Dress-up Tekken


Asuka Kazama and her alter-ego, Mirtle.

A cool new feature in the upcoming Tekken 5 will be a Customization Feature. You can unlock various items, accessories and articles of clothing to dress up your favorite Tekken fighters through gameplay. So now, if you ever wondered what Kazuya would look like as an Elvis impersonator, you can indulge. It's still not known how many options will eventually be available, but you should be able to change character costume colors, hairstyles, add headgear or add props like weapons for wacky combinations. This still isn't the same as having bikinis for the females, but it should be darn fun to see.
Tekken 5 is set for a late 2004 or early 2005 arcade release, with home versions expected soon after.



King looks a lot more kingly with a mane, don't you think?

Advent Rising


The original butt-kicking babe in Final Fantasy, Tifa Lockhart, returns. And she's put on quite a few polygons.

Square has released more tantalizing images of their impending DVD movie/sequel to the classic Playstation One RPG Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The images include stills of heroine Tifa Lockhart, who's looking FINE, party members Red XIII and Cid and former enemies The Turks ("We are Turks!"). Lastly, there's a mysterious scene showing Cloud standing in a field of flowers with none other than Aeris herself. A dream? A flashback? Or a reunion?


Reno and Rude are back, but where's Elena? The Turks will apparently have a significant role in Advent Children. They are shown talking with Cloud, and later locked in combat with the new silver-haired enemies.


You can't keep a good flower girl down...

With pretty much all of the cast members from FFVII now accounted for, FFVII: Advent Children is a must for fans of the most acclaimed chapter of the Final Fantasy series. The movie is scheduled for release on DVD/Video and on the Playstation Portable later this year.

Blow wind, blow

Outside, the storm winds are howling non-stop. The sky is a grey curtain, and the intermittent volleys of rain pelt the windows like little thumbtacks.
I actually ventured outdoors for a while, braving the storm with nothing more than a jacket- an umbrella would be suicide in the strong winds. My steps eventually took me down the streets to Makati Cinema Square and the DVD kiosks (Heh). There I got the first two seasons of Futurama, Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Battle Royale 2 and Zero Woman. The last disc is a live-action Japanese film about a female assassin, one of a series. That, and the Battle Royale 2 disc, are region 9 dvds from abroad... I hope they work on my player with no problem, and with suitable subtitles. I was tempted to get the Third Season of Alias, but I'll save that for when I am actually raring to watch the show.

I took a cab back to the office, which set me down on the curb near the entrance. Again, a wall of force blew against me as I made my way to the building's interiors, stronger this time than before. My jacket was almost blown off, threatening to escape into the wild grey yonder. With luck, I should finish up whatever work I have for the day shortly so I can make my way home early. Stormy, windy days aren't so bad, but stormy windy nights are best weathered through at home.

Wallcrawler

I'm actually looking forward to watching Spiderman 2, which starts showing today in local theaters. While I don't consider myself a fan of the character and I didn't like the first movie that much (Green Goblin sucked), seeing the trailers and rave reviews have me psyched. I am looking to be entertained when we inevitably watch the film later this week, or this weekend. We'll see.

Hurrah Redux



Today we presented our mostly-finished TV commercial to client (no less than the President of the company) and our job's pretty much done. We've been working on this particular job ever since I joined the agency, and it's been a long journey to say the least. But it's refreshing to finally see your work pay off in a TV spot that will hopefully be insightful and memorable over most other ads in the category. Of course, it helped that we had a top-notch team with the likes of director Raymond Red on board. Hurray! Here's to more nice TV ads to come in the near future.

Windy City

As I got off the cab and headed for the entrance to our office building, strong gusts of wind blew into me continuously, flapping and pressing my shirt and jeans to my body, buffeting even my heavy bag. I was almost walking with an effort against the cold, relentless force that howled all around me. Turns out there's another Super Typhoon headed our way. Lots of wind, a bit of rain and coldness throughout.

My kind of weather. Heh.

Angel Ace Next NEXT



Tonight I had dinner with Vin and Andrew at Classic Roast, in Megamall. There, as we chowed down on chicken ala kiev, chicken ala king and roast pork, we talked about comics.
It's been a long time since I've raised a pen to page... the past couple of months have been dominated by work, collapsing in fatigue and just vegetating on weekends and... blogging. Andrew asked me some pointers about doing a comic book series, since I'm the one in the group who's been doing one title continuously all this time.
I talked about what I thought I'd do... about having a goal in mind and mapping your characters' stories and progress towards it. Spacing out issues by events such as filler episodes meant to endear your cast to the reader and to reveal more about them, to significant story points such as a betrayal, a death of a character or a moment of truth. And then, you have to move into a sufficient climax which reveals your series' secrets and ends it all in a bang.

I just told it according to how I wanted my own Angel Ace to go. Things have been slow recently, but I am still committed to going through with the series. I ended Angel Ace Next as a good starting point for newer, fresher stories, conveniently giving Kai her own book and independence of a sort from Angel's adventures. I'm not totally committed to the exact storyline, but it will again be a stand-alone story, featuring Angel and her guys on an adventure that will be fun and action-packed and reveal more of their personalities and quirks... perhaps Angel Ace goes to Manila could be a possibility? We'll see.

Of course, all this will have to follow AFTER my other commitments- namely illustrating for Siglo: Passion and finishing up K.I.A.. In good time though, I promise... we'll see Angela Windsor Gale fly again.

War in the Pocket

I've just wasted quite a bit of time (and cellphone battery charge) playing a nice Java game called Ancient Empires on my phone. The game's a fantasy themed turn-based strategy war game, with you commanding knights, archers, mages and supernatural units against the armies of your evil arch-enemy and brother. The graphics and gameplay bring to mind gameboy titles like Advance Wars, with split screen animations showing the armies (well, groups of up to five units) attacking and/or getting eliminated. There's a nice amount of depth in the game, with various terrain having an effect on your units' movement and combat strength, and the ability to manufacture new units with gold you collect from occupied towns being a vital part of winning in prolonged campaigns.
Another fun little game I've downloaded and installed in my phone is DOAX. Yep, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball! Okay, it's the mini-pocket version, 2-D and with itsy-bitsy SD sprites instead of sexy 3-D DOA girls, but what can you expect? At least the volleyball gameplay's actually fun, and there are several DOAX artworks thrown in to give it all a nice mood. The game's supposedly by Tecmo, but that can't be... can it?

It's really amazing to see how far games in mobile phones has come from simple Snake and Alien Scum. Who knows what may be possible in a year or two? Mobile Tekken? Cellphone Final Fantasy? It's exciting to imagine what.

Had a lot of fun, but I'd better take care not to get too addicted... I might end up eating up all my battery power... and time... taking on the portable forces of evil.

Hip Hop Samurai


From the makers of Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop, the funky series about bouny hunters in outer space, may not be my favorite anime, but I recognize the quality. Director Shinichiro Watanabe is known for many acclaimed series like Bebop, and his latest work, Samurai Champloo hits the right chords with me.
Samurai Champloo is an action anime set in ancient, feudal Japan, yet rendered and often set to modern sensibilities and hip-hop music. It's probably the closest I've seen yet to Blade of the Immortal in anime form.

Two exceptionally deadly ronin- Mugen and Jin clash swords after separate altercations with the corrupt town prefect, and end up being imprisoned and sentenced to die. They eventually escape in a storm of blades and blood with the help of Fuu, a young girl who enlists their aid to find 'a samurai who smells of sunflowers'. And so, the story begins...

Champloo boasts quite fluid and impressive animation during fight scenes, depicting Mugen's quick, fast-on-his-feet fighting style and Jin's more refined techniques. The character designs are also excellent and expressive, and the overall quality is very high. The series so far seems to be very close as well to other Watanabe series- there's an underlying sense of humor and lightness, though the show doesn't hold back when it comes to action and death-dealing. Baddies get cut down quick and hard here, like in real samurai cinema.
I've watched two episodes, and I can say that I am sold on this cool new series. Anyone looking for tough, action-packed, sexy and high quality anime may want to check this out.

Second Honeymoon


The Bride meets Bill FINALLY in Kill Bill Vol. 2.

It's been several months since the first volume and first half of director Quentin Tarantino's fourth film, Kill Bill. The first film was a bloody tableau of revenge, black humor, martial arts and swordplay, an homage to samurai and yakuza cinema, anime and exploitation flicks. The Bride (Uma Thurman) locked swords with two of the DIVAS, or Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad, literally cutting a path through dozens of yakuza swordsmen in the first film's gory finale. It was loud, it was ridiculous, it was incredible and we pretty much ate it up. But of course, it ended at a cliffhanger, with the promise of a final confrontation with the titular quarry still to come.

Kill Bill Volume 2 has come and gone from US theaters, yet it still has to come out locally. Well, I got a pretty clear copy of the film to watch so I took the plunge. I actually knew a lot of what was going to happen- I read the whole script of Kill BIll about a year or two ago, so I actually know the ending. But a script can change from paper to theater and so there was still a degree of mystique to this viewing. Well, I've seen it.

Be prepared for a totally different film with a totally different pulse.

That's all that I can say without spoiling too much. The second part of Kill Bill is almost devoid of big action scenes... in fact, I may venture to say that there aren't any big action scenes. The mega-body count and blood splatter of the first part has given way to a whole lot more dialogue, character moments, more dialogue, exposition and more dialogue- which may not be a minus for some people. But to action fans who loved the slashing action of the first and who are expecting even bigger, more flashy stuff in the climax, you WILL be disappointed. As for me, I wasn't bored watching the MANY long talky moments- there is interesting stuff to listen to- but I probably WILL be on any future viewings.

