Silent Hill

          Rating: Infernal Heat  

    In cinema there's an unwritten rule. A rule that most people involved don't even know. Films based on video games suck.
   With one exception.
   A don't know what it is exactly about films based on video games that explains why I hate them (what do you think I am an educated film critic?) except that if there is a unifying thread it's that they are amateurishly made. Looking at each film individually would probably be more effective at exploring the reasons for their failures but that's a matter for other reviews. This is about this film.
   They broke the rule by actually taking their effort seriously (if they didn't I'd be rather pissed off that Radha Mitchell is in it.) I have no experience with the Silent Hill video games so cannot offer any perspective on whether they live up to them, if they share themes or a storyline.
   The story focuses on a woman who's adopted daughter suffers hellish visions in her sleep and sleepwalks with near fatal consequences during which she screams 'Silent Hill.' She takes her daughter off the beaten path to the abandoned town but promptly loses her. The town turns out to be a nightmare world mystically cut off from the rest of the world and she has to find her daughter and escape from the infernal things that live there but that's not even half the story.
 

Powerslave

    One of the best heavy metal albums ever. If you don't buy it you're a monkey. Do it or I'll put you in a cage.

Ginger Snaps Back

    The Third Album
   Everyone says the third release is the hardest.It's tragic that the response to Unleashed prevented it being shown in cinemas however it has been put on the big screen at film festivals so at least there's some consolation.
   In an impressive show of daring they break with the setting developed in the first two films completely. It would have been easy to write the next installment of the existing story following on from Unleashed however instead they decided to transplant the story and the characters somewhere totally different.
   The story takes place on the Canadian frontier in 1815 with the two sisters riding through the woods. The isolation of the environment (personified by the Native Wendigo- mentioned in the film) is a good place to set a story about the close tied relationship between two sisters with forces requiring them to act together and at the same time potentially pulling them apart.
   This is a last hurrah but is the best Ginger Snaps film of all. All the more impressive considering their new choice of setting and the fact that this is the third film of the series (it's a proper series not just an original and sequels.) I love Ginger in this film even though she's quite deadpan compared to Brigitte she's great. It also sheds some light on how the first film takes place.
   It's a savage bite back at everyone who thought badly of Unleashed.

Ginger Snaps Unleashed

    This film has a bad official rep but I have no idea why. It's turn out at the box office was 'dismal' although strangely it's got a very good response of Rotten Tomatoes (presumably because they know what they're talking about, although they do overrate it a bit) except by one misguided person who wrote 'Dreadful. Absolutely inappropriate for kids.' Presumably they're using the term 'kids' generally.
   Primarily I don't know why it got such a bad response except that it differed so much from the first film. There are some blatant sexual references like a group masturbation fantasy that probably turned off original fans since nothing like that is in the first film but to me didn't seem tacked on. The setting and characters are completely different from the first film except for Ginger and Brigitte. The tone is different too with a somewhat less serious feel through the character of Ghost. This probably accounts for the 'dreadful sense of ironic humour.' But I disagree with that. This film doesn't try to be funny or overstate itself like a sequel could easily do. Producers see a cult film with a good response and think 'ooh lets make some money out of it' and it turns into a piece of mainstreamed shit.
   That's not what happened here. Don't expect Ginger Snaps version 2.0 it's a proper follow up film not a real sequel designed solely to cash in on the first and showing no new story or the best elements of the earlier film.
   The real tragedy of it's response is that the next film Ginger Snaps Back (released the same year) didn't get a cinematic release since they thought no one would go and see it after this (I'm sure they would have been quite wrong.)
   In short this film got a gross injustice with it's box office response. Just because it's not the same as the original doesn't mean it isn't good.

