Review: The Shadowless Sword (2005)

The Shadowless Sword is a bit of a conundrum.  It has ever appearance of being a classic wuxia film.  A historical epic taken from Chinese history.  Lots of action and swordplay.  Heroes and villians with skills bordering on magic, and at the heart of it all a tragic love story.  So imagine my surprise to find out that despite all this (and being filmed in China to boot), this is actually a Korean movie.  Perhaps this is more common than I thought, but I must say the Koreans did a damned fine job  on this one.

Based on the struggle between the Balhae and Khitan kingdoms in the 10th century, the story concerns the efforts of  Yeon Soha  to bring Prince Jeonghyun back from exile to re-establish the kingdom of Balhae.  Now a petty criminal, Prince Jeonghyun  is the last remaining member of the Royal Family to escape assassination by the notorious Killer Blade Army.  While the Killer Blade Army is working for the Khitan, it's leader has a much more personal grudge against the Royal Family, which sets him at odds with his employers, who wish to use Jeonghyun as a puppet king.

Intrigue and history aside, the movie is a classic quest tale, with  Jeonghjyun and Yeon Soha's journey from exile to the headquarters of the Balhae forces mirroring an internal journey from vagabond to king, and from antogonistic strangers to lovers, all the while fighting, evading and/or fleeing from the Killer Blade Army.

This movie rocks for to major reasons.  Number one is that it looks amazing!  The scenery, the sets, the costumes and the actors are all a treat to watch.  I'm guessing that this morning probably cost a fraction of  a comparable American epic would cost, and yet you could put this side by side with any one of them without shame.  Seriously, it looks that good.  The second reason is that the action is brilliant.  Sure, there's the obligatory wire-work, and sure, there's times when it all becomes a little implausible, but even those moments are done with such conviction and style that they actually work.  The centrepiece fight scenes take place between Yeon Soha and Mae Yung-ok (the second in command of the Killer Blade Army), and they are almost hypnotic to watch--a combination of kung-fu, swordplay, and ballet.

The climax manages to evoke both tragedy and pathos, without straying into maudlin.  More Hero than House Of Flying Daggers, and very satisfying within the story.  If you think that the wuxia genre in the west peaked with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then you need to see this movie.  Seriously.  See it.

Tapping The Ether- 20th Anniversary Hooded Sweatshirt from Zazzle.com

Tapping The Ether- 20th Anniversary by ethertap
Create customized t shirts using zazzle

There's also a new "morphing" coffee mug available. The mug is all black until hot liquid is added, at which point the background fades to white to reveal the Tapping The Ether anniversary design:

Lacuna Coil: I Won't Tell You

Lacuna Coil - I Wont Tell You

Part of our history

I AM THE BLAWG: OZZY & JUDAS PRIEST ON TRIAL

The guys over at metal sucks have posted a story about the "suicide' trials that plagued both Ozzy and Judas Priest.  This was an important event in metal history, although not many seem to remember it these days.

Head over there and check it out.

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Review: Dead Snow

I have a confession to make--I'm not a big fan of zombie flicks.  There are exceptions, of course--Versus and Junk are two of my favourites, and of course Shaun Of The Dead is a classic, but overall I think post Romero zombie flickds tend to be formuliac to the point of tedium.  So even before I hit play, Norwegian zombie opus "Dead Snow" (Dod Sno) was at a disadvantage.  A couple of hours later the movie ends and I'm kind of ambivalent about the results.  On the plus side, it had pretty likable characters, good pacing, passably stomach-turning special effects and a decent soundtrack.  On the down side, there were huge plot holes, and unoriginal (if competent) plot, and for a movie billed as a horror-comedy*, virtually no laughs.

Heres the plot in a nutshell:  A group of students head to an isolated cabin in the mountains for a weekend of skiiing, drinking and general carrying on. A crusty old man shows up unannounced to convey the story of WW2 horrors and an evil "presence" before heading back to his tent to get slaughtered by undead nazi soldiers. While one of the students heads off to search for his girlfriend (who was making her own way to the cabin but was sidetracked by becoming lunch for the zombies).  While he's gone, the others find a box of WW2 loot hidden under the floorboard.  Unlike the audience (who likely figured it out after about 30 seconds), the students are oblivious that their find will summon legions of dead to the cabin.  After the first attack they decide to split up (of course) and try and find help.  Meanwhile the boyfriend finds the old codger's corpse, the secret lair of the zombies and his girlfriend's head in quick succession before heading back to join the fight.

