Tag: reviews

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Tissot Le Locle

I’ve been looking for a dress watch to complement my outdoors watch, a Suunto Observer. My requirements were standard dress watch: round, simple white or silver dial, and black leather strap. And it has to have good bang for the buck. I started by researching on the net and gradually narrowed down my choice to the Tissot Le Locle. It took a failed online order with Amazon and trips to The Podium, SM Mall of Asia, Rockwell Power Plant, Trinoma, and finally Shangri-La before I finally found it.

The Le Locle uses the ETA 2824-2 movement. It is a tried and tested automatic movement with manual wind and quick date set. Both features are useful for when you haven’t worn the watch for long and it dies. With manual wind, there no need to swing the watch around (and maybe bang it on something) to get the movement started. Quick set allows you to set the date directly without having to spin the hands through the 24 hour cycle. Less stress for you and the movement.

The 40mm case is round and made of stainless steel. The sides are vertically brushed while the lugs, bezel, and caseback are mirror polished. The face, of course, is sapphire. The caseback has engravings and a two-panel sapphire window where you can view the movement in action: the gears, the gold-plated rotor, the incabloc, etc. The view is a little cramped since instead of a one-piece, it has a two-piece sapphire window. The crown is a non-nonsense crown signed with a “T”. Simple and elegant.

The dial is silver with a crosshatch pattern (guilloche I think it’s called) Roman numeral hour markings. It has several other markings. On the upper part there’s the brand “TISSOT” and just below it “1853”. On the lower part, there’s the model “Le Locle” in script and just below it “AUTOMATIC”. Also at the lower part, near the edge of the dial is “SWISS MADE” just in case you forget it is. The three hands are black with a classic design.

The strap is black leather with a polished stainless steel deployment clasp. When closed, the only visible part of the clasp is a small strip with a “T” sign. It’s great, but I still think a standard buckle assembly is better.

The overall look and feel of the watch is that of a timeless classic. Exactly as I wanted.

More comprehensive reviews here and here.

Rating: 5/5

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Beowulf

I was already planning to watch Beowulf but on regular cinema when Val clued me in to the fact that it will be available in full-length 3D on IMAX. Who would pass up seeing Angelina Jolie in 3Delectable goodieness, right? So tonight, I watched it at SM Mall of Asia’s IMAX Cinema.

Beowulf, as you all probably know, is an old English poem. And I do mean old. Unless you’ve been living under a rock… for centuries… then you probably would have heard of it. If you haven’t, suffice to say it is all those stories that you love to hear before bedtime rolled into one: kings, queens, warriors, monsters, and treasures.

But what can I say about the movie? “AWESOME!” would be a good start. Beowulf is already a great tale in itself. But the retelling by Neil Gaiman, Angelina Jolie, the great acting as usual by Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich, seeing it on the BIG screen, on IMAX, in 3D, and did I say Angelina Jolie? All these makes it even bigger and better.

Shell out those hard-earned bucks and watch it on IMAX. It’s worth it.

Rating: 6/5 (extra point for the extra dimension)

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Lust, Caution

You probably heard about Lust, Caution because of its R rating and its supposedly hot sex scenes. Indeed the scenes are hot. Really hot, in fact. But that’s not all there is to it. Really. Behind it all is a well-crafted wartime espionage thriller.

Set during World War II in Hong Kong and later Shanghai, Wang Jiazhi (Wei Tang) is a resistance agent tasked with seducing and then eliminating Mr. Yee, a high-level Japanese collaborator. Tony Leung as Mr. Yee is, as usual, impressive as the initially suspicious and impassive target.

The act of seduction, pulled off wonderfully by Wei Tang, unfolds slowly and subtly creating palpable sexual tension between the two. This gradually gains speed and culminates in intense physical contacts that illustrate the feelings that developed between them. This feelings clouds their judgments and eventually lead each to take actions they didn’t intend.

Definitely, a must watch.

Rating: 5/5

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No Reservations

I met up with Val at Trinoma to watch Stardust, a movie based on a book of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. Click The City said is already showing but, unfortunately, they were so wrong. There was no Stardust anywhere! So I ended up agreeing to watch No Reservations which is what Val wanted to watch in the first place. The movie is about a tough nut chef who won’t let anybody in but of course eventually did. What can I say? It was so-so and unconvincing. At least a lot of food was shown. Food. Now that’s the saving grace for the night. And while watching, I also devoured a huge slice of pizza and a big serving of penne with meat sauce from Sbarro. Makes me want to dust off and reopen that old Italian cookbook and get cooking even something as simple as pasta.

Rating: 2/5

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Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade has got to be the better animes, nay, movies I’ve seen. The movie is set in an alternate post-war, post-occupation Japan where the occupiers were the Germans instead of Americans. The German influence can be seen in the vehicles, weapons, and armor of the character. It is the story of a member of an elite police unit who was unable to fire at and thus prevent a girl terrorist from detonating a bomb she was carrying. He wondered why the girl did what she did and sought out more information about her. In the process, she met the girl’s sister. Pretty soon they were caught up in a whirlwind of romance and conspiracy. The artwork is subtle but beautiful, the story deep and compelling, and the ending classic film noir. It puts a lot of Hollywood movies to shame.

Rating: 5/5