Monday, 14. December 2009 14:10
BATMAN BEGINS
I mean this with total seriousness and sincerity when I say Godzilla Final Wars is one of the greatest things ever. The film’s producers have claimed that this will be the last Godzilla film ever, and I must say, it will be nearly impossible to top it.
So I’ve been seeing lots of movies lately, thanks to the Subway Cinema Asian Film Fest…
Like all new wave Japanese flicks, the story is absurd, yet grounded, the editing and pacing is light and fast, yet never overwhelming, the characters are characters, but still entirely relatable and sympathetic, the soundtrack has plenty of Japanese punk and wacky sound effects, and while the things drag a tiny bit near the end, the film never outstays its welcome and you just feel really good in the end.
- The first thing I picked up was the Game Boy Micro, and I gotta admit, it was not as hard to handle as I thought. The new screen is super crisp and nice, but that’s entirely due to it being so small, which was not that difficult to play with. And while the system is still playable with only a tad bit of discomfort, its still uncomfortable nonetheless, and I have fairly small hands for a guy.
Speaking of, just damn near everything was top-notch, but it was the superb cast that really made the movie, especially Michael Caine’s rendition of Alfred. And Gary Oldman as Gordan is the very definition of brilliant casting.
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- So I finally got to play Meteos, and I’m afraid what everyone has been saying is true: if you actually try and play the game, its pretty hard, but if you just wildly scratch the screen you’ll do really well. And Dave laughed when I told him the game was originally inspired by the show 24.
Anyway, I played the one demo level that was featured at E3, where you’re riding horseback and fending off baddies, and it sure as hell was more enjoyable than sailing around in a boat.
This film from Japan has five different groups of folks, each with their own story, intersecting and converging throughout: a man who can’t seem to kill a silent (and indestructible) woman, three young burglars that have to deal with burgeoning homosexuality, an ad executive whose genius goes unrecognized, a hardworking loving family man who takes his family to a popular hypnotist that turns him into a chicken right before he is killed by a pair of assassins and is then permanently stuck as a bird, and finally the two aforementioned killers, one of which is Vinnie Jones, British soccer hooligan/actor extraordinaire who goes around jabbing people with tiny dagger from a black purse that has a skull and crossbones and is completely covered in glitter. But of course, its much more than just all that.
- But thankfully, Nintendogs was, and I can say with confidence after playing it that I now have to get a DS.
SURVIVE STYLE 5+
- Yet Mario Baseball still looks pretty awesome. And the Mario soccer game that I played was not that bad.
- I got to watch the Dance Dance Revolution Mario game in action. I think I might have been the only in my Nick Mag crew that dug the music, though I’m a sucker for old school Nintendo tunes, so no big surprise there. But the game really does have “jump the shark” written all over it. Plus, the DDR games all feature totally psychedelic stuff happening in the background, while this one just has Mario gettin’ jiggy with it. Eh…
I took a break from the Asian Film Fest to finally catch the new Batman last night. And while the first Tim Burton flick will always be a sentimental favorite, there’s no denying that this new one is the best big screen Batman adaptation ever. Its finally nice to see the pissed off, totally mental at times Batman in a movie; I still say that Michael Keaton’s cool demeanor was extremely effective, but Christian Bale totally dialed in the character.
… But yeah, see this movie the first chance you get.
I could write a whole thesis on the brilliance of the film, but instead, here’s a list of why the movie rocked so goddamn much…
…. But like I said, I haven’t really been keeping up with things for the last few days, so I’m totally out of the loop. Though between some things late last night, I did come across a site that shows you how to set up Super Mario question blocks in your neighborhood.
- Finally got the chance to play the new Zelda game. It played awesomely, as expected, but sorry, I’m still not a fan of the art style. Don’t get me wrong, its very pretty…. and rather generic. I really hopes it sells a billion copies so all those bitching about the Wind Waker look can finally shut the fuck up.
THE LATE BLOOMER
Its really one of those films that you instantly know is awesome, but you’ll have to see six more times to truly understand why.
GODZILLA FINAL WARS
I’ve been so busy this past week that I haven’t had the chance to surf the web and see what’s going on in games. But Nintendo was in town a few days ago, so I got to try out their new offerings…
- Unfortunately, Animal Crossing DS was not on hand…
It’s challenging to say the least; to watch a guy with cerebal palsy go nuts because he hates the world for an hour and a half is a real job and a half, but the director knew this and made it his job to make the view feel so uncomfortable at times to get his intended messages across. At first I was really bothered by the fact that the main character kills off such an interesting and like-able friend of his early on, but I guess that was part of the whole point.
