Tag: Review

Posted in Film Reviews

Spiderman: Homecoming Review

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

For those of you who are wondering whether or not to go and watch Spiderman: Homecoming, you definitely should go and watch it. It is an epic film. I was lucky enough to have great company with me and some yummy Fentimans curisosity cola, which if you haven’t tried yet, you should.

Back onto the film. If you’ve been following the avengers or marvel films, you will have seen Tom Holland as Spiderman already as the quirky, funny, and energetic 14 year old version of Spiderman who really wants to be an Avenger.

It has some interesting points of view and selfie mode camera angles when Spiderman was filming the ‘home movie’ part of it, mainly during the start of the movie. This I believe added to his character and allowed in a way the audience to see it from his view. It also makes him more relatable.

Tom Holland as Spiderman:
I think he has become one of my favourites. His character went through many different stages throughout the film and made him more likable as the film went on. He clearly is the youngest of the superheroes, which can be seen as Iron Man becomes the fatherly figure, sprouting advice every now and again; which like many teens, Spiderman chooses to ignore and gets himself into all sorts of trouble as a result.

Zendaya as Michelle Jones (MJ):
Her character does whatever she wants, when she wants. You see her turning up throughout the film around school, in the debate club, at the party and even in detention. She seems intelligent, quick-witted, observant, uncaring and gives Peter the finger every now and again. At the end there is a longing look that indicates she seems to have feelings for Peter. Her initials are a tribute to Mary Jane, but unlike Mary Jane she likes Peter for Peter and not just because he’s Spiderman. Michelle was probably one of my favourite characters in the film.
The Sidekick:
Ned’s the quirky sidekick who accidently finds out that his best-friend is Spiderman and helps him throughout the film. He’s a funny, likeable character that tries to help Peter win Liz (the love-interest, who is always being saved by Spiderman) as well as covering for Peter when he’s out saving the world.

Within the film there’s a nice big twist to keep it interesting. Vulture , who seemingly became a villain due to circumstances and opportunity, along with some bad choices; kind of redeems himself slightly at the end.
At the beginning it did sort of seem like it was the fault of the government, as they put Vulture and his team out of a job and he was set to lose everything.
His family seemed to be the most important thing to him and them having the best seemed to be his intention. However they were totally unaware of what he was doing and the crimes he was committing.

The film ends on a great note, as Spiderman looks in the mirror after earning Iron Man’s respect. And his protective Auntie finally finding out what he really has been up to during his midnight escapades or at least putting it together.

By
Elizabeth Hopkins

 

Posted in Film Reviews

Deadpool Review

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

The other day, I went to see one of Marvels best films to date. Filled with humour, it was definitely something worth watching in the cinema.

The casting was great. Ryan Reynolds brought humour to the big screen in folds, there were digs at everything from his previous film Green Lantern to the production budget of Deadpool. His cheeky personality also helped defuse the most serious and emotional scenes which let you feel sympathetic towards certain characters. Then BAM! He would say something funny or something would happen that would make you laugh again. Of course the other characters helped in making the film the success that it was and it would not have worked without them.

Then there was Wade Wilson’s love interest which in this case was Vanessa Carlysle played by the beautiful Morena Baccarin. Her sassy character plays in-line with Wilsons, including the characters funny but strong introduction. They really do make a cute pair during the times of the film that they do appear together and in those parts of the film it almost did seem like a little romantic movie hahaha.

In terms of my favourite scene or part, I don’t think I could pick one, as there were so many parts of the film that I loved. The taxi scene is definitely one of them. Just the whole interaction and contradiction in body language to what Wilson says to the taxi driver is just brilliant. I also love the fact that deadpool talks to the audience as if he knows that he’s in a movie. I have seen it done before but nowhere near as good as the way deadpool has done it.

All in all it is definitely worth the watch and I do think it does live up to the hype that has surrounded it. ;P

Posted in Restaurant & Cafe Reviews

Lunch at Mildreds’ and a quick Review

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

Yesterday, I had a day filled with ups and downs as we walked around Central London, going to shops, looking at street performances and buying things, as you do. But one of the best parts of the day for me was Lunch because when we went Mildreds;’ a Vegetarian Restaurant  in central London.

Now this was the first time I’d been there and I definitely want to go again. It was delicious and not only that but the staff were friendly and seemed like they really enjoyed working there. It had a lovely atmosphere and all tables were full (Every time I see it there’s a line out the door- just to give you a sense of how popular it is).

