RAVE - The Whistleblower

I've seen some reviews of this film where the writers have expressed outrage over the sex trafficking that's portrayed; not the portrayal exactly, but the fact that it went on during and after the war in Bosnia. 

Now, I don't know what kind of coverage was given to that war here in the USA (I was living in England at the time), but when the daily news was of massacres, ethnic cleansing, and other atrocities perpetrated in the name of war, it seems naive to be surprised that other inhumanities (like prostitution, and trafficking) were to be found later.

Based on a true story, this was a suitably dour movie, with no attempt to make a thriller out of it. Amo even thought it was documentary-like, and I saw what he meant.

So, definitely not a date movie, but then who takes their date to the cruddy little projection rooms at the Opera Plaza? Oh, me.

It may be somewhat inappropriate in the context of the film's subject matter for me to mention that Mrs. Craig (Weisz married Bond, James Bond recently) is hotter than molten lava, but there, I've said it now. Shoot me.

RANT - Salty Myth

I rarely comment on health topics, usually because they're dull. But, I do like salt, and I know it's bad for me, so this item in today's New York Times caught my attention.

 

Really? The Claim: Sea Salt Is Lower in Sodium Than Table Salt

THE FACTS

Recently, the American Heart Association surveyed 1,000 people nationwide about their thoughts on sodium and heart health. Sixty one percent said that they believed sea salt was a low-sodium alternative to table salt.

They can be forgiven for thinking so. Sea salt is marketed as a health food, added to soups, potato chips and a wide variety of packaged snacks labeled “low sodium,” “all natural” and “healthy.”

But in reality, sea salt and table salt are not terribly different, at least chemically. The real differences are in how the two are used in cooking.

Table salt comes from underground salt deposits. Companies that sell it typically add an anti-caking agent to keep it from clumping, as well as iodine, an essential nutrient. During processing, table salt is stripped of many of its natural minerals.

Sea salt, on the other hand, is made from evaporated seawater. With little processing, it retains most of its magnesium, calcium and other minerals, which some cooks say give it a better flavor.

But both contain the same amount of sodium chloride by weight, which means they contribute equally to total sodium consumption and have the same effect on blood pressure.

Officials recommend that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equivalent to a teaspoon of salt. You should eat less if you are black, hypertensive or older than 40. Yet most Americans consume more than double the amount they need, mostly from processed foods, so it is best to limit salt — of any kind.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Sea salt is no lower in sodium than table salt.

RAVE - Point Blank

In my single-handed quest to get my friends and family to see more foreign-language films, I trudged out tonight to see the truly outstanding Point Blank, a French story about a male nurse whose wife is abducted in order to persuade him to get a criminal out of the hospital where we works.

I've often tried to distill the essence from foreign-language movies - work out what exactly it is that makes them pound-for-pound (euro for euro, or maybe kilo for kilo?) better than their Hollywood equivalents.

Maybe it's that extra bit of concentration needed to follow the story, and the subtitles. Or maybe it's that they're no so annoyingly obvious in the way they're constructed. Whatever it is, this one's a corker.

RANT - Religious Politicians

Does this country create dipsh*t politicians, or just attract them? 

Sure to be a repeated presence on Bill Maher's weekly list of stupid campaigners, Republican Michele Bachmann today trumped her "Dumbest things I've said" list by claiming that God sent last weekend's hurricane in order to chastise the US government for over spending. 

The bubbling septic tank of BS was joined by equally stinky radio host Glenn Beck who described the hurricane — which has already killed at least 25 people and caused $billions in damage — as a “blessing” because it will remind people to store more food. 

As today's Yahoo News says: It’s ironic that God would use a hurricane to send a memo about cutting government spending, considering that the damage it causes is likely going to increase government spending. Meanwhile, leaders from various religions have come out against further spending cuts on services for the poor. 

Here's a more likely message from God to politicians: If you're going to claim I'm speaking directly to you, at least get your stories straight!

RAVE - Senna

No, it's not a new Brazilian restaurant in the city. 

It's a not exactly delayed, but nevertheless several years after the fact documentary about the life and death of Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna.

