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I found this movie browsing Netflix for things with Ekin Cheng.
This DVD has a severe problem with the subtitles; any place where they should be more than one line, only the last line is shown. I was able to follow the action in spite of this, but I know there were details missing. Maybe next time, I’ll remember to check the reviews on Netflix BEFORE renting; it was mentioned there repeatedly. It’s not the first time I’ve been unpleasantly surprised by something on a DVD that was often mentioned in the reviews.
It stars Ekin Cheng as Ren Lee, a dealer working at a private gambling club in LA; Jonathan Ke Quan (who was apparently the kid in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) as Sing Wong, a fellow employee and his best friend; and Cecelia Cheung as Tina Chow, a police officer.
Ren’s pregnant girlfriend broke up with him around Christmas, claiming the baby was not his. Ren knows that there is a large sum of money in the safe in the boss’s office and that Sing has access to the safe; he is sure of his luck and convinces Sing to “borrow” the money and go to Vegas as VIPs, with predictable results. They get a ride back to LA with Anna, who Sing had met and given advice to in the casino; there is a wreck and Ren wakes up two days later to find out that Anna and Sing are dead, and that Sing was possibly murdered. The police question him, but he doesn’t really answer them.
Later, Ren and Officer Tina Chow’s paths cross again; he runs, she manages to get into his car, they fight for the wheel, and there is another accident. They wake up and split up, and eventually realize that it’s Christmas Day again. They find each other again and try to figure out how to make things right. This is not the sort of time travel where meeting yourself causes serious problems; at one point Ren kidnaps Tina’s earlier self and swaps her for the later Tina, and at another, Tina attempts to distract the earlier Ren. They do try to avoid meeting themselves, though.
I liked the action-ish parts of this (not necessarily fight scenes, but any where there was something more than conversation happening); there were occasional long philosophical ramblings about parallel universes and the nature of love that were boring (especially with the missing subtitles). There was occasionally humor, and I was actually surprised by the revelation of what happened that day. The ending was all right; I did feel sorry for Sing, though (and for Anna, even though she was a bit part).
This was an OK movie; I liked it well enough to watch the whole thing in spite of the subtitle issue, but would not consider buying it due to that issue. Aside from the subtitles, it’s the sort of thing I might buy if I found it cheaply enough somewhere.
cast list and more info at imdb
aka Saiunkoku Monogatari/彩雲国物語
I rented this from Netflix; it had some hype when it ran. I’m using the DVD names, despite the fact that Shurei’s name sounds like Kou, but is written Hong, which is distracting when watching the subtitles. This was a deliberate choice to distinguish between two families who were both pronounced ‘Kou’ but used different kanji; Hong is apparently a Chinese pronunciation of her last name. The names of the various clans are apparently all colors; unfortunately, there was nothing to indicate this. The introduction of the first episode says that:
In the time of demons, a young man tried to beat back the rampaging demons; eight enlightened beings came to his aid, using colors as their names. They became known as the Eight Colored Enlightened Ones. The young man, whose name was Sogen, became the first ruler of Saiunkoku, the Kingdom of the Colored Clouds.
This is the story of Shuurei Hong, who is from a noble but poor family, who accepts an extremely well-paying job without first hearing the details, and ends up as consort to the king. The king ended up as king because one of his brothers was exiled, and the others killed each other in a fight for power eight years ago. He has been king for six months, but does not seem to care about ruling; and at 19, has never been out of the palace, and there is a rumor that he prefers men. Shuurei studied for and wanted to take the exams and become a court official, but women are not allowed to do that; one of her odd jobs is teaching the children at the temple. After hearing about the king’s non-involvement with the government, she is determined to convince him to take an interest and teach him what she knows about the government; both of them end up taking classes from Koyu Ri, one of the king’s advisors.
I did enjoy this, though I found Shuurei annoying half the time; she bounced between smart and competent and generic teenage anime overly loud and cheerful girl. I was interested in the plot; everything looked peaceful on the outside, but there were obviously darker things happening behind the scenes. One of the plot points in these episodes was blatantly obvious (the missing brother), but others were not. Any number of people were clearly not what they seemed to be, though in some cases it was not immediately apparent what they actually were.
