I know a lot of people may not have watched this, so I tried to limit any spoilers in my review to what's been revealed in trailers. If you have chosen to stay away even from trailers, you should stop reading right now.

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THERE MAY BE SPOILERS

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The good
- The lead actors: in particular Tom Holland's energetic Spidey and Keaton's menacing presence, but also some heartfelt cameos by RDJ and Marisa Tomei
- The pace: the energy never let up but also didn't drag out its peak action moments for too long that it gives you fatigue
- The scope: while not quite as miniscule-scaled as Ant-Man, it certainly befits Spidey's title of "your friendly neighbourhood superhero". No aliens, no otherworldly beings, no Infinity Stones, not even an international diplomatic crisis. Just a bit of brick work off the Washington monument (oi) and a climax that is more or less confined to an unidentifiable abandoned...beach?
- Tony Stark: for once he's the highlight for playing the straight guy. The few scenes he share with Spidey have a nice dynamic that brings out a whole new facet to Tony's character
- The humour: it gets the tone just right between witty, awkward and self-effacing

The bad
- The sum is less than its parts
-- I can't remember a single iconic heroic moment in this movie - e.g. Wonder Woman climbing out of the trenches to gunfire, or Stephen Strange using the Eye of Agamotto to reverse the damage to Hong Kong. The Staten Island ferry scene was hardly the climax it seemed in the trailers.
-- The character arc for Peter is vague and muddled, and I can't confidently say that he's learned any significant lessons by its conclusion
-- It's missing the core value of its 2 previous incarnations "with great power comes great responsibility" by avoiding Uncle Ben too much. In fact, previous MCU stories have always been good with its key messages that is conveyed through their character growths (e.g. Thor and humility, Iron Man and empathy, Cap and remaining true to ideals), but lately, in particular in Dr Strange and Ant Man and certainly here, these "life lessons" haven't come through
- Some really weak plot devices: come on Tony, surely you don't write your code to be cracked within seconds by a high school sophomore
- Karen: ARGH I'm so sick of chirpy intrusive AI's that sound like too much like real people (i.e. have emotions). The only AI that deserves to have lines in MCU is JARVIS.

The usual Marvel weaknesses
- A paper thin villain - that's thankfully saved by Keaton's very scary air. Some father-child moments could have really elevated this character
- The utter lack of stakes and ramifications
- Lots of seemingly important side characters not doing much at all
- The lack of emotional continuity
- Lack of character/emotional building: again, Spidey is one of those universes where family could have been a big emotional anchor and there's plenty of missed opportunities with Peter but also with several of the side characters

The verdict
In a way, this movie is perfectly timed to debut with this tone, having just come off 2 heavy The Amazing Spider-man movies and an Avengers universe that is starting to get darker and splintered, having this light-hearted and energetic outing is like a return to the good ol' times. The actors turn in wonderful performances, and with the quick pace and light-footed humour, it keeps you engaged until the end, but you really only have to dip your fingers beneath the surface to notice the usual MCU shortcomings and a somewhat uncharacteristically incohesive plotline.

Probably nothing speaks louder (at least to the studios) than money, so you can see how the movies have ranked in terms of grosses at Box Office Mojo.

Initially this was a MCU only ranking, but as the DCEU franchise grows, I've also added that in. Rottentomatoes and Metacritic are both critic-based scores. IMDB and Cinemascore are indicative of general audience response, which tend to be less-discerning and skewed towards the positive as - well, most people come back to a franchise because they already like it.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rotten Tomatos Tomatometer	Metacritic Metascore
94% Iron Man 92% The Avengers 91% Guardians of the Galaxy 90% Captain America: Civil War 90% Doctor Strange 89% Captain America: The Winter Soldier 81% Guardians of the Galaxy 2 81% Ant-Man 80% Captain America: The First Avenger 79% Iron Man 3 77% Thor 75% Avengers: Age of Ultron 72% Iron Man 2 67% The Incredible Hulk 66% Thor: The Dark World	79 Iron Man 76 Guardians of the Galaxy 75 Captain America: Civil War 72 Doctor Strange 70 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 69 The Avengers 67 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 66 Captain America: The First Avenger 66 Avengers: Age of Ultron 64 Ant-Man 62 Iron Man 3 61 The Incredible Hulk 57 Iron Man 2 57 Thor 54 Thor: The Dark World
IMDB User Ratings	Cinemascore
8.1 The Avengers 8.1 Guardians of the Galaxy 8.1 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 7.9 Captain America: Civil War 7.9 Iron Man 7.8 Avengers: Age of Ultron 7.8 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7.6 Doctor Strange 7.4 Ant-Man 7.2 Iron Man 3 7.1 Thor: The Dark World 7.0 Thor 7.0 Iron Man 2 6.9 Captain America: The First Avenger 6.8 The Incredible Hulk	A+ The Avengers A Ant-Man A Avengers: Age of Ultron A Captain America: Civil War A Captain America: Winter Soldier A Doctor Strange A Guardians of the Galaxy A Guardians of the Galaxy 2 A Iron Man A Iron Man 2 A Iron Man 3 A- Captain America: The First Avenger A- Thor: The Dark World A- The Incredible Hulk B+ Thor

