Good-Bye Niku-Udon

It sucks when a favorite restaurant closes. Maybe it is just my sentimental side shining through, but I always associate good restaurants with more than just the delicious food they serve. Sometimes, I link the establishment to the music and podcasts I listened to on my iPod while eating there, or to the movies I watched before, or after, a pleasant meal, or even to the thoughts that were birthed at the table during a fine meal. Sometimes, a good eatery just adds a sense of comfort to a hectic day - a place to escape the office for a relaxing and delicious hour.

Today I decided to go have some Japanese food at Tokagetsu, a wonderfully decorated Japanese restaurant within walking distance from my office. It was while I was being seated that the old Japanese hostess dropped the bomb, "Today is our last day," she told me in broken English. I suddenly felt sad. Sad because I would never be able to eat their great chicken-katsu or niku-udon again. Sad for the old ladies that worked so hard there. Sad because it is the only Japanese restaurant within walking distance, and sad because the place had so much charm and character.

And so, begrudgingly, I ate my last bowl of niku-udon served by the outwardly grumpy old Japanese woman with a heart of gold. I never knew her name, the name of the owners, or anything about them, and I will never see any of them again. While paying my bill, I learned that their lease had not been renewed, and so they are probably being driven out of business by some money hungry bastard wanting to turn their building into over-priced urban condos for ex-hippy sellouts, recovering from their fourth divorce, moving back to downtown to try, again, for that hip, over-priced lifestyle they've always dreamed of. Or whatever.

My First Hate Mail!

It was bound to happen, and I am surprised it took this long. Someone finally sent me some hate mail. I decided to post it here, as a memento. I've heard that getting hate male is a sign of "making it," although, what I've made is a complete and utter mystery!

EDIT - I just listened to the Halloween 3 episode of Mondomovie, and I wasn't on it. I didn't think I was. So I guess, some of this hate mail isn't even really directed at me. Darnit all.


D Davis....

I have listened to a bunch of your podcasts... Compared to the two guys from Mondo Movie, you sound like an inarticulate kinder-gardener..(you actually ruined their show about Halloween 3...it was the first Mondo Movie that I scanned over because it was like listening to a father talk movies with his teenage son).

However, you have brought a few great mentions to the table. I actually appreciate the review of "The Boxer's Omen." I'm glad I saw it and probably wouldn't have for quite some time if you had not mentioned it.

However, you blew it when you made the blasphemous comment about liking the Dawn of the Dead remake over the original. I'm not going to explain the endless reasons why the original is a superior film. I will say that you have lost the little respect I had left for you.

[name removed by me]

I seriously think you should address this on your show because I'm sure you've turned off a large number of listeners with that comment.



Another EDIT - The writer of this email just apologized to me. Dangit. I guess this means it's not hate mail, which means I haven't made squat! Drat. :)

Mushishi

In a week or so, I'll be seeing Katsuhiro Otomo's (Akira, Steamboy) new live action feature, Mushishi. After getting my ticket and doing a little research on the film, I found that the story is taken from a popular manga and anime. It sounded fascinating to me, and so I went ahead and ordered a bootleg set of the series off of Ebay. I watched the first episode last night, and it is pretty good, and quite a bit different than a lot of the anime I have seen.



The set I got came with the soundtrack, and I listened to it yesterday at work. It is full of that “introspective anime piano music,” those of you familiar with the medium will know exactly what I am talking about. However, the opening theme song is unique. It is a soft little acoustic song, sung in English, and does a wonderful job of setting up the tone and atmosphere of the show.

Check out the intro on youtube:





Mushishi is basically about this wondering spiritualist who solves people's problems with the Mushi, or forest spirits. In many ways, it's kind of like the old Kung Fu television show, as the main character walks around from village to village trying to help people by doing good things. Each episode is a stand alone story, and from what I have read there are no narrative threads that run throughout the 26 episodes.

The first episode finds the hero helping a young boy who lives by himself in a huge rundown house. The boy has a mysterious power, and is able to bring drawings to life - he can actually create. He is being haunted by the young spirit of his grandmother who watched over him when she was living. The tone of this episode was a bit creepy, and it is totally atmospheric. The amazing sound design helps to strengthen the atmosphere, and the use of lighting and the shot selection do wonders to create an eerie feel. The episode is also, however, peaceful, and tranquil. It is deliberately paced, and directed with a maturity I don't often find in television cartoons.





So far, I am intrigued by Mushishi's universe, and I look forward to seeing, reading, and learning more. It is also a breath of fresh air, and is unique in a medium populated by giant robots, over sexed teens, harem shows, science-fiction, and violence. While I can see some people thinking the show is boring, I can also see fans of anime like Boogiepop Phantom, LAIN, and Angel's Egg totally digging it.

New Tsui Hark Film on the Way

I found this exciting news this morning. It looks like we will have two new Tsui Hark films to look forward to in the near future. I knew about The Eye 3 (can't say I am too terribly excited for this one), but I had not heard of, Missing. It sounds intriguing.

Variety Asia

Written by Vicki Rothrock
   Wednesday, 09 May 2007
Story Categories: China, Film, Hong Kong, Japan,


HONG KONG — Mandarin Films Distribution has found itself with new Tsui Hark film "Missing." The romantic thriller will be in part filmed underwater off Yonaguni Island off Japan where there are ancient ruins. The $8 million pic is about a man who hides an engagement ring in the ruins, then disappears during the dive with his girlfriend to retrieve it.

Pic stars Lee Sinje ("The Eye",) Isabella Leong ("Spider Lilies"), Chang Chen ("Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon") and China’s Guo Xiao Dong ("Love Undercover 2").

Currently in pre-production, pic is scheduled to start shooting later this month and should hit theaters by either November or March/April, said Virginia Leung, senior manager for distribution at Mandarin, which will handle international sales.

Pic, which is fully financed, is a Film Workshop production and produced by Mandarin and China’s Dong Tian Motion Picture Investment, Enlight Pictures and Beijing Polybona Film Distribution. Polybona will handle distribution in China. Executive producers are "Infernal Affairs" producer Nansun Shi, Raymond Wong, Wang Chang Tian and Yu Dong.

"Legends speak of an amazing lost city that sank into the sea 10,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age," Tsui said. "These ancient underwater ruins serve as a perfect backdrop…it’s beyond our imagination."

Tsui, crew and cast have all completed a three-week intensive diving course in preparation for the shoot, which will cover Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yonaguni Island and Taiwan.

Mandarin will also be screening a promo view of Wilson-Yip helmed "Flash Point" at Cannes.

Last Updated ( Friday, 11 May 2007 )  

I Miss E3...and Other Gaming Stuff

I miss E3. Normally, right now, I would be salivating over all of the new gaming goodness coming our way in the near future. I would be downloading Sony's, Microsoft's, and Nintendo's press conferences, and watching with great anticipation, curious as to what the next year of gaming would promise. I always used to look forward to this week, and even though I never entertained the idea of actually going to the event (way too crowded), there was always enough great live and recorded coverage on 1UP, Gamspot, and IGN, that I felt as if I were there...

But in better news, only about 2 more weeks until Tomb Raider Anniversary is released. I've been chronicling my excitement here since the day it was announced, and now that it is almost here, it seems too good to be true. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the first Tomb Raider is my all time favorite game. No other game before it, or after it, has been able to capture the essence of exploration and adventure the same way TR1 does for me.

Part of the reason why I love the game so much has more to do with the nostalgia surrounding it than anything else. It was just one of those perfect games that fit perfectly with the times. I had just received my PS1 from my parents for Christmas, and TR1 was the first game I bought. I was living with my bandmates at the time, and my friends Mark and Paul were always hanging out playing ping-pong and video games with us. Video games had always been a big part of our lives, and Paul and I spent countless hours during countless summers at arcades or in front of the television with the NES and SNES.

The night I got home with TR1 was really cool. No one had really heard much about this game. I fired up the PS1, and Mark, Paul, Collin, my sister, and I were pretty stunned when it came on. I started playing, and everyone just sat there watching. When things started getting intense, we all reacted as if we were watching a cool action flick. People were “ooohing,” and “ahhing,” telling me to “watch out!” and helping me navigate the twisted labyrinths of the tombs and caverns.

We all stayed up until almost 4 a.m., but in all reality, no one really wanted to go to sleep. We all just wanted to see what would happen next in the game. After a few hours of shut eye, we were all awake again, sitting in front of the television watching Lara Croft dazzle us with her amazing, for the time, acrobatic, spelunking prowess. This video game kinship continued for the following week. Every night, after we all got off work, we would all convene at my place and get lost in the tombs together. We had as much fun hanging out and shooting the shit as we did playing the game.

Most of my favorite video game moments are tied up in the milieu surrounding the game, just as much, if not more, than the game itself. Sometimes, the friends a game is played with, or the place and time a game is played in, can make a game infinitely better and more enjoyable. I am not disparaging the actual game play of Tomb Raider 1 - I think it still holds up, and it is a great game - but there are many non-gaming factors that go into my sheer enjoyment of it. Tomb Raider 1 has the top spot in my list of gaming goodness, and is in the company of games like the original Zelda and Metroid games, Final Fantasy 1, Dragon Warrior, Out of this World, Mystical Ninja Brothers, Wild Arms, Final Fantasy VII, and others. It is a game that I love because of the game itself, and because of the great times and friends I had surrounding it.

Ugh...

Smokin' Aces is...

A terrible mess. Tell, tell, tell, tell, tell...this movie told everything, and didn't show a dang thing. The entire narrative was told through endless exposition. The characters were nothing more than poorly written, and, what's worse, uninteresting, cliche, while the overbearing score sought to elicit emotions from me about about characters and situations I had nothing invested in. It's hard to cry about a cardboard character dying, and doubly so when the cardboard used is stinky, moldy, and not worth a damn.

If you thought Boondock Saints was the last late-entry into the 1990s throwback, wannabe-Pulp Fiction sub-genre, think again. What I thought was a corpse is actually still breathing, barely, and that's too bad, it's time for this sub-genre to be put to rest. After seeing the trailers for this film, I thought, “Okay, looks like a good Big Hit,” well, actually, The Big Hit is a good Smokin' Aces - ouch, now that hurts to write.

I haven't even mentioned the worse part yet - the total incompetence of the so called "FBI agents." In one particularly wretched sequence, a handcuffed suspect escapes, from a room full of dozens of agents, and no chase at all is given...uhm...okay. The next scene shows all of the agents leaving, they totally gave up. But wait, there's more! The "twist ending" actually renders the worthless plot beforehand, even more worthless! Oh my, how grand.

I was watching a film that I didn't care about, with characters so insipidly written not even their fictitious mothers would love them, and then the writer/director decides to mix things up and render everything that happened totally moot. Wow. Wretched. I am actually mad I watched this. And that damn, four-eyed, freakazoid, karate kid. What. The. Hell? Holy crap. This film was one baffling, poorly written, heinously plotted sequence after another. No point, no purpose, no fun - nothing.

Planet Hong Kong: Part 2

The same impulse governs the reliance on conventions, unkindly called formulas and cliché – all those laughable, taken-for-granted devices that communicate instantly. …

Hong Kong action films are rich in such artifice. Even the harmless looking citizen knows kung fu. A half-frozen man can suddenly recover and somersault over a car. Immediately after a stinging blow, the victim bruises horribly. If someone has a pistol, somebody else with become a hostage with that pistol point to his or her head. During a gunfight, someone is sure to run out of ammunition at a crucial moment. A cop wounded in a firefight will show up later with a bit of gauze taped to his forehead. A man can have an arm hacked off and still fight, and win. During a kung fu fight, if blood trickles from the character’s mouth, death is usually at hand…(page 11)

The above listed idiosyncrasies are either words of praise, or words of harsh criticism, depending on the viewer’s general attitude towards Hong Kong cinema. As a long time fan of the region’s films, I can think of dozens of examples of many of these HK cinematic contrivances. And many of these scenes, sequences, and narratives that come to mind, are among my most favorite cinematic moments.

Yes, HK cinema is full of cliché, and instantly recognizable iconography, archetypes, and tropes. However, I don’t think the filmmakers use these devices out of laziness. On the contrary, they do so because their craft demands it. HK cinema is fast paced – even their romantic comedies speed by with frantic editing, cutting, and narratives with the fat, and some of the meat, trimmed away. HK cinema is reductive in nature – it relies on concrete cinematic language, and stories told with brevity. Often times the concise nature of these films can be a narrative hindrance, because the filmmakers leave crucial plot points and characterizations up to the audience’s discretion.

