Pacific Rim

One simple thing is all I ask of even the most cheesy of movies, please keep me in the world of the movie.  Once I am jerked out of the movie's world then my perception and judgement of the movie becomes more critical.

With del Toro's new movie Pacific Rim I was jerked out from the onset.  When in the opening a kaiju is simply defined as a giant beast.  Under this loose interpretation King Kong and the dinosaur from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms are kaiju not just Gojira, Rodan, Gamera, and King Ghidorrah to name a few.

Another problem is making connections of scenes from this movie to other movies.  Riley and Mori remind me of Kodai and Yoko from Space Battleship Yamato.  The brash Australian Jaeger pilot reminds me of Iceman from Top Gun.  The Level Four kaiju dragging Gipsy Danger on the ground and carrying it into the air, too many skirmishes between Gojira and Rodan or King Ghiddorah.  When Gipsy Danger deploys it's sword, it will be hard not to think of Ivy from Soul Caliber and her sword.  The sub-sea rift is either inspired by X The Unknown or since we are talking an inter-dimensional rift then perhaps Battle Fairy Yukikaze.  The transport of the Jaegers by airlift and how the pilots synchronize reminds me of Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Once you see the ending you will go that's almost Independence Day.

The reduced science team is the most annoying thing in the movie.  Which is saying something since Ron Perlman is playing the guy who runs a black market selling kaiju parts.  One part of the team is this cliched crippled stiff upper lift British boffin, all he was missing was a pipe.  The other one the boffin called a 'kaiju groupie.'  Think of Rick Moranis' character in Ghostbusters but loves playing with the guts of alien creatures and getting tattoos of them put on his body.  At one point the boffin is madly playing with his chalkboards before the Jaeger commander while the groupie was sitting just a  few feet away without any protective gear tossing kaiju entrails on the floor.  At a guess they are supposed to be a bit of comic relief, but they are also the science team.  They might be a split version of Brent Spiner's scientist character from Independence Day. The British one is a far cry from Dean Jagger's Dr. Royston from X The Unknown or Prof. Quatermass from The Creeping Unknown.

Which brings me to another problem with this movie.  Earth has tried to seal the undersea rift before and has failed.  And until the science team rushes to Shatterdome to give the Jaegers the critical information they need to travel the rift, it seems they were just going to do the same thing they have tried before and failed.  That sounds too much like insanity and suicide all rolled into one though it could also be called a plan of desperation - a kamikaze move.

I will mention one other thing that bugged me in this movie and give it a rest.  Gipsy Danger is fighting a kaiju in Hong Kong that spits acid.  Audience goers have seen this acid partially dissolve another Jaeger and instantly dissolve the facade of a skyscraper.  So when Gipsy Danger grapples with the kaiju and Riley reaches into the mouth and rips its tongue out without dissolving Gipsy Danger's hand, it is another moment of being jerked out of the movie by a lack of internal consistency. 

Overall I would grade it as a B movie.

Prometheus - Spoilers Ahead

Do not read what follows if you have not seen this movie. 

First off, this movie was pretty decent.  Knowledge of Alien and Aliens robs some of the thrill while giving birth to wondering when a chest will burst.

Opening of movie will leave you puzzled.  Pale gray humanoid with muscles on top of muscles and no hair eats what seems is a bio-weapon that dissolves his body as it tumbles off a raging falls.  Meanwhile this classic giant saucer departs the planet.

The planet that humans think is referenced in these multiple ancient drawings or steles leads them to a planet orbiting a ringed gas giant, this planet is labeled LV-223.  Nostromo follows a radio signal to LV-426.

The Weyland survey vessel Prometheus lacks any drones to survey the planet.  So the whole ship goes into the atmosphere to find things.  And they quickly do.

They enter a giant stupa with a ring wall.  In the movie they are constantly calling it a pyramid.

The android David, whom Weyland calls his son except for lacking a soul, has been studying during transit such things as Hindi, the implication being he is trying to learn from the Indo-European languages the mother tongue that gave birth to this linguistic family. - One must also note, David becomes enamored with Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence of Arabia and tries to imitate him. - So when David sees inscriptions on the wall, he start pushing buttons because it seems he recognizes what they mean.

Almost as soon as they enter the stupa and detect the atmosphere is breathable, everyone starts taking off their helmets.  No one is worrying it seems about airborne pathogens in the stupa.

David activates a hologram recorder and they follow the aliens running to find their first body.  Missing it's head.  David opens the hatch before anyone can stop him.  They find the severed head plus all these odd containers arrayed around a giant humanoid bust.  I am reminded in some way of the bust of Hel from Metropolis.

They run a carbon scan on the dead alien and get a reading of 2,000 years.  Wait a minute.  How do they know with any certainty what their instrument is calibrated to read C-14 decay matches this planet?

Then suddenly this killer dust storm loaded with silica just happens to blow up with the survey crew in the stupa.  So we get drama of the doctor, toting severed alien head, getting bumped around before being rescued by David.

They drag the head to Medical. Run scans saying its clean.  Ross and the doctor are merely wearing normal surgery garb and masks.  Then they decide to feed electricity to the head to trick it into thinking it's alive.  Shades of The Modern Prometheus?  And naturally the alien is infected with something and they slap the head back into containment before it goes splatter.

Ross and the doctor don analysis of the alien DNA and compare it to humans.  100% match.  Even though the alien is taller, stronger, hairless, pallid in color, and eye structure is different.

While all this is happening aboard ship, including David infecting Holloway with the alien bug, back in the stupa two guys are still in there.  They had told Ross they were leaving because aliens was freaking them out.  And they manage to get lost in the stupa.  Meanwhile the smart balls are busily mapping the stupa and it seems no one thought of getting directions.  And when they stumble into the chamber where the giant head is, suddenly they are nonchalant as these alien serpents start approaching them.  You can imagine what happens next.