Maybe I shouldn't have expected any different, but it was a 90% male audience - exactly the opposite of a romantic comedy. It was clear from the F1 entourage on film that a high percentage of Senna's adoring fans were female, but perhaps that adoration didn't stretch to the USA in 2011.

Viewing film that was shot from the mid 80s to the mid 90s, it was startling to see how far technology has advanced, whether it's the quality of film, the speed of the cars, even the speed of pit stops.

Having followed F1 since I was a boy, I can't say I ever really liked Ayrton Senna. Experts - and this film - say he was the best racing driver who ever lived, but as he was always competing against my favorite drivers, my countrymen - Derek Warwick, Jonathan Palmer, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Martin Brundle, and more - that always got in the way of a rational comparison from me.

The film made a big deal of Senna's deep religious beliefs, so it was no surprise to learn he was a hypocrite (criticizing Alain Prost for always complaining about the deficiencies in his car whenever he didn't win, yet doing exactly the same when his Williams was "uncontrollable") and arrogant (failing to praise his contemporaries when asked who were his favorite competitors).

All in all a great movie about a great sport and a pretty damned good driver too.

RAVE - Limitless

Unlike so many modern thrillers, this one doesn't veer into Inception-like complexity and stupidity. 

The Limitless performance that most people dream of, and which has been delivered in film with the help of partners, animals, masks, even aliens, comes courtesy of a silver pill in this movie. It's called NZT.

How Bradley Cooper gets it, uses it, loses it, regains it, even kills for it, kept us riveted throughout.

Admittedly, there's another pointless inclusion of Robert De Niro. It's not quite Focker-worthy, but a nevertheless shameful under-utilization of the former Taxi Driver.

I wonder if your local pharmacist will be getting any requests for NZT.

RAVE - Essential Killing

There are a number of reasons why this was no automatic Rave ...

1. Vincent Gallo plays a Taliban fighter. Aren't there any Afghan or Pakistani, even non-American, non-white actors available for this kind of role?

2. Gallo's role in part glorified The Taliban. Aren't they irredeemable?

3. Gallo didn't say ANYTHING in the movie. I don't mean he didn't say anything important. He didn't have any dialog, in Pashto, Urdu, English, or any other language.

It starts, and finishes quite abruptly. Gallo The Taliban springs a solo ambush on a small group of US soldiers in a dusty ravine in Afghanistan. He's captured, blindfolded and transferred to somewhere cold and snowy in central Europe, where he's tortured and escapes. That's all in the first 5 or 10 minutes.

The rest of the movie has him stumbling through forest and field, with the occasional grunt or yelp, as he tries to make good his escape.

To counterpoint the 3 main negatives, he does look the part (let's face it, Vincent Gallo is not James Bond material), perhaps the world does need to see more of these conflicts from the other side, and the film was still very powerful, even with the only star keeping his heavily bearded trap shut throughout.

REVIEW - 1300 Filmore

Where do I start?

San Francisco's "Heritage Jazz District" must be a shadow of its former self. 1930s posters in this restaurant show the area as it used to be ... grimy, blue collar, with Jazz greats performing at dozens of local bars and clubs.

The area is still grimy, perhaps less blue collar and interspersed with yuppie-dom, and minus almost all of those bars and clubs.

It has had tens of millions spent on Yoshi's, an excellent, modern Jazz and RandB venue, and on that block sits 1300 Filmore.

The restaurant attempts a difficult combination: high-class and soul food, and a (surprise, surprise) English chef.

I'm not sure how soul-full the Pork Belly, Catfish, Beef Rib, and Fried Chicken were, but they met with mixed reactions from Molly, Gareth and me.

Therefore, I'm not sure how suited to the place was the English chef.

We all agreed the service was far from first-class though, with the restaurant and bar staff being helpful but mostly useless - not knowing what was on their wine list, not knowing one wine from another, not having half the vodkas or rums for their cocktails, and so on.

Forget all of that though - just make sure you're taken out by wonderful friends (like I was) and you'll love it.

RAVE - Edinburgh Fringe

Last night's fun dinner at 1300 Filmore (see separate review) was further perked up by Molly trying to re-tell a joke she'd heard from the Edinburgh Fringe.

Being American, she fluffed the joke (didn't know who or what BandQ was - it's like Home Depot, but smaller - and got the town name wrong), but she needn't have worried, seeing as it won "worst joke of the festival", and came from has-been Paul Daniels.

