2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Knet and the local banks have agreed to increase the transaction amount for contactless payments without having to use your pin code from KD10 to KD25. I’m a big fan of just tapping to pay, especially now with the whole corona situation so pretty glad they’ve done this.

Lots of fake news being shared over WhatsApp and dodgy Instagram accounts so if you want to confirm if anything you’ve gotten is true or not, use the official sources below to cross-check:

Kuwait’s Corona Updates Website

Center For Government Communication
Council of Ministers
Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Kuna
Kuwait Municipality
Minister of Commerce and Industry
Ministry Of Education
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Information
Ministry of Interior

Yesterday it was announced that in order to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus, movie theaters in Kuwait would be temporarily shut down. I understand the idea behind this, but I think there were more people waiting in line for a burger at Wachamean last night than there were people at the movies. If we’re closing down theaters and schools because it’s this big of a deal, then we should really close down the whole country for two weeks and not just the cinemas.

Note: Just to clarify, I don’t want the country to shut down, quite the opposite, I think businesses are suffering as is.

The website is currently soft launch phase but still contains a good amount of data. My comments would be that I’d like to see some travel information like which countries are flights restricted from. I’d also like to see a section on temporary measures taken because of the Corona outbreak like how waiters must wear masks and gloves now or how shisha places are temporary not allowed to serve shisha (like is this true for example?). Here is the link.

Thanks Cold2zero

Because of the Corona outbreak, all of the Al Salam Palace Museum tours have been canceled until further notice. It sucks because they had just opened, but if you’d still like a peek inside of the museum, then check out this website. You’ll find a bunch of photos and a video of the museum there that should give you an idea of what to expect once the tours start again.

Update: Found this video online as well that gives you a nice walkthrough.

Al Shaheed Park have a “Garden of Lights Festival” taking place at the moment but I can’t find anything about it on their Instagram page. I think they aren’t advertising it because of the whole Corona thing but it’s on right now.

I don’t know for how long the festival is on, but last year it took place from March 5th to 15th so might be similar. If you want to check it out then you should head over to the park pretty soon before the festival ends.

Update: The festival is until March 14

Update 2: Due to the Coronavirus, the festival had to be cut short and was closed down yesterday March 9th.

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to go visit Al Bohayra Farm and since it was pretty far, I figured I might as well take the opportunity to test drive a car that’s more comfortable than mine. I mean out of the 4 cars I own at the moment my FJ is the most comfortable one which is weird because my FJ isn’t even comfortable. So I got in touch with Mercedes and to see if they had a new GLE I could review. I had seen the new GLE at their Avenues showroom and really liked the way it looked so I was very curious to see how it would drive as well. Luckily for me, Mercedes had just put a brand new silver GLE 450 into their test drive fleet and I would be the first person to take it out.

The new facelifted GLE launched last year and like with their other models, I really like the design direction Mercedes has been taking recently. I never used to be a fan of the Mercedes styling and had always been a Beemer guy but their new cars just look so damn good. Even when I went to pick up the GLE from their showroom I spent a good amount of time checking out the new small Mercedes A-Class since it looked pretty great too.

The GLE as expected turned out to be the perfect car for my road trip. It was spacious, super comfortable and just a really nice and quiet space to be in. Even when I ended up on a pothole-ridden road the car ate it up like it was nothing. But the main reason I’ve become such a huge fan of Mercedes is because of their dash cluster. From all the car manufacturers out there, I think Mercedes have gotten the whole digital dashboard thing right. I first experienced it in the Mercedes S-Class years ago and now it’s trickled down to all their models including the GLE. I can’t think of another car manufacturer that combines the dash screen with the center control screen more elegantly and cleanly that they do. And unlike the new more expensive new G-Class, the center screen is actually a touchscreen in the GLE. It was something I found annoying in the G-Class and it’s been fixed here.

I’ve been thinking about replacing my FJ Cruiser with another SUV since I’ve had my car for 10 years now, and one of the reasons I wanted to take the GLE out was to see if it could be a possible replacement. Well, the answer to that is going to have to be a solid no. Basically I realized I can’t own a comfortable normal car or I might not want to drive any of my other cars. First world problem for sure, but that’s currently my reality at the moment.

That’s not to say the GLE was a perfect car, over the short period of time I had it I did discover some minor annoyances. One thing I was surprised with was the fact the car didn’t have adaptive cruise control. It had all the other bells and whistles like lane-keeping assist, automated parking, assisted emergency braking and 3D surround cameras, but no adaptive control which was odd on a fully loaded Mercedes at this price point. It’s kind of a must-have option nowadays especially systems that can work in slow traffic. Another issue I had was with Apple CarPlay. Although it worked flawlessly in the G-Class, my experience with CarPlay in the GLE was fairly buggy with the system crashing on me more than once. But more importantly, unlike in the G-Class, CarPlay wouldn’t take up the full width of the display but instead just occupy a smaller boxed area in the middle of the screen with black bars on the side. I hated that since it made what is a large gorgeous display seem a lot smaller than it is. But, it’s just a software issue that can be fixed with a software upgrade.

