SULTAN PALACE - TUCSON, AZ

Eating dinner at this Afghan restaurant was a very unpleasant experience except for the presence of our friends, Jean and Tim. Even though it was Jean who recommended this place.

Now let's see, how can i start telling you about this dining event? Let me count the ways.

It is a dirty place. Tables were not cleaned and remained not cleaned during our lengthy stay. The only other diners, during our lengthy stay, (oh, did i say this already?) were relatives of the owners. There were tables in the middle and booths around the edge which we had to sit in because of the angle of the bright sun coming into the restaurant. Now the booths were enclosed by thrift store looking musty gauze fabric; i'm sure to give the feeling of foreign adventure. To sit in these booths, I had to pretzel my legs so i wasn't gnawing at my knees or the other option was to sit with my legs akimbo; both positions were not very comfortable.

The service was absolutely horrid. It took forever just to get glasses of water and i bet we waited at least 30 minutes before any food came out. And this consisted of an iceberg lettuce salad with wilted and rotten and brown lettuce and just drenched in a highly spiced curry and yoghurt dressing. No pita bread.

Bill and i split an entree and also had an extra vegetable side. The rice was delicious and very tender and nicely flavored which was good because this was literally the bulk of the entree for $14. Underneath this smoldering pile of rice was the tiniest chicken leg i've ever seen. This came with a side of pumpkin in a yoghurt sauce. This was good but only lukewarm. and our extra side was a small small dish of mixed vegetables (so-so) for $5.

Jean and Tim split a kabob combo; a skewer each of lamb, chicken and beef. I tasted one of the dumplings on their combo and it was a gluey and glutinous envelope limply encasing a tasteless meat-appearing substance.

I couldn't wait to stretch my legs and back and hobble out of that restaurant.

I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS

This movie review contains the ending though since this is a true story (yes, it REALLY is!) you might know the ending through TV shows, NPR interviews or newspaper articles.

Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell who is a gay con man and impersonator extraordinaire. There are similarities to the movie Catch Me If You Can starring DiCaprio but this film is much better and quirkier and the acting is better. Carrey is wonderful; every slight gesture and facial expression and eye movement conveys a wealth of words and information and emotions and his body postures are like a dance. Steven Russell is a chameleon who impersonates judges and doctors and CFO's.

The main reason why he does this is his love for Phillip Morris who is acted by Ewan McGregor who is also perfectly cast. They meet in prison. One of the escapades Russell does is to obtain a blank bail form and forge signatures and get his bail reduced from almost a million dollars to less than $50,000. This he was able to pay so he could be released and be back with Phillip who had already been released.

To get money to live on, he pretended to be a knowledgeable money man and while employed by this big corporation, he stole millions of dollars. So back in prison and this time (to give another example), he signs up for art class so he can gradually steal enough green markers to dye his prison uniform green. Only medical personnel are allowed to wear green so he is able to walk out of jail without anyone stopping him.

There are many more examples of his prison escapes (including a grand one involving an AIDS diagnosis, transfer to a private hospital and impersonating a hospital administrator as he called the prison to inform them that Steven Russell had died.) and all these escapes were to be with Phillip.

Their love story was very touching and believable and i adored their characters and personalities. Lots of humor in this film and the music was great and fit right in with the action. In spite of Russell's dishonesty, i liked him a lot.

Unfortunately, his escapes and frequent situations of duping government employees was too embarrassing for the state of Texas and Gov. Bush so he has now been given a 114 year sentence and remains in a maximum security unit on total lockdown for 23 hours of each day.

He corresponds with Phillip but has not been visited yet by him. This movie, ultimately, was really disturbing to me and sad. Because the bond that Phillip and Steven had was so deep that it led to ill-advised and highly illegal attempts to stay together and that level of desperation really affected me.

LIMITLESS

Very entertaining movie. I thought it would be a stupidly plotted film with a gradual descent into unbelievability and that's why we waited till it got to the discount theater where we saw it for a grand total of $3.00!! but i wouldn't have felt cheated even if we had paid the full price (senior discount, notwithstanding!)

Bradley Cooper who is perfectly cast in this film is Eddie, a man without motivation who cannot seem to get his life in order or even start on the book he's been given an advance to write. Then he meets his ex-brother-in-law who offers him a pill which will increase his brain power from 20% to 100%.

Eddie becomes a prolific author, a smart dresser and a whiz at investing in the market. He also knows various and sundry facts about medicine, science and he can learn a foreign language just by hearing someone speak it. Naturally this brings a reliance on the drug and puts him in the radar of Carl, a well-seasoned financier/investment banker. Carl is acted by Robert DeNiro who does not overplay his role and is wonderful in this part. (his acting was almost as good as the politician he played in Machete).

Naturally because drugs are involved other people want them and desperate violence occurs in this attempt. Eddie needs them to keep making money and a Russian loan shark needs them to feel invincible and a driver needs them for his employer. It goes on and on.

and what was so great and unexpected about this movie was the twists and turns. At certain points towards the end, i was dreading it turning into an FDA-sponsored anti-drug morality play, but it did NOT do that and the ending was just ambiguous enough to give me closure but keep me guessing somewhat. oh, and the music was hip-hoppingly good.