|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:46 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Additions!
Jet Li's Hero was a natural choice, me being into Chinese swords lately. And it was as close to live-action anime as one can get without making a sucky movie. But that comparison only works in the visual department, as both this movie and the anime medium are very visual. Colors are used in a way that can only be described as awesome. The fight scenes are as fluid as really dangerous dances, but might not be everyone's cup of tea. It's perfectly respectable if you prefer the gritty, Lord of the Rings style combat scenes. The story wasn't as fluid as the fighting, but wasn't simplistic or cliche. I highly recommend it. Oh, also: watch it in Chinese with the subs. There is an English audio track, but it's just not right to watch a movie of this style like that. I mean there's not that much dialogue anyway.
House of Flying Daggers made me think to myself, "Why haven't I already been watching movies like this?" It and Hero were really my first serious look into the wire-fu action movies. But to call this an action movie is doing it a disservice. It's a visual masterpiece that shows off the finest cinematography. I mean it's worth a watch just because sometimes it's just so damn pretty. Even that aside, the story is perfectly good. Above Hero's, I'd say. The action scenes in Hero, I believe, are a little better, but putting both movies against each other as a whole, I'd say HOFD comes out ahead. A fantastic movie. You're really missing out if you haven't seen it yet, so buy it or rent it (buy it!). It's old now, so it's cheap. And it makes me want a dao...
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:12 pm
|
|
|
|
Additions!
Enemy at the Gates is one of those war movies I'd heard of for a long time, but never saw. So I went and bought it. As a war movie, I thought it was pretty good, but nothing in it jumped out at me as anything really memorable. The sniper duels were pretty nice, as was the Mosin Nagant action, but the romance was paper thin and did nothing for me. Some might enjoy the movie, and I can see why, but I didn't think it was that special.
A Better Tomorrow was an obvious pick for me after enjoying Hard Boiled. It's another John Woo-Chow Yun-Fat action flick. And where the violence is gritty and satisfying (is it okay to say that? I can't think of another way to put it) there are fairly minimal gunfights, and they're not even so great where they are. The characters came through pretty well, but Hard Boiled was superior. Just view it as an actiony crime drama rather than a strict action movie, and you'll enjoy it more.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki's first, I picked by Amazon's reveiwers spouting its awesomeness. So I came in to the movie with high expectations. And you know what? It didn't disappoint. Visuals were well-presented, characters fleshed out through subtle but noticeable ways, and the story was the standard "don't hurt the environment!" Miyazaki fare, but still nicely done. I prefer Castle of Cagliostro and Princess Mononoke, but only because they're closer to my ideal movie types, but Nausicaa is a fine movie. I just wish I hadn't been so darn tired and dozing off over and over near the end.
Transporter 3 I could have seen a long time ago, but I wasn't all that interested. The original was a great action flick and the second had some good merits (merits not being the same music played over and over again) but I expected the third to further decline from the second. I was right. It did decline from the first and second. And the "sexy" Ukranian woman came off as pretty whorish and unappealing to me, but maybe I just like the classier and/or badass chicks. There was some decent Jason-Statham-kicking-bad-guy-a** and car chases. Gun fights were really minimal and there was only a single revolver all throughout, but not bad. The whole "Frank can't get more than such-and-such distance from the car or explode" thing came off as novel, since he hardly went anywhere without the car ayway, but did set the movie up for some neat scenes. But the whole situation around the car in the lake near the end was total BS. I'd watch it again, but not for a long time, and I don't mind that I have it as just a rental.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:57 am
|
|
|
|
Additions!
The Killer is another John Woo Chow Yun-Fat action flick. Fat plays a hitman that accidentally blinds a young woman during a hit and decides to quit the business, but take on one last target and use the money for a (cornea I believe) transplant for the woman, and big surprise, falls in love with her. It features a lot of the generally epic shootouts similar to Hard Boiled, though I think Hard Boiled had better. A good movie to check out if you like the genre, but try Hard Boiled first.
The White Dragon I thought was along the lines of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/House of Flying Daggers type, but it turned out to be more of a comedy/romance with wuxian movie themes. A little silly (there's a scene where an old woman transfers her powers to the main character, and a loading bar shows up onscreen) but charming. Just know what to expect.
