bits 'n' pieces

So here's what's been happening recently.

I went down to Newbury a few weeks ago to meet up with some school friends. Good times (and the apparently near-mythical "cheese and potato" dish from the local curry house) were had. We finally made it to James' favourite end-of-night venue, Liquid (for the Durham people, think Rixies, but with southern prices). Accenture pays for James to stay in a very nice new flat complete with broadband and Sky.



I finally got a date for my viva which is the 9th February at 2pm. One way or another I'm going to be absolutely hammered by about 9pm that night and with a bit of luck I might actually be a doctor.

I finally got my hands on a Wii today. I'll put up some videos of me flailing around later. Originally the controls were a let down and after all the hype I was almost as disappointed as when I found out that the free bottle of wine from Pizza Perfect was in fact Lambrini (it's not wine!!!!!), but thankfully a few tweaks of the sensitivity setting and I'm getting respectable scores in Wii bowling and Wii golf.

To complete my list of 2006 films I received and watched Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend. It's absolutely fabulous and fully deserves its Oscar nominations that were announced today. See it as soon as you can - it's got the line "Get me some porn; get me something really nasty too; I don't want any of that airbrushed shit." from the families grandfather so how can it be bad?

The UK pound is on a rampage and is so close to reaching the fabled £1=$2 mark. Unfortunately even if it does I'm too poor to go on a spending spree (or any kind of spree for that matter) and it also means that the 30,000-odd yen I've still got (value at time of purchase £150) is now worth considerably less...

My parents have picked up a bit of steam in tidying the house (it still feels very topsy turvy to say that). They seem to think that an hour a week will do it and for most people this might be true. However, if I were to say that whilst cleaning out a kitchen cupboard I found an OPEN packet of naan bread mix with a best before date of 1983 (yes that should read eighty three) you can maybe see the problem.

Finally, I've started listening to the Unknown Quantity "best of" album The Blend again. For those that don't know, Unknown Quantity was the name of the band I was in at school. We played quite a few gigs and recorded 2 CDs - and in 1998 that was pretty good going. It still fills me with wonder that we managed to do and I think those CDs probably still stand s the achievement I'm most proud of - 1st class degree? so what - nobody cared but me, but people actually seemed to like the songs. I'll try and find some hosting to share the songs and dig out the old photos in the next few days. So I'll finish with my one contribution to the lyrics: if life came with a receipt, would you take it back?

Futurology

It's the start of the New Year and the CES has just finished in Las Vegas so I thought I'd give a quick prediction about what new technologies and gadgets we'll start using in our everyday lives this year. Who knows: if these predictions come true and the chemistry/OLED don't take off maybe I'll have found my life's calling.

Digital photo frames

There are very few new technologies that become standard inside of 10 years. Back in mid 90s the "cutting edge" of technology was a Sony camera with a 640x480 resolution (0.3 megapixels) that was large enough to include a floppy disc drive to store pictures. Today it's hard to even find a film camera. In fact, phones such as the SE K800i and Nokia N73 have Carl Zeiss equipped 3.2 megapixel cameras that produce better pictures than a lot of dedicated cameras. Suddenly you could take as many photos as you wanted (batteries and memory cards permitting) and only print the good ones. But you were still left with physical prints which had to be stored in albums. There's no point in photos if no one can see them, so whilst 2006 saw the rise of sites such as Flickr you still need to be at a computer to see the photos. Digital photo frames are simply LCD screens incorporated into a frame surround that can be set to display digital pictures and film clips. This lets one frame display several pictures for set amounts of time. Most include memory card slots so photos can be taken directly from the camera and some even feature wifi so photos can be downloaded from sites such as Flickr. At the moment the screens have pretty high ppi values but low screen sizes. The most common is 7" which is roughly equivalent to a 6"x4" photo. Not exactly large. Having been spoilt by the cheap, high quality prints Matt and I got last summer I'd hope for 8"x10" (~12") screens at a decent price soon. I've been tracking the prices of digital photo frames for a couple of years now and they are fast approaching the threshold of "impulse buy". They used to be £250, but prices have now fallen below £40. I'm going to predict that - like DAB radios a couple of years ago - these will be a very popular present at Christmas.

