Literature Review: "The Farthest Shore" (1972)

Two years ago, I discussed Ursula K. LeGuin's seminal "A Wizard of Earthsea," and last year, "The Tombs of Atuan."

This week, I wanted to take a look at the next book in the Earthsea Cycle, "The Farthest Shore."

In a somewhat surprising move, the second entry in the Earthsea Cycle has a new main character!  Rather than Ged from "A Wizard of Earthsea," we follow the action through the eyes of Tenar, a young Kargish girl who is the high priestess to the "Nameless Ones" at the titular Tombs of Atuan.

The Tombs are the center of religious activity for the Kargish Empire (one of the antagonists in "A Wizard of Earthsea") and feature several different faiths that seem to get along quite well.  Oldest and most sacred (but also neglected) is worship of the "Nameless Ones" and their high priestess is the "undying" Arha- undying in the sense that every time the incumbent high priestess dies, the other priestesses find a girl child born at the same time, while apparently becomes the new vessel for the "undying" Arha.

As so it was with Tenar, taken as a child and raised in this strange place by strange women for this strange purpose.  She loses her name (becoming the new Arha) and grows up a lonely servant of a mostly neglected religion.

Ged does show up, but only half way into the book.  He has recovered half of the broken ring of the archmage Erreth-Akbe is looking for the other half, hidden in the Tombs of Atuan.  Once rejoined,  the ring will reveal the powerful magic rune of Peace.  Arha/Tenar manages to trap him in the underground labyrinth but will he escape?  No spoilers but this *IS* the second book in a trilogy...

After "A Wizard of Earthsea," I found "The Tombs of Atuan" to be rather disappointing.

Like its predecessor, this is another coming of age story.  However, unlike Ged, Tenar is a victim of kidnapping and brainwashing and has no special powers.  Unsurprisingly, she has very little agency and spends the most of the book simply reacting to other characters.  In fact, when she asks to become an apprentice sorcerer, Ged shoots down this idea and she simply accepts his judgment!

So, why exactly would young girls want to be her?

The tone and feel of  "The Tombs of Atuan" are also vastly different.  For example, there's no exploration, and very little sense of the magical world of Earthsea.   In addition, the pacing is quite slow for most of the book.

Another area where the story is weak is that, rather than presenting a more balanced view of the Kargish, they are still portrayed unambigiously as the bad guys.  They worship the clearly evil "Nameless Ones",  They are okay with child slavery.  They even banned literacy!

Doing so, LeGuin turns them into orcs.

Of course, "The Tombs of Atuan" does have good points.  It's well written and imaginative and it does shed light on some of the events in the first book.

However, if you are expecting another fantasy adventure tale, you will be quite disappointed, as "The Tombs of Atuan" is more a psychological character study of a pretty weak character.  There are also some horror aspects, but frankly, this is not a frightening tale as I never felt that Tenar or Ged were in serious danger.

Let her be Eaten?  Whatever. 

TV Review: "The Last Kingdom" (2015-)

This week, I want to give a shout out to arguably the best historical adventure show presently on the air, "The Last Kingdom":

Based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Saxon Stories" series of historical novels, "The Last Kingdom" is a historical adventure television series that tells the tale of King Alfred the Great and the rise of England, as experienced by the protagonist Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a noble from Northumbria who became a Viking slave then son to his Viking owner then independent warrior.

Movie Review: "Masquerade" (2012)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to another overlooked Historical Drama gem film, "Masquerade":

Set during the reign of King Gwanghae, the fifteenth monarch of Korea's Joseon dynasty, "Masquerade" is a creative interpretation of the missing 15 days in the 승정원 일기 (Journal of the Royal Secretariat), based on the cryptic entry:

"One must not record that which [the king] wishes to hide."

Director Choo Chang-min spins the above quote into a fanciful tale wherein the King is poisoned and, fearing further assassination attempts, temporarily replaces himself with a physically identical acrobat and comedian, Ha-sun, for the 15 days while he recovers.

Essentially a retelling of the classic tale "The Prince and the Pauper," "Masquerade" is a fish out of water story where Ha-sun needs to quickly learn how to be a royal or all kinds of things could go wrong.  Additionally, King Gwanghae and his body double are quite different, the former being a tyrannical asshat whereas the latter is empathetic and kind hearted, so it doesn't take too long for people to start to figure out something is amiss.  Nevertheless, Ha-sun is able to make a mark on the court and even the King with his earnestness and compassion.

A lively historical film, "Masquerade" nicely balances drama and comedy without becoming overly sentimental, and includes some pointed shots at Chinese soft imperialism.  The production design, sets and costumes are first rate and Lee Byung-hun excels in the dual role of both King Gwanghae and Ha-sun, where he gets to show off his acting range beyond his typical gangster-type roles (e.g., "The Good, the Bad and the Weird").

So, if you are an East Asian history buff, lover of K-dramas or just want to watch a good costume drama, check out this film!

Movie Review: Cleopatra (1963)

This week, I wanted to take a look at the movie that has the dubious distinction of being the only film ever to be the top-grossing film of the year to lose money at the box office, "Cleopatra":

An epic historical drama focusing on the famous Queen Cleopatra, the film focuses on her machinations to maintain her power and position in the face of the imperial ambitions of Rome.   But how is she supposed to do so, with Egypt hobbled by generations of corruption and incompetence?  The young queen must rely on her personal assets...

