Thursday, January 12, 2006 Absolutely Last Entry
also the book reviews…
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THE BODY FARM
PATRICIA CORNWELL
my first of cornwell makes a very good debut in my bookshelf. after a so-so patterson i was hesitant in slogging through what i thought would yet again be a disappointing bit of crime fiction, but i was pleasantly wrong. now hooked, i'm planning to go on a scarpetta spree and snap up all the books in her series.
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MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
ARTHUR GOLDEN
first of all APRIL!!! thk u thk u thk u! unforgettable. mameha-san rocks the boat!
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DIGITAL FORTRESS
DAN BROWN
skip this and go for the Code
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ANGELS AND DEMONS
DAN BROWN
if Digital Fortress left u short, this tried to hold on for too long
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THE ALIENIST
CALEB CARR
absorbing historical tour through the mind of a tortured killer and an even more tortured (and stinky!) new york city
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ANGEL OF DARKNESS
CALEB CARR
spoiler alert! if you've read The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell then this is doubly fascinating to read; even more macabre sequel to The Alienist
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A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT
SEBASTIEN JAPRISOT
i just finished this, leapfrogging philip pullman's "the golden compass" and patricia cornwell's "black notice" (both being in limbo for a while until i muster the enthusiasm to start reading again me being in a none-heavy-reading-stage) which i shamefacedly admit only sparked my interest because i had already watched jeunet's movie based on the novel starring audrey tautou. there are fundamental differences, in particular the characterization of mathilde who is sassier and more clever in print. the book is funnier and infinitely more complex. for example bingo crepuscle comes from something or someone, not just random like yippee-doo-da or tra-la-la. i wonder how well the original flavor of the novel was captured for the english translation? definitely a must read.
Thursday, January 12, 2006 OK, Penultimate Entry
moved movie reviews from friendster sidebar to here
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THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
am obsessively watching this movie because i am addicted to the song "so long and thanks for all the fish"; resistance is useless; kind of like spaceballs meets monty python.
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AZUMI and AZUMI 2: DEATH OR LOVE
(is that chiaki kuriyama?!!) unabashed genre movie that hits all the right spots: honor, betrayal, fidelity, martyrdom, and superhuman swordfighting topped by a tragic ending. satisfying, but could have been more if it had a bigger budget
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D.E.B.S.
this had me completely blindsided. the first 30 minutes of this movie was condensed in the trailer and the rest is a half-assed Agent Cody Banks wannabe (ouch! that movie was half-assed too) with a twist - the main storyline is about 2 girls who fall in love. i wish i needn't be so harsh since i really like this movie (gods, anything with jordana brewster in it i'll watch) but the plot was basically thrown out before half of it was finished, then supplanted with slightly racy uber X&G. but for all it's faults this is the alternative teen movie that i always wished for but couldn't find because alternative films have a limited distribution, the industry at large is prudish, plus there's no money in bankrolling a romantic comedy for lesbians, much less a teen movie. (which begs the question: was the trailer edited because of above concerns?)
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D.E.B.S. (revisited)
i completely retract everything that i've said about D.E.B.S. now that i've watched it with angela robinson's commentary. for 28 days of shooting on an initial budget of 2 million (later on bumped to 4) this movie rocks and i couldn't ask for more considering the circumstances. this is going to be a cult classic! check out it's onilne sales and ratings. when this movie was still on the coming soon list the rating was 2 stars tops, but now that it's out on dvd it rocketed to a full 5 stars! i am now hunting for the OST. any takers for the cult of DEBS? meetings will be held right beside the HQ for the cult of My Sassy Girl.
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ARAHAN
my sassy girl meets kung fu hustle, but not as romantic or funny. still, it's a solid movie with awesome action sequences. the choreography is fast, at times deliciously brutal, with little of the inconsistencies of wire work (where the laws of gravity are defied) during hand to hand combat sequences, although there are times that it peeks between the punches. particular fave is the fight scene in the restaurant - one of the best i've seen recently. definitely better than shu qi's solos in so close. plus yun so-yi looks really good fighting - even better than zhang ziyi or eun-kyung shin of my wife is a gangster fame who both are heavily augmented by wires when doing action. all this is minus the wire-heavy-supernatural-i'm-tapping-into-my-chi scenes, but that's basic fantasy pap and all that matters is anime style posturing for these. there should have been more laughs here, but somehow the timing was off. i mean, all the elements are there for the joke, but it lacked oomph in the delivery.
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MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER 2
completely incoherent. there were some funny moments, but it lacks the enthusiasm and verve of the first movie.
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VOLCANO HIGH
this one's been around for a while, but i'm mentioning it here, because aside from it being one of my faves in the genre, jang hyuck, the lead here is jeon ji-hyeon's partner in windstruck (which many mistake for a prequel to my sassy girl. it is not. the ending was merely a gimmick to capitalize on the popularity of my sassy girl)
anyway, in volcano high there's a lot of action - mostly supernatural stuff with a lot of FX, but i think arahan's choreography is better. however this overtakes arahan with excellent comic timing. especially on jang hyuk's part who effortlessly infuses a charming dorkiness to his tortured hero role.
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NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
(directed by jared hess) the bastard child of christopher guest and wes anderson. it's effing brilliant! u must watch it! this is not an option.
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SPANGLISH
(directed by james l. brooks) i almost always scorn tearjerkers after my sad and humiliating experience with "bambi" (yes, THAT "bambi" dammit!!) but this one is so much more than a dracomedy. it stabs at the heart of multiculturism. if this isn't your kind of pie then just watch it for the luminous paz vega, who at the danger of being redundant (you have to watch the movie to get this) IS GORGEOUS!
Friday, January 6, 2006
i won't be updating this anymore. all new stuff will go to my Friendster blog. see link at sidebar. thanks.