Contactless payments

First there was cash. Then came cheques - a "convenient" way to avoid carry large amounts of cash. Next came magnetic strip cards and most recently chip and pin. However this year will see the rolling out (in London at least) of the next form of payment - contactless. The technology is based on RFID chips that can be built into just about anything. Although the technology was first trailed in the UK in the mid 90s it broke through with the Octopus card in Hong Kong - the card allowed people to pay for transport and at some shops simply by waving a card over a detector. The idea was rolled out as the Suica card in Tokyo and the Oyster card in London and similar schemes in several other countries. Dealing in cash actually costs UK business a lot of money each year, so businesses will encourage the adoption of the system. The system is likely to be implemented as replacement debit card although the chip could be built into anything from ipods to phones. The idea is that if you want to buy things over £10 you need to use chip and pin, but for purchases under £10 simply waving the card near the reader will deduct payment from your account and obliterate queues in shops. For security, every tenth transaction will need a pin number, but any intervening chip and pin purchases will reset the counter. The National roll out will begin in London this summer and spread to the rest of the UK by 2008. The banks have stated that they want the 2012 Olympics to be the first cashless Olympics. Bit of a weird thing to want, but ok. As someone who never has enough cash on them this is a fantastic development. Cash is for poor people.

HSDPA

What does this even mean?!? This is one technology that will become ubiquitous without anyone realising. Put simply this is 3.5G mobile phone technology. 3G sort of died a publicity death - all the networks tried to advertise their collective £22bn investment with look - you can do really jerky video calls! Most of my friends with 3G phones tried it once and then never again. However, the real benefit of 3G (and the thing that allows the video calls to take place) is the increased data rate. Where as the internet access of 2G phones was the equivalent of a dial up modem, 3G phones cruised along at 384kbps - about 2/3 the speed of a residential broadband link in 2004. Still not particularly quick then, but with the introduction of HSDPA much of the country will be covered by a network allowing speeds of 3.6Mbps initially (roughly the same as the speed of today's residential broadband lines - fast enough to download an episode of 24 in ~12 minutes) and companies have promised that this will reach over 20Mbps by 2010 - fast enough to download that 24 episode in less than 5 seconds. It may sound as thrilling as a glass of tap water, but it may be the beginning of the end of the need for a fixed phone line. At present, if you want internet access you need either a BT phone line or cable - both of which have a monthly line rental. On top of this you then need to pay for your broadband. However, with a nationwide HSDPA network you could get rid of your fixed line and instead connect your phone or HSDPA router to your computer and get the same speeds (or even faster) that we get today. Add in an SIP socket on the router to allow free landline calls and free geographical numbers and BT will rue the day they sold O2. After my previous rant about data charges, more operators have started unlimited data plans. The latest is X-series from 3 which charges from £5/month for unlimited access including Skype and orb/sling access. Later in the year we may see the introduction of HSUPA (3.75G) which allows faster uploads.

Personal GPS

Sort of linked to the above. A few years ago GPS systems were featured in car adverts as an "optional extra". This extra usually cost nearly the same as the rest of the car. Since then there has been an explosion in stand alone "sat-nav" products. Systems such as TomTom still command a ridiculous price premium, whilst cheaper Garmin systems can readily be had for about £100. The main aim of CSR - one of the biggest wireless chip manufacturers - is to produce a GPS chip that costs $1. The size of the chips has been brought down to a few millimetres square and they are finding there way into many new devices. My GPS unit is about the same width and depth as my phone, but 2/3 the length. The chips are now so small that the forthcoming Nokia N95 "superphone" has a GPS chip built in. In addition there are already other phones with this technology such as the Orange M700 about to be unleashed. By the end of the year it seems likely that all the mid-to-high end phones from HTC, Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson will have HSDPA and GPS. No doubt operators will cut deals with various navigation software developers to let people use their mobiles for navigation, but it goes further than finding out how to drive the 5 miles to the cinema. Imagine you're trying to meet up with someone but don't know where they are. You can simply transmit your GPS location to them so they can find you easily. Need to know where the nearest cashpoint is? Your phone will guide you. Fancy some food? Your phone will let you know what's available in the area and then guide you to your chosen restaurant. No longer will blokes have to fear asking for directions cos soon we won't need to.