The GLE starting price is KD 22,700 but the model I drove cost KD 27,500. It’s a really good looking car with plenty of power and all the options you could want (except for adaptive cruise control). If I didn’t have any of my other cars this would definitely be one I’d consider. I loved the silver color and I didn’t even mind the interior color although if I had to choose I’d probably go with black. When I went to pick up the car from the dealership I walked through the quick service garage (pictured above) and it’s one of the nicest and cleanest garages I’ve seen. If you want to test drive this car you can, here is a link to the GLE website with a form you can fill out.

The Way Back

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
The Assent (3.8)
The Way Back (9.2)

Oscar Winning Movies Back in Theaters:
1917 (3 Awards, 10 Nominations)
Little Women (1 Award, 6 Nominations)
Parasite (4 Awards, 6 Nominations)

Other Movies Showing Now:
After Midnight (5.3)
Bad Boys for Life (7.2)
Birds of Prey (6.9)
Brahms: The Boy II (5.9)
Dolittle (6.2)
Frozen II (7.1)
Jumanji: The Next Level (7.0)
Sonic the Hedgehog (7.2)
The Call of the Wild (7.1)
The Invisible Man (7.4)
VFW (6.3)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Turtle Odyssey (7.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

I guess arcades are making a come back in Kuwait, first with Joystixx and now Retro City. Retro City is a new arcade place that recently opened up inside Boulevard Mall. They have one new machine which is Tekken 7 while the rest are retro looking arcade cabinets with old school games installed. The idea is cool but when I was there I didn’t think there was much variation between all the games to keep me entertained, and some games I wasn’t even sure why they were there to begin with. Here are some of the games they had:

Marvel vs Capcom
Tekken 7
The King of Fighters 98
Super Street Fighter II Third Strike
X-Men
The Simpsons
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug X
Batman
Double Dragon
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Pacman
Space Invaders
Zaxon
Dig Dug
Gun Smoke

The last five games, in my opinion, shouldn’t be there especially since every round costs 250fils. I would have liked to have seen some sports games or some vertical scrollers like Mars Matrix (but at 100fils per game since I tend to die a lot). Retro City does have a small memorabilia/action figures store which is cool. But really though I need an arcade with NBA Jam or with the original Sega Rally (1 not 2) or Daytona USA units.

If you want to check the place out they’re inside Boulevard Mall but hidden. The easiest way to find them is look for the Crash Power store on the ground floor. They’re located in the area behind them. You can also find them on instagram @retrocitykw

Post by Tarek J

So, as with my films of the decade, here are according to my not so humble opinion, the best shows of the decade. Since I can only limit it to 20, it’s likely that a lot of your favorites aren’t on here. It’s also important to note that I am nowhere near as well versed in TV as I am in cinema, so maybe I’m not even the right guy for the job. Finally, some of these are still running, and they’ve been amazing so far, but if they ruin themselves near the end (ahem GOT ahem) I might have to publish a retraction. Oh, and before you throw a fit, I haven’t watched Bojack Horseman or Mr. Robot, so they’re not on here due to ignorance note preference. So without further ado, here they are:

20) Chernobyl
19) Watchmen
18) Black Mirror
17) Atlanta
16) Louie
15) High Maintenance
14) The Crown
13) Curb Your Enthusiasm
12) Mindhunter
11) True Detective

10) Girls
There may be certain shows that are more deserving of this slot than Girls, but in writing this article I wanted to keep in mind the shows that weren’t just great but also defined the decade for me, Girls introduced us to the kind of female led storytelling that brought us a new voice in the form of Lena Dunham (let’s keep her annoying public persona out of this), the creator and star of this little gem. Filled with moments both hilarious and heartbreaking, the show wasn’t afraid to explore some darker edges of relationships, and most importantly gave us unpolished insights into the lives of millennial women, warts and all. Ad to that the bragging rights of discovering and launching Adam Driver’s career, and ending the show with some of the most emotionally satisfying final episodes, and you got yourself a winner. Let’s just hope this isn’t a fluke in Dunham’s career, and just the first of many greats.

9) Ramy
With just one season under its belt, Ramy already made its way into TV pantheon status for me. It’s smartly written, wonderfully performed, and most importantly it introduced the world into the life of a modern Muslim trying to make it in a western world without whitewashing or hiding any of our cultural quirks and flaws. The show depicted its characters as real humans, full of all the complexities that came with it, while hilariously pointing out all the extremities we deal with in our families (conspiracy theories, male chauvinism, hypocritical religiousness,etc). The first season of Ramy was an almost perfect 10 episodes of comedy drama and character building, and I can’t wait for season 2.