I am going to skip ahead to where speculation runs rampant, the end and what it leaves unanswered.  We get to see one Alien burst out in almost the form we see in Alien.  Ross and David manage to leave LV-223 in one of the alien ships. Ross wants to ask the Engineers why did they change their mind and set out to create the means of wiping out humanity.  The alien might have also found the same Engineer's ship.  Or Ross was still infected, though she had surgically removed the half-alien fetus in her womb that which later turned into a tentacled elder god out of Lovecraft.  Nostromo responds to what they think is an SOS on LV-486 and find an alien corpse, well one of the Engineer's spacesuits with chest blown open, in the chair.  Who is to say that is not Ross in one of their spacesuits?

Update - I guess I should not blog at 3:30am ever again.  Character's name is not Ross but Elizabeth Shaw.  I do not know where I got that name.

The Red Danube

Turner Classic Movies has been running Oscar winning or nominated films this month in the lead up to this year's Academy Awards.  This has afforded me the chance to watch such movies as One of Our Planes is Missing, The Lion in Winter, The Guns of Naverone, The Day of the Jackal, and The Train.  One that really caught my notice was called The Red Danube.

What first caught my attention was the cast for this film.  Walter Pigeon, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Janet Leigh, and Ethel Barrymore.  Talk about some heavy artillery in the stars department.  Then the premise hooked me.  1945 Vienna and a British Colonel has to turn over a refugee who is a star Soviet ballerina.

Water Pigeon is Col. Hooky Nicobar.  He has lost an arm and in the recent war he lost his only son.  He has become cynical and very doubtful there is such a thing as God.  He has Peter Lawford as Major McPhimister who has no luck in finding true love.  Angela Lansbury is Audrey Quail who keeps the office running with the help of an experienced NCO.  Nicobar takes his team from Rome to Vienna to help the Allied powers administer divided Austria and help with refugees.

Nicobar's first shock is where they are billeted- in a convent.  Ethel Barrymore as the Mother Superior is outstanding.  She has a somewhat eclectic concept of her faith.  She is not afraid to spar with Nicobar and has a sense of humor.  Some argue the conversations Pigeon and Barrymore have about faith, God, and humanity slow this movie down.  This argument would be valid if this was Transformers.  It's not, it is a movie about average people caught in difficult circumstances.

It is in the convent that the focus of the story emerges in the form of Maria Buhlen played by Janet Leigh. It seems Maria has been given sanctuary when these British soldiers move in.   Twingo, as Lawford's character is nicknamed, becomes smitten by her.  And she also falls for the dashing British officer.

Of course things have to get bad.  The Soviets demand that all Soviet refugees be returned to the Soviet Union.  The Soviet Colonel promises Nicobar that Maria, aka Olga, will be treated with great fanfare upon her return since she is a ballerina.  Nicobar has orders to cooperate with the Soviets so Maria is turned over to them.  Twingo becomes a British officer going through the motions.  As Nicobar goes to notify another Soviet refugee he has to return, the reality of what he is doing is brought home.  The refugee proceeds to shoot himself.  To rub his nose further into how dirty the business is, Nicobar is informed by the Soviet Colonel the USSR considers anyone who does not want to return a subversive.  Historical note - being labeled a subversive at this time, 1945, by the USSR would mean either a bullet or a trip to a gulag.

So Nicobar finds himself doubting his whole mission while also opening up to the Mother Superior about his faith issues.  Especially since his last letter from his son before the young man was shot down included a note that he was joining the Church of England.

Nicobar is so enraged over the whole sordid mess of sending unwilling people back to the USSR he fires off a memo decrying the whole situation in the strongest terms.  To reinforce his new found opinion of the Soviets, the Soviets dump into the British sector a train full of refugees that are all old or disabled thus saddling the British with taking care of them.  Did I mention this whole movie is happening during the winter of 1945?


Some observations on this movie.  When Nicobar and the Soviet Colonel are sparring over whether democracy or communism is better, one turn of phrase made my ears prick up.  The Soviet officer says something like 'when you want to take oil, you dress it up.  When we want oil, we just say so.'  Can we blame this movie for the whole 'no blood for oil' mantra?  Miklos Rozsa, better know for his musical masterpiece Ben-Hur, did the score for this movie.  The general that Nicobar fires off his memo to is played by Alan Napier, who is better known in the States for his role as Alfred in the 1960's TV series Batman.  And until one airport scene, the viewer is pretty certain they are in Vienna.  The jarring nudge saying filmed in California is when Nicobar flies back to Rome for a conference and a derelict three-color camouflage US Navy TBF Avenger is in the scene.  Later when Nicobar and his team are being sent back to England in a Dakota in the background is seen what appears to be the wingless fuselage of a Blenheim bomber.

Suffice to say I did like this movie a lot.  TCM, at this time, does not have this movie listed for sale.  They really should.

War Horse

This is one movie where I want a horse to win the Oscar for Best Actor.  I caught a matinee showing on Christmas Day and did not expect to see anyone else in the cinema.  I was very wrong.  The theater was at least 85% full and since I arrived at the start time, I ended up in the front rows.  I rapidly forgot about my seat location as this movie pulled me in from the first unsteady steps of Joey as a foal.  I had to see this movie all the way through, calls of nature bedamned.  This movie is this well crafted, even the quiet times when you learn a bit more about Albert, his father, and his father’s past; I was enthralled.  I was also shocked and amazed and sad in this movie.

