I really need to find more time to play video games these days.  Despite purchasing the game on DAY ONE, I have only recently found time (well, at least at the time I typed this sentence a few weeks ago) to play enough of NBA 2K12 to be able to give my thoughts about it and found the time to write the darn review.

It’s easy to proclaim 2K12 as the greatest basketball simulation of all time.  After all, 2K11 was the previous GOAT and there has been nothing to challenge it since, especially considering that the NBA Live (aka Elite) team is still on hiatus after the embarrassing debacle that was NBA Elite 2011, the game that never was.

That said, I’m not going to judge 2K12 as a an independent video game.  It’s only fair that I compare the game to its predecessor, 2K11, because that’s the only yardstick people can compare to.

So does the 2K12 compare favourably to 2K11?  On the whole, yes.  The best improvements are the controls, the simplified playcalling, the widened legends roster, more legendary teams, and the presentation.  But to be perfectly honest, it’s not a revolutionary advancement in the franchise.

Let’s break it down.

Visuals

The graphics are supposed to be improved, but I really could not tell.  In fact, some friends have told me that they felt the visuals actually took a step back this year.

There’s just something different about it, as though the level of detail has been pared back slightly.  The players don’t look quite as shiny during the gameplay, though the close up cut scenes are as impressive as ever.  Another improvement is the extent to which the computerised players resemble their real life counterparts (for instance, Kobe looks less like an alien).  One of the biggest problems before — the bad hairdos of white guys (including coaches) — has been fixed somewhat.  It’s not perfect but it’s a step in the right direction.

There has been an improvement, but white dudes' hairstyles still don't look quite right

This year, with the new NBA’s Greatest (discussed below), the creators of the game also ingeniously tried to emulate the TV broadcast quality of times gone by, so if you play an 80s game, the colours are less sharp, and if you play a 60s game, the game is fuzzier and in black and white.  Even though it’s kind of gimmicky, it’s a nice added touch.

Ultimately, I think it’s possible that the visuals are more realistic but less detailed.  It looks more like a live game you would see on TV rather than a video game with mind-blowing graphics.  Does that make sense?

Sound

Not a lot of improvement here.  New music, a new commentator (Steve Kerr, replacing Clark Kellogg and joining Kevin Harlan), but not a whole lot of freshness.  Not to say the commentary isn’t good, but in terms of variety and the amount of excitement it can add to the game, I think it has essentially peaked for the series.  The only real way to improve it is to make the commentary more varied, more dynamic and more excited when players make big plays.

Presentation

Improved again from last year.  Not dramatic changes in terms of the menus (just more streamlined) but I quite like the changes they made in stuff like player intros, the half time reports and the post game features like Player of the Game, etc.  You can tell they put a lot of effort into making the game seem like a real TV broadcast.

Gameplay

Last year I thought the gameplay was already pretty awesome, and this year they upped it another notch.

It might take a little while to get used to the changes, but it’s worth trying the various tutorials and drills to get the hang of them before playing proper games.  It makes a HUGE difference when you feel more in control of the players you are controlling.  It not only makes you a better player, it makes the games far more exciting.

The best improvements are in the areas of post play (offense and defense) and off the ball movement.  There is an entire tutorial teaching you how to fake out your opponent when playing without the ball.  You can learn how to pound the ball inside and wreak havoc down low like Kevin McHale or Hakeem Olajuwon by using an encyclopaedia of post moves.  It’s awesome.  Your ability to call for screens, utilise the give-and-go, perform up-and-unders, hop steps, spin moves, in-and-outs, behind the back dribbles, crossovers, Euro steps, face-up moves — the whole shebang — makes the game super real and will keep players coming back as they improve their techniques with the control pad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucJHetIc6dc

That’s the best thing — you can play on the lower levels with just the basics and it’ll be fine, but as you get to the more difficult settings, you really need to learn the entire repertoire of moves to have a chance against your opponents.

The computer AI is also improved, though it might be hard to tell for casual gamers unless you line the two up side by side.  But it’s there.  Fast breaks are better on both sides of the ball.  Crazy passes are less likely to thread through untouched.  If you run into teammates you’ll lose the ball.  Playcalling has been simplified and you can simply call plays for particular players or just call the best play available.  It’s the little things that have made the biggest differences in the game.

