Leglessbird leisure guide

Cuisine: Western in Wan Chai
My rating: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Price per person: HKD 500+

Address and tel.no: 9 Star Street, Wan Chai
+852 2529 6038

Review:
Had dinner here, and it was quite expensive, the place is pretty posh. We had beef and chicken and some starters. They were delicious but the price is on the high side...

The Butterfly Effect 2 (buy from Amazon)
Drama, Thriller, USA, 2006

Director: John R. Leonetti

My rating: 2
Key actors/actresses:
Eric Lively ... Nick Larson

Erica Durance ... Julie Miller

Dustin Milligan ... Trevor Eastman

Gina Holden ... Amanda
Story:
Julie died a year ago in a car accident where her boyfriend Nick was driving the car. Nick still misses her terribly, he suddenly realizes he has this ability to go back and change the past by staring at old photos. But every time he changes something, it seemingly becomes better only to find out that something disastrous follows...

My review:
A bit disappointed actually because the plot is not new while the first Butterfly effect delivered a much better and more interesting story

Hard Candy (buy from Amazon)

Drama, USA, 2005

Director: David Slade

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
Patrick Wilson ... Jeff Kohlver
Ellen Page ... Hayley Stark
Story:
Hayler is a supposedly 14-year old girl who has been lured by a grown-up photographer Jeff via internet chat room. But don't worry about Hayler, because Jeff is into a big surprise, he soon find out Hayler is a hard candy. His nightmare has just begun, he cannot even imagine what lies ahead...

My review:
Quite a powerful and interesting plot, full of twists and turns, even shocking at points. Splendid acting from Ellen Page.

Drama, Japan, 2005

Director: Isshin Inudou

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
J? Odagiri ... Haruhiko
Kou Shibasaki ... Saori Yoshida
Min Tanaka ... Himiko

Story:
Saori's father is a gay man who once owned a very popular bar/restaurant call Himiko. Himiko is dying of cancer, he is spending his final days in a house full of his gay friends including his current lover the young Haruhiko. Haruhiko has asked Saori to come and work as a maid in the house and also to see her father (though she has never forgiven her father for leaving her and her mother behind). At first, she felt very awkward among the gay men who are all interesting characters, soon she become accustom to them...

My review:
Unusual and creative story, especially, for the suggested scene that Saori and Haruhiko may have slept together which makes the relationship more complicated.

Thanks Sally for organising this event. We enjoyed William Rahtz's photography and had great time chatting with old and new friends.

Cuisine: French in Central
My rating: 5
Food: 4.5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Price per person: HKD 1000+

Address and tel.no
Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Central, Hong Kong

Review:
Great atmosphere, nice and creative food.

Cuisine: Chinese in Cyberport
My rating: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Price per person: HK$ 200 (lunch)

Address and tel.no:
Cyberport Mall, Hong Kong
+852 2989 603

Review:
Very interesting fusion of Chinese and Western food.

Close To You - Philippine Tagalog Movie DVD (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Romantic Drama, Philippine, 2006

Director: Cathy Garcia-Molina

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
John Lloyd Cruz ... Manuel
Bea Alonzo ... Marian
Sam Milby ... Lance

Story:
Manuel and Marian have been best friends since childhood. Secretly Manuel has always loved Marian in the romantic sense, but he conceals it well and often make silly comment about Marian. On the other hand, Marian always has a big crush on Lance who is her childhood friend and hero. Lance is now one of the biggest racing pop star. How would this love triangle get resolved?...

My review:
Though the story is a bit old-fashion, it is still quite entertaining (in the old fashion sense of course). So it is not bad at all if you want some clean fun laugh.

L'Enfer (Bof) (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Drama, France, 2005

Director: Danis Tanovic

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:

Emmanuelle B?art ... Sophie
Karin Viard ... C?line
Marie Gillain ... Anne
Guillaume Canet ... S?bastien
Jacques Gamblin ... Pierre
Story:
Three sisters live separate lives and all have their own problems. Sophie's husband is having an affair, Celine is approached by a man and she is not sure about his intention, Anne is in love with a married man - her professor who has a wife and a daughter. Their mother is paralysed after an accident that also caused the death of their father who was accused of a terrible crime...

My review:
Clearly a disfunc family. Sadly even when their mother learned about the truth, she still has no regret of her wrong accusation of a gross understanding, as a result, the family is broken and the daughters have suffered since. A sad movie and one doesn't feel good watching it.

"Hell" is supposedly to be one of stories that Krzysztof Kieslowski wanted to make, namely, "Heaven", "Earth" and "Hell".

Through out the movie there are signs of Kieslowski, such as the old lady pushing a bottle into the recycling bin (such scene also appeared in Blue, White, Red and Double life of Veronica).

Cuisine: Japanese in Causeway Bay
My rating: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Price per person: HKD 150

Address and tel.no
7th Floor of Circle Tower, No 28 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay

Review:
Nice friendly service. This place serves western Japanese food and the next 2 tables were speaking Japanese. I had curry the Japanese style which was excellent. Irene had spagetti. Though the interior design is quite plain. We were going for the food and service.