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Gôgô sentai Bôkenger (2006)
A Sentai Series worthy to watch
~~ Potential spoiler ahead~~ GREAT ACTING, GREAT STORY!
Well actually great everything, this series could be on Sci-Fi and it would probably compete with any prime time drama. This show has everything, suspense, drama, death, life, love, heartache, regret, cool costumes and weapons, I mean I can't tell you how many times an episode ends and I'm like WHAT NO NO NO WHAT's NEXT?! It's almost as if a four hour movie could be made out of their story arcs.
The last episode I've seen is Task 20 where they receive their sixth member, BoukenSilver (ala homage to Power Rangers Green Ranger) and now they're putting out the first movie. The entire first season revolved around building the team, overcoming their distrust of each other and finding out who they are. What is your mission? Why are you doing this? What is the purpose of being a Power Ranger really? At the same time I can't tell you the love triangles and dark histories this show has! So exciting!
Each character is intricately woven into the stories and for once their archetypes shine through, you feel how each one would react and respond to various situations, you feel connected to the show! And the actors must be excited that each one of them is equally featured, each one has had a major subplot and episode devoted to them.
But still Boukenger is silly and fun, it's an adventure! Their arrogance makes them really human. They have cute and witty banter, nothing cheesy like we've seen. And YES these are real people who get hurt, PEOPLE GET HURT all the time on this show, half the episodes they end up in a hospital bed after getting zapped by a monster. People bleed on this show. When someone fires a energy pulse into your stomach, that ranger suit isn't going to completely protect you.
Plus ahem, shot in digital HDTV widescreen format with excellent camera work and rumbling powerful music score. Mystic Force seems overly obsessed with the fact it has to do Matrix like special effects when now the Sentai series has realized to make special effects second to the character development and story.
Boukenger is the highest quality show produced of this series (probably in league with Sci-Fi original dramas) and with the bar set high, Operation Overdrive will not hold a candle to it.
Maður eins og ég (2002)
A clash of the same culture
What is very interesting about this movie is how it brings together two really similar cultures. While Stephanie Che in the movie is from the mainland, she is actually a rising star in today's Hong Kong cinema recently starring in "Men Suddenly in Black" and her character really reflects the ex-patriot longing felt by many who leave HK. This is placed next to Iceland which is its own isolated world from the rest of Europe. Ex-pats of Iceland also have the same feeling as those of HK, of leaving a very small place but having intense longing for it still. J¨®n Gnarr's character is like an expat living in his own world, trying to get by. This is where the comedy kicks in everywhere. The movie even has time to include a whole satirical commentary on pyramid schemes which Gnarr gets into which affect even places like Iceland. The central attention of the movie in the end is the social commentary. Iceland knows just as little as Hong Kong, vice versa. Us Americans can perceive the subtle racism commentary but actually we realize Iceland, regardless of how developed and advanced a country, is still culturally a small Midwest town. In spite of black cardigan sweaters, cashmere scarfs, and hip furniture, ignorance is a pervalent trait which someone on an isolated world can't escape. The movie also achieves a successful combination of Icelandic, English, Chinese Cantonese, and Chinese Mandarin. Icelandic and Cantonese of which are languages which are being threatened to diminish at the hands of the accompanying one. The title A Man Like Me harkens really to Gnarr's situation living alone, finding money, trying love at middle-age when everyone else is already better off. But the story shows how so much is out of control of your own and the end lets you know life is just life.
Mou gaan dou III: Jung gik mou gaan (2003)
Tying up loose ends--for the fans.
While in the U.S. the 3rd movie of anything is suppose to be the large-scale, big-budget, battle-destruction-galore ending to a series, Infernal Affairs 3 shamelessly does the opposite and delivers an introspective look devoid of any "battle" scene at all. Now that IA has become somewhat of a cult following (ironically the story is not meant to go any further) it seems fitting that we are delivered a film as if the cutting-room floor pieces were placed together from the previous two movies and sequenced for the conclusion.
The story attempts to elaborate the most important details of the series and not presenting them in sequence, only a handful of present scenes exist which each are periodically given a large delve into the past. IA 3 explores what happened leading up to many scenes in the first Infernal Affairs which is really pretty neat for anyone who watches movies and seen the first. As a result its a jumble and mix of scenes giving you dates of when they occur (sometimes eliciting humor) and glimpsing every single character in the series as if they were the past but really filmed new for the movie. And in this way follows Yan and Ming's characters as they progress to their fates.
But it seems perhaps that by doing so, the movie is simply what was left out in the first film and anyone new to the series will obviously not understand the significance of what is going on other than the artsy cinematography of white-washed cool hues, steady camera work, and continual sponsorship of devices and products. This also includes the chaotic, dizzy feeling of progressing back and forth sometimes not knowing when you are (as with scenes that occur in Ming's mind only). Perhaps only the avid movie goer will realize Mo Gan Do 3 is a representation of hell in a high-tech world, the redemption of Yan and Ming's fall into insanity. But most will be confused about why until they see it all.