Game Modes

You still have the same stuff from last year, so I won’t go through them all.  The new headline mode is the aforementioned NBA’s Greatest.  Last year it was reliving Michael Jordan’s greatest moments — a good idea that got old real quick.  This year, there are a lot more legends and you only need to complete one challenge game to unlock more stuff, and all you have to do is win the freaking game.  You got guys like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Isiah Thomas, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and so on.  It’s fine, but it’s still a single playthrough kind of mode.

The modes you’ll spend most of your time on are still the Association Mode and My Player Mode.

Association Mode is largely unchanged, but it’s still the most packed mode in the game that will allow you to play for hours and hours through years of NBA seasons, playing games, organising rosters, scouting new rookies, making trades, signing players, scheduling practices, developing young players and so forth.

A little overboard for the 14th pick of a weak draft, but these little touches make 2K12 fun

My Player Mode is slightly improved.  The biggest change is that instead of going in the D-League to start off, you get to play in a showcase game which will determine where you go in the NBA Draft.  If you play well enough you get drafted, which is pretty cool (they show the whole process, including handshakes with Commissioner David Stern), and you’ll get a chance to fight for a starting position straight away.  Jeremy Lin, anyone?

There are also add on downloadable features, such as the Legends Showcase.  I’m too cheap to get it, but here’s a review and it seems decent if you are into living in the past and playing with legends all day long.

Online

Not for me, but I hear that the online mode is not very stable, at least not on the PS3.  Apparently, a lot of people have flooded back to 2K11′s online mode, which is a huge indictment of this year’s game.

The good thing about having the Internets is that you can update your roster to keep them up-to-date with what’s been happening in real NBA (eg, I hear Jeremy Lin recently got a stats upgrade). You can also download fan-made rosters and players, so you can get your hands on players who aren’t licensed for the game — the main ones being Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson.  If you have a lot of time on your hands you can also create your own players and teams and share them with others.

Reckon there's going to be a lot of Linsanities online?

Playstation Move

This was one of the things 2K played up in the lead up to the release — you can play 2K12 with the Playstation Move!  Wow!  And it’s so easy and intuitive anyone can do it on their first try!

Err…no, that idea just stinks.  If you want to play real basketball, pick up a ball and go outside.   I haven’t even bothered trying the Move mode of the game.  It’s a waste of time.

Check this out and tell me it’s not lame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXVO9GMM1CU

Conclusion

So is 2K12 worth getting if you already have 2K11?  Now?  Yes.  Originally, when the game was first released, the NBA was still in lockout mode, meaning you had only a couple of the pre-signed rookies in this year’s class.  With the NBA now in full swing, you can download the official updated rosters or the fan-made ones.

For me, the greatest improvement was the controls and gameplay.  If you have the patience to lean the moves, 2K12 becomes much more enjoyable than 2K11.  All the other improvements, such as the presentation and the graphics (if you call it an improvement) were nice, but they’re not game changers.  If you can’t let go of the past and feel the urge to keep using Larry Bird to shoot over Chuck Person while saying, “Merry F&*%ing Christmas”, then the NBA’s Greatest Mode would also be a great reason to buy the game.

At the end of the day, 2K12 is of course a better game than 2K11, but it didn’t blow me away like I thought it would.  Nonetheless, credit must go to 2K for making the effort to improve last year’s game when they had zero competition.  It will still be the most played game in my collection until 2K13.

8.5 out of 10

Writer-director Steve McQueen’s sex-addict movie, Shame, has been the talk of the town lately because of Hollywood’s biggest new star, lead actor Michael Fassbender’s…um…”assbender”.

Fassbender’s appendage, which is on full display in the film, has been the subject of a slew of jokes, including from George Clooney, who asked during his Golden Globes acceptance speech if Fassbender had ever played golf with his hands tied behind his back (other jokes include “Fassbender puts pornstars to Shame“, “Fassbender has nothing to he aShamed of”, “Fassbender puts Vincent Gallo to Shame”, “Fassbender is going to be starring in Boogie Nights 2: No Prosthetics Needed“, etc). (Okay, I made pretty much all of them up.)

Oh, yes, what’s the film about?  Fassbender plays Brandon Sullivan, a successful New Yorker who just can’t keep it in his pants.  The guy just needs it all the time, wherever, whoever, you name it.  And he’s not even the master of his domain, if you know what I mean.  It’s actually quite debilitating and not as exciting as it seems.  His sister Sissy, played by Carey Mulligan, shows up out of nowhere and turns Brandon’s life upside down.  Sissy has some serious issues of her own, and it’s obvious they are both trying to forget their troubled past, which is hinted but never revealed.

