Al Rhodes's profileAsian ProvocateurPhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
|
June 30 Broomsticks, Bikes and Automobiles
An old staple returns to dvd next week in a re-imagined form. The Manga strip Ah! My Goddess, sometimes called Oh! My Goddess, was first published in 1988 and over the past two decades has been animated as several Japanese TV series (one including mini-versions of the characters) and a movie. In 2005 a new Anime version was produced for TV which followed the source material more closely (as far as its 12 certficate allows). A boxset featuring the entire 24 episodes, plus two that were supposedly never broadcast, is released on July 7th.
Ah! My Goddess is a whimsical rom com about Keiichi, a teenage college student and auto enthusiast who accidentally calls the Goddess Help Line. His call is answered in person by the Goddess Belldandy who materialises in his dorm room through a mirror and grants him one wish. Kind hearted but unlucky Keiichi can't get a girlfriend so he wishes for the Goddess to remain by his side forever. I don't know how old Japanese Goddesses are supposed to be but fortunately for Keiichi, Belldandy seems as youthful and naive as him.
A series adventures begin centred around Belldandy's attempts to adjust to life on the mortal plane and Keiichi's painfully shy attempts to get it on with his immortal 'giirlfriend'. There are run-ins with spirits and demons as well as rivals on campus but the tone is always light hearted and life-affirming. It's all about forming good relationships and self worth folks! It may be set in Japan but the Goddesses are based loosely on Norse mythology, dress in stylised Grecian/European outfits, ride on broomsticks and the theme music is kind of Irish folk/pop, so it's a real mish mash. The absolute antithesis of cartoon violence. June 25 John Woo's Red Cliff poster collectionLess controversial than the Olympic Torch relay but the most anticipated two-part movie since Kill Bill, the first half of John Woo's epic Rec Cliff (formerly known as The Battle of Red Cliff) is reportedly still heading for a release date that will co-incide with this summer's Beijing Olympics. Part 2 is expected at the end of the year.
New movie posters are starting to flood on to the web and I have included a collection of them in my Gallery section (right). The new set first, followed by some older less colourful posters.
The movie(s) tell the story of a historic battle in the warlord controlled China of 208 AD. It is rumoured to be the most expensive Chinese film ever made with a budget estimated to be in the region of 80 million dollars (US). June 23 Cartoons are gay - it's officialOk cards-on-the-table time. I myself am what you might describe as one of the 'Happy People'. But even I had never heard of Yaoi and even though I like to fly well under the gaydar as a matter of principal, I thought I had lived on the wildside more than a little. Then again, Yaoi isn't aimed at people like me.
So what the hell is Yaoi, I hear you cry? Well just when you thought they couldn't invent another genre... Yaoi is a sub-set of Manga, Anime and Japanese novels that deal with same sex romances but what specifically sets them apart isn't that they are gay. It is that they are primarily written by women for women. I guess that's why in the one I watched (Gravitation), the big cliffhanger was whether his boyfriend would be angry because he had decided to work late without calling home first.
If this was written by gay guys for gay guys, there would have been a lot more man-on-man action let me tell you. But these are ROMANCES (Yaoi is also sometimes referred to as Boy's Love) and are apart from the occasional snog after a hot stare in the elevator, it's pretty harmless stuff. Best not ask awkward questions like how come these guys both happened to be in the park late at night?
Between 80 and 85 percent of Yaoi fans are thought to be young women or teenage girls and it is a huge market. Since it started in the 1970s, Yaoi has become massive on Japanese language websites. In June 2008 an estimated 18 million people searched for the term Yaoi. And it's not even July yet!
So where can I get this hot stuff, I hear the girls cry? The first disc of the Anime series Gravitation is out on DVD on July 7th (only about 4 years late). It tells the story of Shuichi, the singer in (what only the Japanese would call a rock band) Back Luck and his ambition to follow in the footsteps of his idol Ryuichi Sakum, singer in Nittel Grasper. No, no, not Nettle Grasper. I said Nittle Grasper. C'mon girls, sort your metaphors out!
Inbetween bitchy run-ins with their rivals ASK that would make Spinal Tap jealous, and sporting costumes onstage that even Erasure's Andy Bell or Daffyd - the only Gay in the Village would turn their noses up at, Ryuichi falls for mysterious brooding pretty-boy novelist Eiri Yuki. Will the path of true love run smooth... yada, yada, yada? Oh I can't go on. You get the picture.
June 17 You just can't get the staff (when you heart the eighties)
In their first ever big screen pairing, Jackie Chan reprises his role as the Drunken Master, actually he's called the Drunken Immortal in The Forbidden Kingdom but they're not fooling anyone, and Jet Li plays Monkey (minus pink flying cloud sadly). They both play other parts too. For big kids (especially those who have refused to grow up since the 80s when they were fans of the Monkey TV series) this is a dream come true. Which is perhaps why that is the central premise of The Forbidden Kingdom. A teenage kung fu movie geek (Michael Angarano from 24) falls from a rooftop and wakes up in a mystical realm where he goes on a quest to return King Monkey's magic staff to it's rightful owner. In an old Chinese curiosity shop (Gremlins?), Jason Tripitikas witnesses a kind old man (Chan again) get shot (Back To The Future ?) and is transported into the past to Ancient China (erm, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III?).
