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The Hundred-Foot Journey

September 2, 2014 by HB

We have increasingly become a nation of foodies. Just look at the TV shows on offer – MasterChef, The Taste, My Kitchen Rules, Top Chef, The Great British Bake Off are all cooking shows that are extremely popular now. There are also food related programs like the now defunct No Reservations, Parts Unknown, Kitchen Nightmares, Man vs Food (Nation) and even odes to excess like Epic Meal Empire.

That’s not even counting the craft beer movement which has spawned shows like Dark Horse Nation and Brew Dogs. All this has made Gordon Ramsay, Anthony Bourdain (he was a chef at Les Halles before he became a host), Graham Elliot, Heston Blumenthal and other Michelin Star chefs becoming household names. Hollywood has also increasingly come up with movies featuring food as the primary theme – starting from Chocolat (which was the first movie that caught my attention) to documentaries like Jiro Dreams of Sushi (about the 3 Michelin Star Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo).

I admit that most of the programming I watch nowadays are food-related shows. I’ve also eaten at Michelin-starred establishments from Hong Kong to France and I pre-order The Red Guide from Amazon every year.

france

I went to Paris with my better half earlier this year and the primary reason for our trip was to eat at Michelin-starred (and Bib Gourmand) restaurants. We’re both very interested in food, I even do a little cooking myself. I was amazed at the variety and freshness of produce in France – a lot of which we can’t get here.

joel robuchon

We also cooked during our trip and one of the interesting things we saw in Paris was a line of ready-to-eat meals by the 28 Michelin Star chef Joel Robuchon. This isn’t your average TV dinner but gourmet meals that you can just heat up and eat. There’s even one called Les St Jacques au Noilly & Riz Basmati cuisine. It’s a fusion of Indian and French food and that’s what a really intriguing upcoming film is all about.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a film produced by Stephen Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey with Lasse Hallström as the director. It’s based on a novel about the Kadam family, who came from India to settle in a picturesque quaint village in France to open an Indian restaurant called Maison Mumbai.

oprah hundred foot journey

They run into the chilly chef owner of Le Saule Pleureur (The Weeping Willow), a Michelin-starred classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren) just a hundred feet away and the her protests against the new Indian restaurant threatens to escalate until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine (and also the beautiful sous chef, Marguerite – played by Charlotte Le Bon) combines to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue the small town with flavors of life that even Madame Mallory can’t ignore.

hundred foot journey scenes

At first Madame Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

hundred foot journey stills

The Hundred-Foot Journey abounds with flavors that burst across the tongue. A stimulating triumph over exile, blossoming with passion and heart, it is a portrayal of two worlds colliding and one young man’s drive to find the comfort of home, in every pot, wherever he may be.

hundred foot journey exclusive

It sounds like a wonderful movie, and it’s from the award-winning director of Chocolat! I’ve read stories about the “back of the house” like Kitchen Confidential and this production is something I’m really looking forward to! It has all the elements that makes for a great food related movie, and if you’re interested in cuisine, eating, and theater, you’ll love this production.

Watch the trailer here! Life’s greatest journey begins with the first step. #The100FootJourneyMY

hundred foot journey photos

The Hundred-Foot Journey will be released in theaters on August 28, 2014. For more information, visit http://100footjourneymovie.com. Like the official Facebook page and follow their official Twitter account to interact!

Contest:
Why do you want to watch The Hundred-Foot Journey? Comment on the blog post below and the best answer will win a pair of tickets in season pass to the movie! Please include your email address in your comment (make sure you fill in the Email bit) so I can get in touch with you! 🙂

Watching movies at home…with a pint of ice cream!

September 11, 2013 by HB

ice cream pint

Me and my girlfriend watch a lot of movies at home. It’s nice to be able to eat whatever you want instead of crappy concession stand food. We also eat a lot of ice cream so that has become a weekly tradition – snuggling up in bed with blankets and a pint of ice cream.

Bliss!

concession stand food

It also has a lot of practical upsides – we can pause the movie whenever we want to go to the toilet or keep an eye out on whatever’s cooking on the stove. Another common reason to pause a movie midway is to put the ice cream back in the freezer and take a different flavored pint out. Haha!

You just can’t do that in cinemas.

