REVIEW: Bodyguards and Assassins

NEW YORK, January 30 – Is it me or is Donnie Yen bucking to be the next national hero of Hong Kong? Maybe he’s starting with Hong Kong and shifting to be a national hero of China. It sure seems like it.

Yen’s recent acting filmography includes Ip Man (葉問), The Founding of a Republic (建國大業), and Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城). He is also set to release Ip Man 2 (葉問2) later this year. Interestingly these films have all been historically based fictions with an emphasis on individual heroism and valor.

Some film critics argue that Yen is treading dangerously close to Chinese Communist propaganda in his recent pictures. I wouldn’t go so far as to label his films as propaganda, but they are very careful in their handling of modern Chinese history. It’s a soft touch that is not characteristic of the fast paced Hong Kong film industry.

Yen’s current film, Bodyguards and Assassins, tries to carefully reshape Chinese history with varying degrees of success.


The film is mainly centered on the arrival of Sun Yat-sen in 1905 Hong Kong. Sun plans to unite the various rebellious Chinese factions in order to overthrow the troubled Qing dynasty, and the royal court responds with a group of highly trained assassins (ninja?).

Donnie Yen plays a crooked police officer in the burgeoning Hong Kong police department. As a gambling addict, he constantly finds himself broke and desperately looking for side jobs to cover his addictive habit. As a thug for hire, he sometimes takes jobs that are morally questionable. Over the course of the film, Yen’s character has a change of heart and decides to protect Sun Yat-sen with a heroic band of outcasts, homeless, and destitute individuals.

The film can easily be bifurcated into two halves. The first half is the introduction segment which provides the various background stories for each hero and villain. The second half of the film is dedicated to the action packed chase and fighting sequences between the various characters.


The first half is pretty long (almost an hour) and suffers from a lot of pacing issues. It jumps from one character background segment to another character segment without any sense of order or rhythm.

However, Sun’s arrival to Hong Kong changes everything. The tempo picks up and the rest of the film is a high paced sequence of chase and fight scenes. The frenetic nonstop movement is the hallmark of Hong Kong cinema, and the kung-fu is pretty top notch with Yen showing off his amazing skills.

Some of the best acting performances in the film were delivered by Tony Leung Ka-Fai (梁家輝). He brought serious acting chops to the role, but some of his counterparts lacked the same skill. It was like watching a tennis pro play with a teenage amateur.


Eric Tsang (曾志偉) also had a small side role as the police chief. His limited on screen time was funny and delightful. He lightened the mood during some of the most depressing moments of the story.

On a negative note, the film attempts to hand jam a nationalist allegorical message throughout the narrative which I found a little distracting. It wasn’t a subtle nudging… more like a slap in the face. Jeez… I get it: patriotism and equality. I felt like a customer being subjected to some hard selling by a used car salesman.

If you could bear with the long introductory exposition, Bodyguards and Assassin will take you through an amazing journey of unlikely heroes and fascinating villains.

Related Links:

• YouTube - Bodyguards & Assassins - Official Trailer
• Bodyguards and Assassins - Hollywood Reporter
• Reviews: BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS - Twitch
• Bodyguards and Assassins - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• IMDb: Shi yue wei cheng (2009)
• Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) - LOVEHKFILM.COM
• Bodyguards And Assassins (Shi Yue Wei Cheng) - Screen International
• 'Bodyguards and Assassins' helps Chinese cinema enter the big leagues The Independent

REVIEW: Storm Warriors 2

HONG KONG, December 19 – I know that the blog has been taken over by food posts recently, and I have not really blogged about pop culture. Fear not! In addition to eating my way through the streets of Southern China, I also watched a good deal of Hong Kong cinema.

As a pop-culture addict, I closely monitor local advertising in particular the giant billboards and posters. There were two movie posters that were plastered on every street corner in Hong Kong. The first one was James Cameron’s Avatar 3D movie, and the other was Storm Warriors 2.

Based on a Hong Kong manwha, Storm Warriors 2 is a highly styled film that uses a lot of CGI to enhance the elaborate action sequences. Some of the larger scale battles blatantly rip-off the 300 movie with high contrast cartoonish CGI-enhancements. The Pang Brothers, the directors, reportedly admitted to cribbing off of the Zack Synder film.


The story follows the basic Shonen Fighting format with the bad guy being nearly invincible and the good guys training to defeat him. It’s simple enough that you can sit back and enjoy the CGI-enhanced visuals without worrying about all of the plot holes. The pacing seems pretty decent and the dialogue is very simple. Overall, it’s a high energy PG-13 popcorn movie.