So, did I like it or not? I liked it for what it is... an ending to the movie, and for closure. I just wished they had added a bit more- more of Bill in particular. David Carradine is quite good in the screen time that he has. Bill is one mix of a character- angel/devil, good yet evil, charismatic but despicable... but always dangerous. I wanted to see more of him, to see him in action. The film would have also benefited from a deleted (and never filmed) scene involving character Go Go Yubari's sister, Yuki, from the original script. A bit more action, fun and another killer schoolgirl may have made me like Vol. 2 a bit more.

In the end though, I find Kill Bill Vol. 2 a forgettable end to a great start. Where the title started out with a bang and a scream, it ends with a whisper. I like it, but I like the first part a LOT better, and that's the Kill Bill I will remember. I guess in this case, it isn't sweeter the second time around.

Moving on, moving on...

Phonewhore Post of the Week



It's been more than a week since I got my Nokia 7610, and so I've gotten to know it better.

The phone's really a fashion phone, which means it really looks great. I remember when I got my T610 and 6600, my immediate reaction was to replace the original covers with more colorful shells. Not so with my 7610... the sleek, black cover is just oh, so cool. The only problem is, it's prone to fingerprints, so I'm always wiping it on my shirt. Heh.
The keys, while odd and artistic, are easy to get used to and very snappy, without any rattling or shaking. The only gripe I have is with the joypad- it's a bit stiff, especially with side motions. It's especially hard to play games like Sky Control and Space Impact with the pad. Sigh.
Overall the phone feels very solid, firm and snug in your hand. It's thinner and narrower than the 6600 and a bit lighter, but far tighter- quality!

The Megapixel camera is really cool and it's better than anything else available on cameraphones right now. There are three settings- High, Normal and Basic. The High pics are several hundred kilobytes in size, and fit about 20 or so in the phone's onboard memory. It's good that you can transfer photos to a PC or some other large archive via an included USB cable or through Bluetooth. Despite still not having a flash, taking pics in low light is better with the 7610 since the lens allows for more light exposure, and a single button push activates an excellent Night Mode. Video recording, of which you can now take up to 10 minutes per session, is incorporated with the digital still camera. As far as I can tell, the videos taken with the 7610 are clearer and sound a bit better than with the 6600.

In general, the 7610 has the best sounds of recent Nokia smartphones- far better than the 6600 and the 3650.

The Symbian OS of the 7610 runs a lot smoother and a lot faster than in the 6600, which will become quite apparent after you run programs, arrange files, compose MMS messages and stuff. Videos play smoother on the embedded Real One Player and even the third-party Smartmovie player.

Themes and apps that will work with the 6600 will usually work with the 7610, except for any apps that require the use of the IR port (Infra Red), since the 7610 doesn't have IR!

Memory is a bit of a problem at present since regular MMC memory cards won't fit in the phone. The 7610 uses Reduced-Size MMC cards, which is a new format that will soon become standard in upcoming phones from Nokia and other companies. I've already found a 128 MB card in a shop, but I'm holding out till larger-size RSMMC's are available.
Battery consumption is fair- about three hours to fully charge the battery, and then it will last for about 2 days. Using Bluetooth, the camera and media apps will of course shorten this faster.

The phone is presently priced at 30K in most shops all around the Metro, while The Hub will be selling the phone starting this weekend at about 28K with their subscriptions (get it free with the higher plans).
The 7610 package includes the 7610, manual, promo brochiures, a USB cable, PC suite CD, RS MMC card (64mb) and adaptor and a wrist strap. The wrist strap is not recommended since it has a metal component which may scratch your lovely mobile.

Well, that's that. I am fully satisfied with the 7610, and it's really cool to have be one of the first to have this great model. I am sure it will be as popular as the now 'In' 6600, though the present high price will be a deterrent to all save the most devoted (and in the money) gadget freaks.

And now, let's see about learning how to work the in-phone editing programs so I can start putting together my first 7610 short film...

Progress

Things have been great at work lately, and now we end the work week it at a high note. We presented a TV commercial to client and got high marks. It's really great to see your idea, once presented as a concept, finally made reality by excellent directors and production houses. It's even better when you show your work to your client and see smiles of approval on their faces.
We've been labouring on this particular TV commercial series since last year, and to finally reach the closing stages is truly refreshing. Soon, it will be onto showing the final, final spot and then releasing it into the media for the world at large to see.
Great way to end the week. WOOHOO!!!

Suikoden III Part 2


The war between knights, tribes and mysterious sorcerers continues in Suikoden III manga, volume 2.

The second part of the game-to-manga translation of the PS2 RPG Suikoden III is available now.
As before, the quality of the translation is still excellent, despite having to balance attention between at least three major groups of heroes- from a troop of noble knights, to tribes of fierce barbarians, to a somewhat shady troop of mercenaries. There are tons of touches to please fans of the game, including not only the showing of major events from the game story, but also tons of little cameos of even minor cast members (remember, the Suikoden game has a cast of over 108 different heroes and villains).

There are some little hiccups but overall the second volume of Suikoden III still has me hooked and waiting for the next one. Check your favorite comic store and get your own copy for some high fantasy manga.

VICTORY!!!

We won the pitch we were working on all week!!! A new account won! A mountain climbed and conquered!!! WE DID IT!!! GO, TEAM, GO!!!!

YAAAHHOOOOO!!!! YEEEHHHHAAAAA!!! WAAHOOOOIIEEEE!!!!

That means..!

More work for us..!

...

...


Hurray.

Transit



The Metro Rail Transit (MRT) is a good thing. I still believe that, even though these days I prefer spending on a cab rather than squeezing myself in with the MRT crowds.

I remember the first time I entered the Katipunan station of the East-West MRT, I marvelled at the cavernous interior, the cool feel of being underground and the relative quiet of the place compared to the more populous EDSA workhorse.
As the train moved through the tunnel and into daylight, I moved to a window and watched the buildings pass by. I've been commuting more than 15 years, going past these same buildings over and over countless times by jeepney, taxi or bus. But at that time, I looked at the buildings again and saw them completely new from the elevated perspective of the MRT.

WOW! THEY ACTUALLY HAVE ROOFS!

If only for the ability to see old things in a new light, new ways of going about things, new ways of doing things, should always be sought out. So the routine becomes something exciting again, until the next new train comes along.

Closet Dungeoneer

Dungeons and Dragons, the original tabletop RPG, turns 30 this year. Wow. I have to say that it brings back memories and feelings in me that I thought I had long lost to anime, manga and videogames.

Yes, it's true. I admit it. I was a Dungeons and Dragons fan.

I was always fascinated by the idea of roleplaying games, back since when I was a little kid. I read about tabletop gaming in my older brother's gaming mags, watched that tragic, tragic Tom Hanks film Mazes and Monsters, and begged my relatives overseas to send me the books so I could play.

I remember being sent the green set- the Dungeons and Dragons Companion Set Rules first. Which was unfortunate since the set was for advanced, expert players. I remember reading through it and loving all the illustrations and definitions of spells... but failing to make heads or tails of ANYTHING. I remember my sister coming in and asking me to try out the game with her- Which I DID, despite not at all having ANY idea of how to play, nor did I have ANY of the required dice (the Companion Set didn't come with any). I remember that was probably my first and only attempt at 'winging' D&D- I made up everything, from rules to monsters to combat results, arbritrarily using a bunch of six-sided die (the only dice I could find) and feeling like a quack doctor selling fake cures the whole time. I think my sister knew it as well, but for her credit she played quite seriously for that one and only session.

It was some time later when I finally got the Red Box of Basic Rules, and I marvelled at the included dice. I loved the little in-box solo adventure, mourned the death of Aleena the Cleric at the hands of the evil magician Bargle, and had shivers at the thought of gibbering, flesh-hungry ghouls.
I loved reading the literature, writing down stats, thinking up adventures and even doing a little mini-comic based on D&D. In fact, into my high school years I'd work on a D&D-based comic known as Swords of Valour; I never finished it, and it vanished into the mists of antiquity soon after I graduated, but it was fun while it lasted.
But it's actually funny for me to realize that I never really played D&D as much as I would have wanted. For a few months in high school I was able to actually run with a bunch of guys who loved RPGs, but we could never pin down our Dungeonmaster for any good length of time- he was a fickle upper year guy who was hard to get along with, but to his credit he could spin a good story and acted out the parts with gusto. After we lost touch with him, the role of referee hopped from one guy to another, but we never really played seriously after.

Since then, I dabbled into other games of the TSR lineup- Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Gangbusters and Top Secret and Marvel Super Heroes, but I never really liked them as much as I did the good ol' D&D games. Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms... these were the places I really enjoyed.

Into college, I forgot about RPGs save for the occasional fantasy novel or gamebook. It's too bad I really never got into serious RPG playing- perhaps that would have changed my life, I think. Maybe today I'd be an RPG fanatic instead of an Anime/Manga Otaku. Maybe I'd be both. Who knows? I wonder how it would have been if I had been friends with my present barkada- many of whom are RPG veterans. Oh well.

All I know now is that I still love the ol' D&D games. If I had spare cash on me, I'd zip down right now to Nova Fontana in Greenhills and pick up what TSR relics they still have over there, just for kicks. I'd probably take a look at the upcoming re-released D&D Basic Set coming later this year. Probably not because I want to play, but just because I want to read and visit these fantasy worlds once again. Who knows... Maybe it just might be enough to get me to dust off the dusty black cloak and robes, polish the ironwood staff, take up my spellbook and sally forth once more.

Maybe. If the magic is still there.

Grudgingly Translated

The trailer for the upcoming remake of Ju On: The Grudge is now online, at Yahoo Movies.