The Machine Girl is a Japanese splatter film, but I guess upon ordering I didn't think about what that meant. I was expecting a stylistic action romp along the lines of Sin City, but what I got was a brutal and horrific gore-fest. Maybe I knew what I was in for, or had a suspicion, and just thought I was wrong. But either way I found it gruesome and off-putting. I mean I can watch a head pop from a gunshot without even blinking (thanks Resident Evil 4!) but that's a whole other level from a schoolgirl cutting a boy's head off with a kitchen knife and using the body to spray a fountain of blood over his father while he's in the tub. Sounds funnier typed out than it actually is. I didn't even get halfway through. The part where the girl's getting fingers chopped off by a man with a katana, and then her arm, screaming her head off in pain, I'd had more than enough. Just hit stop, said, "Done!" I want my money back. I guess some people can like this stuff, but they shouldn't.
The Girl Who Leaped Through Time is a more modern anime movie by some director whose name I can't remember. It's about a girl. Who leaps through time. Yeah, I was surprised, too. Anyway she goes back to change pretty trivial things in her life, like getting to eat the pudding in the fridge her sister got first. Or doing better on tests in school. The character interaction is good, but the ending is a little out of nowhere, and doesn't make that much sense. But still a good movie.
Memories is a collection of three short anime features in one DVD--Magnetic Rose, Stink Bomb, and Cannon Fodder. Magnetic Rose is a glorious space piece about a team that locates a distress signal and follows it to an abandoned ship thing where a woman sort of cultivates the space around her to mirror her memories. Really engrossing and beautifully done--has some Metroid elements, nice music, scenery, and manages to be a little creepy. In Stink bomb, a chemist in a Japanese laboratory takes a pill he things will help his cold symptoms, and ends up being a biological weapon that makes his body emit a deadly toxin he doesn't even know about. So the Japanese military tries to take him out as he heads toward Tokyo. Pretty funny, with a good pace, like a catchy song in visual form. Cannon Fodder is a short thing with a weird animation style where these people's whole lives center around firing cannons mounted all over their city at some enemy that's never seen. Portrays an interesting world, but didn't really do anything for me. Still a great collection over all.
Spirited Away you've probably all seen if you've wanted to. It's a classic, deservedly so, and demands a watch. Inventive characters, delightful music, brilliant scenery, and the voice acting isn't even bad.
Black Lagoon, well, I'd seen the first two episodes of a while back online in Japanese. But my dad downloaded this program called Graboid. You pay per month for so much download space, so I got the whole first season and have two episodes left. This time in English, on our monstrously over sized living room computer screen. And let me say, Black Lagoon is awesome. Absurd gunfights almost matching Revy's absurd attitude. The English dub is great, and catches a lot more of the attitude of the characters than can be had reading subtitles. Huge lack of gun inaccuracies, besides the usual infinite mags. Slides recoil, and revolver cylinders actually turn before firing. Great stuff, I wish it would never end... It makes me want two things: more guns, and to smoke again. mrgreen
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:19 am
|
|
|
|
ArmasTermin The Girl Who Leaped Through Time is a more modern anime movie by some director whose name I can't remember. It's about a girl. Who leaps through time. Yeah, I was surprised, too. Anyway she goes back to change pretty trivial things in her life, like getting to eat the pudding in the fridge her sister got first. Or doing better on tests in school. The character interaction is good, but the ending is a little out of nowhere, and doesn't make that much sense. But still a good movie.
Quote: Spirited Away you've probably all seen if you've wanted to. It's a classic, deservedly so, and demands a watch. Inventive characters, delightful music, brilliant scenery, and the voice acting isn't even bad.
