Movies I’ve Seen Lately

I thought I would do a post about some of the movies I’ve seen recently. I watch a lot of movies. Usually around three to four week. So over my life time I’ve seen an unbelievable amount. Here’s some the ones I’ve watch lately.

I saw this most recently. The story is about a failed real life plot to assassinate Hitler during WWII. The movie was excellent. Very suspenseful, even though the outcome is already know.

I saw Slumdog Millionaire a few weeks ago. It actually just won best picture at the Oscars this weekend. It’s a very uplifting  movie, but it also shows how hard life is for poor people in India. I’m really glad Danny Boyle won the best director Oscar. He deserves it. His films are always different and interesting.

Benjamin Buttons was also nominated for an Oscar.I enjoyed it. The story was interesting, but the ending was a little weak in the case of the reverse ageing process.

Red Cliff is a retelling of a famous battle from classic Chinese novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. It’s directed by the famous Hong Kong director John Woo. This movie was fantastic! The action and drama were amazing. The cinematography was breathtaking. This is just part one, the second comes out sometime this year I think.

Finally a movie that’s just fun. It’s been a awhile since Jim Carrey did a funny movie that was actually funny. I laughed many times watching this. Stupid, but fun.

Some More Manners

Here’s another train manners poster. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily bad manners of just plain dangerous to do. What puzzles me is the “Please do it at the beach”. I guess he’s trying to swim. This one’s not as successful as the other posters for sure.

Kirin Classic

I got this new Kirin beer the other day called Kirin Classic. I don’t know what really makes it different from the normal Kirin beer. I couldn’t tell the difference at all. Maybe they changed the recipe of the normal Kirin, and decided to do something similar to New Coke and Classic Coke.

Taco Spring Rolls

Yesterday, the wife and I invented a dish. At least we think it’s new. I had the idea that if taco stuff was put in a spring roll it would be very good. So we made some taco meat. We mixed in some cheese and some green onions.

Then we wrapped it inside of some spring roll sheets.

Then they were deep fried.

They were very delicious. We served them with guacamole, sour cream and salsa as dipping sauces. Here you can see the inside of one of them.

Try it at home!

MOS Mascots

Recently MOS burger had a little promotion where you could get cell phone straps of little mascots. These cute little characters represent different things on the MOS Burger menu, like the rice burger, MOS burger, and the hot dog. Very cute!

On a side note, WordPress just added threaded comments, so if you want to reply to a specific comment just click on reply under the comment. Then your comment will be shown offset underneath the first one. It’s a good new feature.

Lastest Gaming Fun

Aside from playing an incredible amount of Street Fighter IV (and completely sucking at online matches), I’ve also been playing a couple of new games for the DS. The first being Dragon Quest V.

It’s the first time it’s ever been released in English. Also it’s supposed to be the best in the series. I love Dragon Quest, so it was must for me to play this. The story follows the main hero from birth until adulthood. I think it’s a really cool idea.

The second game is Retro Game Challenge. It’s based on the Japanese TV show Game Center CX, which I wrote about before.

In the game you are warped back to the past to complete gaming challenges in faux retro games. The fake games are quite good, and could have been made into products of their own. There’s one Dragon Quest type game, a platformer, a Galaga clone, a vertical scrolling shooter, and even a Ninja Gaiden clone. I’ve actually almost finished the game. I’m half way through the challenges on the second last game. Maybe I’m a retro game master!

Girls Bar Pirates

I snapped a picture of this sign in Kokubuncho when I went drinking last weekend. I was puzzled by the English used on the sign. Are they pirates that hunt girls bars? What exactly is a pirates bar like? I have many questions….

Birthday Crab

Yesterday for dinner we had a special treat. My wife ordered a ton of crab off the internet for my Mother-in-law’s birthday. It was so super delicious. In the picture you can see around 2/3 of how much we had. I fact there is still some left which I’m planning on eating for lunch today. Lucky!

Hiro in Japan

Two weekends ago Masi Oka, who plays Hiro on Heroes, was on the popular Japanese TV show Mecha Mecha Iketeru. Supposedly he’s a big fan of the show, and wanted to do some of his favorite funny things on the show.

Basically they just tortured him the whole show. Like dropping a bunch of metal wash pans on his head.

Or tricking him into falling into a boiling hot water trap.

It was a really funny episode. Every time they did something to him he would pretend to get upset and scold them, saying it was dangerous. One of the cast would then apologize. He eventually got his revenge at the end of the show, by pelting Okamura with volleyballs until he fell into a river.

Kakuda Station

Here’s some random shots I took while I was waiting for the train at Kakuda station. You can see the sign that’s on the platform. It has the Kakuda rocket on it.

Here’s a shot of some wires. I was looking at it wondering why there are so many round disc like things on them.

Here’s a shot looking down the tracks.

This is what I do when I’m bored and I have nothing else I can do.