Thursday, October 28, 2004
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Bored before bedtime.
Courtesy of The Beat, Disney cast members are packin' heat again.
Sandy Barbour, I don't care what it costs, but re-sign Jeff Tedford, dammit.
Casshern is coming to America, courtesy of Dreamworks. I saw ads for the DVD in Tokyo, and I was all excited to buy it until I realized it wasn't out there yet.
Hey Jess, Anime News Network reports that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is coming to Cartoon Network November 6th.
I guess Republicans are after the minority vote this year....er, sort of.
Lastly, we're back...
Sandy Barbour, I don't care what it costs, but re-sign Jeff Tedford, dammit.
Casshern is coming to America, courtesy of Dreamworks. I saw ads for the DVD in Tokyo, and I was all excited to buy it until I realized it wasn't out there yet.
Hey Jess, Anime News Network reports that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is coming to Cartoon Network November 6th.
I guess Republicans are after the minority vote this year....er, sort of.
Lastly, we're back...
Tokyo Day 3: Sunday, September 26, 2004
Ahh, the Tokyo Game Show. TGS is sort of like E3 here in the USA, except anyone can go the TGS. For 1000 yen. That's like nine bucks. It cost us more to get to the show than to attend.
I won't say much about the show, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. A lot of the games that drew huge crowds, like Metal Gear Solid 3 and Resident Evil (aka Biohazard) 4, I had already seen in San Diego at ComicCon. I will say it was crowded (as in, difficult to move around in) and it was loud. Deafeningly loud.
Look, a giant chocobo.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a CG movie sequel to FF7, rumored for DVD release or for the Sony PSP. The stills and clips I've seen are amazing. This is the one thing I wanted to wait in line for, but the line had already been cut off for the rest of the day.
Speaking of the PSP, here is a giant PSP...
FF7: Before Crisis is a FF7 prequel (boy, FF7 sure is popular) for Vodafone mobile phones. I think it is SquareEnix's first foray into mobile phone games. Sadly, no release here in America.
Kingdom Hearts II was here and playable. I wasn't willing to test the throngs of sweaty gamers to give it a try though.
Can't go far at these types of things without running into cosplayers...
...or Star Wars. Did you know Japan has an official Star Wars credit card? Do we?
A few booth babe pictures. I didn't take a lot because, of, I don't know, I WAS ON MY HONEYMOON. Duh.
We left the TGS and stopped in Shibuya to do some shopping. Here's Rhonda with her friend Hachiko.
We went back to the hotel to change, then went to our one nice dinner on this trip. The restaurant of choice:
Ninja.
I can't make that up.
(I took some video there, but it was so dark I don't think anything came out. Yes, there are special effects, and yes, the wait...er, ninjas, try to sneak up on you.)
We finished off a lovely day at Starbucks, right next to the hotel, our first taste of home on the trip (Pepsi and AM/PM don't count). They had a green tea frappucino so Rhonda had to get it. Unknown why they don't have it here, as it is really good.
I was a little taken aback when I ordered a scone and they asked if I wanted it warmed up. Since that never happens, I said, "Hai!" It was a lot more biscuit-like than here in the States, not sure if I liked that more.
Coffee is like $4 at Starbucks. Not an espresso drink, coffee. If you go somewhere else, it's more like six bucks. And there aren't free refills in Japan, at least not very often. No Big Gulp at AM/PM. Oh, and they don't have venti on the board behind the baristas. They do, however, have a size smaller than tall. They have venti on the menu at the counter (where ignorant foreigners like me point at the pictures), but I doubt many people get it. I like a venti coffee now and then, but just one cup a day - I pity people who are used to drinking a pot of coffee every day. They must go broke.
Then again, a can (I mean, an aluminum bottle) of soda is 120 yen, or a little over a buck, and there were no 12-packs (or 6-packs, for that matter) to be found...
All the pictures from Tokyo can be found here.
I won't say much about the show, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. A lot of the games that drew huge crowds, like Metal Gear Solid 3 and Resident Evil (aka Biohazard) 4, I had already seen in San Diego at ComicCon. I will say it was crowded (as in, difficult to move around in) and it was loud. Deafeningly loud.
Look, a giant chocobo.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a CG movie sequel to FF7, rumored for DVD release or for the Sony PSP. The stills and clips I've seen are amazing. This is the one thing I wanted to wait in line for, but the line had already been cut off for the rest of the day.
Speaking of the PSP, here is a giant PSP...
FF7: Before Crisis is a FF7 prequel (boy, FF7 sure is popular) for Vodafone mobile phones. I think it is SquareEnix's first foray into mobile phone games. Sadly, no release here in America.
Kingdom Hearts II was here and playable. I wasn't willing to test the throngs of sweaty gamers to give it a try though.
