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Mood: Raves and Rants

Good intentions

Posted 2002-01-06 (日) 午前1:13 by terra

I had meant to sleep early: my eyes are almost hurting because they are so tired and dry. Looking at the time now however — I guess not.

I wanted to mention something about this last year (actually, to be less vague, over a week ago) in my blog, but because blogger.com was down, I put off the update until I forgot all about it. Anyways, just wanted to say that I watched Miyazaki Hayao’s Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi last week in the best cinema in Singapore and totally loved it. I can’t wait for it to be released on DVD. I already have the Mononoke Hime DVD at home, so it’ll be the second Miyazaki film that I’ll purchase.

While we’re on the topic of Miyazaki films, My Neighbour Totoro was showed on TV on New Year’s Day morning. I only managed to catch the last half-an-hour of it. However, the version that was being shown was the Chinese-dubbed version of it, which as usual sounded awful. To make it worse, the broadcasters must have used an old copy of the film or something because the picture quality wasn’t too fantastic. The colours looked murky and the lines of the drawings were blurred.

Subjects: Film, Television & Anime 映像

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: anime, Avalon, DVD, Final Fantasy, Kawai Kenji 川井憲次, Lord of the Rings, Miyazaki Hayao 宮崎駿, music

I love the LOTR

Posted 2001-12-22 (土) 午前9:59 by terra

This is a bit belated, but I just have to say: Lord of the Rings, what a great, great movie. The best fantasy movie in years, and a completely different cinema experience from what we’re used to seeing. This should be what movie-making should be about. And the score, damn, Howard Shore, you’ve convinced me to buy your album. What a nice present to get for your family for christmas.

The only thing that marred my viewing experience was the horrible audience who couldn’t appreciate the subtleties of the film. This bunch of women at the back just couldn’t shut up throughout the movie, even in the quiet moments of the film. How unfortunate for them that they missed out on one of the greatest movies ever, even though they had paid S$7.50 and were propped in one of the best seats of the theatre.

Right now, I’m done with re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring and starting on The Two Towers. I have the Alan Lee embellished hardcover edition that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. I see the movie-tie-in mass paperback editions in the market right now, they just don’t do the book justice. Even though the prices of the hardcover editions have increased over the years (My book cost about S$70 four years ago, the same books now cost around S$105), I think they are a great investment if you can afford.

Subjects: Books 書物, Film, Television & Anime 映像

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: anime, Christmas, cinema, gift, Lord of the Rings, Miyazaki Hayao 宮崎駿

Xenosaga or Xenogears?

Posted 2001-03-23 (金) 午後3:10 by terra

23 Mar 2001, 3:10-3:30 PM

The Xenosaga album by Yasunori Mitsuda has been getting quite a bit of flak from fans expecting a followup to Xenogears. The following was a reply I made to a post in the Gamingforce.com forums titled “What is better Xenosaga OST or Xenogears OST?”.

Well in my opinon, I’ve been listening to the Xenosaga soundtrack for the past few days. And as an album, I prefer Xenosaga to Xenogears because the tracks in Xenosaga have more flow than Xenogears. I can say that this is partly due to the fact that Xenosaga was composed for the PS2 which allows for more performed instrumentation rather than sequenced music.

The Xenogears OST had some really fantastic tunes, the opening track, for instance, surpasses the opening track in Xenosaga. The bulk of the standout tunes were in the end of second album in the Id and final boss themes. But the soundtrack on the overall was uneven. In terms of game background music, some of the tracks are perfect, but when it comes down to the purpose of cd music, they are merely filler. However, the reason why I think people love the Xenogears OST (which I do btw) is because the music at the end covers up the deficiencies scattered in the rest of the album. I’m sure a lot of Xenogears fans put the last tracks (“Alpha and Omega”, “One Who Bares Fangs at God” et al.) on repeat mode far more often than the earlier songs in the CD. There could be exceptions I guess, but that’s what I think anyway.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: Creid, game music, Led Zeppelin, Mitsuda Yasunori 光田康典, Presence, soundtrack, Xenogears, Xenosaga

Achilles Last Stand

Posted 2000-12-25 (月) 午前12:00 by terra

Just today, I was feeling bored while taking a long trip to town in a public bus. So I plugged into my Discman, and played one of my all-time favourite cds: Led Zeppelin’s Presence. As the introductions to the first song Achilles Last Stand delivered through the miniature earpieces, several thoughts came into my mind. Although this was not the first time I felt this way, for some reason or another, this time, I felt the need to put down my thoughts into words:

Achilles Last Stand, is in my opinion, the archetypical rock song. It combines layers of magnificent guitar-playing, evocative lyrics, together with hard-hitting vocals and a rock-solid rhythm track. From the incandescent siren-like guitar solo, filled with Spanish-styled arpeggios, accompanied by subtle (yet brutal) harmonics and octaves… to the extraordinary paramilitary drumming - enhanced by the pounding bass line… to the haunting echo-filled vocals… It was the first real hard rock song I heard, the first song that really got me into the music of Led Zeppelin, and the first song that truly blew my mind.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: Achilles Last Stand, CD, guitar, hard rock, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Presence