Of course, cinemas are great for big budget releases that you want to watch in IMAX but those are few and far in between. The last summer action flick we watched was Star Trek Into Darkness. We haven’t been to a theatre since!

escape

I speak of this coz there’s an awesome new entertainment portal out, aptly called ESCAPE. It not only offers the latest Hollywood movies but also a whole online library full of Korean, Hindi, Indonesian and local releases. I checked it out and it’s become our favorite way to enjoy movies at home – all from just RM 0.80 per hour!

rent iron man 3

Even blockbusters like Iron Man 3 (with a production budget of USD 200 million) is there for your viewing pleasure at any time for just RM 9.

That’s less than a movie ticket (for one) and you can enjoy it with as many people as you can.

the little nyonya

ESCAPE not only offers movies though – there’s TV series like The Little Nyonya, live events, live news and even concerts!

featured movies

The method of browsing is very intuitive too – it’s sorted by genre so you can find the movie that you like easily. There’s also comments (and related titles) on the bottom so you can see what the movie is all about before watching it.

movie chat

However, the *best* thing about ESCAPE is that you can view it across multiple platforms! There’s a lot of times when we couldn’t finish watching a movie coz one of us is sleepy. Now, you can start watching a movie on your home computer or laptop and continue the next day on your tablet or cell phone! The app is a free download to boot!

kl gangster exclusive

That’s right – ESCAPE is compatible with Windows, iOS, Android and MacOS! There’s none of that clicking-to-guess-where-we-left-off nonsense either – the Pause & Play feature automatically saves where you last paused your selected movie and you can continue watching the same movie seamlessly…even on *another* device!

Yup, that’s Pause & Play – now you never have to miss your favorite show or guess which scene you last watched!

featured

I find this to be absolutely perfect for my needs as we usually watch our movies late at night with thick blankets around us on the bed while eating ice cream. However, if you prefer watching it on a bigger screen, you can always use the HDMI or A/V output on your notebook to connect to a large screen LCD TV!

No long lines at the cinema. No one telling you you can’t eat the food you want while you watch a movie. You can wear whatever you want. The world of entertainment in your hands sounds right!

I think it’s an awesome trend – I can select whatever movie I want to watch from a massive online library and it automatically gets deducted from my Celcom account. Escape is exclusively for Celcom subscribers so check it out at www.ESCnow.com!

3 things I did in the past week

July 19, 2012 by HB

I’ve been sick the past couple of days and now that I’m feeling better, here’s 3 things I did last week! 🙂

1. Got on a talk show on Bernama Radio 24

bernama radio 24

This is an interview with Gerald during the 9:30 pm slot. I was at Bernama’s studio on the 5th floor and appeared on air for roughly 40 minutes.

gerald radio 24

I didn’t know where the time went! I expected it to be quite long and started talking and before I knew it, 40 minutes has passed. Heh.

radio 24 bernama

I also met Jun Sern (tall guy at far right), the man in charge of the English segment and bumped into Nadia (blue tee), who’s the first person I met in Malaysia who knows who NOFX is. 🙂

2. Spoke at Nuffnang Blogopolis Malaysia 2012

nuffnang blogopolis speaker

Nuffnang was kind enough to ask me to speak at Nuffnang Blogopolis Malaysia 2012.

nuffnang blogopolis malaysia

It’s the first one in Malaysia and it was held at Concorde Hotel.

hui wen

My fellow speaker is none other than Hui Wen – last time I bumped into her was in Singapore so it’s good to be on stage and talking to everyone with her.

nuffnang blogopolis speaking

It was also the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, that’s another thing done from the bucket list. 😉

3. Watched The Dark Knight Rises Preview Screening

dark knight rises preview screening

I’ll not spoil this movie for you but it’s an awesome conclusion to Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which is much darker than the previous Batman movies. I preferred the second one with The Joker but this final iteration wrapped up all the loose ends nicely and it’s a very long movie – about two and half hours!

the dark knight rises preview

I was hoping there will be a post-credits scene or trailer but we waited and there was none. This is the grand finale of the Nolan trilogy and it’s awesome!

I just watched it a couple of hours ago and I can’t wait to re-watch it – this time in IMAX! 🙂

Movie Review: Watchmen

March 16, 2009 by HB

watchmen-final-poster

Watchmen is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. I caught it last night with a couple of co-workers at GSC, 1 Utama. The trailer did not impress me; I’ll have to be honest. We went for that movie coz Race to Witch Mountain (I know, don’t ask) was sold out.

