Diversions to entertain you
Nogizaka46’s 30th single, “Suki to Iu no wa Rock daze!” and in English, “What I like is ROCK!” Kaki Haruka is its center. As a card carrying, 3rd Gen oshi it hurts that this is another single without a 3rd Gen center. The rate they’re going they may never get another center.
Anyhow, I’m not sure about the song. Long and monotonous. At least we get Mizuki in ponytail at the end. I’ll get back to you in a few months when this becomes my favorite song.
Wet Leg. Chaise Longue. Is this the song that made your summer?
It made mine.
I remember watching some of this last year. Maybe it was their other song, Your Mother. But this is the one that makes me rock out.
In college a long way back, a friend and I had the midnight slot at our university’s radio station. The Orb’s Little Fluffy Clouds was a track I loved to play. Somehow, it’s been stuck in my brain for years.
Fast forward thirty years (!) and you can find it on the YouTube in several different ways. I chose for you an analog vinyl record. Zonk out to it here.
Might as well get to the bookstore for the last time that I’ll see the Criterion Collection on sale to browse. I feel that in its next form it won’t have a movie and music section. I went all out and did get some BluRays. I may go back before the sale ends to see what they may still have. But for now enjoy this list of Criterion BluRays.
Sadly many of these I had on DVD. Damn you technology!
Macross Frontier is my favorite Macross, because the legs of the love triangle have two of my favorite idol singers in the Macross saga, Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee. Throughout the series, these two had really great songs to sing. Is there anything better than Diamond Crevasse?
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress is the film that came out just after the anime series. It was released way back in 2008 and was part one to a two part series to wrap up the Macross F saga. This was the film that sort of summed up the series. It did not do a great job at it. In fact, if you never saw the series, then you would be lost. It took all the story points of the series and condensed them. It took a few minutes from every episode, sliced them to form an incoherent movie, and let it run for about two hours.
I was really looking forward to this, but I was sorely disappointed. It wasn’t helped that the showing started with 10 minutes of a blank screen. Seriously, it was a mess.
1 of 5 stars.
With a title like Everything Everywhere All at Once, the movie better be epic. Yes, it certainly was, but also quite strange that it was at once intimate in scope. It went from multi-verse spanning to personal and family dynamics. All of it big and all of it small.
The movie stars Michelle Yeoh as a Chinese immigrant owner of a laundry mat. She’s got business trouble — the IRS is auditing her business records. She’s also got family trouble — a disappointed father, a weak husband, a daughter she barely understands. Worlds collide with lots of fun, weird, thrilling moments occuring. It turns out she is the One who can bring about peace among the multi-verse. Her husband is at turns suave, strong, engaging, besides his passive self, and wants to activate her power. Her daughter she still can’t figure out. They are all there to either save or destroy all universes and to either save or destroy their family.
The movie wants to reckon with the current situation of the world. Lots of disagreement. Lots of misunderstandings. It wants to reckon with a family’s disfunction. Much disagreement. Much misunderstandings. This movie is about both big and small things.
The way it all comes together is amazing. Kung fu action pieces. Hilarious alternate universes — hot dog hands and a raccoon version of Ratatouille. It’s the multiverse movie to watch.
Too be honest I teared up. It was really that good. Also, the return of Shortround, Ke Huy Quan, moved me. Where has he been? He was really good in this. Went from being Jackie Chan to being Tony Leung. For this 80’s kid, it was great seeing his face on the silver screen once again.
I am glad I went to see this film. I went in not really knowing much, which only increased my surprise to how good it was. It’s been a couple years since really wanting to see a film in the theater. I’m happy to have seen this one.
5 of 5 stars.
Wait. We got a Sakamichi group singing with Sesame Street muppets. Singing Sakamoto Kyu’s hit song 「上お向いて歩こう」or known in the west as “Sukiyaki.” Is this some kind of joke? Well it is April Fool’s day.
But this isn’t any joke. It’s Hinatazaka46 with Elmo, Judy, and Cookie Monster! Nice. I’m enjoying it. You do the same.
Actually, this is the second MV for Nogizaka46’s 29th single, “Actually…” It is released today, but this MV has only recently just come out on Sunday. If you buy the single, you’ll find another version — a 20 minute dramatic version. It was all drama to get us here. Ten years and they finally got some drama in the form of their latest recruits, 5期生.
So the original center for this single was to be one of their newest members, Nakanishi Aruno, who just joined at the start of the year. But then she was cancelled. In reality, some of her past social media posts came to light. They were pretty awful to say. Eventually, she had to go on hiatus to hide from the backlash against her.
This was at the start of the month. They had filmed the music video before then. And burned the CDs already. So therefore there are two versions for the title song.
It will be a while for me to get the CDs. I’m sore over how this release went down. Also, a bit skeptical of Nakanishi and 5th Gen. I do like the song, and I still love the group. Weirdly, I can’t wait to get the CDs in my hand.
Nogizaka46 going for the Showa vibes with a tinge of City Pop. I kind of like it. I wish they would do it some more. It isn’t the first time. It will not be the last. Maybe sometime then they’ll try it in their late night show, Nogizaka Star Tanjou.
Shinuchi Mai, as I have already said, is leaving the group in the next few weeks. The song was on Nogizaka’s last album. They released this video so that we will remember her. Last week was her birthday along with Ikuta Erika. She turned 30 which is a very rare age for an idol.
I can listen to this all day…
