JDorama review: RH Plus
Movie review: Alice in Wonderland
Despite the movie being titled Alice in Wonderland, the movie is based more on the sequel, Through the Looking Glass. Alice had spent time in Underland, which she misheard as Wonderland, as a child. However, she wrote it off as sheer craziness and forgot all about it as she grew up. Years later, she happens upon the white rabbit and once more falls down the rabbit hole. There she finds the Red Queen has stolen the throne from the White Queen. Prophecy says that Alice will slay the Jabberwocky, bringing the White Queen and peace back to the kingdom.
The graphics for the movie are gorgeous. I really wish we had seen it in the 3D. I'm sure that tons of people have complained about the look of everything. However, I think it fits right in with the original story. Much like the black-and-white-to-color change in The Wizard of Oz, the look of Underland makes it clear that this is a completely different world where the usual rules don't necessarily apply.
I also found the acting to be superb. Matt Lucas plays both of the Tweedles. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to recreate each emotion, each movement for each of the characters yet still have the concentration to perform the lines properly. Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter revel in odd roles so they were a perfect fit for the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen. The real surprises come with the virtually unkown Mia Wasikowska as Alice and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Wasikowska manages to bring an innocence to the adult Alice while still giving her the backbone to stand up to authority. Meanwhile, Hathaway has this ethereal presence as the White Queen. I recommend everyone watch the bonus material. There is some great insight to how the actors brought these characters to life.
If you're not a fan of Tim Burton's style, then you aren't going to like this movie. But if you are, like I am, I think you will find it amazing and beautiful and one of his best works. (Just to note, I feel the same way about his Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)
Game review: Virtual Villagers 4: The Tree of Life
Virtual Villagers is one of my favorite games. The fourth game in the series is titled The Tree of Life. Your tribe (from the previous games) is sending out 5 villagers to check out some strange happenings on the island. Instead of randomly assigning you villagers, you get to choose your party. Once you arrive at your destination, you find out that the Tree of Life is dying. It is your job to figure out how to heal the tree. As usual, the gameplay has not changed. All of the commands are exactly the same as the previous incarnations of the game. However, this is not a bad thing. Experienced players can skip the tutorial and jump right into the game with no problems. At the same time, the controls are easy enough the beginners can pick them up quickly.
Besides, the best part of the game is the puzzles. Each version of the game gives you a variety of puzzles for your islanders to solve. It's usually something that will advance your tribe's abilities. For example, "build nets to catch fish" will help your villagers bulk up their food supply. It is so much fun to figure out exactly what you need to do in order to finish all of the puzzles. Meanwhile, there are still collectibles for the children to gather. I haven't finished most of the collections yet, but there is usually a reward once each collection is complete.
I would say this game is aimed at fans of The Sims or other simulation games. Though, if you really enjoy puzzles, you might like this too.
Movie review: Shrek Forever After
When we last left our favorite ogres, they were happily retired from royalty and living in their beloved swamp with their three children. However, Shrek has grown weary of the day-to-day responsibilities of being a husband and father, along with being a bit of a celebrity. After a hectic birthday party for the triplets, Shrek comes across Rumplestiltskin, who hates Shrek for taking the kingdom of Far Far Away from him. Shrek makes a deal with Rumple to make him an ogre for one day in exchange for one day from his childhood. Everything around him changes, and not always for the better.
All three of us enjoyed the film. As usual, the bounty hunter, in this case the Pied Piper, is the best character. We all giggled whenever he came on the screen. However, I am glad that the franchise has come to an end. I don't know where else they could take the movie without killing off the fun of it. Also, I'm not really sure that this is a "must see" movie for the theaters. If you are a big fan of Shrek, then by all means rush out to see it. (You probably already have.) If you are only a passing fan though, wait until the DVD release. You aren't missing all that much.
Movie review: Iron Man 2
Tony Stark, now publicly known to be Iron Man, has brought peace to many places in the world. Yet he still has a lot of enemies. The US government believes the Iron Man suit is a weapon and should be under their control. Tony disagrees and refuses to hand over his property. Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko, a Russian man whose father was wronged by Tony's father, is working on a suit of his own. He plans to avenge his father by killing Tony Stark. At the same time, the reactor that is keeping Tony alive is also slowly poisoning him. Never a dull moment for Iron Man.
First off, I'd like to address the major casting change. Rhodey, Tony's best friend, is no longer played by Terrence Howard. Don Cheadle has stepped into those military shoes. I was a little apprehensive when I heard the news. However, my misgivings were misplaced. Cheadle is amazing as Rhodey. In my opinion, he should have had the role from the very beginning.
Now down to the meat and bones of it. I'm not nearly as big a comic book fan as my husband is. While I usually enjoy a good action flick, I look to him to see whether the team has stayed true to the comic. The Iron Man team has done an awesome job and I really wish they could do all of the Marvel films. It would suck to have an awesome Iron Man movie but then have an awful Thor movie then try to smush them all together into the Avengers movie. (By the way, there are a few nods to other heroes...keep an eye out for them!)
So...go and see it. You won't be disappointed. Except maybe in Mickey Rourke.
