Upcoming Releases For April That I'm Looking Forward To

Just thought I’d touch base and tell you what I’m looking forward to in the month of April.

Opening today is Clash of the Titans. I don’t really need to say anything here, do I?

And Nanny McPhee 2. I probably won’t actually see this one, though I did quite enjoy the first one, and it does it have Maggie Gyllenhal in it, so maybe I will, but I am looking forward to it, regardless of whether I actually see it.

Monga is a Taiwanese film that’ll be showing at Sunnybank in the next couple of weeks. That’s all I need to know.

Micmacs is the new film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director Amelie. I’ve only seen the trailer once, so not really sure what’s going on, but it’s about a guy who’s trying to do something to the heads of the company responsible for the bullets he was shot with, or something like that. It’s got a contortionist, and other oddbods, and I expect it’s charming and dark and funny.

Date Night with Steve Carrel and Tina McFey comes next week. I’ve only seen one trailer for this, and I don’t really remember it, but I have a huge crush on Tina, and they’re both pretty funny, so hopefully that translates to a good film.

Of course there’s Kick Ass, which opens on the 8th, but I’ll be seeing on the 7th. Woohoo! I’ve said enough about that already. Perhaps see my previous blog.

The Book Of Eli stars Denzil Washington, in a post apocalyptic world where he has the last remaining copy of the bible, and his quest is to protect it. Gary Oldman plays the villain of the movie, who wants to get his hands on the bible and misuse it as a power thing. Butt whooping ensue. Denzil usually does good films, and is usually good in them, and I like the look of this post apocalyptic world, so I’m excited.

Beneath Hill 60 is an Australian film, about some miners who go to war and dig a tunnel to blow up some Germans. I only heard about this in the last couple of weeks when the trailers tarted showing up at the movies, and while it’s not a highly anticipated one by me, it still looks pretty good so I’ll give it a go.

Hot Tub Time Machine was one I was looking forward to, but some negative reviews have dampened my enthusiasm, but I’ll probably still go see it out of misguided sense that John Cusack wouldn’t be in anything bad.

Triangle is an Australian horror film or thriller, which I only know about because I read about it on the Dendy webpage, but it sounds interesting, and I like to support local genre films.

And finally, wow, I didn’t realise this was coming out so soon. Iron Man has been one of my favourite films in the last couple of years, and the trailer looks like this isn’t going to disappoint. Iron Man 2. Who’d’ve thought it?

Upcoming Movie Posters (Asia Edition)

I was going through my movie posters folder looking for pictures for reviews, when I cam across a couple of posters I'd saved, but forgotten to post about. So I'll just chuck them here and hopefully you share my excitement.
Firstly, this Ong Bak 3 poster. Either you're already on board by this point, or you're not, and I'm not talking to you anymore.



Then there's this poster for a live action film of "Space Battleship Yamato" , or as some of us may remember it, Starblazers (I think).


I really like this poster, has a nice apocalyptic feel to it, and those three big barrels pointing towards us? Flashbacks to childhood.
I thought I had a third poster lurking around for Mamarou Oshii's live action film, but I don't seem to be able to find it. Oh well.

APT 2010

So I was going to do a larger write-up of this years APT, talking about how I felt it had a really nice flow through, with one room leading onto the next and everything, but I really can’t be bothered now, since it was like 3 weeks ago at least since I went, so I’m just going to put up some photos of some of my favourite stuff.


Firstly, those giant skulls were cool. Like 2 storeys tall, and actually painted if I recall properly. Sorry, I got no names to go with the pictures, so I can’t tell you much more.


Then there were the guitars which were transformed. My favourites were obviously these ones that had the elongated handles, but the others were cool too.


I think this is obviously a favourite of exhibition. It’s really cool how you can appreciate on different levels. I wish I had taken more photos of it, so you could get a sense of it more, like how if you just view it without looking too deeply, it’s just a field of flowers. Or if you just kind of concentrate on the guys below, you get a different vibe. And what a cool juxtaposition of these guys in suits carrying large flowers, it works on just a surreal level, but of course has more significance when you remember the slogan from the cultural revolution of “Let a thousand flowers bloom”, or something like that. I think maybe this was my favourite piece just because I could actually appreciate it on more than just an aesthetic level.



There was a room dedicated to the Peoples Democratic Dictatorship of Korea, or whatever North Korea calls itself. I really quite enjoyed the art in this room, as I have a fondness for socialist art. Apparently, as I read on the wall plaque, there are two streams of art in North Korea, the socialist stuff and some kind of portraiture school. I wish I could tell you more, but I wasn’t really taking notes.


Then there was the string room. The string room is really cool. I would’ve taken more photos to try capture the waves as walk into the string, but there were kids in there and didn’t want to get in trouble with the police. I highly recommend checking out the string room if location and time pose no barrier.

I also spent some time in the spinning things room. That was pretty nice and relaxing, and as I sat there watching the birds fly and things spin, I almost thought I caught a glimpse of what he (or she) was trying to tell me. But that was then.
I passed over most of the media type things. But plan on trying to get back and spend some time watching all the videos. I usually just find them boring though.

Teaser Trailer For Predators

Predators at IGN.com

I like how this is looking. Even if it wasn't a Predator movie, you get a team of badasses like that together, and you've got the start of something good. Add to that Predators and other alien life-forms, and this has definitely got potential. I also like how you don't see the Predators in the trailer, and just hints or flashes of them towards the end. It's working.
Oh yeah, and when those laser sights all appear one by one on Adrian Brody, fantastic,

This Is Important, This IS Expendable

Oh yeah, I still like the other one better, but his is pretty cool.
Thanks to IGN.

