Patrol Dalek

This is not a review of Dr. Who.  For now, all I will say on that subject is that you should be watching it.  Start with ninth doctor, Christopher Eccleston.  You'll be thankful you did.  Anyway, tonight, we are gathered here to talk about the desktop patrol dalek.  It's a little robot that strolls around the desk, patrolling.  I'm sure if he finds the doctor, he'll exterminate him.  Until then, he's keeping my desk safe.  Actually, I'm pretty sure he's just looking for the doctor.

He came in a nifty little box, which I saved because I'm crazy like that.  They had him screwed into the cardboard, which I think was a little overkill.  I understand they are afraid he will escape, but screwing him to the packing materials was a little much.  After fighting with the cardboard, I finally pried him free.  

Unfortuantely, that was not that last of my troubles.  There is a tiny little screw on his back that must be removed to insert the three AAA batteries, which were not included.  After getting my handy dandy screwdriver from my pink tool bag, it took me almost five minutes to get the top of the dalek off.  Even worse, I didnt' actually get the screw out.  It refused to come out all the way, and I was afraid of breaking my new toy.  

When I finally had him disassembled, I inserted the three batteries using their less than spectacular diagram.  I stitched him back up, and flipped him over to find the power button.  You can have him patrol with or without sound.  I chose sound, as it was his inaugeral run.  There was some debris on the desk from his packaging.  Although the packaging promised he would never fall off the desk, he immediately did so.  Apparently, having small debris throws off his sensors and makes him suicidal.  He thought he could fly...they can do that, ya know?

I really like my little dalek guy.  He is red, which I think means he goes faster than the other versions.  While the sound of his little, spinning wheels would probably get annoying pretty quick, he is fun in small bursts.  The fact that he constantly calls out "Exterminate!" is just icing on the cake.  If you are a Dr. Who fan, pick up one of these little guys.  Even if you don't have him moving around, he looks pretty cool.  He looks good with my other merchandise.  Currently, I am awaiting a t-shirt that says "Regenerate and carry on".  I'm considering a trip to England to see the Dr. Who exhibit.  I believe it just moved to Cardiff....

(Moved from FB - February 2, 2012)

Television Shopping

Tonight's review is somewhat unique and calls for a different sort of tone.  This, as you may recognize, is one of my daily reviews, which I write for myself and for you.  I invite you, if you dare, to come with me, because in tonight's review, Mark is the star.  And this review travels directly to...the Twilight Zone.  Actually, it travels to Sam's Club.  See, before I can get into this review, I owe you a bit of an explanation.  Mark's birthday is coming up, and I gave him the ability to choose his gift from a few I had pre-selected.  

Mark's Options:

     Puppy/Rescue Dog

     Kindle Fire

     iPad

     Television

Thus far, the puppy had been winning out.  All of a sudden, Mark had a moment where he realized dogs are a lot of work.  Guess what isn't a lot of work?  A television.  Thus began our Sam's Club adventure.  

Buying a tv at Sam's Club is not a pleasant experience.  First of all, the tvs are organized by size.  This makes it convenient when you know what size tv you want, but do you know how hard it is to get a good idea how big they are when they are set up like that?  You have a long row of tvs, one behind the other.  It doesn't help that they have such high ceilings in there, as it makes the tvs seem smaller.  You can't get a good idea of how it will measure up in your home because there is no reference point.  

We had thought we had decided what we wanted.  Mark had a few specs he was sure of.  He didn't want a plasma television because they're not as bright.  He demanded it be 120 Hz; anything less was unacceptable.  Of course, 1080 p was also a must.  He requested it be larger than our current tv, which is a proud 42" monster that has a power button that only works half the time.   I didn't have too many demands.  I knew what I was comfortable spending, but that was really my only input.

The problem with Sam's Club having so many tvs is that you are constantly finding one you like a little bit more that is a little bit more expensive.  When you're already spending so much, what's another hundred dollars?  I mean, how often do you buy a television?  It's thoughts like that which caused us to walk out spending twice what I had budgeted.  