Unlike most other superhero movies, Watchmen is set in the past – during the Cold War period between the US and the USSR. It’s dark, gritty and realistic. The “superheroes” do not have “powers” per se – with the exception of Dr. Manhattan. They rely on armed and unarmed combat (mostly the latter) to defeat their foes. Perhaps vigilantes would be a better term to describe this group of believable superheroes.

Watchmen also gives us a glimpse into the everyday lives of the superheroes – they are just as fucked up as we are, if not more. We have an alcoholic who can’t let go of her glorious past as a superhero and we learn that most of the original Watchmen (Minutemen) are either dead (some due to their personal debaucheries – one female character was murdered in a what looks like a lesbian S&M scene) or in asylums. One character had to prostitute herself to make ends meet.

My favourite character in the movie is without a doubt Rorschach. His character is named after the Rorschach inkblot test and he is a man incapable of compromise – a sociopath if I’ve ever seen one. He’s idealistic in his own way and sees the world in black and white – no shades of gray.

The end of the movie is a classic example of pragmatism – the end justifies the means.

Rorschach would have none of it though.

He stands up for what he believes is right.

It’s like an adult version of The Incredibles.

Rating: 5/5

Quantum of Solace

November 9, 2008 by HB

gsc bond

I went to watch the latest 007 in GSC Mid Valley yesterday, and it’s every bit as good as everyone says. I prefer Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s premiere as a slightly awkward MI6 agent, but Quantum of Solace is the film that really showcases his talents as the troubled, misunderstood James Bond.

I love Daniel Craig (in a strictly heterosexual way) and there is much character development in the latest movie that explores the Bond character much more than the “suave devil-may-care playboy” one-sided portrayal in the previous incarnations. Daniel Craig shows his emotions and sets the background to the persona he (or rather Bond) later becomes.

gsc bond stout

It’s well worth the RM 80 I paid for Gold Class tickets at GSC (RM 40 per person for an exclusive viewing experience). Best enjoyed with caramel popcorn and a pint of Guinness.

gsc toilet

P/S – I come from ulu ulu Sarawak so I found the GSC Gold Class lounge to be very the canggih. Even the toilets have this nifty red button you can push to dispense a brand new seat liner for maximum hygiene purposes.

Impressive!

The Mummy 3 – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Press Screening

July 31, 2008 by HB

mummy 3 us

I went to the Mummy 3 press screening at GSC, Midvalley at the ungodly hour of 9:45 am with Timothy, Samantha and Cynthia on Tuesday. It was held a day before the premiere and two days before the official release date. I haven’t been to a press screening before, cheers to Nuffnang for that coz I’m a huge fan of movies.

mummy 3 deposit

The interesting bit about press screenings is that you have to insert your cell phone and digicam into this envelope thing (with an attached ID) so no cell phones are allowed in the theater itself.

mummy 3

Anyway, we got a Mummy 3 press kit with a text insert containing the list of credits and other filming anecdotes as well as a CD Press Kit with goodies like photos, production notes and the trailer and other information. I found it quite interesting to read, it’s not just the standard plot guidelines but experiences about the difficulties of filming in China and other behind the scenes stuff. The press screening also comes with a free drink and popcorn voucher.

mummy 3 press kit

I was looking forward to the Mummy 3 movie coz I’ve watched the first two and found the franchise highly entertaining. It’s nice to be one of the first to watch the movie. Brandon Fraser is back and he’s as good as ever even though he seems to be trying too hard to be funny in some of the scenes.

I loved the plot about The Dragon Emperor which is (very) loosely based on mythology behind the terracotta warrior statues in China. Unfortunately, I had a rather late night the previous night and the sleep deprivation compounded by the extremely cold air conditioning and dark atmosphere of the GSC cinema made me very sleepy (and I have a very strong suspicion that I actually had a couple of microsleeps ;)).

It’s not due to the movie though, The Mummy 3 was great and it has a great plot twist in the beginning and ends well with the standard happy ending that the series is renowned for. It’s a feel good popcorn (caramel, not salted) movie that makes for another great addition to the Mummy franchise.

Jet Li’s character is great, and although he doesn’t have a lot of dialog, his on screen presence fits the character well. He’s menacing and in command. However, it was Isabella Leong’s performance that steals the show. I felt that there was no on screen chemistry between Luke Ford and Isabella Leong but she just has the poise and grace for this particular character (with a slight peppering of melancholy).