I actually watched this last month (I have a lot of half-finshed drafts), and so don’t remember as much about it as I should, and don’t know if it’s worth the effort to try to remember any more about it, due to Geneon’s problems; volume two will be released, but there is no news yet about what will happen after that. I hope to be able to see more of this someday.
There were not a lot of extras on this disc, just the textless opening and previews (Paradise Kiss, Rozen Maiden, Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales — I think everything I’ve rented from Geneon lately has had the Rozen Maiden trailer on it and one of the other two).
More information at Geneon’s official site and at animenewsnetwork.com
xxxHOLiC is the story of Kimihiro Watanuki, a high-school student who can see spirits (and they are generally interested in him). One day, he finds himself in the shop of Yûko Ichihara, who grants wishes for a price. She agrees to take this ability away from him once he has paid the price; Watanuki ends up as her housekeeper/cook/assistant, and finds himself dealing directly with spirits and other weird things. I posted a longer description of the series here.
The volume starts off with Yûko in a bathing suit (it is summer); a neko-musume (cat daughter?) comes to the shop complaining about the heat; Yûko gives her a hat that will help her stay cool; her payment is to guide Watanuki to a place where there is well water that has never been near a pipe. Watanuki and eventually Dômeki fetch water for Yûko over several days; Watanuki promises Himawari that he will not work too hard with a pinky-swear; this is the catalyst for the events in the rest of the volume.
This particular volume is mostly concerned with the question of Himawari; it has been obvious from the beginning that there is something odd about her, and it is eventually revealed. Her secret is a bit anti-climatic, but I’m glad to know what it was. Watanuki is definitely changing; his reaction to the events of this volume are very different than what they would have been even a few volumes ago.
This is one of my favorite volumes so far, mostly due to the revelation of Himawari’s secret and the obvious growth of Watanuki’s character. I’m probably going to reread the rest soon; there were a couple of references to earlier events that I don’t really remember (the person who looked like Syaoran and Dômeki’s grandfather).
xxxHOLiC is the story of Kimihiro Watanuki, a high-school student who can see spirits (and they are generally interested in him). One day, he finds himself in the shop of Yûko Ichihara, who grants wishes for a price. She agrees to take this ability away from him once he has paid the price; Watanuki ends up as her housekeeper/cook/assistant. Also in the shop are Maru and Moro; I’m not sure what they are, but they look like young teenagers, maybe. There is also the black Mokona, which is a created being, stuffed animal size (and was originally the annoying cute animal sidekick in Magic Knight Rayearth, though this one can speak). Watanuki has a crush on his (female) classmate Himawari, and sees his (male) classmate Dômeki as something of a rival and friend (though he would never admit to it). There is something strange about Himawari, and Dômeki lives in a temple, has strong spiritual power, but cannot see spirits, and is fairly immune to most of spiritual weirdness.
It is often episodic, with Watanuki running errands for Yûko (sometimes with Yûko or Mokona or Dômeki), but there are occasionally hints of an overall plot, and characters or items from the past often show up again in the future. Sometimes the stories involve normal people; sometimes they involve various spirits; most of them start with someone needing a wish granted and end up with Watanuki doing the work, with Yûko demanding food and drink in the background.
It also crosses over with CLAMP’s other current series Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle; Yûko gives the group the white Mokona, who has the power to detect Sakura’s feathers and to transfer them between worlds; it is also capable of communication with the black Mokona at the shop, and does so every once in a while. Yûko also occasionally is in the background manipulating events (for a price, of course) and talking with or about the shadowy background figures.
This is one of my favorite series; I love the artwork, and I am very glad that Del Rey is printing the color pages at the beginning of the volumes. I wish there was a way to scan the two-page color pictures at the front of each volume without ruining the book itself. Watanuki is occasionally annoying; he is the type of person who often freaks out and runs around flailing his arms and screaming (very annoying in the anime, but tolerable in manga form). Yûko appears to be self-centered (seems to be more concerned with her meals and drinks than anything around her) and occasionally is cryptic for the hell of it (which is something that always annoys me); she is more serious when Watanuki is not around, and clearly feels that she is acting in his best interests. Himawari doesn’t have much character; she seems nice (but a little distant) and is friends with Watanuki and Dômeki, but doesn’t seem to prefer either of them and finds there interaction amusing. Dômeki is the strong, silent type; he often acts as Watanuki’s protector (much to Watanuki’s dismay), and is also often cryptic (sometimes for the hell of it, sometimes to provoke Watanuki.