Ginger Snaps

    Unless you've heard about it from someone this is a very esoteric film. It only surface once in a very long while on the BBC late at night. The first time a caught a moment of it I thought it was a TV programme about teenagers and the supernatural world, like Buffy only it seemed to have bad effects (like Buffy) but a strong undercurrent of intensity. I only caught it by chance but thankfully remembered it's name.
   Lately, sometime a year ago it was on TV again. This time I was waiting. After my first snatch glance I didn't know if it would be worthwhile. Fortunately I stuck with it.
   The story is about two sisters in a small Canadian town being terrorised by the 'Beast of Bailey Downs.' This however takes second place to their obsession with death. As one of what seems like the latest of a series of stunts they submit a series of suicide photos showing them graphically killed in a class project. One night the Beast catches up with them and their lives start to turn.
   This is quite a cool take on the supernatural genre. It's not a big action film of the likes of Underworld or even Blood and Chocolate. Instead it looks at the effect encountering the world of the supernatural has personally. Brigitte and Ginger are bonded like few others and the effect their exposure has on their relationship is one of the main themes of the film. Of course the effect is also the violent and esoteric testing events that follow.
   The mood of the film is quite quiet. They don't try to overdramatise it with loud music. They let the events do most of the talking although the music does underscore and set the mood of the film nicely. I like the way they handle the supernatural aspect of the film too, rather than being empirical like in several other films like it they take it for what it is.

Zatouichi

    There's actually a whole score of films about the character Zatouichi but I'm dealing with the one you probably know by Kitano Takeshi.
   The first time I tried to watch it I though this film was boring. It was probably just because I felt bored at the time and tired (it only gets shown late.) And there was this 'silly' bit about a guy with a spear running around a house shouting. I didn't get the mood of the film at all.
   Recently someone I know recommended it so I thought I'd give it another go and I loved it. It seemed a lot faster the second time and the ending was brilliant. The DVD cover gives it a lot of hype. Beware of this: I've been put off very good films because they didn't measure up to what people said about them. First rule of watching films: don't trust film critics.
   It might be difficult for people who aren't dyed in the wool Asian film fans to find accessable; the first time I saw Oldboy I didn't really get it; but it's worth a try.
   There's a later film about one of Zatouichi's former student's, a blind girl musician, Ichi which I'll be reviewing later.
   Curiously one of the characters is played by 'Taka Guadalcanal.'

Dexterity Charms

After performing a physical action the player may perform the same action a number of times equal to the Lunar's Permanent Essence. This is a magical flurry and is not subject to normal penalties for performing a flurry. This Charm can only be used to repeat a single action.

Magitech

    After the First Age Creation would have been full of magitech production facilities (and parts of Creation now absorbed or cut off by the Wyld.)
   The problems with Exalted illustrated by magitech and more so by things like the dimentions of Metagalapa is that they don't make the game measure up to it's own scale. Magitech could be the basis of a sci-fi background for Exalted considering how advanced the First Age was supposed to be. You could take this to extremes by using a BLAME! like setting where the whole world is artificial and riddled with scientific wonders. I've probably written about this before somewhere. But what's important is making magitech as advanced as it should be. For instance, Warstriders are in the rules up to 25 feet tall. But suits enabling a Exalted to battle a Behemoth should be vast. Juggernaught is half a mile tall when standing on it's hind legs. A Royal warstrider should be on a similar scale requiring vast amounts of resources and similar manufacturing facilities. Factory Cathedrals would be big enough to house them. That's the scale of a level five Manse.
   Also the capabilities of them should be taken further. Compare the potency of modern technology. Obviously magitech shouldn't copy it directly since it's partially magical but it's capabilities should be similar.

Creation 3 Dimentional

    Creation according to the rules is a flat earth world but what of the earth below it and the sky above? If there is a Pole of Ice in the north it makes sense there would be a Pole of Air in the Sky. Far in the night sky are portals to Yu-Shan held an infinite distance from Creation that were accessed Starships in the First Age. Sidereal Martial Artists can leap through these portals to enter or return from Heaven.
   The ground near the Elemental Poles isn't necessarily the same aspect as the Pole, there isn't thousands of miles of ocean around the Pole of Water. The season of an element is the time when it's Pole Essence is strongest and flows through Creation rousing Elementals and empowering them. They naturally regain the most Essence during their Season.
   The actions of Earth Elementals are characterised by massive effort over extremely long ages, but when they act the effects are cataclysmic. Earth Elementals can move whole continents, cause massive earthquakes and raise mountain ranges or open vast chasms.

