http://shariqmahbub.com/blog Living the Life Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:49:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en           I have a tendency not to take Bobby Flay too seriously.  With all of his Food Network work, one wonders how he takes time out to ensure the quality of his restaurants.  So, dubiously, P. and I ventured forth to Mesa Grill, which has been ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/07/18/mesa-grill-gets-serious/       As the 2009 Cannes Film Festival gets underway, I felt a need to explore and address some of the highly acclaimed films from Cannes last year. "Three Monkeys", a dark fable of loss and rupturing that can POSSIBLY be the start of redemption, from Turkey's famed auteur, Nuri Bilge ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/05/16/envisioning-a-new-future-in-three-monkeys/             Amidst the swirling seas of the Altantic, nestled within the arms of "Wish" restaurant in South Beach, I enjoyed and celebrated my existence, wishing for an exciting future and knowing that it will indeed come to pass. There is something about being on the ocean ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/05/07/a-40th-birthday-celebration-under-the-stars-in-south-beach/         Shrek, the trendsetting Dreamworks motion picture has been transformed into a deeply moving and musically innovative meditation on being different, of being the freak in not conforming to society.  Its message is simple: realize that others act intolerant out of fear, embrace your uniqueness even if others ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/04/11/wear-your-freak-flag-and-embrace-the-other-in-shrek-the-musical/       One noteworthy reason to see "Milk" is the amazing, Oscar-winning performance delivered by bad boy Sean Penn.  After you watch his naturalistic, turn as gay activist Harvey Milk, you will wonder, as Robert de Niro suggested, how you ever saw him as macho and a bad boy before.  ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/03/12/milk-a-message-of-integrity-for-our-times/      Hanna Schmitz, as played by Kate Winslet in what will probably be the Oscar-winning performance by a leading female actress at the award ceremony on Friday, is a desolate, scarred soul.  She has a secret that will be uncovered during the course of the movie, but from the ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/02/18/compassion-and-forgiveness-at-the-core-of-the-reader/      Amidst the controversy over whether Indian slums are really quite as dire as the movie makes them out to be, "Slumdog Millionaire" shines because of the focused spotlight it puts on those forgotton beggars and indigents on the streets of Asia who are accepted as a part of ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/02/14/send-love-to-the-poor-in-the-world-thoughts-on-slumdog-millionaire/                      Amidst the winter woes of restaurant disarray in NYC, a bright light shines on Bridgehampton transplant "Almond" in Gramercy, which has filled in the old "Borough" space. The restaurant, although large, was so crowded on a Saturday night that we had to ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/02/04/popular-almond-is-a-crowded-delight/      Going in to see Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon", I was a little skeptical.  Ron Howard has never been one of my favourite directors.  He has had a historical tendency to simplify stories and sugarcoat them, as he did in "A Beautiful Mind".  So I wasn't expecting too much from ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/01/19/the-significance-of-frostnixon-for-january-20th/     "Gran Torino" is a parable for our times.  A bitter old man who believes himself to be alone, who believes that the world is out to get him, slowly finds his beliefs shattered.  The so-called others, the chinks, the foreigners, those who are invading his turf and are ... http://shariqmahbub.com/blog/2009/01/11/an-awakening-in-gran-torino/