Review of "Overheard 3" (窃听风云3)

This movie is the long-awaited sequel in the Overheard series which have had the same leads i.e. Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu. However, the story's setting and their characters have all been changed so there is no worry about not having watched the earlier installments and being unable to understand what Part 3 is all about. In fact, I watched Part 2 before Part 1 and it didn't bother me any bit since the stories were independent of each other.

The central theme of these movies is on eavesdropping or wiretapping where the characters try to outsmart one another through the use of such intelligence gained from this method. This time, the story is based on a group of people hoping to profit from the trading of land rights owned by indigenous people living in the New Territories area of Hong Kong. At one end is Lau Ching Wan and his three buddies who appear to be working with the village heads' leader Uncle To but are plotting to seize all the profits instead of being content with what they already have. On the other end is Louis Koo whose character went to jail for a staged accident under the influence of alcohol in order to kill his buddy who had threatened to wreak Uncle To's plans. He engages the help of Daniel Wu's character to help in monitoring Lau and his cronies in a bid to help his former girlfriend who is Uncle To's daughter and to take revenge for what happened to him and his buddy.

Frankly speaking, there were some parts of the movie which I found rather contradictory or difficult to understand. For example. the story had started by explaining how the Hong Kong government gave house-building rights to the New Territories residents in 1972 so as to prevent them from making a fuss over the development of their area. However, from the time Louis Koo's character went to jail till he was released, it was said that he was in jail for just 5 years and yet the fashion style of the characters seemed a mismatch especially when they were all carrying advanced smartphones. Assuming that when the drink-driving accident happened in the late 80s or 90s (guessing based on the clothes, hairstyles and accessories worn), how could the smartphones and advanced computer equipment be available by the time Louis Koo was released? The story suggested that this was happening in the current times but the clothes worn especially the spectacles worn by Louis Koo seemed to be from the old times.

I also felt that the movie had deviated a bit from its "eavesdropping" concept too much due to the advancement of technology in current times. It was like Daniel Wu's character was doing more of "watching" the characters though the video feeds rather than eavesdropping which is the essence of this series and what makes it doubly exciting. To be able to acquire intelligence merely by hearing and not being able to see what those being monitored are up to is actually more challenging. In this sense, I think Part 3 failed to deliver what it should have done.

In such movies dominated by the male cast, it is inevitable that the actresses will be relegated to being insignificant characters. I thought Michelle Ye's character was simply annoying because the only thing she managed to do was to weaken the resolve of Louis Koo's character and resulted in his tragic fate at the end. However, this was an improvement from Part 2 when she played Koo's wife and had such limited screentime to make her presence felt. As for Zhou Xun who played the role of Louis Koo's buddy's wife, I thought her scene opposite Koo was quite good. There they were staring at each other and she was burning with rage while tears welled up in her eyes while he could not do anything to alleviate that pain and just kept looking at her with sorrow in his eyes. Although no words were exchanged between them, I thought it was a pretty intense scene showing the complicated emotions between them. Zhou also had pretty good chemistry with Daniel Wu as a potential love interest while her rejection and showdown with Lau Ching Wan was yet another powerful scene. In this sense, Zhou had a meatier role than Ye and was easily more memorable.

On the whole, I think Overheard 3 might disappoint those who have been longtime avid fans of the series because it's lacking in excitement and the complicated story about land rights may not interest everyone. Perhaps it's time to know when to stop or else any residual value from this series might be milked dry by the time the next lacklustre sequel comes up.

Upscale yakiniku in the heart of Orchard Road - Magosaburou (Orchard ION)

On the fourth floor of Orchard ION lies a small door to an upscale yakiniku restaurant which can be easily missed among the various dining options available on the same level. Especially when there is no waitress standing at the entrance, it would be difficult to spot this place since the restaurant itself is situated one floor above and can only be accessed through this entrance or via the carpark on level 5. Magosaburou specialises in wagyu i.e. Japanese beef thus I had my reservations about visiting this place because of the lack of options for non-beef items and the fact that the prices are rather high. Considering its location, atmosphere and service standard, I can understand why the prices are marked up but as to whether I may return for a second visit, that would depend largely on whether there are more options for someone like me who doesn't eat beef.

Magosaburou offers two types of dipping options to eat with your meat i.e. the tare (sauce) or shio (salt). I don't have a particular preference for either type but I did notice that the taste of the same type of meat can differ greatly depending on which dipping option you choose. There are people who swear by either of these options but my suggestion is to try both and see which suits your tastes more. Frankly speaking, I thought the shio was more to my liking because it brings out the original flavour of the meat compared to the tare which sort of alters the taste. I can't remember exactly but there was a place where I liked the tare more than the shio so I guess the composition of the tare plays a role in determining whether I would like it or not. Maybe Magosaburou's version is just not my cup of tea?