Quote: Black Lagoon, well, I'd seen the first two episodes of a while back online in Japanese. But my dad downloaded this program called Graboid. You pay per month for so much download space, so I got the whole first season and have two episodes left. This time in English, on our monstrously over sized living room computer screen. And let me say, Black Lagoon is awesome. Absurd gunfights almost matching Revy's absurd attitude. The English dub is great, and catches a lot more of the attitude of the characters than can be had reading subtitles. Huge lack of gun inaccuracies, besides the usual infinite mags. Slides recoil, and revolver cylinders actually turn before firing. Great stuff, I wish it would never end... It makes me want two things: more guns, and to smoke again. mrgreen
Also, the Revy/Eda dynamic is ******** HILARIOUS.
If you can find it, and I have yet to be successful here, you might enjoy The Cockpit. It's a three-part anime about Axis pilots in WW2. The only two I remember offhand are a Japanese kamikaze pilot who survives when the launch bomber is shot down, and feels disgraced, and the other one is about a Luftwaffe pilot who has to guard Germany's atomic bomb in transit, and he has to choose between the bomb's destruction and his girlfriend's life (because she's the bomber pilot). I found the one about the kamikaze pilot on YouTube, but the other two elude me. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:25 pm
|
|
|
|
Fresnel ArmasTermin The Girl Who Leaped Through Time is a more modern anime movie by some director whose name I can't remember. It's about a girl. Who leaps through time. Yeah, I was surprised, too. Anyway she goes back to change pretty trivial things in her life, like getting to eat the pudding in the fridge her sister got first. Or doing better on tests in school. The character interaction is good, but the ending is a little out of nowhere, and doesn't make that much sense. But still a good movie. I found the ending to make a lot of sense, and tie up all the loose ends left hanging, except it was depressing as ********. Also, Makoto was HILARIOUS. Quote: Spirited Away you've probably all seen if you've wanted to. It's a classic, deservedly so, and demands a watch. Inventive characters, delightful music, brilliant scenery, and the voice acting isn't even bad. I don't remember if I enjoyed it or not, but it got kind of hippy after a while. Good plot, though. Quote: Black Lagoon, well, I'd seen the first two episodes of a while back online in Japanese. But my dad downloaded this program called Graboid. You pay per month for so much download space, so I got the whole first season and have two episodes left. This time in English, on our monstrously over sized living room computer screen. And let me say, Black Lagoon is awesome. Absurd gunfights almost matching Revy's absurd attitude. The English dub is great, and catches a lot more of the attitude of the characters than can be had reading subtitles. Huge lack of gun inaccuracies, besides the usual infinite mags. Slides recoil, and revolver cylinders actually turn before firing. Great stuff, I wish it would never end... It makes me want two things: more guns, and to smoke again. mrgreen In Japanese, "Dutchy" was a good name for him. It fit. "Dutch" does NOT roll off the tongue the same way. Also, it's REALLY confusing realizing that it's not a dub in the purest sense, THEY'RE ACTUALLY SPEAKING ENGLISH. Bailalaika can only speak English and Russian, so she needs a Japanese translator (Rock) in the second series. That's what tipped me off. Rock speaks English and Japanese, Dutch and Benny speak only English, and Revy can speak English and... Chinese, I think. Makes it hilarious when she's speaking Engrish to the little Japanese kids in the hopes they'll understand her. Also, the Revy/Eda dynamic is ******** HILARIOUS. If you can find it, and I have yet to be successful here, you might enjoy The Cockpit. It's a three-part anime about Axis pilots in WW2. The only two I remember offhand are a Japanese kamikaze pilot who survives when the launch bomber is shot down, and feels disgraced, and the other one is about a Luftwaffe pilot who has to guard Germany's atomic bomb in transit, and he has to choose between the bomb's destruction and his girlfriend's life (because she's the bomber pilot). I found the one about the kamikaze pilot on YouTube, but the other two elude me.
Well with TGWLTT, I just kind of thought, without spoiling anything, the reason he did that didn't really make sense. Seemed like a lot of trouble for something that wouldn't be a big deal.
If they're speaking English, then what's the point of a dub? Just to make it easier on English viewers? And wait, I've seen it before in the "Japanese" form. I'm pretty sure they were speaking Japanese. Or is it the production crew has them speaking Japanese but it's just translated for the viewer's sake, and in the show canon, they're all speaking English. Because Benny is from Florida, so it would make sense.
I think I'm going to have to buy the second season either way.