Having never read the manwha, the relationship between the two swordsmen, Wind and Cloud, seems eerily reminiscent of the relationship between Griffith and Guts from the Berserk manga series.

Related Links:

• The Storm Warriors - Wikipedia
• IMDb: Fung wan II (2009)
  

Blood: The Last Vampire Poster

NEW YORK, July 5 – I saw a screening for this film a couple of weeks ago. It was an interesting take on the franchise. It doesn't refer to Blood+, the television anime. Instead it is based more heavily on the original anime film. Fans of the franchise should check it out.

NYAFF09: The Splatter High School Comedy

NEW YORK, June 29 – I attended the second showing of Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl (吸血少女対少女フランケン) at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue). It was being screened as a part of the New York Asian Film Festival 2009.

Based on a manga by Shungiku Uchida (内田春菊), the film is centered on two supernatural high school girls. One is a vampire; the other one is a Frankenstein monster. Both engage in deadly battle for the affections of a single boy. Every scene is filled with lowbrow humor and gallons of fake blood.

The movie is hilarious, but the funniest scenes are ones involving the school clubs. Each club is based on a real Japanese teen trend such as wrist cutting, ganguro (ガングロ), and goth-loli (ロリータ・ファッション) girls. It takes each trend to the most ridiculous extreme for great comedic effect. I especially found the high school wrist cutting competition to be very funny.


The film is the brain child of two Japanese directors, Yoshihiro Nishimura (西村喜廣) and Noboru Iguchi (井口昇). They were at the screening to promote their movie in the United States. Their introduction was more of a two man stand-up comedy routine than a movie introduction. They had a great sense of humor and entertained the audience before the film. Nishimura called their film a “splatter high school comedy”.

After the film, they stayed for a “question and answer” session. Nishimura also did some make-up work during the film and displayed a female model sporting the Frankenstein make-up.


Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl is probably my favorite film from the entire festival. I had a blast! If you have a twisted sense of humor and an appetite for low-budget gore, you should definitely see this movie.

Related Links:

• First report, outrageous pics: Japan’s VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL! (FANGORIA)
• Trailer Vampire Girls Vs Frankenstein Girls (Youtube)
• Eleven Arts takes on Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl (Screen International)
  

NYAFF09: A Bloody Samurai Zombie Mistake

NEW YORK, June 26 – I was completely stoked about going to see Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl (吸血少女対少女フランケン) with some friends. I bought tickets online, but there was a bit of a mix-up at the IFC Center Box Office (323 Sixth Avenue). Apparently, if you purchase a “10-PACK” online for the New York Asian Film Festival, you have visit the box office and declare that you want tickets for a particular movie. Now under the online purchase page for Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl, you see these options:


There are no notes or warnings about requiring the customer to declare a ticket preference. I assumed that they were all for Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl. I checked the day prior to the screening about getting my tickets early, and the IFC Center employee said to wait until the day of the screening. I show up to the day of the screening, and I can’t get my tickets. They're sold out.

The employee behind the glass pointed at a black-and-white piece of paper that was taped to the glass. It states the fine print which requires 10-PACK customer to declare the particular movie and number of tickets desired.

Now, my receipt said “Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl” followed by the description “10-PACK”. The manager eventually offered a refund, and I was thoroughly pissed. I asked my friends Tim, Frank, and Jerette if they wanted to see the next movie, Yoroi: Samurai Zombie (鎧 サムライゾンビ). They agreed, and we decide to watch the next film.


Yoroi: Samurai Zombie is freakish Japanese horror film which is one part Benny Hill and one part Friday the 13th. Ghoulish looking monsters wearing samurai armor are chasing a couple of criminals and a family through a deserted village. Excessive gore, pools of blood, and slapstick comedy are the main ingredient to this film. It kinda reminds me of Takashi Miike’s (三池 崇史) films. It was bizarre and uncomfortably comedic.

Tak Sakaguchi (坂口拓), the director and stuntman, introduced the movie. He talked about his involvement and the use of his talented stunt team. He especially emphasized his unusual fondness for running people over with cars.


