A Detour, The Odyssey, and Getting Around to More Reviews

TL;DR:

• I made a detour to the Macau Comic Festival
• I (finally) watched The Odyssey
• I get around to posting film reviews

New and Improved

• Added Cinematheque section for reviewing movie/TV series

Life Update

I made one of the strangest detours of my life when I went to the Macau Comic Festival on the 30th, seeing as it wasn’t on my agenda at all until I noticed some promotion for it the previous day. Compared to other similar events I attended in Hong Kong and Vancouver, this was easily the smallest scale, mainly due to Macau’s vastly smaller population. Still, it was around the same price as its Hong Kong counterparts, so along with me having sufficient free time in my schedule, going was a no-brainer. Along with some freebies I got from various booths, I also bought several Pokémon button badges (out of the collection in the collage above), making this spur-of-the-moment trip surprisingly worthwhile.

My other major destination of the day was the Silk Road exhibit at the MGM casino’s museum (which is currently in the running for the weirdest sequence of words I’ve written on this blog). While I was already aware of the topic’s historical and cultural context, seeing the associated artefacts (such as coins, statues, and pottery) in person really brought my existing understanding of the subject matter to life. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, as I returned to Hong Kong on the 31st.

After putting it off for quite a while, I finally had the chance to watch Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in IMAX on September 4th. While it was certainly a well-crafted film, I won’t go into much detail here, as I plan on giving my thoughts about it in a future Cinematheque section.

Cinematheque

In this section, I’ll be discussing films and TV shows I watched lately (spoiler-free).

As teased a couple of weeks ago, here’s my thoughts on the film Remarkably Bright Creatures, directed by Olivia Newman and starring Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and Alfred Molina, adapted from the book of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt (incidentally, the picture I’m using to represent this section features two copies of the book, one with an original cover and the other with the movie cover). The film centres around Tova (Field), a woman near retirement who works as a small-town aquarium janitor trying to navigate life after the death of her son. When struggling wannabe musician Cameron (Pullman) ends up in town following an accident, the two of them begin gradually bonding over the loss of their family members, aided by the aquarium’s octopus Marcellus (Molina).

Aside from being an excellent film overall, and almost certainly in the running for my favourite film of the year, one of the main reasons Remarkably Bright Creatures caught my attention is because it was mainly filmed in Deep Cove, a North Vancouver neighbourhood that quickly became one of my favourites to visit. While it is surprisingly well-connected to the rest of the Vancouver area by public transport, Deep Cove’s small size and remote location within the Burrard Inlet gives it a cosy vibe, all with a great view of the mountains and sea that make Vancouver so spectacular to live in. For that reason, it’s the perfect locale to set a feel-good film like Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Despite the film’s main hook being Marcellus the octopus, an intelligent, snarky, and proud cephalopod who constantly points out the flaws in human behaviour through his deadpan narration, the plot of Remarkably Bright Creatures doesn’t really revolve around or involve him aside from a couple pivotal moments. Instead, the film focuses entirely on the shifting dynamic between Tova and Cameron, who are already interesting enough from their circumstances as mentioned above, and how they help and support each other through challenging times in their lives.

Grief and moving on are central themes throughout this movie, as both Tova and Cameron struggle to deal with the loss of their loved ones, all while trying to find something or someone else to fill the gaps they left behind. This all comes to a head during what I consider to be the movie’s most emotional moment, though the most I can say about it without going into spoiler territory is that it involves Marcellus. Combined with the scene’s context, Field’s acting as Tova was so true-to-life that I nearly forgot her co-star was a (CGI) octopus, and it won’t be an exchange I’ll forget anytime soon.

Still, Remarkably Bright Creatures is ultimately a film with an optimistic outlook on life, which permeates throughout its narrative. Despite the heavy subjects it touches on, there weren’t any moments where I felt unsettled or uncomfortable watching it. On the contrary, the warm and supportive atmosphere it created not only made Remarkably Bright Creatures really enjoyable to watch, but reinforces its themes of finding new hope in life even when all seems lost. After all, if an octopus can do it, why can’t us humans?

Baked Pork Chop Rice Review

This week, I’ll be reviewing the baked pork chop rice from Macau’s Cafe Neptune, which I ate on the 29th. While I usually order the similar yet uniquely Macanese dish of Atlantic baked rice whenever I’m in Macau, Cafe Neptune unfortunately didn’t have it on their menu.

As a side note, I’ll be reviewing the baked pork chop rice in Hong Kong/Macau according to different standards compared to its Canadian counterparts, mainly due to differences in ingredient quality (Canadian ingredients are higher-quality), cooking technique (Hong Kong/Macau restaurants use pain-fried pork, while Canadian restaurants use cutlet port and fried rice), and differing expectations of portion size (Canadian servings are much larger, but slightly pricier to match).

Sauce: 3/5 - Rather bog-standard, though a bit more sour than usual.

Rice: 3/5 - Good enough, nothing to write home about.

Pork chop: 3/5 - In a departure from the usual Hong Kong/Macau serving style, it came pre-sliced, though its taste and texture were pretty standard.

Additional toppings: 2/5 - With nothing else poking through aside from the basics, the generous helping of molten cheese on top is the only thing saving this category from being a 1/5.

Portion size: 3/5 - Exactly what I’d expect from its price.

Total score and final remarks: 14/25 - Aside from its conspicuous lack of additional toppings (or abundance of cheese), you couldn’t find a more average dish of baked pork chop rice anywhere in Hong Kong or Macau. There’s a very good reason Atlantic baked rice is my go-to version in Macau, though if it’s not available for any particular reason, I certainly won’t say no to eating this again.