out of place and time

I felt the strong desire to watch a costume-heavy, eye-candy-laden movie this weekend, pestering the boy to see if he owned "Marie Antoinette" (the one with Kirsten Dunst) or "Rear Window" and "Annie Hall". He had both Annie Hall and Marie Antoinette, but the movie I ended up watching was far from any one of those.

"The Brothers Bloom" was a quirky, surprising movie about a pair of con artists and an even more quirky heiress, played by Rachel Weisz. Rinko Kikuchi also makes an appearance as a (mostly) silent henchman usually in the background engaging in bizarre activities--case in point: peeling an apple, then eating the peel.

Something I enjoyed very much about this movie was that it didn't pretend to be based on any certain time period and age; it seemed to be a selection of characters placed in Mexico, New Jersey, or Russia.

Our two leads, Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody, are introduced as extremely "dapper" and overdressed children. They wear hats, suit jackets and suit trousers, while their peers roll around in mud in their overalls and smocked dresses. Their uniform remains the same throughout the movie even as they mature. Their dress is ironic in that they are con men, meant to be invisible, inconspicuous, yet they would only be at home in a film centered around the 50's. Of course, with the recent success of TV's "Mad Men", it might be more commonplace to see men changing their wardrobes to appear more polished, but Mark and Adrian's suits are no business suits.

image via ign.com

Rachel Weisz's kooky character doesn't seem to be dressed for the present day, though, either. Her attire seems a bit dated, and none of her clothing is very form-fitting. I felt a bit ambivalent towards her character throughout; she is very entertaining to watch, but the clothing would have been very frumpy if not topped off with Rachel's beautiful face. Rachel's character seemed to have stayed in the 90's, which might be fitting given the circumstances of the character.

Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi) appears to be from another time and another place. Her character seems ghostly, as no one really acknowledges the existence of her character, and she does not talk very much. She creates various types of bombs for the brothers, being a deadly accomplice... yet she busts out a sparkly silver number towards the end. Much like her character, her costume changes are sporadic and quick. In one scene she is in Chanel sunglasses with a hat, the next she is in goggles and a jumpsuit.

image via aintitcool.com

The movie is a careful reflection of its story: that all the characters are arranged into a chosen setting, placed into a certain time period, shuffled from place to place--all according to its writer.

And in which case most costumes help to paint a more accurate picture of a story, as an effective story-telling device, the wardrobe in this movie only helps to illustrate a better picture of each character, not the movie as a whole.

Black Friday Weekend

How many of you got up early for the great Black Friday sales this weekend? Well, I did and was amazed by the other number of crazy people up at that time of morning.

I did not get what I was looking for at first, but did get my son some Bakugan sets for Yule. I was looking for a 1TB external hard drive to move some of my movies over to. I ended up ordering it off line at Tiger Direct. I actually got a 1.5TB drive for $99.99 and 100 DVD-R disks for $9.99.

But the real fun came later in the day when I got to Tate's Comics. I pretty much brought a lot of snacks that I am shipping up north to my family. It is one of the things we will miss when I finally leave to be with them in the beginning of the year. I picked up Shonen Jump and Otaku at Barnes & Noble, but everything else was from Tates.


So what was your haul during Black Friday weekend?

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children: Tifa Lockhart 03

Script writer Nojima Kazuhige describes Tifa to be "very much like any woman who's been left behind like a man", meaning someone who was hurt emotionally, but not clingy. She urges Cloud to come to terms with the unwarranted guilt he places upon himself, and takes care of Barret's adopted daughter, Marlene, as well as another child known as Denzel.

I think she may be the same Tifa as the cosplayer I featured more than 2 years ago, but I still find her pretty impressive. She still makes me think that she jumped right out of the film. Great cosplay!

Technorati tags: cosplay, holic, cosplayer, costume, role, play, roleplay, final, fantasy, vii, tifa, lockhart, script, writer, nojima, kazuhige, woman, like, left, behind, man, mean, hurt, emotional, clingy, urge, cloud, term, unwarranted, guilt, place, take, care, barret, adopted, daughter, marlene, child, denzel, feature, impressive, jump, film, コスプレ, コスプレイ, ティファ, ロックハート, ファイナルファンタジーVII, アドベントチルドレン, 野島, 一成

Blog Highlight: Eye Sedso

Another installment of Blog Highlight and the one in our spot light today is: Eye Sedso.

You have got to check him out as I was impressed with his way of "conversation". I mean that he says what he feels and "damn the torpedoes". We as a society tend to hold back and try to be neutral in what we say. It is refreshing to have someone write how they feel about something - the good, bad and ugly.

