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Kiki Sushi - Hillcrest

This little sushi place is located right on the corner of University and 6th. It's the one that was clearly a Kinko's before and the proprietors were just too lazy to really change the title much and simply removed a single later for the name of the restaurant. Fine with me.

The inside of the restaurant is very small with only a couple of tables and a decently sized sushi bar. I was with a larger group (6 of us), so we opted for the patio, which isn't a whole lot bigger. Once seated, it was time to look at the food offerings. The menu is pretty decent, offering nigiri, sashimi, a good selection of both basic as well as creative, fancy rolls, cheap hot food and some drink specials.

The service was quick and pleasant, no complaints there. Nothing that's gonna rock your world or anything, but efficient and friendly. I ordered the 'Sushi Special', which is a Spicy Tuna roll and 2 pieces of albacore, salmon, shrimp and yellowtail. Not bad for $14.50. Aaron and Eddie were really excited about the 'Spicy Chicken Roll', which is just as ridiculous as it sounds. Tastes alright though. Brian ordered some deep fried abortion of a roll that tasted like tempura fried ocean. Meh. Sean ordered the "Golden Gate' roll which had salmon, mango and some other tasty items. That one was fresh and delicious. All in all though, I thought my dish was the best one. The fish was surprisingly good. The spicy tuna was actually stuffed into the roll and was actually spicy. Mmmm. The nigiri was fresh tasting and well textured and the rice was just fine. All in all, a good meal.

Despite all that though, Kiki Sushi is not a place that really stood out in any way. Perhaps it's due to the millions of other sushi places in San Diego. I haven't tried all of them or anything, but I've tried a fair share of places, and a lot of them are pretty incredible. And that's not to say that Kiki wasn't good, not at all, it's just not special. It's a totally decent sushi place in the area that I would absolutely go to on a suggestion, I just probably wouldn't actively choose it. I think for me, personally, a lot of reasoning behind that is because I'm rather polar when it comes to sushi. I either gravitate towards cheap, bargain sushi (think Sushi Deli), or high quality, ambiance driven sushi (think Harney Sushi or Ra). The middle of the road doesn't usually interest me to a great degree. For better or worse, since Kiki really is just fine.

Overall Score (out of 5): 3.8

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

So I believe that I've mentioned that most of my video gaming comes from Gamefly. This means that I have a huge queue of games that I'm going through and in essence, have to catch up on. So yeah, Uncharted is a little on the older side. That being said, that's how it's gonna be until I do catch up a little more.

Alright, now the game.

Good. Quite good. Really good in fact. I, somehow, was completely unaware of what this game really was.

What I had in mind: standard action-adventure that got slightly popular due to the lack of truly solid titles in the PS3 library at the time.

Reality: incredibly polished, fun action-adventure title that excels in almost every aspect.

I should've assumed as much, considering the amount of excitement surrounding the release of the second Uncharted. And now I completely understand why. For starters, let's talk graphics. The game has really, really great graphics. This game was developed in 2007 and looks simply stunning. The colors are vibrant, the environments are well-rendered and the effects look pretty cool. And it's all the in the details as well. The grenades all emit a small mushroom-like cloud from a deep, fiery explosion. Nate's shirt gets darker and grimy when he swims, then dries back up. The water shimmers and laps at the shores. But none of this compares to the details in the locales. Tall, rocky cliffs overlooking deep oceans with trees swaying. Exotic and crumbling buildings from an ancient civilization sit on the edge while the sun burns three colors into the sky. This is literally a scene one can experience several times in the game. Gorgeous.