Can't go far at these types of things without running into cosplayers...
...or Star Wars. Did you know Japan has an official Star Wars credit card? Do we?
A few booth babe pictures. I didn't take a lot because, of, I don't know, I WAS ON MY HONEYMOON. Duh.
We left the TGS and stopped in Shibuya to do some shopping. Here's Rhonda with her friend Hachiko.
We went back to the hotel to change, then went to our one nice dinner on this trip. The restaurant of choice:
Ninja.
I can't make that up.
(I took some video there, but it was so dark I don't think anything came out. Yes, there are special effects, and yes, the wait...er, ninjas, try to sneak up on you.)
We finished off a lovely day at Starbucks, right next to the hotel, our first taste of home on the trip (Pepsi and AM/PM don't count). They had a green tea frappucino so Rhonda had to get it. Unknown why they don't have it here, as it is really good.
I was a little taken aback when I ordered a scone and they asked if I wanted it warmed up. Since that never happens, I said, "Hai!" It was a lot more biscuit-like than here in the States, not sure if I liked that more.
Coffee is like $4 at Starbucks. Not an espresso drink, coffee. If you go somewhere else, it's more like six bucks. And there aren't free refills in Japan, at least not very often. No Big Gulp at AM/PM. Oh, and they don't have venti on the board behind the baristas. They do, however, have a size smaller than tall. They have venti on the menu at the counter (where ignorant foreigners like me point at the pictures), but I doubt many people get it. I like a venti coffee now and then, but just one cup a day - I pity people who are used to drinking a pot of coffee every day. They must go broke.
Then again, a can (I mean, an aluminum bottle) of soda is 120 yen, or a little over a buck, and there were no 12-packs (or 6-packs, for that matter) to be found...
All the pictures from Tokyo can be found here.
Eminem's "Mosh"
Eminem's new video, Mosh. It's a shame it didn't come out earlier, I think it could've been the most important music video since We Are The World. It defintely should've been his first single, instead of Just Lose It.
My mom asked me the other day, "With this war going on, where are our protest songs?" Well, here's one. Funny how, Eminem, of all people, is a uniter, not a divider.
Mosh lyrics
My mom asked me the other day, "With this war going on, where are our protest songs?" Well, here's one. Funny how, Eminem, of all people, is a uniter, not a divider.
Mosh lyrics
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Wong Kar-Wai's 2046
I stumbled across this review of 2046 and critique of Wong Kar-Wai's films while reading Greencine Daily. It's a good read if you are a fan of Wong's or even if you've never heard of him.
I saw Chungking Express on a big screen in Film 50 class at UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive, and it is one of only two movies I can remember where I sat speechless in my seat as the credits rolled (the other being Pulp Fiction). I was coming off a break-up; my first significant break-up with my first real girlfriend; and the movie's theme of love lost-and-found-again and the stunning visuals really left a mark on me. That, and I thought to myself, geez, I hope I am not this pathetic. I need to get on with my life. It's still a sentimental favorite and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Since then, I've followed WKW's career with much interest. Recently, a box set of Wong's films was released and, naturally, I snapped that one up. It's got a couple of films I haven't seen but have heard much about, Days of Being Wild and As Tears Go By. I just got it this week and as soon as I make time to see them, I'll post a review.
I saw a billboard for 2046 in Shinjuku and I had a fanboy moment right there on the street. Can't wait for a domestic theatrical or DVD release.
Go see Chungking Express. Fallen Angels is good in a cynical way; slick and polished and devoid of emotion, it's the anti-CKE. In the Mood For Love has amazing performances from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung (Broken Sword and Flying Snow in Hero, respectively) and is a must-see. Go see them all.
I saw Chungking Express on a big screen in Film 50 class at UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive, and it is one of only two movies I can remember where I sat speechless in my seat as the credits rolled (the other being Pulp Fiction). I was coming off a break-up; my first significant break-up with my first real girlfriend; and the movie's theme of love lost-and-found-again and the stunning visuals really left a mark on me. That, and I thought to myself, geez, I hope I am not this pathetic. I need to get on with my life. It's still a sentimental favorite and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Since then, I've followed WKW's career with much interest. Recently, a box set of Wong's films was released and, naturally, I snapped that one up. It's got a couple of films I haven't seen but have heard much about, Days of Being Wild and As Tears Go By. I just got it this week and as soon as I make time to see them, I'll post a review.
I saw a billboard for 2046 in Shinjuku and I had a fanboy moment right there on the street. Can't wait for a domestic theatrical or DVD release.
Go see Chungking Express. Fallen Angels is good in a cynical way; slick and polished and devoid of emotion, it's the anti-CKE. In the Mood For Love has amazing performances from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung (Broken Sword and Flying Snow in Hero, respectively) and is a must-see. Go see them all.
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