Kill Bill: Volume 1

Starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, David Carradine, Vivica A. Fox, and Sonny Chiba

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Release Date: October 10th, 2003

A bloody tale of revenge from Quentin Tarantino!

A pregnant bride is beaten near to death and then shot in the head at a shoot out known as "The El Paso Wedding Massacre". All that is known about The Bride (Thurman) is that she remains in her coma for four years, then awakens stunned and her child lost. Knowing who to blame, our blood-spattered bride digs back into her old life as an assassin, looking for her old comrades who carried out the deeds orchastrated by Bill. As soon as The Bride takes care of the Deadly Vipers Assasination Squad (DVAS), she will kill Bill....

Today we are going to look at part one of the Kill Bill saga. Why only part one? It's my blog and I make the rules. So, today we're going to look at The Bride's near fatal attack to her battles with DVAS 1 and 2, O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green, Code Names Cottonmouth and Copperhead respectively. If one were to differentiate Volumes 1 and 2, 1 is where you're gonna get all the fight scenes. As with many Tarantino movies, the plot is jumbled into a Rashomon-esque style where the attack on Vernita Green happens before O-ren, despite occuring as O-ren THEN Vernita chronologially. Still, it's another great Tarantino thrill ride where the action gels beautifully with the action onscreen. As good as the "Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves", there's a thrilling grace to the kitchen scenes between The Bride and Vernita Green.  Finally, there's the acting: The Bride should be an action movie star, up there with John McClane and The Man with No Name. Uma Thurman does a tremondous job making The Bride into a badass warrior with a very human side, as seen in her interactions with Vernita's daughter, Nicki. On a side note, there's a great flashback story for O-ren Ishii created by Production I.G., an anime company whose such work includes NGE: Death and Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, and FLCL (a.k.a. Fooly Cooly).

Rating: * * * * * of 5

Click here to buy

Kill Bill - Volume One
Kill Bill: Volume 1, Kill Bill Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack [Explicit] (Soundtrack)
Kill Bill - Volume One [Blu-ray]

Highschool of the Dead, Season 1

Original Title - 学園黙示録 Gakuen Mokushiroku?, "Academy Apocalypse"
Produced by MadHouse Animation

Original Airdates: July 5th- September 20th, 2010
(Involves heavy amounts of violence, gore, sensuality, and partial nudity)

…in other words, Not for those under 17 yrs of age

Since I’m a fan of anime and zombies, High School of the Dead seemed like a perfect fit for me. However, there are a few problems to address later on.


In modern Japan, zombies have begun to attack a high school. Takashi Komoro takes action and decides to save childhood sweetheart Rei Miyamoto from the hoards of living dead and escape from the madness. Soon enough, Takashi and Rei meet other survivors: Saeko Busujima, a kendo master; Saya Takagi, a self-proclaimed genius and resident loud-mouth; Kohta Hirano, skilled marksman and gun fanatic, and Shizuka Marikawa, the school nurse and the group’s only proficient driver. Will this rag-tag group of survivors make it to find their families, or to survive to the next day? Will the undead be their worst enemies, or the other people that survive this apocalypse?

The Walking Dead, Dead Rising, Dead Space, 28 Days Later…. The list goes on and on for how much Zombies have infected the imaginations and interest of audiences these days (the less said about the CW “drama” with zombies, the better). HOTD certainly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, from musical cues from 28 Days Later to the title brining up memories of George A. Romero movies (Night, Dawn, Day, Land, Diary, and Survival of the Dead). Since this is a show about Zombies, it would be apropos to have zombie gore, and plenty of it; there’s tons of great action sequences, and I applaud MadHouse Animation for their fantastic fluidity and style in bringing the manga to its’ animated form. One of the first season’s best episodes, The Sword and the Dead, features Saeko Busujima facing off against zombies with a katana.

Now on to the only reason HOTD gets a 4 out of 5 stars…

There is WAY too much fan service going on in this show. Now, I’m no prude, but seriously it gets really annoying when you’re trying to enjoy an anime about zombies, and you’re being blocked by fan service. I'm not unfamiliar with the practice, as seen in other anime like Code Geass, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Hellsing, but unlike those anime, HOTD pushed the fan service until you go crazy.   (If you don’t know what fan service is, look it up). I watched the first six episodes with my buddies, and we were all exasperated by how much gratuitous sexism and ogling of the female characters there were in the FIRST episode.

If you cannot wait until October 2011 for The Walking Dead Season 2, give HOTD a chance if you also enjoy anime.


Rating: * * * * of 5

Click Here  to buy First Manga Volume of Highschool of the Dead, Vol. 1

Evangelion 2.0 US Screenings

Hey Everyone!

Just thought I'd let everyone know about the US schedule for EVANGELION 2.0: You can (not) advance. It will be in limited release theaters from January to February 2011 with the blu-ray release March 29th, 2011. If you're an Evangelion fan, I highly recommend finding the closest theater near you to see it. For everyone else, just be patient until the blu-ray release in March (which I will do my best to review the video, audio, and special features of the blu-ray).

Finally, here is my review of Evangelion 2.0: You can (not) advance

Later!

Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance

Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha (original title)

Starring the voices of Megumi Ogata, Akira Ishida

Directed by: Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Release Date: Jun 27, 2009



Many people complained that Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone was nothing more than a recap of episodes 1-6 with new animation, surface changes, and a five minute preview that kept viewers wating for what EVA creators promised another two years. Well, fear no more loyal EVA fans! Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance is the brash, bold change to our familar 2015 you've all been waiting for!

Set in the time line between Angels 8 and 10, Eva 2.0 has a lot of heavy material to get through and lots of new plot twists to cover; not only that, but it's finally time to be reintroduced to our favorite feisty, red-haired Second Child, Asuka Shikinami(?). Also, we are now given a name to go with the mysterious new EVA pilot seen in previews from EVA 1.0, Mari. While continuing the plot thread of Gendo Ikari and Seele's sinister plans regarding Human Instrumentality, we get a great plot dealing with the relationships between the characters, particularly Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, and Kaji. The scenes between Shinji and Rei discussing small fish in a water tank are absolutely fantastic. Personally, I felt that this plotline regarding Romance in the EVA universe brought up recollections of NGE: Angelic Days, a great Alternate universe storyline of the EVA pilots which I highly recommend.

As always, the writing is top notch for both EVA die hard fans and those new to the series. Also, the animation is glowing from the hardcore action sequences down to the smaller scenes, like the detail in the scene between Rei and Asuka in the elevator.

I HIGHLY recommend seeing this film, especially if you're an EVA fan.

Rating: * * * * * of 5

Click here to buy Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance [Blu-ray]