Final Fantasy Agito XIII

Returning to our coverage of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, the third title in the series is Final Fantasy Agito XIII. This game is rumored to be for mobile phones but I suspect it will also be available for the PSP, but don't hold me to that as it's just a hunch of mine. The few scraps of media lead me to believe this title will be in the vien of Naruto as it appears there's 12 students in....Final Fantasy school. Perhaps we'll be see a trailer soon, for now check out the collection of images I have dug up.

TDK trailer

Hey kiddies why so serious?
http://atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm
Love that Joker >.<

Final Fantasy versus XIII Jump Festa Trailer

Plenty of Final Fantasy goodness from Square's Jump Festa this month. Below is the extended trailer for FF vs XIII. This title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series still remains the most shrouded in secrecy. In the video it states it's a fantasy based in reality....not much to go on there. Enjoy the video and the scans from PS3 focus mag.

Final Fantasy XIII Extended Trailer

Check out this extended trailer for FFXIII, just one of several games for the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. The game is looking great, we get to see more of Lightning and her gunblade. It's strange that the two trailers released spotlight her yet Squeenix reported earlier in the year that she wasn't the main protagonist. The quality of the in game video and the cutscenes seem to be getting more and more difficult to distinguish. And we get our first glimpse of what is rumored to be Shiva. The game continues to appear to branch further and further from a traditional RPG and more like an action title, only time and PS3 owners will tell! I forsee PS3 console sales to continue to rise as the A titles like this get closer to release date.

Cloverfield Preview

JJ Abrams Monster Mash is little over a month away but here's the first few mins to whet your appetite!

AVP-R Preview

Aliens Vs Predator was ok but there were some scenes that made you go huh?

Aliens Vs Predator Requiem actually picks up right where the first ended aboard the Predators ship.

It looks promising but I'm going in with zero expectations.

Enjoy the first five mins of AVP-R thanks to JoBlo.com!

Anime Review: Macross Zero

Back in 1982/83 an anime was created that to this day is my all time favorite, that anime is The Super Dimension Fortress Macross.

Macross is the story of a giant interstellar battle fortress that crashes on South Ataria Island in the South Pacific in the year 1999. For the next decade humanity attempts to unite under the formation of U.N. government and rebuild the ship.


This is where Macross Zero's story begins, 2008, the U.N Wars escalate and the Anti-U.N & U.N forces clash near the small South Pacific Island of Mayan.


The first episode of this 5 episode OVA,Ocean and Wind, introduces us to F-14 fighter pilot Shin Kudo. After being shot down by the Anti UN's newest fighter, the SV-51, he wakes on the Mayan Island (the island where the ocean and wind mix). He meets Sarah Nome (the hand guided by the wind),a shamen who can hear the will of the wind and her sister Mao Nome who seems to have a connection with the ocean. The inhabitants of Mayan are a primitive, tribal people that seem to live in peaceful harmony with nature and are unaware of the war around them. They pass on their traditions via the spoken word and tell the youth of how humans originally lived in the ocean and how when the aliens, "birdmen" came to earth.


Meanwhile on the Asuka II Aircraft Carrier Roy Focker reunites with an old friend, Aries, a cultural anthropologist he went to school with years ago. After her briefing of the discovery of a new energy source detected near Mayan, thought to be "AFOS", left behind by the the aliens aproximately ten thousand years ago the two catch up briefly. The next day Roy Focker is set to pilot the first live battle with VF-0, the first variable fighter!

Back on Mayan Shin spends time with Mao and Sarah as they each show him aspects of life on Mayan.

The seeds are planted.....

The peace and tranquility are shattered when Sarah foresees a violent wind headed for the Mayan Island and an arial dog fight breakes loose over Mayan between Roy Focker and the VF-0 and a SV-51. The first time you see the transformation of VF-0 will leave you speachless! The mix of cell drawn artwork with CG graphics is well balanced and looks fantastic!