Halta

    After the Contagion (or possibly earlier if there were earlier Fair Folk incursions) the Haltans made a pact to defend them from the depredations of the marauding Fair Folk. According to the pact the Fair Folk were allowed to prey on anyone they found on the forest floor which they agreed to thinking it would put anyone in the domain at their mercy. But when the pact was signed they found that the Haltans had resettled in the trees making themselves immune (directly) to attack since the Fair Folk cannot break a promise. They adapted their culture to a new totally arboreal environment using organic materials in place of minerals such as ironwood.

Upbringing

This is the first of expansion posts to vary my website, it's not just about Exalted but about everything.

At school we were encouraged not to work during years when we had big exams. I've only just realised what a deprived life I've had. Everyone else had mobile phones and some of them were building their own computers. They all had work outside of school and they still did well at exams. It took me seven long years to finish school. For a while it was because I thought the only choices I had were doing a job I hated or being forced to spend what should be the best years of my life stuck in a classroom when I wanted to be out there exploring new places. It's only now I've found out that having a job would have made so much difference if I could have kept one. It wouldn't have distracted me from school it would probably have improved it, partly because it would introduce me to the world outside school which was all I knew then, having never worked. It would have shown me the value of doing well ad that you got to chose a job you actually liked if you succeeded. But the crucial thing is it would have shown me the rewards of working. At school there's no reward for what you do (you just get picked on by arseholes and ignored by teachers who'd rather not deal with it than help.) If I actually had a decent steady job that I could use to buy my own stuff it would have changed my life completely. Having money forces you to be responsible and makes you grow up a lot. Having not been introduced to that experience until now my life has stagnated, gone nowhere and left me with nothing.
   If you're going to have children for Christ's sake give them a job to do. It doesn't matter if it's only doing chores one hour a week. Earning money every week will make them grow up a lot faster and show them the rewards of working (yes there is a reason you spend hours at school and at home working for no pay and there's a whole world of things you want.)
Let them know what it's all for and a chance to have some of the things they want. It would have made so much difference in my life.

Pom Poko

Rating: Red Hot      

  Don't be put off by the beginning like I was. It's only by luck that I decided to watch the rest of the film. It seems very childish and popy at first but stay with it. The story is about raccoons trying to save their forest from urban development. Its very advanced for something that's supposed to be a children's story, you can even see the raccoon's men's bits sometimes but not graphically. Got to go being dragged away but will continue.

    Continuing, I've forgotten the theme music now. I wish I could have finished this sooner. The characters in their semi human form are so cute an the nature of raccoons they show is really sweet. The film doesn't avoid showing more uncompromising themes though, you still see the consequences of their actions despite how cutesy and fuzzy it is. Being distracted earlier really threw me off. I'd love to say more but can't right now. I had to go for a drive which didn't go very well and they go out for an hour, then have dinner and in the end I'm not in anything like the frame of mind when I first saw it.
    It's a really sweet but not totally kitch film that you should watch despite the fact that the beginning makes it look like a children's movie, get past that and it isn't. There's a lot to the story and it takes you through the highs and lows.

Seasons

    During the Season of Water, the ice from the Season of Storms melts. During the Season great rain fall and snow melts to flood rivers as the earth starts to warm again. Snows that fall on fields melt and soak the ground. In warmer places especially around heavy rains fall. The sudden influx of water into the land and the warming weather paves the way for the Season of Wood which is he most bountiful season of the year as conditions are perfect; wet but not flooded, warm but not scorching, that sees plants grow more than any other time of year. During the Season of Fire the Sun shines the strongest and Creation becomes hottest. Harvests are usually gathered during the Season of Fire before the ground becomes too dry for crops to live or they'll wither in the fields. Animals are killed for food at this time of year before they put too much strain on the drying land. During the Season of Earth the land dries out completely and the ground itself often becomes exposed in lifeless fields. The power of the Sun diminishes but rain rarely falls. During each season of the year spirits of each element run riot across Creation. Like the forces of nature they represent they revel in the short lived opportunity when their powers are at their greatest.
   The Pole of Wood embodies all the other elements combined to form life.

   Water elementals' powers: flood, tidal waves, whirlpool- maelstrom, tide, current, waves.