Loosely based on history, the film begins shortly after Caesar defeats Pompey Magnus at the Battle of Pharsalus to end Caesar's Civil War.  Pompey flees to Egypt and Caesar pursues, only to find his frenemy assassinated by the Egyptians.

Thereafter, Caesar is quickly involved (in several senses of the word) in the power struggle between Cleopatra and her brother/husband/co-ruler Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator.  Cleopatra seduces the new leader of the Roman world and, after Caesar defeats her brother, bears him a son, Caesarion.

"A woman too must make the barren land fruitful. She must make life grow where there was no life. Just as the Mother Nile feeds and replenishes the Earth, I am the Nile. I will bear many sons. Isis has told me. My breasts are full of love and life. My hips are rounded and well apart. Such women, they say, have sons."

However, after the would-be king kicks the bucket (Et tu, Brute?), Cleopatra then seduces his old friend, Mark Anthony, who has formed the Second Triumvirate with Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, another of Caesar's generals.

Like the First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate, is an alliance of convenience that breaks down and leads to a showdown between Mark Anthony, with Cleopatra as ally, and Octavian.  At the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra inexplicably chickens out and flees, causing by her doomed lover to follow and abandoned his troops.

With a run time of over 4 hours, "Cleopatra" was an epic (in several senses of the word) mess.  Originally budgeted at $2 million, the film rapidly ballooned out of control.  20th Century Fox fired original director Rouben Mamoulian after 2 years, $7 million, and only 10 minutes of film!  Replacement director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was able to complete the film, sort of.

Mankiewicz worked to sheer exhaustion directing by day and writing by night, with little sleep.  The resulting movie is a mish-mash of love triangle, battle scenes and over the top grandeur.  "Cleopatra" has a stellar cast but Elizabeth Taylor isn't able to carry the lead.  For example, Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, was one of the most interesting figures of Anquity, a diplomat, naval commander, polyglot, and medical author.  However, not much of that background makes it to the silver screen.

So, if you want to see sparks fly between Liz Taylor and Richard Burton (they had a scandalous affair during production) or if you like old Hollywood Epics, this is an okay film.  Otherwise, check out a better and more accurate take of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in Season 2 of Rome!

Literature Review: "Shadows in Zamboula" (1935)

It's been a while since I've covered anything Swords & Sorcery.  So, this week, I wanted to discuss another one of best Conan the Barbarian yarns, wherein Messr Howard skillfully blends both Swords & Sorcery and straight Horror elements, the classic tale "Shadows in Zamboula":

"PERIL hides in the house of Aram Baksh!"

So exhorts an elderly desert nomad to Conan, trying to warn the barbarian against staying in a suspiciously cut rate tavern in Zamboula, run by the aforementioned Aram Baksh.  However, Conan  is almost broke, having already sold his horse, and has already prepaid for the room so...

I typically prefer the Conan stories with everyone's favorite Cimmerian as a wandering adventurer rather than as a king/general.  "Shadows in Zamboula" falls into the former category, which finds our protagonist once again somewhat down on his luck in Zamboula, a melting pot of different peoples:

"Here, centuries ago, the armies of Stygia had come, carving an empire out of the eastern desert. Zamboula was but a small trading town then, lying amidst a ring of oases, and inhabited by descendants of nomads. The Stygians built it into a city and settled it with their own people, and with Shemite and Kushite slaves. The ceaseless caravans, threading the desert from east to west and back again, brought riches and more mingling of races. Then came the conquering Turanians, riding out of the East to thrust back the boundaries of Stygia, and now for a generation Zamboula had been Turan's westernmost outpost, ruled by a Turanian satrap."

Conan doesn't have to wait long for his next plot coupon as that very night, the local cannibals attempt to ambush the Cimmerian in the room that Aram Baksh cunningly trapped to assist the cannibals but the maneaters end up on the wrong side of a broadsword.  However, before the barbarian can even the score with the innkeeper he has to save a damsel in distress and then open up a big can of whoop ass on some evil cultists.

He also dispenses some frontier justice on Aram Baksh before leaving town.

As befits a ripping S&S yarn, "Shadows in Zamboula" features Howard's vigorous and imaginative writing.  The story leaps from the page with only an economy of words.  Conan murders a bunch of evil doers and also proves to be cleverer than he looks: throughout much of the novelette, the barbarian is seemingly led around by his penis, but in fact is nobody's fool, which leads to a nice twist ending.

A fun, fast pulp fiction romp, "Shadows in Zamboula" is filled with action and has a nice blend of mystery, horror, dark sorcery and a bit of nudity.  A must read for fans of Swords & Sorcery!

Board Game Review: "Royal Game of Ur" (~3000 BC)

This week, I want give a shout out to one of the most popular board games of all time that also happens to be almost completely forgotten nowadays: The "Royal Game of Ur":

The Royal Game of Ur, also known as the Game of Twenty Squares or simply the Game of Ur, is a two-player turn-based strategy game where the players race to be the first to move all their pieces through and then off the game board.  However, this is easier said that done in this simple but elegant game that can become surprisingly intense.