In another region’s cinema, montage is used to tell a condescend portion of the story, briefly, but in Hong Kong sometimes it feels as if entire films are made of one long montage after another. This is not to say that they don’t tell cohesive stories, because they do, but these films require the audience to strap in, and go with it. Hong Kong filmmakers don’t wait around for their audiences to “get it.” Hong Kong films will often lack periods of reflection, and moments where the narrative allows the characters, and the audience, a chance to breathe. This is in direct opposition to many of the films made in Japan, films that are brimming with long, languid sequences of reflection, the mono no aware.

Sometimes, Hong Kong films make me tired. I have learned to read fast, and conjure sense and meaning from cryptic phrases made of bad “Engrish” syntax. I have learned to make superhuman leaps in film logic, and to construct missing portions of foreign narratives in my mind. Watching, and getting, a typical Hong Kong film is rewarding to me, because I feel a sense of participation, and I feel that the filmmakers respect my ability to suspend my disbelief, and to be captivated by their imaginative creations.

Planet Hong Kong

I just started reading David Bordwell's book, Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment. Bordwell's book is considered a definitive look at populist cinema from an industry that, at one time, produced some of the most outlandish and entertaining genre cinema found anywhere in the world. Chances are if you read another book, or essay, on the subject of Hong Kong cinema, Bordwell's name will appear in the bibliography. While I have read excerpts from this book before, along with independent essays and blog posts, I have not yet read the entire book from start to finish. This is about to change. As I read through the book, for research and for entertainment, I am going to respond to some of Bordwell's key phrases. This will give me an opportunity to put into words some of my own thoughts on HK cinema, while at the same time I will be able to engage in a one-sided dialog with an author I admire.

Hong Kong cinema can be sentimental, joyous, rip-roaring, silly, bloody, and bizarre. Their audacity, their slickness, and their unabashed appeal to emotion have won them audiences throughout the world (page 2).

I love Bordwell's introduction to Hong Kong cinema. It exemplifies many of the reasons I like so many Hong Kong films. I prefer to watch films with my heart, and not with my head. This does not mean that I don't like to think about what I am watching, its cultural and social impact, or of how the film is made, however, for me to truly enjoy a film, it must engage me on an emotional level (this is a topic I spent a great deal of time on during the Pan's Labyrinth podcast). I need to feel something regarding the characters, their conflicts, and the narrative presented. I believe a well made film will effortlessly engage me, it will draw me into its milieu without me having to think about things such as the characters' motivations, the geography of the setting, or of all the little details and nuances of the story.

If a film effortlessly engages me, I am more apt to suspend my disbelief, and to forgive other shortcomings. I can accept outlandish acts of gravity defying acrobatics, strange weapons that defy the laws of physics, broad, vulgar, physical comedy, and all manner of things, if I am emotionally invested in the characters and the story. I can also forgive plot holes, forgotten details, and incredible leaps of logic if a film manages to engage me.

Many Hong Kong films have all of the above listed traits - the good and the bad - however, HK cinema engages me like no other, all because of how it appeals to my emotions. I get a sense of pure joy when I watch HK cinema. It feels as if the filmmakers are truly having a great time creating their films, and this joyous experience oozes from the screen. It feels as if HK filmmakers want nothing more than to show their audiences sights they have never seen before, accompanied by sounds from another world. Almost everything about the way they make their films engages me on an emotional level, and it is because of this effortless engagement that I am so enthralled by HK cinema.

My Man Tsui

Tsui Hark is quickly approaching 60 years old, and after reading an amazing interview with him last night, I became suddenly aware that there will come a time when there will be no more Tsui, and no more new Tsui films to look forward to. I've been reading and studying a great deal about my favorite director lately, and I've been thinking a lot about his major films. As much as I like many of them, I still don't think Tsui has unearthed his true masterpiece yet.

Even though he is not nearly as prolific or as consistent now as he was during the ferociously creative '80s and early '90s, I still think Tsui has his finger on the pulse of something great. I just hope he is able to find the main artery of pure cinematic brilliance before he gets too old and no longer has the physical strength to keep up with the creative energy of his mind. I know this subject is a bit morbid, and Tsui is still relatively young, but as I get older I start to realize that everything I like also gets older. It is a strange thing.

The book I am reading now, A Swordsman and His Jiang Hu: The Films of Tsui Hark, is brilliant. Although some of the essays suffer from less than stellar translation (it was original written in Chinese), most of them are great, and the essence is still present throughout. What I appreciate most about this book is what it is not: it is not a 200-page fan gushing, shoveling endless amounts of unwavering praise at Tsui. Sure, there is a level of respect and admiration throughout, but there is also some staunch criticism.

The book is comprised of essays written by Chinese filmmakers who have worked with Tsui, and so it offers a grassroots perspective on the director. There are essays written by long time collaborators including screenwriters, composers, cinematographers, and business partners, and all of them have insightful things to say - some bad, some good. What seems to be the overall theme of the essays is how much his contemporaries respect him for how much he has given to Chinese cinema, even though they don’t always like working with him. Tsui is very demanding of his co-workers, and constantly pushes them to try new things and to think differently.

Being in the west, I think it is hard to realize the massive impact Tsui has had on the entire HK film industry, but after reading this book it is all becoming clearer. I don’t think we have anyone to compare to Tsui Hark here in the west, we don’t have a single filmmaker who has created as many landmark and groundbreaking genre-trends. I am not saying that we don’t have filmmakers who are as good, because we do, heck we have filmmakers who are technically better, but I do not think there is anyone in Hollywood today whose fingerprint can be seen and felt in such a drastic way . Whether the genre is action, martial arts, horror, comedy, or drama, Tsui has touched it, shaped it, and changed it.

Check this out...Tekkon Kinkreet

As most of you are aware, the Japanese animated film Mind Game has totally blown my, uhm, mind. I think it is one of the most stunning films I have ever seen, ranking along side such prestigious flicks as Once Upon a Time in the West, Boxer From Shantung, and Mulholland Dr.

The same studio responsible for this minor miracle of cinema, Four Degrees Celsius, has released a new film - Tekkon Kinkreet. It looks fantastic. This is a very special Japanese animated feature, it is the first to be directed by a Westerner. I do not know much about the story, but it looks amazing. The Museum of Modern Art in New York recently held a screening of the film, and it looks like Sony will be distributing it around the globe. Check out the trailer and the official website below.

Trailer
Pops in WM

Official Site

The Weng Weng Rap

Joe R. Lansdale

I just got Joe R. Lansdale's newest collection of short stories, The Shadows, Kith and Kin. It's a small press hardback, and signed! It's got 9 stories, 7 of which are stand alone, and the other 2 are the further adventures of Reverend Rains, the character from Lansdale's zombie western, Dead in the West. Should be cool. Lansdale is a modern master of short fiction, one that should be read more.

The title story is based off of the true life events of the Austin school shootings commited by Charles Whitman, although the story itself is fiction. Lansdale went to school at U of T a few years after these tragic events, and has been haunted by them ever since. The story is told from the POV of the killer, and what he was thinking before, during, and after the events.

It has been said before that Lansdale's stories start where others stop - he goes all the way, and touches upon things most authors avoid altogether, things that most authors are far too afraid to touch.

A good Lansdale story will slap you upside the head, beat your ass as you fall to the ground, and then kick your gut as you lay there moaning. And then, when it's done, you beg for more.

Listen Up!

Okay music fans, here are a couple of new albums for you to check out:

Ennio Morricone in Lounge – Ennio Morricone



I never knew that Morricone wrote pop music, and now that I do, I am trying to get my hands on as much of it as possible. In Lounge is a wonderful collection of groovy, slinky, sexy, and sensuous songs straight outta’ coolsville. Some of tracks like Intermezzino Pop, La Moda, and Allegretto Per Signora, are pure funky fun, and would totally fit in on an old Russ Meyer film. Some of the other tracks like Alla Serenita, Belinda May, and the totally gorgeous and sexy Veruschka slink along with a cool bossa nova rhythm, luscious string arrangements, and beautiful vocals. If you are at all a fan of Morricone’s soundtrack work (and if you’re not, you should be) check this album out. The CD is available from Amazon, but only as an expensive import. I suggest grabbing it at iTunes – it’s cheaper, and instantaneous!



Sensuous – Cornelius



Cornelius’s third US release just hit the shelves yesterday, and I’ve already listened to it a handful of times. It is really good, and while not as groundbreaking or amazing as Fantasma, I do like it better than Point. The opening track, Sensuous, is a simple, elegant and minimal acoustic guitar song. It forms a solid foundation for the rest of the album to build on. The next two tracks, Fit Song and Breezin’ add in more rhythm and synth work, as well as vocals. Wataridori, the fifth song on the CD, is my favorite. It has a great build up to an awesome groove complete with bass, guitar, synths, and an ingectious rhythm. It reminds me of some of the work a lot of indie game developers are doing for their game soundtracks, especially the music for the game Gate 88.

As a whole, Sensuous is far subtler than both Point and Fantasma. It sounds as if the artist is maturing, and entering into a new musical phase. Once again, like all of Cornelius’s albums, Sensuous should be listened to on headphones. One thing that Cornelius excels at is mixing his music to take full advantage of the stereo-field. Point was re-released a few years ago mixed in 5.1, and from what I have heard, this is the only way to listen to the album. I hope that Sensuous gets a 5.1 remix, because I have a feeling this will add even more life to this already brilliant sounding album.

Hot Fuzz

It was pretty cool. A really solid parody of Michael Bay. As the only big fan of Bay around, well, anywhere really, I got a kick out of how much the film lifted from him. I thought it was cool - they were poking fun of Bay while at the same time giving him props for making such absurd and entertaining action films. I like how the film took the edited-by-blender approach of Bay and made it ever faster and more jumbled, and far more chaotic, it was pretty funny. Although it did lack Bay's knack for making everything look totally awesome.

I also like how they didn't really parody Hong Kong action, it was far more 'western,' which was a good thing since the new school Hong Kong action has in fact become a parody of itself as of late. Hot Fuzz is to Michael Bay and American action cinema, as Kung Fu Hustle is to Chang Cheh and the old school kung fu film, although I like KFH quite a bit more.

I liked the film, but I didn't love it. I think Shaun is a much more accomplished film that carries its weight better as a real film, and not just a send up to genre conventions. I think there is more sincere emotion in Shaun, and the parody didn't feel as on the nose or forced as it did in Hot Fuzz. Both are good films, and I will definitely be seeing Hot Fuzz again, I just don't think it's “the best ever,” or anything even close to that. It was a totally solid action-parody, and dang entertaining, if a little long.

I should add that Timothy Dalton was freaking awesome.

Just a thought...

D.S.'s blog entry yesterday on violence, and the emotional impact of the VT shootings is great. And he is right - there is no way anything can prepare anyone for a real-life tragedy such as this. There is no way any sane person can ever understand the mental state of the killer - we cannot even fathom how his brain must have been wired and working. We can also not understand the fear of those he was stalking and shooting at. This is real. Reality can sometimes be a total bitch.

I was talking with my wife yesterday, and she mentioned how, due to her busy day, she has felt disconnected from the tragedy, a feeling I agree with. We are in Seattle, this massacre happened "way over there." Tragedy continues to happen "way over there" in Iraq as well. We talked at length about how it is probably healthy to take a few moments out of every day to reflect on these events, and to offer up our prayers and thoughts to all involved.

I am not saying we need to become overrun with guilt or depression, but it is good to acknowledge that bad stuff happens, I think this helps us be good and kind. I think this is a healthy thing to do. In our technologically connected modern lives, we are often totally disconnected from actual human beings. Why talk to someone in person when I can talk to them on a forum? Why talk to anyone at lunch when I can listen to my podcasts? I don't mean to disparage these things, because they are important to me and many others, and I do think that things such as films, books, and podcasts are important and can be a healthy creative outlet. Tragedy like this tends to put things into perspective, and this is a good thing, because sometimes our priorities get really out of whack.

A quick word about magic...

