Kevin C. Wong

Spot Reviews 04/19/24

Taken (2008) [/] Rewatched this on streaming, though I mostly skipped the first half hour of setup. That leaves about 55 minutes of action as Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) searches for his kidnapped daughter in Paris. He's got some clever techniques such as hiring an Albanian language tutor to do a spot translation. The action is also good. After 16 years the film is still entertaining.

When Worlds Collide (1951) [-] A few astronomers discover a rogue star, Bellus, that will collide with Earth in 8 months. Nobody believes them but they get private funding and volunteers to build a space ship that will take 40 people from Earth to Zyra, an Earth-like world orbiting Bellus. But the timing is tight since the trip has to be made at the closest point when Zyra brushes past Earth... It's an old film and the drama is people vs people. There's also a bit of a love story. I did find it surprisingly watchable but doubt most people would like it.

Mahjong Titan+ (2021) [-] Apple Arcade tile matching game using mahjong tiles. There are different backgrounds and tile sets and each board is a set puzzle (1900 regular boards, 600 premium boards). It's what you'd expect, nothing remarkable and maybe only the minimum you'd expect from a competent implementation. I think I played a couple dozen boards and it was still boring.

Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce [+] Like $2 for a 24 oz jar and it tastes good. Unlike the Olive and Basil Pesto I give this a plus because it tastes like what I expect. Perfectly fine with pasta and fine if you add a bit more to it like cooked chopped lettuce.