CD Review: Body Language

With the international explosion that was Fever, a lesser artist would try and replicate its success, but no one ever said that Australian singer Kylie Minogue was your average performer...

In fact for her newest album, Kylie dived deeper into the realm of techno, with more complex sounds compared to Fever's simplistic synth work. But it's Kylie who's the real treat. Her voice is smooth, sweet, and playful. In other words, she's in top form.

The album starts with the single, "Slow," a dance-inducing song that compliments Kylie's alluring voice. It's very radio-friendly, though I've yet to hear it on U.S. radio stations. It then goes through some fun songs exhibiting Kylie's versatility, like "Still Standing" and "Promises." "Secret (Take You Home)" slowly won me over despite the pseudo-rapping.

The next single from the album is "Red Blooded Woman." This is a hit-or-miss song, from what I've read. People either like or hate this song. I personally like it, but I can see how the "la la la" in the middle and the repetiton of the refrain may annoy people.

But the real highlight of this album is "Chocolate," one of the best songs Kylie's ever done. Its smooth rhythm and Kylie's sly voice melt together creating something sweet for your ears. (Sorry about that. Couldn't resist.) You'll want to keep coming back to this jem.

Unfortunately, after "Chocolate," I felt there were some of the weaker songs. I'm not saying that they aren't good. They just don't have the same repeat value as the earlier ones. Marooned near the end of the album is "Loving Days," a song that grew to be one of my favorite songs. While its composition is more straightfoward than the three singles, I could see this one have a home on the radio, but it seems destined to be ignored.

For U.S. listeners, we get two bonus tracks: "Cruise Control" and "You Make Me Feel." "Cruise Control" is a fun song that I enjoy listening to, but it doesn't break any new ground that "Secret" didn't already cover. (Hence it being a B-Side.) There's also a better version of the song on the "Red Blooded Woman" single. "You Make Me Feel" is about the only song that I tend to skip over. It just doesn't click with me.

There's also some enhanced CD material, with the music video for "Slow" and the live performace of "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" from Kylie's "Money Can't Buy" concert. (Now out on DVD.)

This is easily Kylie's best album since Light Years, my second favorite album. Not that there's anything wrong with Fever. I was surprised to find out that singer Emiliana Torrini helped write two songs. I had only recently heard of Torrini, thanks to the LOTR: Two Towers soundtrack. Anyway, if you consider yourself a Kylie fan, then you should already own this. B+

Ultraman Movie Update

The new Ultraman movie site has been updated with wallpapers, trailers, and a lot of Japanese stuff I don't understand. While the movie still seems to be called "Ultraman," the wallpapers have a subtitle of "Revival" which may be part of the title as well.

The Ultraman in the movie is referred to as Ultraman the Next, and the villain is Beast the One. From the trailer, it looks like an army pilot with a good family crashes into a red asteroid, which gives him the powers of Ultraman!

The movie is going to be released on December 18, 2004. Check out ultraman-movie.com for yourself.

In Ultraman Nexus news, the third Ultraman has been revealed to be Dark Faust, an evil Ultraman. Faust has a more traditional rubber skin look than Ultraman Nexus' armored form. He shares Junis' colors of red, black, and silver and has three horn-like protrusions.

DVD Review: Ultraman Tiga Volume 4

After a long delay from an original August release, I finally got my hands on the last episodes of one of the best Ultraman series ever made.

Presentation: G- Mislabeling disc two on the back cover. No booklet. The menus look the same from the last volume only with a gold background. This volume wasn't delayed so that FUNimation could do a good job on the packaging...

Audio & Video: B+ It's the same quality as the past volumes, so if you were impressed with them then you won't be disappointed with this one.

Content: B+ While the first three episode seemed weak, all of the other episodes are great. Ultraman Tiga faces off against "Evil Tiga," meets the original Ultraman, and there's a satisfying conclusion to a great series.

Extras: C- There's a monster gallery, which features monsters I don't think was even in this set, and "GUTS Top Secret Logs," basically Fox Box junk that gives you a sampling of what the English dub sounded like.

Overall: B FUNimation should be arrested for their cruel treatment of this set, but I'm happy just to have the rest of the series finally.

My Name is Modesty

I can't say that I'm a lifelong fan of Modesty Blaise, in fact I'm quite the newbie compared to my dedication to all things Saintly. I only recently learned about her at my local comic book store, where Jim Holdaway's art caught my eye: a huge blow-up of Modesty's face, splashed with red and black. It was the cover of the first of Titan Books' new collection of Peter O'Donnell's entertaining comic strip.

The stories are tons of fun to read, strips and novels alike, but what impressed me the most was that Peter, creator of Modesty, had written every Modesty story out there, barring the occasional bad movie adaptation. Here was a man who had total creative freedom of his characters and did what he wanted with them. Something all writers wish for, I guess.

Anyway, I came across a relatively new movie called "My Name is Modesty." Miramax released it just so they could keep the movie rights. It's a low-low-low budget film about a young Modesty who's working at a casino that gets held up, and through a card game with the leader, reveals her past while trying to free the hostages.

So, I've been tossing around the idea about seeing the movie, but two big things bother me about the movie. No, not the zero-budget. Remember, I'm a big fan of Doctor Who and Ultraman. Special Effects aren't everything. First, it's a prequel. I loathe prequels. Period. Second, there's no Willie Garvin. Who in their right mind would make a Modesty Blaise story without Willie? And third, the price for the DVD is 20 to 30 dollars! Three things I didn't like was prequel, no Willie, and price...

Maybe someday, Miramax will make a "real" Modesty Blaise movie, one fans can flock to and call their own...

Nah.