DC Extended Universe

Rotten Tomatos Tomatometer	Metacritic Metascore
93% Wonder Woman 55% Man of Steel 27% Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 26% Suicide Squad	76 Wonder Woman 55 Man of Steel 44 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 40 Suicide Squad
IMDB User Ratings	Cinemascore
8.2 Wonder Woman 7.1 Man of Steel 6.8 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 6.6 Suicide Squad	A Wonder Woman A- Man of Steel B+ Suicide Squad B Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Last updated June 2017: Wonder Woman is newly released and scores may shift.
Last updated May 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy is new in theatres, so scores (particularly IMDB) may shift.
Last updated Nov 2016: note Doctor Strange has only just been released so these are very preliminary scores.
Last Update Aug 2016: Hulk removed as it does not appear to count in the MCU. Cinemascore added.

In contrast to last season dreary selection, there's a host of more interesting dramas out this season, starting from CRISIS, which has screened at Cannes, and Kizoku Tantei starring half a dozen "main character level" actors. Will it save the Jdrama world from its seemingly unstoppable decline?

CRISIS -- Oguri Shun, Nishijima Hidetoshi
Synopsis: A group of people with troubled pasts are assembled in a new team of anti-terrorism specialists.

Much of the drama's promotions have centered around the fact it has screened at Cannes. It stars none other than Oguri Shun in probably his last serious role before ruining his image forever in Gintama (ひどい).

被毀型之前當然要追悼（不要亂用詞啊喂）一下小栗旬的英姿

It also has Nishijima Hidetoshi, who has the dubious honour of being the first ossan I liked even though I think I've only seen him in Strawberry Night. Even though he has a playboyish role in that one, I somehow have it imprinted in my memory that he's a 憂鬱型帥大叔....why.

Apart from the girl, the other 2 team members are all reliable actors who play side roles regularly.

So far, the first episode was...good but disappointing. I think the expectations given it keeps pushing the "we've been to Cannes!" slogan was too high. The episode does not break out of the usual Japanese police drama mold. It drops you straight into the action to introduce the 5 main characters, then without a pause, goes onto another case. The sum is you get a vague idea of each person's specialty, a hint of their quirks, but nothing you can get your teeth into about their personalities or back stories. As far as introductions go, it's good but not as memorable as the tight, tense and occasionally quirky first episode of BOSS, which gave a much stronger impression of each of the weirdos that made up the team.

Almost every Japanese police drama these days seems to open with a (literal) bomb so I'm getting pretty immune to it. Where this first case is concerned, there was not a lot of deduction involved, nor was there much sympathy for the Victim-of-the-Week. When you take those two elements away, you need a villain with a strong presence to really rack up the tension (because to be honest, I would have totally not felt sorry if the guy died, and neither would the main character judging by his own words) but the series has decided to keep the antagonist as a nebulous force or group behind the scenes.

It was an otherwise well-written and well-produced episode, with some good action (fairly rare in J-dramas), good natural acting (except for the guest victim...seriously kiddo) and good pacing that didn't let up until the end. But in a way, as a series pilot that is supposed to draw audiences in, I feel it just scraped past because the case of the week wasn't able to give the audience any emotional connection, either to the victim or even to the main characters. Presumably there is some big conspiracy overarching all of this but the episode doesn't give enough away to really build up the suspense. If it weren't for the quality of actors and the fact I know the production team have come up with some solid works, I don't think I would continue watching.