That's enough to give you an idea--you can probably guess the rest by piecing together every zombie movie cliche ever committed to film.  Like I said, it's not a bad film, nor is it a great film.  If you're a zombie fan, you'll likely find it a worthy addition to the canon.  If you aren't, it's not going to change your mind.  Might make a decent double feature with the underappreciated "The Bunker" if you want to invite a bunch of friends over for pizza and beer

Bottom line:  Better than I thought it would be, not quite as good as I'd hoped it would be.

The Opening Ceremonies: A Comment

If you watched the Olympic ceremony last night, you'll notice a distince lack of the promised Rush performance. Rush were definitely there--BBC America apparently interviewed them at the venue the day before the show. But....but....oh screw it: I'll let the rushisaband guys break the news:

"Well, obviously no Rush tonight. Notice how the show was themed around the different provinces of Canada moving from east to west? Also notice how Ontario and the Great Lakes region were skipped over? What I'm now hearing is that this portion of the show was scrubbed due to nature of today's tragic events. Apparently it had a full rock and roll metropolitan vibe to it and was cut for sensitivity. The word is now that Rush may tentatively play at the closing ceremony. Sorry everybody - I'm as pissed off as you are."

I don't blame him. While I thought the tributes to the luge guy were beautiful, moving, and were handled very well, any moron who thought that it was appropriate or necessary to remove an entire province and it's music from the programme because of "sensitively" issues needs to find someone with a crowbar to help pry their head out of their ass.

R.I.P. Tony Taylor, former singer for Twisted Tower Dire

Twisted Tower Dire was one of those bands I'd heard of, but never got a chance to hear. However, that doesn't make this news any less sad. Tony Taylor died in a motorcycle accident in Naples, Florida on the 6th of February. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Our condolences to his family and friends. The full story can be found here:

Former lead singer of 90s band dies in motorcycle crash - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

"The Last Airbender" Trailer

Some more eye-candy.  This movie is either going to rock, or it's going to bite donkey scrotes.  Given the director's past record I wouldn't bet either way, but then again I loved The Village and even his most diehard fans hated it, so what do I know?

Katatonia -- Deliberation

From their album The Great Cold Distance, this is the video for Katatonia's "Deliberation".  The song is amazing, and I regret having missed the album when it first came out.  The video is well-executed too--vaguely disturbing without resorting to anything graphic.  Enjoy!

Katatonia - Deliberation

House Of Flying Daggers (2004)

I never got to see it when it first came out, but I watched Zhang Yimou's House Of Flying Daggers last night. This came out in the wake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,  and Hero, and it falls somewhere in between the two.  It lacks the grandiose battle scenes of Hero, while it also eschews the completely over the top fight scenes of Crouching Tiger.  Unlike the other two movies, House... is more of a romance story than an martial arts movie, which means that it does drag at times.

On the plus side, the cinematography is wonderful.  The use of colour, costume and setting is used to full advantage.  Also, since the heroine is portrayed as blind, sound plays a large part in the film--something that is both unusual for this kind of film and adds a delightful dimension to the experience.  The story has a very Shakespearian feel to it, which for the most part is a good thing (exceptions to follow).

On the down side, the love scenes are very heavy handed-intense, but strangely lacking in passion.  Also the ending is depressing as hell.  Not sad or melancholy yet ultimately cathartic, like Hero or Crouching Tiger--just depressing.  Much like a Shakespearian tragedy.  Adding to this is the fact that the romantic rivalry that leads to this depressing isn't introduced until very late in the movie, leaving the final duel without a solid foundation and leaving me with a feeling of detachment instead of the empathy I suspect was intended.

But overall it's a worthwhile movie to kill a couple of hours with, and serves as a reasonable introduction to the wuxia genre.  It has an added advantage of being a movie you can watch as a couple, even if your other half doesn't share your love of movies featuring wiry asian guys kicking the snot out of each other while yelling "Aaaaeeeeiiii!" a lot...