...if you're going to make a movie about magic, make sure you have some.

I just wasted over two hours of a perfectly good Friday night watching The Prestige. This was one of the most fan acclaimed films of last year? My, my, my, that bat guy and his mediocre beginning sure have a lot of power. For a movie about magic, The Prestige has very, very little up its sleeve (hoe, hoe, hoe, what a joke!). Boring, pedestrian direction, by the numbers characterizations, a “trick” ending, and, for a film dealing in the fantastique, it has some of the most boring production design I have ever seen. It felt like I was watching a really long episode of Tales From the Dark Side, only not as good. Wow...I should have watched some thing good.

Random Thought...

In The Game of Death, Bruce Lee wore a track suit colored yellow with a black stripe up the side of the legs, torso, and arms. He did so for a number of reasons. First, the suit was practical: it was comfortable and allowed him to move. Secondly, the stark yellow color stood out against the dark background of the pagoda used during the final sequence. Third, the black stripe allowed for his “shapes” to be more defined and for his movement to be tracked better by the viewer - it accentuated the skeletal, “stick man,” form.

The footage Lee shot for GOD is arguably some of the best martial arts footage ever captured on film. Now, I am not talking about what you see in the terribly edited, hacked to shreds, Frankenstein of a film normally seen. I am talking about the 30+/- minutes of footage found in the documentary, Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Because this footage is so highly admired by kung fu fans, Bruce Lee's black-striped, yellow track suit has become an iconic representation of “real” martial arts and expertly choreographed cinematic action. When the suit is seen, one instantly recognizes that some good kung fu is about to about to drop. The iconic symbolism the suit represents was not birthed from some well constructed stroke of genius-marketing from Lee - it was birthed out of the culture of martial arts cinema and from the admiration of fans through the decades.



In Kill Bill V.1, Tarantino dresses the Bride in a similar suit and he does so for all of the reasons listed above, and then some. He does so because he admires Bruce Lee and admires what Lee did for Asian cinema. He does so because the suit accentuates Uma's already lanky figure making her look even longer. He does so because it is practical - it lets her move with freedom. He also does so because of the meta-textual layer of what the suit symbolizes. He knew that by putting her in such an iconic “mask,” fans would instantly recognize that something awesome was about to happen. This was not just some lazy decision on Tarantino's part, or a simple and flippant lift from another film. This was a conscious choice to pay homage to a great actor, and more importantly, a nod to great martial arts cinema. Tarantino knows what the suit represents, he knows what the suit means to fans of martial arts, and he uses it to tap into this knowledge to let us know that the action we are about to see is totally going to rock.

This guy is so awesome it hurts my brain...

One List to Rule them All

People like lists. I mean, really, really like them. Especially when the lists show up on the interweb. Lists give people a chance to storm various discussion forums and declare that so-and-so left such-and-such off the list of the Top 10 Widgets for 2006, or that Mr. Blogger wouldn't know a Top 25 Dongle if it smacked upside the head with an acoustic modem.

I will also admit to enjoying the occasional list - both reading and creating. And so, it has come to this: I have decided to put together a list of my Top 100 films. Now, I am not declaring that these films are "the best ever," but I am simply saying that, on a personal level, I think these 100 films totally rock. That on any given day, or night, I could throw on any one of these movies and be thoroughly entertained and happy with my decision is the point of said list.

It has taken me about a month to put the list together, and it is almost ready for consumption. I have chosen the 100 films, but I am still working out the order. The top 10-20, or so, are easy, as are the bottom 10. However, the middle portion is hard. Does it really matter that number 32 is better than 33, or that 78 is better than 77? I don't think so, and yet still I struggle to get things "right."

My list is also different because, unlike a lot of top whatever-lists, I am sure you have heard of most of these films! This is not some esoteric list compiled to make my tastes seem more sophisticated, or more elite than the common film fan's. No - my list really is a celebration of populism. One of the most important criteria in choosing the films for the list was "rewatchability." These are films that I simply love to watch, for any number of reasons.

So anyhow, I will be discussing this list a bit more in the near future, and as I write reviews for each of the films, I will begin to post them in special updates. I know...the anticipation must be killing you!

Welcome Back Kitamura

Love Death - now this film has me excited. It looks like Kitamura is back in a major way, and it looks as if he has taken some cues from Miike. The trailor for the film is located within the website, and I highly suggest you check it out. It's a good trailer, and it feels like a trailer for a Kitamura film - it builds slowly and creates a rising tension until **BANG** an eruption of chaos. Very, very cool.

Love Death Website

Also, speaking of Kitamura, I should be getting my super-duper 3-disc version of ULTIMATE VERSUS any day now. I can't wait to see this new cut, and watch all the groovy footage and extras. I feel like Kitamura has been gone for a while, so it's nice to have him back!

HAVE SOME FUN!

Dennis Dyack is...Too Human

I don't know how many of you who read this are really into video games, but if you are, you need to check out EGM's podcast from last week. It is one of the most interesting podcasts I have ever heard. If you've been following video games at all for the last 10 years, then I am sure you are familiar with a little game being made by Silicon Knights called Too Human. Too Human's development cycle started on the N64, and it will now be an epic trilogy on the XBOX 360. Some of you also might remember E3 from 2006 - at this even, a build of Too Human was shown, one that got ripped to shreds by the gaming press. The frame rate was choppy, the camera sucked, and it looked bland.

Well, on EGM's podcast posted on 3/12/07, Mr. Silicon Knight himself, Dennis Dyack, appeared as a special guest. Mr. Dyack talks freely about the E3 disastor, and his opinions on the industry and how things should change. He rips into the gaming press as well as the publishers and developers. While it gets more than a little uncomfortable around the 50-minute mark, things settle down and the ending segment of the show is fascinating. It is so rare to hear a developer such as Dyack speak so frankly about things, and he was not under the control of a PR handler. This particular podast really does offer a verticle slice of the games industry, and should be listened to by all who might care.

Get the 3/12/07 EGM Podcast here

An Epic Game...

Can something be "really epic?" Is "epic," like "unique," a word that shouldn't be modified? I don't know, and I don't care, because God of War II is really damn epic. Really. The sheer size of the world and the conflict in this game actually makes me feel small. Even during the first few hours, there were numerous times when I just put the controller down and stared at the screen, my eye wide with astonishment. Just wait until the first time you see the Steeds of Time (a group of GIANT stone horses that is simply stunning) or the first time you take to the air on the back of the Pegasus. The game is grand, and on a scale that few others are.

It also looks amazing. Some of the cut scenes actually look like they use HD textures and there are moments when I could easily mistake this game for a 360 title. This game just further proves what an amazing system the PS2 is. The frame rate is totally solid, I don't think I've seen it dip once even when fighting a GIANT titan-esque statue, although there is a bit of vertical tearing, but this is a minor complaint. The basic gameplay is identical to part one, which is a good thing, but it seems as if everything has been amped up a notch or two. The first time you perform a finishing move on one of the airborne enemies will surely elicit a roar of approval, and the more intense and frequent use of the quick time events makes for an even more exciting experience. I find it odd that more games have not incorporated these Shenmue-style QTEs, but I am glad to see them in God of War, and in the Tomb Raider Legends.

Speaking of Tomb Raider, I read on IGN that May 29 will be the day my world stands still. I will be requesting this day off from work, and I will be picking up the new and improved remake of my favorite all time game - Tomb Raider. I can't believe that one of my video game wishes is actually coming true. I just hope that Crystal Dynamics does a good job on the redux, and that the face lift given to this classic adventure title makes it even better - as if that's even possible.

A 2D Side Scroller....for the PC?

I am very excited for Aquaria, an upcoming PC game that recently won some awards at the Independent Games Festival held at this year's GDC in San Francisco. It look like an underwater version of Super Metroid - and this is a very, very cool thing. It is rare these days to see a hand drawn 2D side scroller, and even rarer still to see one on the PC. Check out the developer's website and the trailer below for more details. I think this is one that fans of "cool stuff" should get behind and support!

Bit-Blot's website

Me and You and...BARF!

So Nicole, my wife, and I watched half of a terrible, terrible film last night - Me and You and Everyone We Know. What an absolutely wretched piece of garbage this film is. I think Nicole summed it up best when she said, “It's artsy-fartsy crap without the artsy-fartsy.” God I love her. This is exactly the kind of film that turns me off of American “indie” cinema. The film is like a parody of bad American-indie film conventions. You've got the lead character, a quirky socially inept artist struggling with her art and romantic life (oh how grand!), and her love interest, the funky-looking, socially inept loser with a quirky middle-America job - a shoe salesmen (what a strange little man!). Oh yeah, he also spouts wise words of wisdom at random.

Then there is the funny little 8-year old girl with an 80-year old woman's passion for kitchen appliances (ha ha ha, how bizarre!), a young boy who talks nonchalantly about pooping from his butt hole into the butt hole of someone else (hee hee hee), his aloof cool older brother, and two young girls who compete to see who gives the better blow job! And, what's more, the film makes light of pedophilia! Oh wow, what a delightful film - comedy genius! It's got a super-uber-quirky soundtrack, and enough random non sequiturs to choke Daniel Clowes. As a matter of fact, it was a bad parody of Daniel Clowes, Harmony Korine and Larry Clark set in Napoleon Dynamite land, but lacking the stuff from these things that some might find worth watching. We turned it off after it was half-over. I haven't done this in a long time.

I rarely rant any more, so here it goes...

So I used to visit this forum, mhvf.net because they have an Asian discussion forum where some pretty cool and knowledgeable people post (this was a long time ago, one of the first forums I ever posted at).  However, after awhile it became apparent that I did not fit in.  This all came to a head when some women, I'll call her Mrs. F  accused me of being a cultural imperialist (re: racist) because I preferred to watch SOME old school kung fu dubbed in Black Belt Theatre English.  We got in an argument, and I was banned from the site.  Sometimes I still lurk there because there are a few posters who post some cool stuff (like Linn Haynes and Brian Camp).  However, today when I went there, I saw that Mrs. F was up to her same old crap.  Some guy posted a link to a blog he writes called the Hong Kong DVD Blog or something.  On his blog he has information about all kinds of HK and Asian DVDs - some of them include Ninjas.  In the description of his blog he mentions kung fu.  Now, Mrs. F, in all of her pompous buffoonery decided to tell the guy that ninjas are from Japan, not Hong Kong, and that he may want to change the name of his blog to the Asian DVD Blog...she wrote:

2) Ninjas are not part of kung fu (cf. the martial arts discussion in HEROES OF THE EAST (a.k.a. SHAOLIN VS NINJA)!). And although I see one ninja movie from Hong Kong being featured on your blog, I'd anticipate that most others are going to be from Japan. So either you should change the name of your blog or limit the scope of your (planned) coverage...

So I guess Chang Cheh's Shaw Brothers film Chinese Super Ninjas doesn't count.  Neither do the other metric ton of HK and Taiwanese "kung fu" movies with ninjas in them.  Damn.

But it gets worse.  It seems that the forum posters are also all up in arms against Red Sun/Pan Media DVD, a company who bootlegs kung fu flicks in the US.  I don't mind them, and I have a bunch of their discs.  Big deal. I also own a bunch of legit DVDs and VCDs.  It seems that some stores like FYE and Suncoast have started stocking these DVDs on their shelves (HKFlix.com carries them as well), and the mhvf-crew is pissed because this is taking shelf space away from legit distributors like Dragon Dynasty.  Guess who owns Dragon Dynasty?  The Weinstein's.  Hmmm...so I was accused of being a cultural imperialist and banned from the site, and now they support a DVD imprint with one of the most derogatory names ever.  Not only this, but if you remember correctly, when the Weinsteins were at Miramax they pissed all over Hero (they sat on it for 2 years, and sued any retailer who tried to sell legit imports), edited and dubbed Shaolin Soccer, and through their own Dimension DVD imprint, they edited, re-scored, retitled, and dubbed a bunch of Jet Li films.  So, these people are defending a company who, in my opinion, is an enemy of Asian cinema, one that uses their dirty Hollywood money to push people around as well.

Man...they suck.

