Battle Royale
Genre: Action/Thriller/Drama/Horror
Dir.: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Beat Takeshi
Year: 2000

Girl #3 Kanai - Dead, 33 to go.

Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is set in a dystopian Japan, where unemployment and juvenile violence is at an all-time high. As a last stand, the Japanese government introduces the radical BR Act, where each year a class of 9th grade students are forced to battle to the death in a last-man standing contest.

Battle Royale follows one such class as they're fooled into going on a school trip, and then ambushed by the military before being forced to fight to the death on a secluded island. Their old teacher (Kitano) presides over the contest, teaching them the rules and dishing out randomised weapons (and C4-laden metal collars) to the combatants.

The film can be pretty disturbing, being compared to 'A Clockwork Orange' by film critics, and some feel carries some heavy social and political commentary if you look for it. You can see this film as the disturbing, shocking and slightly humourous serious film that it was meant to be, but it all depends how you watch it. With a few friends it becomes a laugh, a sort of who-will-die-next-and-how "cool" film. It's probably a mix of the two that has lead to Battle Royale becoming a critically-acclaimed cult-classic. 

 
A kind of cool, crazy and humourous ultra-violent thriller or a deeply disturbing drama and horror awash with social commentary, either way Battle Royale is a solid cult film.

7/10

• Information:
• Title (Innocence or Ghost in the shell 2)
• Certificate (15)
• DVD Releaser (Manga Entertainment)
• Run Time (96 minutes)
• Language (Japanese)
• Vintage (2004)

It is the year 2032 and earth is a world where the few remaining humans coexist with artificial replicants, cyborgs and robots. Batou, a cyborg detective and his partner Togusa are charged with investigating the bizarre case of a malfunctioning gynoid that has murdered its owner: As they delve deeper into the investigation, they are forced to confront violent Yakuza thugs, devious hackers, influential government bureaucrats and powerful corporate criminals. (Plot courtesy of Manga Entertainments DVD release plus some minor changes)

Based on Shirow Masamune’s manga “ghost in the shell”, Innocence is Written and directed by Japanese film Legend Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the shell, Patlabor: the movie) and stars Akio Ôtsuka and Kôichi Yamadera as Batou and Togusa respectively.

Innocence is the only animated film ever to be nominated for the Palme d’Or at the famous Cannes film festival. It won the orient express award at the Catalonian International film festival and was nominated for the best film award at the same event, in all Innocence was nominated for eight awards at various international festivals and award ceremonies but only won one of those awards. Unlucky if you ask me not to have won more of those awards.

I never really thought that the first ghost in the shell film was a big winner, in my eye’s it just didn’t have what was needed to make an incredible film that catches the mind, but Innocence is different. From the moment I saw it I realised that Mamoru Oshii had the kind of Talent needed to make a film impressive and I’ve been a few ever since. Innocence manages to appeal to people’s sense of style and their intelligent side rather then the primitive blood lust aspect of human culture. Visually I doubt you can find an animated film or even live-action film that can match Innocence for it’s magical carnival scene which in my opinion is simply unbelievable, even the music suit’s the scene and plays to absorb you into Oshii’s world of variable pace.

The Story itself is not necessary to enjoy this film; the visual and the psychological aspect of Innocence suck you in. But since a review need an opinion on the storyline I must say that it’s pants, the storyline isn’t all that good and in places doesn’t help the film, but as I said this film never needed a story to be a great watch so moving swiftly along we get to the philosophy. I know it is not easy for people to pay attention and understand the philosophical side of this film but I happen to think it important to get a feel for the philosophy of any film and especially one in which the philosophy takes such an important role.

Innocence in my eye is the most consuming and emotional film I’ve seen in my life and is the only film I have ever thought to be perfect in design, creation and execution meaning it is the only film thus far in existence which will receive a rating from me of (10/10).

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A Scanner Darkly
Genre: Sci-Fi Drama/Thriller
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane and Winona Ryder
Year: 2006

'A Scanner Darkly' is a complex and fascinating story based on a novel by Phillip K. Dick (the author of Blade Runner). The movie uses the latest techniques in rotoscoping to produce a beautiful animated look. The story is set in a near-future, when the United States is obsessed with the war on drugs, particularly a substance known as 'D' (Death).

The use of rotoscoping has been put into use before by the director, Richard Linklater, in his philosophically complex film 'Waking Life'. In this 'A Scanner Darkly' Linklater uses the same technique to put into a narrative that, compared to Waking Life, is non-linear to the point that it is very faithful to the original author's novel. But there's more than meets the eye, literally, to what Linklater is doing with this picture. It really does fit the mood of the movie, but the control over thought and the similarly powerful self-destruction comes at a high price…

To talk about the story, we have to involve the characters affected by the drug. Keanu Reeves plays Bob Arctor, a narc on the verge of a breakdown. For public appearances, he acts as a cop and he has to wear a special hi-tech disguise to protect his identity. This 'suit' changes his voice and image as a shifting kaleidoscope of features.

Arctor's impending mental breakdown is accelerated by the burden of spying on a group of drug addicts, and he is under such deep cover that these losers are now his only friends: the hyperactive Barris (Robert Downey Jr), dopey slacker Ernie (Woody Harrelson), unhappy Freck (Rory Cochrane) and the beautiful coke-addict Donna (Winona Ryder), with whom Arctor is in love.

This movie may be seen as 'quirky' due to the visual representation and the subject on hand. But looking at the bigger picture, it does an amazing job of capturing the feel and tone of the book as well as the paranoia, perceptual distortions, and chaos of hallucinogenic overindulgence.

It can be seen as a sense of losing all forms of reality and the struggle for identity and meaning.

Kiefer Sutherland and the hit US 'real-time' thriller 24 has won best drama and actor awards at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles last night.

Collecting the two awards, star Kiefer Sutherland (playing CTU Agent Jack Bauer) said his experience on the show had been "nothing but remarkable".

Sutherland's best actor triumph follows four unsuccessful nominations for 24 in consecutive years. "Every once in a while you'll have an evening that just reminds you that you're given too much," he said. "This is that evening."

So congratulations to Kiefer and the show's success. I'm so happy to see the Canadian actor winning the award for Best Actor in a Drama, after missing out four times… Kiefer's portray of the troubled government agent is compelling and his performance in the previous season (Day 5) is considered the best of the series so far.

As for the show, I'm proud to see this top qualify drama has been awarded as Outstanding Drama Series. Fantastic!

The real-time element, split-screen political thriller series has been a great success over the past five years and I believe the main story and characters are the strongest part to keep the viewers entertained on Jack Bauer's nightmare day.

Looking forward to the next series of my favourite show (Day 6) as we will find out what happened to Jack Bauer.

Source: Emmy Awards

Ubisoft has recently announced that they have re-designed the sword fighting control scheme from a gesture based motion to one which is more realistic. Before using a pre-defined motion of the Wii-mote would result in slashes, thrusts, parries etc to make it easier for gamers to use the sword. Now though they have changed it so it recreates your actual motions with the Wii-mote, so you will have to handle the sword if it was of your own.

I was never a fan of the gesture motion when it was shown at E3 but could understand why it was needed to make it easier for gamers new and old to get to grips with the game. It is possible though that they will include both control schemes for the final version to make it as accessible as possible to everyone. What would be interesting would be a 2 player sword fight via WiFi or link-up… Maybe next time… 

Heres a new trailer fo the PSP videogame Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Newly announced features include a "White Flag" mode and IP mode where depending on your location in the world you get a different NCP (Non Controllable character) which can be used in the game or for trading online.

 [youtube]GLFZC3Wk0ZE[/youtube] 

The PSP has once again been cracked. Not long ago there was an exploit found in the new 2.80 Firmware for the PSP and it didn't take long for them to use this exploit to boot homebrew. Now with this new revelation homebrew can be booted from version 2.0, 2.01, 2.50, 2.60, 2.70, 2.71, and 2.80 firmware. The above image shows the infamous "Hello World" text displayed on the various firmware versions as proof. To run the exploit you must:

1. Unpack the ZIP file to your PSP's PHOTO folder
2. Navigate to your PSP's PHOTO director and attempt to view the newly transferred picture

This is big news because I myself am a fan of homebrew applications because they can add a lot of value to such hardware (Xbox Media Center being the main one) and to see the PSP open once again it shows that Sony's efforts are lacking in terms of security. For the file itself I won't link to it but a general search in your favourite search engine will bear fruit. Interesting times ahead, especially now the latest firmwares support GPS and the EyeToy attachment.

Have a listen to the pilot podcast, what everyone has been talking about.

Starring Walking Leaf, Neoblade FX, Emily, and bit parts played by Yas & Janus. Podcast editing and production was done by Yas. The excellent podcast cover artwork was done by the biro maestro Josh. Thanks to Flo for the emagi podcast logos.

Topics include:
Dino love making
Chase HQ the movie pitch
& general news topics.

Note: This podcast does contain strong language and themes of a sexual nature. You have been warned!

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa became Formula One’s second newest winner (after Jenson Button) with a superb lights-to-flag drive in the Turkish Grand Prix. The Brazilian didn’t make any mistakes throughout the weekend after his fantastic pole position in qualifying. His race pace was consistent and fast compared to his team-mate Michael Schumacher, who finished a very close third behind his main title challenger Fernando Alonso.

In fact, in the last few laps, everyone’s attention was focused on the duel between Schumacher and Alonso. The Renault was suffering a tyre wear issue but Alonso was in complete control of the situation despite the pressure of Michael in the faster Ferrari directly behind…

This duel reminded me of the closing stages of the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. At that time, Alonso was in the lead and Michael was close behind and was seeking a way through in order to win the race in front of the Tifosi. In both cases, the German was desperate to get past but Alonso absorbed the pressure exceedingly well.

Indeed, Alonso was well comfortable in the tricky situation that he was adjusting the revs of his Renault RS26 engine according to how close Schumacher was… It got a little precarious at times, but Alonso knew Schumacher couldn’t afford to take them both off, since it was he who had a ten point deficit to worry about.

