Shinya Tsukamoto’s Nightmare Detective features Hitomi

Now this is one movie I would really like to see. Tetsuo The Iron Man director Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest film Nightmare Detective has been called his most “mainstream” creation so far. I doubt most mainstream viewers who enjoy Tsukamoto’s films though. His films tend to be highly creative but hard to classify – are they sci-fi or horror films? Are they meant to be exploitative or are they serious films that reflect on the society we live in? I think they are all of the above.

Anyway, Nightmare Detective seems to be officially termed a horror. The basic plot follows 2 deaths and a detective who can enter dreams. Japanese pop star Hitomi makes her silver screen debut in this movie and the director appears to play the role of the villain. Stylistically, the film delivers the goods with Variety calling Tsukamoto’s style “recalling David Lynch at his most perverse.” The movie was screened at the Pusan Film Festival and a trailer can be found at the official site.

Variety review
Link to Twitch article
Official site

Movie stills for Curse Of The Golden Flower

Over at Twitch, 20 stills from Zhang Yimou’s upcoming period epic Curse Of The Golden Flower have been posted.

Now, I am no expert on Chinese history and period costumes. But somehow, I doubt Chinese empresses / concubines / princess dressed like that. The low cut costumes together with exposed cleavage and squished breasts seem rather French.

Anway, despite continual disappointment with Chinese period epics, I will not doubt check this movie out when it hits the screens in Hong Kong this Christmas.

The HD trailer can be found here.

Devilman : Live Action + CG + Anime = a colourful mess

I must confess that while I am aware of the manga called Devilman, I have never really read it. Devilman was created in the early 1970s, but this movie was produced in 2004. The basic plot follows Akira, a teenage who can mutate into a demon but retains the conscience of a human. Determined the fight the demons who run amok, he becomes more and more disappointed with the humans as they exploit the growing distrust among each other.

Obviously with a title like this, the narrative plays second fiddle to the on-screen visuals. Devilman combines live action martial arts fighting with CG demons and even a few scenes with animation. The overall effect can lack a bit of harmony, this is fun to watch nevertheless. There is a slight amount of gore, so it isn’t entirely appropriate for young kids, and the movie is really targeted at adults who grew up with the comic.

Verdict : online reviews panned the film. I found it decently entertaining but abit long at over 110 minutes.

Link to wikipedia entry for Devilman (manga)

The best of Michael Sckenker to be found on UFO compilation

When I was a teenager, I thought the logo for Michael Schenker Group looked real cool. Years later, I bought the “highly regarded” 1982 live MSG album One Night At Budokan and found it thoroughly underwhelming. I really did see what all the fuss was about and thought Michael Schenker was over-rated. My impression of Schenker changed lately. A few months ago, I happened to be in HMV Records, and while looking through their discount / bargain bin, I found a cheap $40 UFO greatest hits compilation.

Although a German, Michael Schenker shot to fame when he began playing for the British hard rock band UFO. Schenker had previously played in The Scorpions, but left in 1974 to join UFO and would go on to record a handful of classic rockers. Listening to UFO’s hits today, I found them not particularly heavy or hard. As opposed to today’s hard rock or metal bands who put on a serious or brooding front, you could even say UFO delivers groovy rockers that sound fun and even uplifting. I suppose you could say they rock hard in a more naive and life-celebrating kind of way.

After listening to Schenker’s fretwork on the UFO CD, I went out and immediately bought The Scorpions’ 1979 Lovedrive, which featured Schenker as guest on lead guitar. Sadly, the music pales in comparison with the UFO compilation. Lovedrive really isn’t a bad album as such, there are standout tracks, but even the best songs lack the sheer energy of the lesser songs on the UFO compilation. Oh, and I think the album cover was banned in a few countries too.

Standout tracks on The Best Of UFO : #1 Doctor Doctor, #2 Only You Can Rock Me, #7 Rock Bottom, #12 Hot And Ready

Verdict : UFO is essential 70s rock. In fact, I prefer UFO to AC/DC .

My new memo holder

My latest memo holder, currently sitting on my desktop.

Game & Watch : pioneering portable game consoles

Nowadays, you can see kids playing portable game consoles all over the streets. Gadgets like Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS Lite are extremely popular – but back in the day, we too had pocket sized games: Nintendo’s Game & Watch series. I have fond memories of playing Manhole and Parachute.

Manhole

Parachute

Japanese print ad for Game & Watch

Girl power Japanese style in Tenjho Tenje

Nothing hardcore and serious, Tenjho Tenje is pure bubble gum fun of the T&A variety. The Japanese manga has a success OVA series (released as Region 3 DVDs in Hong Kong), but the manga offers a much more elaborated plot and more beautiful art.