Now back to the food. Now this is food to write home about, it is crazy good. So here’s what me (Green) and Alan (Blue) had for lunch:

Starter:

  • Panfried Halloumi, Cherry Tomato and wilted Spinach with Balsamic glaze
  • Gyoza dumplings with Mirin and Soy dipping sauce

 Main:

  • Fresh Tortelloni filled with Pumpkin and Ricotta, with Chestnut Mushroom, White Wine Cream sauce, drizzled with truffle oil
  • Organic Black Bean Burrito, with Red Pepper and Green Tomatillo Rice, topped with Tomato Salsa and Cheddar with Iceberg, Sour Cream, Guacamole and Pico de Gallo

Side:

  • Sweet potato fries with mayo (The mayo is super yum)

Dessert:

  • Banoffee Crème Brulee, Salted Caramel Bananas, Chocolate Chip Shortbread
  • Maple Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
  • With Cappuccino

Yes we probably did overdo in terms of how much we ate and we were stuffed when we went out. The two best dishes there in my opinion was the Tortelloni and the Banoffee Crème Brulee, they were really, really yummy, could not get enough of them, but all the food was great. The only one I might not get again is the pecan pie but it does go well with the ice-cream. The rest was astounding and so yes I would highly recommend it. It’s suitable for all sorts of occasions, dates, friends, etc. Price wise for the food you are getting you can’t really complain.

Anyways hope you enjoyed reading this and if you have any veggie friends this is definitely a place to check out.

Posted in Restaurant & Cafe Reviews

Restaurant Review-Momo House ;)

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

I apologize as I realize it has been about a month since my last post so I figured I would write a quick restaurant review.

So yesterday evening I went to Momo House restaurant in Alperton, which is an Asian fusion restaurant that serves Nepalese, Indian and Chinese cuisine. It had a nice atmosphere, staff were friendly and the food tasted good and was a reasonable price. Personally I think it is a great place for a bunch of friends or a date, as it is quite a cute small restaurant. From what I saw it can get fairly busy which only adds to the friendly atmosphere.

When we were seated they gave us crispy poppadoms with two sauces. Then we ordered steamed momos which came in a batch of 10, special fried rice, butter naan and a Aloo Palak (Potatoes & Spinach) which came to under £20, and it filled us right up. (And it was yummy! =])

So if you want to try somewhere new or fancy some Nepalese, or Indian food I suggest you try out the Momo House Restaurant. They also serve home-made alcohol which came in these tall metal things. It seemed to be a popular drink there.

Momo House Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MomoHouseAlperton

Restaurant Address:
2 Glenmore Parade,
Ealing Road,
Wembley,
London
HA0 1JT

Posted in Me, Restaurant & Cafe Reviews

My 22nd Birthday- Third and Final Part

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

First I would like to apologize for the lateness of this post. This is the third and final part of ‘My 22nd Birthday’ posts, and was the last day of my celebrating, as Saturday the 13th was my birthday.

Part Three:
Super Saturday:

On this day I woke up abnormally early for a weekend, as there was a lion dance performance and we all needed to get things ready. The uniforms needed a quick iron and equipment needed to be loaded into the cars. After this was done we all chilled out.

And yes, we played our new favourite game Yui-Gui-Oh! With the end score being 7 to me and 4 to Alan…Yaaay! I win!

The rest of the Yi Dao Troop turned up and my dad made everyone some yummy food and then it was off to do the Lion Dance performance for a wedding! =)

It was a beautiful venue, for a wedding.

Anyway after we finished we headed back to unload the equipment and change and then we headed to the park royal arcade, and arcades are always more fun with more people, as you verse each other, and mess around.

Then as we had a restaurant booking for 6 or 6:30 pm we headed off to a restaurant called, ‘Loving Hut’ in Edgeware.
Now I do not like saying bad things about places, I rather recommend places to go. But it was my birthday and this place sort of annoyed me a LOT!
Not only did food take ages to come out but the food was pretty greasy (The only thing I really liked was Bang-bang veggie chicken and the veggie fishcake) and according to the staff they had double-booked (The manger was not there, and later after a call was made told us in fact that they were not double-booked).
Now my mum and dad had to leave a bit early to drop off a car and said they were going to come back to eat because they were still hungry since they did no eat much due to the time it took for the food to come out, so the rest of us stayed to continue to eat as we chose the la-carte menu (The all you can eat menu).
Then the waiter comes to us and says we have to leave by 7:30 as they have another booking.
This is not only annoying because we are waiting for someone but, we are also paying over £120 and after telling them, they continuously come to the table to ask us to leave (Wish they had come to our table more often when we wanted to order food- At one point my mum had to go up and tell them what we wanted at the till. Normally the waiters would come to your table). All in all it was a shambles. We left, because we got fed up. For the price we paid we could have brought the same amount of dishes in a better restaurant for better service and better quality.

So if you want greasy vegan food that takes ages to come go to Loving Hut in Edgeware! But I do not plan on going there again! It was one of the things that upset me on my birthday!

On a brighter not after we left, the 6 of us went to ‘Baskin Robbins’ opposite for some yummy ice-cream! The guy let us try the various different flavours, and was very patient especially considering there were 6 of us. So we all brought some yummy ice-creams sat in the little ice-cream shop to eat, and we all talked and what not.

