Monthly Archives: October 2005

Four Brothers

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Mark Wahlberg need I say more? Okay well, for those who don’t have a soft spot for Marky Mark I guess I should say a bit about the movie. Inevitably to be contrasted with John Singleton’s sharp-edged Boyz N the Hood, this new Singleton movie is entertaining without being too deep and as a result does not deliver the powerful message about “hood” life that Boyz N the Hood did. It does try though.

Four Brothers takes four men (two white two black) who, brought up as brothers by a gold-hearted foster mum, return to their small town for her funeral and to try and solve the mystery around her apparently cold-hearted murder. The cops aren’t doing enough in their view so they set about chasing down their own leads. This results in a LOT of people dying and/or getting hurt before the curtains come down.

Visually, the movie is beautifully shot and filled with a number of good action sequences so even though the story stumbles with logic at times, there is enough to keep you entertained and you may forgive these lapses.

In the end it is wrapped up in a nice Hollywood conclusion and I don’t think it gives away too much if I say that the “good” guys win in the end.

The Ivy

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Recently dropped as the No. 1 restaurant in London, The Ivy is still an entry on the to-do list for most of the longer term visitors to this city. I say longer term visitors as bookings are taken at least three months in advance and often getting this booking is the biggest challenge of this experience.

R had made a surprise booking for her and her boyfriend but due to conflicts in her schedule was unable to take it so she was nice enough to offer it to me.

I guess The Ivy is known first as a celebrity dining hole and second for its food. As I walked in tonight I swear I saw Ricky Gervais (of The Office fame) sitting off to the side but as I was trying my best to be cool (no snickering people!) I didn’t stare too much. In fact, most diners will check you out as you walk in so its hard not to be a little self-conscious from the attention. I’m not sure if there were any other A-list stars present tonight as, continuing on with my cool attitude (again people – you really must stop snickering) I resisted the urge to look around the room too much.

So, on with the food. I must say that the food is nothing special or unique. Whilst there are some strange combinations of food and some game make their way on to the menu – the majority of the fare, though diverse, could probably be found at most other restaurants (and for a more reasonable price!) The food that did come out was just okay and I thought far too salty though I think my brother enjoyed his selection of dishes.

Service was pretty good with our waiter being quite attentive and for the most part efficient with our requests. The doorman, with his coat tails and top hat, was probably the least accommodating as it felt like he didn’t do anything (not even open the doors) except pose and just strut around. Oh – the main room (for which you have the privilege of paying an extra £2 per person to dine in) was much cosier than I thought with tables placed very closely together, low ceilings, stain-glass covered windows and a dark old-fashioned feel to it. The restrooms must have been fascinating as I’m sure I saw every female at least make a visit to them.

Overall I’m glad to have done it, and I can now tick that box in my to-do list, but I wouldn’t go back unless I was guaranteed good food and at least one A-list celebrity. : )

Omid Djalili

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Tonight A to arranged to see the comedian Omid Djalili at his (A’s not Djalili’s) old Uni stomping ground, the Bloomsbury (UCL).

Djalili is billed as Britain’s only Anglo-Iranian stand-up comedian and this really comes through in his performance as he takes advantage of his cultural heritage by contrasting his experiences of life in the west and the east. His performance tonight, as the title suggests – No Agenda, wanders from topic to topic and happily never got too heavy in the political aspects of life in western society as an Iranian. As a result it felt like we could relax and accept the comedy for what it was.

I’ve heard it said that with Djalili that you should always expect the unexpected – and there were definitely a few things I didn’t expect to see including an entertaining slide show in the background that played during his performance, and then there was the music and the dancing.

No Agenda was definitely not like any stand-up I’ve ever seen before.

Oxford Street Celebrations … chaos rains

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Today there was a street party on Oxford Street to celebrate, well, I’m not sure but hey a street party is a street party. Those who are familiar with the this High Street are probably very aware of just how overcrowded this stretch of road can get on an ordinary day so the thought of a street party probably sent most of the locals running. I apparently did not have this common sense.

Seriously, the street party was supposed to attract shoppers to the street (not like they needed it) and there were street performers, celebrities, free foods, fashion etc. and the opportunity to win £1,000 (sadly not something I was lucky enough to win.)

All in all it added up to masses of people on the street and even the extra space created by the shutting off of motor vehicle access to the street did nothing to reduce the bottle-necks that would inevitably crop up.

The good news is that my bro and I survived the crush to shop another day …