 | WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review) |
December 31, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“Definitely more nuttier than the original film, ‘WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING’ features the beautiful wilderness, killer squirrels and legendary football player Jerry Rice. Oh My!”
Images courtesy of: © 2008 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING
DURATION: 90 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 2009, Color, PG-13, 1080P High Defintion, English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, Subtitles: English/English SDH!/French/Spanish/Portugese
COMPANY: Paramount Home Entertainment
RATED: PG-13 (For Crude Sexual Humor and Language)
Directed by
Screenplay by Jay Legget, Mitch Rouse,
Story by Fred Wolf and Harris Goldberg & Tom Nursall
Based on the Picture WITHOUT A PADDLE
Produced by Amy Goldberg
Executive Produced by Donald De Line
Director of Photography: Thomas Callaway
Production Designer: Mimi Gramatky
Edited by John Gilbert
Costume Designer: Shawnelle Cherry
Line Producer: George M. Engel
Music by Thomas Chase Jones
Casting by Nancy Nayor Battino, C.S.A.
Starring:
Oliver James (as Ben)
Kristopher Turner (as Zach)
Rik Young (as Nigel)
Jerry Rice (as Hal Gore)
Madison Riley (as Heather/Earth Child)
Amber McDonald (as Thunderstorm)
Nuttier than the original!
Truly an accurate description of the film “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING”, the second film based on the original 2004 movie “WITHOUT A PADDLE”. This time around, featuring a new story and a new cast starring Oliver James (What A Girl Wants) and Kristopher Turner (Instant Star).
The film is also the first comedy for director Ellory Elkayem (known for a few horror films which include the 2005 “Return of the Living Dead” films) and a screenplay by Stephen Mazur (“Liar Liar”, “Little Rascals”).
The story begins with a young Ben and Zach, freshman in high school. Ben is somewhat a good, clean cut, nerdy teen. While his friend Zach is more cool and mischievous. At the first day of school, Ben instantly falls for the school activist Heather who is a vegan and against the cruelty of animals. After signing a petition to join her cause, for Ben, it’s love at first sight.
While trying to impress her the following day sporting a “Meat is Murder” t-shirt, Ben is ambushed by two bullies but thankfully for Zach, the two get into a fistfight with the bullies. While recuperating in the nurse’s office, Ben sees Heather and she blows a kiss to him and from that point, Ben falls in love. Despite Heather being expelled from high school for trying to free the lab animals.
Fast forward nearly a decade later and Zach is working at a nursing home and Ben is now a busy lawyer. Ben and Zach have not really spoken with each other. Zach continues to be a cool, playboy but cares about the people in his life, while Ben is more into working as a lawyer and never has time for anything. Zach has always tried to get in contact with Ben but Ben is too busy to talk.
One day, one of the women that Zach takes care of is dying and she has one last wish, to see her granddaughter one last time. She begs Zach to find her in Oregon. Of course, Zach is a bit reluctant but when he sees the picture of the granddaughter, he realizes it’s Heather, the girl that Ben was obsessed with in high school.
Zachary finds a way to get Ben to leave his workplace when he shows him the picture of Heather and Ben figures maybe this time, as an adult, he will have the guts to tell Heather how he feels after all these years.
So, Ben, Zachary and Nigel (the grandson of the woman looking for Heather) go on a trip to Oregon and learn that Heather is a hippie named Earthchild and went to the wilderness with her friend Thunderstorm. But they never came back and have not been seen since. Thus are assumed as dead by the locals.
Having come this far, Ben and Zachary decide to not heed the warnings from the locals to not go into the wilderness and eventually get caught up in an adventure that takes them through beautiful lush terrain, with the immense trees in the wilderness, riding a raft through the rapids with nothing but two kegs, matches and Nigel’s darts and not packing any food or anything else, it’s definitely, an adventure that the three will not forget.
Adding some chaos to their adventure are killer squirrels, Hal Gore (football legend, Jerry Rice) and mysterious guys who have their eyes on the Ben, Zach and Nigel. Who are they? Despite their obstacles of trying to survive in the wilderness, will they find Heather in time?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” is presented in 1080P Hi-Definition. Definitely one of the major positives of the film is that this movie was shot in location in the wilderness. The vibrant colors of the blue sky, the green and fall colors of the trees really look quite beautiful. So, watching this film on Blu-ray was quite nice because the majority of the film is shot outdoors. With that being said, there is quite a bit of grain present (which is expected since this is a film afterall). But not too distracting.
As for the audio, the audio features an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track. Although the film is primarily dialogue driven, there are some instances where the music and the action scenes does utilize your rear surround speakers. Although recorded outdoors, I don’t recall hearing the wilderness ambiance but when the music comes on, it’s well presented. During the gunfire scenes, you hear that clearly and quite pronounced as well. But otherwise, the film is primarily dialogue-driven.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Another plus is that the majority of the featurettes are presented in HD. The special features on Blu-ray are as follows:
- Featurette: Up The Creek: The Making of Without A Paddle: Nature’s Calling HD – Interviews with the cast, producers and the director. A fun featurette and it’s interesting to hear Oliver James speaking with his British accent and even talks about how he is able to shut it off (courtesy of watching many American cartoons, TV shows and films in the UK).