And I'll look up The Cockpit. Sounds interesting. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:46 pm
|
|
|
|
ArmasTermin Fresnel ArmasTermin The Girl Who Leaped Through Time is a more modern anime movie by some director whose name I can't remember. It's about a girl. Who leaps through time. Yeah, I was surprised, too. Anyway she goes back to change pretty trivial things in her life, like getting to eat the pudding in the fridge her sister got first. Or doing better on tests in school. The character interaction is good, but the ending is a little out of nowhere, and doesn't make that much sense. But still a good movie. I found the ending to make a lot of sense, and tie up all the loose ends left hanging, except it was depressing as ********. Also, Makoto was HILARIOUS. Quote: Spirited Away you've probably all seen if you've wanted to. It's a classic, deservedly so, and demands a watch. Inventive characters, delightful music, brilliant scenery, and the voice acting isn't even bad. I don't remember if I enjoyed it or not, but it got kind of hippy after a while. Good plot, though. Quote: Black Lagoon, well, I'd seen the first two episodes of a while back online in Japanese. But my dad downloaded this program called Graboid. You pay per month for so much download space, so I got the whole first season and have two episodes left. This time in English, on our monstrously over sized living room computer screen. And let me say, Black Lagoon is awesome. Absurd gunfights almost matching Revy's absurd attitude. The English dub is great, and catches a lot more of the attitude of the characters than can be had reading subtitles. Huge lack of gun inaccuracies, besides the usual infinite mags. Slides recoil, and revolver cylinders actually turn before firing. Great stuff, I wish it would never end... It makes me want two things: more guns, and to smoke again. mrgreen In Japanese, "Dutchy" was a good name for him. It fit. "Dutch" does NOT roll off the tongue the same way. Also, it's REALLY confusing realizing that it's not a dub in the purest sense, THEY'RE ACTUALLY SPEAKING ENGLISH. Bailalaika can only speak English and Russian, so she needs a Japanese translator (Rock) in the second series. That's what tipped me off. Rock speaks English and Japanese, Dutch and Benny speak only English, and Revy can speak English and... Chinese, I think. Makes it hilarious when she's speaking Engrish to the little Japanese kids in the hopes they'll understand her. Also, the Revy/Eda dynamic is ******** HILARIOUS. If you can find it, and I have yet to be successful here, you might enjoy The Cockpit. It's a three-part anime about Axis pilots in WW2. The only two I remember offhand are a Japanese kamikaze pilot who survives when the launch bomber is shot down, and feels disgraced, and the other one is about a Luftwaffe pilot who has to guard Germany's atomic bomb in transit, and he has to choose between the bomb's destruction and his girlfriend's life (because she's the bomber pilot). I found the one about the kamikaze pilot on YouTube, but the other two elude me. Well with TGWLTT, I just kind of thought, without spoiling anything, the reason he did that didn't really make sense. Seemed like a lot of trouble for something that wouldn't be a big deal.
Quote: If they're speaking English, then what's the point of a dub? Just to make it easier on English viewers? And wait, I've seen it before in the "Japanese" form. I'm pretty sure they were speaking Japanese. Or is it the production crew has them speaking Japanese but it's just translated for the viewer's sake, and in the show canon, they're all speaking English. Because Benny is from Florida, so it would make sense. I think I'm going to have to buy the second season either way.
The second season is totally worth it. There's one bit of firearm inaccuracy you'll probably rage over good, but other than that it's pretty sweet.
Quote: And I'll look up The Cockpit. Sounds interesting. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:27 am
|
|
|
|
Additions!