Wii

Ever since I got my NES back in 1990 I've been a Nintendo fan. At the time you were either a Nintendo fan or a Sega fan or a just rich kid who could afford both. After the SNES I left the console scene behind just as the Playstation was about to take gaming out of the teenagers' rooms and into the lounge of the 20-something. In my 5th year I decided to pick up a Gamecube as they were on the way out so I thought all the good games would get cheap (that and I wanted Mario Kart). Ironically, even though the cube did die out pretty soon afterwards, this just made the games rarer and more expensive whilst PS2 and xBox games are frequently £2. Anyway, games like the 2 Super Monkey Ball games and Pikmin got me back into gaming, so I was interested in the "next generation" consoles. However, whilst Microsoft and Sony raced ahead in their battle to beef up their consoles, Nintendo went another way. The new console, Wii, would be based around a controller originally meant as a cube add-on. Whilst Sony and Microsoft attempted to shove in the fastest cpus and latest gpus into their new behemoths, Nintendo was quite happy to let their console simply amount to a slightly updated Gamecube. However, whilst the other machines are certainly very powerful, most of that power simply goes on the HD graphics. The games themselves are just prettier versions of the same games everyone's seen before. In the meantime, Nintendo's Wii has come up with a brand new way to play games. Targeting the dreaded "over-30s" market as much as the traditional audience Nintendo realised that games should be fun to play. Even I'm a bit confused when handed a gamepad with 3 joysticks and 10 buttons. The Wii controller is simple. You wave it around and the built in motion sensor knows. Want to swing your character's tennis racquet? Just swing the controller - put on spin and control the power of the shot. Likewise for a golf club, baseball bat or even sword. Suddenly everything is a lot simpler. And it seems to be working. Word of mouth is spreading. Forums are crawling with talk of people's parents buying Wiis for themselves and stock is hard to track down - in the UK most online stores sell out within half an hour of stock being advertised. Compare this to the PS3's dodgy Japanese launch and underperforming US sales and Nintendo might just pull something special off.

I've got nothing against the PS3 - I just think gaming should be fun rather than a chore.Provided Nintendo avoids one pitfall, then Wii could end up in a LOT of homes this year. The crucial point is that Nintendo continues to ship good games for the system. It comes with a game called Wii Sports (except in Japan) that offers tennis, golf, baseball, boxing and bowling games. However, these are pretty limited (and baseball is actually just about the world's dullest game) so if Nintendo aren't careful the Wii won't gain the momentum that will make it one of the most talked about gadgets of the year. Now, if only I could get hold of one...I'll leave you with the E3 teaser:

Top films of 2006

So - films that were actually released in 2006. I have to admit that I haven't seen that many. I've been alone most of the year and even though you don't talk and concentrate on the film, going to the cinema alone just feels wrong. As such there are several big films from this year that probably should be on this list. These include Cars, Little Miss Sunshine, Casino Royale, The Last Kiss and Munich. So without further sob stories onto the list of films I did see.

