No one's got time to read in-depth reviews of everything. '100 Word Reviews' is here so you can know just enough about everything to make an informed decision.
You'll find that all the reviews at '100 Word Reviews' are 100% accurate - on word count, that is - actual opinions may vary.
If you've got anything to say, or something you want me to review, just drop me a line at 100wordreviews.net@gmail.com
Something I’ve loved about Guy Ritchie’s films in the past has been the multi-liner action scenes. You see? I bet you’re already thinking about the end of ‘Lock, Stock’ and humming ‘Zorba, The Greek’. And while ‘RocknRolla’ tries a couple of these, they never capture your attention as much as they should. And while this film has some genuinely funny parts (What would you do for a friend if he was about to go to jail for five years?) it ends up feeling a bit drawn out and boring. I’d go with ‘Layer Cake’ or ‘The Bank Job’ over this.
Tjanabi promotes itself a restaurant that reflects the spirit of Australia. The menu is proof of that, with dishes like emu kabana, crocodile sausages and wallaby fillets. The problem with these dishes is that they seem to be served more for their name than for their flavours. The novelty Australiana strayed into the deserts as well, with a chocolate terrine that was overpowered by lemon myrtle and eucalyptus. It was like having a clip-on koala attached to your tongue. The highlights came when the chefs weren’t trying too hard, such as the pan fried pecorino cheese with rosella and pear.
A while back, I lived in Carlton, so I’d been to Tiamo 2 then. I don’t know whether it has changed or I’ve changed, but it certainly didn’t seem to be as good as I remember. We did turn up a bit late (9.45pm), so that may have contributed to the reticence of the waiters, but we certainly weren’t the last people there. The food was ok – the duck soup had very little duck, and the pizza was quite oily, and I was a little sceptical that the carafe that we received actually contained the same wine that we’d ordered.
Owner Shaheen Bilwani really pushes the “famous people eat here” angle at Fiesta Mexican. There are photos of Lleyton Hewitt, Andree Agassi and Eddie Van Halen dotted around the walls. Maybe big stars are a theme here, as “big” seems to be at the core of everything at Fiesta. They advertise “the biggest margaritas on the planet” and the size of the portions seems to take precedent over the flavours. That’s not to say that the meal wasn’t enjoyable – but don’t try and eat everything like I did, or you’ll end up with the same stomach pain that I had!
While an interesting take on trust, family, identity, and second chances; this movie really didn’t capture my interest. I’d expected a lot, even from the preview alone. Then the awards and nominations left me wondering why I hadn’t seen it earlier. But I still hadn’t until tonight. Maybe it was due to the years spent on my mental movies-to-see list that my expectations weren’t met. Not that it wasn’t a decent movie. It’s just that there were more flaws than expected - unnecessary story arcs, unbelievable character decisions, and my personal peeve, an unrealistic take on mental illness.
I’m not really sure what to think about CJ7. I’m really not sure whether Steven Chow was aiming it at kids or adults. One minute it’s an extraordinary discovery from ‘The Absent Minded Professor’, the next it’s a deep lesson of sacrifice from ‘Life is Beautiful’. If you’re only watching this because you enjoyed Chow’s work on ‘Shaolin Soccer’ and ‘Kung Fu Hustle’, then you might be a bit disappointed. You’ll pick some of the action sequences and jokes, but on the whole this is a very different movie. I’m rating it half way because that’s how it struck me.
