This week Josie and I were lucky enough to receive tickets to see the Shane Black crime comedy film The Nice Guys starring Ryan Gosling (The Big Short). Gosling plays private detective Holland March who is searching for a missing girl Amelia (Margaret Qualley, Palo Alto) who is trying her best not to be found.
The film also stars Academy award winner Russell Crowe (The Gladiator) as Jackson Healy. Healy’s hired muscle who was originally hired by Amelia to convince Holland March to stop looking after her. Then after a visit from some goons Jackson becomes intrigued in who his client actually is and why everyone is looking for her. Therefore, to appease his queries he re-hires a resistant Holland to assist him in finding Amelia.
During their investigations, Holland’s inquisitive teenage daughter Holly, admirably played by young Australian actor Angourie Rice, who has an investigative knack like her father becomes involved in the case. The mystery evolves and as the story becomes clearer, you can’t help but get caught up in the action, and relationships developing between Healy, March and his daughter.
Black’s film is based on the adult industry of the seventies, and the set and costume designs are quite vibrant and colourful. Black who also co-wrote the screenplay with Anthony Bagarozzi, tells his captivating story and his strong main characters, are played extremely well. Throughout the film you can’t help but like these characters, even at their worst moments. Although a good film, there is one part that I felt a little uncomfortable with, but that may be because I have daughters and wouldn’t expect them to be at a party in the same situation at Holly’s age. It maybe me, but I’ll let you decide for yourselves!
There are many things to like about this film, the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe is unexpectedly good, and the addition of Academy award winner Kim Basinger (LA Confidential) to the cast as Judith Kuttner, the head of the US Department of Justice, is just another talking point and positive for the film.
Overall I was fairly impressed with The Nice Guys, as the story flowed well and the viewers mind shouldn’t go wandering or get lost in the directors vision.
It’s not everyday you get the chance to step onboard a Navy vessel, so if you get the opportunity, take your family and friends and have a look around. That’s what happened this week. The Australian Navy had an open day to visit the HMAS Adelaide at the passenger terminal in Outer Harbor, South Australia.
Now, I’ve worked in the maritime industry for the past 24 years, so I’m not inexperienced when it comes to going onboard ships. The opportunity of meeting the crew, walking along decks and stepping inside the accommodation areas of these vessels is a weekly occurrence. Those large merchant vessels have nothing on the excitement and intrigue you get from stepping on a navy ship, with all that cool defence force gear.
The interest that the HMAS Adelaide generated publicly was evident very early, with queuing occurring on the road, and in through the security checkpoints of the small passenger terminal. Upon arrival you can tell that the Port of Adelaide passenger terminal is a seasonal passenger port. The inside of the terminal is relatively stark, with no terminal shops or café for visitors and a couple of promotional stalls to advertise the state. The security is the same as an airport, remove belts, jackets and everything out of your pockets, walk through the metal detector and hope the sirens don’t sound.
Once through the security checkpoint you make your way up the gangway and onto the entry deck, straight through a metal reinforced door and down some steep steps to the medical bay. This medical bay is very impressive, it’s fully stocked and wanting for nothing. There’s an emergency area, two surgical rooms, an intensive care ward, pharmacy, and just about every other machine a modern hospital would want to have. I’m sure a few doctors in our suburban hospitals would like access to some of this equipment.
As you walk along the decks you notice straight away that everything is spotless. The floors, the ceiling, the walls and even the sewage pipes running along the decks are squeaky clean.
We walk towards the stern of the ship and out the rear access hatch and out onto the sterns mooring area and right in front of you are the mounted Typhoon stabilised weapon systems. From there we enter the main hangar where we have the navy band greet us with some music. As we walk along the long deck you notice two large Australian flags attached to the walls and a couple of visitor stations set up with firefighting and personal protective equipment, with helpful crew interacting with the many visitors, especially the children. The hangar also has a couple of other pieces of equipment that the crew use whilst on assignment, like zodiac motorboats, excavation equipment in case they have to build or clear something and other military vehicles.