Syriana

Penned by Stephen Gaghan, writer of Traffic, comes the film that Got George Clooney his Oscar. Like his previous film based around the world of drugs, Syriana investigates the world around the black gold: oil. In 4 connected, interdependent stories we see the consequences of international demand for oil. The film begins with US oil firm Connex loosing a large contract in the Middle East after the country's Prince Nasir grants natural gas rights to a Chinese firm. As a result Connex lays off it's large immigrant workforce leaving them jobless and penniless in a foreign country. They attend an Islamic school in order to learn Arabic to improve their prospects where they are approached by a friendly cleric. Back in the US Connex merges with small oil firm Killen who have acquired rights to a Kazakh oilfield. The Dept of Justice suspects all is not as it seems. Jeffrey Wright's lawyer character is sent to investigate the deal and make sure the DoJ find no issues. In Europe, energy analyst Matt Damon is appointed as Prince Nasir's economic advisor to assist with Nasir's plan to reform his country and break free from dependence on the US. Concerned at the prospect of loosing their hold over the oil in the Middle East, the CIA appoint Georgy Clooney's character to assassinate Nasir, but when the mission fails they scapegoat him and start planning to rectify their mistake. Lots of people criticised the film as they found it hard to concentrate on the intertwining stories. It's a film that shows you the ugly reality of the west's dependence on oil and the strangle-hold they've got over the Middle East. Matt Damon tells Nasir: "You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years, so on behalf of my firm I accept your offer." Syriana shows that although terrorism is ideologically fuelled by hatred of the west's Middle East policies that suck the area's resources away, it finds its foot soldiers amongst poverty and desperation. The lack of a central character frustrated some, but it is the essence of the issue - there isn't really anyone "in charge" of the oil. The US government is interested in protecting its oil companies rather than the interests of the Middle East, allegiances are forged and betrayed. Up at the sharp end of the large corporations corruption is rife, but who watches the watchers? The film has a downbeat ending that, although tie up all the characters in the film, does nothing to change the situation.

Miami Vice

Now here's a film that split people right down the middle. Some loved it, some hated it. A lot of people were expecting Bad Boys 3 which this certainly isn't. I've never seen the original TV series, but I suspect it's nothing like this. Michael Mann has given this film a certain style - visually he sticks with shooting on digital video giving the film a distinct look - a non-film look and night scenes covered with grain. Story wise we drop in on the lives of a group of vice police headed by Rico and Tubbs. The film begins in the middle of a sting operation and we have no idea what's going on. Indeed, as the film goes on there is absolutely no character progression which have lead some to label this film as being "the death of cinematic narrative". But so what? This film simply covers one of the squads investigations - they are already bonded. Rico and Tubbs already know how each other will react so there's no Lethal Weapon-style unexpected behaviour. The plot involves the pair going undercover to flush out a mole who caused the death of two undercover FBI agents. To accomplish this they set themselves up as drug traffickers and begin to work their way up the drugs food chain. The action is sporadic, but retains the infamous Mann characteristics of realistic sound effects and shootouts. The violence isn't glamorised - there are no slow motion bodies flying through the air - just the realtime results of being shot. The film slowly builds up to the two big action set pieces at the end of the film. The middle of the film is perhaps a bit slow, but it's so beautifully shot and scored that it kept my attention easily. Perhaps one for the thriller market rather than the action market.