"I said to a fella 'Is there a B-and-Q in Henley?' He said 'No, there's an H, an E, an N an L and a Y'." 

I'm no expert on the Edinburgh Fringe, having never attended, but I do chuckle vicariously through the published reviews. Here are the Top 10 jokes voted for by whoever are the voters:

1) Nick Helm: "I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

2) Tim Vine: "Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels."

3) Hannibal Buress: "People say 'I'm taking it one day at a time'. You know what? So is everybody. That's how time works."

4) Tim Key: "Drive-Thru McDonalds was more expensive than I thought... once you've rented the car..."

5) Matt Kirshen: "I was playing chess with my friend and he said, 'Let's make this interesting'. So we stopped playing chess."

6) Sarah Millican: "My mother told me, you don't have to put anything in your mouth you don't want to. Then she made me eat broccoli, which felt like double standards."

7) Alan Sharp: "I was in a band which we called The Prevention, because we hoped people would say we were better than The Cure."

8) Mark Watson: "Someone asked me recently - what would I rather give up, food or sex. Neither! I'm not falling for that one again, wife."

9) Andrew Lawrence: "I admire these phone hackers. I think they have a lot of patience. I can't even be bothered to check my OWN voicemails."

10) DeAnne Smith: "My friend died doing what he loved ... Heroin."

Sunday, August 21, 2011

RANT - Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys? Check
Aliens? Check
Monsters? Check
Story? Kinda
Depth? Er

How on earth you can have a movie that includes cowboys AND aliens AND Daniel Craig AND Harrison Ford and yet end up with a bore-fest is beyond me, but that's what smartass director Jon Favreau has delivered.

What should have been jaw-dropping shock after nerve-tingling stunt turned out to be cliche after cliche and snooze after seen-it-all-before. Favreau treated us to re-runs of every western plot that's gone before and shines a bright light on Harrison Ford's over-the-hill-ness.

I never thought I'd have such a negative review of what should have been an outstanding movie.

REVIEW - Contigo

I've had Contigo on my "must visit" list for months now, but after last night's meal I'm wondering what all the fuss was about.

It's a basic Spanish-centric Tapas place - as opposed to the Italian and Mexican ones littered across the city - and it's that "littering" plus the downright ordinariness of this place that has flipped Contigo from must visit to meh for me.

Iberico or Serrano ham on toast or bread, with olives or anchovies, Bocadillos - which I thought were meatballs but turned out to be tasty but fatty mini-burgers, corn and chanterelles (excellent), calamars a la planxa (i.e. squid a la revolting), patatas braves (I've had much better elsewhere), and so on.

Nothing whatsover to draw one's posterior to Castro and 24th, an otherwise desert of fun. Stick to any one of the other 30 places where Tapas is served, and better.

So, it's good to have lists, but not good to become too attached to them.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

RAVE - Rise of The Planet of The Apes

While not wanting to admit to being a connoisseur of the Planet of The Apes series, I have seen all of them, and enjoyed most of them.

Naturally, the very first one was a landmark movie. Even if the humans in the chimp and gorilla suits look impossibly clunky now, the notion of a world ruled by apes is still sci-fi story-worthy, and the scene where Charlton Heston and his fellow survivor(s) round the beach on their horses and see the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand is still huge for me. I can remember when I first saw that final scene it confirmed that "the planet" was in fact Earth at some time in the future. I just wish the Tim Burton-directed Planet of the Apes, with Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham (sigh) Carter had included a similarly enlightening scene, so that I knew what the hell had happened, and how the chimp in the space-pod who left Earth before Wahlberg managed to automagically land at Wahlberg's location AFTER him.

Anyhow, back to 2011: this latest Rise of features wonderful CGI (computer generated graphics), with what I think were only two apes played by humans in motion capture outfits, a great story, and great location shots in and around San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Of course, it doesn't work so well if you try to spot logic holes in the plot. Just accept that it's all ridiculous fun, and enjoy it.

