what a great day. movie and restaurant review

first of all, i believe i've seen the best damned movie of the year tonight at the shattuck theater in berkeley. one of my all time favorite movies is Amelie. tonight's movie was directed by the same guy, with audrey tautou, one of my very favorite actress born in 1978 (that's a little side info for ed, glad i didn't bet him anything). if you liked Amelie, or you enjoy extremely well crafted movies in general, even if you have to drive a hundred miles... go see A Very Long Engagement. if this movie doesn't win multiple awards in the international movie arena, there is no justice in the world. this movie has three seperate movies intertwined (stole that from the sf chronicle reviewer), a love story, a war picture, and an intricate film-noir who-dunnit. i will see this movie again. i will buy this movie when it is available. you HAVE GOT to see this flick. i don't want to keep flogging this picture, but the cinematography and direction were superb. there is a scene well into the movie where one of the charaters enters a tunnel. the way the scene was shot, with the shift of perspective, and the interplay of light and shadow was quite simply magnificent. the battle scenes were shot as well as any big budget offering. the scenes of the trench warfare were haunting. don't take my word for it. go see it for yourself. really, go. now. go.
for a more articulate and better written review, check out dwardo's review.

after the movie, we banged around berkeley for a bit, figuring out what we were going to have for dinner. my amigo dwardo suggested a caribean place he'd heard about. so off we went to Tropix somewhere on the border of berkeley and oakland on piedmont. when you first get there, the initial impression is hole in the wall. but once you get in, the place opens up into a nice and cosy spot. the food was great. the restaurant has a good vibe to it. we shot the breeze with the chef across the divider while we were waiting to be seated. the staff were all friendly, and accommodating, since there were some dietary issues regarding spices. i know... go to a caribe joint, and expect the food to be bland. NOT. but they were able to fix some killer salmon for my wife without all the jerk rub. she did some serious damage to her plate of food, so she must have liked it. i had jerk rubbed ribeye steak, and dayam, was it good. so if you are in the bay area, and want to try something a little different, check them out.