2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
A friend of mine set up a very cool website which helps you find car prices in Kuwait. All you need to do is fill in the details about the car and the website will give you three prices, the price of the car if its in poor, good and excellent condition. He did a lot of research to come up with these numbers and right now it’s probably the best way to quickly find out how much a car is really worth. Check it out [Here]
Cheesecake Factory is going to be officially opening this coming Monday. I was there tonight for a tasting and I think the place is way nicer than the Dubai one. The location is really great and the place is open from three sides so the atmosphere should be really great. One thing I loved about Avenues Phase III is the lighting, I hope they keep it this dim and colorful once it opens (check picture above).
The dog show Bark in the Park is taking place this Saturday at the Ahmadi Japanese Gardens. I’m going to be one of the judges so make sure you bring me cookies! For details on the event click [Here]
Cheick Kongo, Cyrille Diabate, Greg Babene, Mishal Abul
Every now and then I like to highlight Kuwaiti talent and achievements and I believe that Mishal Abul fits the bill. He is a partner at Paradigm Sports Management, a US based company that manages Football, Baseball and MMA athletes. I met Mishal through my blog sometime back and since I’m a huge UFC fan I was shocked to find out he was managing UFC stars like Michael Bisping and Chris Lytle among others.
Mishal was always into combat sports, he wrestled in high school back in the US as well as college. He got into MMA in 1998 because of the UFC and because of his trainer John “The Machine” Lober who was a pioneer of the MMA scene with a background in Jeet Kun Do, Grappling and BJJ. Mishal is probably the first Kuwaiti to train in MMA.
Jake Shields, Mishal Abul, Tareq Azim
I asked him about MMA in the region and if the UFC is considering bring The Ultimate Fighter to the Middle East like how they did TUF Brazil and the upcoming TUF India. This is what he had to say:
MMA is still way too young for the entire Middle East to recognize it, understand it and accept it. Fighting from a professional position is already here with Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai now they need to learn MMA, the best form of martial arts. There are already some locals or in the region who have trained and are becoming teachers.
Sending TUF to the Middle East is in the plans but not right now that’s because the mentality of the population within the Middle East is not the same as elsewhere with a history of combat sports which usually belongs to other large countries where it would boom immediately like Brazil, Russia and parts of Asia. But, I do believe the Middle East as a whole has some huge potential of breeding the best MMA competitors in the world. Parts of the Middle East strongly train in Karate, some other parts in wrestling or even Judo. Countries like Iran who are naturally strong could develop some amazing wrestlers which is the best base to begin with to enter MMA.
As a UFC fan I think it’s very cool to have a Kuwaiti managing UFC fighters. If you want to find out more about Paradigm Sports Management you can visit their website [Here]
I think TJC Films has been releasing on average a video a week which is just crazy. This week he released a video of En Mexico, a small Mexican restaurant located in Jabriya which I posted about early in the year. Makes me hungry. You can watch the video above or on [YouTube]
The Future Shorts Festival is the biggest pop up film festival of its kind, showcasing the most exciting short films from around the world. As part of their Autumn Season world tour they’ll be making a stop in Kuwait next week at the Contemporary Art Platform.
Date: Sunday November 4th 2012
Time: 7:00 pm
Entrance fee: 3KD to be collected at the door
Location: Contemporary Art Platform (https://capkuwait.com/location/)
The Autumn Season will feature the following short films:
Café Regular, Cairo – Ritesh Batra
A Brief History of John Baldessari – Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost
Rite – Michael Pearce
The Black Balloon – Ben Safdie & Joshua Safdie
On The Line – Reto Caffi
There will also be a special live music set after the screening. There are limited seats so make sure you come early. Doors will close at 7:30 pm.
Over the Eid holidays I noticed a lot of new speed cameras being installed all along the 5th and 6th Ring Road, the 30th and the 40th. Only the poles were in place and they were similar to the ones in the picture above so my guess is they’re installing more of the same cameras.
If they seriously want to stop speeders then they should consider installing cameras that calculate the average speed similar to the ones in Dubai. Right now everyone just slows down at the camera and speeds up again right after it.
Preparations are currently underway for the epic fireworks show thats going to take place on November 11th 10th here in Kuwait on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the constitution. Speaker systems and projection boards are being setup all along the coast starting from the Green Island and going all the way to the Kuwait Towers. They’ve also started setting up the fireworks which reportedly is costing over KD4,164,000.
The event company behind this epic show is Filmaster MEA who’ve also worked on other large scale events like the Turin 2006 XX Olympic Games (opening and closing ceremony), the Juventus new stadium opening ceremony and the UAE 40th National Day Anniversary.
This so far looks like an event that shouldn’t be missed and will probably be the biggest show that Kuwait has ever put on.
Update: Check this link for more information [Link]
Last night I watched Skyfall with some friends at Grand Cinemas in Hamra Tower. Unlike my brother I didn’t think too highly of the movie. I mean it was good but I didn’t think it was great. One thing I regret not doing is getting a jacket. My brother wasn’t exaggerating when he said the theater was freezing. The cold could actually be one of the reasons why I didn’t enjoy the movie much, I just wanted it to be over so I could get outside where it’s warmer. Tip: Take a jacket!