Related Links:

• Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie - AsianMediaWiki
• NYAFF 09: Review of YOROI: THE SAMURAI ZOMBIE (Quiet Earth Review)
• YOROI SAMURAI ZOMBIE (NYAFF)
• Yoroi: Samurai Zombie - Trailer (Youtube)
  

REVIEW: Appleseed: Ex Machina

NEW YORK, March 8 — Appleseed: Ex Machina is the latest sequel to the popular Appleseed franchise. I had the opportunity to view the limited theatrical release of the film at the Independent Film Center (IFC) Center (323 Sixth Avenue). The IFC Center only showed two midnight screenings of Appleseed: Ex Machina on Friday (March 7) and Saturday (March 8). I attended the Friday midnight showing with a couple of my otaku friends.

After the screening, I walked out of the small theater with mixed feelings about the film. It seemed pretty standard for the 3D anime genre (Appleseed and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children). The action and special effects scenes were amazing, but the computerized acting was stiff and unimpressive.


In terms of hardcore actions, Appleseed: Ex Machina does deliver the high intensity action scenes. Deunan’s firefights were completely adrenaline pumping. She would leap headlong into combat with guns blazing. The most energetic points of the action would be accompanied by slow motion. During the first few action scenes, the acrobatic gunplay and slow motion seemed very John Woo, but I felt something missing. I said to myself, "this film needs some white birds to fly across the frame in order to make it a Woo film." At about midway point through the film, Briareos had an amazing aerial fight scene and white doves fly across the screen several times. I almost shouted, "that's the Woo".

The character development and dialogue were very rough. The digital characters looked like lifeless dolls trying to act. The dialogue sequences seemed closer to puppeteering than live action acting. The humor was also a little forced. For example, the film had small comedic moments between the main characters, but the CGI expressions and physical acting failed to carry the jokes. The film was littered with these failed joke deliveries. In its defense, very few 3D animated films can capture the flow and grace of live action acting.


In a technical sense, there are a few visual improvements in the movie. The 3D skins were amazing. The textured clothing skins were very tactile. The leather materials looked like leather. The lighting was a huge improvement over the 2004 Appleseed film. Shinji Aramaki tried to implement a softer natural light instead of stark lighting in the previous Appleseed movie. They also greatly improved the cell shading used on the 3D models.

On another note, this film is stacked with a lot of talented creators. Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed and Metal Skin Panic: MADOX-01) directed, and John Woo (A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow III) produced. Masaki Yamada (Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy) did the character designs. They also managed to get Atsushi Takeuchi (Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, Naruto: Konoha Sports Festival, and Patlabor 2: The Movie) and some members of Production I.G. to do a few sequences and storyboards on the film.



Appleseed: Ex Machina - Trailer

Overall, Appleseed: Ex Machina was a very exciting and enjoyable film with some minor problems. If you want to just strap into a seat and enjoy an action packed ride, this is the movie for you. Most otaku will enjoy the amazing action and computerized sets. It was a feast for the eyes.

The official Appleseed: Ex Machina DVD release date is March 11, 2008. The movie will be available in both standard DVD and Blu-ray DVD formats.

Related Links:

• Appleseed: Ex Machina Official Site (in Japanese)
  
• SEGA's Appleseed: Ex Machina Official Site (in Japanese)
  
• Appleseed Ex Machina DVD - Warner Brothers Home Video
  
• ANN: Appleseed: Ex Machina
  
• Wikipedia: Appleseed Manga
  
• Wikipedia: Masamune Shirow
  

REVIEW: Ishirô Honda's Latitude Zero

NEW YORK, December 25 — Finally, a Special Edition Double DVD of Latitude Zero (aka "Ido zero daisakusen") has been released in the United States (Release Date: December 11, 2007). It was released by Tokyo Shock, a subsidiary of Media Blasters.

Latitude Zero is an underwater tokusatsu adventure by Ishirô Honda, the director of Gojira. It's a sci-fi film centered on Latitude Zero, an Atlantis-like underwater utopia. It's a classic Toho Studios production.

First, I want to address the matter of the packaging. The packaging is pretty stripped down for a "special edition". I was hoping for more extras and liner notes, instead the box was filled with Media Blasters advertisements. This advertising stuffing included a fold-out catalogue and a DVD of trailers. It was disappointing.

When "cult" films such as Latitude Zero are transferred to DVD, they are frequently victims of poor packaging and stripped down DVD authoring. Media companies just produce these DVD releases with very little creativity or care. The Latitude Zero release follows this trend of bland packaging and presentation.

Tokyo Shock could have paid a writer and a graphic designer to create an interesting booklet and box cover. It would cost very little money to produce.

