| MW |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|11:55 am] |
In order for me to update this thing more often I have decided to make this blog more for the reviewing and criticizing of comics, books, movies, music and other things that interest or disgust me. Also because I have a boring life that I'm sure that no one is interested in reading about.
So here we go.
MW
by Osamu Tezuka
1976-1978
584 pages
Vertical Publishing
September 2007
Here is the synopsis from the Osamu Tezuka Wikipedia page.
"A diligent and efficient bank employee, Yuuki Michio, has another side: that of a brutal kidnapper who commits horrible crimes, one after the other. Yuuki frequently visits Father Garai at his church, repenting for his sins each time he commits a crime. The two had witnessed a terrible event on Okinomabune Island in the neighboring of Okinawa Island fifteen years ago. During the incident, all the island's residents were killed by a poisonous gas (called "MW," a secret chemical weapon), which leaks from the storage area of foreign military forces on the island. Yuuki also goes mad under the effect of the gas. While taking revenge on criminals who cover up the event, Yuuki finally locates the whereabouts of MW. Knowing that he has little time left, as his brain and heart are increasingly affected by MW, he plans to release the toxic gas all over the world when he dies, to bring the whole human race to extinction."
I had read Apollo's Song by Tezuka in one sitting over the summer while driving back to Lincoln from Illinois and it seemed to go much faster than when I read MW (which took about a week reading for no longer than 2 hours at a time) which is only 40 pages longer. This could be because MW's story line is much deeper and complex. Apollo's Song is more along the lines of a bitter-sweet fairy tale, although much more bitter than sweet with it's brooding main character being pretty much taunted by unrequited love. MW makes you think, both about what Yuuki will do next and what is going on in his sick and twisted mind, and that the government lies to it's people and that enough people stand up they can challenge it but there is always a chance of a silent consequence-free retaliation on their part. It is also interesting to see how the homosexuality aspect of the story is handled with the involvement of a priest and the fact that it was happening when homosexuality was still very taboo in Japan. The gore and murder scenes are quite unusual and interesting. Some are generic like an old bishop on R Air Base getting shot in the face three times. Some are a bit more inventive like the old bar keep who gets long needles shoved deep under his finger nails and then is released just to have his genitals bitten off by a trained dog.
If you're looking for a good book to kick off the new year this one would be on my list of recommendations and I don't even read that much manga.
I'll give it an 8 out of 10 stars. |
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| AVPR |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|12:58 pm] |
Alien vs. Predator Requiem
Directed by Colin Strause & Greg Strause
Run time: 86 minutes
20th Century Fox
Dec 2007
synopsis from IMDB
"A little town in the hills of Colorado will become the battleground between two of the deadliest extra-terrestrial lifeforms - the Alien and the Predator. When a Predator scout ship crash-lands in the hills outside the town, Alien facehuggers are released in the crash, and an even more evil creature - a hybrid Alien/Predator - is also released. A man & his son hunting in the forests near the crash site soon become the first victims of the facehuggers, and when a Predator receives data about the crash on his home planet, he comes to Earth. One at a time, the inhabitants of the town become targets of the Aliens and the Predator, including the local sheriff, a young female soldier recently returned from Iraq, and several teens. Though the National Guard is called in, they are unable to stop the deadly creatures, and a plan is set in motion to destroy the town with a nuclear device... Written by Derek O'Cain"
This was not a good movie, I really only went to it to get out of the house for an hour and a half. The only redeeming parts of the film were the Aliens constantly killing any near by people. Also the "Predalien" was pretty sweet.
The story in this movie is really weak, especially the "human drama". I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters but I was surprised when the characters that i thought would make it to the end of the movie didn't and the characters that i thought would didn't. The dialoge is about on par with a 5th grade playwright with tourettes. Also how a small helicopter could make it through the pressure of a nuclear blast while flying is beyond me.
The only way that this movie could be good would be if you were watching it on a Friday night with a bunch of friends, possibly drinking a beer whenever a chestburster explodes out of someone's chest, that means four beers when the four chestbursters rip their way out of the pregnant woman's womb.
4 out of 10 stars |
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| Juno |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|02:02 pm] |
Juno
Directed by Jason Reitman
Runtime: 92 minutes
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Dec 2007
Synopsis from IMDB
"Juno (Ellen Page) is a Mid-Western highschooler, who decides one day, out of boredom or curiosity, to have sex with her friend Bleeker (Michael Cera), a member of her school's track team. She likes him well enough, but isn't hung up on him. This one time encounter results in Juno's pregnancy. She and her best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) decide to take control of the situation by browsing for prospective adoptive parents in the local Pennysaver, and Juno settles on seemingly perfect, affluent couple Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.)"
I'm not quite sure why this movie was so hyped up. I'm sure that all the Michael Cera fans had something to do with it, plus all the Judd Apatow fans probably thought that Cera was pumping out another Superbad, this was not the case. Instead we get on overly pretentious jab at a faux teen culture. The character Juno had a constant holier than thou attitude the entire time which was fine at first but it quickly became irritating. The Bleaker character was as to be expected not a far reach From George-Micheal, I love Michael Cera but my faith in his actual acting abilities is starting to fade. Jason Bateman seemed to be the most decent actor in the whole picture. His was the only portrayal that was subtle (especially with Garner's signature over acting) and you genuinely want to know more about his character; right off the bat he seems a little strange and you want to know why.
Speaking of strange, Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby will be in another movie together called Jack and Diane which sounds loads better than Juno here's the synopsis from IMDB:
Jack and Diane, two teenage girls, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane's "charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack's tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf. Written by filmsalt.com"
So Juno, not that great, worth seeing alone or with friends but not in the theater, glad I saw it for free.
4 out of 10 stars |
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| The Reminder - Feist |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|04:13 pm] |
The Reminder
By Feist
1 disc 13 tracks
Polydor France
May 2007
I can't say that I was disappointed with this album because I knew exactly what to expect, one of those slow sad type albums that all of the indie girls love. I knew that the songs that I was familiar with would be good (i.e. My Moon, My Man and 1 2 3 4) and the rest of the songs would be slow boring ballad types. But you know there were also some up-beat songs, I'll give credit where credit is due, I'm not saying that this was a horrible album, far from it. Tracks like I Feel It All, Sea Lion Woman and Past in Present are great tracks to get ready to in the morning. I suppose that a hand full of the other tracks are pretty appropriate for the season, I could see myself laying in bed on a Saturday morning watching the snow lightly drifting down with The Park or How My Heart Behaves playing just above quiet in the background. I'd say that this album would not be very good for driving although 1 2 3 4 is quite catchy and fun to sing in the car. So keep this album at home in a pile of CDs on your stereo near the top, and sit in a mood lit room with/thinking about your significant other or if your single think about Feist, she's pretty.
6.5 out of 10 |
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