BBQ Nation Indian Grill

Located at 3928 Sedgebrook Street in High Point, BBQ Nation serves Indian cuisine for lunch and dinner seven days per week. There is a lunch buffet, and food specials change regularly. Online ordering and catering are available.

When BBQ Nation opened a few months ago, High Point went from having not a single Indian restaurant to joining the conversation for best Indian cuisine in the Triad. This is in many ways a departure from a typical Indian restaurant though, and there are a few quirks to eating here. However, the good definitely outweighs the bad.

Housed in a former KFC, BBQ Nation is bright and clean though not as well-appointed as the likes of Saffron or Taaza Bistro. It’s a somewhat compact space, but it’s laid out (via pushed-together tables in the front and middle) to handle large groups, and the buffet is logically placed in the back.

The menu here is impressive in its breadth and ability to accommodate various diets. The offerings are 100% Halal and includes the expected apps, breads, and chicken dishes. To that, BBQ Nation adds an array of biryanis, vegetarian dishes, Indo-Chinese dishes (think fried rice and hakka noodles), and South Indian dishes (crepe-like dosas and thicker pancake-like uthappams). And then there are the grilled offerings that give the restaurant its name. Each table has a well in the middle into which a grill that holds four skewers may be inserted, a feature unseen in other local Indian establishments.

I got my first taste of BBQ Nation during a Yelp event, which offered a chance to sample multiple dishes via the buffet. The Golbi Manchurian (Indo Chinese spiced fried cauliflower) and Chicken 555 (sauced fried chicken with cashews) were standouts, and I was impressed enough to take a small group back a few days later. The Chicken 555 was a re-order, and our party also split the Saag Paneer (Indian creamed spinach), Malabar vegetable curry (carrots, potatoes, and peas in a coconut/green curry/mint sauce), and a vegetarian BBQ with paneer (cheese), potato, pineapple, and watermelon (!!).

Between the two visits, there was not a single dish that I did not enjoy. Everything was seasoned well and spiced to the desired medium, the cheese was firm without being rubbery, the chicken was not too dry, the curry had just the right amount of mint, and the grilled watermelon was a perfect combination of sweet and smoky. Portions were also rather generous, and the pricing represents a good value relative to other Indian restaurants. The two vegetarian entrees ran $12 apiece, and the buffet is $10 during weekdays.

The BBQ Nation staff that I interacted with were friendly, patient, helpful, and accommodating. That said, service can be a bit chaotic. We dealt with several staff members throughout the meal rather than one primary server, and dishes arrived at different times, giving the experience a haphazard quality. Another caveat: you might find yourself pressed for table space, especially if you order any grilled items.

If these issues are not deal-breakers for you, then BBQ Nation has much to offer. An abundance of well-prepared tasty food and a unique take on familiar cuisine make BBQ Nation well worth a visit.

8/10 

Solo: A Star Wars Story

A young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) finally escapes the service of gang leader Lady Proxima (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) on the backwater planet of Corellia, but his lover Q’ira (Emilia Clarke) is left behind. After being kicked out of the Imperial Flight Academy and deserting from the Imperial Army, Han meets his future partner, the Wookie Chewbacca, and joins up with a group of thieves led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). Beckett is in debt to the Crimson Dawn syndicate, and its ruthless leader, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) will kill them all unless they complete a daring and difficult heist of the valuable and volatile fuel coaxium. To oversee the mission, Vos sends along Q’ira, who has entered his service. But first, they will need a ship, which leads the group to try to obtain one from veteran smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

Depending on whom you ask, this movie’s cardinal sin ranges from not featuring a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford to deposing original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) to even existing. Replacement director Ron Howard inherited a project brimming with both baggage and backlash, and though Solo is no one’s idea of an instant classic, it could have turned out far worse.

Despite the eyebrows raised by his casting, Ehrenreich does a fairly decent job as young Han (one that, in fact, comes Harrison Ford approved). He has the moral flexibility, the overconfident swagger, and the banter with Chewie down though this version is a good deal more idealistic than audiences are accustomed to. Presumably, that trait will be lost in the years between Solo and A New Hope.

The supporting cast is competent though characterization is somewhat limited (a curious blunder by successful Star Wars scribe Lawrence Kasdan). When Han is reintroduced to Q’ira, she is presented as a changed woman with a murky past, and though the film does not explore said past, Clarke’s performance gives her a conflicted quality. Phoebe Waller-Bridge does standout voicework as L3, Lando’s stubborn, irreverent droid co-pilot, and she gets some of the film’s funniest lines. Lando himself, however, is a bit of a disappointment. Glover has exactly the right screen presence, but the screenplay never treats the character as anything more than a joke. Meanwhile, Harrelson makes for a cynical, opportunistic mentor, but given the losses he suffers, one would expect more emotional range.

Solo’s plotting and presentation are similarly uneven. Howard is a competent director though not a particularly imaginative one, and this is a film that doesn’t stray terribly far from formula. An early attempted train heist plays like something that has done before, and if you predicted a certain character wasn’t going to make it past a certain point, you were probably right. That said, the stakes do get raised in the latter half as does the visual oomph. Watching the Millennium Falcon zip across dangerous skyscape with even more dangerous cargo is legitimately thrilling. Despite the absence of any Jedi, the film also foreshadows parts of A New Hope and establishes ties to the more familiar Star Wars mythos though your mileage may vary on how well this film integrates into the larger canon.

All told, Solo is an enjoyably exciting albeit shallow and not terribly memorable flick, lesser not only than a proper Star Wars film but also fellow spinoff Rogue One.