- Featurette: Furious Nuts HD – An interesting featurette that plays on the squirrels. More of a humor-based featurette for viewers who want to know how the squirrels were cast for the film and how the squirrels were so demanding.
- Featurette: Treehouse Tales HD – During the film, the treehouse becomes a major part of the film and you get to see how the treehouse was created.
- Bloopers – A gag reel of several bloopers throughout the film. If anything, this gag reel gives an idea of how Jerry Rice was in his first major speaking role in a film.
- Deleted Scenes – Featuring four additional scenes that didn’t make it to the final cut: How’d He Do That?, Attack the River, Let It Go and Treehouse Fight
As most direct-to-video films that are based on major Hollywood films, “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” is one of those films that will appeal to fans of the original film or the actors that are on it.
I found “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” definitely much more nuttier than the first. Reason being, is that with the first, I had more higher expectations (given the talent on that film) but with this film, all I was expecting was to be entertained for 90 minutes.
And I had a few laughs during the film, especially during the scenes that stars legendary wide-receiver, Jerry Rice who plays the part as Hal Gore.
Jerry Rice has his first major speaking role in this film and as a beginning actor, because of that, I think the delivery of his lines made things a bit more humorous. His character has lived in the wilderness for so many years studying how squirrel farts have damaged the atmosphere, wearing nothing but squirrel fur and a bit long black beard, of course it’s campy and his delivery of his lines are just awful but somehow it worked and made me laugh.
And of course, quite a bit of adult humor, especially when the guys reunite with Heather (Earthchild) and her friend Thunderstorm. Good playoff of humor between Ben, Zack and the two women.
Again, a major plus was that the film was shot outdoors, so seeing the lush surroundings of the wilderness and the group having to ride their raft through the river was fun to watch and it looked good on Blu-ray. And it was also good to see that the featurettes were also featured in HD.
On the negative side, there were a few plot holes in the actual screenplay, some of the acting was so-so and the squirrels, they looked a bit too CGI for a film like this but nevertheless, it worked OK.
But in the end of the day, if I was asked the question, “were you entertained?” and the answer would be yes, I was entertained. Did I love the movie, not really. But I was entertained and definitely had a few laughs.
So, if you were a fan of the original “WITHOUT A PADDLE”, a fan of any of the talents of the film or just want to check out a comedy that takes place in the outdoors, then definitely give “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” a try.
 | Paris Hilton at the ‘Bongo Virus’ launch press call in Sydney, Australia |
December 31, 2008 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
picapp: Paris Hilton at the ‘Bongo Virus’ launch press call, Sheraton on the Park, Sydney, Australia. Picture by: Snapper Media / Splash News. Content © 2008 Splash News . All rights reserved.
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| GREEK: CHAPTER TWO (a J!-ENT DVD Review) |
December 30, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“The second half of the first season of ‘GREEK’ is here! A youthful drama series that is not just fun and cool but overall, a well-written, enjoyable series!”
Images courtesy of ©WDSHE. All Rights Reserved.”
TITLE: GREEK: CHAPTER TWO
DURATION: 517 minutes (12 episodes)
DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, Widescreen (1:78:1), NTSC, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish and French subtitles
RATED: 14 DSL
COMPANY: abc entertainment
Series Directed by Michael Lange, Gil Junger, Nick Marck, Fred Gerber
Series written by Patrick Sean Smith, Carter Covington, Jessica O’Tool, Amy Rardin, Roger Grant, Michael Berns, Anne Kenney, Jed Seidel and Dana Calvo
Produced by Anne Kenney, Patrick Sean Smith, Nellie Nugiel, Adam Fratto, Lloyd Segan, Todd Ulman, Shawn Piller, Michael Berns, Michael Lange, Dana Calvo, Jed Seidel, Carter Covington, Valerie Joseph, John Ziffren and Keith Patterson
Starring:
Clark Duke (as Dale)
Scott Michael Foster (as Cappie)
Spencer Grammer (as Casey Cartwright)
Paul James (as Calvin Owens)
Jake McDorman (as Evan Chambers)
Jacob Zachar (as Rusty Cartwright)
Aaron Hill (as the Beaver)
Dilshad Vadsaria (as Rebecca Logan)
Amber Stevens (as Ashleigh)
Tiffany Dupont (as Frannie)
Join TV’s coolest young cast as they find friendship, fun and a new kind of drama in the sensational second chapter of the ABC family original series Greek.
The excitement and the heartbreak of Greek life continues for the students of Cyprus-Rhodes University and everything heats up when they head south for Spring Break, is there enough room in Myrtle Beach for Casey, Cappie and Rebecca? Will Rusty ever learn to balance his loyalties between friends and frat? Witness every romance and rift, every juicy bit of gossip and all the ups and downs of the emotional roller coaster ride called college.
Go deeper into the lives of your favorite characters from ever before and experience all 12 episodes of Greek: Chapter Two, complete with chart-topping music and never-before-seen bonus features in a three-disc box set. Pledge today. It’s a rush.
The life of those who belong to a fraternity and sorority, the second half of the first season of “GREEK” featuring the remaining 12 episodes is now out on DVD (a total of 22 episodes).