You would think that a film about a sex addict would be a comedy, but Shame is extremely dark and depressing, pretty much all the way through.   Like most addictions, Brandon’s issues are deeply rooted (pun intended), and McQueen does not glamorise it at all, making his best efforts convey the condition in a realistic manner.  It’s portrayed not a whole lot differently to any type of serious addiction, be it drugs or alcohol — though I wouldn’t say the film is as harrowing as say Requiem for a Dream.

Despite the film being centred around sex, it’s not gratuitous — though there is a fair bit of it, there’s not nearly as much sex and nudity as one would expect.  Credit to McQueen for showing enough to convey what’s necessary but not to the point where it becomes exploitative.

I haven’t seen all of the Oscar best actor nominees, so I can’t make a definitive statement — but it’s a minor travesty that Fassbender, who also starred in McQueen’s acclaimed debut, Hunger,  was not given the nod this year for his daring, brilliant, controlled performance.  Without him, I’m not sure how this film would have turned out.  Also very impressive is Carey Mulligan, who hadn’t jumped out at me before in previous roles but was particularly effective here as the needy, disruptive Sissy.  The singing scene was a little cringeworthy but everything else was solid.

Shame is very much an indie drama film, so it’s not going to be for everyone.  There are long, lingering shots and plenty of conversation and silence.  But at the end of the day, everything is there for a reason and as a result the film works as a piece of compelling cinema.  It’s a an effective and disturbing portrayal of an addiction that robs the afflicted of their ability to make an emotional connection with other people.  I was riveted from start to finish.

4 stars out of 5

Jeremy Lin is rumored to be the subject of several upcoming films

[Updated to include latest info on Landry Fields and Lin's love interest]

Avid New York Knicks fan and filmmaker Spike Lee has announced a shortlist of actors to play Jeremy Lin in his upcoming sports biopic based on the life of the Asian-American superstar who has taken the basketball world by storm.

The film, which currently has a slew of working titles including  Linsanity, Lincredible: The Jeremy Lin Story, Lin Got Game, Linception, Linderella Man, Linvincible, The First NBA Player of Chinese or Taiwanese Descent, and Linning! (though Charlie Sheen has threatened to sue if this title is used), will be written by Academy Award winning scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin (selected for his familiarity with Harvard after The Social Network) and is set to begin casting next month.

Spike Lee wants his Jeremy Lin biopic to be "as authentic as possible".

Even though it is a sports film, Lee has emphasized the importance of selecting a Jeremy Lin with an acting background who can convey the emotions of the humble, deeply religious 23-year-old from Palo Alto.

The shortlisted actors (in no particular order) and Lee’s comments on each of them are set out below:

• John Cho (Harold & Kumar) — “He is the early favorite because he is a lanky Asian and he oozes a wholesomeness which reminds me of Jeremy. John is also goofy and funny, which Jeremy apparently is as well.  Needless to say, Kal Penn (Kumar) will of course play (Lin’s teammate and buddy) Landry Fields.  He’ll have to leave his post at the White House again, and maybe Obama will want to join him.  I hear the president can ball!”

• Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) — “I always liked the Korean guy from Lost, but I was skeptical because I thought he couldn’t speak English. After watching the new Hawaii Five-O, I realized I was wrong, so he’s on the shortlist. Yeah he’s a bit old but non-Asians can never tell how old Asians really are, so I’m not too concerned.  Sayid (Naveen Andrews) from Lost will play Landry if we choose DDK.”

• Jimmy Tsai (Ping Pong Playa) — “Jimmy is a relative unknown, but he showed that he knew a little about hoops and Asian culture in writing the hilarious Ping Pong Playa, so I would say he is the dark horse.  As for Landry, it’ll probably be one of Jimmy’s black friends from Playa, maybe the one that speaks Asian.”

• Chris Pang (Tomorrow, When the War Began) — “Those Aussie actors are taking Hollywood by storm, so you never know, Chris could be the next Russell Crowe. He was crap in Tomorrow, When the War Began, but I think all he needs is a chance to show what he’s capable of, just like Jeremy.  The guy who plays the Greek guy (Deniz Akdeniz) in Tomorrow will have to do as Landry.”

• Chi Cao (Mao’s Last Dancer) — “Cao already played one iconic Asian as Li Cunxin in Mao’s Last Dancer, so why not play another one? Ballet dancing and basketball are deceptively similar. Oh, and I think he can speak Chinese really good, which none of the others can. Unfortunately no black people in Last Dancer so it’s gonna be hard finding a Landry for him.”

• Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers) — “Robert’s one of the most versatile actors on the planet and after watching Tropic Thunder I’m sure he can pull this off.  He’ll have plenty of Landries to choose from, such as Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) or Zach Galifinakis (Due Date).  My preference is Terrence Howard (Iron Man) but if we ever make a sequel I might replace him with Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2).  Heck, RDJ is so damn talented he’ll probably play both roles.”

The shortlist of actors will be reduced to three finalists by the end of the week, says Lee. The finalists not selected will have a chance to play Jeremy Lin’s brothers, Josh and Joseph.

Noah Ringer, the kid actor from M Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece, The Last Airbender, will play the young Jeremy Lin.  ”He fooled audiences once; he can do it again,” says Lee.

Actors rumored to play Lin’s inspirational father, Gie-Ming Lin, include Jackie Chan (Rush Hour), Jet Li (Kiss of the Dragon), Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), Chow Yun Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Ken Leung (The Hangover). Every actress from The Joy Luck Club is said to be vying for the opportunity to play Lin’s mother, Shirley.

Two of the Wayans brothers are said to be in talks to play Lin’s Knicks superstar teammates, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, while George Clooney is allegedly the favorite to play Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni.

Jesse Eisenberg will reprise his role as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg from The Social Network as Lin’s college buddy.

Lee will of course play himself, and Dallas Mavericks bench player and Chinese national Yi Jianlian is also rumored to make a cameo as Yao Ming, whom Lin apparently speaks to after every game for some reason.

Given the importance of Lin’s religious beliefs, God will of course play a major role in the film. The favorite to land the role should be Morgan Freeman, says Lee, though he is leaning towards Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen, who has already played Jesus once in Lee’s earlier basketball film, He Got Game.

No Hollywood fairytale movie would be complete without a love interest, and while Lee has many fine actresses of Asian descent to choose from, he intends to stay true to the real Jeremy Lin, who is single.  ”Look, I don’t want no bitches messing up Linsanity’s mojo, in my movie or in real life,” says Lee.  ”But I know how love interests drive movies so I’m going to compromise and revive Wilson from Castaway, and get our make-up and CGI guys to reincarnate him into a basketball called Spalding (the official basketball of the NBA).”

One of the perceived obstacles to the film is that Jeremy Lin is 6’3″ (191cm) and there are no Asian actors in the world that tall. However, Lee is not perturbed. “Hey, Andy Dufresne from Shawshank was supposed to be a shorty and they got freaking Tim Robbins to play him,” Lee says. “And didn’t they just choose Tom Cruise to play Jack Reacher from those Lee Child books? Come on.

“If the chosen actor is shorter than 5’9″ (175cm), I will speak to Peter Jackson and employ the techniques he used in The Lord of the Rings on the dwarves and hobbits to make everyone else around Jeremy shorter. If the actor is more than 5’9″ (175cm) I will consult Tom Cruise to see how he manages to look as tall as his co-stars in all his movies.”

Shooting is expected to begin after the NBA Finals.

Ned Stark had kids (including illegitimate ones), and he still accomplished a lot

Action has been somewhat slow on this blog lately, and with good reason.  My baby boy had been caught a little cold, as have his parents.  A healthy baby is brutal enough, but a sick baby is the cherry on top. Man I wish I cherished my sleep more in the past!

On top of that, I have commenced a full-time job at a place where I can write and edit  for a living.  It’s mainly newsy, journalistic stuff, but it’s better than nothing.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn as much as I can and hone my skills, which need a lot of honing. It doesn’t pay nearly as well, but on the bright side, it’s soooo cruisy compared to being a lawyer.  I finally feel like I belong, doing stuff I believe in and that I am comfortable with, without feeling totally stressed out all the time and like a fraud who has no idea what’s going.  And the best part is that I can leave work at 6pm, not 6am, meaning I can get home in time for dinner with the family and spend time with my wife and son.  That would never have been possible before.

I’m not quite sure what this means for the future of this blog, which still has at least 2 dozen posts waiting in the wings for me to write.  I started this blog as a hobby and it will remain so, but finding time to write posts is going to be difficult.  Time is a premium commodity these days, and even finding time to read is difficult, let alone exercise or play video games.  And what about my novels, the novels I so desperately want to finish (especially my fantasy novel, which has garnered renewed interest after I recently watched the first season of Game of Thrones — I also need to read all those books, by the way)?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Seriously, I don’t know how people with kids do the things they do.  How and where they find the time to go to the gym, catch up with friends, see a movie, write bestselling novels, change the freaking world.  I’m sure it gets easier as the kids get older but seriously, there are so many other excuses to prevent you from doing what you need to do!  You can count me in as someone in awe of anyone who can finish writing a book which young children in the house.