The Prestige

Plot twists. Some people spend their entire time whilst watching films trying to work out the plot twist. Personally, unless it's an obvious one I don't bother and just enjoy the film. If it's a good twist that fits the story then I'm impressed, but if it's merely a twist added for the sake of adding a twist then I'm glad I haven't bothered trying to work it out. Whilst watching the Prestige, it seems like the twist is revealed at about the halfway point but - as with the film's content - all is not what it seems. In Victorian London, two magicians perform a good magic act. Performer Angier (Hugh Jackman), his wife and assistant, audience plant Borden (Christian Bale) and the man who makes the tricks a reality - Cutter (Michael Caine). After the on-stage death of Angier's wife in a water-torture trick Angier blames Borden for tying a different knot. The magicians go their separate ways but harbour a rivalry that leads to them sabotaging each others acts leading to Borden loosing half a finger. Borden meets Sarah and they get married. After a while Borden opens a new show with a trick in which he appears to teleport across the stage. Angier and Cutter attempt to copy his act, but can't work out how he does it - it can't simply be a double as both the man going into the "send" box and the man who leaves the "receive" box are missing the same half-finger. Eventually Angier and Cutter hire Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) and copy the trick using a double. As Angier walks through the on stage door, a trap door opens and a lift propels his double behind the other door. As time goes on Angier grows angry that it's his double who takes "the prestige" (the audiences applause) every night whilst he himself is hidden below the stage. After more sabotaging from Borden incapacitates Angier he sends Olivia to spy on Borden and she successfully manages to obtain Borden's diary - which contains the details of his tricks. and states that a machine obtained from Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) makes the teleportation possible. In response, Angier sets out for America to seek out Tesla and aquire a machine of his own. Most of the story is told in flashback - the film opens with Borden sneaking behind the stage to see how Angier's new improved teleporting man trick works. Instead he sees Angier fall through the stage trapdoor into a waterbath and drown. Convicted of murder, Borden is sent to prison to await hanging, but once again - is everything what it seems? As I mentioned earlier, the twist about how the machine works is fairly obvious, but the other twists aren't so clear cut. After they are revealed you immediately see how they were set up. As Cutter comments "Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it because you're not really looking. You don't really want to know the secret... You want to be fooled." and so it is with the film. You want the twist to surprise you. The film takes great delight in showing how tricks were carried out. For example if you want to teleport a bird out of a cage, it's easier to kill the caged bird with a spring-loaded roof and use another one for the prestige. Chis Nolan is quickly becoming a director that can be relied upon to deliver. Whilst other newcomers such as Daron Aranofsky, Zach Braff and Jarod Hess are herelded as the next big thing, Nolan has already directed 4 amazing films - Memento, Insomnia and Batman Begins. Again, there are some spoilers so if you haven't seen the film, please don't read the following!

The presence of Borden's brother is hinted at many times throughtout the film. Does Borden not remember what knot he tied on Angier's wife because it was his brother doing it? We see Borden comment on how magic must be your life to be a good magician after they see the Chinese magician who pretends to be crippled. The repeated question "Do you love me?" from Borden's wife that is met with different answers depending on which brother is "playing" Borden that day is a playful way of suggesting the truth. The nature of Angier's final teleporting man trick makes you think about the nature of conciousness. Every night Angier effectively drowns himself and trusts that the clone that is created will be him. Not someone who has his appearance and memories, but actually him. I used to think about jumping into someone's mind and knowing everything they knew but forgetting everything you new. Would you still be you or would you be them? Would you even know anything had happened? I try not to think about it for too long as it makes my head hurt.

The Departed

I've already mentioned Infernal Affairs as one of the best non-2006 films I've seen this year and here is the US remake. Directed by Martin Scorsese and moved from Hong Kong to Boston, the story retells the tale of the race by moles on opposite sides of the law to uncover each other whilst adding some elements from the HK prequel IA2. Essentially the same story, with mob-man Sullivan (Matt Damon) infiltrating the police force, whilst the son of a crime associate, Costigan (Leo DiCaprio) joins the police force and is assigned to the undercover department run by Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Dignam (Mark Wahlburg) and sent undercover into the gang of Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). The story plays out with scenes from IA ported over to the a US setting. Extra characters are introduced and a lot more of the backstory of the two moles is explored resulting in an extra hour of run time. It's a fine retelling with some twists not in the original film. Scorsese doesn't mess around with the violence which is a lot more brutal than the original. Perhaps it was needed to keep the western audiences interested. The violence is knocked up a notch compared to the original. Where as in IA we hear a shot and then see a slow-motion replay of the shooting, here we get, with no warning a shot that immediately blows the character's brains onto the wall behind him. At the same time though another character's death is shocking and almost un-expected in IA (the body lands on a car roof with no warning) - here we see the character being thrown off the roof and falling. Nicholson brings a more obvious mean, crazy streak to mob-boss Costello where as the original's Sam is much more calm - a businessman rather than a thug. There is one strange difference between the two versions. More spoilers I'm afraid.