Then we eventually split ways and my mum & dad picked up me, my bro, sis, and Alan and we headed home. Where they got me a cake and sung Happy Birthday and the Rest of it!

My family and troop always know how to make me smile!
And if your feeling a bit down head to Baskin Robbins

haha

Posted in Film Reviews

Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

This past weekend I got to see the new marvel film, At first I was a bit skeptical because some films don’t live up to the hype that they are surrounded by, but this film was funny, intelligent and kept me engaged the entire time. Sure there were a few cheesy bits, but what film doesn’t have those and some of those cheesy sections ended up being hilarious.Therefore I highly recommend it especially to those marvel lovers out there.

Poster
The Characters!

As the film went on, so did my love for the various characters especially Groot, who’s only word’s were: “I am Groot.” (Vin Diesel) And whom Rocket (Raccoon) was able to translate perfectly with added commentary. Groot was an interesting character as although his words may have been limited his actions and abilities within the film continuously expanded and surprised the audience. Additionally he did what I call the Groot Smash! And gave a little smile at the end! Little Groot was also super adorable when he danced, and definitely had the cute factor on point.

http://imgur.com/xUFRAto
Dancing Baby Groot

Rocket was another funny little character, and Bradley Cooper‘s voice was perfect and gave him a lot of character. Other than making you want Rocket as a pet, he was one of the more resourceful characters in the film, being able to make weapons and formulate plans on the spot, not all of which were perfect but did somehow work. He also was extremely funny, sarcastic at times, and for fun made people get things that he didn’t need but thought would be funny.

Then you had the main character’s love interest Gamora, played by the beautiful Zoe Saldana, who was great at putting people in their place, and extremely a talented as weapon, assassin and had an interesting back story.

Then there was Mr. Muscle man, Drax the Destroyer played by Dave Batista a killer turned friend. His comments and inability to understand caused me to laugh a lot, and I wanted him to succeed.

Finally there was the main character, Starlord played by Chris Pratt. He kept surprising me from his back story, to his humor, and even his playboy attitude, all of it made him a fun, happy go lucky character. Still I really want to know who his dad is!

Haha
Anyways I recommend it!
And remember to watch it till after the credits!
It links in to other marvel films
=D

Posted in Restaurant & Cafe Reviews

Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium Review

Posted on by Elizabeth Han Hopkins

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The other day I got the chance to go to Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, the first cat café in UK with some close friends. It was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and something I recommend especially if you like cats!

When you walked in it was just like an ordinary café but with cats. However when you went downstairs it was like walking into something that was a bit surreal. There were sofas, different chairs and tables, and bunch of items for the cats to entertain themselves with or for customers to use to play and interact with the cats.

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Twitters are: @LdLoki & @LdAdamska

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20140623_152254[1]        Cat play and sleep area

When we were there, there was this sweet employee who was there and whom made it an enjoyable 2 hour session. She was able to tell you everything about the 11 cats that resided there including:

Their Names
What toys the cats liked the most
The way they liked being petted and stroked
How to tell the twin black cats Loki and Adamska apart
She also gives you treats to give to the cats… which the cats will gobble out of your hand in no time

You could definitely see that she loved her job, and her big smile made us all smile.

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There were also a number of classical old school games, such as ‘Snakes and Ladders’ and ‘Jenga.’ We ended up playing ‘Snakes and Ladders’…Which brought back some lovely childhood memories. Sometimes the cats will join you in these activities… For example I heard Mue was especially fond of Jenga and enjoyed charging into the tower.

If games were not enough they have a variety of cat toys and BUBBLES! The bubbles were something I enjoyed playing with (Such a Kid right >.<) and so did the cats. Loki seemed to love the bubbles and would jump up and try to pop them…It was so adorable! One of the most interesting toys was the Cat Wheel which looked like a big version of a Hamster Wheel! The cat which I got to see run on it was Loki as he ran on the wheel to try to retrieve his favourite toy which was like a dragonfly on the end of the stick. Personally I think that Loki (Clearly I love Loki hahaha) was the most active during our 2 hour session there, but we did see almost all the cats do something even if it was just waking up from their nap to clean themselves or to move to another area of the cafe.

Loki and his favourite Toy
Loki and his favorite Toy

Cat Wheel Image

Of course it would not be a café if it did not have food and drinks. And the food was definitely delicious; I had the Quiche and Salad along with a white hot chocolate. The white hot chocolate was a lovely treat as it arrived with a little cat face drawn in it and had a milky flavour to it.

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Although I did not have any dessert (mainly because I was stuffed) I saw some other people in the café get some tasty looking cakes! Next time I go, I shall get cake haha.

All in all me and my friends had a great time there and it is something I recommend you definitely go and see at least once.

To find out more about the 11 cats click the link below, they even have their own Twitter accounts!

http://ladydinahs.com/our-cats/

To visit their website click the link below:

http://ladydinahs.com/

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