Anime movie review: Princess Mononoke

Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have created an epic and thematic adventure brimming with exciting action and dazzling visuals. Set aside some time to discover the impressive set of characters and story of this highly acclaimed and beloved movie.

Princess Mononoke is an epic fantasy adventure set in the Muromachi period (around the 15th or 16th century) in Japan. The movie opens with a small village being attacked by an  angry demon whose body is enveloped in a mass of dark slithering entities. The prince of the village, Ashitaka – our hero –  kills the demon in order to save his village, but is injured and cursed by the demon.

The demon turns out to be a boar god, consumed and twisted by hatred originating from an iron ball found inside his body. Ashitaka now sets off to find a means to lift his curse and discover where the iron ball came from.

He comes across a human settlement, Iron Town, and their conflicts with the nearby great forest and the animals, spirits and gods inhabiting it.

Series review: Hannibal season 1

Take a seat, turn off the lights and enjoy the dark stories and graphic imagery of murder, cannibalism and psychological torment in the fantastic new TV series featuring Hannibal "the cannibal" Lecter.

We once again get to see our favorite psychopath Dr. Hannibal Lecter in a TV series taking place prior to the events of Red dragon. The story revolves around exploring the relationship between Hannibal and Will Graham, an FBI profiler who suffers from his ability to empathize with serial killers.

Hannibal is the darkest TV series I have ever seen - in just about every sense of the word. It is violent, graphic, psychologically ominous, with both a visual and auditory presence that amplifies the content and general atmosphere of the show.
This is one of Hannibal's greatest aspects. Because while it's almost never downright scary, it has an unpleasant ambiance to it.
Another great aspect is one of the main focuses of the entire story - the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter, and the characters themselves, played by Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy.

Book review: Inferno

Dan Brown, author of the mega-hit The Da Vinci Code and several other thrilling mystery novels returns with  a book closer to a tour guide than a suspense novel.

We return to follow the Harvard professor of religious iconography and symbology Robert Langdon as he wakes up in a hospital bed with a gun-shot wound to the head and no recollection whatsoever of the past two days, only to instantly be chased together with his new sidekick, Dr. Sienna Brooks, at gun point by a strange woman. He is now once again thrown into a life-and-death treasure hunt concerning famous historical locations, artifacts and pieces of fine art.

This premise basically screams "rip-off!", not only because amnesia is one of the most overused set-ups for mystery solving, but because it is otherwise an exact replica of the other three novels starring Langdon - Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol. And make no mistake about it, this is by far the worst one. So if you didn't enjoy any of the previous stories, run. Run as fast as you can.

Movie review: Hope Springs

Kay (Meryl Streep) drags Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) to an intensive week-long couples counseling to rediscover their spark after 31 years of marriage.

I am not the intended demographic for Hope Springs. Far from it. This movie is meant for romantic couples - the older the better. If you are planning to watch it, make sure you do so with your partner. And I urge you NOT to watch it with a family member seeing how there are some "funny" awkward and uncomfortable scenes when Kay and Arnold tries to learn how to touch each other once again, or seeing Kay masturbate under the covers.

Movie review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

The crew of the enterprise goes from exploration for the federation to assassination at a dangerous location outside of regulation with dark motivation.

We start off Star Trek: Into Darkness at a classic style Enterprise mission on an alien planet where Kirk (Chris Pine) breaks rules and Spock (Zachary Quinto) cites regulation - doing their regular dance.
That's as far as the regular plot style of the original series goes. Beyond this the story ventures into a much more military based plot as they set off for the renegade Star Fleet agent, John Harrison who has been behind attacks against Star Fleet.

Movie review: Oz: The Great And Powerful

Welcome back to the wondrously and imaginative magical land of Oz, before the time when Dorothy wandered along the yellow brick road and things were a bit ...less wondrous and imaginative.

A poster depicting the incredibly beautiful scenery of Oz: The Great And Powerful

The movie begins in black and white and in the old 4:3 format as we see Oscar "Oz" Diggs (played by James Franco) in the time before he ventured to the land of Oz.
Here he is a womanizing con-man and a magician who has his own magic show on a traveling circus, bossing around his underling, Frank (played by Zach Braff), and dreams of becoming more than a good man - a great man. He is so intent on becoming one that he even gives up the woman he loves, Annie (played by Michelle Williams), for his goal.
However, as a result of his debauchery, he is forced to flee in a hot air balloon from one the men whose wife/girlfriend he has romanced. Once up in the air, he's caught in a tornado where he pleads to be saved and swears he will become a great man if he survives.

He is then transported to the magical land of Oz.

Game review: Borderlands 2

Make yourself comfortable as you once again take stride as a vault hunter on the planet Pandora, where you will kill, loot, purchase and sell, loot, chase and be chased by Handsome Jack and his minions, loot, and blow shit up! …and loot. Oh, and did I mention loot. LOOT!

Yes, Borderlands is back, in its entire looting and gun-crazy splendor! It's been 5 years since the end of the last game and in that time, a certain joke-cracking villain (who constantly refer himself as the hero) by the name Handsome Jack has appeared. He became super-duper rich by mining the strange mineral known as eridium that poured out of the planet when the vault opened at the end of the previous game. He has then used that fortune to make himself head of the Hyperion corporation and has been up to all kinds villainy and whatnot.

The game opens with an intro video introducing the four playable character types: Gunzerker, Commando, Siren, and Assassin chasing Jack, and gets blown up in the process. As you start playing, the hilariously irritating little robot Cl4p Trap finds you in the snow and “helps” you out in the beginning.

From there on out it’s a never ending barrage of killing and looting as you try to find and stop Handsome Jack.

New stuff

I am definitely going to write some new stuff soon - after months and months of leaving it alone. The reason I've been gone is because I've been busy with work and friends... and because I'm lazy as hell :P

I do however fear that the upcoming reviews (wich may include such titles as Borderlands 2, Oz: The Great And Powerful, Princess Mononoke (rewatch), and Lost Odyssey)