On the player's turn, they roll four dice to determine how many squares they can move a single piece.  However, the dice are d4s (a triangular pyramid with four triangular faces), and not the d4 that are commonly used in RPGs today: two of the four vertex corners are marked with a white tip.  The number of white tips pointing upward equals the number of squares they can move a single piece.  This means a player can move 0 to 4 spaces, with the results distributed on a bell curve.

The game board consists of 20 spaces arranged in two rows of 6 and one row of 8 (looking like a deformed "I").  Each row of 6 is controlled by one player only and the row of 8 is shared.  Players must send a game piece through both their controlled row and the shared row before they can move the piece off the board.

The Royal Game of Ur, so named because it was first rediscovered by the English archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley during his excavations of the Royal Cemetery at Ur between 1922 and 1934, was first played in ancient Mesopotamia during the early third millennium BC and was popular across the large parts of the ancient world among people of all social strata.  In addition, boards for the game have been found at locations as far away as Crete and Sri Lanka.

This game is probably a direct ancestor of the backgammon family of games and was popular until late antiquity. At this point, it have may evolved into backgammon or may have been eclipsed in popularity by early forms of backgammon.  However, the Game of Ur was also brought to the Indian city of Kochi by Jewish traders, where they were still playing a recognizable version into the 1950s.

Modern replicas are available for purchase with an easy internet search.

If you'd like to see this five millennia old game in action, played by Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum, who rediscovered the rules of the game by translating in the early 1980s a clay tablet written c. 177 BC by the Babylonian scribe Itti-Marduk-balālu, check out this awesome video!

Movie Review: Hundra (1983)

Last year, I gave a shout out to one of my favorite cheesy 80s Swords & Sorcery romps, "Red Sonja".

This week, I wanted to take a look at another 80s Swords & Sorcery yarn featuring a sword-wielding female barbarian that, by contrast, had far too much bad to be So Good, It's Bad, "Hundra":

The set up is fairly typical for an 80s barbarian flick (e.g., The Beastmaster (1982)): Hundra (played by Laurene Landon) and her tribe are living peacefully when their village is suddenly attacked without warning by raiders, who slaughter everyone except the main character.  Now, Hundra is off on a quest for vengeance.

The particular twist here is that Hundra's tribe is all-female, and Hundra is the most all-female of them all, having never been with a man and being loudly misandrist (e.g., she berates her faithful dog for being male).  So, when she travels to the tribe's old wise woman after the massacre, she is taken aback when the latter tells her that she must breed to repopulate the tribe!

Of course, pretty much all men in movie are terrible, if not downright rapists, so, as you might expect, many of them die on Hundra's blade.

I wanted to like "Hundra" but it's just not good: the acting is terrible even for a low budget 80s Italian-Spanish production.  Laurene Landon is the only one who's even competent and while she makes for a striking and statuesque figure, Landon plays things far too straight for the film to have camp value.

Also, the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and the "humor" is often tonally jarring and out of place (e.g., random farting noises).  And the film is far too rapey for a rollicking swashbuckler.

So, if you want to watch a Swords & Sorcery with a strong female lead, go watch Red Sonja again (I've done so dozens of times and still find it quite amusing).  If you still have some spare time and are a completist of Swords & Sorcery films, maybe think about this movie.

TV Review: "I, Claudius" (1976)

Decades before there was "Rome," "I, Claudius" set the gold standard for quality historical drama.  So, this week, I wanted to give a shout out to one of the greatest TV series of all time:

By turns gripping and chilling but always compelling, "I, Claudius" brings to life the wicked schemes and dastardly deeds of those vying for power over the mighty Roman Empire.  Based on the best-selling novels "I, Claudius" (1934) and "Claudius the God" (1935) by Robert Graves, Emperor Claudius narrates an "insider's story" of the early days of the empire, from 24 BC until Claudius' death in AD 54.

After the death throes of the late Roman Republic, being beset by devastating civil war after civil war, peace has come to the Empire, or at least for the common folk.  For Augustus and those who seek to replace him, it is different story, being a time rife with an orgy of betrayal and murder, as well as actual orgies.

Based on history but not strictly factual, "I, Claudius" vicariously brings to life names and places from dusty pages of history textbooks, with a degree of creative license.

As with "Rome," "I, Claudius" focuses on the personal political scheming rather than massive battles to stretch the budget.   Indeed, there are no fight scenes of any kind.  Oh well.

However, the series does excel on the scheming front, covering dozens of characters and their changing fortunes over a century.  From aging Augustus to brutal Tiberius to depraved Caligula to the Hobbit of Emperors (i.e., Claudius being the most unlikely person imaginable to become First Citizen) to even more depraved Nero, the show vividly airs the dirty laundry of the Julio-Claudians.

Moreover, the lengthy, set-bound scenes give the series a distinctively theatrical quality which plays to the strengths of the cast, a veritable who's who of great British actors of the period, including  the great Brian Blessed as Augustus and Siân Phillips as the deliciously evil Livia.  Plus, there's evil rapey Captain Picard with hair!

So, if you are a history buff, a fan of political scheming dramas or just want to see Patrick Stewart wearing a wig, this show is a must watch!

Movie Review: Mongol (2007)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to another overlooked Historical Adventure gem, "Mongol":

"Mongols need laws.

I will make them obey...

...even if I have to kill half of them."