One sequence of scenes I think can be used to show the craftsmanship of this movie and it’s story.  Albert’s father is in a terrible bind, rain has destroyed the turnip crop and the rent is due.  Even though it was Joey and Albert who made that planting possible, Joey has to be sold to cover the rent.  As Joey is being led away, a tearful Albert affixes to Joey’s bridle the pennant of his father’s unit in the Boer War.  Capt. Nichols solemnly promises Albert he will bring Joey back. 

Scene then shifts to the cavalry unit Nichols belongs to.  Here we are treated in full glorious color how war was viewed as 300 men, in full service dress, atop horses charge to see who can snag the ring with their sword first.  Next we see them in France and being briefed for an attack against a German field encampment. 

We see this vast field of golden wheat that is ready to be harvested as the next scene.  And then we see these green hats bob amidst the wheat and the flick of horse ears also.  And as one man all the soldiers mount the horses and the order to attack is given.  With swords drawn they charge out of the wheat field, across open ground, and then they are amidst the Germans just waking up and rushing to meet the attack.  Swords flash, striking men down.  Men atop horses charge through tents.  And then we see Germans fleeing to the tree line with British cavalry close behind.  Then we see the emplaced machine guns and as the Germans take cover the guns open fire.  Machine gun bullets spit with lethality and rider-less horses plunge through the German lines.  One of the horses is Joey with pennant still affixed to his tack, but no one in the saddle.

One of the survivors of the charge is Nichols’ commanding officer.  He is still astride his horse and is encircled by Germans armed with rifles but he has his sword drawn.  One of the Germans screams at him asking did he really think the Germans would not defend their camp.  The officer looks around and we are treated to a scene of horror.  Strewn throughout the open field where the camp was lie the bodies of many dead British officers and their horses, cut down by a scythe of lead.  The man then throws his sword into the ground and surrenders.  The imagery of a wheat field ready to be harvested now makes sick sense, it is foreshadowing the fate of these brave men in a new kind of war.

I watched the interview with Steven Spielberg about this movie.  He said he was not looking for a project when he stumbled across this play called War Horse.  That it just grabbed his attention.  I am glad this story did.  For fans of Tolkien and the Shire, you might want to watch this movie to get a better appreciation of what shaped Tolkien and his stories.

It's a Legion!

Sometimes I am amazed at how soft headed people are. But this review of The Eagle reminds me some people have brains of tapioca.

What is The Eagle about? In the second century AD sometime around or after 120AD, the Legios IX Hispana possibly left York and marched north on a punitative raid. And then vanished into the mists of time, no definitive answer has ever emerged as to their fate as the whole legion fell off Roman rolls by 160AD. We now know more of the probable fate of Crassus' lost legions than we know what happened to the IXth. Though some have tried to piece together the probable fate of the IXth in Scotland, its very much speculative and leaves wiggle room for the roofing tiles marked with the Legios IX Hispana sigil found in Holland. The movie itself and the story it is based on tells the fictional tale of a Roman centurion setting out on a quest to retreive the IXth's eagle standard, hence restoring his father's and Rome's honor.

First gripe about this alleged movie review is calling the IXth a battalion. Literally speaking it is valid since a Roman legion and a battalion have similar manpower levels. Historically, its incorrect to use battalion when referring to a Roman legion. And its in the common modern vernacular to refer to Roman military formations as legions.

Second gripe is the authors worldview and their attempt to force The Eagle to fit it. The Romans were violent, well yes they were. So were the Celtic tribes that they faced. Expansionism charge? It can be argued that way, though Dr. Madden in his book Empires of Trust argued Rome expanded its borders to protect itself and its allies from foreign invasion. Or perhaps we should we say the reviewers are exhibiting signs of ethnocentrism in their writing? Well here are their own words from their review - "Though the characters are well developed and well acted, we can only give this film a partial endorsement based on its lack of value of life."

I was thinking of skipping going to see The Eagle in the cinema. But with such fluff passing for critical review, I think I shall go see it.

Tron: Legacy Review

Okay I decided to see if this movie was the sum of all the fears I had about it. Namely would it be as lame as its original incarnation that came out in 1982. Yes all you nerd-boys who worship the original Tron, I was completely unimpressed by it. Outstanding visual flash has never impressed me as a suitable substitute for a good story. I am also not a fan of the Akira movie for a similar reason, too much flash and an incoherent plot.

HERE BE SPOILERS. Turn back if you fear spoilers.

Basic plot is thus: Sam is an aimless spoiled youth in need of a father. His father had vanished twenty years ago. Then he finds the secret closet that leads to the Grid in the form of a hidden digitizing laser. There is various spots of redemption between father, son, and adopted daughter; with matching chase scenes and explosions. And from there it becomes a race to reach the closet before Kevin Flynn’s master daemon and doppelganger Clu(Clue) reaches it and launches his take over of the real world. And in the end, Kevin Flynn even reaches rapprochement with Clu.

Or to be even more simple in summing up the plot. Kevin Flynn and his disc is the AE-35 unit. Clu is HAL 9000 who has the utmost enthusiasm for his mission. The ISOs are the pesky astronauts that are preventing HAL from completing his mission. Sam Flynn is the great unknown, the alien. And then there is Quorra(Cora) in the role of Dave Bowman ruining Clu’s plans.