Let’s get back to the film...


Crew of the Alpha submarine.
Before I reviewed this film, I read a lot of internet reviews on Latitude Zero. Many mainstream movie reviewers gave this film a bad review. However, I don't think it's really that bad. Latitude Zero has its problems, but it's a decent film. It is just misunderstood.

I understand that Latitude Zero is not for everyone. For many mainstream movie goers, many standard Japanese tokusatsu films (such as Gojira) are perceived as too weird and sometimes incomprehensible. Guys wearing large rubber monster costumes are still a little alien to western audiences.

However, Latitude Zero is just a step beyond the standard tokusatsu fare. This film was Honda's attempt to create a mixture of a western style sci-fi adventure with Japanese visual effects. He was trying to target both an American and Japanese audience simultaneously.

Capt. McKenzie (Cotten) catches a bullet with his bare hands.
The cast was a unique mix of western and Japanese actors. The most notable western actors were Cesar Romero (The Joker from TV's Batman) and Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane). They are joined by Akira Takarada (Gojira: Fainaru uôzu, Gojira, and Kingdom Hearts Video Games) and Masumi Okada (Brother Michael from TV's Shogun). Takarada is veteran Godzilla actor and a staple of Toho Pictures. His tokusatsu career spans the entire history of Godzilla films from the original 1956 Godzilla film to Godzilla: Final Wars.

The movie was also filmed in English, and many of the Japanese actors had to learn English. Some of the Japanese actors had the English script broken down into phonetic katakana in order to learn it. If you listen carefully to the Japanese actors, you will hear extra syllables and trailing sounds at the end of words. This is mostly due to learning English from reading the katakana phonetics.

Mutant humanoid bat henchmen.
The story of Latitude Zone begins in the Pacific Ocean. A research team is lowering a deep sea diving bell into the ocean. Two Japanese scientists (Takarada and Okada) and an American journalist (Richard Jaeckel) are diving into the deepest part of the ocean in order to study temperature shifts. An underwater volcano suddenly erupts, and their deep sea diving bell crashes to the bottom. They are quickly rescued by Captain Craig McKenzie (Cotten) and his uncanny submarine crew. After the rescue, the Alpha, McKenzie's submarine, is quickly pursued and attacked by the Black Shark, Doctor Malic's (Romero) submarine. An action filled underwater pursuit begins.

If you are fan of early sci-fi films, Latitude Zero will be a bizarre cinematic treat. Most of Latitude Zero's story deals with the concepts of a utopian society and the miracle of scientific progress during the early 20th century. The film portrays science as both a destructive force and a nurturing one. The ambivalent feelings toward scientific progress are a familiar theme to many sci-fi movie fans. In many respects, Latitude Zero is very similar to The Thing from Another World (1951), Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), and Forbidden Planet (1956).

Giant griffin versus a submarine.
This film also has a good helping of Kaiju fun. It is an Ishirô Honda film after all. The crew of the Alpha battles humanoid bat creatures, giant rats, and a large furry Griffin monster. Many kaiju fans will also recognize the orchestral score. Music for the film was provided by Akira Ifukube, composer for most of the Godzilla films.

Latitude Zero does suffer from some pacing issues. The exposition scenes are painfully slow in the movie. Honda tried to stuff a political message into the long dialogue scenes, but it was completely awkward. He was trying to argue that the Cold War has tainted the noble pursuit of scientific research and human governments could not be trusted. It was a little too didactic, and it was a drag on the story.

In the end, Latitude Zero is not for everyone. However, if you enjoy a bizarre cinematic sci-fi experience, I highly encourage you to pick-up Ishirô Honda's Latitude Zero.

Ohh... Did I mention that they have girls on trampolines!

Related Links:

• IMDB: Latitude Zero
  
• Wikipedia: Latitude Zero
  
• TVGuide.com: Latitude Zero Review
  
• Toho Kingdom: Latitude Zero
  

REVIEW: Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (Criterion Collection)

NEW YORK, November 30 — The folks at Janus Films and Criterion Collection recently released the latest high-definition digital transfer of Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (released November 27, 2007).

As part of their standard production, Drunken Angel is a masterfully authored DVD with an amazing accompanying booklet. The packaging reminds me of old rock albums that were accompanied with original artwork and great liner notes. Packaging and good liner notes are slowly becoming a lost art with cheap DVD releases, Thinpaks, and direct downloads.