The remake, produced by horror icon Sam Raimi and directed by Takashi Shimizu (the director of the original creeper) stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as the hapless young woman who gets sucked into a world of supernatural revenge, murder and eerie feelings on the back of your neck. The remake looks to follow the original Japanese film quite religiously, down to the look of the ghost, the scary little kid and the chilling scene of ghostly fingers stroking the back of the heroine's head...

Look for The Grudge later this year.

The Latest Catch

I've gotten a crop of new dvds to watch when I have the time: Van Helsing is the recently-shown action-fantasy starring Hugh 'RRRAAAAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" Jackman as the titular monster hunter hot on the trail of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman. The Day After Tomorrow is the world-disaster flick starring Dennis "Dragonheart" Quaid. FInally, I found a VERY CLEAR dvd of Kill Bill 2, the second part of Quentin "Cameo" Tarantino's bloody 4th film. Haven't watched ANY of them yet- hope I can squeeze in the time to do so despite having quite a lot of stuff to do into next week.
On my hit list for must-get dvds: the period Japanese ninja flick Azumi by Ryuhei Kitamura and Director Zhang Yhimou's latest opus House of Flying Daggers, starring Zhang Ziyi.

A Hero by Chance

Over the weekend, me, Vin, Gig, Jason and Carl talked about a superhero or a comic book character who didn't just have a power that did one particular thing; he could actually cause anything to happen, from changing the weather to making someone's shirt shrink. His/her power would seemingly be totally random and wild, though usually beneficial. The challenge, we thought, was thinking up exactly what could happen at any given time, and how our hero would use that effect to his advantage.
This line of thinking was precipitated when, while we were on route to dinner at Behrouz, I started talking about the movie Firestarter. In this movie, the father of the titular pyrokinetic kid, Drew Barrymore, was played by actor David Keith. He himself had powers of mental domination; he could make anyone do whatever he asked, or feel whatever he commanded. Whenever he used his power, the guy would look like he had a HELL of a migraine and bleed from the nose, but he could do a lot more stuff than just burn things.
"YOU ARE... BLIND!!!" He'd say, and a bad guy was blind.
"Here's a hundred." He'd say, giving over a dollar bill to a cabbie.

That was cool! You could make people do anything you want. I think that's a LOT better than just burning things up.

Well, our hero would go through all that head-stroking migraine stuff, and then SOMETHING would happen. It would affect the area, and it would not be directly harmful to him. It could be anything from changing the weather to altering matter in the immediate vicinity. Maybe if he really, really, really tried, his power would actually do as he intended. But usually, he'd be out of focus and just cause something totally random and weird to happen.

We threw around titles like Murphy's Law, Chance, Weird Luck and even V-Factor (V for Variable). Or maybe even the title for this post would be a good title for the story. We still haven't pinned down just what the story would be about, who his enemies would be, if HE would actually be a SHE, or whatever. But with so much pending and current comic projects we have, I don't think I'll be taking this storline further anytime soon. It's just something we just talked about and had fun with at that moment.

Something totally random.

Chronicles of a Dark Angel


Fallen Angel TPB is now available.

Fallen Angel may not be a comic you'd usually attribute to me. It's dark in both theme and visual style, with morally ambiguous characters and plots that may take one or two reads to be clear. But then again, it stars a kick-ass, mysterious young woman who is both beautiful and complex.
FA is the story of Lee, a cloaked, red-haired woman who is part enforcer, part vigilante, part bounty-hunter and all-around femme fatale in the steamy, shadowy city of Bete Noir. In the span of the 12 issues released so far, we haven't been given too much knowledge about her. She answets to a nun, is super strong and invulnerable, and has acrobatic agility to let her clamber all across the rooftops of the city like a cat. She has some sort of psychic power similar to telekinesis that can, if she wants, tear someone inside out. And finally, she has a creepy ability to just hover slightly above the ground, the soles of her feet never touching the ground. Is she an enhanced human? An actual angel? Only the writer knows, and he's not telling... yet.

So far Lee has shown she's not above getting in bed with the criminal elements of Bete Noir. She's not above using torture to get what she wants- a moral point that both subtly hits at the US Army's treatment of prisoners in Iraq, and shows that our heroine Lee is all too human. She's battled street thugs, criminal masterminds, sorcerous underworld figures and bloodthirsty beasts, but her most deadly foe just may be her own inner demons. It's not always a pretty sight, but for some reason watching the Fallen Angel as she walks her danger-filled path is a gripping read.

This series is one of those kinds of comics these days- an excellently-produced title that has a small but loyal fan base. I really like this title and hope it continues, that's why I support it at every turn. Comic book fans with a taste for dark, gritty, non-conventional fare may do well to check out the recently-released trade, which collects the first 6 issues of the series, and has a couple of pages of character sketches to round off the deal. Get it at your favorite comic store now!

Riddickulous Movie


Triple X in space?

Tonight, our ragtag band of outlaws- Vin, Jason, Dino, Ralph, Carl and me- broke into the heavily-guarded stronghold known as The Podium to watch the new sci-fi action adventure, Chronicles of Riddick.

I'm not really a big fan of bald bad boy Vin Diesel- at least, I didn't really know about him before the 'remixed' spy movie XXX hit theaters. As far as I know, Mr. Diesel rose first to stardom because of his role in the sci-fi thriller Pitch Black (or was it The Fast and the Furious?), as the character known as Riddick. A bad-ass superhuman convict and killer, Riddick was an anti-hero of the first degree. Master escape artist, fearless warrior and unstoppable assassin. Well, actually he's really just a loner who'd rather just live and let live. But of course, it wouldn't be an action movie if it was all about Riddick camping out in some backwoods planet so here we have big things that go to Hell real fast.

The universe is in danger. A phantom army is rapidly growing in strength and numbers, spreading like a virus through the worlds of human colonization. They are called The Necromongers, a force of gothic, highly-disciplined warriors who take over worlds and then either convert or kill everyone in sight. They are led by the Lord Marshall (Colm Feore), a half-human, half-dead being with supernatural abilities. With every world that falls, more humans join this unholy crusade. Is there any way to stop this religious cult of space-faring death worshippers? Well, if prophecy is to be believed, it lies in a race of warriors called The Furions. But for the past generations, the Necromongers have exterminated or subjugated every Furion in sight. Or have they? Enter Mr. Riddick...

I came into COR expecting little more than an action-fest with lots of eye candy, and to say the least, I was NOT disappointed. This film is filled to the brim and overflowing with incredible visuals. The gothic designs of the Necromongers are a sight to see, and the various worlds we are shown fill the screen with all the glorious scope CG effects can give.
In terms of story, there's really little to chew on- the movie is one big action romp for Riddick to look totally bad-ass and kick a lot of arse. Pitch Black fans will enjoy seeing the return of a couple of familiar faces (or names at least) from the prequel. There are some sideplots and conspiracies within the Necromonger elite, as an ambitious/loyal commander named Vaako (Karl Urban) conspires with his consort (Thandie Newton) to replace the present Lord Marshall. There's also a fair bit of dark humor in the precedings as well. Unfortunately, there's also a glaringly long sequence in the middle which brings to mind The Climb Up Mordor from LOTR- a somewhat prolonged, dragging scene. But for the most part, things ran along at a steady pace, to the final action-packed finale and an ending that just screams SEQUEL!!!!

I haven't watched an action film that's just so rich in visuals, so energetic in action, so ambitious in scope and as guiltless in execution as COR, and I can say readily I enjoyed it. It's no Dune, no Star Wars, but it doesn't need or aspire to be. For what it is though, it's pretty good and that's good enough.

Catch Chronicles of Riddick- if you can, or if you dare- in theaters now.

Side note: I came home and opened the TV to HBO and the detective movie Point of Origin. Who do I see in the first scene I see? Colm Feore, the Lord Marshall, now in the role of a detective. Coincidence? Weird.

DAAAAMNNNN!!!

I'm going to have to hunker down and start doing the pending art requirements I have starting this weekend. It looks like the day job is going to be a fickle mistress starting next week. Yikes. Where did all the time go? I have to admit that I've been remiss in a lot of things. K.I.A. is delayed till at least August, given that the submissions are still missing a couple more contributions, and my own pages are unfinished. It doesn't help that we're still pinning down a printer/publisher who can give us a good price and quality. Sigh.

Lots of things to do. Not much time to do it. Well, what else is new? Heh...

Riddickulous, Part Deux

Tonight, Vin, Dino and I will be watching the Pitch Black sequel/sci-fi action adventure Chronicles of Riddick, starring Vin Diesel as the titular anti-hero/convict/galactic saviour. Also on board in the cast are Judi Dench as an ethereal, alien version of her character 'M' from the Bond movies; Keith David as the odd survivor from Pitch Black; Colm Feore as the main baddie The Lord Marshall of the Necromongers; Karl Urban as his lieutenant Vaako and Thandie Newton as Lady Vaako.
Reviews for this flick are mixed, but it's plainly something to see- I'm expecting XXX in Space, lots of pretty lights and sounds, funny one-liners and killing aplenty. If there's a great story as well thrown in with all that, all the better. We'll see.

Cravings

Darn I miss having Discovery Travel and Leisure on cable. My present cable provider just doesn't have it. I don't really watch it for the exotic places as much as I look for exotic dining, cuisine and eats. I'm a very visual person and I eat best when I'm watching a show about food and eating. My favorites are the 'Chef's Journey' shows of Anthony Bourdain which combines New York-ish sentiments, international escapades are REALLY great eating. Lonely Planet/Globe Trekker also had cool food segments, including my all-time favorite Food Special.
At present, all I have are the cooking shows of Food Network on the Lifestyle Channel. It's just not the same. Not as appetizing. Darn.

Sigh. Maybe I'm just hungry. Where should I eat lunch today?

The Phone Whore Strikes Again


Yeah, I've got it.

