Movie night at The Cribb

Miranda Davidson Studios screened Training Day at The Cribb in Al Quoz today, which also gave me a chance to check out the venue. The place is located at The Football Centre, which made it convenient to get to from the Manara exit. The Cribb is on the 1st level, and is accessible by swipe card, featuring pay-to-use office space run by i360accelerator, aimed at entrepreneurs and mobile workers. The screening was held in the meeting/event room, en route to which I passed several desks, a modest cafe, and a lounge space.

What I saw of the place looked pretty cool and colorful, and well-designed for its intended purpose. Some in the target market (especially those used to the models of Pavilion Downtown or MAKE) might have issues with them having no on-demand pay-as-you-go options for walk-ins, if not with having to pay at all. For those who can commit to frequent and long-term usage of the place, though, the monthly packages are fairly attractive, and, depending on the package, include such perks as branded workspaces, dedicated desks, and free software access, presently starting at about AED 20 a day (which is not too bad, considering that the cafe is reasonably priced).

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

After the flurry of negative reviews regarding the attempted 2D-to-3D conversion of this film, I decided not to totally waste my money and go for the 2D version. The film is definitely a visual masterpiece, with fast-paced multi-angle battle scenes and spectacular sweeping outdoor views. I am quite skeptical, however, of much of the costume design, especially the armor. The Greeks seem to have used up all the ancient world's supply of kohl for they eyes. And why was Zeus dressed as a Cylon?

Regarding the myth on which this was based, it was ok on a lot of important points, but someone really needs to tell the writers that the legendary Perseus did become a king, and in fact has a major Hellenic dynasty named after him. Other than that, the new Kraken was magnificent, and I liked the characterization of Medusa in this version better than the one in the original stop-motion film, but what the flip was Io doing in this story? I mean, someone had to do the talky background/introduction bits, but that could be have been achieved in more subtle ways. And some of the lines in the film were aggrandized to the point of sermonizing.

Ah, well. See it for the visuals, see it for the action, but leave your brain at the concession stand.

Television Tropes & Idioms

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
Perhaps the biggest and most exhaustive list of descriptions and examples of stock tropes used by writers for TV, films, literature, anime, etc. Written fairly well, too. Everything from "British accent" to "the Libby" to "Final Girl".

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

14-year-old Georgia Nicholson fantasizes about having a perfect snog session with the dreamiest new lad at school, even taking special lessons (only to learn that she is a natural). Despite having to contend with the snotty school man-eater, and despite having a nose she believes to be "the size of Jupiter", she manages to capture his admiration solely with her enthusiasm and wit (and some contrived set-ups for "accidental" rendevous situations). But her obsession with him threatens to make her as fake and malicious as her nemesis, as she attempts to selfishly use both her friends and his friends to try and get closer to him. To make things worse, she may have to move to New Zealand (the land of "sheep and hobbits"), her parents appear to be drifting apart, and her 15th birthday party might well end up "beyond the valley of losers".

Based on the books from the "Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" series, this movie from Gurinder Chadha (of Bend It Like Beckham fame) illustrates the theme of female teen angst with witty school-day neologisms, esoteric adolescent rituals and awkward social situations. Not quite the height of hilarity, but still a very interesting and often very funny look at coming of age, peer pressure and self-confidence issues in Britain's high schools.