Look, I'm going to tell you right now how to send the proper message to DVD distributors. Pick a kung fu film you want to see that is not out on a legit R1 DVD. Let's say Avenging Eagle for example. If you wanted to buy this DVD, a legit copy to play on a R1 DVD player, well, too bad, you can't, such a DVD doesn't exist. So here is what you do. Find the Pan Media version, go to FYE, Suncoast, Fryes, or HKFlix, and get it. Next, make a photocopy of your receipt, take a picture of you holding the DVD, and send these to as many DVD distributors as you can with this message attached:

Dear Mr. Fart Bag

I wanted to buy this movie on a legit R1 DVD. I wanted to spend my money on this movie, and I did. However, since you guys are taking your sweet ass time making the films I want to see readily available, I had to resort to purchasing a bootleg copy. Maybe all this stupid region coding business should be destroyed, and maybe you should all start to treat the world like the global market it is, and start to give me, the customer, what I want, when I want it.

Sincerely, A guy with money to spend on DVDs that aren't legally available

You see, these DVD and movie companies, all they care about is money. If they see that we are willing to buy stuff then maybe they will give us what we want to buy. For us kung fu fans, it's not about getting stuff for free - it's about getting it AT ALL. For decades, much of this cinema has been totally unavailable on ANY kind of legitimate format, and if it wasn't for bootleggers, a lot of this old school kung fu would be totally lost and totally out of the minds and off the maps of the fans. It also wouldn't be in the hands of any new fans, because there wouldn't be any except through the bootlegs (my oh my, I've fallen into a loophole of logic!).

Bootlegging is exactly what has kept this genre in the zeitgeist. Yes - I would rather buy legit copies of these films. I prefer nice transfers, and quality subs. However, the vast majority of the films I want to buy are not available on R1 DVD. Now, I do buy a ton of DVDs from other regions (thank you Celestial/IVL), but I know that people like me are the exception. People like us know how to make our DVD players region free, and we know where to buy or rent these discs. We WORK at our hobby, but most people do not. These companies need to make stuff easier for the vast majority of people to buy and/or rent. Pan Media makes it easy, and they give the consumers what they want. It's plain and simple.

When Dimension was releasing their crappy versions of the Jet Li movies on DVD, they weren't giving me what I wanted. I didn't want a copy of the great flick Tai Chi Master retitled Twin Dragons. First of all, there are no twins in the film, and to suggest that all Asians look the same is disgusting, and secondly, there are no dragons in the film. And yet the good people at mhvf.net are now defending the Weinsteins, and fighting for shelf space for the Dragon Dynasty imprint. Dragon Dynasty, get it? Asians, they like dragons, and dynasties? My, how clever! Why didn't they just call it Hot and Spicy Cinema. Wow.

The Legendary Pink Dots

After re-discovering my favorite Slowdive record on iTunes a few days ago, I decided to look for some other old bands that I used to really like. I was recently involved in a little discussion about "goth" music, and the 4AD record label, and so I remembered a band that I have been meaning to listen to again - The Legendary Pink Dots. Much to my surprise, the iTunes store carries 28 of their albums - not bad - and I purchased The Maria Dimension, an album considered by many Pink Dot-heads to be among their very best, a sentiment I share. If you are not familiar with this band, well, be prepared to have your musical foundation shook up a bit. These guys are out there.



The Pink Dots write beautiful, creepy, scary, and strange music - often all at the same time. They are led by Edward Ka-Spel who just might be one of the best lyricists around. His vocal style is bizarre, unique, and haunting. He kind of sings/talks in a strange wizard-like voice about dark fairy tales peppered with religious mumbo-jumbo and esoteric flim-flam, while creating these thick tapestries of dense poetic imagery. I actually stopped listening to these guys when I was in high school because some of their songs gave me nightmares. The other members are: keyboardist, The Silverman, horn player, Niels van Hoornblower, Martijn de Kleer, and Raymond Steeg, among other instrumentalists who come and go with each subsequent album. Their music is made up of a hodgepodge of genres; it's like a stew of psychedelic, folk, rock, ambient, noise filtered through early Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, 1980s new wave, goth and industrial. However, it is also wholly original and unique, and sounds like nothing else I have ever heard. To keep it simple: The Pink Dots sound like The Pink Dots, and that's it.



The band has been writing and recording since 1981, and during the last 20-plus years they have released over 40 albums while also relentlessly touring. Although I have never seen them live, I have seen some videos of their concerts, and they seem like eclectic, frightening affairs. To call the band genrebusters would be an understatement, and this is exactly why I find them so fascinating. While I rarely like every song on a particular album (I usually end up only loving about half of them), every song is interesting, and offers something worth listening to. I tend to gravitate towards their more structured, melodic, traditional compositions, and often find myself skipping past their more noise-based experimentations. However, I know other fans who are just the opposite.

If you ever find yourself bored with more mundane music, and want to stretch your musical boundaries a bit, pick up an album or two by these pioneers. Here is a little advice: you can tell a lot about each album by the first two songs. Their albums are usually built around a theme or a concept, so even the cover art can give clues as to what kind of musical treasure lies hidden within. Take a chance, but just be prepared for a strange and interesting journey.

Stuff...

Did you know that Nolan Bushnell originally wanted to call his company Syzygy, but the name was taken by a hippie commune that made candles. So, he then turned to the Japanese game "Go," and decided to call his company, Atari.

Did you know that Atari grew from a $500 start up investment to a 2 billion dollar a year company in only 10 years, making it the fastest growing company in United States history?

Did you know that Bill Gates was the only kid at a co-op in Seattle that could regularly crash the computers Steve Russell was testing, and that Steve Russell is considered the founding father of video games, with his creation Space War?

These are just three little factoids I have learned from this amazing book:



I just got it today and I have read through the first 40 pages, each one is simply brimming with great information, fun little tidbits, quotes, and facts. The book is written by Steven L. Kent, one of the first video game journalists. Ken writes for the LA Times, MSNBC, Wired, USA Today and a host of other respected publications and newspapers. I recently learned about this book from the guys over at the Twitch Asylum podcast, and I can't thank them enough. It really is a fascinating read. The book covers the time from the pinball explosion, through the Golden Age of the late 1970s, through the first crash, the rise of Nintendo, and up until the last generation. If you have any interest in video games, check this massive tome out. At just over 600 pages, the thing is like a text book - but one that is actually fun to read, and it only costs $20!

Also...

I decided to take a quick look at iTunes today and I noticed that Slowdive's groundbreaking, and totally underappreciated album, Pygmalion was recently re-issued. I cannot recommend this album enough - it is amazing. If you are a fan of Radiohead's album Kid A, give Pygmalion a listen to hear where the revolution really started :)



Known mainly as a shoegazer band, sounding like a slower, calmer mix of My Bloody Valentine and Ride, on Pygmalion, Slowdive took a drastic new direction. The album is full of sparse soundscapes, strange and haunting electronic bleeps and blurps, and ghost-like vocals more concerned with atmosphere than lyrics. The album is truly an anomaly, and doesn't really sound like anything else out there. I wish the band had continued in this direction for a bit longer, but as fate would have it, they would move to Santa Monica, California, and would become surfers and become the alt-country mopers, Mojave 5. Anyhow, check it out, if you are feeling adventurous at all, I think this album will quench the thirst.

Glass Harp

You just haven't heard truly amazing guitar playing until you've heard Phil Keaggy play live - and this is a fact. I've seen some pretty amazing guitar players play live: Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, David Gilmore, J Mascis, Richard Lloyd, Mathew Sweet, Joey Santiago, and more, but nothing could have prepared me for last week, when my dad and I saw Mr. Keaggy perform at a small church here in Seattle.

He performed solo, and he single handedly blew away any guitarist I have ever heard, with any band - period. He tends to play acoustic guitar now, although he uses a lot of effects, and a Jam Man, a device that lets a guitar player record, sample, and play back their own guitar on the fly. Keaggy built up dozens of tracks using the Jam Man: he played percussion on the body of his guitar, sang into the pick up, and built layers of noise and rhythm, and then he continued to solo and play over all of this live-sampling. Truly a stunning performer, on par with anyone. Now, don't rush out to iTunes or something to listen to the songs on his studio albums - he is just not a studio performer. His solo albums, frankly, stink, and it's too bad he is not able to capture his live ability in the studio.

However, DO, I mean this, do pick up two CDs by his first band, Glass Harp. Glass Harp is considered one of the first real Christian rock bands, and at the height of their popularity they were opening for bands like The Kinks, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Chicago. Legend has it that Glass Harp had a tendency to blow the headliners off the stage, and one listen to LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL is all you will need to believe such a legend. This is a recording of one of their biggest shows, and it is absolutely stunning. The recording quality is amazing, and the three performers are unstoppable. Although there are only 5 tracks, the album clocks in at just under an hour - so yeah, they jam, and damn do they rock.

The highlights of the live album are the opening and closing tracks, both from Glass Harp's first studio album. The first track is called Look in the Sky, and it clocks in at just over 10 minutes. It opens with a huge guitar riff, and then progresses into an amazingly groovy classic rock feel. Although Glass Harp is clearly "classic rock" the tone of their songs and their structure could be seen as laying an early foundation for the more experimental, post-rock sub genre. You might think of them as a mix between Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. And, although they were a Christian rock band, their lyrics are not preachy, but they do offer a positive message of spirituality.

The final track, my favorite Glass Harp song, is called Can You See, and it runs almost 30 minutes in length. It truly is an epic jam. After the first part, the song breaks down, and each member takes a prolonged solo. Phil Keaggy's guitar solo is skillful and tasteful, during which he breaks into an entirely different song before bringing it all back together. Keaggy is a master at volume controlled swells, and playing with the tone of his guitar on the fly. The bass player performs a flute solo that is really freaking good, and the drum solo is also awesome - and not too long (I am not a huge fan of drum solos). This track reminds me of Pink Floyd's Echoes, in its structure and execution.

I can't suggest this album enough. The songs are amazing, the performance is stunning, and the recording perfectly captures the ability this rock-trio possessed. If you have ever wondered if there was a Christian rock band worth checking out, Glass Harp is your answer, and the answer is a resounding "yes!" Both the live album, and their self titled first album were recently re-issued and remastered, and both are available from Amazon.

The Real Deal

It was made in Hong Kong, not Japan...

A New Cinematic Window

This may sound a little strange to some of you, especially to those who are more casual in your movie watching endeavors. As I thought about this last night, it even sounded bizarre to me, but it is true none the less. I recently purchased a new DVD player, and yesterday it arrived via FedEx. I got home and started setting it up, and I was filled with excitement. But why? I mean, it is just another DVD player right? Doesn't it play the media I stick in to it like any DVD player should? Beyond a few extra and new features, what is the big deal about a new or different player?

Well, here's the thing: a DVD player is like my own magical window, open to an ever shifting and changing universe. As I gaze through this window I can see things that are exciting, scary, action packed, romantic, and humorous. Because I spend so much time watching DVDs, I do care about the window I am looking through - I like it clean, free of blemishes and streaks, and clear. For me, a DVD player is far more than just technology - it is the way through which I experience the majority of the cinema I watch.

I can safely say that I am extremely happy with my new cinematic window; the picture looks stunning and the audio is crisp. I am still getting used to the differences though. It will be a while before I can trace the buttons on the remote in the dark, or know exactly how the audio and video settings should be configured to attain the optimal performance. But this is all part of the fun. It's like learning the nuances of a machine that transports my mind to other places, and each new discovery is a good one.

For those of you interested in this DVD player, it is the Oppo DV-970HD, and it rocks. It up converts SD to HD, converts PAL to NTSC, it is region free, has HDMI out, plays DivX and Xvid, mpegs, AVIs, reads memory sticks and has a USB input for new firmware updates. All for only $150. Awesome. Head on over to us HKLIX to grab yours!

Oppo DV-970HD at HKFlix

From a SEED grows a CLOVER

Clover is back - thank God. I just knew the powers that be could not keep one of the most creative and talented teams of game designers down. And they are back - as SEEDS. Although no games have been announced yet, I am simply ecstatic to see what the future holds for these amazing developers.

Official Site

IGN story

Hope you enjoy the shows...

The next time you are at the video store, or updated your Netflix queue, consider these:

Louis Theroux's Weird Weekend

Whenever I am at Scarecrow video, it is a habit of mine to check out the BBC Television section - there is almost always something interesting to discover there. Last weekend I was looking through the shelves and I found this, the first volume in a documentary series. From the looks of the cover, and the pictures on the back, I thought it was going to be a tongue in cheek, pandering, scathing expose of American culture, ala The Daily Show, except with a British host. Sounded pretty cool. However, what I got was something vastly different, and better than what I was hoping for.

