MOVIE REVIEWS [In Brief] . The Ten, Cool Dimension, The Illusionist, Monster Squad

Summertime house cleaning continues, with the Ten Commandments comedy,The Ten, the female martial artist action film, Cool Dimension, the me-too magician film, The Illusionist, and cult classic, The Monster Squad. Enjoy.
The Ten . A comedy featuring ten short stories, each centering about one of the Ten Commandments, from the guys who brought you The State. [...]

Sodom the Killer dvd review

The name Sodom the Killer (aka: Sodom no ichi), to me, conveys a film promising debauched violence on an epic scale. However, in the case of this film, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead, Sodom the Killer is full on parody of J-Horror’s grudge and occult films, such as Juon and Tokyo: The [...]

MOVIE REVIEWS [In Brief] . Meatball Machine, Crash (1997), Hustle and Flow

Summertime catch-up continues with three more films from the queue. This go round we have Meatball Machine, David Cronenberg’s Crash, and Hustle and Flow. Enjoy.
Meatball Machine . This was a bit of a hit at the 2006 Hole in the Head fest, but I finally tracked it down this week. Directed by Yudai Yamaguchi (Battlefield [...]

TRAILER WATCH . Lust, Caution, 3:10 to Yuma, Darjeeling Limited and more

Here are a few more of trailers I came across on the web. Also, scroll down for a Panda Prison Break ( I didn’t know where else to place it).
Lust, Caution . New Ang Li, featuring Tony Leung and (ugh) Joan Chen. Plot involves a love story and assassination plot in occupied Shanghai. Check [...]

Rose & Camelia - I give you slap!!!

If you made a Jane Austen novel into a fighting game, you’d probably end up with something like Rose & Camelia, a Japanese flash game of 17th century high-society slapping that has to be seen to be believed. It’s quite a bit of fun and features some fairly intuitive controls (click the action button that [...]

ANIMATION REVIEW . Bad Bugs Bunny, a retrospective on censored Warner Bros. animation

Arguably HoleHead’s biggest draw, Dennis Nyback’s Bad Bugs Bunny commanded packed houses and sold out showings. A collection of banned Warner Bros. cartoons, shelved for the most part due to their overtly racist, sexist, and violent material (some since 1967), are rarely, if ever screened publicly. In fact, for fear of litigation, audience members [...]

I Spit on Your Go-Bots

Oh my. I was searching for GoBots videos on YouTube due to the SFIndie screening of GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords this weekend, and found something quite alarming. Now, some of you may have seen this already, as it has been featured on G4 and the like, but I just discovered it yesterday. Check [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . We Are the Strange

This review is so long overdue that a serendipitous run-in with the writer/director prompted a strict reminder. M Dot Strange (aka: Michael Belmont) is so completely casual and San Jose-centric that he frequents a local boba tea place, even today as he types out an article for Wired Magazine (August issue — be [...]

But Brokeback Mountain IS educational

Something about this case makes me chuckle. Chicago eighth graders were subjected to the horror that is forbidden rural man love when a substitute teacher slyly popped in Brokeback Mountain to educate the kids. “What happens in Ms. Buford’s class stays in Ms. Buford’s class,” the makeshift mentor allegedly said as the door [...]

ANIME REVIEW . BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo vol. 2: Scream for Ice Cream

It takes a special kind of weird to make me crack up. It’s the type of comedy that is so out of left field, so unpredictably off the wall it challenges viewers to even describe its humor. Shows like Aqua Teen and early South Park pull this off wonderfully. You either get these shows, or [...]

Hair Don’t - Iranian salons forbidden to give Western style haircuts

Sure we can invade them, bomb their citizens, decimate buildings and homes, but no way, in no way can we influence their fashion sense! Barbers in Tehran Iran have been warned not to give Western style hairdos.
By Islamic law, women are required to wear dark shades of long loose-fitting clothing and veil [...]

A “rocktail” with $15,000 worth of “hot ice”

Shh… government secret printed on roadsign

North Korea and their two biggest undisclosed targets (Japan and us) are on the cusp of negotiations (or rather they disobey and watch us sweat) yet again. Did our leader really believe their disarmament promises? Silly George. Silly Abe san.

Well, here’s a silly roadsign to ease the tension of potential nuclear war. [...]

Get whipped (literally and figuratively) in “Women’s Town”, China

Tourism official Li Jigang is hoping to secure funding for a very unique tourist trap. “Women’s Town” will exist in an 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²) area presently known for it’s heavy truck manufacturing, a far cry from femininity. In the Shuangqiao district in Chongqing China, the tiny village’s mantra will decree “women [...]

Toilet Trivia

Toilets filled with water aren’t usually the first thing you’d think would catch on fire. Earlier this month, some bidets in Japan defied common knowledge and their manufacturer Toto is in the “hot seat” so to speak. Sorry I just couldn’t resist. “The fire would have been just under your buttocks,” said [...]

The untold Easter story starring Satan

So you thought Easter was about celebrating Jesus’ resurrection with chocolate eggs, marshmallow bunnies and glazed ham, eh? Well, I’m here to inform you of the true origin of Easter.
I always knew that Easter was based on a Pagan custom, but I wanted to learn more. Curiosity led me to [...]

America’s Next Top Model 2007 and Tyra Banks at the Beach

Get out your scorecards because in two days, America’s Next Top Model Cycle 8 is on! The international destination this season is Australia, which is fitting since Australia’s Next Top Model premieres on VH1 next week. Looks like there’s only one token edgy girl (Jael, back row far left) and as always, a [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Inland Empire

Going into David Lynch’s Inland Empire I found myself somewhat apprehensive. You see, for the longest time I’ve been a David Lynch fan, but in recent years his films have been left to languish on our DVD shelves. It’s not that they’re uninteresting. It’s just that they don’t muster the same allure as when I [...]