Before the meat got served, I had a piece of the aburi hotate sushi which was served on a beautiful glass plate. The taste was great but to pay 8 bucks for a single piece of sushi seemed a bit too much. I had to keep reminding myself that the money wasn't just for the food itself but also the "extras" which come with fine dining. Much as I enjoyed the taste and novelty of the experience, this is probably what I would do once in a while only. Remember my previous post about Poulet? I would prefer my food to be tasty and filling so the extras like ambience and plating are things I can do without with. Nonetheless, I think for a yakiniku specialty like Magosaburou, the sushi is at least decent so I don't have any major issues with this dish.

After my recent trip to Japan where I truly enjoyed the rice there (somehow the rice there tastes a lot different from what we have in local Japanese restaurants), this was the first Japanese rice which I found that could be on par to what I tasted in Japan. I don't know exactly what brand or type of rice this is other than it's mentioned as organic rice on the menu. For a whooping 6 dollars for this small bowl of rice, I was a bit sceptical on whether it is truly value for money. However, the nice fragrance of the rice and its taste won me over very quickly. It was of the right texture (not too soft or not too hard) and it was great to see each grain clearly defined in the bowl. I wonder how they manage to make the rice taste so good?

For people like me who don't eat beef, there are three types of pork and one type of chicken to choose from in addition to some seafood options. It was not clearly specified which cut of the chicken this was but each dish was tagged with a slip of paper to indicate the type of meat so that you know what you are eating. I left it to the staff to do the grilling for me and they shared an interesting tidbit with me that the locals i.e. Singaporeans tend to leave the grilling to them while Japanese customers prefer to do it themselves. When I looked around, it was exactly as what they described although I suppose there would be exceptions. I think I would not mind doing it myself if I wasn't starving at that time and if there had been a device to suck out the smoke like what we usually see in Korean BBQ restaurants. Coming back to the taste of the chicken, I thought it was pretty ordinary. Portion-wise, I would have wanted more pieces since this plate cost me 15 dollars.

Luckily, the kurobuta jowl was more pleasing to the palate and again, I wish the portion would have been bigger to justify the price tag. As for whether it tasted better with tare or shio, I think it fared better when paired with the latter. As Magosaburou essentially focuses more on its wagyu than other types of meat, I would expect that its beef offerings should be of a higher standard than what I experienced from the pork and chicken selections. It would be nice if they could offer more choices for people like me who don't eat beef or those who just happen to want to eat something other than beef on a particular day. Otherwise, I find it difficult to justify a repeat visit especially when I can get meat of a similar quality elsewhere in substantial portions and lower prices, albeit without the same upscale atmosphere.

Out of the seafood options available for grilling, I chose the crab leg which was truly disappointing. I found that this was overcooked and it was difficult to remove the crab meat from the shell as it was so tough to chew. I believe it had lost most of its moisture during the grilling process thus the freshness and flavour of the crab leg was gone by the time it was served. Again, to cut Magosaburou some slack, its signature item is the wagyu so there is a likelihood that its other items may not be as nice. However, if these items are to be offered on the menu permanently, there is a need to put in more effort to ensure that what's served is decent enough. Considering the price, I won't recommend ordering this item and think it is a better idea to stick to the meat options.

Last but not least, the dessert I chose was the tiramisu. On hindsight, I should have chosen something more Japanese because they might have done a better job with it. Let's just say that this version of the tiramisu is forgettable and that there would have been better options elsewhere at lower prices.

On the whole, Magosaburou would be a place to go to entertain business associates, friends from overseas or for some special occasions because of its nice appearance and good service. However, to go back to it on a regular basis, there needs to be more pull factors for me at least to justify the high price tag and small portions. I think the lack of consistency in terms of quality among the various dishes and absence of options for people who don't like or eat beef will be a deterrent for repeat customers. Perhaps the viewpoint from a beef lover would be different but in my case, I doubt that I'll be heading back anytime soon.

Wholesome French cuisine without the classy distance - Poulet (Raffles City)

The image I have about French cuisine is that it's usually in very small portions i.e. not filling and it's eaten at a classy place where you have to be really conscious about your table manners. I once had very exquisite French food before but it was a bit stifling and I got hungry quite quickly after that meal because the portions were very small. That doesn't mean the food was bad but I guess I am of the type who prefers a balance between quality and quantity.

