J's Chimes: The Residents Are A Mixture Evil...

And so after the launch of the movie Resident Evil Afterlife 5 days backs, fans are now reminiscing the Resident Evil game that started it all. In fact, the movie is actually a mixture of storylines from Resident Evil Code Veronica, Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. This series is also known as Bio Hazard in Japan (Which sounds so much like the theme of this game or movie...) and as the game was first created by Capcom Japan...

Warning: Below are some spoilers if you have not watched the movie

Having seen the movie, I bet all Resident Evil fans will also see the various similarities as taken from the games to the movie for Afterlife. Believe it or not, the director wants to incorporate it into the movie for the fans and not stray from the original storyline in the game somehow or another (I think they already did strayed a lot from the game as seen from past chapters of the movie...). So to stay true to its franchise, we shall now look into the similarities as per being seen in the movie and in the game.

THE ENEMIES

1.) Los Ganados with Las Plagas. (Origination: Resident Evil 4 & 5)

Originally from the 4th Resident Evil series and later revamped in Resident Evil 5, these zombies are able to spread the infection by clamming the heads of victims with it's claw-like tentacles and vomiting out a parasite into their mouths. However in the movie, it seems as though the zombies have evolved into that form instead of the game which is actually infected by a new virus.

2.) Executioner Majjni (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

This huge Axe wielding zombie is seen in the first chapter of the Resident Evil 5 series. The designs for movie and the game is almost the same and perhaps one of the scariest enemies around as a single swipe could prove fatal. Staying true to the series, it seems the director have decided to add this in the fray. Though in the movie, it seems like this axe swinging apocalypse is easily decapitated by a double barrel shotgun by Claire Redfield and Alice...

3.) Adjule Zombie Dogs (Origination: Resident Evil 4 & 5 and in fact almost all...)

Perhaps one the most heart pounding enemies in the Resident Evil Series. Zombie dogs are fast and hard to target on and appears in almost all of the RE franchise. But it is not only until RE4 & 5 that these dogs split it's head up to reveal the Las Plagas from within. A nice little clear example is as shown in the movie which tends to creep people out... Especially those who yet to know what the heck is Resident Evil and play the game before... But I just don't get why the dogs like Wesker. Perhaps they are all the same?

4.) Albert Wesker - Superhuman Form (Origination: Resident Evil Code Veronica & 5)

The biggest enemy of them all... His appearance is a must with Chris & Claire Redfield in the movie. Somehow or rather, the movie depicts him as a really weak guy when fighting against Alice (Who has already become a human thanks to Wesker himself). However this is not the case in Resident Evil 5 where he just seems so strong and could even catch a missile from a rocket launcher lol...

THE ACTION & SCENES

1.) Fight scene between Claire and Chris Redfield with Wesker (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

Video clips speak louder than photos and pictures... In comparison with the movie, it is seriously similar in many ways. However, Chris Redfield is teamed up with his partner Jill Valentine for this confrontation. Notice the warping of Albert Wesker dodging the bullets which is so similar to the game. Not to mention some of the actions too...


Here's another scene taken from the game where Albert Wesker threw his spectacles at them and began his fight. However, Chris Redfield is teamed up with Sheva from the Resident Evil 5 series. This flying specs scene is way too similar...

2.) Executioner Knocking Down Gate (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

Well, you can see it again in the movie where the executioner uses his heavy looking axe and smashed the gates. Surprisingly it looked pretty good but could had been better if it wasn't so easily killed... As to compare with the game... ya really wanna dodge away from this bugger's axe and not go against it...

3.) Umbrella Experimental Facility (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

Though it doesn't look exactly the same, the area where chambers are used to store test subjects are seemingly taken from Resident Evil 5 when Chris Redfield stumbled upon the Umbrella Secret Lab with Tricell. I guess they took the idea from there and transplanted it into the movie, except that this was in a ship instead of an underground research facility.