Also known as "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan", "Mongol" unsurprisingly covers the early life and rise to power of Genghis Khan (under his given name Temüüjin), who conquered the largest land empire in history.  The story begins with 9-year-old Temüjin on a trip by his father Yesugei, a Mongol chieftain, to select a girl as his future wife.

Although his father wishes him to choose someone from the rival Merkit tribe in order to make peace, along the way Temüjin meets Börte, a girl from another tribe.  Impressed with Börte's pluck, he picks her instead.  Shortly thereafter, disaster strikes when Yesugei is poisoned by another group of rivals.

This begins a sequence when Temüjin is periodically on the run and captured.  During this time, he becomes blood brothers with another young boy named Jamukha and Börte gives birth to two children of questionable parentage.  Eventually, Temüjin raises an army to unify all of the Mongols, and meets his blood brother, now a powerful warlord in his own right, for a final showdown.

While Genghis Khan is the national hero of Mongolia (where he is still revered to the present day), his reputation in other parts of the world is... mixed.  However, rather than portray Temüüjin as a cartoon villain or sociopathic mass murderer, director Sergei Bodrov instills sympathy and humanity, which is easier since the film depicts the period prior to Genghis Khan's major genocides and atrocities.

In any event, "Mongol" is a sweeping epic historical film, with beautiful cinematography, stunning landscapes, and powerful battle scenes.  There's plenty of carnage but the film is also balances with quiet character moments that give a sense of Temüüjin as a person and family man.

Blending action, politics, romance, and brotherhood,  "Mongol" is both a grand and an intimate movie that is successfully both entertaining and dramatic. 

So, if you're looking for a David Lean-style Epic that's also a not-over-the-top action flick, this may be the film for you!

Movie Review: Spartacus (1960)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to the film that set the standard for every big budget Sword & Sandal movie that followed, "Spartacus":

Produced and headlined by legendary actor Kirk Douglas and directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, "Spartacus" is loosely based upon the historical figure of the same name and events of the Third Servile War (73–71 BC).

The film opens with the gifted but rebellious Spartacus sentenced to death for attacking a guard in a hard labor mine but spared after Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus purchases the fiery slave for his gladiatorial school in Capua.  There, he becomes a skilled combatant and meets his love interest, Varinia.

Once day, two powerful Roman nobles and their wives visit the gladiatorial school and demand a pair of death matches.  One of the nobles is the general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, who would later form the First Triumvirate with his rival Pompey the Great and his political and financial client Julius Caesar.

The death matches upset the gladiators, who rise up and kill their handlers, and soon the rebellion engulfs southern Italy.  Spartacus leads his new slave army to early victory over the Romans, but betrayal forces a decisive showdown with new legions led by Crassus.

A thoughtful film, Spartacus isn't a ripping Sword & Sandal yarn.  Some of the proselytizing is heavy-handed, but the political scenes are handled deftly, as are the battle scenes.  The acting style is also a product of its time.

Overall, the film was a critical and commercial success.  Winner of 4 Academy Awards, Spartacus also ended the Hollywood blacklist when Kirk Douglas demanded that screenwriter Dalton Trumbo be credited under his own name and President-elect John F. Kennedy crossed American Legion picket lines to view the film.

So, if you're looking for an Epic in the old Hollywood tradition (Spartacus has a cast of over 10,000 and a 3 hour 20 min runtime, including overture and intermission), this may be the film for you!

TV Review: "Adventure Call" (2010-2013)

This week, I want to give a shout out to a hi*LAR*ious recurring sketch on "Limmy's Show!", "Adventure Call":

"Limmy's Show!" was a surreal and bizarre Scottish comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written and directed by Brian "Limmy" Limond.  In "Adventure Call," Limmy played Falconhoof, the host of a premium-rate call-in show, wherein callers attempted to work through a dungeon crawl similar to the all-time great text adventure game Zork, whilst being charged an exorbitant fee per minute.

The first thing that strikes most viewers is Falconhoof, who's dressed up like a Ren Faire reject.  He's quirky but plays it straight, and has to deal with all manner of strange and/or angry callers, which produces much of the humor.

Additional humor comes from the game itself, which is, like Zork, quite challenging, with players needing to say the right thing at the right time and featuring Permadeath!  Old School!

Here's my favorite sketch:

"Kill Jester."

Board Game Review: "7 Wonders" (2010)

This week, I want to give a shout out to one of the best board games of the past decade: "7 Wonders":

7 Wonders is a strategy, building and resource management card drafting game wherein players assume control of one of seven ancient cities, each representing one of Antipater of Sidon's original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

There are three decks of playing cards (called a "Age cards"), that are unsurprisingly only played in one particular Age of the game.  The Age cards represent different types of structures that the player can build to provide a resource and/or a mechanical benefit.  In addition, some structures are tiered to unlock further structures and/or mechanical benefits.

Furthermore, the each city has a different game board (called a "Wonder board") with different powers and resources that can affect a player's strategy.  Games are for 2-7 players and the player with the highest total of victory points at the end wins.

Winner of the prestigious 2011 Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel, as well as numerous other awards, 7 Wonders is well designed, fast paced (turns are resolved simultaneously and the game can be finished in less than an hour) and deceptively challenging: While the mechanics are simple (pick a card each turn),  the strategy and scoring are not.