Okay, okay. I know I've written before that I was going to stay with my 6600 for a while, and that I was perfectly happy with it. And I was, given that I had spent a bundle on maximizing the phone's memory, installed a crapload of games and stuff in it as proof against boredom as long as the battery held out.

But then, the phone got blacklisted and basically was turned into little more than a glorified Gameboy/MP3 player and substandard digicam combo. As a phone, it was useless- no signal, no coverage, no life. The cause for the exile/excommunication/castration of my 6600? Who knows... maybe the original owner didn't pay his bills. Maybe the phone was frickin' stolen. Whatever ghosts of the past it had, they had returned to haunt me and the phone had been struck down.
Not wanting to switch to a rival network, downgrade to a lesser phone or redundantly get another 6600, I just decided to nip this in the bud and just GO FOR IT. I told myself it was my birthday present to myself. I told myself I was getting a higher-res camera and digicam for what I was paying for. I told myself I was at least getting rid of my problem phone and paying a lot less cash than I normally would. I told myself, WHAT THE HECK. I traded in my 6600 and got my 7610 in the box.

So here I am, with the latest Nokia on the block.

My model is black and shiny, with metallic brown highlights- a limited edition, the salesguy said. Riiight. Whatever. Anyway, the 7610 is just as tall, but a lot thinner, narrower and a bit lighter than the wide-bodied 6600. The screen is the same size, though it has straighter sides than the more TV-esque screen of the 6600. The 7610's screen IS noticeably brighter and prettier to look at. Really.
The keys are odd- that's easy to see straight off. Surprisingly, they're not hard to use at all. The joypad though is a bit stiff- especially with downward motions. I hope this gets easier to use with practice. Aside from that though, using the 7610's keys are snappy, responsive and quick. Texting with it should be a breeze in a day or two.
As it is yet another Symbian 60 smartphone, the 7610 works with most, if not all, applications made for these models. My favorite third party app, namely Smartmovie, works PERFECTLY. In fact, I'd venture to say that the 7610 plays the AVIs even smoother and clearer than the 6600 ever did. WOOHOO!!! Other games and apps I installed also worked on the get-go. Coolness.
As for sound, the 7610 kicks the 6600 easily- ringtones and sounds from media come in fuller and brighter. For calling, I have yet to use the phone extensively, but there's really no reason to think that it won't.

Another issue is memory- the 7610 uses Reduced Size MMC cards that are different from those used in the 6600- making my previously acquired cards useless. I hope to acquire larger-capacity versions to replace the 64MB card that came with my phone. For now though, I have to choose what stuff I pack my phone with. Sigh.

Well, that's it... Oh, wait. Yeah, the camera.

The 1 Megapixel-camera rocks. The pics are far, far better than any previous Nokia. I haven't taken too many clicks yet, but when I do I'll post them at my phlog or here. Suffice to say, the change is a world away from the blurry pics of yesteryear. As for the videos, I haven't yet even started to film my first 7610 movie, but the editing features and other doodads should be something cool to play with when I have the time.
Aside from the phone itself, the 7610 came with a manual, a charger, a USB cable to link with PCs, a headset and an attacheable wrist-strap. Didn't get the CD with the Nokia PC Suite- I'll have to follow that up.

I'll post a more in-depth review as I use my new toy more. For now though, the phone's great. Well, for what I paid for it, it SHOULD, damn it. Heh.

Bon Voyage

Last night, our friend Cams left for the US, this time for good. Well, she'll be visiting probably every now or then, but from now on she'll be living and working overseas.

I'll miss being your carpooler, Cams. Take care, stay happy and always update your blog! Later.

Shot in the dark

Yesterday I spent the whole time at an old house in Quezon City, overseeing the shoot for a television commercial. There were three scenes, with little variation in camera work, and pretty much just one to three sentences of copy to be said by the various performers. I expected a quick shoot, finished by mid-afternoon.

EEEEHHH!!! Wrong.

While our first talent delivered her lines perfectly and had tons of great takes, the second and third talents took far, far longer to coach and guide to usable performances. Plus, in the early evening, a torrent of rain fell, holding up the shooting for a while since we were recording live sound. By the time we shot the last frame and our director, the cool Raymond Red, said, 'Pack up!', it was 10 PM. Oh well.

It just goes to show that even the best-laid and best-prepared planscan stumble with the slightest hiccup, from human factors or atmospheric conditions. Anyway, I'm thankful that we were able to finish with good takes and the satisfaction that our day was well spent. Spent to the last, but well spent.

Loyalty Reward

It's good to be a Yahoo user. Well, a longtime Yahoo user.

When I logged in this night, I was pleasantly surprised to see my Yahoo mail account considerably improved. I now have 100 MB of storage space, the ability to receive and send up to 10 MB sized-files, and a new, streamlined interface.

COOLNESS! Well, it's about time I got something back after all these years. Thanks, Yahoo! WOOHOO! I mean, YAHOO!!!

Dark Endings

I just watched Army of Darkness on cable. It's the third movie in the Evil Dead series, and my favorite. It's also the most comedic and action-packed of the trilogy, a far cry from straight-up horror feel of the previous films. More an action-fantasy, AOD has former convenience store employee Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) trapped in a midieval land beset by 'Deadites'- undead creatures that exist to torture the living. After he gets captured by a nobleman's knights, Ash soon becomes the de-facto leader of the human resistance against the Evil Dead.
It was years and years ago since I watched this first in theaters- I always found the ending a bit too bleak- after defeating the Deadites, Ash is given a magic potion that lets him sleep until his own time. However, he miscounts the drops required and wakes up in an apocalyptic future.

THAT ending was the only ending I've known in Army of Darkness. However, there actually is an alternate ending- or, actually, the official cinematic ending, known to the rest of the world. SPOILERS AHEAD! The theatrical ending was the one shown in the US and most everywhere else, and has the potion working properly, letting Ash return to the present day- and a job at S-Mart. We then see him recounting his adventures to a disbelieving audience. At that moment, a Deadite appears and a fight scene breaks out, with Ash taking the baddie out with a well-placed shotgun blast. The film then ends with the words, 'Hail to the King, Baby', a phrase that appears in the Evil Dead: Army of Darkness videogame released recently (so that's where they got it).
I've never seen the theatrical ending- perhaps I should take a trip down to the DVD market and see if there's a disc available. We'll see...

Phone Whore Lusts Again

Just as the new Nokia 7610 debuted in stores yesterday, news arrived online about the new WCDMA Megapixel camera phone from the Finns. It's called the 6630 and it's yet another Series 60 Symbian smartphone. It's usable almost anywhere in the world, and can pretty much connect with anything. Equipped with a 1.23 Megapixel phone, this baby can take hi-res phots and up to an hour of video. Looks like a bastard mutant child of the 3650 and a 6600 to me- don't really like the curved bottom, and I don't know how big it is yet. Not that hot about it right now... perhaps when we get more news. Oh well.

Circles

Over the weekend I had four different celebrations of my passage into the next year.

On Friday, I celebrated with my officemates and my boss (who also turned one year older) over trays of luscious cold cuts, cheeses, bread and wine. It was cool to just eat and drink and chat about fun stuff and not have to worry about work, if only for an hour or two.

Saturday noon was with the family, a gathering with the parents, siblings and their kids with the classic spaghetti, barbecue and chicken.

Saturday night was with my 'Now' crowd, the Comic Quest group. At Don Henrico's we trooped and sated our craving for Buffalo-style Fried Chicken drowned in ranch garlic sauce, complimented with three-cheese pizza, pesto pasta and enough bottomless soft drinks to replace our actual blood supply.

Yesterday night, I had my college friends over, and we had spaghetti, roast beef and barbecue under the stars as we reminisced about old college war stories and rummaged through our newlywed-friend Mayee's wedding photos.

All of it passed like a whirlwind, amidst wet evenings of rain.

Even though right now I finally feel the weight of all the effort running around like a headless chicken right now, I enjoyed every minute. It'll be back to regular living tomorrow, and so on and so forth until the next celebration.

Can't wait. Later, guys and gals.

Older, wider, MADder.

I turn one year older today.

I'm getting old.

I guess I should stop wearing t-shirts and jeans and sneakers, and start wearing barongs and black pants and comfortable slip-ons.

I should start dyeing my hair to hide the whites.

I should get rid of the frivolous games and stop watching cartoons.

I have to give up doing comics. It's bad business that gives little returns or profit.

I have to start living more carefully and worry more about my health. I'm not getting any younger.


NOT.

The fun's just started in the MADman's show.

Thanks everyone for tuning in. We've got a lot more stories to come.

It is here!


The latest Nokia has arrived in Manila.

I was walking around Mega's IT Center and as I expected, the Nokia 7610 had arrived in a couple of stores. This latest Finnish mobile model has all the features of my current fave, the Nokia 6600. The 7610 is a Series 60 Symbian smartphone, equipped with an integrated camera and video recorder and all the other trimmings, including an MP3 player and expandable memory via reduced-size MMC cards.
The biggest upgrade from the 6600 in the 7610 is the 1 megapixel camera, which takes much higher-resolution photos than pretty much almost all previous cameraphones. You can also take videos of up to 10 minutes- videos that you can edit and play with on the phone to make mini-movies and MTVs.
The phone seems to be as tall as the 6600, though the shape is straighter and narrower, like a T610. It's also not as thick as the 6600. The screen is the same size, though reviews have commented that the 7610's is much brighter.

As expected, the phone is PRICEY at about 35K (pesos). Not something I'd be able to pick up in a snap... if I wanted it right now, I'd have to sell my 6600 and add a bundle of cash. Of course, I have no intention of doing that today, tomorrow or even next month. I am quite happy with my 6600 right now... I can wait for more in-depth reviews and information and for the price to go waaay down before I even think of moving onto this flashy, fancy new toy.