Now for some gameplay elements. This is where things are more of a mixed bag. The puzzling is thought-provoking but fairly easy to any veteran puzzler. Nothing crazy hard there and overall, I'm OK with that. My action-adventure games don't need to be Professor Layton. The platforming is wonderfully executed here. Nathan Drake has the upper body strength of the Hulk and jumps and swings his way across chasms, cliffs, around walls and up and over buildings. Good fun there. The action is unfortunately, not quite as satisfying. Nate can carry one type of pistol, and one type of rifle (shotgun, machine gun, sniper rifle, etc). No gun can carry a particularly large amount of ammo though, and this is to encourage players to use strategy to take out enemies, loot them, take cover and repeat. This would be fine if the gunplay were more polished. The aiming feels.... off somehow, and critical shots that could make a huge difference seem far too difficult to make. The firefights are huge at times, with swarms of enemies storming the area, taking cover, flanking you, flushing you out with grenades, shooting grenades, laser sighting you with one-shot kills weapons and utilizing what seems like perfect aim. A little ridiculous? Well... yeah. Honestly, yeah. If the gunplay were more fluid, then it would be a more joyous ride, but at times, getting through an area can be a chore, instead of a romp. However, when all is said and done, getting through any firefight is more than possible if the player exercises patience and gets a solid grasp of the funky gunplay system. So not a dealbreaker. Just frustrating sometimes.

The voice talent in this game is phenomenal. Nolan North voices a come-to-life character in Nathan Drake. Emily Rose and Richard McGonagle also do a great job with Elena and Sully. All very real characters with great personalities. The intonations, coupled with the delivery and context all create a wonderfully fun, yet dark world that is very reminiscent of a damn good Indy film. Just really solid adventuring from start to finish. The story is extremely interesting IMO. There's some really nifty foreshadowing going on early in the game and the advancement follows through to some really cool developments. As far as replay value is concerned, there are plenty of hidden treasures to find throughout the game, which gives some incentive to give the adventure a whirl at least several times through. Not a ton beyond that though.

In the end, Uncharted is a great play with a wonderful presentation, top-notch polish and well delivered story. Definitely worth a play and probably worth adding to your collection, if for nothing else, it's overall quality.

Overall Score (out of 100): 88

My 60 GB PS3 - A Hall of Famer

The PS3 has seen really amazing boosts in sales numbers since the introduction of the PS3 Slim. Good for them. Seriously. The better this platform does, the more that development will be dedicated to it. So I'm all for it. And quite frankly, Sony needed it. One might think that us old school PS3 owners might feel a little pain from the price drop, especially for what seems to be a better machine. Turns out, my specific type of console is quickly becoming a collector's item.

I think that's pretty damn cool.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/09/the-forgotten-beloved-60gb-ps3-why-its-still-so-popular.ars

City Wok - Mission Hills

So we were craving chinese food tonight and Eddie and Aaron took me to City Wok. At first, all I could think about was the South Park episode where an establishment of a similar moniker was run by an actual Chinaman who said "shitty wok". Get it? Yeah, super clever. Thanks Matt and Trey. Ok, I laughed. Fuck me.

My god I digress.

So unlike the above, City Wok is not a small mom and pop, hole-in-the-wall, authentic Chinese restaurant. It's more of a Pick-Up Stix or Pei Wei sorta joint. That being said, it was pretty damn good. The menu includes chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, vegetable and noodle options. And plenty in each category. We did family style, so I had a chance to try the Wonton soup, the house beef (City Wok beef), Sesame Chicken and Chow Mein. The Wonton soup was really good, and seemingly really healthy, comprised of a light, clear-ish broth with fresh vegetables, shrimp and of course, wontons. The two meat entrees were good as well, but not amazing. The beef had a great sauce and was accompanied by hot chili peppers, which was a huge plus. The beef was overcooked though and although the crispy texture was nice, it was also chewy. The chicken was also tasty, but lacked the strong, bold flavors I would've like for it to have. I wasn't in the mood for noodles, so I didn't really try the Chow Mein, but I do have to say that they were very thin noodles, which makes for an interesting take on the dish.

The service was definitely competent and very friendly. In fact, maybe a little too friendly. Sorta that weird, you smile so much maybe you're a clown, or maybe an evil clown thing? Like, maybe you're the fucking Joker. Whatever. The food came quick. The restaurant was also surprisingly nice. Well decorated and very clean, it puts out a solid image. The prices are reasonable, being around $7-8 for a single serving and around $11 for a full (or double) serving. Family style is a good choice if you're there with friends, if nothing else, just to try the melange of dishes.

So overall, give it a whirl. Good, decently priced Chinese food. Again, not real Chinese, mind you, but still good shit. Nothing wrong with that.

Overall Score (out of 5): 3.6

Where Is My Mind?