At the beginning of each Age, each player receives a hand of 7 cards, dealt randomly, from the corresponding Age deck.  After picking a card, the players passes their remaining hand of cards to the player sitting to the left (or right depending on the Age) and receive the remaining hand of cards from the player sitting next to them.  This means players know what cards they are passing on and can influence the receiver's options in the next turn.  However, since players will be passing cards to the left twice and to the right once, they have more influence on the left neighbor than the right neighbor.

There multiple potential paths to winning, although some may be more efficient than others for a given civilization.  Players must decide which strategies and resources to focus on and which to ignore.  However, it's not always clear at the time what is the optimal choice or the what is value of a particular choice!

So, if you are looking for a fast, fun, challenging and replayable strategy board game (especially if you are a history buff), this may be the game for you! 

Movie Review: "Fire and Ice" (1983)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to perhaps the most ambitious barbarian-themed fantasy film produced in the wake of "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), the classic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn, "Fire and Ice":

In "Fire and Ice," the evil Queen Juliana of Icepeak and her sociopathic and totally not gay son, Lord Nekron, seek to conquer the world with dark sorcery by unleashing a seemingly unstoppable glacier.  As the glacier nears the last free kingdom of Firekeep, subhuman minions from Icepeak kidnap the scantily-clad Princess Teegra to marry Nekron.

Teegra escapes and meets up with Larn, a handsome hunky barbarian warrior wearing only a loincloth, the displaced survivor of a village destroyed by the glacier.  After Larn is knocked unconscious and Teegra is once again kidnapped by the subhumans, we meet the real star of the show, the mysterious badass who's so mysterious that his name is never given in the movie (although he's called Darkwolf in the credits)!  Thus, when we watched this flick in the ancient 80s, my friend Chris dubbed him "Cat Dude".

All we ever learn about Cat Dude is that he's a ridiculous badass and an unstoppable murder machine. While Larn is the ostensible hero of the film, Cat Dude is the one who actually gets things done.  

Things end up as you might expect from a Swords & Sorcery yarn (hint, it involves Cat Dude's axe and Nekron's chest).

"Fire and Ice" is a basic good vs. evil story and if that's how you judge this movie, it's not very good as the plot is straightforward and the second act drags a bit.  However, as collaboration between noted animation director Ralph Bakshi and his long-time friend, the all-time great fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, it's metal!

The film is basically a Frazetta painting turned into a movie, which is unsurprising since Frazetta provided the character designs and the fantasy setting.  There's many a mighty thew and scantily clad bosom to be found, and the flick is visually stunning, depicting a savage and primitive world filled with horrific monstrosities, weird and wild landscapes, lost ancient civilizations and copious amounts of dark sorcery.

Also notable is the film's use of rotoscoping, in which scenes were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels, as with Bakshi's earlier adaptation of Lord of the Rings.  This provides an amazing sense of realism to the characters' motions.

For comparison, here is actress Cynthia Leake:

And here is Princess Teegra:

So, if you want to see an epic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn featuring barbarians, buxom babes, and lots of things getting murdered, check out this overlooked gem!  

TV Review: "The Vision of Escaflowne (天空のエスカフローネ)" (1996)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to an epic animated fantasy series that's one of the best of the 1990s, The Vision of Escaflowne:

"Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a vision?

No, it was real."

Set on both Earth and a fantasy world named Gaea, "The Vision of Escaflowne" follows the adventures of a teenage girl named Kanzaki Hitomi, who has a mystic connection to both places.  Whilst in the middle of professing her love for the high school track captain, Hitomi encounters Van, the teenage King of the small Gaean nation of Fanelia, and a dragon.

After defeating the dragon, Hitomi and Van are teleported back to Gaea, where Earth and the Moon are visible in the night sky and where Earth is called the Mystic Moon.  This is the first clue to the viewer that the series' has yet to be discovered backstory.

Shortly thereafter, Van uses the dragon's heart to power up the eponymous mecha Escaflowne, just as the Zaibach Empire invades his country.  Hitomi and Van are then swept up into Zaibach's conquest of the rest of Gaea, meeting a host of other characters along the way, including a jealous teenage catgirl.

It's a rather punishing game to have a drink every time Merle says, "Lord Vaaaaaan!"


Despite the bishōnen aesthetic of the male characters, "The Vision of Escaflowne" has a clever and well written story, with surprising depth and dramatic weight and some unexpected twists, without veering too much into melodrama.  Plus, there's a good balance between funny and poignant moments.  Additionally, the series successfully blends different genres (e.g., High Fantasy, Mecha, etc.) and puts its own distinctive spin on things.

Also notable are the wonderful soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the eye popping visuals: this series is animation of a quality not previous seen before on a TV show.  The mecha design is top notch, including work from the legendary Kawamori Shōji of Macross fame.  There are also some pretty boss fight scenes.

A worldwide hit, "The Vision of Escaflowne" remains a beloved anime that is quite rewatchable more than 20 years later.  If you're looking for a fast-paced fantasy action anime filled with creativity, a wonderfully-fleshed out background and many well-designed characters, this may be for you!

Movie Review: "Hero" (2002)

Much like there were many Swords & Sorcery films released in the wake of the epic "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), there were a number of Wuxia movies at the turn of the century that sought to capitalize on the popularity of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000).