Probably one of the more unique shows covering college life but focusing on the Greek fraternity and sorority life and the challenges that students face but also adding the love triangles, dramas, relationships and the rivalries that exist. The episodes focus on the following characters:
Casey Cartwright (played by Spencer Grammer) – The interim president of Zeta Beta Zeta. The primary character is a sorority sister who has to lead her sorority after a scandal nearly ends their sorority (from the first half of the series). Casey has her own problems as her ex-boyfriend Cappie is now dating Rebecca Logan in her sorority (who she can’t really stand) and her current relationship with Evan Chamber is not going quite well.
Rusty Cartwright (played by Jacob Zachar) is a Kappa Tau Brother. Very intelligent, nerdy and sometimes doesn’t fit in with his partying fraternity but nevertheless, he admires his sister Casey and is the little fraternity brother of Cappie.
Cappie (played by Scott Michael Foster) is Rusty’s fraternity big brother, the president of Kappa Tau Gamma and ex-boyfriend of Casey and starting a relationship with Rebecca Logan. He still has some feelings for Casey but now is in love with Rebecca.
Evan Chambers (played by Jake McDorman) is the newly elected president of Omega Chi Delta. Former best friends with Cappie and now in a rival fraternity. The two don’t care for each other and Evan started dating Casey, still in love with her but knows that Casey has moved on. But gets very jealous when Casey is with another guy.
Calvin Owens (played by Paul James) is a brother at Omega Chi Delta and best friends with Rusty. Life has been different for him since he has been outed that he’s gay. A good friend to Ashleigh.
Ashleigh Howard (played by Amber Stevens) is Casey’s best friend, sometimes ditzy and a member of Zeta Beta Zeta. A good friend of Calvin.
Dale Kettlewell (played by Clark Duke) is Rusty’s roommate. A nerdy guy, straight edged and believes he can cure Calvin being gay. Started his own group U-SAG (University Students Against Greeks).
Rebecca Logan (played by Dilshad Vadsaria) is a sister at Zeta Beta Zeta, a senator’s daughter, dating Cappie and because of that, really doesn’t like Casey.
Frannie Morgan (played by Tiffany Dupont) is Casey’s Big Sister, the former president of Zeta Beta Zeta but was kicked out due to a scandal. Trying to establish a relationship with Casey and the sisters.
With that being said, “Chapter Two” on DVD starts of with episode 11. The following episodes are:
- A New Normal (Episode 11) – The start of a new semester and Rusty is broken-hearted after his breakup and Casey is going to have to go at bat for her sorority and make things right after the scandal. The Nationals send Lizzi to assist Casey in her leadership duties by making sure the sorority meets school standards and don’t mess up. Meanwhile, everyone tries to recover from the scandal and try to make good with Dean Bowman by having a “Back to School” carnival and support his favorite charity.
- The Great Cappie (Episode 12) – The Zeta Beta Zeta girls decide to have a party with the Kappa Tau Brothers with the theme being “The Great Gatsby”. Meanwhile Dean Bowman tries to investigate the party after a tip from an unknown source. Meanwhile Calvin is deciding if he should stay with Omega Chi or join Rusty’s fraternity after some of his brothers are not too accepting of him being gay.
- Highway to the Discomfort Zone (Episode 13) – Cappie is not too happy to find out that Evan of Omega Chi ratted them out to Dean Bowman, thus war is declared. Also, Casey learns about Cappie’s relationship with Rebecca.
- War & Peace (Episode 14) – Kappa Tau and Omega Chi face off against each other. Also, Casey wants the watchful eyes of the National and Lizzi to be gone but that means she must forgive Frannie and let her back into the sorority. Will She?
- Freshman Date (Episode 15) – The flashback episode in which we learn about Casey and Cappie’s freshman year, why Cappie and Evan do not get along and Casey learns more about her sorority sister Frannie.
- Move On. Cartwrights (Episode 16) – In this episode, the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority wants to reunite with the Omega Chi’s and Casey must face Evan. Rusty has a new crush and Dale helps him out.
- 47 Hours & 11 Minutes (Episode 17) – Casey and Rusty’s parents are in town to check up on them. Rusty hasn’t told his mom and dad that he’s in a fraternity, only that he was in a service fraternity. Meanwhile, we are introduced to Rebecca Logan’s father, Senator Logan.
- Mr. Purr-fect (Episode 18) – Casey, Frannie and Rebecca have a bet who can coach a different fraternity in a series of games. Casey coaches the athletic Lamba Sigs (and falls for one of the guys), Rebecca coaches the Kappa Tau’s but because she is determined to win, it’s causing some friction with Cappie and also with some of the brothers of Kappa Tau.
- No Campus for Old Rules (Episode 19) – Casey bends sorority rules for Ashleigh but it causes some problems. Rusty starts to become attracted to Tina, the girl who wants to take down the Greek system.
- A Tale of Two Parties (Episode 20) – Omega Chi and Kappa Tau throw a party after their campus restrictions are lifted. But what can the Kappa Tau’s do without the funds to make a great party. Casey has a new guy in her sights.
- Barely Legal (Episode 21) – It’s almost time for Spring Break and Cappie has the brothers practicing with their fake ID’s. As for Casey, she goes to Evan to help her with LSAT’s and starts to wonder more about her future and what she wants to do after college.