Louis Theroux is a journalist who comes from a family with a background in writing and television - you could say he is the real deal. On each of his Weird Weekend, Mr. Theroux spends time with a different group of people involved with various American subcultures. On the discs I rented, he goes into the dirty south with Master P to see what it takes to get into gangster rap, he goes to New Mexico and Nevada to investigate the UFO culture, he embeds himself in a survivalist group, and he examines the porn industry. I thought Mr. Theroux would approach these topics with a sarcastic tone, or in a condescending way, however, such is not the case. He is genuinely sincere and interested in his topics, and he treats his subjects, no matter how subversive and whacked out, with a great deal of respect. Once again, even when it comes to entertaining journalism, the BBC shows the rest of the world how it should be done.

Carl Sagan's Cosmos

Cosmos is such an amazing show, and we are so lucky now to have it available, remastered, on DVD. Although it was made in the early 1980s, complete with not-so-special effects, it is still a totally engaging, informative, and entertaining trip through the mid of one of the greatest thinkers who ever lived. Cosmos begins with Sagan taking us aboard the spaceship of his imagination to the out regions of the Universe. We then travel back, millions of light years, to the Milky Way, and finally to Earth, where our journey began. Once back on Earth, Sagan takes us through history lessons concerning the Library of Alexandria, ancient mathematicians and scientists, biology, evolution and anthropology. Each topic is equally as interesting because of Sagan's superhuman, tangible passion to share his vast knowledge.

On each subsequent episode, Sagan takes us through the Cosmos - or the order of things - and shows us how everything out there has a very real impact on everything right here. What struck me most while rewatching the first episode, was how much more we now know, only a couple decades after this show was created. While some of the pictures of space, and some of the terminology, used on Cosmos are now totally out dated, this fact does not become a hindrance to the immense power of the series. The music is wonderfully composed and perfectly sets the epic and mysterious tone, and Sagan's own voice is captivating - for a “nerdy scientist,” the guy sure did have some charisma! I can't wait to further explore the Cosmos on DVD, I am sure the entire trip will be quite amazing.

Starship Sofa

Are there any science fictions out there? Heh heh, that’s pretty obvious – of course there are! Well, I recently started listing to a podcast, one that I have been meaning to check out for some time, called Starship Sofa – and it is brilliant! The Starship Sofa is a podcast totally devoted to great science fiction literature and authors. They treat the genre with respect, and they have fun talking in tangential circles around, through, over, and under their chosen topics. They’ve covered such amazing authors as Philip K. Dick, Alfred Bester, le Guin, Ian Banks, Delany, Zelanzy, and many, many more. Head on over to their website, and check out their show.

Blast off, with the Starship Sofa

31+1

Well I recently celebrated my birthday, and everything went off without a hitch. I successfully gained another year to my age, a feat that I am most proud of. I am now 32, and I think this is a very strange age. 32 is the first age that I remember my dad being. When I was a young a kid, I thought 32 was SO old, and it seemed like my dad really had is stuff together. I wonder if kids look at me in the same way? I doubt it. It seems like my generation is the generation that refuses to really grow up. Sure, I am married, with a house, 2 dogs, a car payment and a steady job, but I still spend a lot of my time playing games, watching movies, and trying to have as much fun as possible. I think this is a good thing, mostly, but part of longs to be a real adult. Well, not really, I honestly can't complain about anything - I am more than content, I am genuinely happy.

And now for something completely different...

I have been pimping Beyond Dream's Door everywhere I can as of late. Perhaps you read my recent review (if you haven't yet, hold off, I am working on a much better version) and I have recently been in contact with the film's director Jay Woelfel. He pointed out a few factual errors in my write up, and also offered up a wealth of fantastic information. Mr. Woelfel seems like a very decent guy. I recently ordered two more of his films, the two films he considers his best: Ghost Lake and Iron Thunder. As soon as I get these, and watch them, I will be conducting an in-depth interview with Mr. Woelfel. I am really looking forward to doing this. I feel as if it is my cinematic duty to champion Beyond Dream's Door this year - it is just a really interesting and fascinating, if somewhat flawed, film. I totally appreciate it for the strides it took in offering up something different. If you haven't yet, please check it out.

That's all for now, have a good one.

Agalloch - Track by Track, part 1

Agalloch hails from the desolate and diabolical oblivion known as Portland, Oregon. They have survived the snow-filed crags of the Demon Mountains, and the sun-drenched plains of the Devil's Desert to deliver three of the most jaw dropping neo-folk-gray-metal-post-rock albums ever recorded. It is almost frightening how amazing this band is, so thoughtful, so talented, so atmospheric, and damn do they ever rock. However, unlike a lot of black/gray/post metal, Agalloch never loses site of melody - their songs are full of it, and so in this regard I would compare them more to bands like Envy, Mono, and Mogwai, if these bands had grown up playing Warhammer 40K and reading the Elric saga or the Cthulhu mythos. However you split genre-hairs, or whoever you compare this band to, one thing becomes abundantly clear - there is no comparison, and this band adheres to no strict genre-conventions. They just are.



Pale Folk Lore - Agalloch's first album, and my least favorite of the three. While I think the songs are strong, it suffers from poor production quality. It is a true indie metal record, and the production just doesn't match the epic nature of the album. I think this album would be really amazing if it was remade by the band, with a little more money thrown at it. The snare drum in particular sounds really thin and small, and the reverb as a whole sounds cheap. However, based purely on the strength of the songs, it is quite good.

She Painted Fire Across the Skyline, Pt. 1

This epic gets kicked off like all should - a slow build-up to chaos, and then an eruption of bombastic guitar and drums, a blast into the rock n' roll stratosphere. After the initial heavy moments, the song quiets down and settles into a nice mid-tempo groove, accompanied by creepy whispers and scary spoken vocals. The lyrics paint a perfect picture of epic fantasy metal - they are just cheesy enough to be fun, but cool enough to not elicit laughter. Agalloch strikes this kind of balance throughout. There is also a really cool, and super corny, keyboard riff used during this part - a choir-patch that sounds like it was ripped from some epic fantasy soundtrack recorded in the '80s - and yes, this is a good thing.

She Painted Fire Across the Skyline, Pt. 2

Part 2 quickly builds from the quietness at the end of part 1. During a nice little 2-chord jam, reminiscent of Goo-era Sonic Youth except with Gollum on lead vox, the band dives headfirst into their epic fantasy atmosphere. And then we get our first wailing guitar solo. It perfectly adds to the epic tone, and carries the song away from the post-rock genre into true metal. Listening to this track makes me want to ride on a snow-white stallion through the green fields of a strange and distant land.

She Painted Fire Across the Skyline, Pt. 3

This is my favorite part of the three-part epic. This track just totally rocks. It starts off with hard-driving energy and some amazing guitar tone - we're talking Boris-like here, really heavy, thick, and textured. And then, out of nowhere, the music stops to give way to some spoken word poetry! When I first heard it I had to laugh because it is so dramatic, but now, I just love it. After the brief vocal interlude, the song once again kicks into high gear, and for the remaining 5-minutes, the guitars just continue to get more and more heavy, accompanied by some nice double bass drum work, and some looming bell sounds. The heaviness fades, and gives way to a small piano part that closes the epic with a somber tone. During this track, I can totally imagine Elric walking slowly away from the crumbling Melnibone, with his hand, dripping with blood, clutching the doom sword, Stormbringer.

The Misshapen Steed

This track is a mini-epic, and I can clearly picture this being used towards the end of a climatic battle in a new Conan film. The track is almost entirely made up of keyboard and piano, with choirs, flutes, and other woodwinds and string instruments being used to conjure the proper atmosphere. It is a little sad, but also kind of uplifting, and offers a nice quiet moment after the loudness of the first three tracks. It is also the calm before the perfect-storm of the next four tracks - it is a great middle track, and clearly shows that the band thinks about the album as a whole.

Hallways of the Enchanted Ebony

Playing off of the quiet mood set in the previous track, Hallways begins with a great acoustic guitar riff that continues to play throughout much of the track. This is probably the most straightforward rock song on the album - it has a great groove, the bass and drums really lock in on this one. There are also some great guitar riffs, although there is nothing too heavy. The vocals continue to be growled - this song reminds me of a rock ballad an orc might sing in memory of a fallen comrade while riding his trusty battle-armored steed across the burnt wastelands of the Flarg.

Dead Winter Days

Damn - this track explodes right out of the gate with some awesome and heavy guitar tone. The way the drums and the rhythm guitar work together on this track makes it a real standout moment on the album. Again, this is a mini-epic, and the song is clearly separated into distinct movements. After the intro, the band again moves into Sonic Youth territory, one might even think that Lee Renaldo stopped by to record a riff, but the angry snarling vocals that come in soon extinguish this notion. I like to say that Agalloch is a perfect mix between Mogwai and Opeth, and this song clearly demonstrates this. The rhythmic stutterings towards the end of the track are quite good, and the ending solo adds the necessary punch a song like this needs. I think post-rock bands like Mono and Envy, and most others really, could learn a thing or two about the importance of a ripping and shredding guitar solo. While listening to this track, I can clearly picture a lone warrior who has just raided a treasure room in a deep and dark dungeon escaping to the light of the surface while being pursued by a small army of nasty creatures.

As Embers Dress the Sky

This track makes me want a dragon. One that can fly and breath fire, and one that has a huge sound system strapped to its tail. I want to listen to this song at a window shattering volume while flying around downtown Seattle as my dragon blasts all the yuppies with her flames. This would be awesome. And when the gothic opera singing comes in at the end I will destroy the Space Needle in slow motion. Damn, it is going to be totally rad.

The Melancholy Spirit

An epic ending to an epic album. Again, this track opens with a nice little acoustic guitar rift bathed in chorus and reverb, while the ominous sounds of a brewing storm linger in the background. This song kind of feels like a reprise of the whole album - that is, it perfectly captures the spirit and tone of all the previous tracks. It reminds you of how awesome everything you have already listened to is. After the build-up and the rock out, the noise and chaos fades away and only the soft and haunting melody of a piano is left to bring everything to a close. The hero has won his battle against the evil mind destroying demons, but in the process, he has also lost his loved ones and his home. He is returning, victorious over evil, but as an empty shell of his former self. With nothing but his horse and sword to remind him of his old ways, he rides off into the murky fog to search for inner peace.

It's in the Bones...

Some predictions for 2007:

1. Sales of the Nintendo Wii will come to a grinding halt once the novelty has worn off.
2. The Nintendo Wii will have the lowest per game attach rate of any console ever because most of the people buying it will only want the Wii Sports, Wario Ware type party games.
3. Sony's PS3 will have a rough year, but by the Holiday season, we will see some exclusive games that will move units.
4. The 360 will continue to go strong, and will continue to draw in new exclusive titles and developers.
5. Microsoft will get a stronger foothold in Japan.
6. The cinematic sights and sounds of 2006 (Highlander XX), will be postponed until this year, and be released straight to DVD.
7. Stephen King will have a new novel out - proving that he is more prolific when retired.
8. The release of the 4th edition of the Talisman board game will cause nerds around the world to miss work for days on end.
9. Nintendo will announce a new Wii with HD support.
10. No new 360 will be released.
11. Tsui Hark, Johnny To, Chan Wook Park, and Miike will each release an amazing film.
12. Astronomers will find proof of extraterrestrial, intelligent life.
13. Wonka candy will introduce a new flavor of Gobstoppers.
14. Harry Potter will die.
15. The Genrebusters Podcast will break the top 10 film/media podcasts at www.podcastalley.com

Weaveworld

So I finished Clive Barker's Weaveworld the other day, and damn was it good. Really good. This is only the second book by Barker that I have read (not including a few short stories), and I see myself reading a lot of his stuff this year. I read The Great and Secret Show around 15 years ago, and some of its passages still haunt me - I think I will be able to say the same about Weaveworld.

It is not a perfect book by any means, and yes it does duffer from some questionable pacing decisions. The book is clearly broken up into two parts, however, they are in the wrong order. Had the first part been the second part, it would have made for a much more climatic finish. I hear this complaint registered against Barker often, but it is not something detrimental to the stories he tells.

