Profound Stupidity

A blog mainly about JDramas, Japanese Drama Series, Asian Dramas, Drama DVDs, mangas, animes, American Idol, Music, Movies, as well as life in general, by a dilettante, music junkie, workaholic, Otaku.


    AMERICAN IDOL  |  JDRAMA  |  IKUTA TOMA  |  OGURI SHUN  |  MUSIC  |  MOVIES  |  TWILIGHT  |  ADVERTISE

Monday, December 22, 2008

Ikuta Toma's two new Dramas - Maou and Voice

I'm absolutely thrilled! Not only did Ikuta Toma recently star in this suspense drama flick called Maou, in which he plays a detective out to fight against Maou (devil), the antagonist of the film, he is also slated to be one of the medical students in the upcoming medical mystery series called Voice.

The subtitles for Maou are here:
http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_63167.htm

Unfortunately, the series is licensed so we can't watch it on crunchyroll.

Here's just an itty bitty taste of who will play in the Voice TV series with Ikuta Toma (plays a doctor named Ishizue Ryosuke). The fact that they are using Coldplay's Viva La Vida is enough to keep me real curious. The flick is going to start on Jan 12, 2009.



Hooray for Ikuta Toma! :)

Labels: , , , , , ,

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Finally Watched the Twilight Movie

And it was pretty good, all things considering. I was quite terrified that the movie was going to disappoint me tremendously, with stale or overly cheesy acting, or scenes that didn't depict the book enough. I was surprised to find out that the movie actually did a good job. The baseball scene was as fun as I pictured it, and Edward Cullen was as charming as I wanted him to be. This is considering I wasn't a Robert Pattinson fan in the beginning.

Edward Cullen Cute SmileA lot of people argue that Robert Pattinson wasn't perfect enough, but I have to disagree profusely. First and foremost, note that he was perfect in Bella's eyes, not perfect in everybody's eyes. So personally, he was perfect in his flaws! The scene where Robert attempted to make conversation with Bella was pretty cute, or the way he was having a hard time reading Bella's mind. His pained expression was very endearing, and his short temper was also quite intense. The way he smiles is also adorable and I must say that I am now a Robert convert :)

Bella did a good job of acting as well. I imagined her to be like that: Stubborn, rebellious, but inherently clumsy and weak. And like her father, she has a hard time showing her emotions, so Kristen Stewart depicted it correctly in my eyes.

And Jacob Black? While I still cross my fingers that Steven Strait is going to replace him in Movie #2, Taylor Lautner was not half bad :P The only problem with Taylor playing Jacob, really, is that he is way too young, and since I always had a crush on Jacob in the book, I find it hard to translate it in the movie.

The way the vampires regarded Bella was pretty amusing. Alice's weakness towards Bella's blood during the battle was particularly humorous. The actress behind Alice really did a good job of making Alice as likeable as she was in the book. The human cast was also a very good bunch. They were very lively and fun. I surmise Eric's actor is going to be in Harold and Kumar 3, should there be one ;)



If I were to be nitpicky however, I'd point out several flaws and irks in the film:

1. The meadow scene was a bit too awkward for me.
The diamonds shining on Edward Cullen's chiseled, pale, vampire face were a bit too odd, those few seconds where they just looked at each other kinda seemed too forced and out of place.

2. The development of feelings between Bella and Edward was kinda hurried.
Somehow, Bella fell in love with Edward too quickly, but I guess this was because the movie could only be so long.

3. The action scene was as disappointing as the one in the book.
I hoped... no, expected actually, that the action scenes in the movie were going to be far more gripping and terrifying than how they were written in the book, but instead, I get this really short fight between Edward and James, which just showed the two snarling at each other. The blood and the whole crunch sounds Bella experienced were good, Alice breaking James' neck was pretty cool, but that's pretty much it.

4. Spider Monkey?
Nope. Didn't like that line at all. Haha.

5. Rosalie isn't pretty enough.

6. Jasper Hale = Edward Scissorhands?
Seriously, that look Jasper had during the majority of the film was a bit too quirky, if you ask me.

