A friend of mine recently returned from Madagascar, working on a documentary on lemurs.  It had been months since I had seen him or his wife so I headed out to see them for a night of food and movies.

We went to dinner at The Hidden Havana Cuban Cafe in Santa Clarita.  I convinced my friends to join in with my challenge and try something new.  As it turns out, The Hidden Havana Cuban Cafe is a hidden gem of a restaurant.  I can’t properly pronounce anything that we ordered but everything was amazing.  We each ordered something different so we could share.  We tried each of the appetizers, the empanada, papa rellena, and madurros.  They were all quite tasty and I would recommend them all.  When it came to the meat dishes, we order the beef, pork and chicken.  The food was excellent and we didn’t have any complaints.

After dinner, we headed down to the Arclight in Sherman Oaks for a 21 and over screening of Zero Dark Thirty.  This was the first time I had ever gone to one of the 21 and over screenings.  I didn’t even know there was a separate theater located next to the bar just for these screenings.  I do prefer the Arclight to regular cinemas, especially the AMC theaters.  They have assigned seating and they are very strict about the use of cell phones or talking during a film.

As for the movie, Zero Dark Thirty, it was incredibly intense from start to finish.  When the film started with the 911 recordings from the 9-11 terrorist attacks, I knew this was going to be a difficult film to sit through.  The entire film is about finding and killing Osama Bin Laden.  You see the torture, the bombings, and the stealth operation of infiltrating Osama’s compound.  Every single moment was intense.  You were captivated through every second of the film and even though you knew what was going to happen (it is based on actual events), you were still on the edge of your seat.  It was a good film but I don’t think I could ever sit through it again.

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