The Criterion DVD also has great extras like old archive interviews with Kurosawa and commentary by Donald Richie. Donald Richie is the author of A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History.

Drunken Angel's Criterion Collection Packaging and Liner Notes.
I have to confess that I'm a huge Akira Kurosawa fan. I have most of Kurosawa's movies in the restored Criterion Collection editions.

Drunken Angel is not characteristic of Kurosawa's later samurai movies like Rashômon or Seven Samurai. It's closer in tone and content to his earlier films dealing with post World War II Japan such as Stray Dog and Ikiru. It deals with many of Japan's post war problems such as crime, disease, and poverty. These themes are the pillars of Kurosawa's early noir classics.

In many ways, Drunken Angel is a precursor to Kurosawa's more famous Ikiru. Ikiru is one of my all time favorite films. Both films deal with issues of fatal diseases and poverty in Japanese society. Drunken Angel seems a little raw in comparison with Ikiru. In this film, Kurosawa was still looking for his own voice and style. Some scenes seem like pale imitations of Italian neorealism and Russian silent films. There were also some scenes that didn't seem like Kurosawa at all. (Note: Both of these styles are hugely influential on Kurosawa's own directorial style.)

The main story centers on the two main characters played by Takashi Shimura and Toshirô Mifune. Both Shimura and Mifune play notable samurai in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai movie. In Drunken Angel, Shimura plays a drunken doctor, who treats poor patients in his small clinic. Mifune plays a gangster that is diagnosed by Shimura with a deadly case of tuberculosis. Shimura directly confronts the gangster with his illness.

Shimura's directness was shocking to a Japanese audience because of Japanese medical practices at the time.

In the 1940s and the 1950s, it was common for Japanese doctors to lie to their patients about deadly ailments like cancer and tuberculosis. Japanese doctors believed that news of a fatal disease would be like handing a death sentence to a patient. The news would impair a patient from living the rest of their lives with any sense of normalcy. Kurosawa often criticized this medical practice in his early films. The practice of concealing fatal diseases prevented Japanese society from dealing directly with the problems of poverty and poor health.

In post war Japan, many Japanese died of deadly diseases from poor living conditions, poor hygiene, and polluted water. Disease and hygiene became very serious issues, and Kurosawa explores these issues in Drunken Angel.

If you don't mind some of the raw elements, I recommend that you watch Drunken Angel. It is not one of Kurosawa more polished films, but it does not disappoint. The film has passionate performances from both Shimura and Mifune, and Kurosawa's directing and editing are emotionally powerful.

Related Links:
Criterion Collection: Drunken Angel
IMDb: Akira Kurosawa
Wikipedia: Akira Kurosawa
Wikipedia: Tuberculosis

REVIEW: Transformers Movie, 2007

4 JULY 2007 -- This is my quick and dirty review of the Transformers movie. Don't worry... no plot spoilers.  However, read at your own risk.  You've been warned.

The Good.  I went to the movie with the intension of seeing a decent tokusatsu (special-effects) movie, and it does deliver.  The audience was really involved in the film, and they cheered at the end.  It had lots of action and some good variations on the transformation.  The story is utter crap, but that is not the main reason someone watches a tokusatsu film.  They did bring back Peter Cullen to voice Optimus and other voice over actors from the original cartoon series.  If you want to see giant robots smashing everything in sight, the movie does not disappoint.  I did enjoy it on that level.

The Bad.  The main problem I had with the movie is marketing it as a "Transformers" movie.  It's not a Transformers movie.  I compare it to the Dean Devlin Godzilla movie because it is a good tokusatsu movie that is divorced from the original source material.  If they marketed the movie as a unique property, I would probably be more accepting of the movie as a whole.  Furthermore, the character design was too radically different from the original show (gen 1), and some of the character personalities were changed.  Their behaviors seem out of character for some of the Transformers.

Another problem I had with the movie was the slow pacing through the first hour (of a 144 min. film).  The first hour was a light "Dawson's Creek" episode focused on the human characters.  A lot of it could have been edited out for pacing and brevity.  Also, the movie introduced a lot of human characters that did nothing.  They didn't have a role or function in the movie.  They just appeared and faded into the background without any real contribution.  They definitely could have been edited out.  It would have made the plot more coherent.  