Ok, so I keep jumping around on this but now I feel like using a little less structure. Yeah, I know, I really am a paradigm of sanity. Just makes publishing posts less of a commitment and more of an expression. Again, we'll see. In any case, I feel like a fucking loon. We'll see what wins out.

Hodad's Burgers - Ocean Beach

Finally tried Hodad's for the first time a few nights ago. Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed it. The long line outside is bittersweet since it's annoying to stand in but is also indicative of the quality of the food and experience being offered.

Ambiance/Service

The dining room is pretty small and is composed of rows of benches, small tables and a few unique seating arrangement, such as an old VW bug. Since it's so small, the wait can be a pain. Going with a larger group will most certainly aggravate this aspect. The dining room theme is a bit gimmicky and obnoxious, but it's also fun and interesting, providing plenty to look at. Once seated, things move along pretty smoothly. The service matches the ambiance and is extremely casual, yet very friendly. The wait staff is open and shared, so there doesn't seem to be assigned sections. Everyone helps anyone. The food doesn't come quick, but doesn't take too long either. For just a burger, it seems a tad bit lengthy, but then again, good burgers usually do take a little while.

Food/Drinks/Menu

This place has been mentioned as the 'Best Burgers in San Diego' several times so I had pretty high expectations. After tasting it, I can't really say it's the best burger in town, but I can definitely say that it's a really good burger for a really good price. There's really not much wrong with the food at all. The burger was tasty, well constructed and used high quality ingredients. The only complaint I really have is that I ordered mine medium-rare and it came medium to medium-well. This isn't a particularly big deal though, since I'm not ordering a steak. As long as it isn't over cooked, I'm fine with it. The menu is fairly simple, sticking with basic burgers, chicken burgers, a tuna sandwich and variants thereof (i.e. double cheeseburgers, bacon burgers, etc.). The selection also includes traditional sides like fries and onion rings. The fries were also good, coming in the seasoned wedge fashion. I didn't try the onion rings, but the family next to me ordered them and they looked fantastic. The prices hit the spot, with most burgers costing a good amount less than $10. The best deal, IMO, is the daily special, which includes a burger, fries and a drink for $8. Damn good. They also serve beer at Hodad's but the selection isn't particularly impressive. For such a small, specialized local joint, I was a bit disappointed with their beer selection. Oh well, go for the burgers, stay for the burgers.

So in the end, I can very easily suggest Hodad's. It's fun, it's cheap and it's delicious. Be ready to wait in a line outside, but the wait is definitely worth it.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4.0

District 9

District 9 is one of the best movies I've seen this year and one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen EVER. Bold? Maybe. But I stand by it. The creative vision in this movie is simply remarkable. It's a superbly realized film that captures the audience at the onset and carries them through a distressing but prodigious narrative.

Story/Writing

The writing and the story here are two different entities but fuse together to create a movie that is truly compelling at every turn. The story, when stripped of fantastical context, isn't anything that has never been done before. I won't ruin it, but suffice it to say, the idea of apartheid and derelict persecution isn't novel to cinema. Nor is the idea of the evil mega-corporation, that will do whatever it takes for profit. That's not to say these themes don't create an engaging environment, far from it, it's just not these aspects that jumps out. What does stand out is how the writing absorbs these ideas and creates an inspiring and incredibly woven tale. At the beginning of the film, the protagonist, along with some other characters, are being interviewed, documentary style. The pacing is slow but meaningful here and sets up the ambiance that the rest of the movie will rely on. As District 9 progresses, the developments lead to some startling and interesting revelations. What matters most here is that the characters are driving the story. Wikus Van De Merwe is an extremely human character put through such extraordinary circumstances, that he is forced to evolve, both emotionally and physically. On top of that, the audience is led to sympathize with the alien captives, for many reasons, and this attachment creates a strong sense of urgency in the narrative. The motivations for each character are potent and convincing. By the end of the film, the violence has been turned all the way up and the intensity is palpable. Yet, at no point, does this transition seem awkward or clumsy. The pacing is smooth and logical, so the viewer doesn't get the feeling of being distanced at any point. The story is marvelous from start to finish.

Acting/Cast

In District 9, Neil doesn't use a single A-list actor. At no point does this hinder the movie. As a matter of fact, I think it greatly enhanced it. The main character, Wikus Van De Merwe, is played by Sharlto Copley, and the performance is simply mesmerizing. That's right. Mesmerizing. He is sincerely so believable. In every shot, in every scene, he is exactly what the film demands of him. Innocent, terrified, angry, despondent and fierce. If you can imagine it, he successfully, and very effectively, conveys all of these emotions throughout the film. On top of that, Neil did a wonderful job with the character transformation, in all arenas. The rest of the cast plays rather small parts in comparison but all are expertly performed and equally as believable. Not since Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has a CG character (or characters) evoked so much emotion. I genuinely felt both sorrow and pity, even anger at times, towards the aliens (Prawns). The two main aliens, one of which is comically (IMO) named Christopher Johnson are a testament to this. Their story and the relationship they have are tangible and the audience is forced to sympathize.

Cinematography/Camera/Sound

Top-fucking-notch. A word of warning though: a lot of the film has the 'shaky camera' style shooting to it and this could result in some motion sickness. The shots and angles here are excellent. The CG and graphics are stunning, especially when considering the budget being worked with. The ever present mothership in the sky, it's towering and formidable presence are richly felt and masterfully integrated. The effects are a sci-fi fan's wet dream. Neil has clearly played his share of video games and seen his share of sci-fi films. The alien weaponry is... well... awesome. From the unique sounds, to the colors and ultimate effect of the projectiles, to the ridiculously cool robots involved, the action is stellar and absolutely original. Now allow me to quickly digress. The technology interfaces the aliens use? BADASS. Think Minority Report on steroids. The luminance and interaction are really cool to watch and it's obvious that some time was put into their development. Even cooler still, is watching as Wikus adapts. Again, I won't ruin it, but I'll say this: motherfuckers a'splode. A lot.

In summary, go see this movie. Like right now. Get off your ass and do it. This is one of those movies that will likely garner a variety of reactions, for a lot of reasons. There's a lot of hype (like this ridiculous review, for example) and it's an intense and uncomfortable film at times. Others simply won't like the foreign feel of the film. Fine, whatever. Those assholes can go watch G.I. Joe. But give it a chance. Allow it to be what it's supposed to be. This movie isn't redefining science fiction, but it is most certainly shoving it in the right direction.

Overall Score (out of 10): 9.4

Maybe Some Structure...

Hmmm, in the future, I think I'll tackle review type posts with a little more structure. Maybe try dividing it into meaningful sections like 'Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, etc.' For movies, it might be something like 'Camera Work/Cinematography, Writing, Acting, etc', just try to separate it by topics that people actually refer to when they talk about a movie. Not really sure yet. So I guess it'll be more like every review publication EVER. But hey, it makes sense and it's not broke so...

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

We'll begin with Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Since I have Gamefly (amazing), reviews like this will be fairly steady and will usually be for the PS3, unless otherwise noted. If you played the first Rainbow Six Vegas, then you're in for a lot of the same stuff in the second iteration. That being said, this is a good thing. The series uses a common element found in shooters these days: a cover system. Games vary tremendously in their utilization of this system and I'd say that R6 is one of the better ones. The biggest reason for this is that the context of the game seems particularly suited for this type of gameplay. R6 isn't about open map combat and large locales flooded with enemies of all types; it's about close quarter firefights, sometimes interspersed with stealth-oriented missions where silent, quick kills are more rewarded than charging in guns-a-blazing. So in this context, hiding behind a pillar, slot machine, or planter, popping out to fire off some well placed shots is more satisfying and appropriate IMO. This is just a more visceral experience.

The story is honestly nothing to write home about. It's not terrible but it's not very inspiring. The gameplay and action will keep you coming back here, not the compelling drama. Additionally, some elements of the story require the player to understand characters from the first game. Not much, mind you, and certainly not enough to stave you off if you haven't played the first one, but it's there. Moving onto the graphics. This is one of those games where I was never really impressed or disappointed by the graphics. The character models are weak compared to say, Gears of War, but they're not the worst. The lighting is the strong suit here and the different types of imaging add to this. Overall, things look good enough but this isn't the title to pop in when you wanna show off your new plasma.