4.) Arcadia Island - Antarctica Umbrella Corp (Origination: Resident Evil Code Veronica)

Surprisingly, this scene reminds people of the Resident Evil Code Veronica Series where Claire Redfield and Steve were brought to the Umbrella Corp in Antarctica as planned by Alfred Ashford. Somehow it is changed in the movie and treated as a rumored safe haven for the uninfected. I dunno... maybe I'm wrong about this...

5.) Mind Control Device (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

Haha... I can't believe that this actually appears in the movies too... Anyway, this little gizmo that mind controls the subject when attached to their chest. A scene which can be seen in Resident Evil 5 where Jill Valentine is mind controlled by Wesker and Chris had to take off off... It is really funny to watch people's expression who doesn't know anything about the Resident Evil Franchise and wondering what the heck is this thing...

5.) Tanker - Ship (Origination: Resident Evil 5)

Without a doubt it's taken from here except that there were no big monsters but Wesker to to battle with. I prefer the game storyline for this part. I guess the movie has its limitations...


There are actually a couple of more scenes like the plane crash on the mountain and the nuclear destruction of the city which is kinda similar and inspired from the Resident Evil Franchise. Well, you do need to give what the fans would want and make something similar so that heads would not shake... And that they can relate it to the series without straying and staying devoted to the World of Resident Evil... Here's a little trailer for the movie as a quick preview of things...

J's Chimes: Tekken Live Action

It seems that Hollywood has done it again by ripping off a game known as Tekken to become the next 'best' thing in Live Action movies. Similar to the previous Dragonball Live Action that has gain much criticism due to its ripped off theme with an American setting, Tekken will no doubt follow the footsteps of this with characters who seemingly does not match with the actual game... Or perhaps even worse with its storyline that doesn't seem to make sense. Coming out sometime this year, a video is as shown below.


Though you might say the special effects are great, the fights aren't... You could easily see from the trailer that the punches are weak and so forth... It just doesn't feel right for a setting like this which is so much similar to the DOA Live Action movie. But who knows? Let's save the thoughts for after the movie starts and then judge it then...

J's Chime: They Are All Connected To Anime...

Some people just don't understand the importance of Japanese anime in our lifestyle so I thought that a little 'Education' is necessary for you to know why. Of course you do know how anime begun and stuff but do you really know that they actually connected to all industries around? Think harder and you will get the gist of it. They are as per follows:


Anime inspires mangas & doujinshi and vice versa:
Till date, most mangas are now being made into anime because of their popularity. Some examples are Bleach to Naruto. Some animes also become manga and such would be Suzumiya Haruhi to Code Geass. Sometimes the storyline deviates from each other or that the style of art is different.


Anime comes from Eroge and vice versa:
Same as mangas, some adult games do become anime (Other genre includes ecchi and hentai) and vice versa. Some examples are ToHeart, Comic Party and School Days. Surprisingly, Eroges seem have better storyline in some cases. Thus its inevitable that people who loved anime will definitely get to know Hentai too. Of course there are still Eroges that came out as a decent anime like Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na, Izumo or Utawarerumono instead of making it into a H anime.


Anime creates Artwork, Fanbooks, Fanarts and vice versa:
A good example would be Queen's Blade in which the artwork are kinda popular that it becomes an anime a few seasons back. Anime also brings market to the art industry which also brought about making characters for games, movies, etc. An example of such Artist is Tony Taka who drew up characters for Shining Tears, games and anime.


Anime helps develop games and vice versa:
A nice example would be the Suzumiya Haruhi game on PSP and an example of games becoming anime would be Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Vesperia, etc. In fact, games are made to look like anime characters and you could name many though in the market.


Anime releases movies and vice versa:
Anime creates movies in both live action, animation and 3D. Examples of live action includes Death Note, Animations as in Summer Wars and 3D animations like Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. In fact there are more of such movies and popular ones like Death Note live action has been watch by many people whom includes those who don't like anime. But the thing is, it originates FROM anime, so why are you complaining?