Reverse -- Fujiwara Tatsuya, Toda Erika, Koike Teppei
Synopsis: Based on the eponymous novel, Fukase is an ordinary man without much luck or excitement in his life, until he meets the girl of his dreams. Just as he begins to enjoy this blossoming romance, an anonymous note arrives in his girlfriend's hands: "Fukase is a murderer". 10 years ago, Fukase had gone on a car trip with his best friend Hirose Yuki and 3 other mates. Hirose never returned and they promised between themselves to take the secrets of that night into their graves. What happened to Hirose? What are they hiding? Who is hunting them down now?

So...I don't know if anyone else does this, but I'm the kind of person who always reads the beginning, the end, before reading the middle....

So obviously, after watching the first episode, I rushed onto Google to find out "what happened to Hirose?!" "Who killed Hirose?!" "What is the meaning of Reverse?!"

I confess the answer will be much less underwhelming if you read/watch the story for what it is.

This drama was promoted as "a 11 year reunion of Death Note actors Raito and Misa-chan!" which...I didn't know that was a thing until this season (see below and the up and coming Code Blue 3). Fujiwara was first known - and probably best known to western audiences - as the protagonist of the somewhat uniquely Japanese dystopian bloodfest known as Battle Royale. Both he and Erika (and Matsuyama Kenichi who was L) have gone on to forge fulfilling careers spanning a rich library of interesting and varied characters. Koike Teppei I have not seen onscreen for so long that I didn't realise how much I miss his cute ageless face. Every time he smiles it makes me sad at knowing this heart-warming character already died. Apparently in the original story, Hirose is supposed to be a big burly bear-like man who is a sweet and gentle giant. But Koike just screams 暖男暖男 in every scene that I don't think the difference will bother fans of the original work.

Minato Kanae's novels are known for their rational but cutting expositions on the failings of humans and the innate selfishness in all of us. The tone of this particular novel is said to be much warmer than her other works, and will probably be more palatable to the audiences. Fujiwara manages to make the clumsy, ordinary and painfully submissive character into someone for whom we can have some sympathy. Definitely worth watching for anyone interested in the interplay of human selfishness.

Boku, Unmei no Hito desu (I am the destined one) - Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kimura Fumino
Synopsis: Masaki is a guy without much luck with girlfriends. Kogetsu is a girl without much luck with boyfriends. One day, a mysterious man appears in front of Masaki and proclaims he is God, and the reason that Masaki has been failing in his relationships is because he is destined to marry Kogetsu so that their child, 30 years later, can save the Earth from a meteor. Thus starts Masaki's arduous task of wooing Kogetsu for the future of Earth...!

是一部腦洞開很大的日劇……

So this one is touted as "a 12 year reunion between Nobuta actors Shinji and Akira!" A lot of politics and arguments came following this casting, which I won't go over here, except that Yamapi is noted down more as a special guest rather than a "secondary main character" judging by the way his name is arranged on the official cast page.

I thought it was joking about the "God" bit, but he does appear out of and disappear into thin air, so...

How do I put it, it's hard not to think about the ugly politics that runs on in Johnny's Entertainment when you see Kame and Yamapi appear together. To their credit, both Kame and Yamapi are much more mature actors compared to their Nobuta days, and the scenes where they appear together were surprisingly impressive by how much presence both of them have.

The role is fairly natural for Kame, and he's always been pretty good at these clumsy but cute characters much more than he is at extroverted or expansive characters like Yamaneko (which I'm still impressed he pulled off). Yamapi, on the other hand, is much closer to what he's like in Nobuta than his more recent 面癱 main characters. I know a lot of people call him 死魚眼 (dead fish eyes) and 面癱 (facial paralysis) and 木頭君 (Mr Wooden), and I'd agree with most of them in his usual roles. I think a lot of people say that he's more suited to the cool roles, but personally I find him much more likable in these expressive roles where he makes use of his surprising sense of comic timing. With introspective roles, he's really not able to emote a lot with his eyes, but here his eyes are twinkling and his smirks are endearing, and there's a strange sense of camaraderie in his scenes with Kame. I have a fondness for Kimura, who I think is amongst the few in her generation who puts a lot of effort into her roles and holds her characters well.