San jaat si mooi 2 (2003)
A great followup
A great followup to Love Undercover! The silly and ridiculous comedy returns again one scene after another. Running bits from the last one pop up now and then which adds a sense of familiarity to the new. Miriam is just as oddly paced as ever but this time it's not so uncomfortable. Basically she is given a chance to redeem herself again just as the last. The story starts right away and for once a comedy with some very transitional and plausible storyline which gives a chance for all characters to shine including Man's father, Sir and the rest of the police team. The highlights include the godfather's three other godfathers getting released from prison (out of touch with Hong Kong today), the Puerto Risi ambassador, and the thief club. Miriam of course steals the show all the time with her quirky cute acting but the movie grows on the old because it expands so much and gives you new characters. Plus Joe Ma's directing and timing is much more refined in this one due to mostly the very succinct script (he also doesn't fail to throw in commentary on dumb pop culture things like he did with Twins last time). Yet many will think of the first one as their favorite because their heart throb Daniel Wu isn't featured enough and that the first was a very different movie, concentrating on the relationship. LU2:LM's theme could be the love for another, to do anything for that person but it offers quite a lot more than that and you'll be laughing too much to even care. So "go, go, go!" and watch it.
Fainaru fantajî X (2001)
Original story, so real.
Unfortunately for the new fans of the Final Fantasy saga who thought maybe the movie (and the misused tongues of Squre), Final Fantasy X is not any continuation of the movie. Square in Japan had been developing FFX for quite sometime before the FF movie was sprouting previews on Entertainment Tonight.
Final Fantasy X is once again an original story (as all the games are) and features a theme of travel which is a theme somewhat lost in the previous games. Final Fantasy VIII for instance never really encouraged you to seek out the entire map considering you were wanting to finish the game already even though strategy guides revealed many more areas you could visit and return to on the map (except for the final battle which you could only go and defeat the sorceress). Borrowing from the new "hyperrealistic" idea, Final Fantasy X features the best graphics and sprites to date in the series. Staying mainly on asian themes rather than european, the characters are ultra-realistic and are narrated in the cutscenes rather than a silent moving picture. One of the showy components of this game is the frequent theme around water. Many of your battles actually can take place while you're swimming which expands the use of environment, approaching a realistic feel than simply zooming into a standard pre-rendered battle arena in the previous games.
The story revolves around Tidus and Yuna. At the time of this article I haven't yet gotten familiar with the story but Tidus and Yuna are both young adults. Tidus has grown up around water all his life so is an excellent swimmer. He's somewhat like a beach boy in a sense. Yuna (I believe) practices magic. Also theres the villains like Seymour. And then characters named Lulu and Auron, Wakka, etc.
So anyway US expects to have a 2002 release (I believe) with a full dubbing and hopefully a good cast with it (Square is serious on making this dub excellent quality). Also FFX is for Playstation 2 only. For now FFX is only in the Japanese section. Most won't understand Japanese and the voices but at least the screenshots and movie clips will leave you drooling for this games release.
And once again sorry to new FF fans but the one great constant of the Final Fantasy series is that it never repeats a storyline. Final Fantasy 11 and 12 are already in planning and development so most likely you will never see a Final Fantasy game made from the movie. Let alone the next Final Fantasy movie made from a game or from the same movie plot. Mr. Sakaguchi would never allow it.
Mech Commander (1998)
The first installment of hopefully a long legacy
Although Mech Commander was at the time a very advanced game with graphics that were impressive, it was underplayed in popularity and fell into the hands of mostly dedicated Battletech people or the computer-junkies who became obsessed to it. Although regular plays through MSN gaming reached 400 people battling it out hourly, the game as now has died now. Basically you traverse a map full of obstacles and different terrains with your "'mechs" which are robot machines which can be modified to fire different weapons like lasers and missiles. They're very much in the style of Japanese anime and all around "cool" looking. In this game you can command many of these mechs on the screen and move them around for different mission objectives like killing the enemy or capturing their base. There are lots of very interesting addons like air-strikes, sensor beacons and turrets. There is a lot of detail to this game including realistic representation of the terrain. For example you can stand on a big hill and see a lot farther than if you were on flat plains.
In the history of games like these, MC preempted the now full 3D ability rather than a constricted 2D map and 3D graphics. Mech Commander 2 is now the successor, bringing back the music of Duane Decker who now brings a full orchestra and techno soundtrack rather than the stale militaristic midi-recorded version in the first MC. Also MC2 will feature full 3D ability to pan around your mechs and zoom into to their 3D movements. This will hopefully launch a new obsession into the world of Mech Commander, having examples of games like Mech Warrior 3 and 4 to help solidify the Battletech gaming world.