And if you just cannot accept it without some facts, make like a nerd with this cheat sheet.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

RAVE - The Guard

I was half-tempted to not give this a Rave, seeing as it wasn't quite as funny as cousin Amo said. Maybe half of the problem was that I was Billy-no-mates for the evening. Coincidentally, right after I settled into my seat at The Landmark, Amo's business partner Gareth strode into the opposite end of the row in front of me, with Molly. I decided not to bundle my way into that row to try and sit with them, and maybe that was why I didn't find The Guard as funny as Amo had said. For me, it's usually easier to laugh out loud when I'm with a couple of friends doing the same.

The fabulous Brendan Gleeson plays a cynical Garda officer in tiny Connemara in Ireland. FBI Agent Don Cheadle arrives to warn the locals of a drug gang expected to land its dodgy cargo. 

General merriment ensues as Gleeson proves he's not to be overawed or outdone by the FBI big-shot.

All in all, a very funny film that I clearly didn't get into the spirit of.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

RAVE - The Devil's Double

The first film to tell (part of) the story of the US-Iraq war from the Iraqi side, when it was fashionable to have a double - Saddam Hussein and his son Uday both had them.

Slightly improbable was the fact that Uday Hussein met his double at school, and they lived their very different lives until Uday decided to pluck Latif Yahia from the relative obscurity of the Iraqi Army to be schooled and molded as his twin.

Uday needed this twin, to represent the regime while he was coked up and drunk in some other part of Baghdad. While he went about his unhinged life, raping and murdering whoever he chose, Latif was forced to dress like Uday, and do the things Uday didn't want to do.

I'm not sure how representative the film was of life in 1990s Iraq, but for everyone around Uday Hussein it must've been one scary place.

A fantastic performance from Dominic Cooper. In playing both roles, he had to switch from normal human being to screaming, psychopathic monster in a couple of seconds. I know my wife manages that regularly, but she has me to help her whip up that alter ego. I don't know how Cooper did it.

REVIEW - Burke And Hare

I really wanted to like this comedy, and to be honest, there was a lot to like in it.

A terrific cast, with Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis as the lead troublemakers, supported by a host of serious (Tom Wilkinson, Hugh Bonneville, Christopher Lee) and comedic actors (Bill Bailey, Ronnie Corbett).

Based on the true story about the famous murderers, Burke and Hare follows the exploits of these two men as they fall into the highly profitable business of providing cadavers for the medical fraternity in 19th Century Edinburgh, then the centre of medical learning. The one thing they were short of was bodies.

But (and there's usually a 'but' with these reviews), while the film was funny, and sharply acted, what let it down was that it took an already extreme story and insisted on trying to ice the cake: by claiming that William Burke's body was taken from the gallows to Edinburgh Hospital, and now his skeleton hangs in a glass cabinet at Edinburgh University; that Burke was a direct ancestor of Charles Darwin, and that Dr Robert Knox, purveyor of the bodies harvested by Burke and Hare, ended his days performing magic tricks at Wild West shows in America.

RAVE - A Better Life

An honest, gritty film about the hard lives led by Latino immigrants. This story centers on Carlos Galindo, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, scraping together a living as a gardener in Los Angeles, while taking care of his son Luis. His wife left them some years earlier, so the two share a house but mostly lead their own lives, with Carlos working from dawn 'til dusk in the gardens of the rich in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, while Luis dodges the gangs at school and at play.

Carlos borrows money from his sister to buy his about-to-retire boss's truck, so he can earn enough money to get Luis out of the ghetto and into better education. He switches from employee to employer, but on the very first day his day laborer employee steals his truck.

The movie is about how he and his son work together to try and find the thief and the truck. 

A simple story, but heartfelt and emotional, in a way that simple stories are better able to deliver.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

RAVE - Toast

Even the casual visitor to these pages will have noticed that I often start my reviews with an admission, framing the review with the caveat that I'm a Brit that's spent the past 14 years in San Francisco, or that I hate fish, or have a passion for Joy Division, and such stuff that may appear irrelevant, but to me necessary in order to show that there's usually a deep-rooted influence (or bias) to my opinions.

Today's admission is that I like Helena Bonham Carter. Really like her. In fact, I'm often reminded by Mrs. Page that I once revealed I even liked HBC when she was made up as a chimp in Planet of the Apes. That's hard core liking, in anybody's book.