8) Game of Thrones
A few years back, and this might have landed in the top three. It’s first 4 seasons were utter perfection, and after a slight drop in season 5, it started to gather itself up for an excellent if flawed season 6. Seasons 7 and 8, however were a different story and are the sole reason this show was pushed down so low. Looking back, however, no show defined the decade and collective experience of an international audience as much as Game of Thrones. Marked with the impossible task of creating an adult fantasy genre, risking alienating most of the audience, it ended up being the most successful show in HBO’s amazing history. This all comes down to excellent source material, incredibly deft casting, unprecedented set design and VFX for a show, and creating year after year of heart stopping memorable moments from Ned on the chopping block, the Red Wedding, the Red Viper, and of course The Battle of the Bastards.

When I found out the American bookstore Borders was opening up at The Avenues I got pretty excited because I thought finally, a bookstore! Well they opened over the holidays and guess what? They don’t sell books! Borders in Kuwait is a toy store for some reason with not a single book for sale.

The stationary and arts & crafts store Paperchase also opened as part of Borders. Both are located side by side in Avenues Phase I.

Last week Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre organized a private music performance in Vienna called “The Sounds of Kuwait”. I saw bits and pieces of the performance on instagram but a friend just sent me the 10-minute long video above.

If I get my hands on a better quality video I’ll update this post with it, but for now this should do.

It’s starting to look like one of those abandoned Soviet parks. On the bright side, they’re building a new Entertainment City soon in its place although as a nostalgic person I just wish they keep the park as is and just refurbish it.

Thanks Alex

Virgin originally opened in Kuwait back in 2002 and was the second-largest Virgin store in the world at the time. They had books, music, movies and electronics but it eventually had a lot of music and movies banned and then slowly started shrinking in size until the store no longer existed. But now it’s back.

The new Virgin recently opened in Avenues and it doesn’t have any books or music this time around. Instead, it’s more of an electronics shop selling items like phone accessories, headphones, portable speakers, drones and random trinkets. They have a small gaming section and a large selection of Crosley record players but they don’t sell any records.

The Virgin in Dubai Mall is actually a cool place with so many different things on sale which makes you at the very least want to walk through the store. The one in Kuwait on the other hand, at this stage, doesn’t seem to have the same allure. In any case, it’s worth checking out if you’re in Avenues, they’re open in phase 2 near Carrefour.

Update: Turns out they actually have a tiny book section.

Post by Tarek J

While preparing my obligatory year-end list for the best films of 2019, I figured it only relevant to reflect on the past decade as we entered 2020. In doing so, I decided to do a little extra work this year and give you guys a few lists leading up to my “best of 2019” , starting with the 15 best films of the decade 2010-2019. Before jumping in, let’s just state the obvious and say that this is an impossible task as every year brings us tons of great films, so take ten years and select this handful was way more stressful than I imagined:

15) Under the Skin
14) Roma
13) Parasite
12) Arrival
11) The Grand Budapest Hotel

10) Inception
Every decade or so comes a film that catches the audience off guard and breaks what they think is possible with cinema. In the 90’s, it was watching Trinity escape the agents in the opening of The Matrix that made us all realize we were in for something we’ve never seen before (and the rest of the film just got more incredible). In the 00’s, it was watching Sméagol have a conversation with his alter ego Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. And now in the 10’s, it’s watching a zero-G fight happening in a rotating hallway in Christopher Nolan’s Inception that defined the shift in cinema. From the bombastic trailer (which launched a genre of horn blasting Bwaaam trailer soundtracks), to the incredibly complex plot, the vast visuals, and the notional core in the film, Inception became one of the most unforgettable movie-going experiences for all who watched it. Some can argue there are better films that deserve this slot, but none were as effective or influential as this.

9) Amour
Moving on from the gigantic Inception, my number 9 is the tiny and intimate masterpiece from Austrian auteur Michael Hanneke, Amour. A heartbreaking and harrowing tale of love under the worst circumstances, Amour was one of the few foreign films of the decade that crossed over to the mainstream due to nothing more than its cinematic perfection. Equally shocking and moving, it’s a landmark in foreign cinema and the best film in a filmmakers impressive career.

8) Moonlight
Another small film, made famous for being the actual Oscar winner in 2018 although La La Land had been mentioned by mistake first, Moonlight bring the introduction of an entirely new voice to cinema, Barry Jenkins, The film is beautiful, touching, cool, stylish and different than most other films out there, the cinematography is gorgeous, but it’s the raw and real emotions on display that elevate this film and makes it one of the very few Best Picture winners that actually deserved it.