I WANT TO EAT A NUT OF LAERMA!

VIDEO STUFF

Okay, I've rented the first half of Kill Bill, so I am, at last, going to see it. Yes, I was boycotting Kill Bill primarily because of the split and also because I have certain specific problems with the ending which I discussed before (though the "domestic" version of Bill, from the clips I've seen from the second half, doesn't seem to be quite as much of a "nice guy" as he seemed in the script), but my boycott never extended to renting it. Also, I just wasn't that interested in paying $21 Canadian to see both halves at the theatre because it seemed like too much of an exercise in overkill and a homage to movies I'm not into, and my sister, who has seen it, agrees (though my brother, John, likes it, but he's a film student and is big on cinematography and set design). On DVD, if I get bored, I can skip ahead. I'm also giving it a chance because:

1. I had a dream over the weekend where I watched Kill Bill and liked it, and
   
2. God help me, I like the intentional cheesiness of the TV spot for the second half with Uma Thurman as "The Bride"/"bleep"/Beatrix Kiddo/"Black Mamba" is driving the Pussy Wagon talking out loud to no one in particular about how many people she killed to get closer to finding Bill. It's honestly the first piece of footage associated with the film that made me reconsider my boycott.

I'm giving Kill Bill the fair chance I didn't give it last fall in theatres, but it's gotta knock my socks off for me to pay to see the second half over the weekend, otherwise, I'll just see The Punisher instead.

Also, on Monday, I bought Urusei Yatsura: Only You and You're Under Arrest volume 4 with my GST/PST sales tax rebate cheque, so you can expect reviews of them sooner or later; the Only You review, I'll probably just put in my RottenTomatoes.com journal since Anime News Network has posted a review of it already, but I noticed they don't have any reviews of You're Under Arrest whatsoever, so I may work on that one first and submit it and see what happens. But I'm a bad procrastinator, and I'm still working on my review of Super GALS! volume 4.

As a bonus, I've reposted my review of the first three volumes of You're Under Arrest here, and here's my review of Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer.

Also, I bought the first volume of the Planetes manga by Makoto Yukimura in French from Panini Comics (hmm... I didn't know the sticker guys also now translate Japanese comics). I was waiting for the English version from Tokyopop, since English is my first language and also since this is one of the more expensive French mangas and the Tokyopop version is several dollars cheaper, but it still hasn't shown up at the downtown Montreal Chapters. This manga has lovely artwork and is about the camaraderie of people whom work together, with the workplace here being in orbit, sucking up pieces of space junk so that they don't smash the space planes, because even a simple screw can do great damage at 8 kilometres a second. I've said it before, but it's really pretty much like Patlabor in space, alternating in tone between being a comedy and being a drama. It's a seinen title, for adult male readers, but I only mean it's mature in the sense that it's for intelligent adults... there's no sex and the deaths in this volume aren't from fighting. I've only read half of it, so I won't do a full review of it right now, but I suggest you should pick it up if you see it.

posted by Steve Brandon @ 7:14 AM