With that said, Toast is a fabulous film. It's a true story based on the early life of Nigel Slater, who eventually became a renowned chef, writer, and TV food presenter in England.

The first half of the film started with Slater as a 9-year old living in Wolverhampton with his overbearing father and sickly mother. She was a hopeless cook, eschewing fresh meat and vegetables for anything in a can, and more often than not resorting to toast when other culinary efforts failed.

She suffered from and - this is not much of a spoiler, since it's telegraphed from the start - eventually dies from asthma. Enter Mrs. Potter (the still looking delectable at 45, Helena Bonham Carter), who starts out as their maid, and through excellent chef-ery and a penchant for real stockings and garter belts, winds up as Nigel's stepmother. Meanwhile, Nigel works on his own cookery skills, and he and Mrs. Potter compete heavily for his father's attention with their respective cooking.

Things don't end well for father and stepmother, and Slater Jr winds up in London as a trainee in the kitchens at The Savoy.

I had a smile on my face throughout the movie, and it was only partly due to HBC's stockings and garter belts. 

Only partly.

A great film, and heaven knows how you'll get to see it, as the lean British Film festival (with a small f) is almost done here.

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FILM

• 11/11/11
• 127 Hours
• 13 Assassins
• 1911 Revolution
• 2012
• 21 Jump Street
• 44" Chest
• 5 Days of War
• 50/50
• 96 Minutes
• A Better Life
• A Boy Called Dad
• A Dangerous Method
• A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy
• A Lonely Place To Die
• A Number
• A Prophet
• A Serious Man
• Absentia
• Act of Valor
• Aduction
• Albert Nobbs
• All Good Things
• Alyce
• Animal Kingdom
• Anonymous
• Another Earth
• Another Happy Day
• Antichrist
• Apollo 18
• Appropriate Adult
• Atlantis, End of a World Birth of a Legend
• ATM
• Aura
• Avatar
• Baader Meinhof Complex
• Bad Lieutenant
• Bag of Bones
• Barry Munday
• Battle: LA
• Battleship
• Becket
• Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Bhutto
• Black Death
• Black Swan
• Blitz
• Brake
• Brighton Rock
• Brothers
• Burke and Hare
• Capitalism - A Love Story
• Captain America
• Carlos
• Carnage
• Casino Jack
• Cemetery Junction
• Centurion
• Chronicle
• Clash of The Titans
• Colombiana
• Contagion
• Contraband
• Conviction
• Country Strong
• Cowboys and Aliens
• Crazy Heart
• Creation
• Daybreakers
• Demons Never Die
• Detective Dee
• Deviation
• Disappearance of Alice Creed
• District 13: Ultimatum
• District 9
• Downton Abbey
• Dream House
• Ecstacy
• Edge of Darkness
• Elevator
• Entitled
• Essential Killing
• Everything Must Go
• Exorcismus
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• Fair Game
• Final Destination 5
• Flame and Citron
• Flowers of War
• Formosa Betrayed
• Four Lions
• Four Lions (Preview)
• Frozen
• Gerard Butler
• Golden Globes 2010
• Gomorrah
• Green Zone
• Haywire
• Holy Rollers
• Horrible Bosses
• Hot Tub Time Machine
• Hugo
• Human Centipede
• Hunger Games
• Hunted by Night
• I Spit On Your Grave
• Ides of March
• Immortals
• In Time
• Inception
• Infidel
• Inglourious Basterds
• Inkubus
• Insight
• Invictus
• Ip Man
• Ironclad
• It Might Get Loud
• J. Edgar
• Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work
• Joy Division
• Kill The Irishman
• Killer Elite
• La Mission
• Last Rites of Joe May
• Legion
• Like Crazy
• Limitless
• London Boulevard
• Love Ranch
• Machine Gun Preacher
• Made in Dagenham
• Man on a Ledge
• Man on the Train
• Margin Call
• Men in Black III
• Mesrine: L'Instinct de Mort
• Micmacs
• Moneyball
• Monsters
• Never Let Me Go
• One Hundred Mornings
• Open Water 2
• Oscar 2010 Predictions
• Oxford Murders
• Page Eight
• Paranormal Activity
• Paranormal Activity 2
• Pirate Radio
• Point Blank
• Predators
• Puncture
• Rampart
• Real Steel
• Red Cliff
• Red Riding, 1974
• Red Riding, 1980
• Red Riding, 1983
• Red State
• Red Tails
• Repo Men
• Rise of The Planet of The Apes
• Robin Hood
• Safe House
• Salmon Fishing in The Yemen
• Salt
• Sand Sharks
• Seconds Apart
• Seeking Justice
• Senna
• Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n Roll
• Shadow
• Shark Attack
• She's Out Of My League
• Sherlock Holmes
• Shutter Island
• Sixty Six
• Skyline
• Slaughter
• Splice
• Stone
• Submarine
• Super 8
• Surrogates
• Temple Grandin
• The Adjustment Bureau
• The Agression Scale
• The American
• The Big Year
• The Book of Eli
• The Cabin in the Woods
• The Damned United
• The Darkest Hour
• The Day After
• The Debt
• The Deep Blue Sea
• The Devil Inside
• The Devil's Double
• The Dictator
• The Double
• The Expendables
• The Extra Man
• The Fighter
• The Fourth Kind
• The Ghost Writer
• The Girl Who Played With Fire
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2012)
• The Grey
• The Guard
• The Hurt Locker
• The Inbetweeners Movie
• The Iron Lady
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• The Last Exorcism
• The Next 3 Days
• The Road
• The Samaritan
• The Social Network
• The Thick Of It
• The Thing (2011)
• The Town
• The Trotsky
• The Veteran
• The Whistleblower
• The White Ribbon
• The Wolfman
• The Woman in Black
• Thor
• Tinker, Tailor
• Toast
• Top Movies of 2010
• Travellers
• Treasure Island (2012)
• Triage
• True Grit
• Trust
• Twelve
• Tyrranosaur
• Unknown
• Unstoppable
• Unthinkable
• Valhalla Rising
• Wake Wood
• Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps
• War Horse
• We Bought a Zoo
• Whip It
• Wrecked
• Yogi Bear 3D