He is doing a crazy series right now called "best characters of every show i've seen". He is doing it alphabetically, so at this time, he is up to "P". What is cool, is that he not only shows a pick, but writes in detail why it is his favorite. Not something shot, but in great detail with examples on what makes them great. It may take some time, but you should check them out starting at "A" and working on up.


Almost forgot he was a big Hockey fan and needs our support.
Bring back the HARTFORD WHALERS! Help out by signing the Petition ~ Link ~

Bleach: Neliel Tu Oderschvank 05

Just when I thought I knew the real deal, Wiki changes on me, yet again.

So, she's really "Neliel Tu Oderschvank" and not "Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck", right? Or maybe I should stick to ネリエル トゥ オーデルシュヴァンク to avoid confusion this time.

Anyway, ネル トゥ has the ability to swallow cero attacks and, in her adult form, fire them back with her own cero. Her released form, which is achieved by manifesting with her zanpakuto Gamuza, is that of an ibex-like centaur with long, curved horns, a thick tail, and an armor covering her shoulders and hands. Her zanpakuto also changes into a white, double-ended lance, making her appear as a medieval knight or jouster.

Pretty daring cosplay, and she certainly has the look for it. Thanks to Shiro-kun for sending this in! Too bad there's only a small version of this photo.

Technorati tags: cosplay, holic, cosplayer, role, play, roleplay, costume, bleach, neliel, tu, oderschvank, wikipedia, nelliel, nel, odelschwanck, swallow, cero, attack, adult, form, release, fire, opponent, achieve, manifest, zanapkuto, gamuza, ibex, like, centuar, long, curved, horns, thick, tail, armor, shoulder, hand, white, double, end, lance, appear, medieval, knight, jouster, daring, look, shiro, small, version, photo, コスプレ, コスプレイ, ブリーチ, 虚, ホロウ, 破面, アランカル, 十刃, エスパーダ, 虚閃, セロ, 最上大虚, ヴァストローデ, 鋼皮, イエロ, 斬魄刀, ネリエル, トゥ, オーデルシュヴァンク, ネル, 羚騎士, ガミューサ

Movie Review: Ninja Assassin

Movie: Ninja Assassin
Run Time: 1hr 39 min
Rated: R
Genre: Action / Adventure
Directed by: James McTeigue
Story by: Matthew Sand
Screenplay by: Matthew Sand & J. Michael Straczynski

Please note that there are SPOILERS ahead.

I was excited to go see this as the trailers were awesome. There was some expectation of a lot of bloodshed and that was true in every fight scene there was.

This was one cool affect

The beginning of the movie did not disappoint at all. Seeing the head sliced off at the mouth and then the head land on the floor was stunning. After this however, the story went down hill.

They kept jumping from present to past to fill in the story direction throughout the entire movie. We see Raizo as a child growing up in the Ninja family that is run by Ozunu. We find that the Ninjas recruited orphans to be part of the "family" and train to be great assassins.

Young Raizo and Ozunu

We jump to the present seeing a Government researcher in the FBI (I think) - Mika Coretti discovering that Ninjas were responsible for some of the assassinations that happened in history. She reports this to he boss Maslow and here starts the other side of the story. They do give a semi-detailed history lesson on the Ninja clans.

Mika and Maslow

We jump to see that Raizo had a girlfriend that was killed because she tried to "leave" the Clan. Poor Raizo has emotions that will affect his judgment which is bad as a Ninja. He does end up leaving the clan after a great blood battle where he actually cuts Ozunu. Now as an outcast, he will be hunted down and killed by the other members of the Clan.

There is no love for Ninjas

I was taken back by how the Ninjas pretty much took out everyone no matter what guns or armor they had. They did a great job showing how stealthy they are and the weapons they used were lightning fast (swords & throwing stars). When you got to the fight scenes, they were a mixed bag as it was done in the darkness most of the time as the Ninja hide in the shadows.

Training Battle with Hanging Orbs of Fire

The ending was stupid in my opinion. Raizo ends up swallowing a tracking capsule before he is finally captured. He then throws it up at the right time that the government storm the Clans Dojo - which just happens to be on a mountain side and large enough for Hummer and transport vehicles to travel to?

How in the fuck did the Ninjas not hear the vehicles or the helicopter coming to "storm the castle". After this, it is pretty much a massacre for the Ninjas as bullets and grenades are flying around. This is also the big fight scene to end all fights as Raizo goes up against Ozunu.

You can cut me - but I can still fight you

Overall I was disappointed in the how the story was defined and brought to the screen. For such great people directing and doing the screen play, I would of expected more from them. I feel the story development could of been better. I think this would of been a better movie without the Government involvement part of the story.

If we had the history of Raizo growth inside the Clan and then his defection from the and then them trying to kill him - this would of been better. The Ninja Assassin story would have been better if it was like this, but we have all seen these type of shows before. So the government part was added to make it feel different (?) - it just ruined it for me.