- Spring Broke (Episode 22) – It’s Spring Break and the group heads out to the Beach. Cappie and Casey looks like their closer again and as for Evan, he gets closer to a Zeta Beta Zeta sister.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
Video is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1), enhanced for 16×9 televisions. There are a lot of outdoor and indoor shots and the series does have quite a bit of grain but nothing too distracting. Audio is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the show is mostly dialogue-based but there are quite a bit of music featured in the episodes, which actually comes clear through your front speakers.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“GREEK: CHAPTER TWO” comes with a good number of special features including fun commentaries with the producers and talent of the show.
- Disc 1: Audio commentary by Executive Producer Patrick Sean Smith, actors Amber Stevens, Senta Moses and Paul James
- Disc 2: Audio commentary for “Freshman Daze” featuring commentary with Executive Producer Lloyd Segan and Actors Spencer Grammer, Scott Foster, Tiffany Dupont and Jake McDorman. Also, a commentary for “47 Hours & 11 Minutes” with co-executive producers Shawn Piller and Patrick Sean Smith and actors Jacob Zachar and Dilshad Vadsaria.
- Disc 3: Features Bloopers, Flashback Episode “And So It Begins” and the music video for “Natural Disaster” by the Plain White T’s.
The commentaries on both the first and second disc are quite enjoyable and it seems as the talent had a lot of stories to tell about the episode from a certain scene, clothes that they were wearing. So, there is quite a bit of humor and fun facts to learn while watching the commentary.
The blooper reel features a lot of fun bloopers and mistakes on the set such as shaken beer bottles to knocking over lamps. The Flashback episode is a 10-minute featurette and an interview with the staff who were pretty excited about doing the episode “Freshman Daze” (Episode 15) and a major reveal between the friendship and relationships focusing on Casey, Frannie, Cappie and Evan. And a music video for “Natural Disaster” performed by the Plain White T’s completes the bonus features on disc 3.
Also included is a code and information to download Plain White T’s “Big Bad World” song.
After watching “GREEK”, I definitely got into the series. I felt that Patrick Sean Smith (creator of the show) definitely had good concept of bringing a youth-based show not just on high school or college life but life for those who are part of the Greek system.
The characters are fun and although there are many people featured throughout the show, the main eight characters are pretty much what is focused on and overall, the chemistry among the actors are pretty good. That’s important. But will viewers identify with people in that system? Is it all about drinking, parties and games? Sure, “GREEK” does include that into the overall storyline and the writer’s find a way to help those not familiar with fraternities and sororities get a good idea of the challenges they face.
Most importantly, making the sure the dramatic storylines of each character is intact. And although the first half does focus on a scandal that hurts some of the GREEK fraternities and sororities, the second season focuses on dealing with the aftermath of the scandal but most of all, more character building storylines and allowing the viewer to find some attachment to the people we are watching.
I do wonder if the second season will show how far the writers will go in covering other areas of Greek life which so far has been quite positive (which is good) but maybe touching base on the negative ala the hazing, binge drinking, popular vs. not-so-popular fraternities/sororities, etc. in future episodes. I’m sure there are so many stories that can be developed from the Greek student life, so it will definitely be interesting to see how the writers take this series for the second season (which is currently airing on ABC Family right now).
Because of the Writer’s Strike, the first season of “GREEK” was like most television shows disrupted and thus, the first chapter was released on DVD first and the second right after.
But all in all, each episode was quite fun to watch, as the series progressed, I enjoyed the character driven episodes and also the flashback episode that helped give the viewers an idea of why certain relationships have went south.
The DVD featured enjoyable commentaries, especially to hear the talent so excited to watch the episodes and really have fun and talking about the things that went on during the filming and so forth. Especially to hear from those who have never watched the final cut of the episode and be surprised of certain scenes that were cut.
All in all, “GREEK: CHAPTER TWO” was enjoyable and fun to watch. Each episode was well-written, although I was expecting some sort of cliffhanger for the season finale but all in all, I have to admit that it was great to watch a college-based young adult drama since so much on television is concentrated on high school life. A solid series! Check it out!
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| TV Talk: December 29, 2008 – The City |
December 30, 2008 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
Yesterday was the premiere of “The City” starring Whitney Port (of “The Hills”) and friends/co-workers in New York City. Last night, we got a double dose of Whitney’s life in NYC, starting on her new job in public relations for the fashion industry at Diane von Furstenberg and we also got a bit of drama in the second episode.
In the first episode titled “If She Can Make It Here…”, pretty much an introduction episode of Whitney, her boyfriend Jay and her co-workers.
In the second episode titled “The Truth Will Set You Free” features Whitney meeting up with a model guy Alan she once dated (this was featured on “The Hills”). Alan tells her that her current boyfriend is messing around with her ex behind her back and it sets up tense confrontation between Jay and Alan.
Hmm…I have a few thoughts on this series especially the people in it but I’ll hold off since I really want to see a few more episodes before I comment. Overall, I’m digging the show. Will need to see a few more episodes and see what happens here on then…. I dig Whitney and it’s great to see her have her own show! Look forward to more episodes.
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| Toko Furuuchi – IN LOVE AGAIN (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review) |
December 30, 2008 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
“Beautiful, smooth and sensual, Toko Furuuchi continues to showcases her vocals and in-depth songwriting for her thirteenth album, ‘IN LOVE AGAIN’.”
