Kevin C. Wong

Spot Reviews 08/09/24

The Idea of You (2024) [/] American rom-com. Single 40-year old mom Solène (Anne Hathaway) meets and has a romantic European trip with veteran boy band member Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine) -- I think he's supposed to be late 20's and his band has been around for about a decade. Unfortunately the attention from photographers and hate from fans threatens to break them apart... This is a Prime Video original film. Good production value. Story and acting are quite good. Ending maybe misses a bit though it's not a bad ending. I enjoyed it.

Cute Bodyguard (2021) [-] Chinese romance drama. Wealthy heir Gu Rong (Liu Te) hires Su Jing Jing (Ling Mei Shi) as his feisty bodyguard/assistant because she seems to be the only person he can touch without panicking. They don't get along and he keeps interfering with her attempts to get closer to childhood crush Han Ran (Chang Zhe Kuan), now a successful author... I watched four episodes and I'm sure the turn is coming but boy is the guy really annoying and the girl not much better. My Prime Video is expiring and with the remaining time I'd rather watch something else.

The Intrepid Saga (2016) [/] This three novel series mostly follows Tanis Richards, disgraced ex-special forces assigned as new head of security for the Intrepid -- a new class of colony ship -- which will be completed in a year if terrorists don't destroy it. In book 2 the Intrepid is on its way but suffers sabotage near a desolate star and Tanis has to save the ship. In book 3 the Intrepid limps into an uninhabited star system to repair but finds an unexpected ship of refugees who they help over the next 100 years whilst a criminal mastermind plots the downfall of Tanis and the Intrepid's leadership... This series is set in the Aeon-14 universe and starts in Mars of the 41st century. Lots of high tech and body mods but no FTL (later in the universe timeline FTL is developed which sparks an interstellar war). It's an interesting universe but I found these three books not that engrossing and I don't think I'll read the Orion War series set in the same universe. Perhaps if I had read it instead of listening to an audio book.

Leo's Fortune+ (2021) [/] This is the Apple Arcade version of Leo's Fortune, a side-scrolling platform puzzle game where you maneuver Leo (a furry head muppet) using left, right, and jump buttons. You go from start to finish picking up coins, pushing buttons, and avoiding traps. It's a cutesy game though better with a controller than touch.

Izakaya Mai, San Mateo - Curry Champon [+] "Creamy pork broth with Japanese Curry topped with stir fried veggies, pork, seafood mix, fish cakes, sesame seed, jalapeno, and green onions." I had this with Champon Noodle (wheat flour and egg). It has a light curry flavor and maybe a little spicy though I didn't notice. It has cabbage but very soft. Quite filling. $21 via Doordash.