Diamond Dogs

Released in 1974, David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" moved Bowie away from his Ziggy Stardust persona and towards what would be his "plastic soul" period. As it is a midway point between the two, "Diamond Dogs" is a combination of glam rock and soul, with dark, bleak overtones. The album was originally meant to be from Bowie's ill-fated musical based on George Orwell's "1984", and therefore the feel is very grim and dystopian.

I'm a huge Bowie fan, but my favorite album by far is "Diamond Dogs". The intro track, "Future Legend" is incredible, and it's not really even a song. It sets the mood for the album excellently. The other songs on the album all work well together, creating a very melancholic feeling.

Overall, "Diamond Dogs" is the perfect album experience. It deserves to be listened to as a complete work, from the first song to the last, and not as a collection of random songs like many of today's albums.

いよいよ

日本でファイナルファンタジーXIIIが封切りされました。

USのバージョンは３月９日に封切りされます。

I don't want to wait...

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA) is by far the best animation series I've ever seen.

I had first seen it about 6 years ago, and it really impressed me, and had a tremendous impact on me.

For starters, the use of Western religious imagery was a great choice - it's visually captivating and a generally cool style (and this was before it was used in nearly all anime series). The concept of Angels as monsters was also very unique, and I'm a sucker for stories about an impending apocalypse.

What really impressed me, however, was EVA's focus on psychology. It was the first time I had seen such a collection of dysfunctional characters who were more or less responsible for the fate of the world. Watching the series from beginning to end, you can't help but be drawn into each of the characters' psychosis, and they all had such believable personalities. Much of these emotional problems seem to stem from parent-child issues, as well as gender relationship problems, and this is especially evident in the movie, The End of Evangelion.

Admittedly, EVA is very depressing and paints a bleak picture. While I really love this very hard look at humanity, I think it is a little extreme at times. I'm very attracted to sad stories because they tend to be more realistic, and while the emotional problems of the characters are very realistic, many of the situations in the series seemed to be sadistically designed by director Hideaki Anno to torture the characters. Regardless of this, the pacing of the show is fantastic as each of the characters start to collapse emotionally.

I can understand why EVA is still extremely popular throughout the world, and I don't think this will be the only time I write about it here.

El Topo

A cult movie made in the 1970's, El Topo is a movie I've been recommending to everyone and anyone. Granted, its not for all, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years.

As with all Alejandro Jodorowsky movies, it doesn't fall into any easy conventions, and is heavy with symbolism and allegory.

I'm sure Googling "El Topo" will lead to dozens of write-ups about it, so it's not my intention to compete with what are probably better, more intelligent theories on the movie, however, I have been thinking about El Topo lately.

Since it is divided into two distinct parts, I was trying to come up with an allegory that could link the two. The easy one is "death and resurrection", and El Topo getting Christ's stigmata fuels this, but I think you could say there is another, smaller theme: the transition from youth to adulthood.

In the first half, El Topo is brash and violent. He cheats and kills in his quest to be the best. His motives are driven by ambition and lust. In the second half, he is more peaceful and kind. His motives are born from love of the people he is trying to help. I think there is more maturity in El Topo in the second half. I'm not saying this is the main theme of the movie, though. I think the religious aspects are too strong, especially with El Topo resembling a Buddhist monk in the second half (and his final actions mirroring the famous monk who protested the war in Vietnam). I do think, though, that the theme of "maturity" provides a bridge between the film's halves.