The light-cycle arena has evolved. It is now a multi-layer arena where a player can use ramps to take down opponents, nothing like zooming up a ramp ahead of the other cycle and then bank a hard right to smash your opponent. The disc battles have also evolved in the new movie, you can be fighting your opponent when suddenly the floor turns into the ceiling. Discs can still shatter the floor and make holes. The de-res sequences as defeated programs fall apart reminds me of Stargate SG-1 when the Replicators are deactivated. We only see the tanks one time while the Enforcers are seen throughout the new movie. Even Sark’s command carrier comes back, with similar bad luck. What is new in the movie are the flyers. When we first see the flyers, Flynn has hijacked one. As Quorra lifts it off the command carrier, its wings unfold and one has a strong impression of an Imperial Tydirium shuttle, then the wings are extended and it looks like a manta ray gliding out of the hanger. Clu’s command cruiser is another new beastie. From the side, it’s glowing orange lines reminds me of a Spinner from Blade Runner. Though from head on, its command area is akin to the open mouth of a whale shark and the body has flukes descending.

There are other nods to Star Wars in the movie. When Sam is looking for Zuse(Zeus) on the streets of the Grid. He trades Flynn’s light-cycle for a beggar program’s cloak. After this, Sam bears a striking resemblance Anakin Skywalker in his Jedi cloak with the cowl up. Flynn in his flowing robes and beard could be considered a Jedi also. Flynn’s hacking skills can be compared to Jedi Force tricks like at the end when by merely pressing his hands on the walkway to the portal, he catches Clu in a Force hold that allows Sam and Quorra to escape back to the real world.

Lets next look at Flynn’s refuge off the Grid next. After fleeing into a wilderness that reminds one of Superman’s home planet of Krypton, the sparseness of Flynn’s house is something that a lover of Japanese culture might find appealing. Broad open area with just a few seats that look looted from the space station from 2001 while Flynn sits in the lotus position as he contemplates the Grid and the open portal. All color-coordinated in white or pale gray. A game of Go is in progress and Quorra comments to Sam that Flynn seems to always win. Then we see Quorra, Flynn, and Sam eating dinner. Flynn is older than his Clu doppelganger. In fact this whole refuge reminds me of Dave Bowman’s hotel room in 2001.

The End of the Line Club, think Cabaret in a digital form. Some think of the Milk Bar. The David Bowie vibe of Zuse(Zeus) is strongly felt. Sam is lead to this Club by one of the game gynoids who equipped him for the games. Yes there were four maidens in white and dove gray who put Sam’s armor on making Sam ready for his digital tourney. She so happens to find him on the streets of the Grid as he searches for Zuse. She is a platinum blond with black eye-shadow and false eyelashes not seen since the Tom Petty Alice in Wonderland video Don’t Come Around Here No More. End of the Line Club has to be a funny nod to the original game when End of Line means a command has executed. Right?

Our first clue Quorra is a program of the Grid is when she shows Sam the books Flynn has been teaching her. Her favorite is the stories of Jules Verne and she asks Sam if he knows who Jules Verne is. Sam absently says yes and Quorra’s eyes light up and she innocently asks what is Jules Verne like.

First problem I have with the new movie revolves around a character from the first movie. Where is Lora/Yori? She is completely missing from the sequel. Did the writers think there could only be one female character of interest so poor Lora got the axe? It leaves a hole for those who have watched the original movie, because she is missing from the flashbacks that Flynn tells his son Sam. It seems Yori was not ported over from the original system. As for poor Tron, if you have not figured out what happened to him after Flynn fled; then all the gee-whiz effects are all you need to enjoy the lightshow.

Second is Daft Punk’s contribution to this movie or lack of contribution. This is a house band with a distinctive voice. They are best known in Japanese animation circles for Interstellar 5555 that married their electronic music to the classic character designs of Leji Matsumoto to tell a story. In Tron: Legacy their music does not have their voice, instead its simply background music that I had forgotten within minutes of hearing it. Even at the End of the Line Club where Daft Punk is the house DJ robots, the fight music is not memorable. The most distinctive music for the whole movie belongs to Annie Lennox of Eurythmics belting out her signature song Sweet Dreams Are Made of This as Sam finds his father’s hidden lab.

Third problem to me is more technical in nature and a bit convoluted so I will break it down in sub-areas.

The centerpiece of the movie is this creation Kevin tells Sam about, the Grid. What is this Grid? Throughout the movie; Flynn, Sam, and Clu all talk about gaining access to the portal that brought Sam into the Grid. No other portals are mentioned. So internal evidence suggests there are no other connections. The Grid is thus a stand-alone system that has run for twenty years without crashing.

But somehow there came unto the Grid programs called ISOs. As if emerging from a digital wilderness, a tribe of self created programs. Flynn thinks they are wonderful but Clu has his programming. Clu is Flynn’s master daemon who’s mission is to perfect the Grid. He sees the ISOs as an impediment to perfection so he stages a revolt that places him upon the throne of Heaven and then he commits a digital Shoah against the ISOs wiping them all out. Meanwhile Flynn flees into the wilderness, in this case it’s called off the Grid.

Here we hit another pothole in the story. We have this one isolated system and on it is the Grid. So where does ‘off the Grid’ come from? If this had been the Metaverse Stephenson wrote about in Snow Crash, Flynn would have fled out to the undeveloped areas of the global network, where all there is straight lines. But this is a closed system so what is left? Unallocated drive space and/or memory is the possible answer. If this was the case, then all of Clu’s programs would be able to follow Flynn to his refuge, but according to Quorra things like the light-cycles will not run correctly off the Grid. Which allows Quorra and Sam to escape the light-cycle arena in their digital 4x4 assault vehicle. Just a minor problem right?

Where does Clu’s digital army come from if the Grid is an isolated stand-alone system? In a scene right out of Star Wars we see Clu on the command carrier with arrayed ranks of soldier programs just like the serried ranks of Clone Troopers awaiting embarkation. And Flynn says all Clu can do is de-res programs or re-assign them, Clu can’t make new programs. And with Flynn in the wilderness and the hidden lab in the arcade forgotten, so where did these programs come from. Like the ISOs we are left scratching our heads about origins.