7.5/10

Into the Water

The town of Beckford in rural England has seen more than its fair share of drowning deaths. The latest victims, both presumed suicides, are teenager Katie Whitaker and, a few weeks later, muckraking writer Nel Abbott. Now, Nel’s daughter Lena (the late Katie’s friend) and Nel’s estranged sister Julia are left to pick up the pieces. Though the two surviving Abbotts don’t know, like, or trust one another, asking around leads them both to the same uncomfortable conclusion: Nel’s death was neither suicide nor accident. But trying to unearth a culprit in a town that likes its secrets proves to be a dangerous game to play at.

When Paula Hawkins followed up her successful debut The Girl on the Train with this 2017 novel, there was reason to be optimistic. First novels are often glimpses at potential yet to be realized. Unfortunately, Into the Water is a step backward rather than forward.

First, the good: Hawkins excels at communicating a sense of place. Beckford’s provincialism rings true, and the town’s everybody-knows-everybody quality contributes to the novel’s tension. After all, it is far more troubling to consider that you have been wronged by someone you have known all your life than it is to know you have been victimized by a random stranger.

Speaking of tension, Into the Water’s central mystery – the suspicious drowning deaths of several women – is fairly engrossing. The first drowning described is the centuries-old public execution of a woman wrongfully accused of witchcraft, and that death hangs over the novel. But as with The Girl on the Train, Hawkins complicates the resolution through misdirection, some of it successful, some of it decidedly not.

As with the previous book, Hawkins employs multiple alternating narrators. While the perspective changes may frustrate some readers, if done correctly, they can also shade characters and lead to a more nuanced understanding of them. Unfortunately, however, this technique is abused rather than used wisely. We have chapters told not only from Lena’s and Julia’s points of view, but also from those of Sean (the policeman investigating Nel’s murder), his father Patrick, his schoolmarm wife Helen, and his junior partner Erin, among others. As a result, the narrative focus is stretched too thin, and these different voices aren’t given enough depth. It says something about a book when the character who grows the most – via changing perceptions of her – is one who has been dead from the beginning.

Then again, in some cases, this is just as well: Hawkins continues to struggle to write male characters. As with The Girl on the Train, abusive and devious men function as red herrings, competing for the role of perpetrator. But whereas the previous book gave these characters some definition beyond their malice, here Hawkins instead traffics largely in one-dimensional stereotypes, from Sean’s reactionary patriarch of a father to a pathetic, insecure ephebophile teacher. If a male writer in 2017 wrote every female character as a femme fatale (without parodic intent), he would rightly be dragged for it. So too should Hawkins for her shallow misandry.

Ultimately, Into the Water squanders its deft use of setting and promising premise on too untenable a structure and too little character exploration. Here’s hoping the next novel rights the course.

6.75/10 

Deadpool 2

After an experimental cancer treatment leaves Special Forces veteran Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) deformed, insane, and capable of healing from any injury, he becomes the costumed mercenary Deadpool. But when personal tragedy strikes, a despondent Wade finds himself searching for purpose. He reluctantly forges a friendship with Russell (Julian Dennison), a troubled teenage mutant with pyrokinetic abilities. Meanwhile, Cable (Josh Brolin), a cybernetic soldier from the future, has lost his wife and daughter to an older Russell’s wrath. He travels back in time to kill Russell before the teen turns murderous, leading Wade to recruit a team to protect his young friend.

2016’s Deadpool pulled a coup of sorts, transforming an absurdist, self-referential comic book into a successful R-rated action-comedy. In this follow-up, the novelty of seeing The Merc with the Mouth on the screen has worn off, but it’s still a highly entertaining outing.

As with the previous film, Deadpool 2 is not for the young or squeamish. There is plenty of violent slapstick and crude humor to go around, and several characters bite the dust in morbidly amusing ways. However, this irreverence is tempered by a surprising amount of sentimentality. Wade’s love for Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), suicidal despair, and eventual concern for Russell are all played straight, and the franchise’s friendly rivalry with the Wolverine films sees Deadpool try to consciously eclipse Logan’s more poignant moments.

Reynolds continues to do excellent work in the title role, shifting from fourth wall-breaking wisecracks to inventive threats to heartfelt declarations, all with equal conviction. It helps that he is given plenty of great lines courtesy of writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The duo directed this film as well, and though they replaced a special effects pro in Tim Miller, Deadpool 2’s aesthetics don’t seem to suffer much for it. The action sequences remain fast and fluid.

The supporting cast features exactly the right mix of personalities for Reynolds to play off of. Among the returning allies, Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead continues to cast a disapproving side-eye, Stefan Kapcic’s Colossus continues to try to make a hero out of Wade (though even he has limits), and formerly timid taxi driver Dopinder (Karan Soni) seems eager to get in on the action. Newcomer Zazie Beetz brings both snark and competence to her role as luck-manipulating mutant Domino. Brolin’s casting as Cable was somewhat controversial given the other rumored candidates, his lack of towering height, and the fact that he is already voicing another Marvel character (which Wade, of course, lampshades – “Zip it, Thanos” indeed). Though arguably not the best possible choice, Brolin still does the character justice, and his grim gravitas makes Cable an effective foil for Wade’s antics.

Deadpool 2’s plot, however, seems like little more than a contrivance to bring these characters together. Derivative and creatively barren, it shamelessly samples The Terminator, Looper, and other sci-fi action fare. Granted, Deadpool fans likely didn’t pick this flick for its story, but even by those low standards, this is a weak link.

Funny and filthy, thrilling and touching, Deadpool 2 packs a lot of entertainment into its two hours. A rumored follow-up – X-Force – may have trouble meeting expectations when the bar has already been set this high.

8/10