See, Mark and I had decided on a 47" LED television to replace our living room tv.  Unfortunately, Mark found a 55" that was technically in our price range.  It came with wireless connectivity; that means I wouldn't need the cord running across my living room to the XBox and PS3 to run my Netflix.  That, combined with the larger size, seemed like a good idea.  Then, I realized it was an LCD, rather than and LED.  What does that mean, you ask?  It has to do with how the tv is lit and how the picture appears.  It wasn't apparent what the actual difference was until I saw an LCD tv and an LED tv, sitting about eight inches apart, front to back.  See, one of the young men Mark works with had compiled awesome trailers and plays them on the clearance tvs.  I was treated to a trailer that featured a lot of black.  You could see a marked difference between the two tvs, with the LED looking 100% better.  This is bad.

How can richer colors be bad you ask?  It's bad when it makes me demand an LED television.  To get the LED version of the 55" tv, we would have to double our budget.  Was that possible?  Yeah, but I didn't want to do it.  Suddenly, I had a slew of demands.  I was less concerned with the size of the tv.  I wanted an LED tv with wireless connectivity.  To make us both happy, since Mark was concerned with size (tee hee), we went with the bigger, double budget tv.  

In summation, buying a television is a horrible experience.  You think you can just go and buy whichever one is the right size and looks good.  Unfortunately, there are so many stats for tvs that buying one becomes difficult, especially when Sam's is kind enough to have such a vast assortment.  If you decide to buy a tv, feel free to call Mark, as he can explain all of it to you.  He can explain what each stat means and how it will impact your television viewing experience.  Heck, after going through all this, I can explain it too.

(Moved from FB - February 1, 2012)

TBonz

If you look at my reviews, you will find they tend to be positive.  There are a couple that are less than glowing, but I don't believe there are any that are downright negative.  Today, that changes.  Today, I made the mistake of eating at TBonz for lunch.  It is a mistake that I shall not be repeating.

We were a little cramped for time at lunch today.  We didn't have time to head home for lunch, so we decided to hit TBonz, as they have $5 lunch specials.  We were seated a minute or two after entering, which was nice.  We decided to figure out our order before our server arrived, which was easy, as we were not greeted in a timely manner.  When the gentleman finally appeared, we explained that we were on lunch.  We both ordered sandwiches, well done, and an appetizer of fried pickles.  For some reason, I just love fried pickles all of a sudden.  No, I'm not pregnant.

Anyway, we requested that he enter our entire order in at the same time, as we were pressed for time.  He said no problem and went to get our drinks.  Shortly thereafter, he provided us with our drinks and some amazing bread.  The bread was the only good thing about our meal.  The pickles came a few minutes later.  They weren't bad, but they weren't as good as the ones I have had at other establishments.  The server stopped by to make sure they were okay and to let us know he had put in the order for our sandwiches as soon as the pickles came out.  In case you missed it earlier, we asked him to enter it all in at the same time.

Luckily, it didn't take too much longer before our entrees arrived.  Each sandwich came with fries, which were old and very much not hot.  I tried to pick out a few that were not hard to eat.  I do not believe Mark ate any of his.  I had a few bites of my burger before declaring it burnt.  I have been to many a restaurant where they understand that well done does not mean charred.  I usually order my steaks medium, but I like my burgers well done.  This was probably the worst $10 burger I have had in a long time.  See, because I was craving a burger, I didn't order off of the lunch specials menu.  

Mark had a sandwich that came with turkey, rib-eye, and bacon.  The rib-eye portion was burnt.  Mark ate a few bites then declared it unworthy.  Speaking of unworthy, I don't really feel that a single slice of cheese should be a dollar extra for on a burger.  Granted, I saw that message on the menu and decided to order it anyway, but it was definately a regular piece of american cheese.  I can get a whole pack for a couple of dollars, so a buck for one slice is a little insulting.