Honestly, a para-military assault on a Ninja Clans hideout in the middle of no where on the side of a mountain. Seriously - what were you thinking???

Overall: C <>

Silent Hill: Homecoming: Siam

One of the harder, non-boss monsters to kill in Silent Hill: Homecoming, Siams appear to be two humanoid figures fused together and tied with a series of bondage gear and straps. The male side attacks while the female side is significantly weaker. Siam first appeared in the Police Station and, for some reason or other, always appear when Elle Holloway is in trouble or missing.

Wow, this must have been hard to cosplay as. The guy must be pretty strong to have carried the girl on his back. I wonder how they got in costume... and how did they get out of it? Great work though! Thanks for sharing!

Technorati tags: cosplay, holic, cosplayer, costume, role, play, roleplay, silent, hill, homecoming, siam, non-boss, monster, killer, two, humanoid, figure, fused, together, series, bondage, gear, strap, male, side, attack, female, significant, weak, appear, police, station, reason, elle, holloway, trouble, missing, hard, guy, pretty, strong, carry, girl, back, out, コスプレ, コスプレイ, サイレントヒル

Queens Blade Rebellion Yuit Figure

As promised on Wednesday, here is my photo shoot with the Queens Blade Rebellion Yuit figure. I tried to give her a cool background in the park at my apartment complex. I had a blast, but needed to move some benches around and get the body guards to get the damn Ants out of the way.

For such a small figure, she has a lot of detail. There is not stand associated with this figure as her cloak helps with that. You can take the cloak off and she still stands fairly well. Besides the cloak and key necklace, her dress is also removable. She does have painted ivy underwear, but is topless. You can see that in some of my more "adult" shots below.

It is a little difficult to get her out of her cloak due to how the metal wiring that goes across her. I did have to move it around a bit so the dress did not get caught when I took her cloak off. The dress also is removable and has 2 pegs on each side that keep it together. It is a little fun to get the dress back on however due to the pegs on the one side between her underarm and hand. The other side is easy because her pointing arm come off.

She has quite a demanding stance, but I really wish they made a Vante figure to go with this - HINT HINT!

Now without further a-do, here is Yuit's photo shoot,

NOTE: Photos not ready for Prime Time or Work views

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The End - Literally

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles: Jill Valentine

One of the original protagonists of the series, Jill Valentine returned in Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles as a member of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA). She then works with Chris Redfield to expose and destroy the Umbrella Corporation where they are forced to defeat Umbrella's newest BOW, T-ALOS.

I wasn't too sure if I could post this in my other blog, given the guidelines there, but I had to show this awesome cosplay! I guess RE fans would tell me that Jill doesn't really have bangs (well, she does, but only a few loose strands) and that she lacks that white sweater tied around her waist, but really, isn't this a great cosplay of her? Good job!

Technorati tags: cosplay, holic, cosplayer, costume, role, play, roleplay, resident, evil, umbrella, chronicles, jill, valentine, original, protagonist, series, game, member, bioterrorism, security, assessment, alliance, chris, redfield, expose, destroy, corporation, force, defeat, bow, t-alos, bsaa, blog, guidelines, awesome, re, fan, bangs, white, sweater, waist, gun, biohazard, コスプレ, コスプレイ, バイオハザード

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Well this is a time that all family's get together and gorge themselves on food in the US. We see family that we usually do not the entire year. We also eat like crazy and have to loosen our belt loops to fit it all. Some people also watch the Thanksgiving Day parades and Football on the TV. It is a great time to just relax and have fun - well except the turkeys.

Not much happening for me as I have no family here in S. Florida. I do plan to catch a movie with a friend however. We are going to go see Ninja Assassin and I will let you know how it does.

With tomorrow is "Black Friday" here in the US as well. I will be busy trying to get some good deals before everyone else does. I am looking to possibly get my wife a new laptop , but may not happen as we need to save a few dollars.

BTW: Don't forget that Tate's Comics is having their Black Friday - follow the link to coupons for both their Comic shop and teh Gaming Satellite. I will be there each day this weekend. I am planning to get a boat load of Japanese snacks and drinks for me and the family. I have a large box to ship all the snacks to my wife and son in Maryland.

Have fun today and do not eat too much!

BioShock: Big Daddy and Little Sister

Graphic Artist, Harrison Krix and his fiancée, Emily had a private photoshoot in the Georgia Aquarium showcasing Harrison’s latest work, Big Daddy from the BioShock game.

This is a real costume with real LED lights, and Harrison is currently selling it on eBay, open for bidding until December 3, 2009.