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage I ordered in a box set with the first season the night I finished season one. Why buy a season I've already seen the very night I finished watching it? Two reasons: season 1 and 2 together were about $6 on Amazon more than seasons 1 or 2 by themselves. And... it's damn good. Usually there's three pitfalls for anime to keep it from being awesome: the characters aren't made to act as real people, the plot drags and you begin to wonder why you're still watching , or it's downright boring. Black Lagoon (seasons 1 and 2) avoid all three with short, self-contained story arcs 3-4 episodes long while still leaving room amid the action and tightly-written plotting to bring characters' personalities through. It also never strays from going over the top in true anime fashion, it's downright absurd in a sit-back-and-watch-the-carnage way. Not to mention all the gun-toting ladies. Eda, Roberta, Chinglish sorta (I don't remember her name), Balalaika, and of course Revy. And although I'm sad to see it end, I've heard there's a third season in the works. Which makes sense, because the writers left it wide open for more storylines with Chinglish (that's what Revy calls her, so...), that Wizard guy, and Eda. I've babbled a long time because this show jumped onto my short list of favorites, but suffice to say: go watch Black Lagoon.
Also: I knew I wasn't the only one that thought "Pulp Fiction" when I saw the frame:
Metroid Prime 2 is a video game, but I've been playing it and it's as awesome as I remember. Not technically as good as part 1. But I got it in the Trilogy set for Wii and said hey, why not play through all of them? The bosses are inventive and every one extremely different from the last. The puzzles are sometimes a pain in the a** with the light world/dark world mechanics, but you get used to it. And the Wii controls work great. You can lock on an enemy to keep your vision centered, but are free to move your aim around, which lets you curve homing shots (missiles, Super Missiles, and a later beam) around stuff, which is fun and useful. The worst part is the world-scouring you must do at the end to find 9 key things scattered over the entire landscape. But that gives you plenty of time to explore and find power ups before the final fight. I love the huge scope of part 2 over part 1, though. There's several really wide open areas, and great level design. Not to mention the beautiful graphic details of places like the Sanctuary Fortress and Torvus Bog. Great stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:36 am
|
|
|
|
ArmasTermin Additions! Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage I ordered in a box set with the first season the night I finished season one. Why buy a season I've already seen the very night I finished watching it? Two reasons: season 1 and 2 together were about $6 on Amazon more than seasons 1 or 2 by themselves. And... it's damn good. Usually there's three pitfalls for anime to keep it from being awesome: the characters aren't made to act as real people, the plot drags and you begin to wonder why you're still watching , or it's downright boring. Black Lagoon (seasons 1 and 2) avoid all three with short, self-contained story arcs 3-4 episodes long while still leaving room amid the action and tightly-written plotting to bring characters' personalities through. It also never strays from going over the top in true anime fashion, it's downright absurd in a sit-back-and-watch-the-carnage way. Not to mention all the gun-toting ladies. Eda, Roberta, Chinglish sorta (I don't remember her name), Balalaika, and of course Revy. And although I'm sad to see it end, I've heard there's a third season in the works. Which makes sense, because the writers left it wide open for more storylines with Chinglish (that's what Revy calls her, so...), that Wizard guy, and Eda. I've babbled a long time because this show jumped onto my short list of favorites, but suffice to say: go watch Black Lagoon.
Roberta's umbrella was ingenious. A SPAS-12 was perfect, even the buttstock looks like an umbrella... kind of.
I think season 2 aired this year, and season 3 is scheduled to air next year, so with any luck we shouldn't have long to wait.
Wizard was hilarious. It's MAGIIIIIC! No, it's a kevlar vest. And then... what was his name, Reinholdt? The one with a custom tanker Luger in .454, who monologued for so long that Revy just shot him? He was hilarious too. God, I laughed so much watching this series... I gotta say though, the best part for me was in the second episode:
YEAH! YOU'VE BEEN <********>! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:36 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:04 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:45 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:51 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:00 pm
|
|
|
|
ArmasTermin Speaking of, we need more story going towards Dutch and Benny.
Quote: And Eda, even though her weapon of choice is a Glock. At least it's a longslide, ported Glock.
Quote: But you know you've found the show for me when there's a scene with characters arguing over which gun Jesus would use. "He's a Jew, right? Of course he'd use an Israeli gun." mrgreen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:12 am
|
|
|
|
Fresnel ArmasTermin Quote: But you know you've found the show for me when there's a scene with characters arguing over which gun Jesus would use. "He's a Jew, right? Of course he'd use an Israeli gun." mrgreen And thank god she said Jericho, and not DEagle. Jesus is no poser. Amen! lol |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