Anime brings about products into industry and vice versa:
With anime's popularity comes about toys for kids, daily necessities like food to tissues or plates etc, stickers, cups, straps, wallets, clothes, appliances, electronics and many many more stuff in the market which in turn generates profit. If you for once think that anime is useless or should be ban, won't all of these industries be affected and create loss of jobs, revenue, opportunity costs?


Anime becomes hobbies and scale models and vice versa:
With anime, it brings about demands for scale models of favourite characters and stuff. Thus bringing about new hobbies for people. Anime creates new demands like daimakura, card games like Bushiroad's Weiss Schwarz, Gundam modeling, Gashapons, etc.


Anime relates to Cosplay and vice versa:
Without animes, there won't be cosplay and without cosplay, there won't be animes. Similarly a new industry in regards to cosplay for example fashion, makeup, wigs, clothing stores would be affected if not for anime which inspires people to dress as their favourite character. With that there won't be conventions and such around.


Anime spurs conventions, competitions, events and vice versa:
Would there be comicon, comiket, AFA, Coscon, Cosfest, EOY and such happening around the world if anime does not exists? Won't there be a bit less entertainment for the general public if anime wasn't around? Think again....


Anime composed Songs & Music and vice versa:
So you've heard many songs in Japanese? Out of the few you've listened, there would bound to be one that's from an anime series. So you say that anime songs are bad... Are you saying that the idols who sang these are bad too? Take note that some of these anime song are sung by popular bands like Orange Range to Ayumi Hamasaki.


Anime brings about Seiyuus, Voice acting, writers, artists, Idols, etc:
May'n is an example of popular idols in Japan. Voice actings for anime characters, giving a boost to art in a country, etc are what anime could expand into. Without such there wouldn't be voice acting schools, artwork, writers around wouldn't it? Singapore is slowly picking up with animations and stuff in relations to IT so it wouldn't be surprising to see animation films by local people in future.


Anime brings about photography in parts of the world and also tourism in Japan:
Cosplay = Photography and I would be surprise if it wasn't... Such brings about also tourism in Japan by tourists from around the world who loves anime too. What else would also be popular in Japan? Hardly I can't think of any besides it having delicious food and shopping, scenery and culture...


BEST PART ABOUT Anime? Everything is linked together...
Anime = Mangas = Eroge = Artwork = Games = Movies = Cosplay = Models = Conventions = Songs..... Talk about any and it all adds up and links well together. Any other reasons to hate anime now? Take out either one and they will all fall like dominoes. Think deeper and you'd understand what animes really are... Of course there are still more connections in which animes could link to and no doubt it is a part of our daily lives before you know it. Your push toy to your phone strap could very well be from an anime when you least expect it...

J's Chimes: Bleach-ed By Hollywood

With sales of its manga on top charts and anime that runs for years and counting, Bleach is now under the watchful eyes of Hollywood. It won't be an anime this time but a live action series set to come under the screens in 2014 by Warner Brothers. With the epic fails and protesters from the popular series Dragonball which was given the same treatment before, I doubt it will be good and bound to have critics and failure reviews from fans.

One of bleach fans questioned about this new movie: 'Will they stick to the Japanese Style for example the coloured hairs and using back the term Zanpakuto? It'll probably be set in a middle class American town. All the Japanese characters will be played by white people and nobody in the movie will find it strange that a bunch of white kids have Japanese names.'



I lol-ed hard at this because it's so true when you take the previous live action series Dragonball as comparison. And here's a fan-made video for such an occasion... and no, it's not out in 2012 as this is just a parody... But if this is true and looks like this, Bleach is leeched hard once again...

J's Chimes: Summer Wars

Launched on the 25 Feburary this year in Singapore, Summer Wars is an amazing and touching story that I've ever seen since The Girl Who Leap Through Time. It tells the story of a Math Wiz guy who was invited by a beautiful girl in school to her house for her grandmother's brithday party. Being the maintenance crew for the computer virtual simulated world of Oz, Kenji unknowingly crack the code for security access of Oz and a virus was unknowingly inplanted and wreak havoc in the network causing some serious trouble in reality. Now it's time for the family to save the world and fight aainst a virtual enemy unlike anything that they have ever seen before.