Again we walk through another hatch way and climb some more stairs and enter the accommodation areas. The HMAS Adelaide has a crew of 400 and can accommodate another 1000 military personnel during conflicts. The mess rooms are large and service the crew around the clock, with fresh food and a selection of dishes from a buffet style setting. Continuing along the corridor you notice the many recreation rooms and gyms and realise they have just about all the luxuries you could ever want. Since they protect our shores and are away from their families for months at a time who can deny them that bit of comfort.
Whilst walking down corridors there is crew stationed at various places on the ship giving out brief points and to stop us from making a wrong turn and getting lost, we climb up more steps and appear on the flight deck. Just like a mini aircraft carrier that you see in the movies, the flight deck is just a big landing strip.
We head back into the control bridge and head back downstairs to a huge cargo hold, now this is just like a roll on, roll off vessel, with a large port-side ramp and rear doors that can lower and flood the berthing compartment to allow the four landing craft to exit if required. We are told the vessel has six landing craft, four stored onboard and two held in Sydney for maintenance and testing. From here we walk out through a hatchway and head towards the exit, we say our goodbyes to the crew and get a couple of photos as we leave.
Now, if I had the opportunity to visit a navy ship when I was young, I may have been inspired to join up. Where else do you get to travel the world in relative comfort, and serve your nation doing so? So for all of you still trying to find a career, maybe the defence force is for you!
Finally thank you to the Australian Royal Navy for opening up your impressive vessel for the community to enjoy, and thank you to the Flinders Ports Group for giving us access to the passenger terminal.
Overall, I would highly recommend getting out and visiting a naval vessel, and the Australian Navy does give the community limited chances to visit. So visit their website at (http://www.navy.gov.au) to see when their next open day will be and book your spot or join up for a life long career.
So what happens when the highest grossing massive multiplayer game of all time decides to turn the popular game into a film?You get Warcraft: The Beginning. Now, my eldest daughter Bailey and I were fairly excited to see this film for two major reasons. One, because we are both fans of the game, and secondly because Bailey is currently studying game and film animation at college, so this film ticks all the boxes for her.
Warcraft: The beginning is a mixture of CGI and live acting, and the flow between the two forms is done exceptional well. The animated content is modelled and composed in the true Blizzard (creator of the Warcraft games) style.
The Warcraft story is based on two factions fighting for control over the world of Azeroth. The Horde are the invading faction trying to find a new home after the destruction of their original world. Whereas the Alliance are the defending faction trying to stop the Horde from destroying everything.
In the film we start with a Orc army using a waypoint portal to enter Azeroth, during this time we are introduced to an honourable Orc clan leader named Durotan (Toby Kebbell, Fantastic 4) who is just trying to find a new home for his family and clan. Once the Horde arrives in Azeroth they start to invade the Alliance villages. Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer, Pride) a runaway Guardian apprentice reports the invasion to the Alliance King (Dominic Cooper) who sends his Alliance commander Anduin, played by Australian born, Travis Fimmel (Vikings) to find Archmage Medivh (Ben Foster) to help stop the invasion. The war begins and the tug of war for control over Azeroth starts.
The thing that probably stands out the most about this film is that it is aimed at fans of the Warcraft games, because it is implied that you have some knowledge of the game, the structure of the realms and the state of play. Although saying that, doesn’t mean that the film is confusing to a new viewer, it’s just your understanding of what is occurring and where the film takes place is more enhanced if you have had a previous experience with the games.
Warcraft: The Beginning is probably not the film to take your first date to, unless they are huge fans. Likewise, it’s probably not the film to take your teenage children to, unless you want them to buy the games and never see them leave their rooms except for food and water. The Warcraft games are very addictive and this film will encourage you to take up that addiction, if you are partial to playing computer games, so be warned.
Overall the film is just a taste of things to come, because as the title states it is just the beginning of this movie franchise. Bailey and I really liked this film, and it has helped to reinforce her decision to have a career in animation. So if you do take your children to see this film, I hope it inspires them too.
If you’ve read my earlier post Frequent Flying to Jerusalem you would have read Josie and I have been involved in a couple of internet groups that like to meet up for dinner, conversation and in this case ‘books’. We have been involved in the worldwide activity of Bookcrossing for quite a long time and through Bookcrossing we have met many book lovers from all over the world. Bookcrossing has also given us the opportunity to travel overseas and interstate to attend their annual conventions. For more information about Bookcrossing, please check out their website, www.bookcrossing.com.