FOOD

• 1300 Filmore
• 54 Mint
• 5A5 Steak Lounge
• A16
• A16 - again
• Alfred's
• Anchor And Hope
• Baker and Banker
• Bar Agricole
• Bar Bambino
• Barbacco
• Bardessono
• Beast and the Hare
• Benu
• Beretta
• Bistro Don Giovanni
• Bistro Jeanty
• Bistro L'Eiffel
• Bix
• Blowfish
• Blowfish - Sushi To Die For
• Bottega
• Bouche
• Bouchon
• Boulevard
• Bourbon Steak
• Burger Bar
• Bushi Tei Bistro
• Cafe Atlantico, DC
• Cafe Claude
• Cafe des Amis
• Cafe Jacqueline
• Camino
• Capannina
• Catch
• Cheese School
• Chez Papa
• Chez Papa part deux
• Chez Papa Resto
• Chez Spencer
• Coi
• Conduit
• Contigo
• Cortez
• Cyrus
• Delfina
• Delfina
• DOs and DON'Ts
• Dosa on Fillmore
• Dosa on Valencia
• Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg
• Ellendales, Nashville
• Epic Roasthouse
• Etoile
• Farallon
• Farina
• Farmhouse Inn
• Fifth Floor
• Firefly
• Fish
• Florio
• Flour & Water
• Fondue Cowboy
• Foreign Cinema
• Garcon
• Gary Danko
• Goldeneye, Ocho Rios
• Got Juice?
• Grand Cafe
• Greens
• Grub
• Have You Eaten With Us Before?
• Hog Island Oyster Co
• Incanto
• Ironside
• Jaleo DC
• Jardiniere
• JoLe, Calistoga
• L'Ardoise
• La Folie
• Lafitte
• Lafitte #2
• Lazy Ox Canteen
• Le Colonial
• Le P'tit Laurent
• Limon
• Limon
• Locavore
• Luce
• Luna Park
• Marlowe
• Michael Mina
• Midi
• Mission Chinese Food
• Mua Oakland
• NOPA
• Oola
• Ozone Thai
• Ozumo
• Ozumo
• Pacific Catch
• Parallel 37
• Perbacco
• Piccino
• Plow
• Plumpjack Cafe
• Prana
• Prospect
• Public House
• Quince
• Quince (again)
• Quince (old space)
• Range
• Redd
• Redd (2)
• Restaurant Closures
• River's End
• RN74
• RN74 - NYE 2011
• Rocketfish
• Salt House
• Serpentine
• Skool
• Slanted Door
• Sociale
• Solbar, Calistoga
• South Park Cafe
• Specchio
• SPQR
• Spruce
• Spruce (again)
• Sushi Groove South
• Sushi Roku, Vegas
• The Grand Cafe
• The Monk's Kettle
• The Moss Room
• The Moss Room 2
• The Plant
• The Waterfront
• Tokyo Go Go
• Tommy Toy's
• Town Hall
• Tsunami Sushi
• Twenty Five Lusk
• Wo Hing General Store
• Yank Sing
• Yoshi's, Oakland
• Zero Zero
• Zuni Cafe