Ong Bak 3 Trailer

So obviously this is too big again, but I put it there to get your attention.
For proper viewing, go to Twitch. This is the Thai teaser.
You can do your own websearch for others.

"Predators" Is Coming

Predators is the new Predator movie, which is being produced by Robert Rodriguez and directed by NImrod Natal, whoever he is. Should be good, I'm (desperately) hoping. I had a bunch of photos on the cast I was going to put up as an entry ages ago, but never got round to it. So instead, there's this.



Obviously it doesn't fit, but go to the link above, which is to the official site, or see it here at FirstShowing.

A Website Called "I Hate My Parents"

Yesterday I was doing random google searches and came across this website, I Hate My Parents, where people post photos of kids and families, like they're traumatic events. Maybe they are, maybe they ain't, but they're funny. These made me laugh.














I'm running away to live with the robots.

Cool Retro Style Kick-Ass Posters

I've been toning down my coverage of all the posters and what-not surrounding the upcoming movie Kick-Ass based on the comic, but really liked these exclusive posters released at South by Southwest Festival in Austin.



Kick-Ass is released April 8th. We get it after the UK, but before the US. Yay for us.
Original story info from Bleeding Cool and MTV.

First Thoughts On Joanna Newsom's New Album "Have One On Me"

I wasn’t sold on Ys, and the fear is that the new album was going to be more like that than The Milk-Eyed Mender, but still, I took the chance and bought it. I haven’t really listened to it properly, I just played it today from my iphone as I worked, so all I got was a sense of the sound and not of the detail, but I’ll get to that.
First things first, some one mustn’t have told them that album art is dead. This 3 disc set kind of made me wish for proper vinyl album so I could enjoy the packaging a bit more. Apart from the elaborate photo evoking some Parisian artist studio, each disc comes in it’s own slipcase with a photo on it of Joanna showing of her long legs and good posture, plus a photo on the booklet, so that it makes a series of 4 photos of her tying up her hair. Evocative and sensual, it hints at a world we’re about to explore on the discs. There’s something innocent and knowing about them, a staged candidness that elevates the pedestrian to the sublime. Or she she’s just got real pretty legs.


As for the music, it’s definitely more Ys than Milk Eyed Mender. But as I said, I haven’t really given it a proper listen. I’m not sure if it has any of the monstrously bloated tracks that appeared on Ys, but I don’t think it does.
I realise that in fact, there was really only the one monstrously bloated track on Ys, actually, no I just checked, 2 of the tracks go over12 minutes, and a third is only a few seconds short of 10. The fourth cracks the 7 minute mark. It was a dense album, with the tracks not giving you much space to access them., and without the whimsy of Milk-Eyed Mender. I find it a hard album to listen to, it’s difficult to engage in.
I don’t think Have One On Me has the same problem, though it’s difficult to say at the moment, as one song tends to blur into another when you’re scrubbing toilets and emptying bins., but it seems an easier listen. Though I fear with it being a 3 disc set, the accusation of bloated may once again apply.
Anyway.
The opening track put me in a mind of Tori Amos and Kate Bush, both with her vocals and the arrangements. I think she used a similar vocal approach maybe on Ys, but can’t remember. Though she doesn’t use it all the time here. Her familiar vocals from Milk Eyed Mender (and Ys) are here as well. The arrangements from what I can discern seem to be the more elaborate type familiar with Ys, but perhaps not as bloated, though I’m not sure that’s a fair description. Anyway, I can’t really say much more at the moment, maybe I’ll have more to say when I’ve had a proper listen to it this week coming. But it holds promise, I think.

Biomega Vol. 1

If I don’t tell you about this, who will?


Biomega is a new comic by Tsutomu Nihei, the creator of Blame. And if you don’t know what Blame is, it’s great comic that I came across in Afternnon Comics, maybe. Actually I forget where I came across it, but I was buying the Japanese edition before there were translated editions, because it looked so cool. Nihei’s style is all about a gothic sci-fi future world where people dress in leather and giant mechanical creatures could explode or transform under the effect of some virus before your eyes. His worlds are huge and sparsely populated. A character could walk for miles through huge concrete canyons, or across vast open distances, all within the city or building, and not meet anyone, but perhaps run into the skeletons or armour of some past being. His line work isn’t the clean linework one expects from manga, and so stands out. His brush is thick with ink, and he paints his figures in solid blacks. Which is not to say there isn’t fine line work, there is, and he uses it to contrast between characters, and the world around them. I think he’s great.




But onto Biomega vol.1.
Once again it’s a dystopian future, one where a virus seems to be turning people into mutated zombie like creatures. There’s some Health Organisation who are preparing for the next stage of humanity, who don’t want to see a cure for this, and there’s a company, Toa Heavy Industry, who are searching for those with immunity. They’re both after a girl, who is protected by a bear. Not a guy in a bear suit, a bear.


That’s a reason right there to love this. There’s plenty of other reasons, like Tsutomu Nihei’s art, the same weapons with incredible firepower, the groovy designs, all part of the package. As I write this, I’m having a hard time actually remembering what Blame was about, but this seems much more focused story-wise, so should be an enjoyable and easier read. Looking forward to the next couple of volumes.

All art from Biomega Vol. 1.

Scooping Brad's Joy: Tron:Legacy Trailer

So there's a Tron:Legacy trailer available now to view somewhere on the internet. Check it out.

Just A Little Humorous Picture I Came Across