Seasons

Despite being well into spring, it was still snowing with cold temperatures in Ottawa. But with better weather mid-week, I headed on out to see Captain America: Winter Soldier on Thursday. The previous day, I had watched the wonderful film Vertigo at the Bytowne, an elegant old-school cinema. I wasn't expecting a classic for this Marvel pic, but hoped that it wouldn't be too idiotic. Despite all the sound and fury on screen, I was unmoved. Mostly because there was no stakes involved. Neither good guys or bad got hurt (if you ignore all the faceless fodder and bystanders), even with the non-stop fighting, car crashes, and gun battles. It turns out that superheroes, villains, and regular spies and spooks all are terrible soldiers since they cannot seem to hit anything.

After the movie, I went to dinner at the Coconut Lagoon, a cozy neighbourhood South Indian restaurant. Out came some vegetable samosas ($7), lamb korma ($16.99), and beef vindaloo ($16.50). Like the movie, it was all too over-the-top. In this case, oily Indian which exceeds any similar places in Toronto. They were tasty dishes, but not subtle. Add to that the fried basmati rice and puratha (which is not baked like naan), and the meal sat heavy in your stomach. Both movie and dinner were reasonably enjoyable during the experience, but left you feeling mildly rueful afterwards.