The server popped over to drop off our bill, mentioning that he knew we were on lunch and was trying to help us out.  That would be find and good except he did not come back to run our payment!  After almost five minutes, another employee came by to see if we needed anything, perhaps some plates removed.  I asked him to take our payment, which he passed off to our server.  

Our server brought the bill back, with my credit slip to sign.  That would have went better if he had given me a pen, as well.  I don't always carry a purse, but I had one today with a pen in it, luckily.  While I was trying to decide how much of a tip to leave, he came back by to see if I we needed anything else.  He asked if we wanted to drinks, and I asked if we could get them to go.  He said that was fine and went to get them.  I decided to tip him an extra dollar, putting the tip well over 20%, after tax.  

He came back a couple minutes later, asking if I needed a pen to sign the check.  I told him that I grabbed one out of my purse and was fine.  He thanked us and told us to have a nice day.  We waited a few more minutes, just in case he was going to bring us the drinks he offered.  After a couple minutes, I decided he wasn't coming back.  I then reduced his tip by a dollar and change.

Now, Mark and I are pretty good tippers.  It is rare that we tip less than 20%, as we have both waited tables, but the poor service and terrible food was unacceptable.  If you find yourself in the Myrtle Beach area, stay away from TBonz.  This was my second trip in the last couple months that was bad, with no good trips mixed throughout.  That says to me that it is the status quo there, not a fluke.

(Moved from FB - January 31, 2012)

Miyabi

I should preface this review by saying that it is less of a review and more of a sploosh fest about the greatness that is Miyabi.  See, I first ate there after Mark and I had only been dating for about a month, if that.  We had come down to Myrtle Beach to visit his sister and see his whole family, who was also visiting.  At that time, I didn't have an adventurous bone in my body when it came to food, so I was really nervous about dinner there.  I did not need to worry, as it is still my favorite place to get Japanese hibachi.  It has pretty much spoiled any other place dealing in that cuisine for me.  I don't even care for the hibachi place located in the Japan pavilion at Epcot on Disney property.  For me, that is saying a lot.

Tonight, as it was a bit late when we entered the restaurant.  We didn't even have time to admire the entrance area, including the beautifully painted ceiling, as we were immediately led to a table.  It took a while for someone to greet us, but we passed the time chatting.  It turns out that Miyabi had a new special we were unaware of before.  You could get dinner for two for our $26.  They offered four different combinations, so we were debating what to get.  By the time the server showed up, we were ready to order.  We decided on the ribeye with hibachi chicken, which was made with lemon and butter, rather than teriyaki sauce.  

Eventually two gentlemen were seated at the far end of the table from us.  Because it was a slow night, we were the only people at our table, just the four of us.  Mark and I enjoyed our onion broth soup, or whatever they officially call it.  I had the salad with ranch, while Mark opted for the ginger dressing.  Both the soup and salads were excellent.  My salad could have used more dressing, but that's just me nitpicking.  I ate the salad just fine with the provided dressing.

Both our server and chef were spot on.  He provided an entertaining show that was maybe a bit quieter due to fewer patrons, but he didn't skimp on the usual tricks.  He made all the awesomely corny jokes and made the onion volcano!  Our food was excellent.  I am in love with the rice made on the hibachi table.  It is a fact of life.  As such, I always order extra rice, even though I can't finish what they give me in the first place.  Sometimes, the chefs will scrape up the rice that is a little burnt and give it to me.  The chef tonight didn't do that, hence earning my approval of awesome.  Our server did a great job, never letting me run out of Sprite.  That may not sound impressive, but it is a feat.  My family tends to drink a lot, not alchoholic beverages, mind you.  We focus on water and pop (or soda, if you prefer).

Usually, we get the chicken done teriyaki style.  Tonight's adventure in chicken, where we try hibachi chicken, was interesting.  The chicken was of higher quality, but the flavor was not what we would have preferred.  In the future, we will go back to our teriyaki chicken.  Also, I don't like shrimp.  To be fair for my review, I decided to try the shrimp, which I have only done one other time.  I'm sure it is cooked splendidly, but I just don't like shrimp.  I had a small bite then foisted the rest off onto Mark.  As usual, our steak was tender and flavorful.  Hooray for ribeyes.  All in all, Miyabi knows how to cook their proteins.