This week, I wanted to take a look at one of the better efforts, "Hero" (2002):

Very, very loosely based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King Zheng of Qin (who would go on to become Emperor Qin Shi Huang, founder of the Qin Dynasty) in 227 BC, "Hero" is a low fantasy historical adventure film by "Fifth Generation" director Zhang Yimou.

Set in the Warring States period of China, the story follows a nameless swordsman (appropriately named Nameless), a minor government official who purportedly has killed three assassins (Sky, Snow, Broken Sword) who have been giving King Zheng sleepless nights and caused him to take drastic security measures.  This gets Nameless an audience with the King and what follows is a cat and mouse game between the two, and we see various versions of the events (a la Rashomon (1950)), as the King drills down to the surprising truth.

Compelled to surpass "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (directed by Taiwanese multiple Academy Award winner Ang Lee) out of nationalistic pride, "Hero" was the most expensive mainland Chinese film to that date, with an all-star cast headlined by legendary martial arts star Jet Li and including Hong Kong staples Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, "Crouching Tiger" starlet Zhang Ziyi and long time mainland Chinese actor Chen Daoming.

"Hero" has solid wuxia action, especially between Li and fellow action star Donny Yen.  The other action scenes are more dreamlike, but are still fine.  One of the best parts of the film is the amazing cinematography, featuring amazing landscapes and gorgeous use of color.

However, the story has some issues, not the least of which is, without completely spoiling the ending, that this movie was unsurprisingly criticized in the West as being pro-authoritarian.  By this, I mean that, unlike the position taken by the film, the people of the Warring States didn't really have a sense of being part of one country at that time, while the film has a clear message of the importance of sacrificing lives and liberty in favor of central power.

Unsurprisingly, this is exactly the message that the Chinese Communist Party pushes.  And, as Director Zhang Yimou is a loyal member of the Communist Party, it's not surprising that he was awarded the prestigious position of directing the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Anyway, "Hero" is a fine entry in the wuxia genre.  However, take its historicity with a giant boulder of salt and it's better to enjoy the film as pretty but vapid entertainment.

Video Game Review: "Darkest Dungeon" (2016)

I wanted to give a shout out to arguably the best recent CRPG, "Darkest Dungeon"!

Developed by Red Hook Studios (the moniker being a sign of their Lovecraft fandom!), Darkest Dungeon is a low fantasy dungeon crawling and team management CRPG.  In terms of background, in the finest Lovecraftian tradition, The Ancestor of the player spent too much time delving into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, hordes of monstrosities were subsequently unleashed and now it's up to the player to set things right.

Dungeon by brutal dungeon, you direct a legion of adventurers to clear your blighted estate, often at the cost of the latters' lives and/or sanity, until you face the eponymous Darkest Dungeon.

Like the grim and gritty setting, this is a grueling and challenging game, in large part because, in the best Old School tradition, Random Number Generation (RNG) has a huge impact on gameplay!  More than once, a string of bad die rolls will turn the situation upside down and you'll be screaming  in frustration at the screen.

In a big departure from the majority of dungeon crawlers, in this game, much like a soccer manager, you are more focused on developing an entire roster of adventurers to meet various goals and challenges, as opposed to leveling up a specific party.  If you miss the forest for the trees, it's easy to get too invested in a particular  adventurer or group of adventurers, spending way too much resources on them.

Mixing side scrolling movement (a la Castlevania (1986), Old School!) and turn-based combat, tension mounts palpably as you explore various procedurally generated dungeons and the hordes of opponents whittle away at the party's health and sanity, not unlike Call of Cthulhu!

There's little hand holding in this game, and one poor decision can cost you, so you need to constantly pay attention (who's attacked so far this round?) or the situation can quickly devolve into a TPK!  Moreover, this is another way that the game punishes you if you get too invested- if a dungeon delve is going poorly, sometimes it's better to cut bait and run than risk ruining or losing one or more characters to death or insanity.

In addition, between the classes, their skills and camping skills, quirks, dungeons, monsters, curios, etc., there's a *HUGE* amount of crunch to absorb, so don't feel like looking things up in the wiki is cheating!  In addition, FilthyRobot has put together an excellent and informative series of class guides, beginning with the Abomination:

Overall, Darkest Dungeon is an amazing Old School game!  It rewards planning, preparations and smart play, but sometimes stuff happens and you just have to bounce back.  The art style is apt and the artwork is moody and evocative, as is the voice acting, and the attention to detail is superb.

So, if you are looking for an intense, Old School dungeon crawler that demands your best and keeps you on your toes, you'll love (and, at times, love to hate) "Darkest Dungeon".

Literature Review: "The Black Cauldron" (1965)

This week, in honor of Lloyd Alexander's birthday on January 30th, I wanted to discuss the second book in my favorite fantasy series when I was growing up, "The Black Cauldron" from "The Chronicles of Prydain":

taking place more than a year after "The Book of Three," "The Black Cauldron" continues the story of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper.

he's a little older and wiser but still gets constantly trolled by
Ellidyr, Prince of Pen-Llarcau,

Newbury Honor book

By "favorite," I mean that I liked the Chronicles of Prydain more than any other fantasy work in grade school, including the Lord of the Rings.  To me, it was far easier to relate to being an Assistant Pig-Keeper than a hobbit or a Dúnadan ranger.  Now than I'm older, I appreciate and respect LoTR better but Prydain will always have a dear place in my heart.