The script is light, humorous and self-aware, which is perfect for the ridiculous premise and the tone of this series. It's one of the few rare romances that actually makes me want to keep watching, at least for the laughs.

To finish off the casting round, we have the Murata siblings and the Shinsengumi.


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( The Murata siblings )


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( Cut for the long-awaited Shinsengumi trio )

And that's a wrap!

I think it's a good mix of people who are reliable at acting, and a few unknowns cast in roles that won't require a huge amount of acting. Will that make it a success? Who knows. Japan has gone full steam with live adaptations of manga works in the past few years, and there's been a very small handful that's really struck gold with audiences (Rurouni Kenshin being the only one I can think of).

Just in the next few months, from the ones I've heard of, there's going to be Sangatsu no Lion, Blade of the Immortal, Full Metal Alchemist - not to mention at least another half a dozen romances coming to either the big or small screen. Generally Japan has better results with small screen adaptations of shoujo manga, but has traditionally struggled with shounen due to the scope, often the much darker themes, and the occasional leaps in suspension of belief required of the audience.

Possibly a good comparison will be the Oguri Shun-led Nobunaga Concerto, another historical fiction that has its comical and serious moments. It managed a respectable result at the box office and became the first film to squeeze Star Wars out of its top spot.

It will depend very much on the script and even at the best of times Gintama is not an easy material to convert into live action. Even just converting from manga to anime, given some of the crazy premises and the dependence on comedy, is no mean feat and speaks volumes about the professionalism of the writers and actors, and the maturity of the animation industry in Japan.

I have some carefully measured hopes, but given some recent failures in translation of popular manga onto the silver screen, I'm also carefully preparing myself for a disappointment.

Late last month, the Gintama twitter team had finally finished releasing photos of the whole cast, starting with Yorozuya in December and unsurprisingly ending with the ridiculously popular Shinsengumi team. The rumour mill is fairly quiet, unlike *cough* Marvel movies. Judging by the presence of the Murata siblings though, this is going to rehash the Benizakura arc once again, which is a real shame given how far Gintama has come and the other wonderful stories ripe for retelling - but, I suppose, it's the first big serious arc of the series and a good way to introduce the characters.

Fans of the series will recall that the Shinsengumi actually play a negligible role in the Benizakura arc, which was the first proper hint at the complex love-hate/respect-disdain relationships between Gintoki, Takasugi and Katsura. One of the recently released set photos shows what looks like the Yorozuya trio hunting for crickets, which I suppose would be the quickest way to involve the Shinsengumi.

Glaring omissions from the photos so far include Sadaharu (not surprised, and the amount of money they can save by not doing CG for the mascot they can spend on other effects), Otose (it would be nice even if she had a cameo) and Yamazaki (how can you have the Shinsengumi without jimi Yamazaki?)

Before I start discussing the live action cast, I just wanted to say briefly that Gintama anime has been blessed with some amazing casting and after so long in their roles, their voices have become so much of the experience - the joys and sadness and reflective scenes the viewers live through with them every week, so the live action cast will always have that tremendous hurdle to climb over.


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( Read about the main round of actors and actresses )

"Pigoin", or "the defendant".

I should be studying for exams and obviously I'm here posting about K-dramas...

The Defendant is one of those shining examples of Korean script-writing that in part explains why, while Japanese dramas in general is in a decline, the new Korean dramas continually break records in ratings and audience response.

That is not to say that it's without flaw (though I haven't watched the whole thing yet), because if you take a step back, some parts of it isn't really consistent with what a character might do. For example, Park Jung-woo choosing to avoid authorities instead of trying to enlist the help of either his colleagues (though understandably he may not trust all of them) or his family, despite being previously a law enforcer himself. Or the odd choices by Cha Min-Ho to kill or not kill people - especially his "wife" when she "betrayed" him multiple times.

The script does something that both Japanese and Korean dramas are good at - the exploration of human nature, of the effect society (especially in a much more conformative society as would exist in Asia compared to the western world) has on the actions of an individual, and the drivers behind a crime and a kind act.

What it adds to that, and is something that recent good Korean dramas have been able to achieve that Japanese dramas struggle with, is the wholeness of a story. Japanese dramas have been very good at suspense and crime procedurals, but they have very rarely done a good job with a story arc that is paced across the entire series. They also have this inexplicable penchant for explaining away plot points with some mind-boggling conspiracy that feels more like a badly written hyperbole.

Pigoin is about a well-respected prosecutor who (conveniently - Korean drama staple #1) is struck by amnesia, and can't remember exactly why or how he came to be on death row for the murder of his own wife and young daughter. What unravels as he slowly regains pieces of his memories is an intriguingly complex web of ruthless petty vengeance, jealousy, greed, personal ambition, loyalty, obligation, integrity and love.

If Descendants of the Sun painted soldiers and doctors in a romantically unblemished light, Pigoin comes across as an ode to the faithful barristers and prosecutors who respect and uphold the moral demands of their jobs. It also reminds us that the world, especially where the law is entangled, is grey: that while most criminals are not framed like Park, many despite their crimes usually has some goodness in them.

It's nice to see the despicable factory owner in Descendants of the Sun get somewhat of a good part this time - though he starts out a gangster angry at the main character for putting him in jail, he eventually becomes an ally and then a friend.

But let me get to exactly why this post came to be. Kim Minseok - the cute little spark in Descendants of the Sun, the runaway thief who became everyone's little brother. Despite staying in side parts, his roles are getting meatier and meatier, last year playing a neurosurgical intern diagnosed with brain cancer (of course - it's amazing how many hospital staff get sick in the correct specialty in medical dramas). This role is his best yet.

***** SPOILER ALERT *******

He is an accomplice in the murders, but after he kidnaps Park's daughter he finds he couldn't bring himself to murder her. He was rorted into this because the bad guys promised they would pay for his ill sister's operation, but his sister died in the operation anyway. Struck by guilt, he then spends 10 episode looking after Park's daughter and hiding from the bad guys, who have told him that if he dares to go to the police then they are able to pin Park's wife's death on him. He was forced to turn himself in later on and had hoped to provide the evidence to convict the man who instructed him to abduct Park's daughter, but ends up being killed for it.

This is one of those roles that can really make an actor, and Kim is helped along by his baby face that makes him look more like the kid's older brother than (almost) 20 years her senior.
The interactions between him and the girl are some of the sweetest things on TV and is in fact cuter than the father-daughter interaction (I'm guessing Shin Rina spends a lot more time on/off screen with Kim Minseok than she does with Ji Sung, and the level of comfort shows because of her young age).

His character stands as the symbol (one of many in this series) of what a single selfish action can bring and what a singular kind thought can achieve. And (I can't seem to emphasise this enough XDD) his baby face really helps his case as the young and immature kid who made the wrong choice in life, and throughout the series grows enough to accept retribution for his wrongdoings.

In fact, if anything, his character has a more complete character development arc than anyone else in the series. The main characters have had a lot happen to them, but they've pretty much stayed consistently themselves, with their fixed world views, from beginning to end.

His is only one character in the throng of interesting character motivations - take Park's friend, who turns from upright prosecutor to protecting his selfish interests; or Cha's wife, who initially stays silent but surrenders to her moral misgivings at a crucial moment. It's a fascinating web of humans being driven by their flawed or virtuous humanness, the flaws that put the noose neatly around Park's neck, or the kindness that slowly weathered away until those traditional heroic virtues - kindness and justice - won the day.

It is a good script, if flawed and slow at times, and it is the type of script that explains (above and beyond the pretty faces that adorn it) the good ratings that accompany a drama of this calibre.

It is the contrast that you see with a terrible script like A Life ~ Itoshiki Hito that explains why Japanese dramas are struggling to obtain ratings above 15% these days despite being stuffed full of well-known names.

Japanese literature and film have traditionally been great at its incisive comments on the human condition, and it's getting more and more technically mature at doing police procedurals, but the formula is getting tired. I'm waiting for the day where it can put together something that fits together as well as Pigoin does - and it has the luxury of doing this in only 12 episodes instead of dragging it out over 18 (for Pigoin, sadly a victim of its own popularity).

Like in the heyday of Hanazawa Naoki, I think we would see something that's more deserving of a high rating than the brain-numbingly silly Doctor X.

You know you're getting on in age when the purchase of an expensive pot makes you happy.

