Two Quick Reviews

Review #1: Urbino Pizza & Pasta, a new restaurant here in DFW. Last night I ate here with friends. We had the bruschetta appetizer and a half Blanco/half Vegetarian pizza, traditional round crust. Joe & I had the frozen lemoncello cocktail, while Tim had a Grey Goose martini. The exterior was too hot (weather) so we ate inside. The seating is continental--meaning open, the new fad in DFW Italian. Some sophisticated kind of jam, I guess. Blah blah blah. It is not the Texas way, not the USA way... so people struggle against it or sit with the facial expression of "Oh, aren't we, uh, civilized." But they look awkward. Me, too, actually.

There were also couches, where you can sit and drink/eat, too. That's a ltitle "Arabian Nights" for me, as well, and makes for dangerous eating: spilling, juggling, slouching. Not my dream eat choice.

The cocktails were yum-yum good, especially the lemoncello. The food was not bad, but nothing to rave about. Not the best bruschetta or pizza I've had, not as good as other DFW locations. Like Fireside Pies, which has the BEST pizza and salads I can think of. Or Rocco's, which does the best delivery pizza in my area. De-lish and reasonable. (Used to be Sagno's but they closed... and the result is that my bike store moved in.) In fact, the bruschetta was untoasted (surprise!) and came with a "salad" that was sadly limp.

Our waitress was good, and there were many, many young men in white Ts wandering around (doing what, exactly, was unclear... ).
Rather obviously, a meet 'n' greet place for younger folks and a weensy bit pretentious (check the site, that doesn't give menu, photos, or anything but "atmosphere" and delivery #." Curiously unfull bar--limited wine list, limited cocktails, not sure about beer... Not enough of a draw to go back again.

Review #2: A Perfect Getaway, new film out this weekend. Action-adventure. I saw this this morning... need the action-adventure jolt every once in a while. Mixed reactions.

a. the script has its too precious, too pretentious moments, especially when it dwells in screenwriting (the director is the screenwriter, by the way). Ugh. But there are also funny moments, and it is not a terrible script. Semi-well crafted, with certain payoff moments.

b. Timothy Olyphant has a smoking hot body. He is not only the best actor here--seriously, seriously better than everyone else--but in good shape. A bonus. His character is crazy, weird, slightly (or more) strung out, but as in Deadwood, he is very good and under-appreciated. Oh, and smoking hot.

c. the landscape is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. If I was inclined to hike or climb or do anything remotely like that, I would go there, to Hawaii, to do so. If I had a partner who could track/climb/hunt/clean/cook I would go there and do that.

Some good action sequences--mostly of the hand-to-hand fighting sort. Some good dialogue exchanges. Some twists--too easy to figure out. Steve Kahn is good, Milla Jovavich is in good shape, Kiely Sanchez is also in good shape and might be pretty good a few years from now. Director-writer Twohy depends too much on run-of-the-mill crafting of the screenplay, following the directions for a do-it-yourself thriller/adventure flick. The problem: it comes across as lack of commitment and a wink wink, nudge nudge to the audience. Aren't we all so smart? The actors are committed--at least Olyphant, Sanchez, and Kahn are. Who ever knows about Jovavich? They are working, committing, turning in performances that I hope people notice; but Twohy is selling a product. Just my opinion.

See it for the good stuff--it will work for you, as long as your expectations are middling. But--again--Olyphant is very, very good and did I mention the smoking hot body? The combination is too rare in recent films.