Here comes the Bride... again


More Uma, more bloodshed.

When last we left the mysterious 'Bride', she had left a housewife dead on the floor of her suburban home with a knife in her chest, and a Yakuza empress lying on the snow sans the top of her head. Of course, neither of those two targets was named Bill, so this story isn't over yet.
Kill Bill 2 will pick up where the first bloody installment left off, with The Bride (Uma Thurman) moving on to eliminate the rest of the names on her Hit List. With Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii dead and gone, all that's standing between The Bride and Bill are Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah). But suffice to say, if you thought the Bride went through hell in the first film, you haven't seen anything yet.
While Volume 1 was a tribute to Yakuza films, martial arts chopsocky and samurai cinema, Volume 2 is supposedly an homage to Italian spaghetti westerns- so don't expect any hordes of Crazy 88's or anything like the luscious Go-Go Yubari to make an appearace. Even the death toll will supposedly be a lot more toned down- the finale will be more personal, more serious and visceral. Or so I've heard.

Anyway, we all loved the first film; let's see what ol' Q has in store for us with the next. Kill Bill is set to slash into theaters this June.

Weird Dream

I have had my share of weird dreams. But this morning's experience is exceptionally strange. It was like an episode from a Land of the Lost episode, with me being apparently transplanted into a family being pursued by... something. Anyway, most of the dream is spent running from something running under the ground. Eventually, we are able to reach a structure which looked very familiar to me- now I remember it to be the large playground slide at my old high school.
Anyway, we climbed on top of the structure even as the thing that had been chasing us surfaced from the ground. Well, part of it surfaced; it was a giant's head (the giant's body from the mouth down remained under the ground). Then, apparently, the Sunken Giant grabbed hold of the structure and began pulling it away. We were caught.
The scene then shifted to a cramped, tiny little attic, cluttered with lots of toys and other stuff. Me, my 'parents' and siblings went up and confronted our pursuer's master- a clown puppet with googly, Ernie eyes (EH?).
I immediately felt a strong urge to strangle it, and I proceeded to do so...until I realized that this was no time for violence, but instead for making amends. Well, it seemed that the clown puppet was part of the family, so we welcomed him back into the clan... and then... the dream ended.

I woke up a bit groggy, as if tired from all that running from the Sunken Giant. What the heck was that all about?

Weird.

More Azkaban

Harry Potter fans rejoice! There's a new trailer to the latest Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban, and to see it all you need do is head on over to The Leaky Cauldron!
I'm really excited at this third Potter movie- the trailers show off a more vibrant and lush treatment of the material, with energetic and dynamic uses of the camera and performers. Just goes to show what the new director, Alfonso Cuaron, is bringing to the table. Anyway, the trailer shows off even more scenes than the first spot, such as more Dementors, nasty Professor Snape, more Sirius Black, more magic and yes, the teen-age heroes.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is showing in the US on June 4.

Hmmm.

I'm blogging right now via Safari, the alternative browser program on my Powerbook. My Internet Explorer keeps quitting, and so might be corrupted (which is an amazing thing since it has been working perfectly for the past couple of weeks). Sigh. So much for the infallibility of Le Big Mac.

Anyway, I haven't been able to post much recently on account of work. K.I.A. pages are coming along sluggishly, mostly because I'm concentrating on doing art for Kunoichi Boy. I should get into the groove again soon though, because, well, I have to. Heh.
All things considered, things are going well. Just have to keep in mind my priorities and see what I have to do first and next. And then do it.

Project Nina


Tekken's original femme fatale gets her own gig.

Some time ago, I posted about a PS2 game called Project Nina which would star the blonde, Irish aikido-fighting assassin from the Tekken series. Well, the game has finally gotten its real title: Death By Degree: Nina Williams. As before, this one-player romp will have you guiding Nina during one of her (apparently) early missions- that of infiltrating a cruise ship teeming with bad guys to stop a plot of global domination.

Nina will have a lot of fighting moves to use in battle, including her Tekken attacks, firearms, acrobatics (ala Lara Croft), swordplay and more. She'll even be doing quite a bit of costume changes throughout the game, sporting several battle costumes, a cheongsam-like dress, lingerie and bodysuits. One special factor in the battle is an 'internal damage' system which lets Nina strike at an opponent's vital organs, effectively ending a battle abruptly or greatly damaging a tough boss charactger.

Death By Degree: Nina Williams is expected later this year for release in Japan; a US release hasn't been announced, but is anticipated. The game seems to have english voiceovers (ala Resident Evil), so the moment it appears on shelves here, we'll be all over it.