I remember reading somewhere that John Grisham used to get to work (at his law firm) an hour before everyone else and write at least a page on a yellow note pad.  Every day.  In a year or two, he had A Time to Kill.  I also remember reading that Dan Brown would get up at 4am every day to write.  Are these people even human?  I mean, come on.  Don’t these robots need sleep?

The good news for me is that my new job is a get-your-work-done-and-you-can-do-whatever-you-want kind of place.  I’m still as slow as a snail’s turd at the moment, but if I can train myself to be an article generating machine, then chances are I’ll have some time during the work day to pump out a couple of posts or even work on the novel.  In the meantime, however, I still have a bunch of freelance editing work holding up my “free” time, so it might be a little while longer before I can get into the groove.

That’s all I’ve got time for now.  As a butt-groping former governer once said, I’ll be back.

Apparently, allegedly, supposedly, Columbiana was originally envisioned as a sequel to The Professional (otherwise known as Leon), you know, Natalie Portman’s debut as a pre-pubescent assassin wannabe who is rescued and taken in by a super lone assassin played by Jean Reno.  It’s kind of got cult classic status now and is a personal favourite of mine.

But let’s face it, even though it will get the fanboys all hot under the collar, the idea of a grown up Natalie Portman who has fulfilled her dream of becoming an assassin was always going to suck and piss all over the legacy of the original film.

And so I’m glad they didn’t go down that route.  Instead, Columbiana as a similar premise, except with Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek, The Losers) in the lead role as a little girl who is determined to become an assassin after her family is wiped out by drug lords in Columbia and she escapes to America to live with her uncle.  Fast forward a few years and Saldana has become the real deal — a super svelte, sexy, kick-ass assassin who is intent on tracking down and annihilating all those involved in her family’s demise.

As an action film, Columbiana does produce some thrills and clever ideas.  Saldana looks the part and, because the film is co-produced and co-written by Luc Besson (the man behind The Professional), the style is slick and has that unique “Besson feel” to it — I’m thinking classics like The Fifth Element, Nikita, Taken, Taxi – all films he has been involved with in some capacity).  The gun fights, hand-to-hand combat and in especially the chase scenes are all done extremely well.

That said, when all said and done, Columbiana will likely go down as one of the more forgettable Besson-related films.  There’s just nothing in this film that feels fresh or special, and the storytelling by director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3 – and said to be at the helm of the much anticipated Taken 2) leaves a lot to be desired.  It was choppy and uneven and simply not engaging.  I actually got a bit bored during the slower scenes.

But I will say that I found the action-packed scenes of Columbiana enjoyable when I was watching it.  As a Zoe Saldana vehicle and popcorn movie, it delivers, but don’t go in expecting a whole lot more.

2.75 stars out of 5

Greatest.  Tennis.  Match.  Ever.

As a new father I have about 10 minutes to spare, so I’m going to blog about what’s been on my mind — last night’s EPIC Aussie Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.  The two fighters went toe-to-toe like to heavyweight sluggers, absorbing killer blow after killer blow in the longest grand slam final and longest Aussie Open game of all time.

The Djoker came out on top in the end, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, but Rafa’s valiant efforts won him a lot of fans.  It was a see-sawing battle that shifted momentum numerous times.  Just when I thought Rafa was finally going to get over the hump against Nole, Nole fights back to dominate.  And just when a Nole victory looked like a mere formality, back comes Rafa.  Then there was the brief rain delay which I thought was going to kill Rafa’s momentum, but it only made him stronger.  And when it looked like Rafa was going to put it away, back comes Nole again to steal the match from the grasp of defeat.  I had no favourite in the match, so I was just glad to be a witness.

Everyone’s talking about this fantastic tennis match, so instead of my usual waffle I’ll just toss in some random thoughts:

• Let’s face it, Nole’s girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, was one of the main reasons so many millions of people stayed up watching the match last night all the way until the end.  It certainly was the reason why my blog (which wrote briefly about her once), got so many hits overnight.  It was hard not to notice her — the freaking camera zoomed in on her on every single break in the action!  Kudos to the television crew for knowing what sells.  Nole’s victory is even more amazing considering how difficult it would have been for him to focus on tennis with her around.