BUY THIS ALBUM:
ARTIST: Toko Furuuchi (古内東子)
ALBUM: IN LOVE AGAIN
LABEL: Tearbridge Music
DURATION: 1:07:31
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2008
- 歩幅
- 恋の不思議
- あなたのトモダチ
- IN LOVE AGAIN
- Mystical
- カサノバ
- 今夜ベッドで
- 帰る場所はあなた
- よくある物語
- Confusion
- game
- 半分だけ
- Beautiful Days – New Version-
Toko Furuuchi returns with her 13th album on a new label and a scheduled performance in New York City in January 2009.
The singer/songwriter from Tokyo who once lived and studied in Connecticut in the US has had a string of hits in the 90′s especially with the hit song “誰より好きなのに”, which continues to be a wonderful song today with many artists having covered the song.
Having wrote songs and produced hits for a good number of artists such as Ueto Aya, Sowelu, CHEMISTRY, alan and many others, it’s actually great to have a new album from Furuuchi, her first in three years since “CASHMERE MUSIC” from 2005.
“IN LOVE AGAIN” continues Furuuchi’s staple of music which is beautiful vocals, in-depth songwriting, producing and also composing the music on this album. So, to say Furuuchi is talented is an understatement, she’s definitely one of the most sought out producers/songwriters in the Japanese music industry.
The album starts of with “歩幅”, a beautiful mid-tempo ballad that features a beautiful arrangement from Shin Kono and features a good balance of strings courtesy of Kinbara strings and an overall beautiful medley.
The second track “恋の不思議” is an upbeat track featuring another smooth arrangement and many instruments by Shin Kono and followed up by another upbeat track “あなたのトモダチ” featuring an arrangement, keyboard-driven dance track by Toshiyuki Mori.
The fourth title track “IN LOVE AGAIN” features an arrangement by Shin Kono for a beautiful, smooth ballad which features beautiful acoustic guitar playing and bass.
The fifth track “Mystical” features an arrangement by Toshiyuki Mori and has a funky style to it. While the sixth track “カサノバ” has a more Summer-like arrangement by Shin Kono with the acoustic guitar and jazz like upbeat arrangement. One of my favorite tracks on the album!
The seventh track “今夜ベッドで” features a smooth, bass driven track and another wonderful arrangement by Shin Kono that also sports a hint of brass. Very cool song and followed by a beautiful ballad titled “帰る場所はあなた” which is piano and acoustic guitar driven. While the ninth track “よくある物語” is more upbeat keyboard driven track, while the tenth and eleventh track “Confusion” and “game” features a little experimentation with keyboards and electronic bass.
The 12th track on the album “半分だけ” is a beautiful ballad and another favorite on the album. I can imagine Furuuchi performing this song live and delivering a beautiful performance.
The final track on the album “Beautiful Days -New Version-” features a sort of live-band type of feel with the piano, bass, percussion and strings in coordination with each other. Another awesome track on this album.
As for the CD insert, the CD insert booklet features lyrics, a picture of Toko, a message from Toko Furuuchi and production credits.
Personally, it’s hard to go wrong with a Toko Furuuchi album. Her music tends to be quite elegant and you know that with each song, you get a well-sung, well-written album that features music that incorporates strings, a bit of brass, piano, acoustic guitar and overall, just a refreshing, lively and elegant album.
Some may consider her music more adult contemporary but overall, it’s well-produced and well-done. Furuuchi has been doing this for nearly 17 years and she continues to look and sound incredible over a decade later when I first discovered her music.
“IN LOVE AGAIN” is a lovely album that is just smooth, sensual and enjoyable. Highly recommended!
BUY THIS ALBUM:
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| T.I. BRINGS IN THE NEW YEAR WITH CARSON |
December 30, 2008 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” will put viewers in the middle of the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve destination, Times Square, to bring in the new year. For the first time, the live show will be broadcast in primetime from 10-11 p.m. (ET) and will then continue on late night from 11:30p.m. – 12:30 a.m. – all in high definition.
“NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” will once again feature the biggest names in music with this year’s performers T.I., The Ting Tings, Katy Perry, Sir Elton John and Ludacris performing. Once again, viewers and revelers will be a part of all the action with Saturday “Today” co-anchor Amy Robach reporting from amongst the hundreds of thousands of partyers in Times Square. Along with Robach, NBC correspondents Allison Stewart and Luke Russert will join the broadcast this year.
Courtesy of Atlanta Records
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| Jessica Alba and husband Cash Warren going to the Crown Bar in West Hollywood |
December 30, 2008 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
picapp: Jessica Alba and Cash Warren were smiling happily as the couple were spotted going to Crown Bar in West Hollywood, California. Pictured: Jessica Alba and Cash Warren Picture by: Zodiac / Splash News. Content © 2008 Splash News . All rights reserved.
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| FUNKY FOREST: The First Contact (a J!-ENT DVD Review) |
December 29, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“Of the hundreds of Japanese films that I have seen in my lifetime, ‘FUNKY FOREST’ is probably the oddest film I have seen ever. Definitely thinking out of the box and overall unique in its presentation.”
Images courtesy of ©2004 “Naisu no Mori” Production Committee.
TITLE: FUNKY FOREST: The First Contact (ナイスの森〜The First Contact〜)
DURATION: 150 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Two-Disc Special Edition, NTSC, Region 1, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
COMPANY: Viz Pictures, Inc.
