"BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)"

-a film review by CatsMando

How painful must it feel, to see yourself become nothing...

    I love the first one. A great film that circles about the notion of having a self. Covered in sharp, sci-fi visuals, and whose story is pushed forth in film-noir trappings. It's majestic, without the bombast. It's layered with very few fluffs. Best is, it's ponderous without pretense. So how does this new one compare? Well, to tell it short, just like HellorHighWater of yesteryear. BladeRunner2049 is an easy, instant, top-fave film of mine for this year. For my longer take on it, read on.

"John Wick - Chapter 2 (2017)"

-A film review by Catsmando

    First off, a warning. It's really hard to talk about the technical ingenuity of this film without dropping to spoiler territory, but I still will because; a) It's John Wick. Nobody goes to watch John Wick expecting an original story. And b) With those said, I just HAVE to expound on those because it this film is just a wonderful, art-grade, proper action film...it's just so rare to have such gem.

"The Wailing \ Goksung (2016)"

-a film review by CatsMando

"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." -Luke 24:37-39

    Been a while I've seen a film that really delves deep into the supernatural. Maybe it's because of the fact that this isn't an American film. I often feel American horror films have this urge to try and make sense of things at the end, no matter how otherworldly it gets. And yeah it's good when they work, I got no qualms with the approach. I'm just saying, this film makes a point that sometimes, it's okay to be confused, to be thoroughly afraid of the senselessness, frustrated with the unknowable. Because some horrors simply relish in such chaos and senselessness.

    It's a police investigation-horror film, sometimes funny, sometimes unsettling, always entertaining. The story at times is a bit loose on parts, but it's held strong by its overall theme/point. It's a pleasant surprise to know that with this and Train to Busan, South Korea proved it could dish out horror flicks of such caliber.

Syed Al Biryani - Bring on the heat!

This review is totally from an outsider looking in. I've mentioned that disclaimer since the consensus is divided amongst reviewers whose probably had Biryani from their home countries in Pakistan or India or have compared it with their parent's recipe that they had since kids. I, on the other hand, had only started eating this dish when I came here in UAE 3 years ago and had my fair share of Biryanis to say at least which is good and which isn't, and this is place is definitely one of the best Biryani I've had, probably top 3. More on this after the break. 

Brosted Chicken House Restaurant - Shawaramadness!

When you say shawarma, you'll have a general idea of how it will be like, it's either bits and pieces of chicken or beef/mutton, then add fries if it's an Arabic shawarma, and sliced and diced vegetables if it's from an Indian cafeteria, and these are wrapped in a flatbread. You'll find shawarma joints all across UAE dime a dozen, so to stand out, they need to have something that sets them apart from the competition, and that's where Brosted Chicken House & Restaurant comes in, more after the break.