Tonight we are meeting up at our usual meeting place Caffe Amoré, located on the corner of Pulteney Street and Pirie St, Adelaide SA 5000. Caffe Amoré is owned and run by Rob and Lori, a couple of lovely people who are always friendly and helpful. Their establishment is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and they also have an upstairs function area that can accommodate 130 people. After a conversation with Rob, he advised that in the event of someone wanting to book the function area, they will actually close the cafe for the selected night and allow the booking party access to both levels.
When you first walk into the cafe, you notice that it is clean, with relatively modern furnishings. There is a scattering of plants in selected spots throughout the premises and they also have an ATM in case you decide you want to extend your night and visit a few of Adelaide’s bars and nightclubs.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is friendly, and when we were there, there were a lot of people playing backgammon at various tables. So it shows Rob and Lori don’t worry if their customers stay as long as they like, and they don’t put pressure on you if you decide to just hang around and have a chat over a coffee or two.
The service is also quite quick, but you will need to go up to the central service counter to order, as they don’t have enough staff to provide full table service. They accept most credit cards, with additional fees incurred on Amex purchases.
Caffe Amoré has their standard menu, which has a large variety of Italian influenced cuisines, from pizzas, pastas and main dishes. They also have an extensive drinks list, so you won’t have to worry about choices for good quality wines or imported beers. In addition to their standard menu they also have a seasonal specials menu, which changes a couple times a year. As we have been coming here for a substantial amount of time, we have had the opportunity to sample most of their fare and from a foodies point of view their food is pretty good. The chefs have a good eye for produce, and the flavours and presentation of food they prepare is easy on the eye and palate. I can put my hand over my heart and say, “I have never had a bad meal at Caffe Amoré”.
Tonight we opted for a Margarita Pizza and a side of chips from their main menu, the Surf n Turf from their specials menu, finished with and banana caramel cream tart. I also asked our good friend Pete about his selection, the Chicken Parmigiana-infused, also from the specials menu.
Now you can’t really get a Margarita Pizza wrong, the dough is rolled out nicely with no air bubbles, topped graciously with cheese, fresh tomato, olive oil, garlic and basil. This is the goto pizza for my girls, so I always get no complaints about this simple but flavoursome pizza. The chips are delicious, not over cooked or under cooked, with a sprinkling of salt to taste.
My Surf n Turf consisted of a chargrilled scotch fillet with creamy garlic lemon prawns, with a side serve of chips and garden salad. I ordered my steak medium rare so it could still be identified as steak. When it arrived, I thought, “you know what, they haven’t let me down” my steak was cooked to perfection, it was easy to carve into and the succulent juices emitting from the steak were wonderful. The prawns were of average size, so didn’t overtake the visual spectacle of the dish and the creamy garlic lemon sauce was very good. I did at one stage catch myself trying to soak up the rest of the sauce with my chips, trying to get every droplet and didn’t care if anyone saw me. It was just one of those dishes. I washed it down with a nice glass of Maglieri Cabernet Sauvignon a South Australian wine from McLaren Vale, which went extremely well with my steak…a good choice.
Our good friend Pete, opted to try the Chicken Parmigiana – Infused. I know what your thinking “infused?” The description of the meal is a baked crumbed chicken breast, spread with sweet chilli hollandaise and mozzarella cheese, again served with a side salad and chips. When it arrived at the table, both Pete and I looked at each other and commented about the amount of mozzarella covering every millimetre of the crumbed chicken breast. As Pete took his first bite he was unsure about the mixture of flavours, but shrugged if off and continued to consume his meal. By the end of the meal, his confusion of flavours was gone and he was ready to highly recommended the meal. So I think next time I’m here I’m going to give it a go.
My banana caramel cream tart was creamy with a rich flavour and a smooth texture, which topped off a good meal and a good night.