RATED: Not Rated
Directed, Written and Edited by Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, ANIKI
Sound: Kouichi Mori, Tsuyoshi Sakado
Lighting: Masao Funabashi
Production Designer: Shinji Inoue
Director of Photography: Hiroshi Machida, Kousuke Matshima (J.S.C.)
Stylist: Ikuko Utsunomiya, Shiori Tomita
Associate Producer: Kensuke Shiga
Producers: Norihisa Harada, Taichi Ito, Kazutoshi Wadakura
Starring:
Susumu Terajima, Ryo Kase, Tadanobu Asano, Chizuru Ikewaki, Kazue Fukiishi, Machiko Ono, Erika Nishikado, Hideaki Anno, Andrew Alfieri and more
An artistic masterpiece or just one very odd film? Depending on the viewer, “FUNKY FOREST” (or “Nice no Mori”) could be anything I suppose. And I think that because it’s so strange, fun and at times, mind boggling, it’s why I the film has become a cult-hit.
I am quite familiar with the work of Katsuhito Ishii, who definitely received some rave reviews for his film “The Taste of Tea” at the Cannes Film Festival but what happens when you take one of the most popular abstract and creative directors and pair him up with equally creative filmmakers such as Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI, you’re definitely going to get something wild, unique and something you probably never have seen before.
To explain “FUNKY FOREST” would be a bit difficult. It’s not written as a straightforward film. There is no actual climatic points or anything like that. It’s 21 free-associative short episodes featuring some of the weirdest characters and also cameos by well-known Japanese talent.
For example,”Little Hataru” is a single segment starring a young girl who is bored and bored of homework, so she has the ability to leave reality and enter some sort of dimension, space or time or does she?
One of my favorite segments in the film are featuring the the Guitar Brothers. Three unpopular brothers, Katsuichi, Masaru and Masao. For their storyline, Katsuichi (Terajima) tries to learn dance but eventually goes to the Hot Springs where he encounters three beautiful women and tries to develop the guts to ask them out for a singles party. Masaru (Asano) is a guitarist. A very good guitarist but somehow he tries to get the approval of his little brother, a Caucasian/portly child who is constantly eating Snicker bars and responds with bad/limited Japanese.
Another favorite segment is “Notti and Takefumi”. Two young adults, Notti (or Nocchi) likes jogging and spending time with Takefumi. Takefumi teaches English, has an awesome vinyl collection (which I’m crediting to filmmaker ANIKI for including his passion for vinyl’s in this segment) but despite being close, they are dating but not dating. There is no romantic relationship, they look very close but somehow aren’t. But they enjoy each other’s company. A very intriguing relationship by these two individuals and fun segment to watch.
The Mole Brothers is reminscent to a lot of comedic duos in Japan who have their bit of slapping the other person behind the head and all in all, just telling jokes that may or may not be funny.
Babbling Hot Spring Vixens feature three young women taking a trip to the hot springs and telling the stories that they had in their life (or what other’s are having). For this segment, the women meet Masaichi (of the Guitar Brothers) and have fun with him by singing happy birthday and giving him 10,000 Yen. And Katsuichi may have found love and tries to ask one of the women out to a single’s party. Then one of the girls tells a story that she heard from Takefumi (from the Notti and Takefumi story) about aliens and entering a UFO.
After the first 70 minutes of the film, you get a 3-minute intermission. If you thought the first half was quite weird, your in for a ride as the second half of the film just gets wilder, stranger and also much more enjoyable!
The second half starts off with “Wanna Go For a Drink?” featuring a girl who runs into a guy wearing an animal suit but with its tail coming out of his frontal region. The guy asks the teenager to pull his tail and she thinks she’s on candid camera or something. Once she pulls it, she’s joined by a slick-haired Takefumi wearing the top half of a black tie and suit and underwear. It appears these people may be aliens. They ask her to stick something in her bellybutton which allows them to start their machine.
One of my favorite segments from the second half of the film is “Homeroom Room!!!” featuring Masaichi (Guitar Brothers) teaching a class of students young and old. Special note: Among the students are Hideaki Anno (creator of the anime “Neon Genesis Evangelion”), who also has a few parts of him acting throughout the film. In one segment, one students is ticked because someone stole one of his shoes and goes through a long dialogue blaming his class, until he sits back down and you realize he is wearing both shoes. The next segment features Ms. Kikuchi (a cameo by Academy Award nominee, “Babel” actress Rinko Kikuchi) playing the class president who has her class repeat her “yankee” (bully) like talk.
“Guitar Brothers” makes its return in the second half with a hilarious piece because you know that Masaru (Asano) is talking to Masao (Alfieri) in Japanese and Masao has no idea what he’s saying but it’s just funny to watch. Especially when Masaichi invites them for ramen and Masao just jumps up and down with excitement saying “iku iku” (which is term in Japan used for something a bit nasty) instead of “ikou ikou”.
But then the aliens (CGI) start to become part of the storyline as some of the classmates from “Home Room!!!” start to play with the aliens as musical instruments. And even revealing that some of these students may be aliens themselves. Such as a scene where one student holding an alien, has another student plugging that alien’s tentacle to his rear. Another scene features a stump-like thing (or a nude woman laying down with her legs up in the air) and out of these stump are branches of little alien men. One has a unhappy face, so one must stroke his tentacle to make him happy.