Poulet gives a very different vibe where you can easily enter the place without feeling too intimidated or worried about not being able to pronounce the French name of the dishes and I'm pleased to see that the portions are big enough (at least to me). First up was the cream of mushrooms served with croutons. The soup was creamy but not too overpowering but the mushrooms were minced so finely that it was a bit difficult to taste them. It might have been better to cut them into bigger pieces so as to taste the different flavours from the mushrooms used in this soup.

One note of caution to those who don't eat beef, it would be best to check with the staff on which dishes use beef stock. Luckily for me, the waitress alerted me to the fact that the onion soup uses beef stock so I switched to the mushroom soup instead. As such, for those who have the same concern as I do when eating out, be sure to check with the staff.

Of course, when you go to Poulet, you've got to order their signature dish i.e. the roasted chicken which can come in different sauces. Again, thanks to the gentle reminder from the waitress, I avoided the other two sauces which use beef stock and chose the signature version i.e. mushroom sauce in Chardonnay. The skin of the chicken was flavourful due to the overnight brining and the meat was juicy on its own (even the breast meat portion). When eaten together with the sauce, the taste changes so you can have different flavours within the same dish. However, when I ate the same dish at another outlet months after this visit to the Raffles City outlet, I was less than impressed because the chicken felt too dry and the sauce was too watery. Maybe the quality of the dish got affected because the second visit was on a very busy Saturday evening while my visit to the Raffles City branch was in the early evening of a weekday. It would have been better if the quality can be assured across branches and regardless of the time of visit or else customers would be turned off if they happen to have a less-than-satisfactory version during their first visit.

This is a pretty common dish in most restaurants but at Poulet, they call these prawn fritters. I was wondering what they were until the dish were served on my table. Frankly speaking, I don't know if this dish exists in French cuisine or they are including this in a bid to add local flavours to the menu. On its own, there is not much of a wow factor because this dish is so common elsewhere but thankfully, the size of the prawn fritters are big enough so it's a substantial snack and when eaten with the Thai-style chilli sauce, it's quite delicious. It's just that to find something resembling a Thai dish in a French restaurant feels a little odd somehow.

The tiramisu here is said to be their signature dessert item so it would be weird to give it a miss. I have tried many versions of this well-known dessert before but there have only been a few which impressed me. Luckily, Poulet's version does not disappoint and being served in a glass jar like this makes it slightly different from most places which serve it in a small cup or as a single slice. However, the only drawback from serving in this manner is the slight difficulty in trying to remove the different layers in a single scoop so you may not get the same taste with each mouthful as compared to when you eat from a sliced version. Nonetheless, I think it's not that of an issue to most people so overall, I think this is a pretty good dessert.

In all, it does seem like the quality of food may differ slightly across branches but the overall impression I have of Poulet is still good. It looks as if Poulet is rapidly expanding these days so it would be best to keep an eye on the food's quality regardless of when and where we go.

Review of "Transcendence"

On paper, "Transcendence" sounded quite promising as a sci-fi thriller. However, the biggest problem I found with the story was that the concept of transcendence wasn't really explained and explored clearly so at the end of watching the film, I found that I was still none the wiser about what the whole hoo-ha over transcendence was about. I thought it was a real pity that the film had the potential to do better if the concept was developed to its fullest but it went the other way instead and felt like a half-baked effort.

In addition, I didn't really see the link between the advanced technology which the scientists were working on and the ills of the world e.g. pollution and diseases affecting humans which ultimately resulted in the global blackout when the main characters died. Maybe the message was that something created with the intention of goodwill can be manipulated by those who have the desire to use it for their own benefit. Then again, is the film trying to say that Will had the ambition within him so when his consciousness was merged with the AI, he had the power now to do what he always wanted to? However, when you look at the earlier scene where he was speaking at the presentation, he expressed his view that his wife had the lofty ambition to solve the problems facing mankind and he was more concerned about his research. Somehow, that seems a bit contradictory to what the later version of Will thought and did.

It was also a great pity to see Johnny Depp being relegated to leading man in name. In fact, Rebecca Hall (Evelyn) was seen in action more than him and it felt like she was the lead instead. However, if you look at how the script was written, I guess there was no way to see more of Depp in physical action since he had to die before his consciousness could be uploaded to the AI. If that didn't happen, the story would not move forward. However, if the story had been more detailed and taken the trouble to explain some of the fundamental questions over the concept of transcendence and what it really meant or involved, I think there would have been more room for Depp to explore the inner world of Will a bit more and make his performance more memorable to viewers.