Toastypanda

[Wiki] [IMDB] [RottenTomatoes]

I’ll keep it short and to preface, I love superhero movies. Especially well done ones. Iron Man rocked, and the Hulk does pretty well for itself.

I never saw the Ang Lee version, so I don’t have anything specific to say about that comparison. Apparently everyone else has the sentiment that the new one is better.

The movie didn’t blow me out of the water like Iron Man did. Maybe its because of the story and less of the movie. Tony Stark wanted to be Iron Man and you wanted to relish with him the sweet feeling of throwing terrorists around with repulsor rays. Bruce Banner, on the other hand, hates the Hulk and want’s nothign to do with it. Its just offputting to see someone with a gift deny its full potential.

Its not like the Hulk doesn’t get to show off. He smashes. A lot. That was done well. I also liked the pseudo love storyline and the tie-ins with the Avenger’s movie. They even mention the super-soldier project (yes, I am a comic nerd).

Conclusion: Go see it on the big screen so when the Avengers comes out you won’t have regrets for not seeing Hulkie smash shit in surround sound.

[IMDB] [Wiki] [RottenTomatoes]

I’m going to break my rules and go out of order of planned posts just to say this movie sucked. Awesome concept, though. I really was psyched to see it. The idea of teleporting and the special effects in the trailers looked promising. It must have slipped my mind that Hayden Christensen is a horrible actor.

Hayden’s acting isn’t the only thing flawed in this movie. The whole script is written so that each character lacks some pretty basic common sense. I was astonished at most everyone’s actions during the whole movie. Character royally fuck up when it could have been avoided by communication or less melodrama. Characters also seem to take inopportune times to express their feelings.

I’m not that vocal of a movie watcher, but this movie prompted me to yell at the characters. It wasn’t the good kind of connecting with the characters yelling, but rather pure frustration at their actions. The script also takes for granted that you can piece together specific information about the jumper’s ability to follow “jump scars”, which I did, but could see some people being confused.

The only upside is Samuel L. Jackson, who is bad ass as always. I can’t be mad at his character. He was supposed to portray a BAMF, and he did.

In summary- don’t see unless its free. It’s not even superhero-ish enough that I would recommend it to someone who likes superhero movies.

[Wiki] [IMDB] [RottenTomatoes]

I decided to add in Rotten Tomatoes into my linkage of film reviews.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was another 2 dollar movie at the Byrd. In short- it was good, but with too much penis. The penis thing didn’t really bother me that much, I just wish it was balanced out with something from the females of the cast.

The story was actually very well crafted with some shock moments and generally good humor (of the non slapstick kind). If you have ever gone through a tough breakup, this is a movie to see. It has a lot of the same actors that he uses in all his movies, but its nice to see familiar faces.

Good movie- go see, but not with a girl who you think is going to break up with you. Or maybe thats the ideal girl to take, so she sees what a mess it is. Plus it has Marshall Erikson from How I Met Your Mother as the main character, Milla Kunis as the sexy receptionist love interest, and Kristin Bell as the ex. What more could you ask for?

[wiki] [IMDB]

I’m going to try to leave out my biased non homosexual mancrush on Ryan Reynolds out of this review, but to put it simply: this movie is awesome.

It is actually! Its like a movie version of the show How I Met Your Mother [wiki][IMDB], which I mentioned in an earlier post. The story is that Ryan Reynold’s character, who is currently in the process of getting divorced, is nagged by his daughter into telling him the story of how he met her mother. He puts a spin on it by telling her the story, but changing all the names of the women in it so that the daughter can’t tell who the mother will be.

Its a movie that spans many years (all flashbacks) that leaves you feeling like years have passed since you stepped into the theater and not in a bad way; it just takes you deep into the story and you feel like you grow up as much as the main character does. I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone who will see the movie on dvd, but it doesn’t have a fairy tail ending, which is refreshing. Its a good movie that does a bang up job in making you feel good at the end. I definitely walked out feeling like the world had possibilities and the road we choose to walk down actually has meaning. Regardless of my pseudo insight in the last sentence- go see the movie. Its good.

Ryan Reynolds also is my hero for marrying Scarlett Johanson. He also has a 6 pack.

The Byrd Theater is located on Cary St. close to the end of Carytown. It’s a historical landmark theater that has been converted into a $2 movie theater. Movies that are about to come out on DVD pass through here and if you have the time and some spare change, you should definitely take the time to catch up on those movies you missed in big theaters.

[Official Site]

[Wikipedia Entry]

Note: guys- be careful about the urinals in their bathrooms. They stretch all the way to the floor if you don’t stand far back, your toes get splashed on…..just fyi.

Here is a short review of the movie 21 (which I saw at the Bryd Theater for 2 dollars!).