What I like most about Barker is that he is an adult writing fantasy-fiction for adults. He does not try to disguise his work as fairytales for all ages - no. Barker embraces the fantastic, the dark, the sexual, and the disgusting, and shows the duality and the beauty that all of these aspects encompass. I also like that his brand of fantasy does not include elves, dwarves, and wizards. He is not from the D&D school of fantasy design - his worlds are unique, and imaginative; Weaveworld is dense and illustrious, scary and peaceful, haunting and comforting.

There is so much detail in the world Barker has created: some of the passages I will never forget, and characters such as The Rake, the by-blows, the three sisters, the Scourge, and detective Hobart will never leave my mind. Barker's description is concise and memorable. I also like that Weaveworld is not the first book of a series - it is a stand alone volume, and in it, Barker says as much about his fantasy world as many authors do in an entire series.

Upon finishing Weaveworld, I instantly picked up Barker's Imajica, and while it is a slower read, I am finding it captivating. I have been craving adult-fantasy on par with King's Dark Tower series, and it looks like Barker is filling this void.

So white and nerdy...

So I just got back from a vacation - my wife and I went down to California to visit some family. We stayed at a house on Pismo beach - which I have since dubbed “Shell City” because of all the little stores that sell crap made out of shells to longing tourists. It was fun, and the weather was amazing - sunny and warm, like winter was some imaginary fairytale.

Lately, I have been getting back into gaming. No, not video gaming, but REAL gaming - that is, board gaming. I have been told before that board gaming and role playing is like the Mafia: you can never truly get out, and try as you might, you eventually get drawn back in. Some of the best times of my youth were spent playing fantasy or science fiction games with my friends, and I am starting to have fun doing this again.

The first game I recently bought is called Arkham Horror - it is a board game based off of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. It is quite complicated, and I don't know if it is a good game yet, although I have been told it is. My wife and I have played it once, and we played it wrong, and didn't have the best time. I am waiting to get in a few more sessions with some more people before I pass a final judgment. It is a grand and epic game, complete with hundreds of little tokens, a well designed board, and borderline role playing. I think once we “get it” and get into it, it will prove to be a fun time.

I then bought a cool little card game called Dungeoneer - a dungeon cralwer you can fit in your pocket. Imagine Diablo played with cards and dice. The game is really fun, easy to learn, and expandable. It is not a collectible card game, like Magic: The Gathering, so the cost is relatively low. You can buy different sets that can be combined together to make the game longer and more complex. I bought a Heroic set and an Epic set, of the same dungeon, which basically doubles the length by adding a second level to the dungeon. This last weekend I played a couple of games with my nephew, who enjoyed it quite a bit, and we played our first 4 player game - and had a blast.

I also ordered what I consider to be the holy grail of board gaming - Games Workshop's Talisman. Man, I wasted a lot of time playing Talisman in high school. Imagine Monopoly, or Life, mixed with Dungeons & Dragons. It is a simple game where you move your pawn around the board fighting monsters, collecting treasure, and gaining power. We used to play the second edition, which sells on Ebay now for over $200 - I bought the cheaper 3rd Edition, which still cost me $100, and both are now out of print. There is a good chance that Talisman will be re-released this year as a 4th Edition set - this has many gamers very excited. It has not arrived in the mail yet, but when it does, I am hoping to get a group of people together from an all-night session of Talisman playing, beer drinking, and chip eating.

Board gaming is a lot of fun, and it is also social. It is weird how there is still a stigma associated with board gaming and pen and paper role playing - it's still for “nerds.” While video gaming is uber-popular, and computer RPGs like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy are huge sellers whose fans are old and young, rich and poor, hipster and nerd alike, traditional gaming is still seen as “geeky,” or simply something lame families do on a boring Friday night. Well, screw that, because I am having fun. As a matter of fact, I am looking for some people to start a little gaming group here in Seattle (if you want to get involved, email me), and I plan on heading over to Uncle's Games in Redmond this Friday night for their open gaming time. I think this will prove to be a fun time. Traditional gaming is a great way to meet other people, and have a fun time doing it - it is also a great way to build friendships, something that my wife and I find difficult to do here as we get older. While we could shut ourselves in the darkness of our living room and play video games and have a fun time, I am more excited to see what this newly rediscovered hobby will bring our way.

My Number 1 Gamecube Game

Sorry, I thought I posted this already...guess I didn't!

Gamecube



1. Resident Evil 4 - Wow, would you look at this? A game I like that actually sold well, really well even! I guess my adoration isn't a total jinx after all. So yeah, RE4 - what a damn awesome game, and I am no fan of the RE series. I enjoyed part 2, and Code Veronica alright, but I never got the appeal - and this is coming from a huge zombie fan! I always hated the control scheme, and the whole “survival” part was really lame - especially given the fact they your characters were supposed to be members of a top secret, ultra-baddass squad of baddasses. Why would these badasses go into a precarious situation armed with pea-shooters? Why do these badasses have such terrible time aiming their weapons? Why does a key take as much inventory space as a hand gun? Haven't these geniuses ever heard of a key ring they could just snap onto their belts? There were so many problems with the logic of the games, that even with my fandom for zombies I had a hard time mustering the excitement for the RE franchise.



Well, RE4 changed all of this - every single problem I had with the RE franchise was remedied in this game. Finally, my character could actually aim! Finally, where I aimed actually damaged the right part of the victim's body! My character could finally move like a person trained in combat! Finally, the knife was actually a smart alternative! There was actually enough ammunition around to have fun in the game! I didn't have to run from everything - I could actually stand my ground and take some fools out. The puzzles were more logical to the game world. The game was actually in true 3D, and didn't limit where and how I could look around. The bosses were actually challenging - but the challenge didn't come from fighting poor play-mechanics! The game features escort missions that don't totally suck! And, most of all, Resident Evil 4 was actually damn fun and super exciting.



Resident Evil 4 is simply the most fun and intense time I have had playing a video game in years and years - since the first Tomb Raider (my all time favorite game - and Legends is in my Top 10 of this last gen). When I was at work, or away from RE4, my thoughts turned to it. I craved the game. All I wanted to do was play it. I actually beat it without switching to another game at any point due to boredom. I have actually played through it at least 5 times - and it never gets old.



Resident Evil 4 is an example of a game where everything comes together to form a flawless and fun experience. The reward system for collecting treasure is tangible, and really feels like a reward. Each new weapon, and weapon upgrade, impacts the game, and makes your character look and feel more powerful. The context sensitive control scheme is easy to master, but it is not dumbed down - it is intuitive and makes the game more fun. The narrative is also amazing, and it really does feel like a big budget action-horror title. The enemies are frightening and formidable, and the quest is exciting. The game also looks freaking amazing. The textures are finely detailed, the world is large, the character-models lifelike, and the environments are just teeming with life.

There really isn't anything more that needs to be said about RE4. I love this game. Capcom frequently impresses me - they may be the most consistent and reliable developer ever: they create genres - and they refine play mechanics. And, with RE4, they crafted a game that represents the pinnacle of modern game design.

RIP: RAW

Robert Anton Wilson: January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007


We have lost one of the true geniuses of our time. His work in general semantics alone was enough to wow me, but of course he did so much more. Mr. Wilson was a man whose brilliance could not be denied, even if you totally disagreed with what he was saying. I found almost everything he said to be utterly fascinating. Well, now RAW is tackling that last great conspiracy, he is diving into life's final, and most baffling, mystery - what happens when we die?

My Number 1 PS2 Game

1. Rez



"Old games, like maybe 20 years ago, were like this - vector scan and wireframes. But Rez isn't being nostalgic. The look is a conscious choice. Current games are a little too real now - there's no room for interpretation. But I think Rez is an experience, so I didn't want to put lifelike graphics in it."

- Tetsuya Mizuguchi



Rez is an experience, as much as it is a game, and like all experiences, the more one puts into it, the more one gets out of it. That is, I believe that Rez must be played a certain way in order to experience everything it has to offer. Here is my recipe for a Rez session:

1. It must be played in the darkest room you can find.
2. It must be played on the biggest monitor you have.
3. You must sit very close to this monitor, so that the game is all you can see.
4. The high-fi must be cranked up to 11, or you must be wearing headphones.
5. You must not be distracted by anything else while playing Rez. Rez must be the only thing on your mind.



Under these circumstances, Rez truly does become much more than a mere game. More so than any other game I have ever played, given the right set of circumstances, Rez totally envelopes my senses. At its core, Rez is a fairly standard on-rails shooter. You don't control the on screen avatar, but you do control its targeting reticle. The path your avatar flies is predetermined and unchanging, as are the waves of enemies and enemy fire-power. The first difference that sets Rez apart from other shooters is the use of music - it is almost like playing a techno sequencer while playing an on-rails shooter. Pressing the lock-on and fire-button will create a hand clap sound, and each enemy that is destroyed plays a different tone that coincides with the audio-track of the level. Also, as combos are strung together, the destroyed enemies create melodies that add to the audio-track. As your avatar evolves by collecting power-ups, the sounds and melodies produced by its fire-power also change and become more complex.



Another difference is how immersive Rez is compared to other border-shmups. Every visual element in the game is perfectly in tune with every audio element - it is almost as if you are seeing the sound, and hearing the graphics (ooh, psychedelic!). Rez also features the most hard-hitting vibration function you will ever feel - the controller pulses along perfectly in sync with the beat of the music. As the levels progress, there are 5 main stages in all (and a few to unlock later), all of these elements help to create a sense of total immersion and an engrossing experience unlike any other.



The game itself is also quite good, beyond merely the experience. In order to truly beat the game, 3 different sets of criteria must be met on each level. If these goals are not satisfied, you can still proceed up to the fourth area. Areas 1-4 must be cleared entirely before area 5 opens, and area 5 must be cleared completely to get the real ending. And what an ending it is! Area 5 is my favorite level from any game ever created - bar none. During this level, the narrative of the game comes into focus, and you realize exactly what it is you are doing. Talk of life and death, evolution, consciousness, and AI envelopes your avatar like tentacles of memes and ideas. The level opens up to reveal the truth behind the game, and the truth behind what its creator, Mizuguchi, is all about - tangible creative energy. I would even venture to say that Rez offers a deep emotional experience that transcends some movies and books - if it is played under the right circumstances.



The great debate wages on - are games art? I don't think games are art, yet. Games do contain artistic elements, but as a whole, they themselves are not art. However, Rez comes close to being true art, closer than any other game I have ever played, and Mizuguchi, its creator, is truly a visionary developer with something more to say than most of his peers. Rez moves me, and it reminds me of the reasons why I love video games, and why I continue to play them even as I am now in my thirties.

My Number 1 XBOX Game

1. Jet Set Radio Future - JSRF is the game I bought the XBOX for. Like most people, I was extremely skeptical of Microsoft's entry into the game-console world. Why would I need another console, weren't the PS2 and Gamecube going to be enough? The Dreamcast had recently died, and so I was not really looking forward to spending more money on another financial failure. However, my mind soon changed when I found out that SMiLEBIT would be continuing their amazing DC game on Microsoft's giant black box. So, without hesitation, the day that JSRF hit the shelves, I bought an XBOX - and I never looked back or regretted my decision.



JSRF is probably the coolest, hippest game ever designed. It just screams with ultra-trendy sensibilities: you play as the GGs, a rough-and-ready gang of roller-blading graffiti artists in modern Tokyo. Each skater you recruit has a slightly different skating style, and a different set of tags with which to canvas the city. Now, many people thought these games were going to be “extreme sports” games, like Tony Hawk or something, where the goal was just to do tricks and stuff. Well, many people were wrong, and ultimately disappointed. JSRF is not an extreme sports game - it is an action/platformer in which your heroes wear roller-blades. Sure, there are some moments where you can trick-out, and it is fun to do infinite grinds around the huge explorable levels, but the focus of the game is not on tricks. The focus is on tagging the neighborhoods and escaping and fighting the evil empire hell-bent on ridding the world of hip hop and style!



