Tag: reviews

Harappa ! Restaurant Reviews!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

https://www.harapparestaurant.co.uk/default.aspx

My first restaurant review and my first Indian restaurant visit for many years! Wow, incredible food and service. I have not been out for a meal since November, and that was the first in over 2 years I believe.

Overall it was a good quality restaurant with good timely service. However, the restaurant was empty, my guest and I the only two in there. Also, there appeared to be no central heating and the restaurant used portable heaters. Not very good and it was cold given it is winter, the heaters appeared to do little. This is really the only downside.

Like I said I have not been out to a restaurant like this for years. So, price wise I did not know what to expect. It ended up being £48 abouts for two people. It was also, to my surprise, two for one Tuesdays! Wow, what a coincidence. Apparently that was on main courses. I think drinks cranked up the prices as I had two sparkling waters and a coke. They did not add a service charge on and on the bill it said we are welcome to add that on, very good.

I ordered the most spicy version of this garlic chicken masala dish which came under some variety of fusion dish. It was extremely spicy which is what I like. I also ordered chips with this and some garlic naan bread. I had vegetable samosa for starters which was lovely, and prior to that some poppadoms with plenty of side sauces. I think the portions were massive, I even took a lot back home with me!

For the price there was enough food for 4 people in honesty. It was cooked well and not overpowering. I enjoyed the consistency of it too. Vegetable samosa was perfect, my guest had some variety of halloumi in a wrap. The restaurant was empty, only 2 men turned up when we were leaving so I can tell from previous that weekends are busier, as when I have walked past at night in the past it has been rammed.

Overall I will rate the food, the price, the service and the actual restaraunt.

The decor was consistent with Indian, it had some variety of bollywoof music playing. Led lights were used to good effect and dark green and red were used as the colours to the chairs and the napkins. Service was good, waiters friendly and rather than bringing things out when we were not ready, instead let us wait and then we could ask to have our main courses.

You can see part of my anatomy on the pictures, so don’t worry that is me, not my female guest. Back to the restaurant, it was cold and I felt like why would such a popular place not invest in central heating. There was one electric heater attached to a wall and portable heaters, I could not feel it as they placed it next to my guest rather than in the middle of us, I suppose if it were too much of a problem I could request a discount. But, it turned out to be 2 for one Tuesdays. Apparently that is on the main course. Drinks were as expected, coke with lemon and ice and 2 sparkling waters. The restaurant actually has a statement on the menu that you can bring your own beer and wine if you book. I did book a table despite knowing it would be quiet, simply because formality bears all good things. I also wore my suit trousers with black brogues and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, as seen in the picture.

Okay, here goes:

FOOD: 4/5

PRICE: 4/5

SERVICE: 5/5

RESTAURANT: 4/5 Good theme, music and atmosphere. (thought I could smell incense at one point)

Temperature: 2/5 Considering it is winter, the restaurant should be keeping it warm.

I recommend the Harappa Indian restaurant in Stockport, Cheshire/Greater Manchester as an evening to enjoy good quality food. Recommend going on a busy evening as although it was empty, I felt like more people would have boosted the atmosphere. 🙂

Joker: Movie Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison
The Warner Bros Trailer for Joker

=SPOILERS

Highly anticipated and received to mixed reviews, Joker.

Released 2019 with a run time of 2 hours 2 minutes. Released 4th October 2019 UK. Directed by Todd Phillips. Gross Revenue of $1.074 billion.

Winner of 2 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards and 3 British Academy Film Awards.

8.5 IMBD 68% Rotten Tomatoes

I watched Joker with my friend the Monday just passed. It was quite an insight into the mind of a psychopath, the Joker.

Acted and played out brilliantly by capable Joaquin Phoenix, and well supported, including by legend Robert De Niro. A somewhat slow paced crime thriller, bordering psychological thriller. The film certainly delivers the elements of a serial killer movie developing through emotional distress and being shunned by society.

I kept watching to see whether we would learn anything interesting about the Joker or his background. The only things we learn are that he had a crazy mother and that he’s magically middle aged whilst Bruce Wayne is a child? Come on, that is a major inconsistency….making Joker a pensioner in the Batman films….which he clearly was not, especially in The Dark Knight when portrayed by Heath Ledger.

He has a maniacal laugh, later suggested is not a medical condition, which I suspected, but is a part of his psychopathy. Treated badly as a child, raised and ignored and made a laughing stock of on national tv by his presenter hero De Niro. Of course, this sets in motion a series of events that unintentionally lead the Joker to creating a massive clown masked revolution without really doing much at all. Started by the killing of three men in suits in the subways. Small ideas are thrown into the public eye and they eat it up quick enough, quick to cause carnage…a great and accurate representation of the world today.