These are examples of the wild storylines from each of the 21 episodes included in “FUNKY FOREST”. It’s hard to even explain the film but what I like about the film is how much was improvised and how creative the director’s had in creating such an unsually odd, unique but entertaining film.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The original film was shot in 35mm and is presented with an aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is featured in anamorphic widescreen (16:9). The film is shot in so many locations, indoor, outdoor, cramped rooms, hot springs, parks, schools, etc. As for the audio, the primary film is mostly dialogue but during the scenes that feature music, your home theater system literally blasts off with the audio really blaring out in full force.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Before talking about the features, this release features two DVD’s. The first disc features the movie and has two types of chapter menus. The Director’s Chapter menu is primarily if you want to watch the segments directed by either Ishii, Miki or ANIKI. Definitely a thumbs up for the DVD featuring these two different types of menu. The first disc also features the original Japanese theatrical, television and teaser trailers.
The second DVD has a few special features which are:
- The Making of “Funky Forest” – “Into the World of the Unfathomable Forest” – This feature is about 70-minutes long and was a blast to watch. One thing that I enjoyed was seeing all the cameos of actors I have seen on Japanese television before pretty much excited with working with one of these directors and knowing how weird the project will be but because of that, really wanting to be involved. Also, hearing from the other talent who had a blast to take part in the film and literally improvise. That was fun! But I think the coolest part featured anime director Hideaki Anno (“Neon Genesis Evangelion”, “Gunbuster”, “Kare Kano”, etc.) and his interview and even some of the staff having their special edition DVD’s signed by him because they were such big fans. So, overall this was an awesome special feature.
- “Katsuichi’s Dance” Secret Treasure (A Choreography Lesson Video) – This features a segment in the beginning where Katsuichi has to dance and basically a behind-the-scenes choreography in which actor Susumu Terajima had to learn the dance moves.
- “The Transfer Student is Here” (Video Contents) – This is more or less the storyboard like work from this segment.
- Viz Pictures Presents – Trailers of other film releases from Viz Pictures
When it comes to odd films, creative or artistic type of films, I’m actually quite open to them and always interested in seeing how fresh the ideas can come from a director or in this case directors. I’ve heard so much about the creativity behind Katsuhito Ishii’s “The Taste of Tea” and so, I was very much interested in watching “FUNKY FOREST: The First Contact”.
This is a type of film, sort of like looking at an abstract piece of art. Everyone has their own interpretation. Some may find it beautiful, some may find it refreshing and unique, some may find it bland and some may find it uninteresting. This is one of those type of films that some will get and some won’t.
There are a lot of dream sequences that can be interpreted in many types of ways, the appearances of aliens can either mean that the people we are watching are indeed aliens or just a manifestation of boredom or stress. It’s one of those films that you just don’t analyze or figure out what, you just sit and watch and just laugh and enjoy because of its unique and strange presentation.
There are some visual references that possibly can be considered as sexual or even nasty (ie. stroking an alien’s tentacle up and down to make it happy) or an alien with odd-shaped nipples that shoots out a variety of things from them. Or a bulbous type of whatever you may want to call it, that comes out of the butt of an alien. These are not meant to be taken seriously, but they are funny to watch nonetheless.
Granted, of the 21-episodes, not all of them are winners. There are some that I felt were a bit too long (such as Takefumi’s dream sequence) and perhaps a difference in Western perspective, Katsuichi’s dance also was OK. But that is another thing that makes this film special is that each episode, outside of the guys trying to get some women to attend their single’s picnic, the majority of the segments can be watched in any order and you can skip a segment and not really miss anything integral to the storyline.
So, all in all, the film was very odd but also very fun to watch. Depending on the individual, this film is literally like an abstract piece of art and like any piece of art, anyone can have their own interpretation.
As for the DVD, it made the film even much more enjoyable for me by the inclusion of the “making of” featurette and to see the behind-the-scenes creation of the film was a blast!
In the end, this film is not going to be for everyone, but if you are the type that is up for anything different, unique and strange, then “FUNKY FOREST: The First Contact” is a movie worth checking out!
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| Paris Hilton at the Aurora Spa Retreat in Melbourne, Australia |
December 29, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
picapp: Paris Hilton with sister Nicky Hilton and boyfriend David Katzenberg snapped by paparazzi at Aurora Spa Retreat in Melbourne, Australia. Pictured: Paris Hilton Picture by: TitoMedia.com.au / Splash News. Content © 2008 Splash News . All rights reserved.
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| honey and clover Vol. 1 (a J!-ENT Manga Review) |
December 29, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“A fun manga about five college students attending art school. They have parties, they have fun, they find love and everything in between. A lot of humor, beautiful artwork and an all out fun, award-winning manga by Chica Umino.”
(C) Image courtesy of Chica Umino. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 1
STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野 チカ)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga
RATED: T for Older Teen
Takemoto, a sophmore art student in Tokyo, thinks his greatest worries in life are finding ways to eat more meat and getting to class on time. But with friends like his, life is never going to be that tame.
Beautiful, fun… Definitely a lot of positive things you can say about this Kodansha Award winning manga series by Chika Umino.