The climax of the movie is a race to the portal. Whomever has Flynn’s disc will gain access to the portal and be released to the real world. Will Clu and his army or Flynn, Sam, and Quorra appear in the hidden lab? And if Clu makes it, how will all those thousands of physical bodies squeeze into that tiny lab? That could be messy since Clu is sailing the whole command carrier directly at the portal.

Luckily its our hero Sam and Quorra that make it out of the Grid and back to the real. As Sam and Quorra ascend there is a massive digital explosion in the Grid, leaving nothing but the waters of life as if we await Maat and Ptah to command the world to rise again. Next scene is of Sam putting a large SIM card around his neck after seeing ‘Download is complete,’ so we assume the Grid is now on that card. And miraculously, Sam and Quorra are clothed in human clothes with no sign of what happened to their Grid attire.

Final scene is of Sam and Quorra on Sam’s Ducati motorcycle zipping through the varied landscape of the real world. This is an obvious nod to Deckard and Rachel fleeing north from the movie Blade Runner. So even with its ending, Tron: Legacy rips another movie off.

Note to Disney if they want to make a sequel to this movie: END OF LINE.

Moldova Sucks!!!!

To get the title reference go see RED.

RED stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. Which nicely sums up Frank Moses played by Bruce Willis. Though when we first meet Frank, he is this old man in a wife-beater t-shirt waking up at 6am and sloshing down ten pills. The highlight of his day comes when he calls his retirement case officer to talk about his retirement check not arriving, a woman named Sarah Ross trapped in cubicle hell who dreams of visiting Chile and Frank's answer to when he was there was "It was dark." Franks thinks there is a chance of romance with Sarah so he finds himself reading the same bodice ripping romance novels she is reading.

Then one morning at 3:32am Frank has to come out of retirement when a six man assassination squad literally shoot his house apart. Needless to say Frank makes it out alive and sets out to find out who is trying to kill him. Along the way he kidnaps Sarah to save her and proceeds to collect his old comrades - Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren. By the time these retired pros are done ferreting out the truth, many bullets have been fired with many explosions and justice amply served.

It was real nice to see Ernest Borgnine get a nice cameo role as the chief librarian of the CIA's secret files. And fitting since Borgnine had played a Soviet spy in the classic spy movie Ice Station Zebra. Helen Mirren as Victoria was smashing, a genteel lady who packs an MP-5SD in a bouquet of yellow roses. It was a fun movie.

Retro Anime - The Venus Wars

For those going to comic stores looking for something different in the late 1980's, translated Japanese comic, or manga, fit the bill perfectly for many. From Studio Tron came Silent Mobius via Viz while Studio Proteus and Dark Horse gave the reader Shirow Masamune's Appleseed. Another manga that came to the US was Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's gritty science-fiction series called The Venus Wars and The Venus Wars II.

Like Silent Mobius and Appleseed, Venus Wars also received the animation or anime treatment. What emerged was a 104 minute movie that dared to experiment with merging live-action with animated elements[animated Hounds rolling across a real desert landscape], a music score from Joe Hisashi, of Nausicaa and Spirited Away fame, that matched and enhanced the movie, and an array of characters that are not one-dimensional cardboard, except for the Ishtarian commander Gen. Donner but even he has a certain presence as he strides forcefully to battle while declaring he will not 'be defeated by children.'

The Battle of the Cosmoport is the climax as Aphrodian forces in exile stage their counter-attack to regain their capital city of Io from the Ishtarian occupiers. First we are treated with an internal uprising of Io police and civilians against their conquerors then the battle shifts to the Cosmoport as Ishtar forces try to keep their supply line open. Here we see one time battle-bike ace Hiro with Major Kurtz ride their Hound monocycles into combat against that dreaded symbol of Ishtarian hob-nailed oppression, the Octopus battle tank that bristles with guns as big as 200mm. For Hiro its payback for the friends killed when battle queen Miranda lead her battle-bike gang against another Octopus. If one thinks of a battle between a skillful but youthful matador, Hiro, against an enraged bull, the Octopus tank, this battle gels nicely and so does Hisaishi's instrumental score for this scene.

Technical notes - The drink the bartender gives Terran reporter Susan Somers to acclimate to the denser Venusian atmosphere could be called a gimmick, exactly how it does what it does is not explained and the viewer accepts it as part of this alternate world. Another bit of world building is the bitterness Hiro expresses at the failure of the algae farms that seek to further terraform Venus for humans, his parents ran such a plantation but we find Hiro in Io as part of a battle-biker gang because he saw no future in that.

Comedic moments - There is one that sticks in my mind from this movie. Its when Maggie's father returns from his work with the Venus Development Board. He mistakes the sandwich that Maggie was making for Hiro as his so he takes it to the table. Meanwhile Maggie's Siamese cat Andrew is very morose as Maggie forgot to get him more cat food and there is a curfew on. So as Maggie's Dad lectures Maggie on dumping that worthless boyfriend Hiro, Andrew makes a play for half the sandwich and gets whacked upside the head. At the end of the movie we are treated to Andrew, who had turned his nose up at a sardine, now eagerly carting one off.

The Venus Wars anime was first released in the United States in 1992 on VHS by Central Park Media and the DVD version was released in 1998. Now that Central Park Media/US Manga Corps are no longer in business this is a hard anime to find, but it is worth it if you are tired of Bleach and Naurto while wanting some serious science-fiction besides Ghost in the Shell:SAC.