You could probably win a cosplay competition with this, if he hasn’t already. You can view the rest of the photoshoot in his blog. Great work!

Technorati Tags: nanao, cosplay, research, cosplayer, graphic, artist, harrison, krix, fiancée, emily, private, photo, shoot, georgia, aquarium, showcase, big, daddy, bioshock, little, sister, game, led, light, ebay, sell, december, competition, blog, blogspot

Queens Blade Rebellion Yuit & Vante Limited Edition

I know I purchased these a while ago, but as you can tell by yesterday, I have been busy. Still need to order the truck and car transporter, but that is later.

Here are some shots of the Queens Blade Rebellion Yuit & Vante Limited Edition set which included a book and figure. I thought the pricing was pretty good at the time as you got 2 things for such a little price.

Here are some shots of the cover and some internal pages of the Gaming Book. I was a bit surprised by some of the artwork layouts.

Cover

Internal Pages

Now here is where I got a little excited. The figure is a little smaller that the others, but still a lot of details. This is the outside color photo of the figure and some of the internal shots of the wrapping it was in. They did a great job with the plastic protection sheets around everything.

Box Shots

Sneak Peak at Friday's Post

Mangaholix 2009 - Anime Comic Cosplay

Event Highlights Last November 22, 2009 - Day 2 at the World Trade Center’s East Pavillion.


The Cosplayer do the catwalk by a Match like in arcade mode versus battle for one minute, they called it "Cosplay Collision: Ringside".

Skuld of Ah My Goddess


Read more »

Witchblade: Amaha Masane and Shiori Tsuzuki

Sisters Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao represented Team Philippines in the recent Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2009 held in Suntec Convention Center, Singapore. The sisters performed a short skit in their Witchblade cosplay with Alodia as Amaha Masane and Ashley as Shiori Tsuzuki.

You can view the video with a short interview by Hexlord here and see the rest of their photos in AlodiaGosiengfiao.com. Great job you guys!

Technorati Tags: nanao, cosplay, research, cosplayer, witchblade, amaha, masane, shiori, tsuzuki, alodia, ashley, gosiengfiao, team, philippines, anime, festival, asia, 2009, afa09, suntec, convention, center, singapore, sister, skit, video, youtube, hexlord, photo, deviantart, flickr

Moving is Such a Bitch

Sorry, but I am exhausted and to tired to do my normal Anime Releases blog today. I spent last night trying to figure out if I needed a 17 foot or a 24 foot U-Haul truck for all our stuff. I took a look at the 24' and with an attached car trailer would be too damn big for me to drive all by myself.

This is what it feels like

Silly me tried to move all the boxes around to formulate what space I would be using in the truck to see if It would all fit. Needless to say, my back hurts and I am pretty sure I strained myself too much. How in the fuck am I going to move all this shit down a flight of stairs and into a truck. I got a headache just from moving it around my damn apartment.

What also sucks is that I will probably have to get this truck during mid week. Which means I will not have any help during the day as everyone is at work - ARGH!

BTW: U-Haul 17' truck INCLUDES the "Mom's Attic" space (that small compartment area above the cab of the truck). In actuality the "box" truck size is really 14' for the that area - freaking false advertisement!

How has moves been for you?

Fate/Unlimited Codes: Saber Lily

Little is known about Saber Lily, aside from the fact that she is officially another version of Saber. Fans speculate that she is quite possibly the direct opposite of Dark Saber from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, but there is no real history behind her appearance.

None that we know of as of yet anyway.

Beautiful cosplay! Looks like it was done in a private photo shoot, since Saber Lily’s costume looks really hard to move around in. Thank you very much to Still Doll for sharing this!

Technorati Tags: nanao, cosplay, research, cosplayer, fate, unlimited, codes, stay, night, hollow, ataraxia, blade, works, saber, dark, lily, opposite, history, mystery, appearance, beautiful, private, photo, shoot, still, doll, share

Play-Asia Holiday Coupons

I figured I pass this along to the wonderful Blog-o-Sphere. I got an email this weekend from Play-Asia with some coupon codes for the Christmas Holidays. They have a great selection of stuff that would fill anyone's Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas or Kwanzaa wishlist (I do not think I missed any?).

Get $8 USD off a purchase of $50 USD or more

Use Code: DL-WFB-XIB

Get $12 USD off a purchase of $100 USD or more
Use Code: UN-IKX-IJB

Rules from the email:

"Both coupon codes are only valid until the end of 2009 and can be redeemed just once. Feel free to pass either coupon to anyone else if you can't use it for yourself. Please be reminded that shipping costs do not account for the minimum purchase amount and only one coupon code can be used per order. Coupon codes are further not valid in combination with our weekly special promotion."

You can check there full line of items on their site - Play-Asia.com.