In regards to value for money, the serving sizes are quite decent so I believe you are getting value for your spend. Pastas have an average price of AUD$20, pizzas come in three sizes, a small for around AUD$15, a medium for around AUD$16 and a large for around AUD$22. Main course average at about AUD$24 and bottles of beer and glasses of wine ranging from AUD$6 – $9.
Overall, I would recommend this lovely cafe restaurant, so if you decide to try Caffe Amoré or book out their function room, say hello to Rob and Lori and tell them Simon from OurWorldinReview sent you!
With so many new films being released over the past few weeks, Josie and I decided to head off to Reading Cinemas in West Lakes, South Australia for a quick movie session. Tonight we decided to see the Sony Pictures distributed Money Monster directed by two-time Oscar award winner and Hollywood legend Jodie Foster. The film also had a star-studded cast with another two Oscar award-winning actors George Clooney (Syriana) and Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) adding their presence to this crime/drama/thriller.
So what happens when a publicly listed company suddenly loses $800 million? During a live financial television show hosted by Lee Gates (Clooney) and produced by Patty Fenn (Roberts). Kyle, an armed disgruntled investor played by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) makes his way into the studio holding the live show hostage. Kyle demands answers from Gates and the companies CEO, Walt Camby (Domenic West) who he holds responsible for the loses incurred by its investors.
The majority of the movie revolves around the tensions within the studio, as well as the relationships and search for truth between the three main characters. Charismatic, Clooney plays an arrogant type character caught up in himself, but as time goes on that arrogance disappears and he becomes determined to seek the truth. Julia Roberts plays another strong female character, who takes control of a bad situation and is forced to be the conduit between the studio ongoings and the outside world. Jack O’Connell plays a desperate angry, but unsure young man, who feels he has nothing more to lose.
Foster tells a story that has the ability to keep the audience interested, but it also triggers an internal realisation that humans seek enjoyment from the misfortunes of others, and this concept shows throughout the whole story. Money Monster is good without being great, and the cast’s acting is sincere. At time during this film I would ask myself some questions like, why would they do that and would that really happen in that situation? But once you get past them the film is quite enjoyable.
Josie and I thought we’d check out the new cinema complex in Glenelg, South Australia, which I will review at a later date. So the question was what film were we going to watch. Looking at the possible times and variety of films we settled on Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
A quick question, have you ever been to a movie not knowing anything about the storyline? Because that’s where Josie and I were when we entered the cinema complex. The only thing I knew about the film was it was made in New Zealand, it had a PG rating and it starred Sam Neill from the original Jurassic Park (1993) and Academy Award winning film The Piano, another New Zealand based film.
So, we went into the film with no preconceived ideas, and no expectations, which really isn’t a bad way to enter a picture theatre. So we sat in our selected seats, got comfortable and prepared ourselves for a leisurely viewing.
So let us get straight to the point about the film, it is a fantastic film. The cinematography is stunning, the New Zealand landscape is breathtaking which makes you want to book that international flight as soon as you walk out of the theatre. The New Zealand sense of humour is quite funny, and you can’t help giggling and laughing like little kids. We weren’t the only ones, as the majority of the filmgoers were all doing the same.
Hunt of the Wilderpeople is the story about a young New Zealand boy named Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison – Paper Planes) who is in the New Zealand foster system trying to find his place in the world. Fortunately, his new home is run by quirky Auntie Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and her husband Hector (Sam Neill). Ricky settles into normal life when turmoil takes over and new adventures reveal themselves. A misunderstanding about an injury sees Ricky and Hector in a New Zealand forest with a local man search underway.
Director, Taika Waititi, puts this Barry Crump novel together and his storytelling style imbeds this film close to your heart. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is an ideal family movie for everyone to enjoy, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn’t like this film. In my opinion this film will win a New Zealand film award (Moa). Finally, watch out for cameos by musician Stan Walker and comedian Rhys Darby.
Remember if you decide to go see Hunt for the Wilderpeople, tell them Simon sent you, from Our World in Review.
Josie and I like to network, so over the past few years we have joined a few internet groups to meet some like minded, interesting and sometimes slightly crazy people. Tonight is one of those days, where whoever’s available meet up and have a few drinks, hopefully eat beautiful food and pick each other’s minds about how to get the best deals.