At least, I hope I do. Heh...

Damn, it looks nice... Damn nice... Sigh.

Bloody Golden Popcorn

Kill Bill Vol. 1 has won three cool awards at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. These include Best Female Performance for Uma Thurman as revenge-seeking 'Bride', Best Villain for Lucy Liu's sword-swinging Yakuza empress, O-ren Ishii, and finally best of all Best Fight for the ballsy death duel between The Bride and Go Go Yubari with Uma and Chiaki Kuriyama. WOOHOO!!!
The Return of the King also wins this year's Golden Popcorn for Best Movie and Best Action Sequence for the Battle for Gondor. This year, the opening spoof features The Passion of the Christ.

Locally, the MTV Movie Awards should be shown on June 19, Saturday, in the early to late afternoon. I'll try to catch it and all the action then.

Wazzup, Wazzzzzzzz...

Still haven't even so much as snickered at this so-called comedy show. Oh well.

Retro Anime

There's a new yet old series airing these days on Animax. It's called Silent Moebius, and it's about The Attacked Mystification Force, a all-female team of special agents whose job it is to defend a future earth from invasion by demonic entities called the Lucifer Hawks (Gotta love those names...). The story seems to center mainly on Katsumi Liqeur, a former saleslady who gets thrown into the frontlines of demonic invasion after she finds out her late dad was an archmage responsible for the Lucifer Hawks' coming to earth.
At the moment, I can't say I'm really that hot into this show. Being a show that's been around even when anime wasn't even called ANIME yet, the animation looks really dated, and despite the cool character designs I don't like the art style with the not-so-expressive faces and characters that pretty much look alike. The action is bland, and I can't get into the characters... perhaps it's the relative lack of humor. Or maybe it's just early. We'll see.

Being Sirius Black

Or more simply, I've been sick as a dog. I've been feeling under the weather for the past couple of days, so I've been cooped up in the Sanctum like a cell in the Wizarding World's Azkaban Prison. Lying in bed, I felt like I had damn iron weights over my chest in the mornings, and I tasted bitter bile in my throat. Not my idea of fun at all. Kinda makes me want to do horrid things to my body like put on tattoos, grow a scraggly beard, get stinky and all that. When I get out, I'm may be mad enough to kill someone... Hehehehe.... HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Gah. Going back to work tomorrow. Back to the waking world, sunshine, commutes, shopping malls, job orders and canteen food. YIPEE!

Riddickulous

No, I'm not talking about the Harry Potter spell that counters Boggarts. I'm talking about the upcoming sci-fi action extravaganza called Chronicles of Riddick.

Chronicles of WHAT? Yeah, me too, actually. Not a lot of people seem to know about this film, at least here in Manila. Whenever I tell someone that 'I am sooo excited about this film, Chronicle of Riddick...', all I get is a blank stare.

Well, anyway, COR is the sequel to Pitch Black, a sci-fi/horror/action film from some years back, starring Vin Diesel. I didn't get to watch this film myself (yet), but from what I gather the film is set in the future, where a bunch of mercs and convicts get stranded on a hostile planet where hordes of nocturnal carnivores lurk and feed. Diesel's character, Riddick, is a man possessed of various powers- one of which is the ability to see in the dark. Aside from this, he's also a convict and an anti-hero, seemingly a ruthless and selfish villain until the very, very end.

Well, that's good since the universe needs a hero in Chronicles of Riddick.

Set some time after the events in Pitch Black, COR tells of the coming of The Necromongers, a space-faring army of religious zealots and fanatics whose sole purpose is to invade worlds, erect monuments and enlist more humans into their ever-growing force. Refusal to get drafted means genocide.
Things come to a head on the multi-cultural planet of Helion, where the Necromongers are about to invade. Called out by an old friend from his exile, Riddick is more or less forced into the role of reluctant hero. But what can one man do against an army that can shatter worlds? Well, he's Vin Diesel, so that's a start.

Sounds like Triple X in space to me. But judging from the trailer, this movie looks like dynamite. Cosmic dynamite. I'm making a point to watch it when it shows, in the next few weeks. Aside from Diesel, COR also stars Karl Urban (LOTR's Eomer), Thandie Newton (MI:2), Kieth David and Judy Dench.

It’s a mod, mod, mod world.

My brother came by this rainy afternoon with his new Playstation 2. Unfortunately for him, it had been bought and sent from the US so it wouldn’t run the local software. So, being the guru in gaming that I am, I went with him down to The Black Market to have it modified. To my surprise, the procedure now costs less than half of what I paid for it years ago… and apparently, there’s no more IC or modchip installed- now it’s all about jumper wires and bypasses. For some reason though, the technician told my brother that he should avoid using his PS2 for more than two hours.

TWO HOURS?! My gosh, that’s just warm up time. I guess they don’t make PS2s like they used to. I hope this is just exaggeration.

Anyway, we came home and the kids were all over it like bees on honey. Kids have it so easy these days. When I got my grey little Playstation, I was WORKING. Here these kids barely out of nursery school have a PS2- a machine once considered a supercomputer so it was banned for export to China.

Oh well.

Held Prisoner


Things get darker in the latest Harry Potter flick. And that's a good thing.

Yesterday, we went off after closing time to watch the latest Harry Potter movie, Prisoner of Azkaban. The group consisted of eternal Potterhead Vin, Dino, Ralph and myself. Carl was also somewhere in the theater that night, unfortunately we weren't able to link up until after the showing.
Anyway, here's the review.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban takes place yet again another year after the last film's events. After he unintentionally casts a spell on a dreadful relative of the muggle Dursley family, young wizard Harry Potter (David Radcliffe) leaves his unhappy foster home in a rage. One quite perilous ride on the magical Knight Bus later, however, and Harry's back on his way to Hogwarts with a bit of sobering news- Sirius Black (played with sinister glee by Gary Oldman), a convicted murderer in the wizarding world, has apparenlty escaped the inescapable prison of Azkaban. It's only later, after meeting up with his dachinkos Hermione Granger (the blossoming Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) that he is informed of the full implications of this event. Black, apparently, was a disciple of YOU KNOW WHO, and the first thing on his agenda after escaping Azkaban is to kill a certain young wizard with a mark on his forehead.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this latest HP film, more so that I actually got to read the book. New director Alfonso Cuaron does MARVELOUS things with the camera and imagery of Hogwarts- I've never seen the place look so magical as it does in POA. Despite the flawless production, gorgeous locales and eye candy though, Cuaron's focus is always on the characters, and this shines though and produces quite exceptional performances from the now-veteran cast.
It's great to see the young leads still in the film, despite the fact that they are all getting taller and older. The familiar faculty are also present, notably Alan Rickman's venomous Professor Snape and Robbie Coltrane's likeable giant groundskeeper-turned-professor Reubius Hagrid. The new Dumbledore, Michael Gambon has big boots to fill, taking over from the late, great Richard Harris, but I quite liked him. He has the look down, and the new Dumbledore shows more spritely charm and wizardly power- something missed a bit due to the health of the previous actor. As for the other new faces, David Thewlis for me is a convincing and sympathetic Lupin, the yet again ill-fated DADA professor of this chapter, while Emma Thompson is a bit too kooky, but quite engaging as Professor Trewlaney.
What ultimately makes POA work though, is that it isn't as slavish to the books as the previous films were. Granted, since I read Azkaban I was kinda looking for stuff like more explanation of the Animagi, the revelation of the significance of the Marauders' Mapmakers identities made more clear and so forth... but again, the film doesn't bog down because of it. In fact, despite the obvious length of the movie, I was rooted to my seat, captivated.
I also liked POA for the overall darker look- the frequent rainy days, the use of the Whomping Willow to show the passage of time, the flying camera, the texture of everything in Hogwarts, Cuaron's mastery of darkness, the amazing realization of the Marauder's Map... this is a great film to watch on DVD, in an aircon room, with snacks and a soda, on a rainy day. Obviously, I'll be getting this disc when it becomes available.

Wonderful movie, with sights, sounds and feelings full of magic, wonder, humor, frights, menace, adventure and youthful energy that a Potter movie should. My favorite in the series, so far. Get your friends together in a prison break and watch this one now, now, NOW!

Magic Weekend

Tomorrow the gang will be donning our sorcerers' robes, taking up our wands and getting ready to watch the latest Harry Potter movie, Prisoner of Azkaban. I've been excited to watch this film since I saw the first trailer, and several trailers later I'm more stoked than ever. I'm dying to see how director Alfonso Cuaron's new take on the series really stacks up against the earlier HP flicks. Having great actors like Gary Oldman join the veteran cast is also a treat. Thirdly, I was actually able to read Azkaban, so seeing how the movie lives up to the book is another issue.
Aaah... tomorrow seems so far away. That is, unless I break down and watch it tonight. Hoho...

Completing an Epic

Last night I sauntered into the Megamall branch of Astrovision and pretty much mindlessly bought myself the last DVD in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King. Yeah, yeah, the extended version dvd set is coming in November. Yeah, yeah, I already have quite decent pirate dvds of ROTK already. Yeah, yeah, yeah... So SUE me. I'm a completist.
Anyway, the theatrical widescreen release comes in 2 discs. Disc one of course contains the movie, which comes in the cut seen in movie theaters and expectedly has no commentary tracks. The Special Features disc contains about three to four TV specials on Return of the King, lots of little short features on the making of ROTK (originally seen on the LOTR official site), trailers (including the 'super trailer' which spans all three movies) and a feature from the ROTK videogame. As expected, there is no special 10-minute preview of the extended version ROTK set, as in previous theatrical release dvds.

At least the three DVDs look great together on my shelf... Heh. Sigh.