Speaking of both series, Messr Alexander has sometimes been accused of ripping off Professor Tolkien's Middle Earth works but, in fact, both Prydain and Middle Earth draw inspiration from a number of the same myths and folktales, most notably the Mabinogion.

"The Book of Three" begins with an orphan named Taran who is on the cusp of manhood and who yearns to become a great hero.  Unfortunately for him, he's stuck on a remote farm that's also home to his guardian, retired soldier Coll, and the great wizard Dalben.  Taran is rather full of youthful arrogance and more than a bit bratty and naïve, which sounds more than a bit like this guy:

While Taran is grousing and daydreaming, Coll puts him in charge of Hen Wen, the oracular white pig.  Unfortunately, that same day,  Hen Wen runs away, despite Taran's best efforts, because she is realizes she is being hunted by the Horned King, the war leader of the Dark Lord Arawn!

Taran heads after Hen Wen to try to get her back and runs smack dab into his hero, the High Prince Gwydion!  An unexpected adventure ensues and, on the way, he meets various companions, faces darkness and danger, encounters extraordinary beings and learns that "being a hero" is rather different from his daydreaming.

"The Book of Three" an epic story of the struggle against a Dark Lord but is also filled with understandable and memorable characters facing very human problems.  Like Ursula K. Le Guin's wonderful "Wizard of Earth Sea" (which I discussed last year), "The Book of Three" creates a brilliantly realized fantasy world yet the writing is also sophisticated and the characters are grounded.


Messr Alexander is able to retain the fairy tale elements whilst also giving us characters who feel pain and yearning.  The best and most touching part of the book, IMHO, is at the end when maturity begins to dawn upon Taran, who, when asked about what reward he would like, chooses to leave childish things behind and merely wishes to return home.



it is



Far be it from me to contradict Messr Alexander (the person who actually coined the phrase "High Fantasy"), but this tale isn't how I usually think about the term:
non-gritty low fantasy, I think - magic is rare and the main characters aren't super-heroic

The cauldron-born are indeed very memorable




first multi-part fantasy series that unfolded over a series of years

Here is the The Chronicles of Prydain segment from the excellent Lloyd Alexander documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQGPZt5Pc8

Literature Review: "The Tower of the Elephant" (1933)

This week, in honor of R.E. Howard's birthday on January 22nd, I wanted to give a shout out to another ripping yarn by the greatest of Swords & Sorcery authors, "The Tower of the Elephant":

adapted as part of the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.


owned by the evil sorceror Yara

black magic


mystery

Ahead of him he saw, looming against the sky, the Tower of the Elephant. He mused, wondering why it was so named. No one seemed to know. He had never seen an elephant, but he vaguely understood that it was a monstrous animal, with a tail in front as well as behind. This a wandering Shemite had told him, swearing that he had seen such beasts by the thousands in the country of the Hyrkanians; but all men knew what liars were the men of Shem.

gonzo, sci-fi elements

D&D adventure

meet up of PCs

Conan sensed the man's great belly shaking in laughter, but it was not derisive. "By Bel, god of thieves!" hissed Taurus. "I had thought only myself had courage to attempt that poaching. These Zamorians call themselves thieves—bah! Conan, I like your grit. I never shared an adventure with anyone, but by Bel, we'll attempt this together if you're willing."

compassion

Tears rolled from the sightless eyes, and Conan's gaze strayed to the limbs stretched on the marble couch. And he knew the monster would not rise to attack him. He knew the marks of the rack, and the searing brand of the flame, and tough­souled as he was, he stood aghast at the ruined deformities which his reason told him had once been limbs as comely as his own. And suddenly all fear and repulsion went from him, to be replaced by a great pity. What this monster was, Conan could not know, but the evidences of its sufferings were so terrible and pathetic that a strange aching sadness came over the Cimmerian, he knew not why. He only felt that he was looking upon a cosmic tragedy, and he shrank with shame, as if the guilt of a whole race were laid upon him.

Movie Review: 47 Ronin (2013)

This week, I wanted to take a look at a Flawed but Fun retelling of the epic true story of the forty-seven rōnin (四十七士 Shi-jū-shichi-shi, forty-seven samurai), "47 Ronin":

Based on the Akō incident (赤穂事件 Akō jiken), which is celebrated each year on December 14, "47 Ronin" is a fictionalized version of Akō incident that's further been reskinned as a Sword & Sorcery yarn.  This film follows the viewpoint of the fictional character Kai, a half-Japanese, half-English foundling who possesses certain preternatural abilities courtesy of being raised by the Tengu, which are Japanese spirits/demons.

Kai flees the Tengu and is found and raised by Lord Asano Naganori of the Akō Domain.  Although an outsider to the others of Lord Asano's household, Kai is treated kindly by the Lord and his daughter, Mika, with whom there's a predictable forbidden romance subplot.  Years later, Lord Asano is framed for the attempted murder of the rival Lord Kira (in real life Kira Yoshinaka was a high ranking government official rather than a rival lord) by witchcraft and is forced to commit seppuku (切腹, "cutting [the] Stomach/belly"), a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

Consequently, Lord Asano's samurai become ronin (masterless warriors), which drives the rest of the film.  Despite being specifically forbidden to seek revenge against Kira, the 47 Ronin (including Kai) carve a bloody path through anyone who stands in their way to avenge their fallen lord.