Episode 2: The Stars on the Ground continues with the telling of the Mayan lore about Rooy Kanu, Rooylo and their children, how Rooylo left and the song of destruction engulfed the earth. The Elder tells the story all in the backdrop of a war that is enveloping the Mayan Island, high above Roy Focker comes face to face with his former flight instructor D.D.Ivanov who switched aliegences and joined the Anti -UN army. The battle is faced paced and very impressive, the detail of the fighters using CG is incredible. It's almost believeable seeing Roy's valkerie manuever thru the landscape, ailerons adjusting to change airspeed and altitude!

The battle concludes between the two in a stalemate while DD's wing mate, Nora Polyansky, takes on the rest of Fockers skull squadron. Roy finds shin and the two return to the Asuka II as the UN forces pull a large section of AFOS from the ocean floor. UN researchers begin to analyze the artifact and note the similarities with ASS-1, which stands for Alien Star Ship 1aka SDF-1.

Meanwhile Shin begins training as a VF-0 pilot under Roy Focker. Later Roy sends Shin on a mission to protect LaSalle while she visits Mayan to conduct further research on the island people. Mao and Shin meet again as he returns to the village. Later that night Shin is woken by the feint sound of a song, he follows the song into the forest to finds Sarah and discovers the power of her song...

Episode 3: The Blue Death begins at the sacred fountain with Shin and Sarah. Aries and her guard Edgard meet up with Sarah and Shin, Aries sees the stones with ancient mayan markings and recalls Professor Hussel Nakajima's notes on human-protoculture intervention.

Back aboard the Asuka blood begins too drip from the torso of AFOS, after some analyizing it's discovered it's the same as Sarah's.

Later that day Mao takes Shin on a snorkeling trip to see her "treasure", this visually impressive scene hints toward the connection between the cheiftan's story of creation and the evolving relationship between ,Mao, Shin and Sarah. Mao makes her feelings known to Shin in this episode when she kisses him. We also discover the treasure is the Shard of Elysium...the head of AFOS.

The Shard of Elysium activates and the UN / Anti UN forces scramble to retrieve the head and steal the torso aboard the Asuka II. During this battle Roy and DD resume their personal grudge match and Nora heads out to take the head of AFOS.

In a daring rescue Shin saves Mao and the head of AFOS from an Anti UN deep sea unit. Shin brings Mao back to Maya moments before the battle spills onto the shores, UN forces begin to evacuate the Mayan people as the battle rages all around the village. Sarah decides to test fate and runs off into the forest, Nora intercepts Shin as he tries to return to the Asuka II with the head of AFOS. The dogfight ends in a draw as both crash in the mayan forest and the head is lost again.

Episode 4:The Secret Forest Shin and Sarah are captured by the relentless Nora and the Anti UN forces. Aries is captured also and the three are introduced to Professor Hussel Nakajima. The professor explains the tale of the Birdman and the song of destruction. During their ongoing dogfight DD damages Roy Focker's VF-0 and he crashes the the party. Roy grabs Aries and the two escape into the forest. Shin and Sarah escape as well. Nora puts in a call to the Anti UN flagship to nuke the island.

Meanwhile the two couples wander aimlessly through the forest,Roy and Aries recount their memories from their past and wonder how the two would've been IF...

Meanwhile elsewhere in the forest Sarah and Shin spend the time consoling each other. Shin begins to understand Sarah's feelings toward life outside of the beautiful Mayan Island and reveals his feelings for Sarah. But the peace and beauty of the moment is forever destroyed when the island is carpet bombed by a squadron of SV-51's carrying hydrogen bombs.

Episode V: The Birdman begins with the Anti UN Forces retrieving the head of AFOS and capturing Aries and Sarah. Roy and Shin return to the Asuka II where the war between the UN and Anti UN has come to a boiling point. Mao awakes after having a transfusion using AFOS blood. The two parts of AFOS begin to activate and Mao begs Shin to save her sister.

