February 27, 2004
the headache is gone
but now I have a sore throat. I guess it's just in time for my vacation. I'll be cruisin on the Carnival Destiny. I'll be with my folks. I expect that it will be a fun trip.
I'll try to get pictures up here in a timely manner.
February 26, 2004
Stellvia
Stellvia of the Universe is about this girl Kadase Shima who gets to go to space school to become a pilot during the most important year in humanity's history. A supernova threatens to destroy everybody in the solar system. Good thing they've had 189 years to prepare for it.
I see it as sort of being like a japanese Ender's Game except it's about a cute girl and not quite as violent.
Okay, the only similarities I guess are that a shy smart kid goes to school in space and saves humanity. I really liked it. Shima is a bit of a crybaby. But then, hey, it's a 15 year old girl. They get you rooting for her though. And there are definite moments of cheer.
The animation and design are top notch. The CG is seamless with the 2D animation.
The relationships are complex. They have their ups and downs. Yet, they make you kind of miss that close knit circle of friends that you had in high school.
If you like japanese schoolgirl/coming of age/high school romance/sci-fi epic, then Stellvia is the series for you. Plus, there's a couple of giant robots.
February 23, 2004
Legend of Suriyothai
After seeing the trailer, I was pretty psyched about seeing this thai-made, coppola-presented, historical drama. It had battle scenes and a woman who puts on armor.
The truth is that it feels two hours and 24 minutes long. And you know what, Suriyothai is barely in it.
There are some nice battle scenes. This film is beautiful. The settings, costumes, scenery, photography: all very beautiful. The characters? meh.
The sense i got from the film was that it was all very historical. Each character was simply fulfilling his destiny according to what people think went on in a couple turbulent decades in 16th century Siam.
What I liked a lot was the palace intrigue. I love palace intrigue movies. And there are some questionable royals who make me glad that we don't live in a monarchy.
The most interesting character, I think, was Prince Tien who is also not really in the movie much. And why did they not really delve into Tien and Suriyothai's relationship? There's a lot of loaded baggage there that I would have wanted to explore.
You know, you won't see me review a film I don't like very often. But, I guess I'll just say if you don't have to see this film, don't.
Oh yeah. This movie has lots of elephants. And dead children.
ps-I see the original Thai version is 5 hours long. I can't imagine it.
Brain hurt
I have this big frelling headache. I've had it all day. I just got home and threw back a couple of tylenols. I'm hoping that it's due to insufficient caffeination and not from the onset of a cold.
I'm running out of vitamins. I guess I'll need to buy more. They better be shaped like cartoon characters. Today was a Bam-Bam day.
February 22, 2004
Kitchen Stories
Kitchen Stories is a flick from Norway. It's about this guy, Folkes, who is a Swedish researcher observing a Norwegian guy, Isak, in his kitchen.
It's pretty funny and quirky. My brother in law is Norwegian. And I think he got more out of the film than I did.
I think Americans will see the movie as being about the relationship between two men rather than some sort of in joke about Swedish-Norwegian relations in general. Frankly, my ear is not trained to tell the two languages apart. And they read the same in English subtitles.
But it's a good flick. You should see it as it will be showing in the arthouse theaters of the more enlightened parts of the country.
February 13, 2004
Megatokyo 2
MegaTokyo 2
I never read Megatokyo 1. I just picked this up at Forbidden Planet in NYC a couple weeks back.
Of course, you can also read all of it online. But, the book form has some pretty cool benefits. Like being able to read the storyline without those extra bits like Shirt Guy Dom. But, if you like SGD, there's a section of pure Dom.
I like Megatokyo. I think it's one of the better drawn and done web comics out there. It's about these two guys who get stranded in Japan. And then hilarity ensues.
Well, not so much hilarity, but a lot of opposite sex angst.
I like how reality is represented on many levels. From Piro's little angel and devil conscience war to the virtual game zombie reality of Largo.
I'm a big fan of anime and shoujo-type stuff like Love Hina and Happy Lesson. Although, I also think giant fighting robots and pirates are cool, too.
February 05, 2004
Into the Mountain
Into the Mountain: hostaged by Abu Sayyef
by Jose Torres, Jr
This is a good book that is primarily about this priest and a bunch of school kids and teachers who get kidnapped by the terrorist group Abu Sayyef in the Philippines.
But, it's not just about that. The author enjoys going back and forth through time and gives a lot of background. This gives us a taste of the bigger picture.
For some, Abu Sayyef might be consider just a bunch of punk bandits whose purpose is mainly to make money from extortion and kidnapping. But then, on another level, you could consider them a natural response to religious oppression.
This book busted a whole lot of misconceptions for me. And supported others.
It showed slices of the conflict between Muslims and Christians in the island of Basilan in the Philippines. But, that it is also just a small part of the conflict between Muslims and Christians throughout history and the world.
A lot of people get abused, hurt, raped, killed, tortured, kidnapped, oppressed, martyred in this book. But in the end, I guess there is hope for peace.
February 01, 2004
Tokyo Godfathers
Strangely enough, this movie has very little to do with the mafia. Although there's a little section with a bit of yakuza in it.
Tokyo Godfathers is about these three homeless people: an old man, a drag queen, and a teen runaway, who find an abandoned baby while looking through some trash on Christmas. Thus their adventure begins to return the baby to its home. And in a way, the baby is their salvation, too.
I really liked this movie. Yes, it's anime. There are no giant fighting robots or tentacled demons. It's just a really good story with really good characters.
I highly recommend it to everyone. See it while you can.