Adding to the effect is the fact that it was shot on video, then transferred to film, and then made into black & white. Plus it’s obvious that the director is Chris Cunningham fan. I also have to add that the music was fucking insane, and very awesome, which is this experimental hybrid of noise and chiptunes. Plus the last shot in the film might be one of the most satisfying moment in a movie, at least for me personally, that I’ve seen in a very longtime.
- Total non-stop action. Seriously, the fighting, the destruction, the kung fu… it just wouldn’t end, and it never once got old.
- Then there’s Godzilla himself (or is it a she? I forget), who was in top form, doing what he does best, beating the tar out of other monsters, about 11 in total, including some of this all time greatest foes. Plus there’s mind controlling aliens!.
- The American Godzilla makes an appearance as well. Whereas Godzilla and the rest are all in good old fashioned, giant rubber suits, the way God intended, Godzilla USA is the only one to be in CGI (of a shitty quality, on purpose of course). And just to see his ass getting handed to him by the real deal was in itself worth the price of admission.
- You know how in every Godzilla flick, the human story is just an annoying time filler. Not this one; I was actually entertained and interested in what the people were doing!!!
- Speaking of the people, the highlight was easily Don “The Predator” Frye. I guess it helps that Jason and especially myself are huge fans of his Mixed Martial Arts work, but the guy was just awesome in film. He wasn’t in it for just five minutes, he was easily one of the stars, with great one-liners and a super cool huge hat.
- Plus the human (well alien really) bad guy was also totally awesome. Just the right mix of pure evil and camp. And the hint of Billy Zane certainly didn’t hurt either.
- One of the very best moves that Toho, the folks behind Godzilla series, did was getting Ryuhei Kitamura, who’s super hot right now in Japan, to helm the movie. He’s like the perfect combination of Ang Lee and Sam Raimi, so just think of the fighting from Crouching Tiger, plus the wackiness of Evil Dead, plus rubber monsters and you have this movie. Plus like all Kitamura flicks, there plenty of wanna-be Matrix fighting and action, but easily outdoes it inspiration.
- Final Wars is meant to be a homage to all the classic films, so almost every element, but especially the story, is like bits and pieces from the ten best Godzilla films all tightly compressed into one. Those who are new to Godzilla will easily enjoy themselves, but the hardcore types will wet their pants to every little loving detail.
- The music was awesome, and again a tribute to the classic flicks, with a 70’s butt rock soundtrack, courtesy of Keith Emerson (formerly of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). Though there was also a super hot techno remix of the original Godzilla theme.
- Fuck, even the beginning title sequence kicked ass! Thanks to the genius of Kyle Cooper; Toho really went all out this time around.
- All that, and Mothera, and Godzilla’s kid. Nuff said.
Real quick story: when the festival was announced, I was literally checking the Subway Cinema every fifteen minutes to ensure that I would have Godzilla tickets. When the chance finally arrived, I got two, one for me and the other for Jason, who’s easily the biggest diehard G-fan that I know off. Later when MK said she wanted to go, I was afraid the movie was all sold out and it was. But when thankfully, the nice folks at Subway Cinema was awesome enough to provide me with a complimentary ticket! I guess they saw that I had spent over $130 on the festival and figured I was worth. But yeah, thanks! MK loved the movies just as much as Jason, and she’s a total novice when it comes Godizlla; it was that good.
Even though I’ve been a huge Godzilla fan since all my life, even I have to admit that 99% of the films are not that great; they’re almost all rather dull and rather unsatisfying. This one completely fixes all that.
Wow…. trust the Japanese to make a movie about a drunken, angry handicapped guy that goes around killing folks cuz he can’t get laid and make it boring as fuck. And yet, even though I really didn’t enjoy myself (and I know MK felt the same exact way), I’m still really glad I saw it (and MK feels the say way too).
Also, during dinner before Batman, MK gave me a Mario pixel bottle cap which came out a while ago in Japan,hermes belts, from a store she came across while getting a haircut. So I had her take me to it and I got another, once plus Mario pixel magnet for the fridge at home, and another Mario stage scene. The store is JP-Gift, and is on St. Marks, between 1rst Ave and Ave. Its a small little shop, but they have lots of cool stuff; be sure to check it out if you’re in NYC.
- Tried out Kirby Canvas Curse, which everyone has been gushing about, and I just couldn’t get into it. And again, this is why the best thing about the DS is also one of the biggest negatives: some games you just can’t pick and play, you have to really know what to do beforehand and learn it, and I just couldn’t figure out what to do.
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