Tekken it to the next level


Another member of the Kazama clan joins the Tekken Tournament.

We've gotten some more information on the upcoming beat 'em up, Tekken 5.

On the newcomers: Asuka Kazama is supposedly a cousin of dark angel Jin Kazama, which explains why she fights so much like the late, great Jun. The Wesley Snipes' lookalike Raven is indeed a ninja and master of the elusive style of ninjitsu. And finally, Weng Fei fights in a style similar to that of longtime Tekken vet, Paul Pheonix.

Despite the ominous opening cinema in which he is apparently blown up with an army of Jack Robots, Heihachi Mishima is far from croaked (Come on... No one was fooled by that) and will obviously be one of the many time-release characters.

There will be as many as 31 characters all in all.

The latest Jack model is Jack 5.

Kuma/Panda will be playable. Other confirmed time-release characters are kickboxer Bruce Irvin and assassin babe Anna Williams (who either went into cryogenic freeze herself or is ten or twenty years older). There will also be a Sumo Wrestler present (may be Ganryu), and Eddy Gordo will be back as well (probably an alternate costume to Christie Montiero).

There will be some Virtua Fighter 4-style customization, such as adding little accessories or articles of clothing, extra colors, etc. These may be accessed through a 'Conquest Mode' of play similar to that in Soul Calibur. Expect tons of unlockables.

The gameplay will generally be more geared to the fantastic as opposed to the hype-realism of Tekken 4. So, expect lazers and other weird attacks to return. Yay... Fart attacks...

Finally, the Tag Team feature introduced in Tekken Tag Tournament may return.

The arcade version should be appearing in late 2004. Expect a home version on the PS2 by early 2005.

Gotta Getback them all...
Slight Spoilers Ahead

WOW! Animax actually finished the entire Getbackers series! This bishonen action series has been showing since the anime channel started airing months ago, and for the longest time the episodes looped over and over during the series' first major arc. FINALLY, several weeks ago newer episodes finally started to appear, and for the past several days the final story arc- which reveals part of the secret behind the ever-present Infinity Castle was shown. Former enemies like Makubex become the friends, and the heroes and their new allies face a new wave of enemies (who seem to show up from the woodwork, each with their own looooong backstories...). After various battles, the heroes finally resolve the fate of the ones who dwell within.
Contrary to how a lot of anime wrap up with gloom and doom and high body counts, the series ends with a happy-happy joy-joy ending, with everyone alive and well and looking forward to more adventures (if ever the producers/creators ever revisit the world again to wrap up the other loose ends). And of course the Getbackers Ban and Ginji driving off in their tiny Volkswagen, and sharing a brotherly (?) hug... Hmm...

This bodes well for when Animax eventually (and hopefully) shows even better series in the future, such as Inu Yasha, my absolute fave title, which has episodes in the 150+ and counting. More anime. MORE anime. MOOORRREEE!!!!!

Go Go Ninja


Chiaki Kuriyama moves from playing a teenage assassin in Kill Bill to playing as a teenage NINJA assassin in ancient Japan for the upcoming slashfest Azumi 2. And just what is that guy behind her looking at?

After she charmed (or terrified) audiences as the lethal schoolgirl/assassin Go Go Yubari in Kill Bill, what has Japanese idol and actress Chiaki Kuriyama been up to?

Well, her latest work is co-starring in Azumi 2, the sequel to the 2003 ninja-action/swordfighting adventure by Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus). Apparently Chiaki plays one of the good guys in this one, alongside lead actress Aya Ueto, who plays the titular heroine. The film seems to be still filming, so we may expect to find DVDs of this by late this year or early next year. Well, seeing Miss Kuriyama as a kick-butt ninja should be something to look forward to.


Definitely not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley.


This is what the Crazy 88 looked like in Ancient Japan.

Death by Degrees: Nina Williams


The best female assassins always bring skimpy bikinis on a mission.

Nina Williams rocks. I remember about ten years ago (DAAAMN! Has it been that long already??), I saw this fighting game called Tekken and it blew me away with its cool graphics and hot fighting action. Of course, I gravitated to the babes and my favorite was the sexy blonde in the purple outfit and red nail polish. Yep, Nina was my instant fave, and she only got cooler when I saw the awesome linking throws and grapples she could dish out. An Irish-born assassin and expert in the martial art of aikido and bone-cracking, Nina was one of the original videogame femme fatales. Where other Tekken women have either faded away, retired or died, Nina remains as she is; it would not be Tekken without Nina.
Well, as if to celebrate her fame, Nina's getting her own action game. Originally known as 'Project Nina' several months ago, the game has gone on to be called Death By Degrees. Set years before the first Tekken Tournament (which places it about 25 years before the events in Tekken 4), this game promises to reveal more about the events that led to Nina becoming the stone-cold sexy killer she is today. The game's backstory has Nina being sent along with several other agents to infiltrate a cruise ship serving as the headquarters of a terrorist group known as Carrieta. This group is known to have possession of a powerful weapon- something that could possibly tip the balance of world power one way or the other. Nina is sent as a distraction, joining the onboard fighting tournament and winning as its champion. But when other criminal elements on the ship become suspicious of her, Nina finds herself being thrown into the brig.
The game starts as Nina is captured. Using only her skills to start off, Nina must discover the whereabouts of her fellow agents, find the secret weapon and save the world. Not an easy feat considering that there will be tons of enemies and more than a hundred areas on board the ship to explore.
Aside from her Tekken moves, Nina will be able to use firearms and other weapons such as swords and grenades. She can also use a sort of 'internal damage' system that lets her kill enemies instantly with one blow- unfortunately you'll have to get in real close to do this. She'll also be borrowing moves from Lara Croft, such as rappels, crawls and swimming.

The CG cinematics of this game look great, with Nina looking as sexy and deadly as never before. Other characters will make an appearance, such as other Tekken personalities like Heihachi Mishima and Nina's own sister and rival, Anna (who is said to be playable later in the game). I also saw a guy who looked creepily like actor Benicio del Toro... or was it just a really, really, really scruffy Brad Pitt? Hmmm.
Death by Degrees is slated for release on PS2 later this year. We'll keep our eyes out for it.

True Colors

Phonewhore post! Phonewhore post!

After a couple of weeks of having my 6600 in a sporty, metallic-red shell, I finally went out and had the original cover re-installed on my cell. While the brightly-colored 'fake'/bootleg covers for cellphones are cool, from my experience they never seem to get the fit completely right. There's always a teeny bit of shakiness and a degree of off-kilter fitting. Plus, bootleg covers tend to be easily scratched and chipped- the last shell I got acquired an irritating nick the day I got it. Gah.
Anyway, so it's back to plain, everyday off-white for my 6600. But at the very least, the original shell fits perfectly, so the phone feels snug and solid and whole in my hands... in fact, it feels like a new phone. It was kind of irritating to spend just to have an OLD cover installed though- I should learn to do the installment myself. How these cellphone kiosks charge a couple of hundred to install these shellls is simply highway robbery. Sigh.

Love and Coffee

During the gang's Saturday night gig, we did a couple of things we actually haven't done in a long time. One was to have Carl with us, and the other was just to talk about risque, hypothetical situations at length and in depth. This time it was about remaking the image of the Catholic Church, and then later issues about love and relationships. It was just great to spend the time cringing, raising eyebrows, laughing out loud or just staring with shock at the answers to the various questions- some of which came from my own lips. It was refreshing, it was cool and it was great under the stars, under a giant parasol, outside a cool cafe with a nice drink in your hand and friends all around. You just can't have enough of that.

Bloody Cool Toys


The Bloody Bride in action figure form.

This week, the first volume of Kill Bill action figures arrived at Comic Quest. The toys sport impressive detail, such as dead-on facial features (for Uma Thurman, at least), weapons straight from the film and requisite bloody smears. While having some points of articulation, they're actually more for display than anything else. Aside from the femme fatales, you can also get about three variants of the Crazy 88 fighters- a bald one, a mustachioed one and a clean-shaven guy. Too bad they don't have the female Crazy 88 fighter. Disappointingly, the figure for O-ren Ishii didn't make it in this batch- perhaps next time.

You can actually take off the Bride's shoes to check out her odd-looking toes, while the Gogo figure squirts blood from her eyes if you squeeze her head... I'm kidding, of course.

I've been waiting for these figures for a while, and I'll probably get my Bride and Go Go Yubari tonight. Now all that's left is to decide whether to display them in The Sanctum or at The Salt Mines. We'll see.


It's not as cute as the real Gogo, but the toy shares the same stone-dead killer stare.

French

Even though I often save up on taxi fare in the mornings nowadays, I still end up spending almost the same amount everyday in the AM. This is because that instead of spending on the commute, I am now spending on breakfast. And since there aren't any McDonald's in the vicinity, I always find myself at Deli France.
Yep, Deli France. I really shouldn't like the place- they play Enya over and over and over, and the service usually stinks (the counter staff never seem to listen to me well enough). But at the very least, their bread- French baguettes and croissants- are tops. Well, I think they are. I assume that REAL French-made bread is probably ten times better, just like real dimsum in Hong Kong is probably ten times better than anything from the local Chowking. Well, since the last authentic French restaurant I knew, The Blue Frog at Malate, closed down the last time I checked, Deli France is the best I can go. Oh well.
Now if only I could venture out of ordering the SAME bacon and egg plate every single morning...

Unfunnies

I really wanted to like the local comedy news-spoof Wassup, Wassup on Studio 23. It stars "Mr. Suave" Vhong Navarro and has a cool format that hasn't been seen since the old, old Sic o' Clock News show long ago.
But, after several viewings of the show, I have to say that it just isn't funny. The cast is energetic, what with all their gimmicky dances and gestures, off-the-wall caricature characters and deadpan deliveries, but they just can't seem to get even a chuckle from me. Furthermore, seeing interviews of what seem to be actual news footage being used for gags doesn't entertain me at all.
Perhaps it's simply because the show's an everyday program and the writing pool is just hard put to come up with good material. Quantity instead of quality may be the reason.

