Because of the ban, or just in general? I can't say I'm overly fond of the bars or clubs here in Beijing anyway… not that I'm really a club person to begin with.

While you're not wrong, the Opium war was far more about Tea than it was about poppy farms in Pakistan. Tea was the big money-maker back then (worth far more than its weight in gold), but only grew in China. China meanwhile would only accept Silver in exchange for it (or at least, out of the goods Britain was able to…

Seems like any character that was in Jump Ultimate Stars (an actual official Smash clone featuring loads of anime characters) is fair game for titles like these, because the sprites and movesets are all basically there from the off.

New chapter is already out and has been scanlated into English, if that's your poison.

The order of the manga chapters and the anime episodes are not the same, maybe that's what you were thinking of? But yeah, you can watch them in whatever order.

Hrm, as filmmakers besides Oldboy they don't have a lot in common - I guess I meant more their appeal and the way they're perceived by most in the West. Chan-Wook's best films (Thirst, I'm a Cyborg) tend to not be his most popular ones over here, which is sad since as you say they're the ones that prove him to be…

There's no overarching story, really, and maybe two recurring characters, tops? It's episodic, so you can really start anywhere.

I think you're right, it did well at some film festival somewhere. Honestly though these days I mostly only trust Cannes, Berlin and occasionally Toronto. A lot of the other ones seem to trade awards for films being exclusive to them, or else have just lost all semblance of taste.

Is this only for new shows? Because I pity anyone not watching Mushishi's glorious second season after 8 years on break.

She really hams it up in this film, it's pretty cringe-worthy to watch. Not an enjoyable knowing ham-job either, like Brosnan in The World's End, Dalton in Hot Fuzz, or Bacon in X-Men First Class - just an embarrassing "let's forget she did this" phoned-in performance.

Is there a translation of La Compagnie des Glaces? Too much French genre stuff goes untranslated, sadly (Snowpiercer only got its graphic novels translated to coincide with the film, some 20 years or so late).

Temper those expectations. This is Bong outside his comfort zone, and there's obvious growing pains to be witnessed. Still, I hope he learns from them and produces a more consistent effort next time, as his track record in Korea proves he has the talent to do incredible things once he's comfortablle.

Bong probably just had trouble with dealing with as many new issues as he did here - a bilingual film mostly outside his native language, aimed at foreign audiences rather than Korean ones, adapting a French Graphic Novel that's too long for the film and unheard of by most... this film screams growing pains and…

Honestly this isn't a good example of a "critically acclaimed" film. Most reviews I've read acknowledged the same weaknesses people are pointing out here. It's disjointed, unsubtle, and inconsistent. It has some great bits, but honestly I'd lump it more closely with your giant robot films (even if Pacific Rim was…

As I see it, as someone who adores all three (Kim Ji-Woon's my personal fave):

The best Korean film yet made is Memories of Murder, almost objectively from a critical point of view. It's half the reason everyone rates Bong so highly. Not necessarily the most enjoyable, but its quality is unmatched in that region.

However…

This movie contained so much that was bad (Swinton's faux-Hunger Games silly nonsense, the obvious mouthpiecing for much of the film, the plot holes, the ridiculous ending), it had no right to be as good as it nonetheless was.

The graphic novel kicks seven shades of shit out of it, but that's the way of these things.

Doushi sounds like "Chosen One" would be the equivalent trope.

5 is a fantastic place to start as a newbie, and definitely doesn't take days to learn (it's nothing like Civ 4, or Crusader Kings 2 for complexity - many complain in fact that Civ 5 felt dumbed-down after 4, but it makes it very easy to learn and get into).

If you're really worried about complexity, though, if you…

They added a little sequel story to X in the FFX HD collection, and there was some weird radio play, or mini-novel, or something set after X-2 as well, iirc? One that pissed off every FFX fan I know who's read it, at any rate. So possibly the direction they'd take the X storyline wouldn't be all that great - if so, it…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fan…

Lots of coy dancing around the subject, basically. Localisation being worked on, it being designed with the Western market in mind, thinking about an HD release, etc etc etc.

But my mistake, the localisation comment was not accompanied by an actual announcement.