In the original, The mob-mole in the police force decides to go straight and sees killing Sam as a way of accomplishing this - he chooses to be "good". In a way he is "rewarded" by getting away with it (until part 3). In The Departed the reason Sullivan kills Costello is because he finds out that Costello was an FBI informant. His character had no redemption - no decision to be good. However, he doesn't get away with it. The character of Dignam seems to have been created purely to swear a lot and then turn up at the end to kill Sullivan.

Children of men

One thing I love are films that don't pander to the lowest common denominator. Films that don't stop every few minutes to recap the plot for the audience. With Children of men we are thrown into Britain in the near future. Society has crumbled, the government has declared all immigrants illegal and they are being rounded up by the army and police. Society has largely broken down into lawlessness. The film opens with a BBC news report of the death of the world's youngest person - a South American 18 year old. We start to pick up that at some point humans suddenly became infertile. Why, what happened in the immediate aftermath and how society and other countries crumbled isn't explained - we are left to gather what clues we can from the scattered newspapers, government propaganda bulletins and news reports. If anyone has played Half Life 2, then the feeling is very similar to the opening third of that game where you arrive in City 17 not really knowing what is going on wit the population under the control of "civil protection". The plot centres around Theo Farren, a man who, like most people has a nothing life. He's on the verge of alcoholism and like most of the population he has lost hope. One day he is contacted by his ex wife, Julian who is the leader of the Fishes - a pseudo-terrorist group fighting for the rights of immigrants or "fujis". She asks him to use his family contacts to acquire transport papers to allow the young immigrant Kee to reach the Brighton coast. All Theo can acquire are papers allowing Kee to travel along with himself. So Theo, Kee, Julian and fishes Luke and Miriam set out from London. After the group are ambushed, they seek shelter at a fish safe house where Theo discovers Kee's secret: she's pregnant. As the fishes argue over how to use Kee's situation to their advantage Theo, Kee and Miriam escape and try to get Kee to Brighton where, supposedly, a boat from the Human Project - a collection of scientists trying to unravel the mystery of humans' infertility - awaits. Clive Owen is not noted for his his charisma. This worked to his advantage in things like the pulp fiction Sin City and the BMW shorts and so it does again here. Theo isn't a hero - he's just a guy who has lost just about everything in a world where the government distribute anti-depressants and suicide kits. He doesn't have to be the larger than life front man. The supporting actors are used sparingly and as a result shine in their time on screen. Director Alfonso Cuaron is on fine form and his style screams through. The colour palette is muted and the frequent violence is dealt with, like Miami vice in a very realistic matter-of-fact way. Early on we see a terrorist bomb explode in a cafe. As the dust clears we see the survivors staggering around missing limbs, we hear the falling of glass and car alarms blaring and we hear a high pitched ringing. The ringing continues through the title screen and follows us as Theo arrives at work, mimicking the real world effect of being close to a loud noise. The effect is repeated throughout the film. Characters who are fairly major die at the back or far sides of the screen with no almost no attention pad to them. The first scene also sets up the most impressive (and probably most overlooked) aspect of the camera direction: the long takes. Throughout the film there are 3 or 4 long scenes where the camera doesn't cut. We see the characters in the car talking, with the camera panning between all 5 occupants thanks to a specially designed camera rig, before - in the same shot - the car is attacked by a gang and the ensuing panic, escape and encounter with the police are shown without moving to a different camera. In the eightieth minute a group of characters exit from an archway and explore their surroundings before being ambushed and threatened with execution. A firefight erupts between the the ambushers and the army as Theo dives for cover where ever he can find it and chases after Kee. He runs down the street, through a bus after he is attacked from where he witnesses the army lay siege to a building with tanks before running into the building past the plethora of rpgs launched from inside, through the building searching for Kee. When he finally finds her on the 2nd floor, eight intense minutes have passed and the camera has not cut since they emerged from the archway. It's almost unbelievable - not only did they have to get the lines and acting performances right for 8 minutes, but a lot of stunts, pyrotechnics and movement had to happen. In addition, several characters from the start of the scene had to get to their positions for the end of the scene and be in the right place at the right time. Unbelievable stuff. The film had almost no hype because we got in the UK 4 months before the US, so the Hollywood hype machine hadn't started rolling. To back this up, the UK DVD is completely barebones. Boo.

