Aug 25, 2008

Thai Food, Clone Wars, and Mighty Muggs

I could probably write three separate blogs about Coriander Thai, the Clone Wars CG movie, and the awesomeness of Mighty Muggs, but it would be SO much easier to just do one blog with quick notes on each.


Coriander Thai at Westfield Center San Francisco
A favorite lunchtime destination during the work week (when I'm not going to The Sentinel), Coriander Thai is in the "fancy" food court at the downtown SF Westfield Center (not to be confused with the "janky" side of Westfield that has the Burger King and Panda Express).

The fancy food court has lots of great places to eat -- Bristol Farms market has a great steam table, there's a Sarabol Korean BBQ, an Askew, a Buckhorn, Bistro Burger, etc. But despite all those choices, I always end up at Coriander Thai. Their best dishes are the Spicy Catfish and Sweet Chicken with Basil. Son of Gigan and I were there once, I got the thai, and he got some sort of pizza -- but kept coming back to my plate to try the catfish (totally stereotypical of Gigans).



Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Why was this a movie? Even more important, why did I see it? I think George Lucas was able to embed something into our generation's DNA that forces us to watch anything Star Wars-related no matter how bad it is.

Not that the Clone Wars was completely terrible. The CG action looked cool -- a tricky balance between looking too much like the movies and looking too cartoony. But as hectic as the action got, I never got the sense that the main characters were never in any real danger. First, because we know all their fates beforehand; second, because the voice actors never sounded like they were "in the action," as evidenced by Obi-Wan's permanently calm tone no matter what the situation.

Anyway, I'd probably forgive the movie's flaws if it had aired as originally intended: as the first three episodes of the Clone Wars TV show. In a half-hour TV show, it makes sense to have one big battle per episode, it also makes sense for characters to make an appearance one show and then disappear for a few episodes, and it makes sense for characters to still be introduced throughout a show's run. It doesn't work as well in one movie when Mace Windu has two lines of dialogue and then isn't seen again (even worse when General Grievous is only seen for two seconds and mentioned briefly in line of dialogue).

I could go on and on with the movie's flaws -- like Anakin and Ahsoka hiding under a metal box to get through a bubble shield, but then in the very next scene, Obi-Wan and an army of Clones pass through the forcefield without any kind of shielding -- but I'll still tune in in November to Cartoon Network when the series starts it's run. ...dammit.


My Mighty Muggs Collection
Pictured above: Venom, Thing, Darth Vader, General Grievous, Boba Fett.
Boxed in the background: Raiders of the Lost Ark Idol, Spider-Sense Peter Parker, Movie Iron Man.
Cropped from photo: Hulk, regular Iron Man, Stormtrooper
On my desk at work: Spider-Man, Black suit Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, Thor, Captain America, Wolverine

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