Now sound. I think some players underestimate the effect of sound on a game, but I consider it to be of vital importance. R6 is a bit of a mixed bag. First of all, the gun sounds are good; great even. The guns all differ in how they sound, both loud and with the silencer on. This is a huge plus because this game relies on the immersion of semi-realistic cues, both in the feeling and sound of the game. Too many shooters have sub-par gun sounds and that instantly ruins an important facet of a... well, shooter. Other parts of the game also sound great, like the explosions, flashbangs and movement of your team. That being said, other elements aren't so impressive. The music is a bit lackluster and repetitive. I did like that the music typically matched the mood and pace of the game. If some shit just went down, then it's crescendo-ahoy. If something dramatic happens, cue the John Williams horns. Other than that though, the music doesn't stand out. Another aspect that bothered me was the way the vocals were mixed. Unless you have a great 5.1 or better sound system, be prepared to wonder what the hell is being said half of the game. Whether it's the loud music, the drone of helicopter rotors or machine-gun fire, the vocals are often drowned out and muffled, to the point of being inaudible. Since this isn't the most story-driven game out there, it's not gonna completely break the experience but it's definitely annoying.

As for replay value, there's a lot here. The game utilizes an XP system, both in Single and Multi player. I enjoyed this aspect, since it gives the impression of constant progress. If your teammates get a kill, you still get a point. There is, however, a distinct advantage to your getting your own damn hands dirty. There are 3 different areas you can accumulate additional points in: Sharpshooting, CQB (Close Quarters Combat) and Assault. Different kinds of kills offer different points. For instance, shooting a guy climbing down a rope across the building will net you a Sharpshooter point in addition to your XP point. Sneaking up on a dude and putting a shotgun in his asshole and pulling the trigger will net you an Assault point. As you progress and gain these points, you unlock different weapons or items, typically associated with that focus (i.e. Sharpshooting = Sniper Rifles, CQB = Light Machine Guns). Of course, there is the other, much darker side to this type of system and it is admittedly a big problem. The fact that the player MUST play through any given amount of times or participate in tons of online games just to unlock weapons, clothes and items presents a problem. It means that a lot of the cool gear is available to you until you've put in a nearly egregious amount of time into the game. Not really cool. Additionally, I don't play Multiplayer since I'm not really a fan of being pwned by some 12 year-old British dickwad, but I imagine not having certain kinds of gear presents a distinct disadvantage at times. Again, think COD4. So it's a two-sided coin.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. It's a fun action game that has stealth and espionage aspects but doesn't pretend to be Splinter Cell. I don't have the patience for full on stealth games and I like that R6-2 allows the player to choose his/her own adventure. Wanna be a lazy ass and watch your team fuck shit up? Cool. Wanna take the lead and play like it's a standard FPS? Fine. Or you can balance the experience and utilize it all. And that's not even mentioning the variety of tools like goggles, cams, grenades, breaching methods and imaging. It's a pretty meaty game that offers a plethora of approaches and rewards each in different ways. I, for one, appreciate that. Sure, you gotta put in some time to get new stuff, but quite frankly, you could successfully complete the entire game with the MP5N. Over and out, bitches.

Overall Score (out of 100): 82

Welcome to the Elysian Fields

Welcome to my blog! This site is created as my personal portal into the world of cinema, video games, media, current events, general technology (gadgets, etc.), dining and every once in awhile, my personal interests. It won’t always be agreeable but it’ll always be me. Since I'm just getting started, I'll start off by saying that this blog will most certainly be incendiary, hopefully witty, and ideally, a bit informative. I think I'm going to try instituting a point scale for my reviews, though the whole idea of assigning a numerical value to generally subjective experiences isn't really fair or accurate. Bear that in mind. Also, the way I'll approach it will be a bit different. Everything will be rated according to what I think it wants or is striving to be. Not what the status quo thinks everything in that segment should be. Here's a couple of quick examples: Transformers is NOT a good film but I thought it to be a fine movie. Why? Because it's a mindless summer blockbuster chalk full of fun special effects. That's all it's MEANT to be. For video games, not everything needs to have an amazing multiplayer experience and all games certainly DO NOT need to be sandbox titles. See where I'm going with this? Ok, good. Let's get started then, shall we?

Amusez-vous bien!