Debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, Hysteria caught my attention because it starred Maggie Gyllenhaal. Then the topic of female sexual hysteria caught my attention and that’s all she wrote. Anyway, here’s the summary from the website:

A romantic comedy based on the surprising truth of how Mortimer Granville came up with the world’s first electro-mechanical vibrator in the name of medical science. Academy Award® nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy headline in this untold tale of a young Victorian doctor’s quest to figure out the key to women’s happiness. Also starring Jonathan Pryce, Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones.

Yes, it’s a romantic comedy about the first vibrator. So it will probably be never shown in the Philippines. So, it’s thank you bitorrent, when this gets released.

I love cosplay! Not just if there’s pretty girls – but really well-done cosplay are works of art.

For example is this recent Bioshock Infinite shoot from Russian cosplayer, ormeli. A nice dress, decent lighting and soulful eyes convey a lot. Alas, the onlt cosplay I can conceivably do is if my body is fully-covered.

Anyway, check out more stuff at ormeli’s deviantart page.

Source: ormeli at deviantart

Mario Wibisono knows how to draw women, that cannot be denied.

Source: deviantart

Well, it’s the 21st century and I can honestly say that Reign of Assasins or Jianyu Jianghu, as it is known in the Chinese market, is another martial arts classic in the vein of the best of the genre.

Produced and directed by the master himself, John Woo, it also has a stellar cast composed of Michelle Yeoh, Barbie Hsu, and others. What you have here is the promise of a really good film and it doesn’t fail to deliver. Kelly Lin – who is criminally underused – is the assassin Drizzle of the Dark Stone. She’s managed to walk away from her former occupation with a sacred artifact in her possession. However, the only way to really escape is to disappear like the mist. And that she does by undergoing cosmetic surgery via bone-eating worms and gold-leaf implants into the unassuming identity of Jing, who happens to be played by Michelle Yeoh. Kelly Lin is an uber-babe but becoming Yeoh is definitely an upgrade.

So Jing blends into the city life, leaving her old life behind. She even gets married to a well-meaning courier. Alas, domestic bliss isn’t meant to be – which you already know since this is a kung-fu flick not a retired-assassin flick.

Suffice to say that much blood would be shed before the film is over and many truths revealed. Seriously, it’s like the Coen brothers went to Hong Kong and shot a kung-fu noir movie. 

I can honestly say that this movie is a modern classic of the genre. It’s got a magnificent fights from all involved, a logical story, and great performances from everyone, especially from Ms. Yeoh. It even has a love story sandwiched somewhere in there, if you want to convince your significant other to watch it.

Definitely a must-watch for any aficionado of the genre. It’s available at Amazon and other online retailers.

So our second-hand bookstores take it all in and sell them at bargain basement prices. Booksale Philippines is arguably the largest chain of second-hand bookstores in the country and they carry a very wide selection of books – of course, the fact that they circulate their books through branches means that what you saw in one branch last month may end up somewhere in the Visayas next week.

Anyway, with the manga mania abroad, it’s understandable that quite a few manga books end up on their shelves. This one though is a find. Costing $13 before shipping on Amazon, the Official xxxHolic Guide costs a cheap 180 Philippine pesos – that $4 – without shipping. There’s several copies in several Booksales in Metro Manila, all of them still shrink wrapped or at least in good condition. Check them out for several more bargains.

Anyway, the Japanese shinobi or shadow warrior has been the topic of many a game – however, they’re mostly video games. Thankfully someone has decided to remedy that condition. Two someones actually. That’s right, two ninja board games are coming soon and they will definitely be added to my collection. They’re Z-Man Games’ Ninjato and AEG’s Ninja: Legend of The Scorpion Clan.

These two games deal with the same subject but approach the theme differently. Ninjato, the latest offering from the designers at Crosscut Games, takes a macromanagement look at the ninja business. Each player controls a clan of ninja – your aim is to sneak, steal, and intrigue your way through the game, trying to end it with the most victory points. You do this by stealing stuff from different households in hopes of using these items to gather the support of the noble houses to declare you as master shinobi. Of course, as you steal from these houses, you both decrease their power base and encounter skilled guards. The entire thing is a very skill-based game, with minimal luck involved.

The same cand said about Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan. Based on AEG’s popular Legend of the Five Ring’s setting, it assigns players roles; one is to be the Scorpion infiltrator, the other controls the guards. The game can play up to four, though, so it adds another group of guards and another infiltrator if you want to play the full game. Each game is played on a map of a Lion clan fortress and every game give the infiltrating side a random mission to accomplish. The goal of the defending side is to capture or kill the infiltrator – while stopping them from doing their objective. Hidden movement reminiscent of Nuns on the Run is the name of the game – which is no surprise considering they share the same designer. However the added twist of strategy cards adds another layer of complication which elevates the game from the party-game simplicity of  Nuns to a more cerebral game. If you like playing Metal Gear Solid, sneaking the entire way through – well this game should be right for you.

Source: Tumblr

It maybe a year old now but it never gets old.

Last year, DAUM, a popular Korean search engine had the girls of SNSD – more popularly known as Girl’s Generation to millions of red-blooded men worldwide – make a screensaver for them. As seen above it’s a combination of cuteness and hotness that will overload anyone’s senses. Want more? Check the Youtube link for the download link.