Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bangkok Cafe

Located at 1203 S. Holden Road, Bangkok Café offers a variety of Thai dishes for dine-in or takeout.

“Hidden gem” is an overused cliché when it comes to dining (and many other things), but it is nearly appropriate here. Bangkok Café is a tiny blip in a Holden Road shopping center that is undoubtedly passed by hundreds of people every day without a second thought. The quality of the food, however, should grant it more attention.

Bangkok Café’s menu is laden with familiar Thai favorites. You can get various curries, tom yum soup, and plenty of rice and noodle dishes here. I went with the Pad Thai my first time out, and I was not disappointed. Bangkok Café gets the delicate balance of flavors down better than anywhere else in Greensboro (so far). Prices are wallet-friendly, too. The Pad Thai (with shrimp) goes for $10, and many of the entrees cost the same or less.

Now for the bad: Bangkok Café is tiny. There are 10 tables in all, meaning that you should time your visit carefully. It is a family owned/run establishment, which means that staffing is minimal. Everyone was very friendly, but dining here demands a casual pace.

The location and small size may put some diners off, but for those who are willing to make the trip, Bangkok Café offers Thai done right.

7.75/10
Bangkok Cafe Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Atlas Shrugged: Part I

It’s 2016, and the world faces economic turmoil. Prominent business leaders are disappearing left and right, and Washington insiders are lobbying for new regulations to “fix” the economy. Amid this backdrop, capable, strong-willed railroad executive Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) butts heads with her incompetent, insecure brother James (Matthew Marsden). She is concerned about serving her customers and turning a profit; he wants to project a good company image and gain political influence. Meanwhile, self-made industrialist Hank Reardon (Grant Bowler) supports his ungrateful wife, mother, and brother while working long hours to maximize his gains. His new alloy, Rearden Metal, could be stronger and cheaper than anything on the market, which motivates his competitors to turn the tides of public and official opinion against it. As Dagny and Hank form a partnership, the efforts to hinder their progress redouble. Lurking at the edges of the conflict is a question no one can answer: who is John Galt?

In the 50-plus years since Ayn Rand’s 1,300-page novel was published, there have been numerous attempts to adapt Atlas Shrugged for the big screen. They have all met with failure for one reason or another; namely, a lack of final approval from Rand and her intellectual heirs. Enter businessman John Aglialoro, who bought up the rights and produced a feature-length film in five weeks on a $10 million shortly before his option was about to expire. Considering those circumstances – and the sheer scope of the source material – Atlas Shrugged Part I could have turned out a lot worse. But the avoidance of disaster should not be taken as proof of success.

The film’s biggest asset is its aesthetics. There are frequent shots of trains racing across the Rocky Mountains. These contrast nicely with the stately boardrooms of the Taggart offices and the sleek, cold confines of Rearden’s operation. It’s a great-looking film not just for the budget, but for any budget.

The cast too must be commended. Led by unknowns Schilling and Bowler, they go a long way toward humanizing Rand’s characters without compromising them. The author regarded character as little more than a vessel for transmitting ideas. By not treating their roles as cartoons, the actors and actresses allow those ideas to exist in human terms rather than at a theoretical level. In addition to the two leads, Marsden makes for a loathsome, petty James. Michael Lerner, who plays slick lobbyist Wesley Mouch fittingly bears more than a passing resemblance to Chris Dodd and the late Ted Kennedy as he drops empty platitudes about “the good of the people” while increasing his own power.

The film’s major deficiency is its script. It’s faithful to the novel, and therein lies a major liability. To put it simply, this is an immensely talky film. Despite the grandiose music, there is a train wreck in the beginning, a fire at the end, and nothing but a series of conversations in between. This wouldn’t be a problem if Rand or screenwriter Brian Patrick O’Toole were David Mamet, Aaron Sorkin, or Kevin Smith, but they don’t even come close. The political pronouncements offered by the mysterious figure in black (SPOILER: it’s John Galt) are particularly awkward. Worse, the film stops just as the plot picks up. This would be fine if this were a TV miniseries or even (ala Lord of the Rings) a situation where you knew a sequel was just around the corner, but that isn’t the case here.

To sum up, when all the polarization over the novel and its creator’s politics are stripped away, you are left with a handsome, earnestly acted, turgidly paced film that feels nakedly incomplete. It’s a valiant attempt, but, as even (and, perhaps, especially) meritocratic devotees of Objectivism will realize, results are what matter most.

6.5/10

The World Made Straight

Travis Shelton, 17, intelligent, put-upon, and headstrong, is trying to make something of himself in rural North Carolina. He runs afoul of the Toomeys, a father-and-son team of ill-tempered marijuana growers, and ends up maimed. However, the tragedy brings him closer to Lori, an overachieving high school classmate, and Leonard Shuler, a disgraced former teacher turned drug dealer. Leonard recognizes Travis’ potential and prepares him to get his GED, but a secret from the past – and interference from the Toomeys – threaten to undermine their progress.

Credit Ron Rash for being able to craft a novel that is simultaneously bleak and hopeful. In many ways, the book is as hard-bitten as mountains and dirt and gravel that comprise its setting. Rash employs his usual landscape poetics, but they aren’t as prominent here as they are in some of his other works. That is because his characters are well-developed enough to command more of the attention. Leonard is the epitome of wasted potential, a drunk who lets the things he values most in life (wife, child, job) slip right through his fingers. His housemate/rescue, Dena, is even more pathetic: an uncontrollable, oft-abused pill-popper who still maintains a glimmer of her former beauty. Both characters nevertheless do just enough to make you care about them and hope they find redemption.

Travis, on the other hand, represents the hope side of the equation. He is fully believable as a protagonist: intelligent, yet ignorant; stubborn, yet continually bossed around by others; competent (when motivated), yet entirely incapable of making it on his own. Watching him try to become a better person while sensing that it is only a matter of time before he screws something up gives the book its tension.

If there is one thing about The World Made Straight that feels less than masterful, it is the inclusion of a Civil War doctor’s journal entries between chapters. The doctor – and the final entries – become quite important to the plot later on, but the early entries are awash in minutiae. Clearly, Rash’s aim is consistency, but these too often read like filler.

All and all, The World Made Straight offers a harrowing look at desperate people living hard lives. It pulls no punches as to the challenges they face, but it also demands with great urgency that they face them.

8.5/10