Admittedly, Tenjho Tenje relies on little more than sheer violence and cleavage – the two pronged attack that otaku’s love – to draw viewers into the series. But the action does come across as extremely exciting and the ridiculously voluptuous leading ladies do look cool in their REALLY skimpy school girl outfits. The plot is the usual convoluted mess . Anime News Network gives the following plot summary :

Souchirou Nagi and Bob Makihara are two delinquents who arrive at Toudou Academy with the objective of ruling over the school with their strength. But on their first day, they encounter the Jyuukenbu, a martial arts group of the school. Members of the group, Maya Natsume, her sister Aya, and Masataka Takayanagi easily overpower Souchirou and Bob. And what’s more, due to what is assumed to be their “connection” with the Jyuukenbu, the two are attacked by members of the Enforcement Group, which oversees the martial arts groups of the school. Drawn into the personal conflicts between the Jyuukenbu and the Enforcement Group, Souchirou and Bob have no choice but to join up with Maya Natsume’s group and to hone their skills to become even stronger.

Verdict : enjoyable nonsense.

Interior art

Bucky returns as in Brubaker’s Captain America relaunch

While Captain America has been one of the key characters in the Marvel Universe, his self titled comic has never really been a best-seller or a critics’ darling. The most memorable comics featuring Captain America have nearly always been extravagant crossover events or key Avenger stories. I think this is partly because Cap represents all that is supposedly great about the USA and as such the comics seldom show him in moments of weakness. This leads to a lack of drama – readers like vulnerability and pathos, hence the success of Wolverine as a character.

Well, Marvel seems to have finally got it right with Ed Brubaker’s brilliant Winter Solder arc on the relaunched Captain America. Initially, readers were disgusted that Marvel brought back Bucky (Cap’s WWII sidekick) back from the dead. But Brubaker integrates his revival seamlessly and the scriptwriting is of a very high caliber – seeing Cap suffer when he realizes Bucky has become an “enemy”, readers can now finally see Cap as more human. This is probably the darkest Cap story ever. Steve Epting delivers artwork that matches perfectly the tone of the story, but cannot be said to be conventionally dazzling I suppose. It nonetheless really works and I like it alot.

Verdict : if you have to read only one Capt. America comic, this is the one. An essential buy.

Trade Paperback Vol. 1

Trade Paperback Vol. 2

Stunning trailer for Frank Miller’s 300

300 is the new film based on Sin City creator Frank Miller’s graphic novel. I just viewed the trailer and it is a visually stunning piece of work. Set in ancient times, the film follows how King Leonidas led 300 men on a suicide mission to defend Greece from a Persian invasion.

Judging from the trailer, the film seems to use CGI liberally. Director Zack Synder does not go for a realistic approach, and you can tell from the trailer that the film is meant to appeal to film buffs who love special effects and action much more than the conservative history fan. The cast does not really contain A-list stars and I only recognized UK actress Lena Headey’s name.

The film should hit the screens in late March 2007. I am looking forward to it.

Interesting side-by-side comparison of film and comic images
Trailer (requires Apple Quicktime)

Ennio Morricone’s music for Giallo films = very disturbing sounds

Ennio Morricone may be best known for his scores for spaghetti western movies, but back in the 1960s, he also created many disturbing and intriguing soundtracks for Italian crime thrillers.

Italian crime thrillers, often known as Giallo, are extremely unique and very stylish. The masters of the genre like Mario Bava and Dario Argento were acutely aware of the impact the music had on the visuals – which led to a very stylized music soundtrack for most Giallo movies.

Ennio Morricone – Crime And Dissonance is a double CD compilation of Morricone’s music created for these types of films back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Listeners will be immediately aware that the music has a distinctive sixties flavour and in fact the individual tracks sounds similar to a psychedelic jazz compilation I possess. The music is very unusual – psychedelic sitars, loads of heavy breathing, screams, screeches, guitar feedback . . . the soundscape is abstract but powerful and disturbing. The mood of the pieces also vary greatly. In fact, the experience of listening to this CD reminded me of some early Pink Floyd soundtracks like More and Obscured By Clouds.

As a side note, the CD includes a very nice booklet printed on glossy paper. The booklet contains shots of some of the movies for which the music was written.

Verdict : recommended for Giallo fans. A very fascinating listen.

Dragon Tiger Gate : heroes are sidelined in favour of villains

Perhaps the single most famous comic in Hong Kong, Dragon Tiger Gate’s heyday was probably in the mid-1980s. Revamped several years ago, the comics followed the path taken by Marvel’s Ultimate line – to start the story from scratch for a new generation of readers.

The “new” Dragon Tiger Gate has been a qualified success so far – it is one of the best selling weekly titles in Hong Kong. Unlike the vintage Dragon Tiger Gate, the current title focuses alot on the villains. In the past, the heroes tackled basically three different gangs / society’s one after another. Currently, the key villains have all appeared and seem to be competing for the title of No.1 gang in Asia – Tiger Wong and his group of friends are sidelined. This is my single complaint.