Movie review: The Princess and The Frog
As a whole, I enjoyed the movie. Though I admit that I was waiting for the "poor black family" theme to bash me over the head. Luckily, that never really came. Yes, Tiana and her family are not rich and we see the juxtaposition with Charlotte's huge white mansion and her plethora of princess dresses. However, the messages are "You can do anything if you work hard" and "Don't forget what is important in life - loved ones, not money." In my opinion, this is what blasts Tiana way ahead any of the other Disney "princesses." (I actually find it kind of sad that she'll be lumped in with Snow White and Cinderella. She deserves better.) I would definitely recommend this to any parent with a little girl. Watch it together! You won't regret it.
PlayOn!
Around Christmastime last year, my husband purchased PlayOn a digital media server that streams to your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. I think they handle the Wii too, but I'm not positive. To be honest, I didn't pay too much attention to the Wii stuff since we have both a 360 and a PS3. We haven't really been using it a lot lately. However, last night, we found streams for both anime and jdorama. That means my daughter can watch Cardcaptor Sakura (which is impossible to find on DVD) and I can watch jdoramas without having to wait for them to download. Unfortunately, all is not honey and cakes. What PlayOn basically does is scour sites like YouTube, Hulu, and Veoh to find streams of the show you want. That means there can be a ton of pixelation and just crappy video. A good example of this is the opening to Densha Otoko. It was pretty unwatchable. Though I did watch the first episode of Papa to Musume no Nanokakan without a ton of trouble. It was broken into 4 separate parts so that was kinda annoying, but the video wasn't completely awful. I'll give it a few more tries to see how I like it for my stuff. Otherwise, it'll be relegated to anime only, which is good news for my daughter!
Game review: The Lost Cases of 221B Baker St.
While I was waiting for my laundry to finish yesterday, I decided to give one of the Sherlock Holmes hidden object games a go. Usually these are a little more difficult for a lazy Sunday afternoon, but I had faith that I could finish these puzzles without using my brain too much. I ended up being very surprised at what was presented to me. Instead of one big case you are trying to solve, The Lost Cases of 221B Baker St. is a collection of multiple smaller cases. In the sixty minute time frame of the demo, I was able to finish four different cases. Each case had similar yet different aspects. They each had a hidden object section, a puzzle section, and a memory section. The hidden object section was where you found your clues and, generally, one clue is messed up. This is where the puzzle section comes in. Sometimes you are piecing together a ripped up piece of paper; sometimes you are trying to slide a rock piece out of a box...each one is different. After you have found all of your clues, you move onto the memory section, where you figure out who is the suspect. Each suspect is attributed to a clue and it is your job to remember which clue goes to which suspect. You need to pick out the clue that has changed to eliminate that suspect.
I found the game much more interesting than other Sherlock Holmes games. There is usually a lot more exposition, which limits your actual game time. With this game, you can actually choose to play a version that has less dialogue. I prefer to get down to the game, myself. I can't wait to buy the full version of this game to see what the other cases have to offer.
Game review: Alice in Wonderland
A few months ago, I reviewed an Alice in Wonderland themed time management game. Despite how difficult that game was, I gave into my love for all things Alice and tried the hidden object Alice in Wonderland game. While the storyline wasn't quite Alice in Wonderland, it was very similar. Your character recently purchased a new house. In the basement, you find a portal to another world. In one of the rooms upstairs, you find a newspaper article about some missing girls. Much to your surprise, you find one of the missing girls in the other world! It is up to you to travel to the strange world and save all of the missing girls.
As should be expected from a Wonderland game, this isn't just a plain hidden object game. Some of the objects need to be put together before you can use them. Some of the parts for these 'bigger' objects aren't even in the same room. However, you do get slight hints when that happens. (The items turn red when you aren't in the same room as the object.) This makes the game a little more difficult, yet not so difficult that it is annoying. There are also a few mini-games - letters that need to be pieced together or gears that need to be lined up. (I fully admit that I sucked at the gears and frequently skipped that part.)
I love when games add little things like these to separate them from the run of the mill games. And I love it even more when they do it well enough to make the game fun and interesting instead of aggravating. I had tons of fun playing and I think you will too.
Music review: Ai Kago Meets Jazz ~The first door~
Now it is 2010. Four years after her big smoking scandal. Aibon has slowly returned to the entertainment industry. On March 31, 2010, she released her first solo album, Ai Kago Meets Jazz ~The first door~. The 11-track album is almost entirely in English, which was very surprising.
After listening to the album multiple times, it is my opinion that Aibon does much better with the faster songs than she does with the slower ones. "Sunny," an up-tempo ditty, is one of the best tracks on the album. On the other hand, "Blue Moon" makes me want to fast forward to the next song. And, of course, there is "Fly Me To The Moon," probably the most overused English song in Japan. Here's a note to any future Japanese jazz singers - Pretend "Fly Me To The Moon" never existed. We would all appreciate it. However, my biggest complaint is the background music. It sounds like she's singing in front of a midi track instead of a live band. I'm not sure if they mixed her voice with older instrumental recordings or if they did, in fact, record the background music just for her. I firmly believe that the bad songs on the album would have been a lot better if the instruments themselves sounded better.
It is impressive that Aibon took on this project. She has said that she's not particularly comfortable with the English language and singing in English can be rather difficult when it's not your first language. As a whole, the album is good. Even the bad tracks aren't completely awful. I hope that Aibon does another project like this. Not necessarily jazz, but something other than pop. Maybe she should try a big band album next!