J's Chimes: Avatar

If you have yet to watch Avatar, now is the time to book your tickets immediately to watch it asap. The visuals are really stunning and nice with an appropriate story too. Seriously this is well worth the money because it also runs 2hr 40mins long. Fans of Warcraft to Starcraft would definitely love this movie because this fantasy world takes your breathe away. In any case, this is a nice movie to watch overall for this end of year before Christmas.

J's Chimes: Zombieland

Left 4 Dead fans will gonna love this movie Zombieland which currently shows in cinemas now. A couple of similarities have been spotted in the movie and the game itself. The most obvious one would be the poster design of this particular movie with L4D. Similar scenario settings include a highway traffic jam and theme park as in the Dark Carnival Campaign in L4D2. The supermarket, and of course the weapons which includes the uzi and shotgun. Overall it would be a nice movie to watch and would rate a 7.8/10 for the overall. Check the website at www.zombieland.com for more details. All fired up to play Left 4 Dead 2 now lol...

Dragonball The Movie: Result

Dragonball The Movie: Result
I got a chance to watch the VCD of this movie... and here's my judgement:
I was actually relieved after watching the VCD... that I didn't waste my money on this at the movie theatres...

Probably the only redeeming factor is Jamie Chung... Yummy~

Cat Shit One

Cat Shit One
The Animated Series
via Dannychoo:
A new 3D animated Japanese series called Cat Shit One was previewed at the recent Tokyo Anime Fair. You may want to fast forward to 1:22 to see the action. Looks like some sort of Metal Gear Solid meets fluffy animals. Coming this winter. More information here (if you can read Japanese); based on a manga series.



And yes, its an animated series... that means it will be more than 1 episode... Kawaii ne~!

IP MAN

IP MAN  葉問

Simplified Chinese: 叶问

Hanyu Pinying: Yè Wèn

Official Site: http://www.ipman-movie.com/main_en.html

First day of 2009, watched this awesome action film directed by Wilson Yip, and starring Donnie Yen as Ip Man. So good, I'm gonna buy the original DVD.

Many pronounced the title wrongly; even the fella selling the tickets. Please DO NOT read the title as I.P. Man  in English style - I'll wring your neck. The name is to be promounced Cantonese style - Ip Man, or "Yip Mun". 

Worth 5 stars out of 5 stars! Seeing is believing! Watch the cut-scenes below.

Ip Man versus Liao Shifu:

Northerner versus Kung Fu Schools

Ip Man versus Northerner

Interview of Donnie Yen on Ip Man the movie

It was revealed by Donnie Yen himself that they only shot the "first-half... or one-third...". The second part's gonna be when Ip Man arrives in Hong Kong and his legacy goes on...

J's Chimes: Resident Evil Degeneration

In case you haven't notice, Biohazard = Resident Evil. (In US they name it Resident Evil while the Japanese use Bio Hazard) This fully CG animated movie will be in stores around the 28 Dec this year. (If you can, you could actually find the streaming version or the torrent lol.) The story goes 4 years after the Racoon City incident and disaster struck at the airport. The long time favourite Leon S Kennedy from the RE2 series came back as a special agent and met up with Claire Redfield to stop the T & G virus from spreading across this new country. Visit the US website here and the Japan website here.

J's Chimes: The Sky Crawlers

The Sky Crawlers movie is coming to a theater near you soon... Came across this particular poster at Plaza Singapura's movie theater. The Sky Crawlers is actually a Japanese Novel series created by Hiroshi Mori and now it has become a movie. The artworks are pretty promising and fans of Sky Girls or Strike Witches might like it as there're much aerial dogfights and stuff... Well it's still too soon to say anything yet except to wait for it's opening...

Underworld 3

Underworld 3
Rise of the Lycans

Coming to the cinemas near you, Sony Pictures presents the awesome Vampires versus Lycans movie~ this time round, the story arc centres around the period BEFORE Underworld part 1.