JSR for the DC was one of the first cel-shaded games - and even today it still looks awesome - and I still think that JSRF is one of the best looking games ever made. It is just gorgeous, and is a testament to design over technology. The art style is so over the top and stylized that I can't believe it is not used more often - it just sizzles off of the screen. The characters all look totally different, and have different clothing styles, and body types - they actually feel like different characters. The levels also look amazing - from the dark night-time ghettos of the Tokyo alley ways, to the ultra-high tech business districts, every visual element in the game is designed to look cool and hip.

JSRF also has the best licensed soundtrack to ever grace a game, with bands like: BS 2000, Scapegoat Wax, Cibo Matto, Hideki Naganuma, the Latch Brothers and many more. I would often find myself just wasting time within the game to listen to some of the music, with Aisle 10, by Scapegoat Wax, being my favorite track.



The design of the graphics, the technical execution, the presentation, and the music in JSRF all combine to create to a unique experience that delivers on all accounts. The game is a total blast to play, look at, and listen to. It is challenging, and offers a lengthy quest. It has a ton of replay value. And, most of all, the game just makes me happy - I always have a good time playing it. One thing does get me down though - there will never be another game in this short-lived franchise. Like most games I love, it didn't sell well, and the developer was disbanded. This should have never happened to a developer as talented as SMiLEBIT, or to a game as amazing as Jet Set Radio Future.

My Top 5 Games on Each Last-Gen System (Part 3)

XBOX

2. Beyond Good and Evil – This game represents everything that encompasses “next-gen” game design. It is technically sound, has great audio, amazing graphics, a gripping narrative, endearing characters that I actually cared about, and fun, exciting gameplay that offers up a wide variety of different play mechanics. Ubisoft freaking nailed it with BG&E, and, once again, like most of my favorite games, gamers just refused to buy it, even though it enjoyed critical success, and was praised loudly by its small, cultish following. I seem to be a “doom-factor” when it comes to games. If I love it, and think it rocks, chances are, it is not going to sell, and it will not be turned into a franchise.

BG&E plays out like a sci-fi dream come true. The story is epic, and includes political intrigue, an alien invasion, a great conspiracy, and a ton of awesome action. The world the game is set in totally feels alive and real. I spent many hours just cruising around the vast world in my little hovercraft, looking at the beautiful surroundings, watching the landscape, and taking in the amazing sights and sounds. The game features vehicle based racing and exploration, on foot action and stealth, puzzles, and item collecting, and each part is executed with great skill. The final 45 minutes of the game contains some of the most epic conflicts I have ever witnessed, and, like a grand and epic science fiction movie, it becomes emotional and exciting. If I had the money, I would buy Ubisoft and have them make the sequel just for me. I adore this game.

PS2

2. Okami – Okami out does Zelda at each and every turn. It is basically a Zelda-clone, but I feel the design is tighter, and the puzzles aren’t so esoteric. Ever since the very first Zelda game, in which you just had to burn every single bush with the damn candle to find the right secret place, and no clues were ever given, I have thought that each game in this beloved franchise suffered from the same problem. Such is not the case with Okami. It does not hold your hand, nor is it too easy, but it is just right – the risk/effort/reward system is perfectly balanced. By the time I was bored with one aspect, the game introduced something totally new, and totally awesome.

Graphically, I don’t know if games can be much cooler. Although this game does not feature uber-bloom lighting, or high poly-counts, or per-pixel shading, the art design is second to none. It looks like an Edo era Japanese wood block print come to life. The entire game looks like it was hand painted by a great artist. The narrative is steeped in Japanese mythology, and the plot is exciting. There is enough to do that one could just roam around without even worrying about the main quest and still have fun. Also, the inclusion of the Celestial Brush is yet another stroke of genius unleashed by Clover Studios. When a studio such as Clover gets shut down after creating games as brilliant as this and Viewtiful Joe, it makes me sad for the state of gaming. If I believed that games themselves were art, I might even say that disbanding Clover was a crime against art.

Gamecube

2. Eternal Darkness – Wow, Silicon Knights blew my mind with this one. And hey guess what? Another brilliant game that didn’t sell well! Rumor has it though that SK is continuing the series on the 360 – heck yeah. ED takes the survival horror genre to a whole new level, and through the very essence of space and time. With a narrative neck deep in Lovecraftian mythology, ED may be one of the most “literary” games ever made. The game actually made me want to read more Lovecraft. The timeline of the narrative is what makes it so remarkable. Each chapter of the game is told from a different POV, and takes place during a different time period. Each character you play, has a different set of desires, goals, and skills, and each feels different – these are not just simple skin switches. As the real “main” character, you find out what your true destiny is, and you soon learn the horrible fate of the world in which you live. ED is truly stunning in this regard.

The game also features a gimmick that is one of the most creative around – the insanity effects. While playing the game, depending on the mental health of your character, certain things will happen – the game becomes an example of meta-fiction. Sometimes your character’s head falls off, or the controls get reversed, or the game pretends to shut off, or it turns the volume down, and so on. These insanity effects are so much fun, that I often found myself doing poorly on purpose just so I could experience them. The action in the game is totally intense as well, and offers up a great context-sensitive combat system. The game is also creepy as hell, and I often found myself reaching over to turn on a light, or take a quick glance behind me while playing. I think the main problem with this game is the console it was released on. I just don’t think the game’s core audience was on the GC, and I truly believe that if this game had been released on the PS2, we would, right now, be playing its sequels.

My Top 5 Games on Each Last-Gen System (Part 2)

XBOX

4. Panzer Dragoon Orta – Sega had a great run as a publisher and developer on the XBOX, and this will become evident in this little list. They also made what I consider to be the biggest blunder of this generation – they disbanded PDO’s developer SMiLEBIT prematurely. However, this is all due to the gamers, not the games. Gamers just refused to buy SMiLEBIT’s games, even though they represent some of the finest games ever made and enjoyed huge critical success. PDO continued the great franchise started on the Sega Saturn, and did so with near gaming perfection. PDO is an on-rails shooter – these games limit the amount of actual movement of the on-screen avatar, but they are able to craft highly detailed and beautiful worlds in which to place the 3D shooter. By constantly keeping the focus where they want it, SMiLEBIT created one of the most beautiful looking games ever made.

The gameplay itself is simple, highly addictive, and incredibly strategic. PDO built upon the evolving dragon-mount found in Panzer Dragoon Saga, and incorporated real time shape shifting. Each shape of the dragon has a different set of strengths and weaknesses, from slow and powerful, to fast and less powerful. The levels in the game are truly epic; you would be hard-pressed to find a more epic feeling shooter experience. The later levels of the game feel like the kind of epic dogfights you might see in Star Wars or ID4. With tons of on-screen enemies, massive terrain, mysterious alien structures, and enemy firepower constantly trying to thwart your lone warrior, it is a wonder one can even survive the experience. PDO also has one of the most engaging stories ever found in a shmup – it is memorable and quite moving, and is wonderfully bolstered by an amazing score.

PS2

4. Gungrave: Overdose – GG:O is pure action at its most diabolical and frantic. The gameplay is akin to a John Woo gun-ballet, set on maximum overdrive. You can play as three different characters, each with his own set of attacks and style. The main fighter, Grave, is a lurking tank-like, one-man army, who carries his own coffin around like a Japanese Django. While the art style is unique, the graphics themselves are only serviceable – they get the job done. With so much happening on the screen, it is a wonder that the engine is able to handle as much as it does. Dozens upon dozens of baddies appear in the blink of an eye, only to be destroyed in ultra-violent gunplay.

The game is quite simple – move from point A to B, and destroy everything, and I mean everything, you see. The game incorporates an on-purpose slow-down mode that must be utilized if you want to survive at all. Playing GG:O is a Zen-like experience. As the levels progress, you often forget what you are doing and move, act, and react based solely on gaming-instincts. The game also features beautiful hand drawn cut scenes animated by the same team that made the Trigun anime. GG:O is pure action goodness – it never lets up and is frantically paced, and it is a total riot from beginning to end.

Gamecube

4. Viewtiful Joe – A yes, good old Capcom, and good old Clover Studios. However, Clover Studios fell to the same curse as Sega’s SMiLEBIT: there just doesn’t seem to be much room for creative (beyond mini-games) game design anymore. Many gamers would rather buy GTA and Halo-clones, and roster updates for sports games, than a wonderfully designed side-scrolling beat’em that reinvents a treasured genre. This makes me sad. VJ took the crazy world of Japanese live-action anime-genre and the kaiju genre, and successfully translated everything that is loved about these genres into a video game.

VJ is like a love letter written for action-film junkies. In a brilliant stroke of game design, Clover Studios gave gamers the ability to control the special effects often found in hyper-action films like the Matrix. There’s bullet-time, close-ups, and under-cranking, all at the press of a button. VJ is also really, really freaking challenging, and rewarding. When a difficult section or level is passed, it feels as if something has been accomplished – I often found myself tired after one of the many clever boss fights. Clover also employed a wonderful cel-shaded design that made the graphics pop and sizzle off of the screen. VJ is not only the best looking game on the Gamecube, but it is also one of the best playing. The control is intuitive, and the collision detection, the most important aspect in a beat’em up, is perfect.

My Top 5 Games on Each Last-Gen System (Part 1)

With the next-gen of gaming now upon us, I have decided to take a look at my favorite games found on the last-gen systems: The Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube.

XBOX

5. Chronicles of Riddick - Not only is Chronicles of Riddick the best movie-to-game adaptation ever made, it is also one of the finest examples of its genre - the first person adventure. CoR scores points in every element, and is a true testament to next-gen game design. From a technical standpoint, it was one of the first games to employ normal-mapping, making the textures look better, not blurrier, the closer you got to them. The engine for the game only rendered what was seen by the player, rather than the entirety of a level, or section, to help alleviate some of the processing power - it could transfer more processing power to the things that needed it on the fly. They did however have to trade some anti-aliasing for the normal-mapping, but I think it was a good trade. The lighting is also remarkable, and the shadowy underworld in which the game takes place bursts into life because of it.

As far as the gameplay goes, well, it is a perfect marriage to the great graphics. I have always said that graphics do matter, they are important, and I demand good graphics and great gameplay from my games - CoR delivers on both. The control is spot on, and the camera is great - the game is mostly in a first-person POV, but for key sequences and special moves, the camera pulls back into a 3rd person POV - more FPS/A games should employ this technique. The action is intense and driven by tight corridor fights, in the dark, with very little ammo, and some very good FP-POV hand-to-hand combat. The adventure elements are also amazing: having to do little jobs for the other prison inmates, like shiv a rival, or find a stash of drugs, leads to some very interesting scenarios. The script and the voice action are both A-class, as are the plotting and pacing - most other games could learn a thing or two from CoR in these regards.

PS2

5. Jak and Daxter – Jak and Daxter is one of the most enjoyable 3D platformers I have ever played. It is bright and colorful, has great control, tons memorable moments, and gorgeous art design. It is also a spot-on example of great game design. The huge, virtually seamless, world is a thing of beauty, and the way the “levels” are cleverly hidden behind context sensitive objectives is brilliant. It feels like an open-ended, explore-everywhere game, and yet it still captures the feel of old-school level design. That is, it is not bogged down by the open-ended, aimless wandering and empty feel of the GTA series, or even the subsequent games in the franchise. The graphics too are a thing of beauty – I miss bright and colorful games: as game have become more mature, and darker, and grittier, they have lost some of their appeal to me. Jak and Daxter’s world is alive with great design.

The gameplay itself is also quite good. It plays like a very typical action-platformer, and yet it also has some great exploration and combat. The design is pure, and the developers did not throw in a bunch of me-too weapons and vehicles. The levels and areas themselves are masterfully designed – the platforming is an exercise in precise timing, but it almost never becomes frustrating. The script and story and engaging, and the characters, while somewhat stereotypical to the genre, are endearing enough to care about. The voice acting is also great, and the humor actually works a lot of the time. What I appreciate most about this game is how it represents a time of game design that is quickly dying. It is not dark and gritty, there is no cussing, it is not violent, and it is simply fun and beautiful.

Gamecube

5. Luigi's Mansion – I know this game was not very well received, but I loved it. I liked how Nintendo took its long existing franchise characters, and actually made a new kind of game with them. That is, they didn’t just stick Mario and company into some other existing genre and call it a new game – a trait I call ‘Nintendo’s Plague.’ Luigi’s mansion was part adventure, part survival horror, and all fun. The vacuum mechanic is light years ahead of Mario’s water-pack in Sunshine, and the mansion itself is far more interesting than anything in Mario’s recent outings. The game managed to be fun, exciting, a bit challenging, and kind of creepy. The music is also a standout aspect in the game: the way Luigi whistles the main theme is a stroke of genius, and the Dr. Dre-like beats during some of the sequences are awesome.

