Outlander

Alien/Predator/13th Warrior---if any of those movies appeal to you, and you know who you are, then you should go to see the movie 'Outlander'. If those movies do not appeal to you, or you have no tolerance for B-movie fun, then you will hate this movie. I obviously have a soft place in my heart for this type of film, which is why I'm writing about it here.
This is the tale of Kainan (played by the always respectable Jim Caviezel) whose spaceship crash lands in Viking territory the year 709. (If you are already thinking to yourself 'how is that possible?' then you do not have the predisposition for this type of movie...again, stay away) It turns out that Kainan has brought with him a formidable creature that he knows all too well, and now has to team up with the locals, using his advanced intellect and their unadvanced weaponry, to defeat it before it takes over. You even get Ron Perlman (Hellboy) showing up for a cameo as one bad-ass viking. Needless to say I enjoyed it for what it was, and what it was, was B-movie awesomeness!!!

Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu has been sort of a group whose music takes me back. There's just something about it that is warm, comfortable and carefree like the summers of my youth. The strange thing is that I was never a My Bloody Valentine fan back in the day, as a matter of fact my musical taste was absolutely horrible. Probably the "coolest" bands I listened to were Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush and the like and I just listened to them because everyone else did. I was all too eager to escape the "Christian" music black hole of crappiness I was stuck in (for the record there are a few good "Christian" groups out there, they were just so good that I didn't like them if that makes any sense). So I guess there is something to be said about capturing the feeling of yesterday, during which that actual style of music was never physically present.
ANYWAYS, their new album 'Hush' is not entirely different from the band's second album (which was really the first album they had found their sound) called 'Citrus'. The shimmering fuzzy wall of sound is still present, although perhaps slightly more compressed this time around. The beautiful vocals that float over the layers upon layers of sugary dream pop are even sweeter than I remember. Sometimes it really can be a good thing to stay the same and here we have the perfect example.

Goemon

Ok, I apologize for not posting to the blog for quite a few weeks now as I have been transitioning back into the States, but now that I am settled, I hope to bring you more of the good stuff. I am proud to have my first official post of the new year be some very exciting news. First off, if you have never seen the Japanese movie 'Casshern' go rent it now. It is a visual feast of pure CGI live action anime...it is what movies like 'Sin City' could only hope to look like. Outside of the visuals the storyline falters and it becomes overly long and self-indulgent. So rent it once, soak it in in all its glory and let it leave you wanting more, because it will and I am here to tell you that the more is here now (did that sentence make any sense?) Director Kaz Kiriya is about to unleash his sumptuous next film entitled 'Goemon'. While not based on an existing anime, it is firmly within the same realm. This is a martial arts epic, and it looks to trump 'Casshern' in every way. Here's the trailer: