Dec
26
2007
Adium 1.2 beta 5
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Progress is being made on Adium 1.2 and to see for yourself you can download beta 5 of Adium 1.2 here. Beta 5 includes improved appearance for the New Mail dialogue, bugfix for Google Talk login and other stability changes. The final version of Adium 1.2 will utilize libpurple 2.2.0, which results in a number of improvements, most notably the results of a Google Summer of Code project for Pidgin by Jeff Connelly who has added MySpaceIM support.
Changes in Adium 1.2b5
* (1.2b issue) Fixed Google Talk (and other PLAIN mech Jabber) login
* (1.2b issue) Added debug logging and a possible workaround for a problem with 10.4 Bonjour after a network disconnection occurs (#7887)
* Improved appearance of the New Mail dialogue
* (1.2b issue) Fixed crash when a certificate is confirmed after the underlying connection has been dropped
* (1.2b issue) Fixed display of the certificate authentication sheet under some circumstances which previously good stay off-screen
* French Canadian, Russian, and Danish updates
Fulllist of 1.2 version changes can be read here.
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Dec
25
2007
Plastic Operator – Different Places
Posted by mikespiegs | Leave a Comment
Artist: Plastic Operator
Album : Different Places
Release Date: May 14, 2007
Website: Plastic Operator
Label: Fine Day Records
Editor Rating: 8.0
Users Rating: 8.75 
(4 votes)
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If I were aboard a space station, floating light years above the Earth, Plastic Operator would be my soundtrack. I would be break dancing with robots and electric lights jamming out to this; I would be happy. Anyways, We’re a little bit late to the plate as this came out earlier this year but as everyone knows December is one of the slowest months for new records so we thought we’d shed some light on this for the hell of it. Despite that, this one is still a little tricky to review as Plastic Operator is, for all intensive purposes, a synth pop band. The tricky part of it is that it’s hard to review a synth pop band without name dropping (O.M.D) five (New Order) million (Gary Numan) other (Depeche Mode) bands (Pet Shop Boys) but alas, it is inviteable. Let’s continue.
“Different Places” is sincere in it’s delivery and doesn’t take itself too serious – but it is not a joke record either. With electronic based pop bands it seems like they’re either super serious, like Apoptygma Berserk or super happy indie poppy like Barcelona (although they’re more rock based). Plastic Operator is completely electronic in it’s delivery (well, besides vocals… but they even use a vocoder here and there so they have that covered too). They use nice, simple and clean electronic beats akin to legends like Kraftwek and Tubeway Army. They layer vibrant synthesizers on top of these beats. They sing without the pretention of Gary Numan but without the pizzazz and obnoxiously over-the-topness of The Faint. They are not cold but they are not on fire. They could be found on the dance floor or hanging out in your bedroom and not feel out of place in either environment.
As mentioned above, the “recommended if you like” portion of this review is a no brainer. Any fan of Blue Ribbon, O.M.D., (poppier) Kraftwerk, (early) Depeche Mode, Tubeway Army, Cut Copy, Fischerspooner, Scientific, Wolfsheim or Joy Electric will not be disappointed (Phfew… had to get those out there!). Plastic Operator is electro pop bliss. Every song on this record is annoyingly catchy in a positive way. Even in their slower moments like “Why don’t you?” they still tickle every pop membrane that can be reached with their vocoder laden chourses and tappy bass lines. Another thing to mention here is that most often synthesizer based bands have annoying long intros to all their songs. I hate when you spend 3 minutes of a 5 minute song just getting to the point; Plastic Operator doesn’t waste your time… they bring it straight to your face and it’s appreciated. None of the songs breach the four and a half minute mark with is a feat for a record of this caliber.
Overall, this album is filled with hit singles that may never reach a huge audience. “Folder” is that song you put on a mix tape (ahem, CD..umm… mp3? Whatever) for that girl you’re interested in. Not only do you earn cool points for dropping a band she’s never heard; she’ll love it…like diamonds. If she doesn’t, then she’s not worth your time and doesn’t deserve your mix in the first place… Forget her!
buy
Tracklist:
01 The Pleasure Is Mine
02 Peppermint
03 Folder
04 Couch
05 Home 0207
06 Parasols
07 Special Case
08 Another Sound
09 Why Don’t You?
10 Singing all the time
11 The Long Run
Etc. |
Dec
25
2007
The Bandage Club (Hôtai Club)
Posted by EunWook | 1 Comment
Movie: The Bandage Club | Hotai Club
Release Date : September, 2007
Country : Japan
Director : Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Starring : Yuya Yagira, Satomi Ishihara
Runtime : 113 min
Editor Rating : Not Yet Rated
Users Rating: 7.5 (10 votes)
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Wara (Satomi Ishihara) is a senior in high school. Her problem is that she loses something everyday. One day her wrist is injured and she goes to the hospital. When she gets examined, the doctor doubts her injury. Wara feels anxious, so she goes to the roof. When she gets there she sees a boy who is untyng his bandages and binding it to a railing on the roof. Then something strange happens to Wara as if the bleeding stopped in her mind. The boy’s name is Dino (Yuya Yagira), who speaks with an Osaka dialect and looks sad.
Tanzawa (Shihori Kanjiya) is dumped again by her boyfriend. Wara suddenly thinks of Dino and ties bandages to a swing at the park where she was dumped. Unexpectly, Tanzawa smiles again. She then takes pictures of the swing and shows it to her friend Kimo. Kimo then makes a website for the Bandage Club. That’s how the Bandage Club began.
The members think how wonderful it is to recieve letters from hurt people and tie bandages in places to make them feel better. One day there are worrisome letters on their website. The police and school have also found out about the bandages that they are tying all over the streets. Then the Bandage Club hears that Dino has gotten hurt and now hospitalized. What happens to Dino and what will happen to the Bandage Club?
The Bandage Club, based off a novel by Arata Tendo, features an impressive cast. The films stars the youngest Cannes “Best Actor” award winner, Yuya Yagira, and several up and coming actresses like Satomi Ishihara, Shirhori Kanjiya (Swing Girls), and Megumi Seki (Honey and Clover). The movie was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, who has been very busy this year with the release of “The Sword of Alexander,” “Happily Ever After,” and now “The Bandage Club.” The movie opened in Japan on September, 2007 and will open in South Korea on January 10th, 2008.
Cast:
Yuya Yagira - Tatsuya ‘Dino’ Ideno
Satomi Ishihara - Emiko ‘Wara’ Kiba
Shihori Kanjiya - Shiomi Tanshio’ Tanzawa
Chiaki Sato - Ritsuki ‘Risuki’ Ashizawa
Megumi Seki - Akari ‘Tempo’ Motohashi
Kei Tanaka - Shinichi ‘Gimo’ Yanagimoto
Mieko Harada
Sansei Shiomi
Tomiyuki Kunihiro
Yoko Ohshima
Rei Okamoto
Jun Fubuki
Dec
25
2007
Ishihara, Satomi
Posted by luna6 | 1 Comment
Name: Satomi Ishihara (石原さとみ)
DOB: December 24, 1986
POB: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 157cm
Users Rating: 9 (11 votes)
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Movies:
Sushi King Goes to New York | Ginmaku ban Sushi oji!: Nyuyoku e iku (2008) -Young Purusu Riri
The Bandage Club | Hotai Club (2007) - Emiko ‘Wara’ Kiba
Year One in the North | Kita no zeronen (2005) - Tae Komatsubara
Jam Films S (2005)
My Grandpa | Watashi no guranpa (2003)
Jam Films (2002)TV:
Rokumeikan (2008)
Koi no Kara Sawagi Drama Special Love Stories IV (2007)
Hanayome to Papa (2007) - Uzaki Aiko
Tsubasa No Oreta Tenshitachi 2 as Yoshimura Yuri (2007)
Hyoten 2006 as Tsujiguchi Yoko (2006)
Te no Ue no Shabondama as Sakuriba Risa (2006)
Ns’ Aoi (2006) - Misora Aoi
Be-Bop High School 2 (2005) - Izumi Kyoko
Akai Giwaku (2005)
H2~Kimi to Itahibi (2005) - Koga Haruka
Joyuu Kaihatsu Project xx Pro (2005)
Yoshitsune (2005) - Shizuka-Gozen
Be-Bop High School (2004) - Izumi Kyoko
Water Boys 2 (2004) - Shiori Yazawa
Tengoku e no Ouenka Cheers (2004)
Teruteru Kazoku (2003) - Iwata Fuyuko
Kimi wa Petto (2003) - Shibusawa Rumi
Mado wo Aketara (2003)
Actresses, Japanese Actresses |
Dec
24
2007
Yagira, Yuya
Posted by luna6 | 1 Comment
Name: Yuya Yagira (柳樂優彌)
DOB: March 26, 1990
POB: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 170cm
Users Rating: 9.5 (2 votes)
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Movies:
Genius Party (2007) (voice)
The Bandage Club | Hotai Club (2007) - Tatsuya ‘Dino’ Ideno
Sugar & Spice | Sugar & spice: Fumi zekka (2006) - Shiro Yamashita
Shining Boy & Little Randy | Hoshi ni natta shonen (2005) - Tetsumu Ogawa
Nobody Knows | Dare mo shiranai (2004) - Akira FukushimaTV:
Denchi ga kireru made (2004)
Kunimitsu no Matsuri (2003)
Dec
23
2007
Shadows in the Palace
Posted by luna6 | 4 Comments
Movie : Shadows in the Palace / Goongnyeo / 궁녀
Release Date : October 18, 2007
Country : South Korea
Director : Mee-jeung Kim
Starring : Jin-hee Park, Young-hee Seo, Jung-eun Lim
Runtime : 113 min
Editor Rating : 6.5
Users Rating: 7.09 (11 votes)
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“Shadows in the Palace” features mostly an all female cast, female director Mee-jeung Kim (worked on the directing team for King and the Clown), and takes place during the fabled Chosun era. If you take those bits of information you may expect a gentle period drama - something along the lines “Hwang Jin Yi” with more frailty. Well looks can be deceiving and in this case you would be totally wrong. Simply put, the ladies in the Palace don’t mess around. They will do anything to maintain their power, even inflict the type of pain that gives new meaning to “I’ma get medieval on your ass.” There were a handful (pun intended) of gruesome scenes that made me turn away from the screen.
Although “Shadows in the Palace” takes place in the well documented Chosun era, the movie is purely a fictionalized account of what occurred among made up characters in the court of King Jung-jo. A nurse, Chun-ryung (Jin-Hie Park) is called into the quarters of the King’s mistress Hee-bin. One of her maids, Wol-ryung, is found hanging in her maid chamber in an apparent suicide. It doesn’t take long for Chun-ryung to conclude that the maid did not commit suicide, but was actually murdered. Even though Chun-ryung has circumstantial evidence to conclude foul play occured, the supervising maid orders Chun-ryung to classify her death as a suicide. If not, a scandal like this may weaken Hee-bin’s base of power and consequently the maids’ source of power.
While, Chun-ryung performs an autopsy on Wol-ryung, she discovers another startling secret. It appears that Wol-ryung recently gave birth to a child. This is all the more scandalous, because maids are sworn to keep their chastity for the king. Chun-ryung must now filter through the myriad of lies and deception given by the other maids to uncover the truth before another murder takes place.
“Shadows in the Palace” comes out blazing with a gripping mystery/thriller set in a historical time period. The film was shot on the same set as King and the Clown, but has a far darker look. It does take a while to get a handle on who all the characters are, but once that happens you are immersed in the “Shadows in the Palace”. Unfortunately, once the investigation got into high gear the movie sinks a few notches, occasionally knocking on the doorsteps of cheeseball territory. Jin-hie Park cast as Chun-ryung, isn’t noted for dramatic roles and after watching her performance I can understand why. She used a particular Korean dialect that I couldn’t quite place, but it did remind me of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. The supporting cast was better, two of the more noteworthy performances were given by Yeong-hie Seo (Moodori/My Lovely Week) and Jeong-eun Lim (My Love/Make It Big). On a postive note, the movie picked up with a lavish climax, visually recalling the Curse of the Golden Flower.
Normally in historical dramas the film centers around the King, Queen and their Royal Court. In “Shadows in the Palace” the movie focuses exclusively on the maids who worked in the royal court. The movie provides ample doses of mystery, intrigue, and gore while portraying a fictionalized account of their inner world. “Shadows in the Palace” is unique in that aspect and mostly entertaining, making the film worth seeking out.
buy Shadows in the Palace from YesAsia
Cast:
Jin-hee Park - Chun-rying
Young-hee Seo - Wol-ryung
Jung-eun Lim - Ok-jin
Hae-jin Jun - Jung-ryeol
Sae-ah Yun - Hee-bin
If you like this movie you may enjoy: The King and The Clown, Hwang-Jin Yi, Sakuran
2007 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movies |
Dec
23
2007
Kang, Shin-il
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Name: Shin-il Kang (강신일)
DOB: October 9, 1960
POB: South Korea
Height:
Users Rating: 10 (2 votes)
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Movies:
Public Enemy 3 | Gonggongui jeog 3 (2008)
Black House | Geomeun jip (2007)
Maundy Thursday | Urideul-ui haengbok-han shigan (2006)
Hanbando (2006) - Kim Yu-sik
Love Phobia | Domabaem (2006)
Mr. Socrates (2005)
Another Public Enemy | Gonggongui jeog 2 (2005) - Shin-il Kim
Some (2004) - Chief Oh
Silmido (2003)
The Legend of Evil Lake | Cheonnyeon ho (2003) - Minister Mun-su
Public Enemy | Gonggongui jeog (2002) - Chief Investigator Eom
Jail Breakers | Gwangbokjeol teuksa (2002)
Ejaesuuinan (1999)
Dec
22
2007
The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Movie Review: The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia | Zukan ni nottenai mushi
Release Date: June 23, 2007
Country: Japan
Director: Satoshi Miki
Starring: Yusuke Iseya, Suzuki Matsuo, Rinko Kikuchi
Runtime: 103 Min
Editor Rating: 4.5
Users Rating: 6 (8 votes)
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Satoshi Miki has a signature style of making trippy movies, where the storyline takes a backseat to individual moments of slapstick absurdity. This probably goes back to Satoshi Miki’s earlier career in television where he created some of the zaniest Japanese television shows out there (”The Fountain of Trivia” & “The Life of a Laughing Dog”). His latest film “The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia” continues his trademark style and actually features an even more discombobulated storyline than usual, emphasizing individual moments of zany fun - in theory anyways.
Yusuke Iseya (Memories of Matsuko/Arch Angels) stars in “The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia” as a writer for the “Black Book” monthly. His next assignment is to uncover the mystery behind “Deathfix.” What is “Deathfix” you may ask? As Yuseke Iseya discovers, its a chemical emitted by rare insects that allows people to visit death and then come back to life.
On his way to uncover the mystery behind “Deathfix,” Iseya first enlists the help of his hippy pal “Endo” (Suzuki Matsuo) and then they pick up various stragglers along the way. Most noteworthy would be the S&M performer Sayoko (Rinko Kikuchi), a Yakuza fellow (Ryo Iwamatsu) and his androgynous assistant (Eri Fuse). Eventually Iseya and his motley crew uncovers the “Deathfix,” but get a little more than they bargained for.
The various slapstick moments in “Insects …” contains plenty of low-brow humor stuff that just wasn’t funny, either in its own right or as a collective whole. Fart gags, puke gags, and Yoshiyuki Morishita (!!!) running naked through the streets were moments I could have lived without. I will say the ending of the puke gag was creative - a Japanese pancake nonetheless. Also when they picked Rinko Kikuchi’s Sayoko character, the girl was shown to be suicidal and had many scars on her wrist as proof. Another semi-creative gag was then let loose, involving a radish and Sayoko’s course scars.
While Satoshi Miki’s “In The Pool” had genuine moments of fun and “Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected” had bucket loads of charm, “The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia” has none of these traits and in its place offers not-so funny gags and a plethora of weird for just weirdness sake moments. The movie was probably a lot of fun for the staff to make , but unfortunately that didn’t correlate to a fun movie to watch (e.g. Yusuke Iseya spent the entire movie with his mouth opened and giving the same quizzical “ehhh??” expression). In fact, if you ever sat with a bunch of stoned strangers and listened to their nonsensical jokes, while you were straight as an arrow, then that’s the feeling you will likely get again while watching “The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia” or you may just to think to yourself “eehhhh???”
Cast:
Yusuke Iseya - Na
Suzuki Matsuo - Endo
Rinko Kikuchi - SayokoRyo Iwamatsu
Eri Fuse
Miki Mizuno
Takeo Gozu - Homeless
Hairi Katagiri
Yutaka Matsushige - Majima
Noboru Mitani
Toshifumi Muramatsu
Takashi Sasano
Eiko Shinya
Sion Sono
Keiko Takahashi
Hana Takamizawa - Police woman
Tetsushi Tanaka
Tsugumi
Hiroyuki Watanabe
If you like this movie you may enjoy: Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected, Funky Forest: The First Contact
2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movies |
Dec
22
2007
Iwamatsu, Ryo
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Name: Ryo Iwamatsu (いわまつ りょう)
DOB: March 26, 1952
POB: Nagasaki, Japan
Height:
(No Ratings Yet)
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Movies:
Tenten (2007)
The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia | Zukan ni nottenai mushi (2007)
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2007)
Tonari machi senso (2007) - Tajiri
Faces of a Fig Tree | Ichijiku no kao (2006)
Damejin (2006)
A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth | Yoki na gyangu ga chikyu o mawasu (2006)
Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected | Kame wa igai to hayaku oyogu (2005) (as Ryo Iwamatsu) - Shizuo Kugitani
Into a Dream | Yume no naka e (2005)
In the Pool | In za puru (2005) (as Ryo Iwamatsu) - General Manager Maenishi
Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims | Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san (2005) - The Foreman
Cutie Honey (2004) - Goki
Shinibana (2004)
Zebraman (2004) - Kanda
Kisarazu Cats Eye: Nihon Series (2003) - Ani, 30 years later
Hush! (2001) - Gynecologist
Coquille (1999) - Naoyuki Goda
Samurai Fiction | SF: Episode One (1998) - Muroto
Mind Game (1998)
The Five | Gonin (1995) - Man at the toilet
Quiet Days of Firemen | 119 (1994)
A Night in Nude | Nudo no yoru (1993) - Shimura
Sky Cannot Be This Blue | Sora ga konnani aoi wake ga nai (1993) - Banker
Ijo no hitobito: Densetsuno nijino sankyodai (1993)
Hikinige Family (1992)
Original Sin | Shinde mo ii (1992)
Beijing Watermelon | Pekin no suika (1989) - Policeman
Dec
22
2007
Fuse, Eri
Posted by luna6 | Leave a Comment
Name: Eri Fuse (ふせえり)
DOB: September 22, 1962
POB: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 157cm