Official Site
International release dates; Singapore is 22th January 2009

View the trailer below:

Fighting Movies

Fighting Movies
Friends know that I am a movie freak. I watch lotsa shows, and naturally there are genres I like and dislike. If there is anything I could watch over and over again, its movies with lotsa painstakingly choreographed fighting moves.

Below are some titles I've watched in recent months, and I love them so much.

Chocolate / Fury
I have the DVD, so drop me an sms if anyone of you wanna borrow ya.Watch one of her many fight scenes here:

Oh, if there is any fighting idols I like, it isn't Jet Lee nor Jackie Chan, its Donny Yen. Watch his films below:

S.P.L. (杀破狼)

Flash Point (导火线)


(the Making of Flashpoint)

J's Chimes: Dragonball Live Action Movie

20th Century Fox sure runs out of ideas to come up with a new movie till they decided to give the popular Japanese manga Dragonball a shot with a new live action movie this year. Presenting the casts that doesn't even look a bit like the original and mixing kung fu fighting into the world of dragon ball with a little bit of western style scene and action sure turns down most of Dragonball fans. Look at the trailer and be amazed... So do you still wanna watch?

Legend of Zelda

Legend of Zelda
Epic win.


Q: probably the only thing that irks me is that release date... was that meant to be a joke or wat!?

Transformers 2

Transformers 2
Via Youtube:

Hold your breath...

CHARLIE YOUNG

CHARLIE YOUNG

Just watched Bangkok Dangerous... for 2 very good reasons - Nicholas Cage's always in good films... and there's Charlie Young!

Charlie stars as Fon, a deaf-mute girl working in a pharmacy; her very smile numbs pain and melts hearts... She didn't even have to speak a single word in the movie - her smile alone made my adrenaline rush~ I could get hurt many times just to find a reason to buy pain-killers and disinfectants from her...

One could tell that time has taken a toll on her, but she still looks damn attractive even without makeup! I guess that what we call a natural beauty eh?

Dragonball The Movie

Dragonball The Movie
Coming to a theatre near you on 13 March 2009...
Starring some American dude with spiky hair as Goku...
Jamie Chung (babelicious~!) as 琪琪 (Qi-Qi is Goku's Fiancee as kid)
Chow Yun Fatt (Yuck~) as 龟仙人
Emmy Rossum as 布马 (pre-teen)
Directed by James Wong (Final Destination)
and produced by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle)...

No doubt CG technology has improved tremendously over the past decade, like many comments already all over the net, I shared the same feeling that this movie will not work out... but I am still gonna watch anyways... simply because of the human tendency to wanna watch catastrophes...

ah in case you wanna have a rough taste of how Dragonball Live Action might be:

FLCL / Fooly Cooly

FLCL (also Fooly Cooly) is an Japanese anime OVA series co-produced by Gainax and Production I.G. The series was created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, and written by Yōji Enokido.

Furi Kuri follows the story of Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy living in the fictional industrial town of Mabase, and his encounters with the alien life-form Haruko Haruhara. The Japanese suburb houses the Medical Meccanica building, the reason for Haruko's visit.

The American reception for the series, although not widespread, has been enthusiastic following its release on Adult Swim in the summer of 2003. Anime.com also gave the series an enthusiastic review in October of that year, although there was also a minor reference to it in the September "issue". In 2003, it also went on to win third place for Best Animation Film at the Fantasia Festival.

FLCL has garnered both positive and negative reception among reviewers, sometimes diverging to extremes in both directions. Adult Swim occasionally refers to FLCL as "The greatest show we have ever aired". Christopher McDonald of Anime News Network called it "downright hilarious" and "visually superb" with great music, citing the packaging of 2 episodes per DVD as the only weakness of Synch-Point's original release.

On February 24, 2007, FLCL was nominated for "Best Cast", and won "Best Comedy Series" and "Best Short Series" at the first American Anime Awards show.

In the November 2007 issue of Anime Insider, FLCL was ranked 4th in their list of the best English-licensed anime of all time.