• That said, message to the TV crew for next year — go easy on the super slow-mo.  Super slow-mo on Jelena Ristic jumping up and down is fine, but super slow-mo on Djoker’s and Rafa’s faces as they crack massive forehands?  Not so much.

• Speaking of Jelena, she seems to have embraced the role as tennis’s no. 1 WAG.  She always seems to wear cobalt blue, except the dresses are getting more and more expensive.  I wonder if she has clothing sponsors.

• Huge surprise last night as I was watching the match.  On the odd occasion the camera panned away from Jelena, it landed on a bearded giant behind her that made me do a double-take.  Was that the biggest flopper of all-time, Mr Vlade Divac?  As it turned out, it was.  I have no idea why the retired basketball superstar was in Djokovic’s camp.  These Serbian athletes must be real close.  Maybe Nole learned some of his flopping mental tactics from Divac.

The big dude on the left

• What the heck was the deal with the rain delay?  Seriously, the thing has a roof.  It looks like it might rain.  Why take the risk?  And how laughably primitive was the ball-boy brigade that wiped down the court on their hands and knees?  You would have thought someone (probably Japanese) would have come up with an ingenious contraption to suck all that moisture up in a jiffy.

• Excellent post-match speeches at the award-ceremony too.  Rafa was awesome in defeat and super gracious, and the usually amped up Nole was also very kind with his words — both men were probably too tired to do much else.  Seeing them handed bottles of water and stools to sit on while that hilarious Korean (?) fella from KIA Motors rambled on said it all.  Then again, I felt like I needed to lie down after listening to that guy too.

• Lastly, I just want to reiterate what a pleasure it was to watch the match.  These dudes are physical freaks.  How can someone crack the ball with so much force while running all over the court for almost 6 hours?  That’s just mind-boggling.  Especially for someone with bread stick arms like the Djoker.  I get a sore wrist from three consecutive two-handed backhands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGsvcbSJPg

I have no idea why it’s called Rabbit Rabbit (as far as I am aware, there are no rabbit burgers), but what I do know is that the place is famous for its gourmet beef and chicken burgers, as well as its Western-style brunch, especially amongst the younger crowd.

There are currently three stores in Taipei.  On this particular night, we went to the one near the Shida Night Markets, and it was jam packed with youngsters.  The store itself is bright and colourful, with lots of soft colours such as baby pink, cyan and light purple and green.  Kind of looks like a hip nursery.

Thanks to a semi-reservation, we didn’t have to wait too long (20 minutes).  Seeing how busy they were, we ordered quickly.  Their menu is quite varied and interesting.

For the beef burgers there are the usual plain patties with different cheeses, but they also have unique combinations such as peanut butter, gravy and fried beef, shrimp and salmon burgers.  The peanut butter was apparently very popular but it was a bit too risky for my liking, so I went with another ‘recommended’ burger (ones with a crown next to it), the Chilli Sauce Beef Burger (NT$250), which came with a hand-made beef patty, chilli sauce and jalapenos.

The chicken burgers are also quite special, also with a peanut butter version, a thai-style burger (with spicy peanut sauce), teriyaki burger, honey mustard, cajun and so forth.  We went with Chicken Burger with Creamy Pesto Sauce (NT$250).

Note that the burgers come with lettuce, onions and tomato, a side of either fries, wedges or cooked vegetables, and include an unlimited refill beverage of your choice (limited to teas and soft drinks).

They also have an all-day brunch menu with stuff like sausages and eggs, appetizers, soups and salads, sandwiches, fajitas and even pastas.  But from what I could see, most people were there for the burgers or the brunch food.

It was quite a long wait for the burgers, but the wait was worth it.  The Chilli Burger was full of spicy goodness and gave a real kick to my taste buds.  Thankfully, they were not stingy on the chilli sauce or the jalapenos.  The side fries we ordered were also surprisingly nice — crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

The chicken burger was good as well.  The pesto sauce was thick and creamy and the chicken was tender.  The biggest surprise were the cooked vegetables, which sounded like a strange thing to have but it was super tasty and took the edge off the heaviness of the burgers.

From what we had, I’d say the burgers at Rabbit Rabbit were pretty good but not exceptional.  The flavours were great but they did feel a little heavy and oily because of the thickness of the sauces, so it’s not the type of place you would visit regularly.  It’s perfect for group gatherings and when you feel up for a big meal.

7.5 out of 10!