BOOKS

• I remember my old friend Roger Cozens suggesting that Warres LB port was so named not because it was Late Bottled, but because it was Low Brow, only admired by people like me who didn't know their port from their posterior. In remembrance of the weekly thumping he gave me on the squash court, here are my LB reading recommendations:
• ────────────── 1421, The Year China Discovered The World
• ────────────── 1491, New Revelations of The Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Man
• ────────────── A Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss
• ────────────── A Kiss of Shadows, by Laurell K. Hamilton
• ────────────── Appetite for Self-Destruction, by Steve Knopper
• ────────────── Barrow's Boys, by Fergus Fleming
• ────────────── Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, by Jimmy McDonough
• ────────────── Brunelleschi's Dome, by Ross King
• ────────────── Daemon, by Daniel Suarez
• ────────────── Day's End, by Scott L. Collins
• ────────────── Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing.
• ────────────── Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson
• ────────────── Ghost Wars, by Steve Coll
• ────────────── John Peel, by Mick Wall
• ────────────── Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick
• ────────────── Michaelangelo and The Pope's Ceiling, by Ross King
• ────────────── Rough Country, by John Sandford
• ────────────── Stonehenge, by Bernard Cornwell
• ────────────── The Anglo Files, by Sarah Lyall
• ────────────── The Forger's Spell, by Edward Dolnick
• ────────────── The Irregulars, by Jennet Conant
• ────────────── The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
• ────────────── The Professor and The Madman, by Simon Winchester
• ────────────── The Secret Life of Houdini, by William Kalush and Larry Sloman
• ────────────── True Blue, by David Baldacci

CURRENT READING

• The Prince, by Nicolo Machiavelli. A heavy one, this. The notion that in order to rule, one needs to ignore all the niceties that normal people observe, is likely to make a tyrant out of me. Watch out Mrs Page!
• ────────────── London, The Novel, by Edward Rutherford. The story of London, from the Roman invasion until today, as seen through the eyes of generations of the same six families. Probably won't include my tribe, but will stick with it nonetheless.

