Archive for November, 2006

MOVIE TRAILERS . Nana 2, Smoking Aces, Curse of the Golden Flower, Ô-oku, Paprika and more

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   November 30, 2006   ⋅   Comments [3]

It’s time for another trailer rundown.
Nana 2 . The next installment of the rock drama starring Japanese pop star Mika Nakashima. I haven’t yet seen Nana 1, but Nakashima’s actually a pretty good singer, so I am somewhat interested. Trailer here.
Smoking Aces . The latest in hitmen comedy, Smoking Aces looks about as fun as [...]

DVD REVIEW . Street Trash

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   November 27, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

If you’ve never seen Street Trash before, there’s no better time than now, as Synapse’s DVD release sets a new standard for cult restorations.
Street Trash’s story concerns a mysterious cache of bootleg liquor, labeled “Viper”, found within the basement wall of a lower Manhattan liquor store. Being that the store is a regular stop for [...]

MOVIE REVIEWS [Capsules] . Vibrator, G@ME, Rampo Jigoku

by Chris   ⋅   November 22, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Vibrator
I do my best to see good in films these days. I think I’ve come a long way from my cranky green critic self. But Vibrator has brought out the cranky in me. It is an absolutely terrible film. Plodding, shallow, and self important, it is an absolute chore to sit through.
Lauded as “Japan’s Answer [...]

Best Audio Seminar of the Year “Privacy is Dead - Get Over It Revisited”

by Chris   ⋅   November 22, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

It’s no secret that these days, thanks to the internet, you can find pretty much any type of information on anyone under the sun. But, what you might not know are some of the rather surprising sources of of such information. Check out Steve Rambam’s talk at HOPE number Six here. You’ll be glad you [...]

Hellsing Ultimate OVA to release in December

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   November 21, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Just received another press release you guys might be interested in. Now, I watched the original Hellsing series from start to end. It was a well animated show, but a little lacking in the story department. I’m not sure how this new one will compare, but I think it might have potential. Press release below.
GENEON [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Always - Sunset on Third Street

by Chris   ⋅   November 19, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Okay, I’ll admit it. I initially picked up Always - Sunset on Third Street (aka: Always san-chôme no yûhi) because of star Koyuki (Kairo, Last Samurai, Antique Cake Store). Usually when I pick up a film due to its featuring an attractive star I’m endlessly disappointed, but much to my delight, I found Always provided [...]

UCLA Library Tasering Incident

by Chris   ⋅   November 17, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

Here’s a reason why YouTube’s user uploaded videos are so completely awesome. An incident of police abusing their power, that would have been either swept under the rug, or relegated to a two second sound byte on the evening news, is now national story, thanks to a citizen journalist uploading his video to YouTube. I [...]

BOOK REVIEW . In the Miso Soup

by Chris   ⋅   November 14, 2006   ⋅   Comments [2]

Although I’ve been a fan of Haruki Murakami for roughly the past five years, I still hadn’t checked out Ryu. The “other Murakami”, writer of such bleak novels as Coin Locker Babies and director of Tokyo Decadence, is arguably more popular, and substantially less surreal. Anyways, on to the ultra-quick review of In the Miso [...]

Babel movie review

by Chris   ⋅   November 13, 2006   ⋅   Comments [2]

Iñárritu’s latest is essentially a high minded anthology film tackling the lack of communication, compassion, and empathy in the world today. Given the amount of press this film is receiving, I’ll let you read an in-depth rundown of the narratives elsewhere. Regarding the structure of the film however, Iñárritu’s inteleaving of the tales hinders, rather [...]

MOVIE TRAILERS . Night of the Living Dead 3D, The Simpsons Movie, and more

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   November 13, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

We haven’t done a trailer roundup in quite a bit, so here you go.
The Bicycle Thief (was Bad). The big deal Japanese film this year. This has already seen a lot of press on Twitch. Check out the trailers here.
Come Early Morning. A comedy about life and love, starring Ashley Judd, and directed by Joey [...]

A whole bunch of Spider-Man 3 stuff

by Chris   ⋅   November 13, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

So we’re not usually in the business of reporting comic book items, but even people who hate comic book adaptations are somewhat interested in Spider-Man 3. Dave at eGamer has the workprint trailer that was removed from AintitCool earlier this week. It’s the one that actually shows a bit of Topher Grace as Venom (yah…I [...]

DVD REVIEW . Splatter: Naked Blood

by Chris   ⋅   November 12, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Kris and my first introduction to the work of director Hisayu Sato (Survey Map of Paradise Lost) was through his Caterpillar segment of Rampo Jigoku (aka: Rampo Noir). A shining example of erotic/grotesque, the segment was completely revolting and somehow creepily sexy at exactly the same time. So, when we received Splatter: Naked Blood we [...]

DVD REVIEW . Sars Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis

by Chris   ⋅   November 11, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Let’s face it. The Zombie genre is, no pun intended, pretty much dead. Since the release of Resident Evil on the original Playstation, filmmakers and film studios have gone zombie crazy, producing a glut of films running the range from brilliant Zombie action/comedies to tired Zombie remakes and half baked immitators, with an unfortunate emphasis [...]

In case you get all your news from MTV…

by Kris   ⋅   November 8, 2006   ⋅   Comments [2]

…you probably don’t even care about Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigning or the Democrats rising to majority House rule. No, no you only care about Britney’s break-up.
Britney Spears seems to have tired of the sperm bank she called a husband and made a bee line for splitsville with Kevin Federline. I know, [...]

The Wow-Choten Hotel (aka: Suite Dreams) movie review

by Chris   ⋅   November 3, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

New Years Eve is a big deal in the states, but even more so in Japan. Think of our Christmas preparations times two. At the Avanti, a plush Five Star Tokyo hotel, the New Years Eve excitement is ramped up even further than the norm, as the night sees not only preparations for New Year’s [...]

MOVIE REVIEW [Guest] . Shaun of the Dead

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   November 3, 2006   ⋅   Comments [5]

Shawn of the Dead is likely to be the zombie cult film of our age. While it falls under the category of horror-comedy, the film is fairly witty and pushes the main character through many emotions throughout the course of the story.
The approach toward zombies is quite realistic, as Shawn passes off the first [...]

My, what lovely shoulder length lashes you have!

by Kris   ⋅   November 3, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

Did someone get this idea watching Sesame Street’s Snuffleupagus (pictured left)? Well, now you too can look like a huge wooly mammoth with floppy long lashes dangling past your eyes. It only costs $3,000/eye.
Eyelash transplants. This is insane. The surgery previously conducted only on burn victims is now coveted [...]

MUNCHIES . Look Cake Shop Maroyaka Montblan

by Kris   ⋅   November 3, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

Oh the sacrifices I make to keep you guys entertained. I despise chocolate. The texture, the sweetness, the aftertaste, blech blech blech! But as I do eat it occassionally to report munchies reviews, be aware that I am not enjoying it. I know it’s odd but oh wells. So I [...]

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