Despite that, going into the tight last corner on the final lap, Fernando protected the inside line just in case. But the Spaniard compromise the exit… And Michael had the momentum… In the end, Alonso just finished ahead of his championship rival by half a car’s length to create a dead heat finish. The time gap splitting the two contenders was less than one-tenth of a second!

By finishing second, this was a crucial boost to Alonso’s title defence, extending his lead from 10 to 12 points with just 40 available over the remaining four Grands Prix.

But the true significance of Alonso’s runner-up finish was to bring about a six point swing in his favour since, had Schumacher been ahead of the Spaniard, he would almost certainly be given the race win and the maximum ten points for victory.

In hindsight, Schumacher’s race was comprised by his errors during qualifying. He should have qualified the Ferrari 248 on pole position as he had the fastest package - chassis and Bridgestone tyres - to win the race. But Massa did a better job and it was a rich reward for the Brazilian after 67 Grands Prix. If Michael did get ahead of Alonso, then Massa would pull aside to let his team leader through to take the win, thereby closing the championship gap significantly… But it all went wrong during the Safety Car period.

Vitantonio Liuzzi spun his Toro Rosso at the first corner and stalled it. Forcing the race director to bring out the Safety Car so that the track marshals can remove Liuzzi’s car. This prompt the Ferrari team to conduct the first round of pitstops for both cars during this period. But Massa was ahead of Michael at that point and it was the Brazilian who was served with fresh fuel and new Bridgestone tyres. Michael was forced to wait behind and this delay cost him the track position and more importantly the race win…

With two Ferraris in the pits, Renault decided to call Alonso in for his first stop at the same time. And with Michael stacked behind Felipe, the Spaniard made the most of the opportunity to get ahead of his title rival.

So a ‘dream result’ for Felipe Massa winning his first Grand Prix for Ferrari. With Alonso in second after admitting he was lucky to finished in the runner-up spot thanks to the Safety Car. Without that, I would reckon he would have finished a distant third… As for Michael, he was frustrated to come away with only third after showing he was the fastest driver thoughout the weekend. But the German is determined to win the next race, the Italian Grand Prix so that he can close the 12 point gap…

As for the others, Jenson Button drove another impeccable race, but in dry conditions his Honda RA106 was no match for the Ferraris and Renaults and he had to make do with fourth. McLaren’s Perdo de la Rosa drove a solid race to fifth despite stopping once for fuel. While Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella recovered well from his first lap spin at Turn 1 to take sixth.

Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher also recovered well after being involved in the first corner incident. While the last point finisher was Rubens Barrichello in the Honda.

As for the start, there was mayhem at Turn 1. Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella spun after team-mate Alonso had to brake hard to avoid contact with the two Ferraris. The Spanaird had slipped ahead of his title rival, but was forced to brake as Massa moved across in front to take the lead.

Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber lost its nosecone on the stricken Renault, and behind them there was carnage as Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren) was hit from behind by Ralf Schumacher (Toyota). Then Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) hit the back of Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren), and a sideways Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) was hit by Tiago Monteiro (Midland), who retired on the spot.

While that was happening, Ralf Schumacher swept across the track and collided lightly with his Toyota team-mate Jarno Trulli… R. Schumacher, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Speed, Raikkonen and Sato all pitted at the end of the lap before resuming. A lap later Raikkonen crashed heavily in Turn 4 after running off the road, possibly because of associated problems…

I do feel sorry for Raikkonen as he was trying to avoid the spinning Renault at the start but was hit from behind damaging his car. I really hope he can end his time at McLaren with a high by scoring a final win before joining Ferrari next year (the rumours are that the Finn will definitely drive for them and the announcement should take place during the Italian Grand Prix weekend).

Ferrari will be looking for a strong result at their home Grand Prix in Monza in two weeks time. Michael Schumacher will probably announce his decision whether or not to continue in Formula One next year. But in terms of this year’s championship, he is now 12 points behind Alonso with the Italian team only two points beind the leading constructor, Renault. The battle for the title continues in the remaining four races.

Every genre in video gaming has its ‘top dog’, the title by which every other game hopes and wishes to emulate. The First Person Shooter has Half Life; the RPG genre has a title called Final Fantasy etc, etc… And when it comes to 2D beat-em-ups, Street Fighter III is quite simply the absolute pinnacle of this overcrowded genre.
After a number of years, and plenty of spin-offs to Street Fighter II, Capcom finally caved in and decided to make a true, full on sequel to the much loved classic fighter. And it’s no easy task considering one series of Street Fighter that emerged before Street Fighter III was Alpha. It is even considered by many the best line of titles in the series. Which makes it even more of an incredible achievement bearing in mind that SFIII completely surpasses Alpha with the utmost ease.

The most noteworthy difference in Third Strike compared to others is the glorious animation, quite simply some of the best you will ever see in a videogame. To describe the animation as a thing of pure beauty would not be farfetched in the slightest. Packing in more frames per second than ever before, it gives Street Fighter a whole new feel to the combat, everything is so smooth. Ryu’s headband will sway about; Ken’s clothes will ripple as he bounces up and down. It makes all the difference, and will ruin you for every other 2d beat-em-up out there as a result. Everything else will feel, lazy and sketchy by comparison.
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