The fact that I'm posting about this is in tribute to every student's favourite pastime...procrastination.

Myer was having a 50% off if you purchase 2 items sale last weekend (which is also on this weekend), and since I've been wanting a smaller pot than my 24cm Le Creuset casserole for ages, I made the snap purchase ($150 instead of the RRP$300). The second item was an unexciting Maxwell & Williams ceramic pot which will probably barely get used.

But! I now have a 18cm Staub cocotte! It's so cute! Even if it's a rather monochromatic shade of grey. It's just the right size for 1.5 person's worth of soup noodles, or 2 person's worth of soup! And probably just a bit on the small side when I tried making the Vietnamese tomato beef stew (Bo Kho).

And now I'm eyeing a 20cm pot +/- a 22cm pot..................................

Who would have thought that pots could be a sinkhole of doom?

Random gems of research
- Le Creuset has the widest range of colours and Staub a particularly limited range in Australia. Both brands have some specialty pots (tomato and pumpkin). Le Creuset in particular has some nice Asia-only colours and styles.
- Both Le Creuset and Staub import smaller pots only to Asian countries. For example, you'll find east Asian outlets all selling 14, 16, 18 and 20cm pots. I am yet to find an Australian outlet that sells a Staub 20cm, or a Le Creuset in anything smaller than 20cm (i.e. 14-18). In the same vein, maybe because Asian wives go for the whole cutesy thing, you get the brighter colours and the girly flower-shaped or heart-shaped pots...only in Asia. Sigh.
- What exactly qualifies as Australian cuisine anyway? How come we only get the boring round/oval casseroles? Le Creuset has some nice pot shapes overseas, including the popular-in-east-Asia Marmite/Chef's pan style, which has a sloped bottom to make stirfrying a bit more amenable while also being a versatile soup saucepan; and the American website also has a "Balti dish" for Indian cuisine.
- Staub is heavier than Le Creuset, though with my 24cm pot you probably won't care about the difference (your wrists get sore pretty quickly!) The 18cm is just the right sort of heft, a bit heavier than my Scanpan saucepan which has a pretty heavy base and long heavy handles. The only visible benefit is that - what they say is true - Staub is less likely to spill over on simmering. I need to recheck this with Le Creuset as I have had experiences of it spilling over and also of it not spilling when I expect it to. However, I was very impressed while making the Bo Kho that I had the Staub pot filled to the brim and it didn't spill despite it being on a higher setting than what my stainless steel saucepan can tolerate without spilling.
- Does it retain flavour better? Possibly. Previously I've always needed to add sugar to balance the sourness in the tomatos, but this time it was fine just with the sweetness it apparently extracted from the carrots and turnip. I don't know if that's the pot or the turnip, though XD
- The black enamel of Staub needs a bit of seasoning to start with, but the white enamel of Le Creuset has a problem with staining, so they both need to be looked after.
- As with all enamelled cast iron pots, the caring instructions is extensive - slow and patient seems to be the buzz here, from the cooking to the cleaning.
- Sizes: everyone is different, but a 14cm is probably just enough for a child's meal. 16cm would be okay for a one person portion of noodles (but will be a bit cramped trying to cook). 18cm would be for 1-3 people. The 24cm I rarely use because of how heavy it is and how rare that I need to stew something that big. Might be about right for a whole chicken, or about 4-5 person's worth of congee.

So what am I looking forward to now? Well, either a 20cm (more practical) or a 22cm (more accessible). There's also a Japanese brand called Vermicular that has apparently been doing the rounds in Asia and is very well-reviewed. It has some nice pearly pastels that appeal to the Asian palate, and some nice design quirks courtesy of Japanese attention to detail. Price-wise it is actually more expensive than the French traditional factories, and as a new brand it remains to be seen whether the quality will hold up (although these days artisan stuff "Made in Japan" is a pretty solid brand in itself).

I need to recheck to see if the difference between spillage is true for Le Creuset vs Staub...I've been wanting a 20cm Le Creuset (the colours!) but will definitely get a Staub if the spillage is a real problem since oven-cooking is pretty low on my priorities and it's mainly stovetop simmering that I need to do.

I've also been lemming some cute Le Creuset ramekins...might stimulate my itch to make cakes again...