Details

Rabbit Rabbit

Website: http://rabbitrabbit-burger.blogspot.com/

Opening Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-10:30pm

Price: around NT$300 per head (note includes 10% service charge)

Stores:

East Store 1: No. 32, Lane 160, Section 1, Dūnhuà South Rd, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106; (02) 8771-4073; Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing/Zhongxiao Dunhua

East Store 2: No. 31, Lane 31, Section 1, Dà’ān Rd, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106; (02) 2778-3445; Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing/Zhongxiao Dunhua

Shida Store: No. 1, Lane 4, Pǔchéng St, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106; (02) 2368-2338; Nearest MRT: Guting/Taipower Building

At first glance, Dream House appears like your run-of-the-mill haunted house movie.  A young couple moves into a new house, spooky stuff happens, yada yada yada, you know the rest.  But while Dream House is not a particularly good horror film (in some ways it’s not even a proper horror), I do have to say that it is different to what you would ordinarily expect from a movie of this kind.

Daniel Craig is Will Atenton, a successful book publisher who leaves his profession to move from New York to New England with his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and his two little girls.  Everything is fine until weird stuff starts happening and Will starts to believe that their dream house has a past that will come back to haunt them.  Someone who knows more than they are letting on is their neighbour, played by Naomi Watts.

Up until this point it’s all pretty cookie-cutter stuff, but Dream House breaks away from the expected trajectory by throwing a curve ball midway through.  It’s not an unexpected twist, but the timing of the twist is curious as it’s usually reserved for the final act.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t really do a whole lot for the film, which is, for the most part, plodding and lacking in both scares or thrills.  It takes the wind out of the sails too early and shifts the focus to melodrama, which simply doesn’t work without the character foundations required.  I guess the only benefit is that it keeps you interested in how they are going to fill up the remainder of the 92-minute running time.

I really wanted to like Dream House because I’m a fan of the genre and all three leads (in fact, it’s where Craig and Weisz fell in love and ended up getting married — which explains their solid chemistry), and despite not expecting very much out of it I still came away disappointed by the stale pace and dearth of scares.  The negatives could have been somewhat mitigated had the drama been more moving but it failed in that regard too.  Strangely, the film has a pretty awesome soundtrack, but when that’s the most redeeming thing about a film you know it can’t be good.

2 stars out of 5

It’s hard enough to find a decent 90 to 120-minute horror movie these days, which is why I was highly sceptical about American Horror Story, an entire 13-episode TV supernatural horror-themed series dedicated to a single, continuous storyline.

There’s a very good reason why we haven’t seen anything like this show before — because it’s bloody hard to do well.  For starters, it needs to be genuinely scary and “realistic” within the confines of its own universe, an almost impossible task in itself.  It also needs to sustain the interest of the audience for the entire season, which is difficult without the luxury of having a different story with different characters each week.

This is probably why I can’t think of any such US shows in recent years off the top of my head.  The Walking Dead is horror with a single arc but it’s not supernatural.  Supernatural has a core story arc but most weeks it’s a different story. The Ghost Whisperer is similar and hardly qualifies as horror.  From my memory bank at least, I think I have to go as far as American Gothic (1995) to find something with a vaguely similar concept — and as I recall that disintegrated into pure crap just a few episodes in and was cancelled after a short-lived season.  It’s just too difficult.

Amazingly, American Horror Story delivers.  It’s without a doubt the scariest TV show around and is right up there as one of the most intriguing.  And no, it does not even try to rely on cheap “boo” scares like most horror movies these days.  The show succeeds with tight scripts, an A-list cast and a genuinely twisted plot with even more twisted characters, delivering a continued, insidious sense of dread and regularly leaving a nasty taste in your mouth.

I would also call it quite a daring show, in the sense that it doesn’t hold back.  It’s mean and dirty and highly sexual (though not at all explicit or gratuitous).  There’s plenty of rage, jealously, lust and an unquenchable thirst for revenge threaded throughout the series and every episode is filled with murder and brutal violence.  It doesn’t shy away from things such as rape, murdering babies, horrifying deformities, dismemberment, disembowelment and macabre experiments — on both the living and the dead.  Because of its willingness to push the limits, there are lots of excellent surprises, none of which are easily guessable.

The characters are also incredibly juicy and memorable — every one of them has stories to tell and secrets to hide, but the mysteries are not frustratingly concealed all the way until the end — instead, they are slowly revealed as the layers are gradually peeled back, rewarding audiences for sticking with it.

The clever thing about this series is that each season is dedicated to a single ghost story.  Season 1 is all about the Harmon family, who move from Boston to LA into the “Murder House”, which is, of course, haunted.  The story begins and ends in Season 1, meaning that there is little risk of it dragging on unnecessarily or spiralling into inevitable crappiness.  Season 2, which has already been picked up, will be about an entirely different family and location, though certain members of the cast may return in different roles.

