Non-Japan ramblings

I've had some free time lately, since school doesn't start up again until Jan. 11th.

So I've been tooling around the net and doing some reading. I know I need to update this-here blog with stories from December - I'll get to it this week.

One thing I stumbled across over at the Oni Press community board was a discussion of the new "Sin City" movie.

Sin City is a comic book written and drawn by comics legend Frank Miller, who wrote the famous Batman mini series "The Dark Knight Returns." I'm a huge fan of Frank's work and "Sin City" in particular.

Robert Rodriguez, director of the Spy Kids films and the El Mariachi trilogy, is co-directing a live-action "Sin City" film along with Frank. I've been excited about seeing this film ever since it was announced. But I was BLOWN AWAY by the stills from the film, following Frank's awesome art style so closely. You can see them here. They are really quite something.

But then I was checking out all the nifty new trailers at the awesome Apple trailers page and I saw a link for a Sin City trailer. The movie looks incredible!!! Check out the trailer here.

It's so satisfying as a fan of something to see it adapted with care and an eye toward perserving the original impact of the source material. Wether it be a play, a book, a musical, a comic, a true story, a video game - whatever you're a fan of - if you see it made into a movie you want it done right - and "Sin City" looks like they're doing it right. I can't wait to see it.

2005 is shaping up to be quite a "Jason" year at the movies. The third and final Star Wars movie, a new Batman movie, the Sin City movie, an Elektra movie, a Fantastic Four movie - lots of cool fanboy flicks to keep me happy.

But just clicking on trailer titles I also stumbled across the following trailer for a new movie by the director of "Bend it Like Beckham." It's called "Bride & Prejudice." The movie itself seems like a silly Bollywood-meets-Hollywood bit of fluff, but the lead actress is the most beautiful woman I've seen in ages. She's incredibly gorgeous! Check out the trailer here.

I've got a bit of an Indian fixation going at the moment since I just finished reading Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel, "The Namesake," which is about Indian immigrants to America. Fantastic book! I really related to much of it, even though my parents immigrated from England, so I never was seen as an outsider based simply on my looks or surname. Together with her superb collection of short stories ("Interpreter of Maladies"), Lahiri is now an author I'll anxiously await news of each new book.

Speaking of good books, I'm about a third of the way into "The Da Vinci Code" and I must admit it's a compelling read - quite the page turner. I've heard that Tom Hanks has been cast in the lead role for the movie version that should start filming this year. I'll be curious who they get for the female lead.

Anyway, hope you're all having a good New Year so far. More Japan content soon.

-Jason