As a literal clown for a job, he is invited on a tv show to showcase some of his work. He has it all planned out, after committing a series of murders on former work colleagues. The whole time we can see his mental health deteriorate as he slowly loses his grip on reality. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, as he has had a terribly abusive past and was lied to and humiliated consistently from start to finish. I am not surprised he did what he did. That might be why critics were riled and mixed reviews/poor reviews about promoting violence came through.

The finale sees him on the show where he brutally murders, by shooting the tv host. His actions come after a rant about his previous murders of the suits. Here we see some movie magic but also a dangerous film mechanic. Suggesting that the societal mentally sick are somewhat righteous to go and kill the wealthier is absurd. When Joker shoots the host, of course that is the start of the riots and mass criminal activity. Thousands called on by this self entitlement that the Joker seems to display throughout.

An okay film, with brief but not overly detailed insight into the Jokers mind. Due to the themes and suggestive nature of the film and the violence associated with this, I have deducted half a star for the final rating.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

3 and a half stars. Not too bad, worth a watch, very controversial content surrounding mental health and the poor rich divide. Good luck watching this.

Unstoppable Momentum – Joe Satriani: Album, Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Instrumental rock album, Unstoppable momentum by Joe Satriani, released 2013 by Epic records. The album reached No. 42 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for three weeks, as well as reaching the top 100 in nine other countries.

A thrilling, expansive, creative and extremely well composed album. Seriously, music has never been as good as this album or any other album by Joe for that reason. The sounds are so different from his other albums, more versatile, more out there and in your face. This is a fast paced, feel good album, with highlights such as Shine on American Dreamer, Jumpin in, Three Sheets to the Wind, Can’t go Back and basically every song on the album. Definitely a recommendation for fans and those who like instrumental albums.

Track 10 – The Weight of The World, sounds like an eighties song, or some other feel good movie type composition and really begins to close the album in the most excellent manner. It’s a euphoric, energetic album, so have a listen to one or two songs!

I would talk about this album all day, but honestly let’s just get to the score and final review rating, because that’s why you are here!

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Excellent, clean and easy distinguishable from every other album.

Cell : Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Cell is an apocalyptic horror novel published by American author Stephen King in 2006. The story follows a New England artist struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(novel))

Based on the novel of the same name, the director takes on an ambitious project with the help of Stephen King himself. The star studded cast, with John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson is sure to make a haunting and memorable movie, right?

Not this time, nowhere in this film did I personally have my mind blown. The film starts off with a heart racing scene in the airport, something that you would be quite frightened to witness, but John Cusack just doesn’t deliver in his acting – I’m not personally a fan because he doesn’t seem to show any emotions in any film. The story is not explained properly and we are dropped into the action straight away, as if we are all meant to have read the book. The special effects were not great for a blockbuster either, the plane crashing through the terminal was extremely laughable. Soon though the story sees Samuel Jackson introduced, whom is a great actor, but doesn’t come close to showing it sadly. Yet again, we are supposed to understand things that are just introduced with no explanation. The characters also seem flat and are seriously underdeveloped.

Along the way to find his son, the pair are frequently met with strangers along their road trip. These appearances actually seemed to show an improvement in the story, especially the scene where they burn the people in the stadium. But still, more questions are asked and little is answered. So up to now, we have the entire population of people turned into mad killers, and no explanation as to why, and a group with no character.

It soon gets even more tense though as they battle their way closer to a mysterious signal tower, where the killer people are apparently being controlled from. The appearance of the the man in the red hoodie is good, but doesn’t – yet again – explain anything. He appears multiple times until the end where there is some kind of stand off. The climax is not very good, and the ‘zombie’ like people can be seen moving in a clearly computer animated way (CGI), which is so poor I wanted to cry. It then sees the father and son united, and seem to walk off after destroying the tower, only for a cut scene of Cusack walking among the crowds of zombies to show. It is all very confusing.

I want to write about the film in a good light, so will give credit to the road trip style throughout, and the sudden moments of terror, and perhaps to the opening scene and subsequent stadium scene. Other than that most of the film is forgettable, sadly. The story was poorly explained for an adaption, the acting wasn’t great – even from so-called expert actors – and the action and CGI were very limited. Considering King himself worked on this project, I cannot understand why he didn’t have the characters lives explained, or their background.

Therefore I award the film :

2.5/5