Having spawned an anime series, a live drama and film, it’s no surprise that many men and women have enjoyed “honey and clover” and now available from Viz Media via their Shojo Beat imprint is “honey and clover”.
Part of my interest in wanting to read the manga is that I enjoyed the film but I felt that there were much back story of the characters that I figured, if I really want to enjoy this series, start with the manga. And so, after reading volume 1, I was surprised how different the manga series and the live film were.
In the manga series, the story revolves around three guys who live in an apartment complex and attend an art school. They are:
Yuta Takemoto: One of the primary characters, Takemoto is the youngest of the guys and majoring in architectural design. He seems to have a ho-hum life but is the normal guy of the group who has taken a liking to the gifted artist Hagumi.
Shinobu Morita: A carefree, does whatever he wants type of guy. Very cool but very strange. A gifted sculptor who has attended the University for years, has not graduated but tends to make money doing freelance work and constantly on the move. He is drawn to Hagumi because she reminds him of a Koropokkur (a leprechaun or fairy) that he actually takes pictures of her in situations and puts it on the Internet and promoting her as one.
Takumi Mayama: Mayama is the quiet type. A senpai for Takemoto and works at a design firm in which he likes the owner Rika. Although he knows that he’ll never get that close to Rika, he somewhat does what he can for her. He is also the guy that Morita turned to when he needed help but now Mayama has passed the duty on to Takemoto.
Characters also featured are:
Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is being taken care of by her uncle, Professor Hanamoto. She is not very talkative and very, very short. She is almost like a little girl but she’s actually 18 and her cuteness makes everyone in a good mood. She does have a hard time knowing that so many people expect a lot of things from her because of her talent but also knows that because of dedicating her life to that talent, she doesn’t live a normal life like the other girls in school.
Ayumi Yamada: Yamada aka “Iron Man” is another gifted student at the art school who is madly in love with Mayama. She knows that he is not interested in her but she takes it hard and sometimes can’t tolerate his attitude but she does because she’s so in love with him. She’s very blunt, very beautiful, very athletic but also can get very violent (ala her karate moves).
What I found quite charming about this storyline is that it’s life of a college student. Trying to do your best at school, not knowing your own future after school, not having enough money and just the fun that people have amongst friends.
Chapter 1 is more like an introduction to the characters but you can’t help but laugh when you see Morita making Hagu pose as a Koropokkur.
Chapter 2 features a guy coming to the University to see if the Koropokkur is real and the guys learn that Morita is making money off his popular website but Hagu is not to thrilled about what Morita is doing that he does something nice for her.
Chapter 3 is how the guys can’t understand why all the girls give him so much attention. Especially since he’s lazy, oversleeps and uses the public faucet to shower and you get an idea of how far out Morita really is. In one point, Morita needs clothes, so he grabs the curtains from Professor Hanamoto’s class and wears the clothes like Moses from the “Ten Commandments” with no shame.
Chapter 4 features the guys really hungry and haven’t eaten any meat for a long while because they are broke. They survive by the noodles brought home by one of the guys who live in the apartment but things change when Lohmeyer-san returns back on campus from the family farm and brings so much ham, sausage and vegetables for the guys that Takemoto learns why everyone loves him.
Chapter 5 features the guys and Hagu going out for some fun and light some fireworks and Takemoto gets to see a kind side of Hagu.
Chapter 6 features Mayama getting a phone call from someone and Takemoto suspects that he may have a girlfriend. Meanwhile, Morita is contacted to do a high paying job and Takemoto tries to make himself look great in front of Hagu and tells her that he’ll create something for her, since he is an architectural major.
Chapter 7 introduces Ayumi Yamada and how she is in love with Mayama. Meanwhile, Takemoto finds out who the girl that called Mayama is. Her name is Rika, a colleague of Professor Hanamoto and Mayama’s boss and that Mayama was just doing a lot of work for her. But Mayama does like her and Yamada takes it very hard.
Chapter 8 focuses on Hagu and how the pressures of being a talented sculptor and not having a normal life like the other young women on campus starts to make her depressed. The pressures of life start to drain her emotionally.
Chapter 9 is about Christmas and Morita invites everyone to Hanamoto-san’s office for a Christmas party.
The final pages feature a bonus manga diary titled “Life of Umino” and a glossary of terms used in the manga such as words like what is “Koropokkur” or what is a “system 6″ operating system.
I really enjoyed this first volume. Similar to young novels or manga (or even dramas) such as “Asunaro Hakusho”, “Wakamono no Subete” or “Hakusen Nagashi”, I really enjoy stories that cover young adult life. From the parties to just hanging out with friends, meeting new people, career choices to finding love (or not finding love), “honey and clover” is one of those series that is realistic in the sense that many people can related to these characters. So, you really take an interest towards the characters and I really liked the overall development of the characters through the course of the nine chapters.
Umino’s artwork and her storytelling is enjoyable, beautiful and has a good balance of entertainment through humor and that occasional love triangle drama that pulls you in.
So, I was very surprised of the differences between the life film and the manga. With the film, there’s so much that can’t be done in a film under two hours from a manga series that has many chapters of storyline and character development. I can see why so many people were entertained by this manga series. It’s very entertaining and artwork that is just beautiful look at.
This is one of those stories that appeals appeals to both men and women and overall, the first volume is quite entertaining thus far. Definitely check it out!
