Lucifer: Volume 02 (2001)

Children and Monsters (2001)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Dean Ormston | Page Count: 208

"You know how it is. You put things away for a rainy day [...] then you look up one day and it's raining Angels."

Volume 02 of 11 in the Lucifer series contains two distinct but interconnected parts.

Lucifer owns a Los Angeles piano bar named Lux; the irony of the location and naming amuses him because he's not without a Machiavellian sense of humour. 

In the four part The House of Windowless Rooms he leaves his precious bar behind for a time to pursue the next part in his great work, which requires him to speak with Izanami-no-Mikoto, the Japanese Goddess of creation and death. He'll be powerless in her realm, so must rely on his wits and his cunning to be his weapon and his armour. Shit hits the Japanese fan.

Boiling Point (1990)

Boiling Point (1990)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Baseball is a popular sport in Japan. Masaki (Yūrei Yanagi) is a batter, but he isn't any good and his level of enthusiasm for the role appears to match his level in almost all things, which is visibly nil. A chance encounter at his place of employment leads to him drifting into Yakuza company, specifically an impulsive man named Uehara (Takeshi Kitano) and his two companions.

Dir. Kitano's second film saw his style evolve: a method of humour that's deadpan funny without seeming to have any actual jokes - although the loose construction can feel a little like tactically placed skits, so may be off-putting to some folks. It's not an ideal first Kitano film, but if you've seen and enjoyed any of his later (middle period) works, it can be a rewarding experience. 

NOTE: the poster art used above has the film's original Japanese title, San tai Yon ekkusu Jugatsu (3-4x10月), which translates to 3 to 4x October (according to Wikipedia).

Let It Snow (2008)

Let It Snow (2008)

Authors: Maureen Johnson / John Green / Lauren Myracle  |  Page Count: 368

'It's such a disaster, whenever, in the course of human relationships, someone begins to chisel away at the wall of separation...'

A collection of three novellas, one from each of the authors mentioned above, with a different take on the theme of 'holiday romance'. The holiday, which you've likely already guessed, is Christmas. The individual stories are linked by location and certain events overlap more than once, so it's more like a novel with changing authors as opposed to a traditional anthology.

Appropriately, snow blanketed the ground on the three days that I'd set aside to read the book. My windows were closed tight and the curtains purposefully drawn to lessen the chill, but I knew it was there and I'd been caught in it a few times whilst out walking.

It may sound ridiculous, but I believe that being cold helped me better appreciate the situations that the characters found themselves in. I'd hoped for some emotional warmth from the text to counteract the chilly settings, and in all three cases it was delivered; although the levels at which it was apparent did vary from one to the next.

Stargate SG-1: Season 02 (1998-99)

SG-1: Season 02 (1998-99)

Dirs. Various | 22 episodes, approx 44 minutes each.

Season 02 continues the alien world-hopping adventures, but it also points its lens more at home soil than Season 01 did. We get to see the SG-1 team outside the base's walls. Whereas inside it receives a few unwelcome visitors.

The entire venture seems to have had a sizeable cash-injection, enabling a number of new sets and some slightly better FX than before. Of the new sets, the most visited makes much use of the 'corridor with corners' trick, but as a longtime Star Trek fan I'm well-used to that kind of thing.

There's a lot of new technology on display, too, some of which becomes a regular feature.

Now that the team is fully established, I can talk a little about their personalities, beginning with Colonel Jack O'Neil (Richard Dean Anderson).

Mayhem: Deathcrush (1987)

Mayhem: Deathcrush (1987)

Owing a huge debt to early Bathory albums, the first Mayhem E.P. has gone down in history as being the first commercial release from the Norwegian Black Metal scene. The eerie production makes it sound like hell is opening up in your front room.

It's full of screeching voice, fuzzy guitars, brutal bass and some early Black/Thrash motifs that would be put to better use on their first full studio album. Drums are by Kjetil Manheim, because Hellhammer hadn't yet joined. It's a classic and if you've any interest in the genesis and evolution of the Black Metal genre, then it's definitely worth your time.

Lucifer: Volume 01 (2001)

Devil in the Gateway (2001)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Scott Hampton / Chris Weston / James Hodgkins / Warren Pleece / Dean Ormston  | Page Count: 160

"Every time I try to improvise I find my moves were right there in the script all along."

Volume 01 of 11 in the Lucifer series. It'll help your introduction into the titular character's world if you've read The Sandman: Volume IV: Season of Mists (1992) previously; it's not an essential requirement, but it's recommended because Carey's version of the Miltonian anti-hero follows on from events therein.

The Dream King tried to find a balance but the Morningstar wants to upset the balance because he knows the balance is a lie. He wants to tear it away and leave a naked truth, one that's free to explore its own workings. But like the saying goes: as one door closes…

Violent Cop (1989)

Violent Cop (1989)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

In Takeshi Kitano's début feature film as director he stars as Azuma, a pissed-off detective with some unorthodox methods. Azuma uses violence often because he knows it gets results. It's administered methodically but can sometimes appear casual. He'll bitch-slap and humiliate anyone he feels deserves it, but when events turn personal, when his role as protector is compromised, the level increases and is sustained for longer.

Hisashi Nozawa is credited as sole writer but Kitano made such significant script revisions that in the end his persona dominates all parts of it. The transposition of honed comedy timing into filmmaking style make the changes in tone swift and unexpected, like a good joke or a cutting remark.