It's a sad thing to say but the actual news is a lot wackier and funnier. Oh well.

GET UP, SOLDIER!!!



I'm not a morning person.

Normally, I wake up at about ten or so, at which point I bob between wakefulness and fitful sleep till I finally gain the strength to stand up and make it to the shower. The past several weeks though, I have been getting up at 6 AM so I can ride along with my sister to work, saving me the effort of having to commute. No more commuting and crowding into trains or buses with thousands of strangers. Instead, I have to wake up extra early. It's a trade-off which actually isn't that bad... once I get used to it. Just this morning though, I battled the temptation to just keep on sleeping. Eventually though, common sense won and I found myself in the shower and dressing up grudgingly. It was MUCH, much easier when I was a kid... but now, I'm a lot older and lazier. Sigh.

Really, it's all just a matter of getting proper sleep the night before- but that's something that doesn't always jive with having a second life as a comic artist, but what can you do? Just work harder, that's what.

Carpe Diem. Sieze the day. That's the ticket. Yawn. Right.

Phone Cycle

Less than four years ago, I never dreamt that I would own a cellphone, much less have my life be dependent on it. It was ironic that I was working for the ad agency that did advertising for a major telecom company, and I didn't even own a cellphone. By the time I left that agency and headed for another, I still didn't have a phone.
But then, peer pressure got to me in the next workplace. Everyone had a phone, and I could not afford not to have one. Cellphones could let you be reached, or let you reach others, anywhere you were, at anytime. Up until that point in my life, I had thought such a thing was bad or undesirable. Pagers and beepers were still in business at the time, and they were horrid things. But whatever, I had to adapt.

My first phone was a big, clunky and heavy Motorola... I forget the exact model. It looked and felt like a walkie talkie, had a green digital display like a calculator capable of displaying only two or three lines of text, max. Furthermore, while it had caller ID, it did not have Texter ID, which made it a PAIN to figure out who the hell was texting me at any given time (I had to resort to writing down numbers on a piece of paper). Somehow though, I was able to make do with the thing.
I eventually LOST the phone on an FX taxi. The phone came with a leather jacket with a clip that fitted over my belt. Unfortunately, the clip really didn't have a good grip, and one day, as I got off a cab to Megamall, I did so sans my mobile. I was halfway to Comic Quest when I realized it, feeling an empty space where the phone was but minutes before. Oh well.
Of course, after a couple of months using a cellphone, I realized I could not exist without one. So a day after losing my Motorola, I was walking around the fifth floor of Megamall, looking for my next phone. At the time I was flush with cash, and I ventured to get a nice, feature-laded model.

As fate would have it, I saw a flyer for the newly-released Siemens M35i, a sporty little phone that boasted a rubbery exterior grip, a nice green screen (still monochrome), a '3-D'maze game and something arcane called WAP. For 8K I could own this state-of-the-art marvel! So, after just the time it took to withdraw from an ATM, I had my new phone.
I loved my M35i. It fitted me, and it was always on service. Sure, I didn't have any of the pop polytones Nokia phones had (WAAAAHHH...); All I had were the crappy tunes 'mixed by the hottest DJs' loaded into my Siemens. But nevertheless, I turned away from the 3210s of the time and just kept on truckin' with my little German workhorse. And it would serve me well for more than three years, the high point being it being stolen (and subsequently recovered) by a pickpocket on the EDSA MRT.
As time passed though, the weaknesses of the phone soon began to weigh heavily on me and the phone. About a year ago, shortly after I joined my present ad agency, the phone let me down. During a phone call, the battery died even though it was just recently charged. Perhaps it was just the battery. But perhaps as well I just wanted something new. I decided there and then I had to get a new phone.

The weekend after the incident I was in Greenhills, looking for a simple but snazzy new mobile. For all the models on sale, I found myself drawn to the Sony Ericsson T68i (I love 'em i's, don't I?). It was the same phone as my friend Dean, which for some reason made it seem ultra-hip and chic. I got it and I was at once enamoured with its tiny size, the wealth of features and... oh my gosh, the lovely, lovely color screen. It was Noel 'Flim' Lim who told me that once you move to color, you can never go back, and it's true. I stowed away my old M35i for retirement, though I would eventually give it to my Dad to use (he would later give it to our household helper after I gave him a new Samsung C100 for Xmas).
I was dazzled by color. For the next few weeks I preoccupied myself with putting cool images on my T68i's screen. Since it didn't have bluetooth, I had to upload images to a site and then download them to the phone via WAP. It was a pain to have limitations of having only 4000+ colors though- pictures became pale shadows of what they once where once they appeared on the phone, but at the time I was happy with my cool little toy.
For some reason though, I was pretty open with getting a replacement phone a month or two later. One weekend, I found myself again in Greenhills, looking for a phone. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, I had traded in my T68i and some cash for a T610.

Another Sony Ericsson (my anti-Nokia spirit still held sway then) and one of the best phones of its class, I was thoroughly into it. I loved having a camera phone, though I used it mostly to grab images for the screen wallpaper. Later, I would use it to phlog. The T610 looked classy and smashing, it worked great and I was happy. Happy, but strangely I kept switching covers. Oh well.

Then, a couple of months ago, I was walking in Greenhills yet again, when a Nokia 6600 appeared in the secondhand phone display of one of the kiosks. It was the only secondhand 6600 in the whole place, so I took notice. I had been lusting for the 6600 ever since I heard about its features- still and video camera, internet, HUGE color screen that was miles better than the T610's, games, memory card expansion... this was my dream phone. A trade-in and cash payment later, and the dream became reality. My FIRST Nokia, and IMO the best Nokia phone, had arrived.
At present, my 6600 isn't so much a phone as it is an entertainment/media center. Installing some cool programs turns it into a portable theater capable of containing whole movies if I wanted to (I make do with shorter clips, trailers and excerpts though). Installing an MP3 player sweetens the pot even more. Who needs a digital cam/ I Pod/Gameboy/MP3 Player/Portable TV when your phone has MP3s, video capability and extensive gaming? I guess it's okay for me to lavish and spend on my 6600 when it pretty much saves me from having to buy any more extra gadgets.

I'd love to say that I am totally happy with my present phone, since I am. But given my history, a new phone swap might not be far away. What with models like the Nokia 7610 and the Sony Ericsson S700 about to break into local markets next month. We'll see.

Tech-head and Phonewhore signing out. We now return you to your regular scheduled blogging.

Sob Advertising

Over the weekend I saw the latest ad of a popular fast food chain here in Manila. It was a well-made ad, but somehow I just find the idea of pairing something as frivolous as fast food with terminal illness... wrong. Perhaps it's just me. It's in the same vein as showing poor people or beggars outside restaurants, or people dying because you didn't get your insurance or mortgage right. But then, for some ad agencies and clients, these things are all just part of the arsenal to catch an audience's hearts... and purses.

Ah, well... back to work then.

Shrek 2


Ogre power times 2.

Yesterday I ventured off to Greenhills to get my phone memory upgraded yet again to its 256 MB limit. It was quite a trick but now I've got enough storage space to fit in a bunch of MP3s and tons of video. As I prepared to leave for Mega, the rains increased and I found myself stranded. Theater Mall beckoned and I eventually decided to watch the sequel to Dreamworks' most popular and successful CG movie.

Shrek 2 reunites the cast of storybook characters from the first one- grumpy but golden-hearted ogre, Shrek (Mike Myers), princess-turned-ogress Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy) as their lives continue after happily ever after.
It seems that Fiona was destined, at least by the resident do-gooder Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders), to marry Prince Charming (Rupert Everett). But since someone threw an ogre into the mix, all that went to pot. So now, Godmother, Prince Charming's mother actually, hatches a plot to 'correct' the mistake. Her plan starts moving when Shrek and Fiona are invited to the Kingdom of Far, Far Away by the King and Queen, FIona's parents. And of course, hilarity and madness ensues.

This movie is a riot! The laughs, spoofs, pop culture references and sight gags come fast and furious from the first minute, and they hardly let up for the duration of the movie. It's great to revisit the Shrek universe and see the characters in action again. Aside from the original cast (who are in fine form), the new characters blend in perfectly. Stealing the show of course is feline mercenary Puss In Boots, voiced perfectly by Antonio Banderas (who is without a doubt emulating his own Zorro character and having a lot of fun with the role). Also of note are the King and Queen of Far, Far Away (John Cleese and Julie Andrews respectively) and the various members of Shrek's Posse. The CG is much improved this time around, and the whole film is eye candy from beginning to end, and with a couple of cool musical numbers for good measure. GREAT stuff for one and all! Grab your loved one, family or barkada and catch this in theaters now, now, NOW!

Suikoden Manga


Revisiting the world of knights, magic and ducks.

Over the weekend I picked up the first volume of the Suikoden III manga from TokyoPop, the comic translation of the popular PS2 RPG. While I would have loved to see a manga translation of the earlier Suikoden 2 (my favorite of the series), the three-sided tale of war, betrayal, dark magic and the 108 heroes is an excellent epic fantasy to read.
The art is excellent, and the story seems to follow the game's plotline quite faithfully. Also, it seems that the book will take great pains to include most if not all the characters in one way or another.
Suikoden III manga is a MUST for fans of the game, and for manga fans who are aching for an great swords and sorcery adventure to get into. Get your copy at Comic Quest or your favorite comic shop.

Downpours


Beautiful day.