Overall, this movie is a mixed bag.  "47 Ronin" is serviceable as a popcorn flick and is a decent a Sword & Sorcery film, but there's no gravitas to the movie as there probably should be for a story (the Akō incident) that has become synonymous with loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor in Japan.    The plot of "47 Ronin" is pretty much by numbers and Lord Kira is a 2D baddie (the film probably should have focused more on the witch, playing by Kikuchi Rinko, who at least did a fun job of chewing scenery).

By contrast, Keanu Reeves' acting as Kai is, as usual outside of a few roles, is pretty flat and doesn't do a good job of carrying the movie.  The production design is good and the action sequences are fun but not particularly memorable.  Some of the CGI looks bad.

I think that the accusations of "whitewashing," which likely affected the film's box office performance, are overblown in this particular case: while Kai is the main character of the film, his actions and abilities are explained in the Sword & Sorcery context and he doesn't particularly overshadow the other characters.

If anything, this movie should have more fully embraced and explored the supernatural and eldritch parts of Japanese myth and folklore, which would have made the film more distinctive.

Movie Review: Ben-Hur (1959)

Happy Holidays!

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to arguably the most epic (in several senses of the word) movie of all time, "Ben-Hur":

A remake of the 1925 silent film of the same name, which in turn was adapted from General Lew Wallace's 1880 novel, Ben-Hur is an inspirational tale of betrayal, torment, vengeance and redemption.  A sweeping historical drama that also manages to be intensely personal (director William Wyler dubbed the movie "Hollywood's first intimate spectacle"), the film successfully combines period drama, action, politics, and romance.

Set in the time of Jesus Christ, Ben-Hur has a clever double narrative that begins with the birth of Jesus and follows the future messiah into young manhood before shifting to Judah Ben-Hur, a Prince of Judea.  The titular character is reunited with his childhood friend, Messala, who returns as the new commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem and who is second in authority only to the provincial governor.

Messala is eager to use his friendship with Judah to cement Roman authority, only to be rebuffed.  Later, the tables are turned after Judah's sister accidentally injures the governor and the spurned Messala sentences Judah to slavery on a galley and his sister and mother to the dungeon.  En route to the gallery, Judah nearly dies of thirst after being denied water by a cruel guard when a young carpenter gives the new slave a drink and stares down the guard.

After a twist of fate leads to Judah's freedom, he returns home and, believing his sister and mother are dead, challenges Messala to a brutal chariot race, where anything goes, including allowing the Roman to ride a scythed chariot!   The tribune's attempt to carve up Judah goes poorly and he ends up trampled to death by another racer.  However, before passing, Messala smugly tells Judah that "the race is not over" and informs him that his sister and mother are not dead, but rather lepers.

Judah brings his sister and mother to Jerusalem to see a young rabbi preaching peace, only to find that 1) the rabbi has been sentenced to crucifixion and 2) he is the man who gave Judah water years before.  Judah witnesses the crucifixion, learning to let go of his hate, while his sister and mother miraculously healed.

This is a monumental (in several senses of the word) film!  Not just worthy successor to the 1925 film, Ben-Hur was an enormous financial and critical success, the highest-grossing movie of the year that won a record 11 Academy Awards (Titanic (1997), tied the record nearly 40 years later)!

Intelligent, engaging, exciting, and dramatic, Ben-Hur has stood the test of time as a landmark film.  In the classic style, there's both an overture and an intermission, breaking up the running time of 212 minutes.  However, the movie never drags yet still allows scenes time to breathe.

Miklós Rózsa composed the longest ever film score, which remains influential.  However, there's no music in the dramatic parts (e.g., leprosy), relying on the strength of the acting and allowing the audience to reach their own conclusions, whereas a lesser film would use musical cues to tell the audience what to feel.

Ben-Hur also successfully treads a fine line.  The movie deals with intensely Christian subject matter, but director William Wyler succeeds in making a film that appeal to anyone.  Additionally, Wyler used Jesus sparingly and didn't show the face or voice of the messiah, only other people's reactions.  This allows the viewer's imagination to fill in the rest.

Ramming speed!

With MGM facing bankruptcy, the studio bet the house on this film!  This was most expensive movie in history at the time, with a final production budget of over $15 million (more than double what was planned).  It featured more crew and extras than any other film before it - over 10,000 extras alone for the stunning chariot race sequence.

MGM built over 300 sets (some of which took more than a year to complete), including the 2000 foot long Circus (i.e., racing stadium) and filled it with thousands of costumed extras, giving the film a verisimilitude that CGI simply cannot match.

Additionally, Ben-Hur was shot in 65mm, cutting edge technology for the time.  These wide shots, combined with the restrained use of close ups, added to the epic feel while also revealing a huge amount of detail, adding to the sense of realism.  The film also featured graphic violence for the time (e.g, dismemberment, trampled to death by horses, etc.)

It was a grueling shoot.  By the end of the production more than 1,000,000 pounds of plaster and 40,000 cubic feet of lumber were used.  With the fate of the studio on the line, producer Sam Zimbalist died of a heart attack from the constant and mounting pressure.

So, if you want to see thoughtful and eloquent storytelling that is both moving and uplifting, check out this all-time great flick!