Blog Archive ►  2015 (48) ►  June (6) ►  May (8) ►  April (13) ►  March (3) ►  February (6) ►  January (12) ►  2014 (101) ►  December (13) ►  November (3) ►  October (13) ►  September (7) ►  August (8) ►  July (4) ►  June (2) ►  May (2) ►  April (9) ►  March (9) ►  February (6) ►  January (25) ►  2013 (71) ►  December (3) ►  August (1) ►  June (1) ►  May (12) ►  April (10) ►  March (14) ►  February (17) ►  January (13) ►  2012 (201) ►  December (10) ►  November (10) ►  October (16) ►  September (12) ►  August (12) ►  July (12) ►  June (9) ►  May (28) ►  April (5) ►  March (25) ►  February (26) ►  January (36) ▼  2011 (154) ►  December (18) ►  November (14) ►  October (9) ►  September (18) ▼  August (17) RAVE - The Whistleblower RANT - Salty Myth RAVE - Point Blank RANT - Religious Politicians RAVE - Senna RAVE - Limitless RAVE - Essential Killing REVIEW - 1300 Filmore RAVE - Edinburgh Fringe RANT - Cowboys and Aliens REVIEW - Contigo RAVE - Rise of The Planet of The Apes RAVE - The Guard RAVE - The Devil's Double REVIEW - Burke And Hare RAVE - A Better Life RAVE - Toast ►  July (12) ►  June (8) ►  April (5) ►  March (6) ►  February (12) ►  January (35) ►  2010 (225) ►  December (16) ►  November (20) ►  October (22) ►  September (17) ►  August (12) ►  July (23) ►  June (24) ►  May (14) ►  April (15) ►  March (20) ►  February (14) ►  January (28) ►  2009 (146) ►  December (30) ►  November (19) ►  October (19) ►  September (16) ►  August (13) ►  July (18) ►  June (12) ►  May (8) ►  April (8) ►  March (2) ►  February (1) So, what's a 'Jumbly'? Back in the (good old?) days of cassettes, when thrusting, young executives, hipster wannabes and tech freaks started sporting the Sony Walkman, the generally accepted way to impress the ladies was by compiling mixtapes. It achieved several things: 1) Separated the men from the boys: the intellectually superior Clash fans from the limp-wristed Wham softies. There, I've revealed one of my many biases right up front. 2) Showed the aforementioned lady or ladies just how "in the zone" you were. 3) Very occasionally helped you around the bases. (A quote from Swiss Tony is somewhat appropriate here, so enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BXIbl2F6gs&feature=related). 4) Gave one an opportunity to demonstrate wit, sensitivity, dramatic timing, and romantic interest. A lethal combination when washed down with a decent champagne. I labeled these mixtapes 'Jumbly #1' through 'Jumbly #99', depending on how keen I was, eventually graduating to suggestive (but mostly wasted) labels like "Love Tape" and obscure attempts like "Prophets, Seers and Sages, All This Stuff is Page's". Anyhow, having repeated this malarkey with CDs (even ordering one of the first custom, on-line CDs filled with the kind of Acid Jazz the future Mrs Page loved, entitled "My Cheri Amour" because I contended that her favorite band, Jamiroquai sounded just like Stevie Wonder), we now find ourselves with MP3s and a whole new ball of wax. That was of course, an intentional pun which, along with Jeckyll and Hyde examples of spelling (English vs American), you'll find liberally scattered through these postings. Therefore, after that tedious introduction, you'll find a Jumbly-full of rants, raves, reviews and ramblings that fall just this side of libel. MY FAVORITE MOVIES There's very little overlap between the IFC's Top 100 and my list. How could they be wrong with every one of their 100 picks? A Passage To India, All The President's Men, An Everlasting Piece, Apollo 13, Au Revoir les Enfants ─────────────────────────────────── Beautiful Creatures, Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Trilogy ─────────────────────────────────── Control (Joy Division documentary), The Commitments ─────────────────────────────────── East/West, East is East, Enemy at The Gates, Enigma ─────────────────────────────────── Following ─────────────────────────────────── In The Name of The Father ─────────────────────────────────── Jean de Florette, JFK, Joy Division (er, another JD documentary) ─────────────────────────────────── Little Voice ─────────────────────────────────── Manon des Sources, The Motorcycle Diaries ─────────────────────────────────── Normal ─────────────────────────────────── Prime Suspect ─────────────────────────────────── Rory O'Shea Was Here ─────────────────────────────────── Sexy Beast, Such A Long Journey ─────────────────────────────────── Traffik ─────────────────────────────────── Waiting For Guffman, Winged Migration, The World's Fastest Indian ─────────────────────────────────── RECOMMENDED LINKS BBC.com - Honestly (and nothing to do with English-ness) this is the only place to get your world news online ─────────────────────────────────── Blip.fm ─────────────────────────────────── Blip.fm (my Playlist) ─────────────────────────────────── eCost.com ─────────────────────────────────── Energy Vampires: Fact or Fiction? ─────────────────────────────────── I like Totally Love It ─────────────────────────────────── National Do Not Call Registry ─────────────────────────────────── Pandora.com ─────────────────────────────────── PopURLs ─────────────────────────────────── PrintedSpace ─────────────────────────────────── Wootalyzer ─────────────────────────────────── World stats ─────────────────────────────────── Followers

About Me Philip Page Born in the UK. Moved to SF in 1998. Married the delectable Pavey Purewal in October 2003. View my complete profile

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