Porsche, There is No Substitue

For car fanatics, especially for those who worship at Stuttgart, Germany in front of the offices of Porsche whilst naming their first born son Ferry, rejoice for crafted unto you is a new sports car offering. Finely crafted to evoke vehicles like the 550 Spyder that James Dean tragically lost his life in while arguing with a piece of American steel or when Eddie Murphy taunted Nick Nolte in the movie 48 Hours with the 356A. Here comes the 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder.

Weighing in at a featherweight 2,811lbs while packing a classic flat-six with 320HP, this car scoots with a 0-60 of 4.6 seconds. And guess what, it only costs $61,200+change. Due in February 2010. A late but very nice stocking stuffer.

Recycled Trek

When the creators of the new movie say they were inspired by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, you better believe it. There is a guy out there in a starship seeking vengeance.

Instead of it being fifteen years since Kirk has exiled the genetic superman Khan to Ceti Alpha Six [we will mention Ceti Alpha Six again], its been over 25 years for the deranged Romulan Nero as he awaits to inflict his retribution upon a now very elderly Ambassador Spock from the future they both come from.

Wrath of Khan revolves around an item called Genesis that can turn a barren planet into a new Eden, thus solving population issues within the Federation. It is Khan who perverts salvation into a weapon. With Nero, he takes a device the Vulcans created that was intended to save his home world of Romulus from a supernova, Red Matter, and uses it to destroy Vulcan. Red Matter creates black holes, hence its application in stopping a supernova.

Star Trek II opens with a young Lt Saavik sitting center seat in a training simulation as Captain of USS Enterprise to face the Kobayashi Maru test. In the new movie at the beginning, Lt Sam Kirk finds himself commanding USS Kelvin against Nero’s ship after his Captain is murdered. With a ship badly damaged and crew evacuating, including his wife and unborn son, Kirk takes Kelvin on a death ride to save them. Later at the Academy, a very brash Jim Kirk takes the Kobayashi Maru test three times before beating it.

Captain Spock commands USS Enterprise as she sails on a training cruise crewed mainly with StarFleet Academy students. To quote Kirk, “A bunch of trainees.” And she is the only ship in the quadrant to respond to Space Station Regula One’s distress signal. When Nero attacks Vulcan, something similar happens. The bulk of StarFleet’s strength is off in another system, leaving the rescue of Vulcan to a small number of starships that are crewed by Academy students.

Remember those little slugs from Ceti Alpha Six that Khan used to turn Captain Terrell and First Officer Chekov into his dupes? Nero has them as well and uses one on Captain Pike to attain the codes to Earth’s defenses. The only difference is Terrell and Chekov got theirs’ administered aurally while Pike’s was given orally.

To push the Khan motif further where the target of retribution is stranded, Nero exiles Ambassador Spock to an icy waste of a planet called Delta Vega so he can watch as Vulcan is destroyed. Surprisingly Commander Spock, now commanding Enterprise after Pike’s capture, jettisons insubordinate Jim Kirk to the same planet.

When the distress call from Dr. Marcus is received, Kirk goes to Spock and asks to take command of Enterprise. Spock accedes peacefully to this request because he knows Kirk is a better commander during a crisis. This Jim Kirk proceeds to provoke Spock into losing control of his emotions so he can command Enterprise against Nero since Pike had appointed him XO to Spock.

Like the crippled Enterprise fleeing into the Mutara Nebula to level the playing field against Khan aboard USS Reliant, something similar is in the new movie. Kirk has Enterprise warp into the murky atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan to avoid detection and ambush Nero’s vastly more powerful ship as Nero attacks Earth to further his retribution.

As the Red Matter proceeds to consume Nero and his ship in the climatic battle like Genesis rearranging Reliant and the Mutara Nebula in Wrath of Khan, Kirk offers Nero rescue. Like Khan before him, Nero refuses to be saved by Kirk. And Enterprise is in grave mortal danger as this is occurring, Kirk has stayed too close to the new black hole and its sucking the ship in. This time it is not Spock fixing the warp drive that saves the ship and crew, but Montgomery Scott, another exile from Delta Vega, who jettisons the warp cores into the black hole that has devoured Nero’s ship. The explosion propels Enterprise out of the voracious gravitational maw.

Iron Man

Mike expressed hope about the new Iron Man movie starring Robert Downey Jr. So being the good sort I high tailed it to a nearby cinema to experience this movie.

First I will clear the underbrush so to speak and cleanse my system of all the annoying things I saw in the movie. A C-17 Globemaster III with a red tailband that says Bagram? No such animal. M998/1014s were totally clean with no extra gear on them, the M-2's lacked any armor plating for the gunners, the one long shot of one vehicle showed it marked 1CAV, but everyone inside was Air Force in ABUs. Stark Industry peddles weapons everywhere, but the Air Force people have M-16s. We later see terrorists armed with Stark weapons that are actually the H&K modular M-8 that never entered service. As Rhodes is rushing to where Stark is, after leaving the PAVE Hawk, we see a US flag velcro'd to his helmet cover - at least the stars were leading.