Aided by the Drunken Immortal, the Silent Monk (Li again) and the beautiful Golden Sparrow who is out to avenge the murder of her parents (played by Yifei Liu), Tripititaka (sorry, Tripitakas) must return the staff to King Monkey who has been turned to stone by the evil Jade Emperor (played by Colin Chou from The Matrix Reloaded). Mums and dads will probably be reassured that it is directed by Rob Minkoff (Lion King, Stuart Little) but I wouldn't want that to put older fans off the movie. It's Written by John Fusco who has done the screen play for a new version of the Seven Samurai due out next year.
TFK was filmed on location in two Chinese provinces of outstanding beauty with additional studio sets that are at times wonderfully kitsch. Deliberately suggestive of old TV shows, I'm guessing, but without looking low-budget. The cast is spot on, especially Li Bing Bing who plays whip cracking villainess The White Haired Assassin. The inevitable Jackie/Jet fight is both great fun and lives up to expectations. Comparisons with Bulletproof Monk (which I like incidentally) are inevitable. However this is more traditional, unapologetic feel-good fodder that will take kids on a wild ride and make adults feel 10 years younger (or in my case more like 25). It is no Crouching Tiger or House of Flying Daggers (the Forbidden Kingdom doesn't take itself too seriously) but it's ninety minutes of your life you won't be wishing you could get back. The Forbidden Kingdom has already been No 1. in the movie charts in the USA (guess where I saw it) and is set for UK release on July 11 according to some sites but I have seen no official announcement here yet and no glimmer of the hype I would have expecting. Look at my Gallery section for more pics. June 11 Jet Li is Mummy 3
This is no pyramid hoax. Jet Li is back playing the bad guy in the first Mummy sequel since 2001. In The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Jet plays Brendan Fraser's nemesis, the resurrected Qin Emperor, who is awoken by a 2000 year old curse with his army of terracotta warriors. They had mummies in China? Who knew! The film is directed by Rob Cohen of xXx and The Fast and the Furious fame and is out in August. June 10 Ong Bak is back
Tony Jaa, star of surprise Thai martial arts hit Ong Bak is making his directorial debut with a film under the 'working title' Ong Bak 2. Well, I don't know if you can describe a film as having a working title once poster artwork has started to leak out! Jaa will once again take the lead role. The original Ong Bak is set in modern day Thailand, sort of a Thai version of Kickboxer with some unbelievable Jackie Chan stunts. Despite its title, the sequel it seems is anything but. Instead it's a historical action movie, and is a revival of an never released low budget film Ai Noom Saraphad Phid (Venomous Boy) co-written by Jaa. Ong Bak 2 will feature martial arts based on the scared masked Thai dance Khon. June 07 Talking cats and samurai spats
One benefit of the time it takes for new Anime to reach the UK is that you don't have to wait quite as long to play catch up. Less than a fort-month since the Series 1 box set of the excellent Bleach was released on DVD, part 1 of Series 2 is about to hit the shelves. At the cliff-hanger ending of series 1, Ichigo and the gang had just entered a portal from Earth to the spirit realm of the Soul Society. With Yoruichi the talking cat as their guide, they were on the way to rescue Rukia Kuchiki, the Soul Reaper who was awaiting execution. Series 2 inverts the original premise of the story in which Soul Reaping samurai save lost souls from Hollows (soul eating monsters) and help them to cross over to the Soul Society.
In this thread of the story, there isn't even a hollow in sight as we get to see how the other half 'live'. I use the word loosely as this is the afterlife we're talking about. The Soul Society is exactly heaven it seems, but a hierachical domain with entire districts living in poverty ruled over by the not-so-benevolent Soul Reapers who fight more for glory and prestige. We were told in Series 1 that spirits who cross over remain how they are then forever, with children not growing up, yet we delve into Rukia's part and watch her grow up.
There are more plot holes than the Star Wars saga but the main characters continue to evolve and new players are introduced. Once again the comedic aspects taking centre stage, interspersed with moments of pathos and a fair dose of Ichigo action. Bleach remains addictive, desipe having little to do with the original concept, and the artwork continues to be stylish and inventive while retaining all the trademark aspects of Japanese Anime that we know and love. 32 episodes on, I'm still a big fan but don't have a clue even now why it's called Bleach. Any theories? Post them below. Series 2 Part 1 (Episodes 21 to 32) is out on DVD on June 30th. June 04 Tiger Film Festival TrailerHere are some highlights from the Tiger Far East Film Festival running this month in Brighton. See my last entry or visit the Official Site for program details.
June 02 Catch Brighton's Tiger Festival by the tail
Brighton's Tiger Far East Film Festival kicked off this weekend as part of a series of events showcasing China Now. Only in its second year, it's a small but presitigious event that gives UK connoisseurs the chance to catch the some of the best new movies that Asian cinema has to offer. In 2008 it hosts the World premiere of China's Follow Your Heart and UK premiere for 9 other movies, including Thai romantic comedy 7 Days To Leave My Wife, Assembly - a memoir of the Chinese civil-war, and Japanese drama Show Some Love You Losers!
Tiger Festival runs until June 21st when it's closes with the UK premiere of the Hong Kong crime thriller Mad Detective, co-produced and co-directed by Johnnie To who made his name directing Chow Yun-Fat in All About Ah-Long. |
|
|