Jasper Hale looks like Edward Scissorhands

All in all, I'd give the movie a 7/10 :)

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Twilight Book 5! Midnight Sun

Okay, I have to apologize. When I posted the previous article, I had absolutely no idea that a book 5 was actually already in the works. It turns out that Stephenie was indeed writing book 5, which she entitled Midnight Sun. The book focuses on Twilight as told by Edward. Notice that I write this in past tense. This is because she has decided to postpone writing this book indefinitely. Why? Someone leaked out part of it to the Internet, leaving a distraught Stephenie Meyer to lose interest in continuing.

If you want to read the draft of book 5, she has graciously uploaded it on to her website. Click here for Twilight Book 5 - Midnight Sun. It's too bad really, since I think the book would have been a big hit. It has a lot of potential, and since it's from Edward's POV, I bet it is going to be a more profound read compared to Bella's POV.

I'm off to reading the draft and will come back for my thoughts :)

UPDATE: JAN 18, 2011: Still no word on Twilight Book 5 Midnight Sun over at her official blog. :( Anyone know some great Edward POV fanfics?

************* UPDATE: MAY 20, 2009 *************



Is it just me or did Stephenie Meyer just place the Midnight Sun playlist on her site just a few weeks ago? I don't recall seeing the Playlist section before, did you? If that is the case then I have higher hopes that Stephenie will indeed finish Twilight Book 5 Midnight Sun! Perhaps she's trying to relive her Twilight muse by posting that? ;)

Also, check out this line she said at the playlist page!

twilight book 5 is possible

WHEN/IF is definitely miles better than just IF. :)

Also, here's the midnight sun playlist:

* Monsters — Matchbook Romance
* One of a Kind — Placebo
* Animal I Have Become — Three Days Grace
* Na Na Na Na Naa — Kaiser Chiefs
* Hit the Floor — Linkin Park
* Notice — Gomez
* Bullets — Editors
* Glycerine — Bush
* Ugly Side — Blue October
* Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want — Muse
* MakeDamnSure — Taking Back Sunday
* Map of the Problematique — Muse
* You Make Me Smile — Blue October
* Paperthin Hymn — Anberlin
* Pts.OF.Athrty — Linkin Park
* Hemorrhage — Fuel

OMG! Hemorrhage!!!

Post a comment here to tell Stephenie Meyer to continue Twilight Book 5 Midnight Sun! Hopefully she'll start writing it again soon :)

----

Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Of Wii's, Plastic Guitars, World Tour, and Rock Band

Finally! The age has come when I can actually fulfill my frustrations as a band member! When the Guitar Hero first came out, my hands were already itching to hold the plastic guitar and rock it out but I'm totally glad that I patiently waited for the guitar + drum + mic set.

For all you Wii fans who are dying to buy one but cannot decide between World Tour and Rock Band, here are some pointer:

Guitar Showdown: Tie
The rock band and the Guitar hero World tour guitars have their own pros and cons, but overall they're both really good.

Drum Showdown: GHWT
The Rock band drum set has no cymbals. GHWT has. It's an easy contest.

Mic Showdown: Tie
It's a mic. What more could you possibly do with it?

UI: Rock Band (by a teeny bit)
A little easier to navigate, but hey, you can get used to GHWT's UI for sure

Extras - Song Creator: GHWT
The Rock Band doesnt have a song creator. Although the song creator isn't as advanced as we'd hope it to be, it's good enough to help you create your own song. I don't think you can include vocals in it though.

Gameplay: Depends
If you want the challenge of unlocking your own songs, pick GHWT. Otherwise, pick RB.

Reliability: GHWT (by a little)
I've scoured through several articles and it seems most of them think GHWT's hardware is more reliable. It makes sense since they started this plastic instrument biz.

Song List: Tie
Depends really on what you like but personally, both of them offer good songs with mediocre songs, so you can choose either.

Ultimately, I think your decision should come down to hardware reliability. You can buy new songs anyway, learn to get used to the UI, etc. In that light, I decided to buy the Guitar Hero World Tour set. And so far, I'm having loads of fun with it!

Compatibility?

In terms of compatibility, there is a big chance that GHWT Wii guitars will be compatible with Rock Band 2 Wii, so let's all cross our fingers. Unfortunately, the drum sets won't be such an easy deal.

If you really want the compatibility, you should choose GHWT Xbox or PS3 instead. Here's the most updated compatibility chart:

Guitar Hero and Rock Band Compatibility Chart

Enjoy everyone!

Labels: , , , , , ,