Now to the good stuff. This movie rocked. It is a very sad day for Hollywood when I have to go see a Marvel comic super hero movie to experience a literate script where there is some depth to the main characters. First we got Tony, boy genius who is used to getting his way. As he is pitching the Jericho missile to military brass somewhere in Afghanistan, he is so blase about it he might as well be selling Perrier. Then Tony sees his whole world literally taken from him and he becomes a captive to some very unsavory people. Tony is forced to build Jericho for them, after they waterboard him. He has one helper with the technical expertise and this dignified man becomes Tony's ally as well as interpreter. Seeing how well stocked these murders are with his company's weapons and to honor his friend, this is the point where the scales fall off Tony's eyes and he realizes things have to change. Naturally some people do not like what Tony proposes once he is rescued. We also see the evolution of the relationship between Tony and his right hand lady Pepper Pots, by the end of the movie Tony is thinking Pepper might be the woman for him while Pepper, after seeing Tony's conquests - she describes cleaning these messes up as 'taking out the garbage,' is a little bit restrained about it. Then there is Obadiah, the man who became Tony's father after his real father, the great man who was part of the Manhattan Project, died. We see the Obadiah emerge bit by bit from this genial man who is happy at all Tony achieves to this bitter jealous man who thinks Tony should show him gratitude for all the years Obidiah ran the company for Tony. The shock on Tony's face when Obidiah tells him who truly lead the move to oust Tony from his own company, Downey carried it off very nicely. As Tony sets about building his suit, he is assisted by his house's AI Jarvis and some limited AI robots. Tony is always confident of his abilities and he almost pays for it when testing the thrusters in his basement lab. He thinks 10% thrust is safe, we are treated to Tony face-planting the concrete wall high up. One of the funniest scenes is when Tony is testing the flight capabilities of the suit and he lands on the roof. He promptly falls through the roof and first floor to land atop his 427 Cobra, crushing it. Before the flight Tony had told one robot not to spray him with CO2 this time or it will be sent to a technical college. As Tony is laying there in his armor atop the Cobra, this robot does spray him down. And one of the 'awww' moments came as Tony staggers into his lab to retrieve the power supply he cobbled together in Afghanistan before he dies. Its just in reach as Tony collapses to the floor, one of the robots reaches up to grab the power supply and gives it to Tony. When Rhodes looks at the prototype of Tony's red and gold suit he vows to get one also. So stay tuned for a sequel. For the climatic fight scene, it is a proper crescendo of action, malice, and sacrifice. Iron Man getting run over by the SUV he rescued from Iron Monger is priceless. And when you think they can't top it, they have Tony Stark in front of reporters all set to deny any crazy rumours that he is the guy in the suit. He just looks up and at all the reporters and says 'I am Iron Man.' Then fade to credits and the song Iron Man.

And Stan Lee makes another appearance in a movie based on one of his comics. This time Tony calls him Hugh as in Hugh Hefner. And there is Stan in a purple smoking jacket with pipe in mouth, surrounded by a bevy of female beauties.

The Palestinian Matrix Movie

This is a six minute segment in a very odd movie by Elie Sulieman called Divine Intervention. Made in 2002 its supposed to be about the happenings around an Israeli checkpoint. Then almost at the end of the movie we are treated to this scene. In the end credits its called the Palestinian Ninja Scene.



When these 'Israeli commandos' go through their firing dance routine, I am reminded of those PA police training videos. Only thing missing are the flaming hoops. It is also redolent in symbolic imagery, can almost smell the napalm on this one. From the crown of bullets, to the crescent&star darts, the sling, and her shield being in the shape of the state of Israel plus Occupied Terrortories leaves no doubts towards who is leaning where.

John Woo please call your office since someone is ripping you off.

Haya Harareet

Ben-Hur, Haya Harareet as Esther.

I have been recently overdosing on watching Wyler's version of Ben-Hur, among the things I have watched are the documentaries and extras tucked away on the fourth DVD of the box set that includes the 1959 movie and its predecessor the 1925 silent.

In one of the documentaries its mentioned that Haya Harareet was born in Palestine. Naturally this piqued my interest to learn more about Ms. Harareet. The information is scant and after 1967, she never worked in the film industry again. She was born on September 20, 1931 in what was Haifa Palestine. The first film she worked in was called Hill 24 Doesn't Answer set during the 1948 War for Independence in which four wildly disparate individuals find themselves holding a strategic military hill, this film gained an award from Cannes which turns out to be the only award Haya Harareet ever received.

Of course the film she is most known for is Ben-Hur in which she plays Esther, a slave of Judah Ben-Hur's house. The more I watch this movie, I have to wonder if the Academy of Motion Pictures tossed the Best Actress Oscar to Room at the Top just to make sure this film did not sweep the awards with Haya Harareet winning. In Esther we see the internal dilemma Judah faces. She has suffered as he has, her world has been destroyed by Judah's downfall and her father tortured for what he knows until he is but half a man; all of this so Messala can realize his hunger for power. But it is she who, in a soft voice like the wind, talks to the returned Judah of a young Rabbi who preaches forgiveness. She strives to steer him away from what has consumed her father these past four years. Through Esther we hear echos of Christ's teachings because Wyler wisely decided that, since everyone knew who Christ is, why film the Christ from the front or hear Christ speak but the messages pervade this whole film of redemption and forgiveness while punishment is meted out. Esther's own cross for a good part of this film is caring for Miriam and Tirzah after their release from the Roman prison because they became lepers and Miriam makes Esther promise on her love of Judah to never tell him what has happened to them. Esther, after hearing the Sermon on the Mount, becomes the catalyst that causes Judah to reconsider and to change from his path of vengeance which leads to the finale of the cruxifiction. So anyone who thinks Esther's role in this film is drab is just a tad off the mark.

Back to disc 4 of the DVD set, there are included screen tests of some of the actors who did not make the cut, like Leslie Nielsen as Messala. But included is make-up and costume footage of Haya Harareet. I am not sure where this costume would have been used except in a marriage scene for Esther. Her hair was the color of freshly spun copper. Nestled in her hair was a complex golden tiara that had cheek pieces that curved forward of the ears before sweeping back over the earlobes. From there golden cheek pieces covered part of her lower jaw. And hanging from these cheek pieces were small golden tassels. All of this gold was framing her face while her large black eyes captivated the viewer. Simply put, Haya Harareet was gorgeous and a far cry from what she did wear in the finished film as the above picture shows. Too bad no one has captured this and posted to YouTube. And if this test footage had leaked to the IAF, yowser some Mirages might have been sporting her as nose art.