Speaking of cast members, American Horror Story boasts an impressive ensemble.  The Harmon couple is played by Dylan McDermott (best known as Bobby Donnell from The Practice) and Connie Britton (whom I am less familiar with but has been in Spin City and Friday Night Lights), with young Taissa Farmiga (Vera Farmiga’s significantly younger sister) as their teenage daughter.  Other regulars include Jessica Lange, Evan Peters (almost didn’t recognise him — he’s the nerdy kid with the camera from Never Back Down and its sequel), Denis O’Hare (True Blood), Kate Mara (Rooney’s older sister — who coincidentally starred with Britton in the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake) and Zachary Pinto (Sylar from Heroes).

Everyone, human or ghost, does their job well, with the standouts being the youngsters Evans and Farmiga, though the one that steals just about every scene is Jessica Lange, who deservedly won a Golden Globe for her performance as the  mysterious and always-present neighbour.  She’s just such a fantastically twisted and tragic character and it was a thrill watching Lange play it to perfection.

Of course, as a supernatural horror, it is also much easier to find problems with the show.  It will obviously be harder for “sceptics” to appreciate it (some “believers” might also be turned off  as it flouts conventional “ghost” wisdom), and it’s not hard to poke holes and point out believability issues here and there.  But if you can keep an open mind and just go along for the ride, chances are you’ll find it as engrossing and captivating as I did.  I’ll definitely be looking out for Season 2.

Rating: B+

PS: Interestingly, American Horror Story is the brainchild of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the creators of Glee.  But I guess in a way it makes perfect sense — only people who could come up with a show as sickening as Glee could have come up with something as twisted as this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0ssM6vtz_c

Today was a great day.  My one-month-old son and I watched our first NBA game together — a satisfying 98-96 win for the Indiana Pacers over the LA Lakers.  Well, I guess I was the only one that really watched it, but sitting him on my lap as we stared at the TV was the only way to stop him from screaming his head off.  Continuously.

That’s pretty much what it’s been like in my first month as a father.  Being without breasts (though that’s debatable), I have essentially been relegated to errand boy, nappy changer and occasional bottle feeder.  As hard as it’s been, I know I have it 10 times easier than my wife, who has battled even worse sleep deprivation, breast engorgement and even a bout of mastitis (which led to a short fever and a quick visit to the doctor).  All I can do is to continue being as supportive as I can by helping out wherever possible to lighten the burden and be a cheerleader when necessary.

To be honest, as rough as it’s been, it hasn’t been as rough as I expected it to be, probably because of the plethora of horror stories I’ve heard from other young parents.  The worst part of it is actually figuring out what the heck to do.  No matter how many classes you attend or how many books you read, rolling up your sleeves and actually doing the real deal is always a different story.  Temporary amnesia always hits me whenever I need to recall some key passage in a book I read months ago.

Right now I am trying to learn as much as I can.  We’ve been recommended a lot of books and given a couple as gifts.  Up to this point the most useful book has been Robin Barker’s Baby Love, which is apparently the Bible for Aussie mums and dads.  We’ve also been looking at Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Zurer Pearson and recently started the book I think will save our lives, Save Our Sleep by Tizzie Hall.  I’ll report on whether these books are any good in the near future.

The problem is, everyone has a different philosophy and different strategies to looking after the baby.  You ask 10 relatives and you’ll get 10 different answers.  You read 10 books and it’ll be the same thing.  We’ve been convinced, however, that starting a sleep and feed routine as early as possible is the best long-term solution, especially if you want to get some sleep a few months down the track.

But starting a routine has plenty of challenges, one of which is teaching your baby to “self-settle” — in other words, allow them to fall asleep on their own.  Sounds easy (just let them cry, right?) but it’s so heart-breaking listening to his frantic wails while holding yourself back so you won’t rush to pick him up.  I think he has already developed some bad habits (he loves to be held and hates being put down) so it’s going to be an uphill climb, but as we keep hearing and reading, persistence and patience are the keys.

It’s been an amazing feeling watching my son grow.  He’s already gained a full kilo since birth and he is noticeably bigger (and his lungs fuller!).  A lot of the love comes naturally from within, but a lot of it also comes from our time bonding.  I find him looking a little more gorgeous every day, and even when he shoots projectile poop all over the place (and perilously close to my face) I can’t help but love him more.