J.J Abrams "Super 8" and Inspiring Italy at Favola Le Meridien KL

To be honest, there is not a lot we can thank for from the 80's. But the one thing the decade of bad shoulder pads did get right was movies with children.

Sure, there have been getting and there are still plenty of movies that have children as lead characters in the past two decades. But the children we've seen on the silver screen these days usually are emotionally like adults (generally most things with Dakota Fannings, Abigail Breslin or Chloe Moretz); are the creepy horror movie characters (think anything that resembles Ju-on and its nasty Hollywood remakes); or are the juvenile action heroes (Kick-Ass, Harry Potter and the likes come to mind). And lets not forget vampires too these days.

What we don't see a lot of are children being just children. However, I feel that might all just change after watching Super 8 earlier tonight. Which I have to say was just mint (for the uninitiated, that's '70s speak for cool!).

J.J. Abrams' new movie focuses on a group of children who accidentally get involved in something sinister when a train wrecks in their small town. While "Super 8" is another movie that puts a group of children in the forefront of the action, critics and bloggers are raving about the movie's success at getting back to the kind of adventure that made a lot of the ‘80s movies so popular, and so memorable to adults today. J.J Abrams also unveiled that this is his most personal film to date, in which he takes us back to his own geeky boyhood love of monsters, things blowing up and the magic of making movies.

Like many of us, Abrams grew up with films like Close Encounters and E.T and there are definitely Spielberg-like echoes in his Super 8, then again Steven Spielberg is also the producer of this movie too. But Abrams insists he's doing more than an homage to those classic films of the '70s and '80s.

In his interview with moviefone, J.J Abrams said, "Many of his [Steven Speilberg] films shared elements that this movie visits. I hope that when people see 'Super 8,' they realize it's not just a Xerox or a film just aping other movies. The heart of the movie involves these kids and their parents and each other. But clearly, it's influenced not just by Steven's movies, but films by John Carpenter. I was so influenced by their movies as a kid, it felt like the appropriate thing to use them in this film." He also cites Charles Laugton's The Hunchback of Notre Dame's heartbreaking story, Irwin Allen's disasters movie and even Japanese Toho monster movies as inspiration.

Humorous, heart-warming, action-kicking with childlike innocence and feel good factor, J.J Abrams' Super 8 is the sort of movie Hollywood should be making to bring back that good ol' movie magic charm.

SUPER 8, the movie opens internationally at a cinema near you this weekend.

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The problem with not blogging frequently, is that my posts are piling up like a hill behind me. And just when I finally get around wanting to write about a dinner I had "recently" about a month back at Le Meridien KL, along comes another event. Since this is more time sensitive, I'll go right ahead into posting this first.



Like director J.J Abrams who clearly believes in innovation, Chef Fabrizio Bigi also highly believes in creating on top of something which has been perfected before. His approach in reinventing aged old classic Italian recipes has garnered him an invitation to the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur, as the guest chef at their signature Favola Italian restaurant. 

Chef Fabrizio hails from the north of Italy and grew up on a diet consisting mainly of parma ham, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar and loves doing creative things. He reckons that if he wasn't a chef, he would either end up a painter or a musician. But as fate has it, he ended up choosing a career in cooking and started off owning his own restaurant back in his home country by the age of 30.

Then one day in 2003, he felt like he needed a change, sold his restaurant, packed his bags and went out to discover the world. It was also then, that started learning the English language and within 6-months later, he found himself a job in Egypt as a chef. Good fortune continues to push him along and it hasn't stopped since then. Nowadays, China is his base and works for the kitchens of Prego at The Westin Beijing Financial Street.



At the recent press launch, Chef Fabrizio shares with us that the secret to contemporary Italian lies in the play of new texture, flavours, aromas and most importantly - like all good Italian craftman would say - style. He tells us how he would usually start off with an imagination of how the dish would look like before he actually cooks them. Watch this video below as he demonstrate to us how to reinterpret a good ol' Eggplant Parmagiana.



Fresh off its successful Vietnamese culinary event recently, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur is now showcasing another gastronomical extravaganza, wit the Tastes of Italy. Held from June 4 - June 12, 2011, this dinner promotion will feature guest Chef Fabrizio Bigi - the master of contemporary Italian cuisine - and enjoy the wide array of over 20 dishes that will be displayed at the Favola Italian Restaurant - with his own interpretations of Italian favourites including the Eggplant Millefeuille, Fresh Goat Cheese and Basil; Saffron Risotto, Crispy Seafood and Red Rossi; and the Spaghetti Maine Lobster and Fresh Spring Herbs Pesto, to name a few. Prices range from RM25 - RM130 per item on the promotional ala carte menu.

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Favola 
Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
2, Jalan Sentral, 
Kuala Lumpur Sentral,
50470 Kuala Lumpur
For Reservations, call the Dining Desk at +603-2263 7434 or email: dining.lmkl@lemeridien.com