I don't know about you but for me, rainy days are gorgeous. Well, not if you're out in the street, miles from your safe zone, your socks and shoes soaked to the grain, your body shivering in cold. Nope, rainy days are best seen, not felt. Seen from a window, preferably with a nice view. Perhaps overlooking the city, with the skyscrapers little more than ghostly silhouettes. There's a constant pitter-patter of droplets hitting the glass in a futile attempt to strike you. Wind howls like a soothing melody, rattling the panes gently like a caress.

Another great way to enjoy a rainy day would be curled up in bed, under warm covers. The sound of the downpour serves only to massage your eardrums, a lullaby from the sky.

Today was pretty rainy throughout... I am glad to say that I was able to have a couple of hours of restfulness as it poured outside. Here's to a rainy, lazy day as well today.

But DAMN I hope it's all cleared up by Monday.

What Now?!?

My cousin, US-based designer, illustrator, comic book artist and all-around nice guy Jeremy has finally joined Blogger! You can check his new blog, What Now?! at my links section. Or, you can just click here. Blog away, Jeremy!

Pause.


Enjoy the day before you miss it completely.

Ah. Breathe. Count to ten. Enjoy a cup of Joe. Stare out the window and enjoy the view. Or just sit back and stretch.

...

...

...

...

That's better.

Okay. Pause over.

Pocket Theater: The Sequel

It's been about a week since I got Smartmovie, and I am still having fun with it. I've solved a problem about videos having no sound, and have more or less found my comfort level for video clip quality. The thing is, the higher the quality of your video, the poorer the frame rate and movement. So you have to find a balance between how your movies look and how they move.

So far, I've been encoding and loading stuff like fight scenes, anime excerpts, movie trailers and game footage into my phone. I always have the Kill Bill fight between The Bride and Go Go Yubari loaded, as well as the striptease swordfight from Final Flight of the Osiris (I could actually load that entire Animatrix episode, but why waste the space?). Another fun but heavy clip is the short film George Lucas in Love, a clever fictional work that never fails to bring a smile to my face. And new, better fight scenes are coming up all the time.

How about that funny zombie-fighting gunfight from Versus?

Or that cool ninja attack from The Last Samurai?

The Rohirrim charge in The Return of the King, and the battle with the Mumakil.

The Hector-Achilles duel in Troy.

The Burly Brawl from Matrix Reloaded. Or perhaps the freeway chase.

The possibilities of what I can put in and bring with me are endless. I'm also thinking of encoding a whole movie... but what? Perhaps the whole Ninja Scroll movie would be nice. I should start building a library of encoded Smartmovie movies. Or perhaps several episodes of my fave animes? We'll see. Perhaps I should get myself a 256 MB MMC Card already. Yes, yes... that's the ticket. Yes...

Hoho. Not just a phonewhore, I'm a videophonewhore! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Window Shopping the Weekend

Ahhh. It's been a long week. Perhaps it was because I came off an even more exhausting time last week and I spent all this time recovering from it. Yesterday, I spent half the time half-asleep, feeling like there were Yale padlocks attached to my eyelids. At one point Joey caught me snoozing while sitting up. That little catnap had the effect of a teeny bit of expresso though.
Anyway, it's great that the weekend's arriving, and I can finally take a breather. Still, there's stuff to do like artworks and pages and whatnot, but I really have to make it a point to relax.

Shrek 2 is already showing in theaters today. Gotta make it a point to see it this weekend, with the gang if possible.

Maybe I can pass by Greenhills on Saturday. I missed going last week and maybe new stuff has arrived since then. Stuff meaning the latest DVDs, games and anime.

Alternatively, I can just stay home and encode more videos for my phone, to play on Smartmovie. Hey. That's also nice. Heh.

Ah. I like it when the World is at my Oyster. Or something like that.

Reunion


Posing with Cthulhu.

I had a busy day, writing scripts, meeting clients and running here and there. I was half-asleep on the bus, nodding off to mp3s. My right eye felt sore and swollen, and I just felt worn out. Perhaps, I thought, I'd get refreshed with the batch of new comics and magazines at Comic Quest.
And it was to my pleasant surprise to find two friends that I hadn't seen in the longest time right there in the store! The last time I had seen Arnold and Cynthia Arre was on their wedding day. Now here they were, in the flesh! We tried as best as we could to catch up in the short time we had- having dinner with Vin at our new favorite restaurant, Lemon Grass and then later meeting up with Carl (another friend long MIA recently) at Cinnzeo's at Pearl Plaza.
Over cinnamon rolls and strawberry milk, we talked about everything from the advertising business to recent movies like Troy and Milan (Yes, the pinoy film), what Arn's new phone should be and other knicks and knacks.


Cyn shows off her new PDA.

Now that was refreshing. Don't let months pass by again till next time, guys. Later!

Stalled

On the comics front, things have slowed somewhat.

K.I.A. is about 70 percent done. A couple of contributors are still working on their stuff, and aside from my own unfinished pages I have to work on fixing other artists' pages. As I expected, K.I.A. won't be seeing release this June... we'll probably be delayed a month or two, but I have no doubt we'll see Kai's new adventures in due time, soon.
I will probably have to put K.I.A. on hold in any case as I have to start work on my pages for Siglo: Passion. I'll be doing the art for Jason's story, a 12-pager about the country in the 1960s. Have to start thinking up a new art style again.

Disappointingly, Questor is working out some issues, causing it and sister mag Questor Extreme to be put on hold for the time being. So it means we'll have to wait a bit longer for the adventures of Kunoichi Boy. Not altogether bad since I haven't actually worked on the succeeding installments as much as I should. Yikes. Oh well.

Gah. Irritating but this should all work for the best. Once we top the crest of the hill that is 2004, it should be all downhill. Hope, hope.

Rainy Day

Monday seems to be the day for rains. It rained last week, during Election Day, and it's raining now on Makati Day. Which is probably a bit inconvenient for the many hundreds of participants in the Makati Day parade. Traffic, floats, marching bands, confetti... just add rainwater for a heck of a mess. Gah.

In a way though it's also refreshing today... the long haul of a pitch we were slaving on from last week into this morning is finally over. I hope we get it.

Wanna get some shut-eye. Have to keep chugging along on the comic pages. Gotta encode more phone videos. Should pick up my Xbox magazine from Comic Quest. Lotsa things to do. Well, the saying is true- when it rains, it pours.

My Big Fat Greek Invasion



The last time I read anything about Homer’s Iliad was back in high school, reading the tragic tale of war, kings and god-cursed love from Edith Hamilton’s Mythology book. I had already read the much shorter versions/excerpts from encyclopedias when I was much younger- I was already fascinated by the story, the fighting, the Trojan horse myth and so on. And so, when I heard about a big budget Hollywood film on the epic, I was excited.

Well, last night I, Vin, Gig, Dean and Ralph went to Podium and watched the 11 PM showing of Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy.

Everyone knows the story of course- Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) steals away Helen (Diane Kruger), the wife of Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), King of Sparta and the brother of the powerful Greek empire-builder, Agamemnon (Brian Cox). This of course results in the launching of a thousand ships to take back Helen from Troy. Joining the fight solely for glory and the prospect of immortality is Achilles (Brad Pitt at his buffest), a supposedly invincible, masterless warrior.

Going into this, I already knew that it would be worlds away from the myth. There would be no gods joining the fight for either side, the whole Trojan war would be compressed into a matter of days (it lasted more than a decade in the myth) and characters’ parts would change dramatically. What we have here is a period war movie with political maneuverings, family drama, man-to-man combat and lots and lots of killing. Now, while I’m kinda disappointed that this wasn’t going to be another LOTR (despite having Legolas and Boromir in the cast) and there weren’t any Amazons in the film, I actually liked it.

The movie looks gorgeous, for starters. The mammoth armies are impressive to look at, and the first couple of battles were well-staged. The cast generally do their parts well- Brad Pitt is pretty bad-ass as the original bad-ass, Achilles, a masterless warrior who leads his own private army of professional soldiers and fights wars simply for glory. Achilles has mastered combat like no other man, and that shows in some quite exciting fight sequences.
Eric Bana RULES as Hector, the dutiful elder prince, defender of the city of Troy and loving son and brother. Seeing him here is a huge difference from his role as Bruce Banner in the boring Hulk movie, and it was a revelation. While he leads the Trojan defense, I actually seemed to feel the city was safe- he was that convincing as the story’s actual hero. And his duel with Achilles is a sight to see.
Evil Agamemnon is played with hammy glee by Brian Cox, who has moved on from hunting mutants in X2 to killing Trojans. Dignified actor Peter O’Toole plays the sympathetic but far too religious King Priam, who figures with Achilles in one of the most impressive scenes of fatherly love I’ve seen in recent films.

Orlando Bloom plays the somewhat wussy Paris, a far cry from his valiant, perfect elf warrior Legolas in LOTR, and I found his performance quite good, and the slow development of his character quite effective. Fellow LOTR vet Sean Bean finally gets to play a character who doesn’t die, as the crafty but sympathetic Odysseus, the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse.
It has to be said as well that the women of Troy- handmaiden/royal cousin Briseis (Rose Byrne) and Hector’s wife Andromache (Saffron Burrows) are portrayed as solid foundations to their husbands/men, in contrast to the more flighty Helen.

High Points- the first battle, the Trojan counterattack, the Hector-Achilles duel and the climax.
Hand-clapping Moment of the Night- when Agamemnon gets his.
Best reasoning of the night, from Gig- Aeneas is shown being entrusted with the care of the remnants of Troy, and goes to someday build Rome. Since Paris seems to survive as well, does he go on to build… Paris?

As I said, there are many deviations from the original myth, and I unexpectedly found myself rooting for the Trojans, but in the end the story told is clear, rational and in the end, satisfying. So troop down to theaters and join the siege yourself.