Smoque

In case you didn't know, I am a HUGE BBQ Rib fan. (I know, Ribfest is in Naperville this week)

A new rib place in my current hood of Old Irving Park just opened and it is awesome.
SMOQUE at 3800 N. Pulaski, about 1 block south of Irving Park and the Kennedy.
Just like their tagline says, they are "not just another pretty sauce." They serve Baby Back and St. Louis-Style ribs. For the indecisive, I recommend the combo. I mentioned it to the guy who cuts my hair (nowhere near where I live), and he said "that place is no joke."
The president of my company went there on my reco, and he stopped by my office calling the brisket outstanding.

I put it right up there with Gale Street Inn, and give it 5 bones.

Early iPhone Review

I was given the privilege of being an early reviewer of the iPhone.
When you whip it down on the pavement it breaks.
Store it underwater overnight, it doesn't turn on in the morning.
I give it a D.

Pan's Labyrinth (Here's where I play movie critic)

Brutally fantastic film that breaks all the rules of American movie making (marketing).
In case you haven't seen it, it's not what you expect.
It's not a nicely packaged/targeted/pigeonholed, straight forward Pixar/Cameron Diaz/Ben Stiller/Hugh Grant/Steven King/George Lucas movie. (BTW-It's come to the point in movies where I think you could have a poster that just says "Ben Stiller" or "Hugh Grant", no title, picture or anything, just the name "Will Ferrell: 7.15.07", and you know exactly what you're going to get. Then again, I guess its always been that way.)
Pan's creators borrow toys from completely separate playsets and orchestrate them into a 'labyrinth' of the wonder and replusion.
And the cgi is evident, but not overbearing because it isn't necessarily the primary focus of every scene like George Lucas might do.
It's childlike yet mature, dreamy yet brutally real, foreign yet familiar, restrained yet pushing the envelope all at the same time.
I also noticed subtle biblical undertones throughout the film, which I can't go into without revealing story/plotline.
I only have two qualms. When the spanish title came up at the end, it essesntially said "Faun's Labyrinth." Why they didn't go with this, I don't know. I believe Pan is the Faun's name, but this isn't broadcast every two seconds in the dialog.
That, and if I were a parent bringing my kids to this thinking we're seeing Narnia, I'd be blindfolding them saying "What the *$&*$ is this?" "Where's Aslan?"
Another title could be "The Lion, The Witch, and the Concentration Camp."
Easily one of the year's best films. ('06 or '07? I'm not sure, but probaby both.)