I followed up my first review of Avatar with a review of a movie that I actually enjoyed even more, The Book of Eli. I was pleasantly surprised of how this post apocalyptic movie played out.

This movie takes place sometime in the future after a nuclear war nearly wipes out the human race. But, there are remnants of survivors scattered across the nation trying to start anew. Denzel Washington’s character, Eli, has been trekking across the country for 30 years in search of a safe haven for himself and his sacred book. You’re probably thinking 30 years and still haven’t gotten to his destination? Well, watch the movie and the end may give you some explanation as to why. Anyway, Eli claims that a higher power spoke to him one day and told him to take a journey out west and he will find a safe haven for himself and for this book. The latter part of his journey is where the movie begins.

PROS: The story line for The Book of Eli was pretty good and the movie was very well directed. The acting was…well, it’s Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. So yeah, the casting and acting did not disappoint. Neither, did the choreography for the fight sequences between Denzel’s character and the lawless bandits. The ending of the movie was definitely a nice touch that caught me by surprise.

CONS:

Oak Canyon Nature Center is a great natural park for beginner hikers. Located in the heart of Anaheim Hills, CA, Oak Canyon has 4 miles worth of hiking between 3 or 4 different trails. The terrain is relatively diverse from flat to somewhat rocky, which is great if you are just getting into hiking.

As soon as I began my hike into Oak Canyon, I immediately felt like I was a million miles away from O.C. and L.A. Which was exactly what I wanted. There were no signs of civilization except for fellow hikers and their families. The first part of the hike was rather dark, damp and heavily shaded by the arms and branches of the trees that engulfed the entire park. There was plenty of light from the sun. Nonetheless, you definitely get a cool “Sleepy Hollow” feel in the first part of the trail. Further into the hike, the trail takes you alongside a creek of running water. I imagine the streaming creek was the result of the heavy rain Socal experienced just this past month. Otherwise, I wouldn’t count on running water in the creek during the dry season.

The 2nd half of the trail posed to be a little more of a challenge. But, still easy enough for beginners. You’ll start to go up on an incline which consists of some stairs and lots of dirt and rocks. Cactus plants also dominates much of the 2nd half of the trail as it inclines up on the hillside where there are minimal shaded areas.  Not to fear, the cactus plants are only alongside the trail and you just need to be careful not to slip and fall into the plants. During this portion of the trail you will also have a view of the beautiful landscape that makes up part of Anaheim Hills. But, you won’t feel so far from OC as you hike above the tree levels. There are many homes overlooking Oak Canyon Nature Center and power lines that travel across the park. That’s when you realize the city is just a couple minute drive away. At the end of the hike,  and easily within the hour, you will return where you started. So, it’s a relatively short hike but, great for beginners and families who just wants to get out and be in touch with nature.

PROS: The trails are very easy so this location is great for beginners but, my favorite aspect of this park is the natural feel you get once you step foot into the park. The multiple terrains and the 3 or 4 trails make this a good warm up hike for beginners who may want to evolve to a more advanced trail. This park is conveniently located in OC so,  you don’t have to travel afar if you already reside in OC. The beautiful view makes the park all the worthwhile.

CONS: If you are a more advanced hiker then the trails here at Oak Canyon Nature Center will not be much of a challenge at all. I actually am considering taking my very young nephew to this park. Also, there are only 3 or 4 short trails that add up to about 4 miles of hiking. So, if you are a serious hiker looking for a good strenuous workout, then you may want to consider picking up the pace or hike around these trails a couple of times.

As I write this, my very first movie review and the most recent movie I’ve seen, turns out to be the highest grossing movie of all time. But, don’t mistaken that for being the movie with the highest ticket sales of all time. Avatar doesn’t even rank in the top 10 in that statistic. It still lags behind other notable movies like: Star Wars, Titanic, Gone With the Wind, Forest Gump, and the list goes on. Of course, Avatar is still going strong in theaters, so, when it’s all said and done it could very well surpass some of these great movies.

Now for my review, it took me 4 weeks to catch Avatar on IMAX 3D at the Irvine Spectrum. Simply because tickets kept selling out for this movie over the weekend. I’m not a big fan of watching movies with 3D glasses, but, I figured it would be worth the wait to see Avatar for the first time in 3D. So, after 4 weeks of waiting and after the first 20 minutes of getting use to watching Avatar with those glasses, I’m glad to have finally seen this movie in IMAX 3D. The visuals and special effects were quite impressive. But, I had expected that since there was so much hype after 4 weeks of release. It was a bit over-hyped hence the 4 star rating.

Pros: Again, the special effects and visuals were fantastic. If you watch this movie, I recommend you watch it on IMAX 3D. The casting was good too. Sam Worthington, probably the next big name in Hollywood, was the leading blue alien in this movie and he played his part well. Not an Oscar type of performance but, then again, I don’t think this movie would allow an Oscar type of performance by any actor.  Simply because the actors were mostly in CGI. It was also nice to see Sigourney Weaver casted in another James Cameron movie. Sigourney Weaver was the leading actress in another James Cameron alien movie, “Aliens”. Anyway, the best part of the movie was the fact that the special effects did not overshadow the plot and storyline. If anything it was the perfect compliment to the storyline.

Cons: I’m being nit picky about this but, the year is something like 2050 and earthlings are basically invading a peaceful planet because of the much needed natural resources found on Pandora. Nothing wrong with that…but, this planet is being inhabited by indigenous-like blue aliens. In a way, it was like watching the history channel about the Myans. It’s not that big of a deal but, I just felt that these aliens were a little bit too human for me. Except they were blue and much taller.

Overall, the movie had a good cast, great story, and awesome visuals. There were also some political overtones,  i’m sure you’ll notice. It also made us humans look bad. Although, we may be technologically far more advanced than these aliens that we are invading, humans really haven’t evolved much on how we treat our neighbors. Humans are actually just as primitive, if not more primitive, than the being living on Pandora. In 2050, we are still selfish, greedy, power hungry being. Well, the movie had plenty of stuff that we can relate to.

Steak is my favorite kind of food. Which is fitting that I would make my very first restaurant review on a place that serves quite simply the best steak on the planet, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. I’ve had a lot of great steaks in my life. Whether they were steaks prepared by my brother-in-law to steaks served from America top 10 steakhouses, none have compared to what comes out of the kitchen at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

The first thing you’ll notice when you walk up towards the entrance of the Ruth’s Chris in Irvine are the beautiful high end cars parked right in front of the restaurants. There was a Lamborghini siting at my first visit to Ruth’s Chris. But, don’t be intimidated. There are plenty of poor people like myself that do come here every now and then. Nonetheless, the employees at Ruth’s Chris treats all customers very well. The ambiance in this restaurant is somewhat loud for a high end restaurant but, it was tolerable. I was able to carry on a conversation with all those at my table with just a little bit of effort.

Now, for the most important part of the whole dining experience at Ruth’s Chris, let’s talk about the food! The steaks are served on a 500 degree hot, sizzling and buttery plate. Your senses are immediately heightened the instant you see, smell and feel the sizzling steak. And, how Ruth’s Chris’ steaks differs from steaks served at lower end steakhouses is that you do not need to add any spices or sauces to the steak to enhance the flavor. The steak is perfect exactly the way it is served. As far as the side dishes are concerned, they were not great but, they were very good. The dish that stood out most to me was the stuffed mushrooms. They were the perfect compliment to the flavorful steak.