I want a Muji Hut. Sure, it’s rather pricey at 3 million yen (around $30,000), which includes the construction costs, but still, I imagine this little thing somewhere on a mountain, to relax in. They go on sale this fall (Japan only).
Maki Nomiya is releasing a new record in her “Shibuya-kei Standards” series, in which she covers classics of the era — including some new renditions of Pizzicato Five track — and this one is perfectly timed for the summer. Vacances Shibuya-kei o utau – Wonderful Summer is set for release on May 3, and you’ll find more details, including a trailer video, in this Tokyo’s Coolest Sound post.
The Tokyoiter project just debuted two new covers by the YamanoteYamanote duo of Julien Mercier and Julien Wulff.
I love this illustration by A. Melicart of Min Min, a character in the upcoming Nintendo fighting game ARMS. Via this tweet.
I loved this movie so much back in the day, and watched it countless times. Watching it again now, it’s still pretty great, and features some really nicely shot fighting sequences — like the showdown at the end in front of blue-lit windows, with shadowy figures in combat, sorta like what we see in that iconic Shanghai scene in Skyfall. Maybe I’m overthinking it though, but I did get confused by the rules of the immortals — which I guess they ended up completely dumping for the sequel, and then the TV series. Like, if there can be only one, then why is it that back in the highlands they didn’t all kill each other — wasn’t that a gathering? And why did Ramirez train Connor, since there can be only one? Whatever, it’s a fun 80s action movie.
I can’t say that this is a really good movie, but I did enjoy watching it as a piece of nostalgia. I’d completely forgotten the story, and then I slowly remembered how disappointed I was when I saw it as a kid, that it introduced so many new characters, and quickly put aside the old favorites. I remembered the animation as being top notch, and although it’s definitely better than what we were getting on TV (I was an avid watcher of The Transformers cartoon, even though I never had any of the toys — I was a G.I. Joe kid), it’s not all that great. The worst though is the music, as it’s just stuffed in there with no care on how it works with the imagery — early in the film they use “The Touch” and it’s just ridiculously out of place. But like I said, as a nostalgic trip back, it was fun.
I remember super liking this movie back in the day, and that it was dark and weird. Well, it’s still dark and weird, and I still quite enjoyed it. The acting is a bit off at times — young Keanu is, well, young, and Crispin Glover over-hams, but in a fun way — but it’s still an interesting take on the teen movie. The most interesting character I think is the little 11-year-old brother, who is so incredibly evil and a jerk, but yet is compelling to watch. I guess 1986 was really the year Dennis Hopper went weird, what with his role here and in Blue Velvet.
I remember being quite interested in watching this Korean animated film when it got announced last year (even though I’m pretty tired of seeing zombies in whatever form of media), and then had sorta forgotten about it. I watched it the other night, and wow, this is a really good movie. The animation is really fantastic — super realistic, and I love the character designs, with sort of simple line work. It’s pretty dark a movie, with an ending that’s even more horrific than you’d expect. Highly recommended.
After binging season 2 recently (and loving it to bits), I just couldn’t help but check in on season 3 (even though these days I prefer to wait for a series to be done its season before watching it). The first episode was pretty good, but oh man, episode 2, with the return of Los Pollos Hermanos… I’m so fucking in.
I saw this stand-up special pop up on Netflix, and since I’ve found these two to be pretty funny in the past — mostly in cameos — I decided to watch it, and really liked it. It doesn’t have huge laughs, but I found myself constantly giggling throughout — I mostly like their laidback vibe, and the kinda stupid jokes they make (like the “OJ Joke Trilogy” bit).