Graphically, I think this is one of the best looking Nintendo-developed games, and the art style is great. It is kind of cartoony, and yet very atmospheric. Some of the ghostly beasts Luigi fights during the game and very well designed, and each room in the mansion has a ton of detail. After playing this, I really thought Nintendo was on the right track with the Gamecube, especially after my less than tepid response to the N64. But alas, I was wrong – no other first party game captured the creative energy I found in Luigi’s Mansion, and to this day, it is the only first party game I still own for the system.

2007

While I don't subscribe to the theory of "New Year's Resolutions," I do like to set goals for myself. Last year my main goal was just to continue Genrebusters throughout the entire year - and I think we did more than this! We actually expanded our content by adding podcasts, and I believe that our written content improved ten fold in terms of quality.

In 2007, my main goal is to focus on the podcasts, and make them as good as possible. I want them to be more entertaining, more informative, and more interactive with the listeners. I would like to encourage people to send us emails and voice mails, and to take an active part in how the podcasts play out. I don't know how long the whole podcast trend will continue - I hope this form of content delivery sticks around because I find it totally fascinating. I actually look forward to the podcasts I listen to more so than I do any television show. I love that podcasts have torn down the walls of broadcasting, and like digital film and music distribution, podcasts have put the power back into the hands of the people.

My other goal for this year is to see more new films. This will be a continuing goal, as I also meant to do this in 2006. I started the year off with a bang, but over the summer I just kind of stopped seeking out new films at the cinema. While I much prefer watching films at home, I really do need to make a conscious effort to go out and discover more current cinema.

I would like to thank every single one of our readers and listeners for making 2006 such an exciting year for us. I totally appreciate every click, link and download. In 2007, I would like to expand Genrebusters. We will be working on a site overhaul, hopefully updating our ancient backbone and moving into a more "Web 2.0" era, and I want to continue keeping the quality and quantity of our content high. We also might look into doing some "real world" advertising to further our cause. One thing I would ask of you, our readers, is to help us spread the word. If you know of someone who might enjoy what we do, please tell them. If you know of a website or blog that might link to us, please contact them. If you enjoy the podcasts, please vote for us on www.podcastalley.com, and give us some feed back there or at the iTunes music store. It really means a lot for us to hear that all of our hard work is appreciated.

I hope you all have a great year, and I am really looking forward to the cinematic journeys in store for us.

D_Davis

Loomer - Songs of the Wild West Island

Is it strange that I would discover my favorite album of 2006 on the very last day of the year? I can't even really tell you why I purchased this album. My friend gave me an iTunes gift card, and so I was just browsing around the store looking for something to buy. I happened to look at the new release lists for the last month, and saw a band name that reminded me of the something else. The name I saw was Loomer, and I thought it was this old trip-hop/sample/DJ guy I used to listen too. Well, this Loomer is a different beast all together. The album is called Songs of the Wild West Island - and it is mind blowing, absolutely perfect in every way.

Once the album had been purchased, and listened to, I needed to find out a bit more about this band. This is from their official website:

“Loomer limped into existence back in the spring of 99 with little fanfare and even fewer expectations. Born out of the ashes of Toronto alt country stalwarts The Saddletramps, and built around the idiosyncratic song writing skills of Scott Loomer, they released their internationally acclaimed debut album Love is a Dull Instrument in the summer of 2004.”

It was a serendipitous discovery as well, for I really wanted something new along the same lines as Grant Lee Buffalo or Mark Kozelek. Loomer provides this, and so much more. Scott Loomer's vocals are beautiful - full of passion, heart, pain, and hope, and his lyrics create memorable narratives and conjure concrete imagery, like the old songcrafters did when such things were important. The instrumentation on the album is just as remarkable as Loomer's voice and lyrics. The production is clear and crisp, and each instrument fits perfectly in the stereo field. The bass and drums work together in perfect syncopation, and the lap steal guitar and banjo strengthen the melody of the guitar, keyboards and vocals.

The highlight of the album is track 6, Burden of Proof. This song is a moving mid-tempo rock song complete with wonderful string arrangements, twangy 12-string guitar, powerful organ, and a great melody. And, clocking in at just over 3 minutes, it begs to be listened to over and over again, it is just one of those perfect little pop-songs that makes anyone who appreciates good music happy.

This album comes highly recommended, especially to any of you who are alt-country fans - or perhaps this is what real country should sound like. If you find yourself longing for more bands like Camper Van Beethoven, Wilco, Grant Lee Buffalo and Uncle Tupelo, Loomer sits perfectly within this company. However, they are much more than just a “me too” band, because they really do have something to say, and they do so with skill and artistic integrity.

Cornelius - Fantasm

Cornelius's Fantasm is a psychedelic trip through an electric and eclectic wonderland brimming with bizarre sounds, infections rhythms, memorable harmonies, sizzling samples, and masterful pop. Imagine if a cartoon version of Brian Wilson was raised by a robotic Beck, babysat by manga-DJ Shadow, and unleashed through Godzilla's monstrous roar while listening to My Bloody Valentine. Cornelius runs the full gambit here - he tackles genre after genre, each with an equal amount of skill and production. Whether its cool and laid back trip-hop (Mic Check), shoegazing noise-pop (New Music Machine, Star Fruits Surf Rider), sample-heavy pseudo-punk (Count Five or Six), 60's tinted psyche-pop (Chapter 8, and God Only Knows), or full on, balls-to-the-walls chaotic electronic-noise (Monkey, 2010), Cornelius has the ears to produce, and the skills to perform - it must be a scary and wonderful thing to witness this man behind the sound board of his recording studio.

Even though Cornelius is pulling bits and pieces from genres around the globe, he still sounds uniquely Japanese. I don't know if this is due to the pristine production values usually associated with Japanese "indie" music, or if it is impossible for the artist to escape his culture. However, Fantasm sounds as if you are actually listening to manga and anime - it encapsulates the very essence of Japanese pop-culture - as if is the soundtrack for some alternate universe where giant robots, saucer-eyed girls in sailor's uniforms, and young male heroes with remarkable powers, agility and dexterity, all live happily together and gather every night at some super-hip ultra-modern techno-disco to dance away the late hours of the evening into the twinkling morning sunrise. What's more, even though Cornelius is using the conventions of established genres and studio techniques, Fantasm still sounds fresh and new - and even today, almost 10 years after its conception, it still sounds like it is from the future, and is not dated by obvious samples, beats, or sounds.

Fantasm is a minor miracle of modern pop, and Cornelius is the man who performed it. He excels as a drummer, guitarist, deejay, sampler, mixer, producer, and arranger - it is almost unfair that the gods charged one man with so much talent and creativity. I do have to wonder though if Fantasm is the man's single miracle - because nothing I have heard before or after this landmark album comes close to capturing even a smidgen of its greatness. However, other artists would consider themselves lucky to have a "Fantasm," and if it is Cornelius's one and only "glorious" moment, he should consider his mission accomplished. Fantasm is simply a remarkable achievement, and can very well change the way you hear music.

More stuff...

So I have had a case of writer's block lately. It really sucks. It's not that I haven't watched or read anything great lately, because I have, I just can't seem to muster the enthusiasm, or the ability, to write at length about anything. Very strange indeed. Last Friday I saw CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, and loved it - it is a great, great film - too bad I can't seem to shape my thoughts into written words. Hopefully I will cure this problem soon, because I have seen a few films that deserve to be written about.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know I sure did. We took our dogs to the snow yesterday and did some walking with them, and then Nicole and I did some awesome sledding. Playing in the snow is so great, no matter how old you are, it is always fun to race down a hill on a saucer or inner-tube, and have a snowball fight. It was a nice Christmas to be sure.

And speaking of Christmas, this morning while perusing the old Internet, I stumbled upon a great late Christmas present. It looks like Crystal Dynamics has been hard at work on the remake of the very first TOMB RAIDER - my all time favorite game. The redux will be called LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: ANNIVERSARY, and it looks awesome. The devs have built the entire first game using the new engine and control scheme from TOMB RAIDER LEGENDS - and this is a very good thing.

A few months ago I went back and played the original game again, and while I still love it (the level design is still top-notch) it is hard now to get past the blocky graphics, blurry textures and grid-based movement. The devs did notice that with the new control scheme, the old levels were a bit too easy and short, and so this remake will not be an exact one, but they are redesigning everything to take advantage of the new engine. It also looks amazing. The game should be coming out for the PS2 (no 360, which sucks) sometime in Spring 2007. Here are some links for further reading.

IGN

Gametrailers

The (Non-authoritative) Hong Kong Film Primer - Part 4

1998 and Beyond

(I am working on a description of this era...)

1. The Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero, and The Duel (1998, 1999, 2000) - dir. Andrew Lau - I am not including this "trilogy" because they are great films, they really aren't, but because of how they changed the landscape of modern HK action cinema. These films are not really a trilogy in a narrative-sense, but are considered such because of the new techniques employed by the filmmakers. Much like what Tsui Hark did with ZU WARRIORS in the early 1980s (although that is actually a good film), Andrew Lau upped the ante and set the standards for big budget action flicks with a ton of special effects, with The Storm Riders, and his two subsequent films - A Man Called Hero and The Duel. Andrew Lau, a cinematographer who worked with Wong Kar Wai and other directors, definitely knows how to make a movie look good - too bad he sucks at just about everything else. One might compare him to Michael Bay in this regard, although Lau did direct Infernal Affairs, so he is definitely getting much better.

Each one of these three films contains a few sequences that are quite good - and memorable. The magical attacks in Storm Riders look amazing, like live action Dragon Ball Z, A Man Called Hero has a duel on The Statue of Liberty that is quite a bit better and more exciting than the one in the X-Men film, and The Duel contains some great CGI and wire-assisted action set pieces. However, for the most part these films just aren't very good. The Duel is by far the best (and is actually a remake of an old Shaw Brothers flick called Duel of the Century) and is pretty entertaining. Even though these films are kind of mediocre, they did set the new digital/fx standards, and elevated what Hong Kong audiences expected out of special effects-heavy action cinema. These films helped to shift the paradigm of modern HK cinema just as much as the Matrix did in the United States. All three of these films have been released on R1 DVD by Tai Sing, and they are available from Netflix.

2. Biozombie (1998) - dir. Wilson Yip - Biozombie is one of my favorite horror comedies. I also think it is the best HK-horror-comedy to be made after the mid-school Hopping Vampire phase. Wilson Yip knows how to make an entertaining film, and he knows how to make them look great. There is one shot in particular in Biozombie that is one of my favorite shots in cinematic history: Yip employs a split-screen camera trick that is just amazing and adds a lot to the style of the film. Biozombie stars Jordan Chan and Sam Lee, as Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee - two deadbeat hipsters who work at a bootleg VCD shop in a mall.

The film is a comical spoof of Dawn of the Dead, and the House of the Dead video game (done much better than Uwe Boll could ever dream of), and it also contains many conventions typical to HK cinema. There is sappy melodrama, broad comedy, heroic bloodshed, and tons of pop-culture references - and the best use ever of a Gameboy Camera. Although the film is pretty light on the gore, it is still a really enjoyable zombie-romp - I actually enjoy this more than the similar Shaun of the Dead. This has been released on R1 DVD by Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock, and is available almost everywhere.

3. 2002 (2001) - dir. Wilson Yip - Another horror/action/comedy from Mr. Yip, and another entertaining film. Think of seeing the Ghostbusters in the Matrix, and you'll be on the right track. The film stars HK heart-throbs Nicholas Tse and Stephen Fung, as well as Biozombie's Sam Lee. It is about a special police force who track down angry spirits and help them - by kicking the crap out of them! There are some pretty intense and well-shot action sequences during the film, all of which rely heavily on CGI and wire-work. There is also a good deal of drama and sappy love in this one. There are a number of little side-plots that run throughout the film, and each one focuses on an aspect of Chinese superstition. I actually learned quite a bit about Chinese funerals from this film, and it