So this evenings catch up is with some of our frequent flyer friends, who either live in Adelaide or have flown in to join us for the night. Most of us have known each other for many years and dine out fairly regularly, but we also have a newcomer to the group joining us. As a group we are always happy to assist anyone who wants to get their frequent flyer journey going.
It’s pretty easy to get a group of us together, someone will post on Australian Frequent Flyers or AFF that they are organising some event, somewhere in the world and whoever can attend will respond and make their way to the meeting place. Tonight’s event was organised in Adelaide at the Jerusalem Sheshkebab House, located at 131B Hindley Street, Adelaide SA 5000, which is one of Adelaide’s main nightclub strips.
The Jerusalem Sheshkebab House has been an Adelaide dining institution since 1972. Unfortunately the decor hasn’t really changed much since then so the moment you walk through those Arabic inspired doors your expectations take a bit of a hit. You immediately have those initial thoughts like, “oh my gosh, what a dive”, but once you get past that first impression, smell the fragrant spices and see the dishes being delivered to the tables you know why it has been around for 44 years.
Arabic inspired doors
Jerusalem Sheshkebab House entrance
Okay, let’s get the interior decor out of the way, it’s attrocious, old seventies style fibreglass bench seats and bright orange easy to clean long tables. The restaurant is fairly small, and the mirrors on the walls give the impression that you’re in a larger place. The ceiling is quite interesting with silk parachute material billowing down to give that Bedouin tent feeling. For me, it actually provoked images of hot air ballooning over the Göreme valley in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Those orange tables and bench seats
Now, people come to the Jerusalem Sheshkebab House for the food, not the interior styling and the one thing we can all agree on is the food is fantastic. From my experiences middle eastern food, is a lot of fire grilled meat and plenty of dips and breads, and the menu plan of the Jerusalem does not let you down. Their selection of entreés and mains is limited but there is enough choices to not confuse the patrons. Probably the two biggest things that stands out is that being a Muslim influenced restaurant there is no wine list, but they do allow you to Bring Your Own (BYO) with a corkage fee of $7.50 AUD per wine bottle or $3.00 AUD per beer bottle. The other more critical problem is they don’t accept eftpos or credit card, they are a pure cash only establishment. So make sure you get cash before trying to make yourself comfortable.
As we had a table of ten we opted for a $25 AUD banquet, one because it gave us a good variety of dishes to sample and two, because with every banquet over $22 AUD there was no corkage charged, therefore with 8 bottles of red wine, no corkage was very appreciated. Being a small restaurant there was only one employee servicing the entire floor, and he was exceptionally busy, but was able to handle the rush in his stride.
The banquet dishes came out all at once and were spread across the long table, the banquet consisted of Babaganouj, battered cauliflower, tabouli, falafel, beef sheshkafta, lamb sheshkebab and lastly chicken kebab. The Babaganouj was smooth, the cauliflower was still firm and full of flavour, the tabouli was unexpectational but good, the falafel was perfect and once the outer coating was pierced a vibrant green colour was exposed. The beef sheshkafta was not over cooked and remained moist, the lamb sheshkebab was succulent and worth going back for seconds and thirds and the chicken kebab was covered in a garlic sauce with a sprinkle of sweet paprika to give that extra texture.
Once the main banquet was over a few of us decided to try their baklava, and again it didn’t disappoint, their baklava was walnut based and the layers of filo pastry was expertly baked. I must admit it wasn’t the best I’ve had, that pleasure occurred in the back streets of Istanbul on a food tour, but it did the trick. Overall the feast provided was fulfilling and delicious and well worth the price.
So in conclusion, if you are in Adelaide, and want an inexpensive meal, that will treat your tastebuds and leave you satisfied as you walk out, then the Jerusalem Sheshkebab House is for you. So remember, if you take my advice and eat at the Jerusalem Sheshkebab House, tell them Simon sent you from Our World in Review.
Ratings: 1-10 (1 = very poor, 10 = excellent)
Decor – 5
Atmosphere – 7
Service – 7
Price – 10
Food – 9
Overall – 8
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