Otherwise, the comic offers plenty of Hong Kong style martial arts action and colourful (if not particularly distinctive) artwork. The plot lacks the element of surprise since we more or less already know how it will develop, which is the reason why its creator Tony Wong has decided to change some parts of the plot to enliven it for veteran fans of the title.

Verdict : recommended, but in my opinion not the best available in Hong Kong at the moment

JLA #2 sustains interest in relaunch of DC’s premiere team

The second issue of the relaunched Justice League of America does not disappoint and it has become one of the few titles I eagerly await each month.

In issue #2, the plot thickens and potential league members are thrown into the mix. Brad Meltzer has proven to be one of the best current writers in comics – his Identity Crisis mini-series is probably one of the best comic events I have ever read and this relaunch has success written all over it. In fact, DC comics even prints a blurb from Entertainment Weekly on the cover of issue #2. I think this is a rarity in comics.

Issue #2 revolves around the core axis of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman voting on who’s in on the new team while Green Lantern, Black Canary and Arsenal investigate the missing android body of the Red Tornado. Ed Benes artwork is excellent, with several impressive flat-open panels to boot. The Michael Turner should also boost sales of the title.

Verdict : must read.

Cradle Of Filth’s Dusk And Her Embrace is a justified classic

My impression of Cradle Of Filth’s Dusk And Her Embrace wasn’t entirely positive when I first acquired the CD two months ago. But having given the music more time, I now consider it a very fine gothic metal album and rightly a dark metal classic.

About two months ago, I began to look into dark metal and was recommended this CD as an essential purchase. I found the music very moody – haunting keyboards, loud guitar riffs and pounding drums. The vocals were hard to tolerate at first. I found the screeching vocals cheesy and not the least bit scary or dark. It is highly probably that I have just become more accustomed to the vocals hence they now seem less annoying.

I haven’t really delved into the lyrics as yet – they are most indecipherable without reading the booklet. I will post my opinions on them in the future.

Verdict : an essential dark metal album. A must buy.

Japanese Scarface is a nasty grappler

A spin off from the popular Baki The Grappler manga, the Hong Kong Chinese edition of Scarface hit the streets last month and I picked up a copy from a local newsstand. Baki was known for its over-the-top fights and Scarface delivers the same kind of kicks.
I must admit that I didn’t really like the Baki manga – the artwork didn’t really appeal to me and there are so many fight comics out in the market, that I never really felt the need to pursue it. I did go through the first twenty odd episodes of the TV series, which I found entertaining enough. But back to Scarface. This manga offers nothing particularly special and in this first volume, there aren’t even very many elaborate action scenes.
Verdict : only for hard-core fans of Baki.

Nimrod outsmarted by New X-Men

The New X-Men’s 4-part Nimrod arc concluded in issue #31. The final confrontation between the ultimate Sentinel Nimrod and the New X-Men (Rockslide, Mercury, Hellion, Dust, Surge, X-23) dominated the issue. The rumour that there would be at least one casualty proved to be true – but lasted only a few pages as the healer Elixir’s powers returned just in time to save a fatally wounded Laura (X-23).

Liked I stated in a previous post, The New X-Men stands heads and shoulders above most mainstream comic books and I rate it as one of the better mutant titles along with Josh Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Apart from the early issues when writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost hadn’t quite figured out the mechanics of the team, the title has delivered very entertaining plots and nice character development unburdened by a ridiculous backstory that plagues the senior X-Men stories. Paco Medina’s artwork continues to dazzle – I would like to see him pencil one of the senior X-Men teams in the future.

Verdict : highly recommended.

Previous post : Nimrod returns in New X-Men

Civil War #4 : cloned Thor goes berserk!

One of the mysteries surrounding Marvel’s Civil War event is how Thor would be re-introduced back into the Marvel Universe after his demise last year. Hints were dropped in the Fantastic Four comics about Thor’s impending return, but the thunder god’s actual homecoming came in Civil War #4 – and boy, was it a shocker.

I’m not totally sold on Marvel’s Civil War event – too many crossover comics to follow smacks of greed on the part of Marvel. I also found many titles less than spectacular in terms of both plot development and artwork. Being the flagship title that drives the event, the Civil War comic is the only essential buy – I am not particular fond of Steve McNiven’s artwork, but the title has managed to deliver some surprises. In issue #4, Thor suddenly makes a bold entrance and even kills a former team-mate. It is revealed that Reed Richards cloned and now controls the “fake” thunder god along with Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man.

It will be real interesting to see how writer Mark Millar wraps up the series.

Official wallpaper based on Michael Turner’s variant cover