This series is currently running in Japan. As of the end of September, 2007, there are ten volumes available in English (Del Rey, volume 11 currently scheduled for February 2008), and eleven in Japanese (Kodansha, volume 12 currently scheduled for October 2007).
Secret Agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and his sidekick Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) investigate random events affecting national security, and banter wittily as they investigate and kick ass. I’m not sure who the enemy is supposed to be, but they are doing a good job at keeping them at bay. I’ve seen and enjoyed episodes here and there, and finally remembered to add it to my Netflix queue. There are two seasons before this one; this is the first season with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.
- The Town of No Return
- The Gravediggers
- The Cybernauts
Steed and Mrs. Peel are sent to investigate a town where four agents have vanished; they are not particularly welcome; the inn is not ready for customers; their fellow train passenger (the blacksmith’s brother) ends up dead; there are not as many people around as there should be. Strings are pulled to get Mrs. Peel assigned to teach at the local school; however, the school is randomly on holiday, and there are no signs of children anywhere. At one point, Steed beats people up with his bowler. Mrs. Peel is attacked while speaking to someone she thought was trustworthy and ends up tied to a saddle (she was holding her own until more armed men showed up).
The early warning system’s radar is blacking out in a particular region; using random leaps of logic, Steed determines that the town where the radar expert is buried is the place to start investigating (more specifically, the railway hospital — he sends Mrs. Peel to be a nurse trainee there). Mrs. Peel shows some knowledge of electronics; Steed looks confusedly at the components they find, while she identifies them. She pulls a gun on the matron, ties her up, and replaces her in the operating room (apparently competently) to see what is going on, but is discovered (the matron gets loose; she is armed; also present are the security guard, the doctor, and a couple of other people) and tied to the railroad tracks (with appropriate music). I did wonder why the bad guys didn’t shoot anyone at the end, but they were trying to avoid notice (why they tied Mrs. Peel to the train tracks so that the crazy train-guy would be blamed instead of killing her somehow in the hospital).
This episode had karate-fighting robots; it doesn’t need anything else. It is 60s science fiction: A Japanese firm has invented a replacement for the transistor that will allow smaller circuits and electronic devices; representatives of firms showing interest end up dead via karate blows. There is eventually, a man who believes that computers will rule the world (why do these people never realize that if man is fallible, computers programmed by man will also be fallible?). Lots of buttons and blinking lights and 60s robots, and some interesting Japanese pronunciation at the karate dojo. Once again, Mrs. Peel has some knowledge of a random field (karate/judo), and did not get kidnapped and tied up this time.
This is entertaining fluff, but does require turning the brain off. I’m trying not to analyze the plot too much; on the other hand, nitpicking can be fun (I should not try to write it up while watching it; I now have a list of plotholes from the last episode). I like the overall 60s style and the banter and the competent, kick-ass woman (even if she does need rescuing often) and the general secret agent genre. According to wikipedia, the show did not have much of a budget in the early seasons, and it occasionally shows (some of the effects are cheesy, though being in black and white helps; some of the fight scenes are not convincing at all). My only real complaint is the lack of subtitles or closed-captioning, but I didn’t expect them.
Someday I will finish this book; today is not the day. At least I made it to the beginning of the plot this time; unfortunately, it’s due back to the library, and I’m not in the mood to finish it right now. I don’t think I read any of the books I checked out with this one (started the new release but got distracted, never opened the other).
I like what I’ve read of Murakami (adored Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and liked After Dark; on the other hand, I own but haven’t read Kafka on the Shore (distracted when had library copy, haven’t started mine yet), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (wasn’t interested, will try again eventually), and Sputnik Sweetheart (bought used, never opened). I don’t know why I haven’t been able to read this one; this was the second try. I started it, got distracted by Territory, and never picked it back up. Maybe next time will be better; I want to read it, and will probably buy it at some point.