It also bothered me that the story is told from the point of view of the human characters.  In the cartoon series, the story is told from the perspective of the Transformers.  I found that element of the cartoon series made it very unique and different.  Since Astro Boy, anime has frequently allowed the audience to relate and sympathize on some level with the villains and nonhuman entities.  In Japanese story telling, the villain is not just evil.  There are usually circumstances that drive essentially good characters to perform evil acts (see Akira Kurosawa's "Stray Dogs").  However, Michael Bay probably wanted characters that the American audience could sympathize.  Therefore, the Transformers seem a little distant and cold.

The Ugly.  Although the CGI looks acceptable, there are some problems.  In some of the combat scenes, the fighting is frenetic and all over the place.  I had a hard time distinguishing between the different transformers.  Where does one end and the other begin?  This is the real problem with using extremely intricate mech designs.  Many of the fights become large sloppy blurs of twisted metal on the movie screen.  Some scenes remind me of Dragon Ball Z fights, which result in quick blurry motion lines on the television screen.  Too confusing...

Optimus Prime, Original Cartoon

Optimus Prime, 2007 Movie

The other problem is the relationship between the robot forms and the vehicle forms.  In the original cartoon, the vehicle designs relate highly to the robot designs.  For example, Optimus Prime is a semi-truck in vehicle form.  In robot form, Prime's torso still looks a lot like the cab of a semi-truck.  You can clearly see the balance of form and function.  This is the real genius of transformers.  The mechanics of the transformation were believable to a certain extent.  This translated well to the action figures.  They transformed the same way the cartoon did.  However, the movie disregards all sense of function for the sake of form.  The movie displays intricate mech designs and cool vehicles, but it's difficult to believe that the robot forms can mechanically change into the vehicles.

The conclusion. Well, I recommend everyone see the movie at least once as a good tokusatsu film.  It's fun, and big robots kicking ass is always cool.  However, it sucks as a Transformers movie, and they should stop marketing it as such...


For more information on Tranformers Movie, 2007:

• Transformers Movie, 2007 - Official Website
  
• IMDB: Transformers Movie, 2007
  

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James Leung Man-Fai
,

OTAKU USA, First Issue in Stores! and Paprika (Anime Review)

09 JUNE 2007 -- I'm back from my funky adventures below the Mason-Dixon Line.  I've returned to a humid and sticky New York City.

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OTAKU USA! The first issue arrives on store shelves!


OTAKU USA is the first real American J-Trash magazine with some red meat.   The articles are interesting and well written.  The reviews and features are comprehensive and engaging.  It contains: anime reviews, manga previews, Gundam Model kit previews, j-pop news, movie news, Tokusatsu info, interviews, and Kaiju movie updates.  It is edited by Patrick Macias.

I've read this magazine cover-to-cover.  It's been a long time since I've done that...  Get youself a copy immediately.

OTAKU USA Magazine is available at these stores: Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Books A Million, Hastings, Walden, Loblaws, Target, and other magazine retailers.

• http://otakuusamagazine.com
  

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ANIME: Papurika

I finally viewed Satoshi Kon's (Paranoia Agent and Tokyo Godfathers) latest movie, Paprika (a.k.a. Papurika) on the big screen, and it was quiet trippy.  It was very reminiscent of his work on the last few episodes of Paranoia Agent.  The most memorable scenes consist of dreamy sequences that rapidly turn into a dark imploding world.

The general plot involves a medical corporation that develops a dream machine that allows therapists to delve into the patients' subconscious.  This new ability leads to problems when a fiendish criminal tries to steals dreams from patients and manipulates their minds with the machine.  Paprika, a mysterious dream heroine, must stop the criminal from completely overtaking the dreams of everyone involved in the project.

The film does include many element of Wachowskis' The Matrix, and there are other references such as Journey to the West, Tokyo Godfathers, Roman Holiday, and Tarzan the Ape Man.

Paprika is a gorgeous and visually enticing movie.  It has a bright palette of colors and characters that will keep audiences interested in every cell of animation.  It was almost hypnotic.  Masashi Ando's (Paranoia Agent) character designs are very intricate, and the animation is surprisingly fluid.

I am a huge fan of Satoshi-san work.  As with Paranoia Agent and Millennium Actress, he creates the same sense of intensity in this film.  His movies have a distinctive pacing and rewarding climaxes.  Satoshi-san did not disappoint his fans with this amazing film.  A must see anime!

You can watch Papurika trailer on YouTube.

• Sony's Official Papurika Website.
  
• Animenfo: Papurika.
  
• Anime News Network: Papurika.
  
• Wikipedia: Papurika.

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James Leung Man-Fai