Will I go back to Miyabi?  I sure hope so.  Perhaps I will go next week with some awesome people who may be in town....  For those of you visiting Myrtle Beach or already living here, the dinner for two specials will run until the end of March.  Also, Miyabi will be closed on Super Bown Sunday.  Apparently, that's not a big hibachi day.  

If you haven't tried Miyabi, you are missing out.  It is the best hibachi I have ever had.  If you don't wanna go alone, give Mark and I a call.  We will gladly accompany you.

(Moved from FB - January 30, 2012)

Robin Hood (2006 BBC)

Netflix decided to serve me up Robin Hood this evening.  Running on BBC starting in 2006, it appears the entire series is available on Netflix.  I have watched the first episode and am starting the second one.  At this point, I don't know if I'll be watching the entire series.

The first episode offers nothing new.  If you're going to do a version of Robin Hood, you have two choices.  You can do it extremely well, or you can give it a different spin, a different focus.  This show is not exceptionally done, so it seems they are going for a more humorous take on the classic character.

When I say the show is not well done, I do not mean it is not a good show, but it looks like a nerdy larper got the opportunity to make a Robin Hood show.  As such, it kind of comes off like Krull, only about Robin Hood.  The music, props, and cinematography are incredibly campy.  Once you accept these facts and are not bothered by them, you can give the show a shot.

The story seems to be getting better, but the camp factor is not diminishing at all.  If you don't mind the terrible cgi arrow shots, you may find the story interesting.  You could also drink heavily.

(Moved from FB - January 29, 2012)

Game of Thrones

Last spring, I was smart enough to watch Game of Thrones on HBO.  Sometimes, I would catch the same episode later in the week.  The show was so good, that I could re-watch it just days later.  As a matter of fact, I believe I saw the finale at least three times.  Well, I decided to watch the finale again tonight.  Winter is coming, as is the next season on April 1st, I believe.  I figured it was as good a time as any to refresh my memory.

The show is as good as I remember, if not better.  I had planned to watch the show and play Words With Friends on my Kindle.  Turns out I couldn't do that; I had to sit and watch the show...not because I couldn't follow it but because it demands the viewer's attention.  Game of Thrones presents you with a perfect hour of television.  

Let's start with the casting.  Each of the actors is wonderful in their roles.  Even actors whom I did not care for in early episodes improve.  Initially, I did not care for Sansa or Joffrey.  It turns out, I wasn't supposed to.  As the series progressed, I came to understand Sansa, and I learned Joffrey was a dick.  Sorry to use that kind of language, but it is an apt description.  You can not watch the first season and deny it.  My favorite casting choice is by far Peter Dinklage as Tryion, which I believe the entire world agrees with me on.

Without a good story, great casting means nothing.  Fortunately, George R. R. Martin crafted intriguing novels, which are being adapted.  I have read the majority of the first novel, and the series follows it very closely.  Setting a precedent where no character is safe is unusual.  By the way, if you haven't seen all of the first season, you should stop reading now.  I'm not going to flat out state spoilers, but I am about to allude to them.  Shows that are brave enough to kill off a leading character played by a known actor are few and far between.  Doctor Who, a show that has done that, still keeps the character around, just in another form.  It is brave to make such a drastic change to a show when it is working.  I'm talking about Game of Thrones again, by the way, not Doctor Who.

The only complaint I have heard regarding Game of Thrones is the amount of nudity in the show.  It just doesn't bother me.  There is no reason the sight of a nude form should offend.  If it does bother you, you should still watch Game of Thrones.  Just avert your eyes, as necessary.

The hardest decision I face now is whether or not to read the books before the series.  I truly believe Game of Thrones is in the top five shows on television right now; it may even be number one.  If you haven't watched it, you can find it on HBO on demand.  The entire season is currently on there.  You have about two months to get caught up.  Get to it.

(Moved from FB - January 28, 2012)