Meanwhile Professor Hassel on board the Anti UN flagship pleads with Sarah to sing the song of destruction to end the war.

Roy and Shin board retro-fitted VF-0's and launch in a last ditch effort to save the women they love. The final battle of the war begins! Shin and Roy against DD and Nora push the limits of their skills in a final showdown in the clouds. Shin is able to reach the ship Sarah is held captive on but his Valkerie takes a fatal shot to the head and plummets to the ground below, Sarah cries out in distress and awakens the birdman. The two parts unite in the midst of the climactic battle and begins destroying all the large warships.Shin regains conscience just before plummeting into the ocean, and is astonished to see the legendary Birdman and Sarah controlling it through her song.

Does Shin save Sarah? Does Roy save Aries? Does the earth get destroyed by the Birdman? I won't ruin it for you, Macross Zero is another gorgeous addition to the legacy of Macross, all the aspects that made the original Macross a timeless classic are here, Valkeries, War, love triangles, music, and dealing with the loss of loved ones. Macross Zero does an amazing job of showing the contrasting beauties of a tropical paradise and the CG Mecha, which is also represented in both Shin and Sarah's views of the necessities of life. Each new Macross focuses on a different type of music, in M0 it's much less traditional. Sarah's song feels more ethereal than say Minmay, Fire Bomber or Sharron Apple. Regrettibly this is another great chapter from Macross that you will only get to enjoy subbed due to the BW/HG lawsuit. And the subtitles are garbage, this review may have some mistakes in character names because of the piss poor subtitles. The Story is fascinating and takes the evolution of mankind and blends it with Macross lore. It was also fun to see Roy Focker pre SDF-1 and another La Salle. I wonder if we'll see more of Shin or Sarah in the Future?The OVA is presented in 16:9 ratio, offers either english or chinese subs and the choice of dolby 5.1 or 2.0 stereo.

B-

Movie Review: Enchanted

Hey guys remember dragging your girl to see Transformers this summer? Well here's your payback!

As cool as Transformers was for guys seeing Optimus Prime transform and fight Megatron in the middle of a city while Bumblebee gets towed around by Megan Fox, women and girls will once again believe that there are princes out there and they can find their one true love thanks to this movie.

The movie starts out in some magical land where the fair maiden, Giselle, looks for her true love. In typical Disney fashion a Prince happens upon this lovely maiden in distress and rescues her....love at first sight yadayada yada. Well Prince Edward, chivalrous, strapping, and handy with a sword vows to wed Giselle. But what Disney movie is without the evil stepmother, and Prince Edwards mother Narissa isn't about to give up her crown so easily and devises a scheme to get rid of Giselle, push her down into the bottomless well!

Well there is a bottom. New York City. And not the animated kind.

This is where the story actually becomes bearable for men. What would happen to Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle or any of the other Disney Princesses in real life? The story suddenly becomes more adult when Giselle is picked up by divorce attorney/single parent Robert Phillip (Jack Dempsey from Grey's Anatomy). Robert finds Giselle roaming the streets of Manhattan in her ultra fru fru wedding gown and offers to assist her. Back at home Giselle meets Roberts daughter, Morgan. What Robert sees as a "troubled individual" Morgan sees as a princess. Giselle tells them she's waiting for her one true love, Edward, to come find her. Over the next couple days Giselle learns all about the "real world" as she waits for Prince Edward who heroically goes after Giselle and parades around Manhattan in his princely attire. Seeing Cyclops running around Manhattan in in his fru fru out fit waving his rapier around may sound altogether fruity but is actually very funny.

In Disney fairy tales love conquers all...but we're in NYC and those rules definitely do not apply and we soon see how Giselle's time in the real world changes this once bubbly, love conquers all, innocent maiden when Prince Edward finally finds his one true love.

Little girls will love this movie for the obvious reasons but there's also another, more adult story lined in this fairy tale...but like ALL great Disney movies there is a happily ever after.

Now bring on Transformers 2!