Mummy 3 is now showing in cinemas nationwide.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull

May 26, 2008 by HB

ksp indy tickets

Our office’s social club has organized a movie day at King’s Cineplex last night at 7 pm for a screening of the latest Indiana Jones. I had a baby shower, the company’s social club quarterly movie day plus a friend’s birthday to go to yesterday so I didn’t have time to blog. It only cost us RM 2 for a ticket. It was heavily subsidized by both our company’s social club and the King’s management so these events are very popular with the staff. Usual tickets cost RM 9.

indiana jones

Look at his long…er, cranium.
Indiana Jones 4 (Indiana Jones and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull) is a throughly enjoyable adventure movie. You’ll know what to expect if you’ve seen the Indiana Jones franchise during your youth on TV. It can be predictable, and one particular coworker calls it “absurd”, but it’s an action adventure flick at it’s very best. It does require a certain suspension of disbelief to enjoy the movie. The lead character is neither supposed to be hit by a spray of bullets nor kick the bucket from his death defying stunts. It’s supposed to be a summer popcorn flick so switch off your brain and go watch Indy get carried off by giant ants! Just kidding, no spoilers here. Go Spielberg!

P/S – I just came back from an impromptu overnight trip to Sarikei. I started driving at 4 am in the morning and only got back here at 6 am in the morning. I will be posting up the backlogs later when I get home from work, Sandman willing. 😉

Guide to killing boredom in between jobs

September 12, 2006 by HB

guide watch movie

I have had a new found freedom during the period since I resigned from Huygens Asia and before my work in Sibu and I have capitalized on this freedom to do stuff which brings me glee, like going to watch the movies at 3:15 pm. 😉

guide monster house

It feels like I’m playing hooky from work when I’m actually not. I went to watch Monster House yesterday with Joanne. It’s actually a pretty fun thing to do to kill boredom in between jobs.

guide popcorn

Just add popcorn. 😉

P/S – I’ve gained a staggering 10 kgs on Remeron, putting me at 70 kg instead of my usual 60 kg now. I’m going to go on phentermine when I go back to Sibu to bring it back down to the usual weight coz I don’t like carrying excess weight around.

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Elektra the movie

January 23, 2005 by HB

elektra banner

I caught Elektra during the weekend with a bunch of friends. I
didn’t plan on going to the cineplex, but we just happened to pass by
and decided to catch a movie. The only one showing was Elektra (12:30
am). I am familiar with Jennifer Garner from Alias Season One and Two
(which I watched back to back, while stoned most of the time).

elektra merchandise

The popcorn and snacks bar had a showcase of Elektra merchandise –
there was a beanie with “Elektra” on it, the cuff that Jennifer Garner
wears as Elektra in the movie on her right arm (RM 69.90) and a cell
phone Dangly Thing (TM) going for RM 20. I was attracted to it for some
reason. I can’t explain it, I have never bought those things and didn’t
think I ever would.

elektra snack bar

I was wrong. Can I be excused on the grounds that I wasn’t sober at
that time? :p I bought the Elektra cell phone dangly thing and affixed
it to my cell phone right there on the snack bar. I had so much trouble
coz I didn’t know where to affix it (never had one, remember?), so it
took the better part of 5 minutes and a friend together with the
counter girl to help me.

elektra box

I had a better look at it just now – it’s enclosed in a box with the Elektra logo on all four sides…

elektra box marvel

…and the Marvel and 20th Century Fox logo on the opening side.

elektra second look

The cell phone dangly thing itself is the standard string affixed
accessory that fits most cell phones. It’s made of solid stainless
steel and has two nifty parts that allows it some degree of movement.
One side has the Elektra logo…

elektra marvel embossed

elektra dangly thing

Thus, I found myself in possession of a cell phone dangly thing.
It’s not that bad though, I found it rather useful for the times you
put it in your side pocket – the metal rod can hang out and allow easy
“pull” retrieval of the cell phone. Nifty.

elektra movie

Oh, and Elektra the movie? It sucked. But hey, it had Jennifer Garner in it, so it didn’t suck that hard.

OMG, the warnings are all true! My IQ dropped the instant I bought a cell phone dangly thing!