The food stall outside the theater is very similar to Cinescape except they were a lot slower. A LOT slower. The theater seats were comfortable and really other than the fact it was freezing cold the only other issue I noticed was that there was dirt on the projector lens which could be seen on the top left of the screen.
If you’re interested in booking tickets their website is now live and you can check it out [Here]
Update: It seems the link doesn’t work for some people but it works for me. No idea why.
Update2: The link seems to be working now for everyone but you can’t purchase tickets from the website as of now since their KNET system isn’t active yet.
According to the Prada Kuwait store manager, Prada will be opening at 360 Mall on November 15th.
Fitness First, the largest privately owned health club group in the world is opening soon at 360 Mall. They have another branch that supposed to open in Salmiya near my place but I guess the 360 Mall location is going to be their first.
Last night I got the chance to watch the premier of the new James Bond movie Skyfall at Grand Cinemas in the Al Hamra Tower. As soon as I got to the floor Grand Cinemas was located on we were given a goodie bag by Aston Martin, that included an iPhone 5 case with the Skyfall logo on it and some other Aston Martin branded merchandise. The attendants were quite helpful, answering our questions and giving us directions to which theater we’d be seated in. We then were able to get some popcorn and soda. They only had regular popcorn available and no water, that will obviously change once Grand Cinemas opens. The first thing I noticed as soon as I entered the theater was just how cold it was. Movie theaters tend to get chilly, but it was incredibly cold, much colder than other theaters. The seating was quite comfortable and the only real negative thing (beside it being too cold) that bothered me was that they kept the “Exit” signs lit up throughout the movie which caused a green glare on the side of the screen which was slightly distracting at times.
Once the show started, about 15 minutes of advertisements for Aston Martin played which wasn’t a big surprise since it seemed like they were the ones who helped put this event together. Once the movie began, I instantly noticed how the image seemed crisper and sharper on the screen. It was a good sign. Then about 10 minutes into the movie, the sound was acting up, we couldn’t hear what the characters were saying but we could still hear the music and the sound effects. It felt like we were watching a silent movie. After a few minutes of that the entire sound cut which happened a minute or so before the movie intro credits started rolling. This situation also made things kind of awkward because you could hear people all around you just crunching away at their popcorns while the theater stayed surprisingly quiet throughout this whole ordeal. This went on for a good 10 or 15 more minutes, I was thinking of walking out of the theater because the movie was basically being spoiled. Then one of the guys in charge walked in and made an announcement that the theater amplifier blew out and that they needed a few minutes to switch it out. Not sure how an amp could blow out at the very first show, but apparently it did. As soon as he left they thankfully stopped the movie. Sure enough a few minutes afterwards the movie had started, the movie was rewinded to where the technical errors began and the sound was working. After that it was smooth sailing, I really liked how crisp the image was and the volume of the movie was just loud enough. Did I mention how it was cold? It became nearly unbearable near the end to the point that it became distracting.
Now about the movie. I’m going to come out and say this right away, Skyfall is probably my favorite Bond movie. Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem were both fantastic and seemed to feed off each others on-screen energy. Bardem’s role as the villain was really memorable and his character will be remembered for a long time. Sam Mendes did a great job at directing this movie which includes one of my favorite fight scenes that I’ve experienced in a movie, the cinematography, the lighting, the intensity of the scene, it was just beautifully shot. The movie had some amusing moments, some charming Bond moments, it was aggressive when it needed to be and it was surprisingly dark at times, especially for a Bond movie. Bond movies are usually more upbeat and they’re typically about Bond being nearly superhero like, saving the day. Let me put it this way, Skyfall is to Bond as The Dark Knight was to Batman. This movie release is going to coincide with the 50th anniversary of James Bond and the movie features some neat little nods to past Bond movies and in a way, there were segments in the movie that felt like old-school Bond. It’s a little on the longside though, running at about 2 hours and 30 minutes long but it is definitely worth the watch.
So all in all, I feel like Grand Cinemas will be a great addition to Kuwait. Except for that little incident regarding the sound which was fixed, the only downside of last night was how cold it had gotten, I’ll just remember to bring a coat next time I decide to watch a movie there.
Posted by Patrick
On the occasion of the James Bond 50th anniversary, a James Bond World is going to be setup next month at the exhibition hall in 360 Mall. There will be a whole bunch of activities taking place at James Bond World but probably the biggest highlights will be the actual cars from the James Bond movies. Among the cars that will be on display is the Aston Martin that was used for the big crash scene in “Casino Royale”, the Aston Martin with mounted weapons used in “Tomorrow Never Dies”, the Vanquish DBS from “Quantum of Solace” and the DB5 featured in the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall”.
Originally the hot actress Gemma Arterton from “Quantum of Solace” was also supposed to attend the opening night but that was when the opening night was originally set for October 26th. Now that the event has been pushed back she most likely won’t be able to make it.
James Bond World is set to open to the public on November 1st. The pictures of the James Bond cars in this post were taken by my contact who also provided me with the information above.
Update: Just added all the pictures of the cars I received below.
Their old logo (above) was not that great but their new one (below) is just horrible. They should have just hired the agency that did the 360 Mall branding.
Getting close to the opening of The Avenues new districts and our plans for future expansion of The Avenues we created a new iconic logo with a distinct personality that conveys a more abstract thought of simplicity and boldness. It’s an interactive logo with maximum flexibility for messaging.
Iconic? Don’t think so.