Top 10 Soundtracks of 2005

Anyone who knows me, or even looks at this list, will know that I'm very biased, but hey, it's my list, okay?

1. Revenge of the Sith
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
3. Munich
4. Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Goblet of Fire
6. Corpse Bride
7. War of the Worlds
8. Kingdom of Heaven
9. Fantastic Four
10. Batman Begins

Book Review: Dune The Bulterian Jihad

I remember when the first Dune prequel novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson came out. I hid in a corner of my college's library, hideously addicted to the book. While I never got around to finishing the rest of the "House" trilogy, I decided to read the first book in the next trilogy of prequel novels going even further into the history of Dune.

In the first novel, we learn of the Time of Titans, rebels discarded their human bodies and overthrew the current Empire, only to lose it to the computer evermind, Omnius. Now, Omnius rules most of the galaxy with only a handful of planets still free from its grasp. We are introduced to Xavier Harkoonen, Serena Butler, and Vorian Arteides, and the impeding love triangle that will probably cause the great split between the future Houses.

Stylistically, I'm very disappointed with this book, or at least with Kevin J. Anderson, who I've read other works from. There's a lot of repetitous exposition. If by chapter 10, you still don't know what happened during the Time of Titans, there's also a slim glossary of characters in the back to explain it even more. Also, most of the chapters are thin, averaging about 5 pages per chapter. And they jump around a lot. And it could have been shorter.

My only gripe about the actual story is that there's nothing new about this novel. Machines are logical, and can't comprehend human behavior. Blah, blah, blah. If Herbert the Elder had written this, he would have definitively come up with interesting views about subjects like slavery that are briefly touched about in the book.

But in the end, I did enjoy reading and kept reading it to the end. It is a great book for those who wanted to get into Dune but didn't like Herbert the Elder's intellectual and philosophical discussions. For those of us who like the depth of the original series, well... C

CD Review: Memoirs of a Geisha

To put it simply, the latest score by John Williams is the complete opposite of his previous work, The War of the Worlds. Williams returns to his more thematic roots while abandoning his usual large orchestra for soloists featuring everything from cellos and violins to the erhu and koto. This creates a more intimate sound, making it more fitting for a love story.

There are two main themes in the score. Sayuri's Theme, presented on the first track by Yo-Yo Ma, can be heard through out the entire score. It's a simple piece that builds with energy and emotion. The second theme, The Chairman's Waltz, is introduced about half way through and is more subtle than Sayuri's Theme.

Itzhak Perlman performs the Chairman's Waltz. Some may say that it's a bit of stunt casting to have Perlman and Ma working on this score, but they compliment Williams' music perfectly, and it probably doesn't hurt that they've both worked with Williams before.

Most of this score is very subdued. This makes for a very relaxing listening. With the inclusion of ethnic instruments, Williams has managed to create a sound very different than most people expect from him. Coming away from the movie, people may have thought that Tan Dun had done the score.

While some tracks still sound very John Williams ("Finding Satsu" and "The Fire Scene"), the whole score is a nice departure from the typical John Williams score. B

Movie Review: Godzilla Final Wars

In 2004, Godzilla celebrated his 50th anniversary by being in the last Godzilla movie that will be made in the near future. "Acclaimed" director Ryuhei Kitamura took over the helm from Masaaki Tezuka, who did the previous two Godzilla Millenium films as well as Godzilla Vs. Megagurius. Kitamura has an excellent sense of creating kinetic monster battles but most of the human fighting is stereotypical "guys on wires replaying scenes from the Matrix."

The plot is nothing surprising. The Godzilla series seems a lot like the Gundam series in that the people working on it would much rather reuse material than create new storylines. One could easily call this movie a remake of "Destroy All Monsters" with its cast of monsters and invading aliens.

The first hour was more entralling than I'd thought it'd be, given said reused plot, but most of the second hour has the human reenacting moments from the director's favorite action films. I also like the overall "international" feel of the film, that is, Americans speak English; Japanese speak Japanese, etc.

Also, the whole subplot with Godzilla Junior doesn't have a lot going for it, mainly consists of Junior, a Kid, and his Grandpa standing around. Another flaw is that this movie is over 2 hours, about a half hour too long.

Still, it takes too long for Godzilla to appear in this film and start kicking butt. All of the kaiju battles are loads of fun, and probably every monster in Godzilla's history makes some kind of appearance. Godzilla's new look shows off a sleeker design and the Big G shows everyone that he has a few new tricks up his sleeve.

Unfortunately, the new Gigan and Mothra have rather brief roles, though I like the idea of the two of them being long-time adversaries. Gigan's updated look is awesome, but he loses his head in battle not once but twice and that has to cost him some street cred.

Overall, this movie will become dated (if it isn't already) with its stylized violence, techno music, and monochromatic scene dressing. If you wanted to know what "Destroy All Monsters" would look like today, then this is your movie. It's a solid, yet repetitive, watch. B

CD Review: Intensive Care

Robbie Williams is back with a new writing partner, Stephen Duffy, to rock the world with his latest album, Intensive Care. If you didn't care for the softer side of his last album, Escapology, then the beginning of the album will not interest you. "Ghosts" sounds like it was taken from Escapology, while "Advertising Space" puts all of his previous ballads to shame. It's about how we let our most talented people go to waste thanks to commercialism.

The oddity within these songs is "Tripping," the first single. It's a bit misleading, since the song's very heavy on the synth, yet most of the rest of the album keeps with Robbie's typical rock band sound. The song can put off people with its overly-techno sounds and Robbie's high pitch singing. I know I was until I listened to it a couple more times and found how addictive the song really was.

The rest of the album is filled with the energetic, carefree Robbie songs that made him so popular in the first place. "Random Acts of Kindness" is a particular favorite of mine, and reminds me of the classic "Karma Killer." "King of Bloke & Bird" is the other unusual song with a two minute eerie instumental that closes the album.

Intensive Care shows us a more mature Robbie with ever improving writing abilities. While this album is nothing groundbreaking, it's still a great listen and lots of repeat value, and that's what counts in the end, right? B