Myth confirmed: The Green Hornet is awesome + MythBusters DVD Box Set Giveaway!

The Green Hornet

LIZZ: Okay, where do I begin? First of all, let me state that beyond knowing who the characters were and how it made Bruce Lee's career, I had little to no knowledge of the original Green Hornet. I heard it was like the old Adam West Batman series except less campy, so I went into the theater with an open mind and expected to be entertained. I think Seth Rogen is pretty damned brilliant, but suffice to say that I have mixed feelings about some of his movies. (Knocked Up > Pineapple Express). I do appreciate his sense of humor however, and I was wondering how he'd deal with playing Britt Reid- superhero extraordinaire. I guess I needn't have worried, because he played it like he played many of his more popular characters-- like a well-meaning dumbass.

This isn't to say that this is a bad thing, of course, as he plays the well-meaning dumbass stereotype incredibly well. The Green Hornet was a crazy fun flick with plenty of action and plenty of laughs, and I'm happy to admit that I laughed harder than I had in weeks (I'm looking at you, "Black Swan".) All in all, I found it a highly entertaining movie that makes for an interesting addition to the superhero movie genre. It's not as fantastic as, say, Kick-Ass, but it's definitely entertaining. I'd take this over Fantastic Four (1 AND 2), Wolverine, Spider-Man 3, and even X-Men 3 on any given day of the week. I recommend watching this if you're in a bad mood, as it will definitely cheer you up! :D




JOSH: The Green Hornet got mostly lukewarm reviews from critics (46% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it's not hard to guess why. The movie relies more on slapstick and juvenile jokes than wit and subtlety, which makes it the kind of movie many serious critics despise.

But I'm not a professional critic. I'm just an average moviegoer. Unlike film connoisseurs, I don't go to the cinema to admire artistic excellence or to have my soul touched. I only want to:

1) be entertained, and
2) stuff my face with popcorn.

I achieved both goals while watching The Green Hornet last night, so I'm happy.

The Green Hornet doesn't even follow the superhero movie formula of transforming an average Joe into an awesome hero who then performs amazingly heroic acts of courage and awesomeness. Seth Rogen's Green Hornet was a bumbling goofball from start to finish, and I loved that. Many fans are apparently not too pleased by the sharp departure from the more serious tone of the original 60s TV series. (Or so I've heard. I've never seen the show... I'm not THAT old.) But I'm glad that Seth Rogen played to his strength as a comedic actor instead of going the "I want to be a serious actor" route--I don't think that would have worked.

The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, played by a young Bruce Lee in the original series, is played here by Harold from the Harold and Kumar movies some dude named Jay Chou. He doesn't have Bruce Lee's magnetic screen presence and seemed to have trouble delivering some of his lines, but his performance was adequate for this light-hearted movie. And he did have good bromantic chemistry with Seth Rogen.

To sum things up, this movie isn't going to win any Oscars, but it's good silly fun. Just sit back with a big bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.

If you're a Mythbusters fan like I am, don't miss the Mythbusters Green Hornet Special on the Discovery Channel on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at 8 PM. In this episode, Seth Rogen joins the Mythbusters to recreate some scenes from the movie, this time without the help of Hollywood movie magic.



Mythbusters airs every Friday at 8 PM on Discovery Channel South East Asia, with a replay at 1 AM.

One more thing before we go....

We're giving away this 2-disc Mythbusters Mega Movie Myths DVD set to one lucky reader. If you want it, just leave a comment with your name and email address on or before Feb. 1, 2011. We'll pick a winner at random.

Restaurant hopping at the Ayala Triangle Garden

we had heard quite a lot about the new culinary hotspot that is the Ayala Triangle Garden (click here for map) in the past couple of months. In particular, friends and relatives have been telling us about big crowds lining up outside a new restaurant called Wee Nam Kee for some allegedly amazing Hainanese chicken.

So when we got invited to try some of the restaurants at the Ayala Triangle Garden on a Saturday afternoon last December, we jumped at the chance. And although Wee Nam Kee wasn't on our itinerary, we still had quite an enjoyable food trip.

Our first stop was Bonchon Chicken, which originated in South Korea.

Twice-fried (!) chicken wings (available in soy garlic and hot & spicy versions)

LIZZ: All in all, I thought this was a great little restaurant. I'm a huge fan of chicken wings, so it's no surprise that I loved the food. My only complaint is that the spicy chicken wings were tongue-scorchingly hot, and as a spicy food lover, that's saying a lot! I'd recommend the regular version for first-timers.

JOSH: To be honest, the regular soy garlic version tasted quite bland to me, but perhaps that was only because I made the mistake of trying the brutally spicy one first. Still, the quality was excellent, and I loved how the chicken skin was delightfully crunchy from being fried twice. I just wish that they had a mildly spicy version for people like me who want a little kick but not intense pain. But I guess Koreans really like their spices.

We also had this nice little bulgogi wrap, or as I call it, Korean shawarma.

Next up was Amici.

JOSH: I love Italian food, and Amici is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. I've previously visited their branches in Greenhills, Tomas Morato, and Don Bosco Makati.

This is the Quattro Formaggi, which I think is Italian for "four cheese." It's my personal favorite.

This is the Tutta Carne, which I think is Italian for "very ordinary pizza" :-P Don't get me wrong--it wasn't not bad at all. But Amici offers a lot of exceptional pizzas and pastas, and most of them are more interesting than this one.

This is a slightly spicy seafood pasta that I forgot the name of. It was excellent.

And this is a delicious creamy mushroom pasta that I also forgot the name of. I promise to take notes next time.

LIZZ: Both the pizza and the pasta at this place were great, though the 4 cheese pizza stood out as a definite must try. I often order this type of pizza at various restos, and Amici's version managed to be both unique and comfortable at the same time. Comfort food at its finest!

Amici's famous gelato is now marketed under the Cara Mia brand name. They have a mouth-watering selection of gelato, cakes, and (gasp) gelato cakes.

Mango Symphony gelato cake

Peach Walnut Passion gelato cake

Pistachio gelato

Sans Rival gelato

LIZZ: Utter Heaven! I loved both the gelato cakes and the gelato itself. Do yourself a favor and don't leave without trying the pistachio gelato... absolute bliss!

JOSH: What she said.

Our final stop was Golden Spoon. We were both stuffed by the time we got here, but we couldn't resist sharing a pomegranate & blueberry yogurt cone. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of the cone before inhaling it.

LIZZ: I've been a huge fan of this place since it opened, and for those of you who crave less calories but can't stand sour yogurt, this is the place to go. ;)

JOSH: Golden Spoon should call their yogurt I Can't Believe It's Not Ice Cream. Yum.

- - -

The Ayala Triangle Garden is definitely a happy place for food-lovers. We thoroughly enjoyed our short food trip, and we plan to go back sometime to check out the other restaurants. There are some familiar old names like Kanin Club, Banapple, MoMo Cafe, and Omakase, but we're most excited about the new restaurants: Chef Laudico's Bfast, C.B.D. (Cheesesteak, Burgers, and Drinks... hmm), and of course the much hyped Wee Nam Kee.

YesNoMeh gives gluttony a



Happy new year everyone!