One scene in the movie I think captures the dilemma many of us face in this modern world. Judah has just come from finding his mother and sister in the Valley of the Lepers and is just simmering with resentment and anger towards Rome and even Esther for hiding the truth when his friend Baltazar hails him and says he has found the child all grown and truly the Son of God. Judah refuses Baltazar's entreaties to listen. So as Esther sits down to hear the Christ's Sermon on the Mount, in the broad panoramic shot we see off in the distance Judah standing beside a tree and looking before he hurries off to what he considers more important. Sound familar?

I Am Gobsmacked

It seems there is going to be released in the UK a new St. Trinian's girl school movie. Truthfully have never heard there was such until I found this article cheerfully decsribing not only how cheeky and irreverant the new movie is, like the originals, but trendy current.

The school differs from its previous incarnations in a number of ways. "There is alcohol and references to smoking pot - we even spoke about having a baby in one of the dorms," says Karan. "Although there's no swearing, because in spite of what I've just said, this will remain a family film."

A family film?!?! Suddenly The Golden Compass ranks up there with Its A Wonderful Life in family values. As I said I am gobsmacked.

Movies!

Spent the 4th of July watching two movies at the cineplex. Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers.

Bruce Willis once again reprises his role as an NYPD cop caught in the gears of someone else's evil machinations. This time the fate of the whole nation hangs in the balance as John McClane and his new reluctant hacker parter Matt take on the bad guys who are hacking the nation's infrastructure. We also get introduced to Lucy Gennaro ne McClane, John's aggravatingly headstrong daughter who in the movie goes from being just a hostage to a serious chip off the McClain block. Hacker Matt also grows during this movie, his little world is getting trashed throughout the movie and he valiantly rallies to adapt. Even the FBI cyber-geek trying to figure things out shows he has the brass to do the right thing when needed.

One scene is probably the best part of the movie when John and Matt discuss being the hero. McClane bitterly recounts how you get a pat on the back and then nothing. So Matt asks him why he does it and John says 'because someone has to do it and I am the only one there.' At the end of the movie, not only is John McClane a hero again, Matt and Lucy are too.

Transformers I had serious reservations that it was going to suck some rotten eggs. Bumblebee as a Camaro? Megatron can't transform into giant gun? What's going on? Shia Lebouf did a fine job as Sam, sometime loser geek who's family claim to fame seems to be all in the past. Megan Fox plays the girl in high school Sam has fallen in love with, she turns into a princess who can take care of herself. Bernie Mac makes a comic cameo appearance as Bobbie Bolivia, used car salesman where Sam and his Dad find Bumblebee disguised as a rusty yellow 85 Camaro. Bumblebee can only communicate through his radio and he seems to know the correct song to play to reflect the mood of the scene; like Sam and Mikaela on Lookout Point so we hear 'Sexual Healing' on the radio. (; The Autobots trying to hide from Sam's parents while Sam looks for an item in the house that will lead the Autobots to the All Spark is priceless.

Jon Voight plays a very capable Secretary of Defense who knows how to use a shotgun while trying to figure out what wiped out a US base in Qatar. Was a nice touch showing the US military as good guys when a rag-tag team of American servicemen escape the Decepticon attack in Qatar and they manage to save one of the local boys. One scene that had alot of people rolling in the aisles was when the American Captain is trying to call the Pentagon to report their survival over a civilian cell-phone even as a small Decipticon scorpion attacks them, he has to deal with a guy in India asking for a charge card and would the Captain like a new phone plan.

It seems the DoD went all out to support the making of this movie. So get to see A-10s in action and F-22s. Some airmen even got on film. Found this quote from an Army vet of Iraq via the Air Force News Agency to describe how he felt seeing this movie.

"Military people will get a lot out of this movie because of how realistic they depicted the way it is in the field, the way we all work together, and the equipment we use," said Army Sgt. Charles Eggleston, a Walter Reed patient. "The whole thing was action packed and I loved seeing the A-10 'bringing the rain' the way they always came to help us out while I was in Iraq. Some of my fellow Soldiers and I were talking about it's funny that with all the movies out there, it took a movie about alien robots invading the planet to get the military stuff right."

Yeah I liked the movie. Big quibble is all the Autobots like Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Jazz are GM products, but it seems the movie company had a tie-in deal with GM for it. So Bumblebee spends most of the movie as the 2008 prototype Camaro while Jazz is a Solstice and Ratchet is a rescue H2. But after awhile I did not care as the movie carried me away with its plot, characters, and humour.

Update: the name is McClane and not McClain. So changed it. Proofreading is a virtue. :)

Star Wars Legacy

I just caught the last 30 minutes of this two hour extravaganza on History Channel. It was amazing. We had the usual allusions to the coal skuttle helmet and Darth Vader. The love of red/black/white between Palpatine and ol'Adolph.

The gamut of names interviewed was interesting. They interviewed Tom Brokaw. Dan Rather. And even Newt Gingrinch. But I think the piece de la resistence was the last politician interviewed, it was none other than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talking about the power of the people.

Yes, you heard me right. Nancy Pelosi was interviewed. She found time to give this interview for the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars but had no time to give General Petreaus a chance for a face to face meeting.

300 at Week Three

Warner Bros. it seems has a true winner on its hand. After two weeks atop the box office killing all the competition, 300 has finally slipped to #2 to make way for another Warner Bros. comic book film adapation of a less serious mein, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Still in US sales 300 has raked in $162.4 million in the past three weeks. With a further $79 million in the international market. Cowabunga dude! The Spartans rock.