B

Movie Review: We Own the Night

We Own the Night stars some of Hollywood's heavy hitters like Robert Duvall, Joachim Pheonix, Mark Wahlberg and Eva Mendez. It takes place in the late eighties where Bobby Green (Joachim Pheonix) manages the El Caribe nightclub in Brooklyn. Unlike his brother Joe (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) who's the deputy police chief he's chosen a much different life, he lives for the excitement that comes with the nightlife, the women, the booze and drugs and the shady people who go along with that lifestyle. Bobby has embraced the lifestyle and is a shrewd business man looking to expand into NYC and shares his plans with the owners, a Russian family that he has befriended.
Events are set in motion when his brother raids Bobby's club in an attempt to catch a ruthless gangster who is frequently dealing there. Later a hit is put on Joe and is gunned down in front of his house. Bobby feels responsible and offers to assist in an undercover sting operation that his father is not aware of, the plan goes south and Bobby barely escapes with his life. Now Bobby must be put in protective custody until he can testify, but the drug dealing Russian gangster escapes and finds out where Bobby's hiding. After a deadly car chase/shootout Bobby decides to switch sides and joins the NYPD.
This sounds like an amazing story with plenty of opportunity for drama, but the movie dragged in many places for me, like the scene when Joe returns home from the hospital or the Q Motor Inn scene, the final minutes of the film were a snooze fest for me. I wasn't to crazy for the role Mark Wahlberg played in this movie, I liked his character much better in The Departed. Joachim Pheonix seemed more comfortable playing the club manager and did well with it but seemed lethargic and borderline bored playing the cop. He didn't seem very energetic by the end of the movie. There were some great moments of tension like the scene where Bobby is brought to the secret location blindfolded and the car chase scene with Robert Duvall but the momentum always seemed to be broken by Bobby's friends, Amanda or NYPD. A perfect example of the flow of this movie is at the very beginning when Bobby and Amanda are making out in his office, that was a great scene but was interrupted by the phone! Another thing, I didn't see the brotherly chemistry between Wahlberg and Pheonix either. And the surprise revelation at the end about who was trafficking the drugs was apparent from the beginning....to me.
C

Movie Review: The Kingdom

I dragged my wife to see The Kingdom, she hadn't heard of it, and if it weren't for word of mouth at work I probably would've overlooked it also. After checking out the 4 minute intro at [url=http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thekingdom.html?showVideo=1]Yahoo Movies[/url] I was really interested to see more. The story takes place after terrorist attack inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jaime Foxx) assembles a team Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and Chris Cooper and negotiates a five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the people responsible for the bombing. Once there they find their efforts hindered by the local protocol. With the help of Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhoum) the team begins their investigation.
I really liked this movie, it felt very similar to Black Rain, Cops/FBI go to Japan/Saudi Arabia to solve crime. Fueled by anger looking for revenge their progress is hindered by local authorities modus operandi. They team up with Masahiro/Al-Ghazi to solve the crime. This is not a bad thing as I really enjoyed Black Rain.The movies intro is interesting and helps set up what transpires next. The attack on the compound will grab the audience I guarantee it! The movie does a good job of keeping the audience on their guard, throughout the movie there's a sense of danger where ever Jaime Foxx and his FBI team are. The sets are very impressive, you'll be hard pressed to tell the movie wasn't shot in Saudi Arabia....if it weren't for common sense. The compound scene is eerily similar to many locations we've seen on TV that have been attacked by terroroists. I haven't seen too many movies with Jaime Foxx but I was genuinely impressed with him in this movie, Chris Cooper had a background role, Jennifer Garner more than redeemed herself for Elektra, one fight scene she's in was just as crazy as any fight scene in any of the Bourne movies, and Jason Bateman supplied the laughs and the horror....you'll understand what I mean if you watch the movie.The last 30 mins of the movie is balls to the wall intense! That's all I'll say, go see for yourself! What I really liked was the message that the movie gives us, violence begets violence.

B+