21 is a movie based off a book called Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich about card counting in the game of blackjack. It’s also one of those “college kid gets the world handed to him on a platter but fucks it up and has to redeem himself” movie. If you like those kind of movies, then this is for you. If you are looking for something deeper (or looking for a card counting tutorial), look somewhere else. It’s a teen/young adult movie that has taps into the dreams of everyone’s greedy side because the characters make ridiculous amounts of money ridiculously fast.

Despite its departure from the book on many occasions, I found the movie enjoyable. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t looking for a deep movie, just a way to kill an evening or maybe it’s because it only cost me $2, either way, it was good.

Now, if you could only choose one or the other- book or movie? Read the book. It’s worth it and it’s also a quick read.

Had the chance to eat here 3 times since arriving in Richmond. It’s a great place to eat if you are perusing around Carytown (Cary st. around where it starts as a 1 lane road). Its located right in the middle, so dining there is a good plan if you plan to hop over to the Bryd Theater or chill at the bars later that night.

I cannot stress the “diner” feel of it. Granted, I didn’t grow up in the 50’s (or whenever diner’s were popular), but I can definitely imaging that this is how a diner is supposed to feel like. The whole restaurant is a long hallway, with a bar in the front and a long wall separating the rows of booths from the kitchen in the back. The “galaxy” part of the Galaxy Diner is what it sounds like. The whole place is decked out in a space theme. From the vintage sci-fi movie posters to the space themed names of the dishes, it works well.

On to the food. The first time I ate there, I ordered the black and blue tuna steak sandwich, the second time i ordered the Aztec burger, and the third was chicken bruchetta. All of the food was good. The tuna steak sandwich is my favorite so far. It was seared tuna spiced just right very similar to the way my father makes it (he doesn’t sandwichify it though). The aztec burger was equally good, with avacado and feta (or blue?) cheese. Chicken bruchetta was good, but not as good as the firsts. The dishes are bold and for the price of $9, its not bad since you get 2 sides. Sides choices include fries, mac and cheese, coleslaw, applesauce, and some other quirky ones. Stay away from the cucumber salad. I ordered it, but it was way too sour to enjoy (thats something my father makes well). The whole meal is topped off with a fried pickle, which is something I never experienced before but am starting to like.

In summary- good food for a reasonable price and a good location. The atmosphere is enjoyable enough to warrant a return and I am interested in how it fares at night.

Sorry for the delay on new posts. I just moved into a new apartment in Richmond VA where I will be living for the next 3 months while I work at an internship this summer.

I doubt the internet needs another review of Iron Man, but I saw it twice (once with my girlfriend and once with my parents on mother’s day weekend). Plain and simple, I loved it. I might be a huge tech geek and a even bigger comic geek, but I feel it was an enjoyable movie for everyone. My parents found it entertaining and my mom doesn’t know how to work her digital camera and my dad could care less who Nick Fury is (although I made them stay past the credits for that tid bit of awesomeness).

My only complaint (its minor, no worries), is that it could have used more of Iron Man kicking ass. And no, I don’t mean more scenes of him duking it out with the Iron Monger (Stane’s suit). I want like a good solid 10 min of him owning some non armored villains. Some puny humans that he can just stomp and throw around.

If you haven’t already, go see it. Its worth the money.

For mother’s day I returned to Northern Virginia and my family decided to try out this new Middle Eastern restaurant in Tysons II called the Lebanese Taverna. The atmosphere was amazing. I had no idea such a huge restaurant lived in that mall. Between the glass walls and the modern furniture, they kept it the scenery interesting while we ate.

Putting a Lebanese spin on things, the first thing served with drinks was pita bread. They are delicious, but watch out- they are puffy with the heat trapped inside, which can lead to some steam in the face or on hands when opened.

For appetizers, my family shared a Taverna Platter, which was a selection of their most popular appitizer dishes. This is where the pita bread I mentioned before comes in handy. The humus and the cilantro/tomato salsa are exquisite with real simple, but bold flavors (the later especially).

My main dish was a fish gyro off their lunch menu. My father ordered one of their pita pizzas and my sister and mother orders I do not remember. This is where the restaurant fails to impress. Don’t misunderstand, my fish gyro and the slice of my father’s pita pizza was good, but for the price we paid and compared to their appetizers, they failed to shine. The flavors were not as bold. From what I tasted of my mother’s and sister’s dishes, I have the same feeling about what they ordered. Good food, but not spectacular, again, especially in regards to the price (10+). I feel like you can get that kind of meal from a smaller middle eastern sandwich shop.

Desert, however, was extraordinary. We ordered the Turkish coffee cake with pistachio ice cream and some whipped cream. It was amazing how sweet the whipped cream was and how well the pistachio flavor mixed with the cake.

Overall, if you can spend the money, and want a nice place to eat/celebrate, this is a good choice. While the main dishes were by no means bad, I was unimpressed with my main dish. The appetizers and desert were amazing, however, so that might balance out your experience. Aside from the posh atmosphere, I feel like I could go to my local kabob shop and get more bang for my buck…but maybe I am just a poor college student.