10/4/10

Good afternoon buddies,

I know it's been a long time since I made a review. Part of that is me being busy with soccer, work, and grad school. Part of that is me being cheap and not seeing any new movies. And part of that is me being lazy. But fear no more, for I have a new review this week. So...that being said, here's the hot joints of the week. Enjoy!!!

Music:
Will.I.Am feat. Nicki Minaj --- Check It Out

One phrase describes it all: This song samples "Video killed the radio star". Aside from the awesome sample, this track from the Black Eyed Peas frontman features arguably the hottest rapper right now...Ms. Minaj. It seems like anything Young Money (the group of rappers which Nicki belongs to) touches is gold. And this song is no different. While I'm not a huge fan of Will.I.AM nor the black eyed peas' new stuff, I do have to admit this song is catchy and great. You should literally..."check it out." 4.5/5 Stars

Movies:
The Social Network

In case you've lived in a bubble for the last 5-7 years...there's this thing on the internet called Facebook. It's kind of a big thing. Anyway, this movie follows Mark Zuckerberg, a young intelligent college student who comes up with (or rather improves upon) an idea at Harvard university to create a new social networking tool. The movie depicts the events and drama that surrounds Zuckerberg and friends/crew as they begin to create arguably the most influential web application in the last decade. The movie is hilarious at times while dramatic at others. Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) is brilliant as the lead character Zuckerberg. Justin Timberlake is mehhh...average as Sean Parker (the creator of Napster and partial stockholder of Facebook). If you didn't see it opening weekend last weekend like I did, you MUST go see why this movie is the #1 movie in the country right now. 4.5/5 Stars

Restaurants
Sakura

No doubt most of you have at one point in your life tried a Japanese teppanyaki style restaurant. You know what I'm talking about, the Japanese restaurants that cook the food in front of you on a flat hibachi grill and the chefs dazzle you by juggling their knives and stuff. For the most part, they're all average at best, while above average in cost...which is why I don't usually eat at them very often. However, I've recently discovered a chain of Japanese teppanyaki restaurants called Sakura. The one I visited was in the Tyson's Corner area off of Route 7 across from McCormick's and Schmidt's. Anyway, this restaurant is amazing. It's actually two parts, the teppanyaki grill and the sushi bar up front. If you sit in the sushi dining area, you have your choice of all the regular sushi dishes while also ordering things such as bento boxes, terriyaki beef/chicken specials, and my personal favorite: the pork katsu (aka tonkatsu). Now, I've had my fair share of tonkatsu at multiple Japanese restaurants, but I honestly have to say Sakura has had my favorite version of the dish. We were treated to large portions of rice, pork, and veggies while enjoying the most delicious katsu sauce I've ever tried. Furthermore, having eaten at lunch time, the katsu was a lunch special for only like $8. All in all, I recommend everyone who's shy about teppanyaki style Japanese restaurants to give Sakura a try next time you're in the Tyson's Corner area. 4/5 Stars