We can guess Theo's fate as it adhears to the "if the hero's love interest dies, they will die after reaching their goal" that was defined in Gladiator. It would have been nice to show Theo finally finding some hope at the end of the film, but nevermind

Top non-2006 films of 2006

As last year, I've prepared a list of my pick of the films from 2005 and before that I saw for the first time in 2006.

Whisper of the heart and The cat returns

You may think I'm cheating by bundling these two films together but they are truly companion pieces. Taking Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whisper of the heart) first, this film was a first for Ghibli in several ways. It was Ghibli's idea to bring to the fore a new young director who would one day take over from Miyazaki-san and Takahata-san who weren't getting any younger. It was decided that Yoshifumi Kondō - an animation director from earlier Ghibli films - would be the man to bring Aoi Hiiragi's manga to the big screen. As a new director, he brought with him a different feel to the film more akin to the films of Takahata than Miyazaki. From the opening rendition of Take me home, country roads there is a very different score than we have previously heard. The film is based around 14 year old schoolgirl Shizuku Tsukishima who is approaching her high school entrance exams. This probably means nothing to most British people, but it's the next step on the Japanese education conveyor of pressure. Good results lead to a good high school which in turn nearly guarantees a place at one of the prestigious universities which leads to many pointless jobs as サラリーマン (Salarymen). It reminds me of my school entrance exams - which would lead (in theory) to a place at Oxbridge and end with the most gifted, intelligent people in the land taking up the very un-useful positions of lawyers, bankers and accountants. However, Shizuku's mind isn't on her exams. A keen reader, Shizuku has started noticing that all the books she checks out of the library have been read by a Seiji Amasawa. She wonders who it is, but goes about her hobby of translating Western song lyrics into Japanese for her friends. One day on her way across Tokyo to deliver lunch to her father at the library, Shizuku notices a large cat riding the train with her. Excited that the cat gets off at her stop, she follows it into a small shop on a quiet back street. Here she meets the kind owner, Nishi-san, who shows her the treasures within. Of these, she is drawn to a small figurine of a cat called The Baron who's eyes appear to instil life into it. She eventually meets Seiji and after some brief, uncomfortable encounters they begin to get closer. Seiji's dream is to become a violin maker. Shizuku is amazed at his talent, but Seiji plays down his ability. He longs to travel to Italy where he can pursue his dream. He is accepted onto a two-month apprenticeship in Italy that will asses whether he has the skills to succeed in the long course. When he leaves, Shizuku is ashamed that she doesn't have any dreams and, inspired by Seiji, decides to write a book about The Baron. She starts to let her studies slide as she struggles to get the story written before Seiji returns so she can prove herself not only to him, but to herself too.

On paper it sounds simple - a teenage love story. The kind that were Disney to make it would be filled with comedy sidekicks and the like and actually put off everyone except teenage girls. Where this films succeeds is the idea of looking at this period of life from an adult's perspective. Miyazaki's screenplay allows director Kondō to impart onto screen the kind of subtle moments Ghibli are famous for. For example, the moment that Shizuku realises her love for Seiji - a point that would be hammered home in a Disney film, quite possibly with the aid of a song sung by talking animals - it is shown simply as Shizuku nestling her head against Seiji's back as he peddles her on his bike to watch the sunrise. Characters such as Nishi-san are fleshed out and even The Baron has a back story. Some have dismissed Whisper as a mere remake of Kiki's delivery service, but it's much more than that. It's about questioning whether what society dictates is the right path is right for you. It's about wanting to prove yourself, not just to you, but to someone else who has inspired you. Even if they are on the other side of the world. Whilst Miyazaki's films are frequently set in fantasy locations, Kondō sets Whisper firmly in the reality of mid-90s Tokyo. In fact, Shizuku lives in Tama Hills - the area being developed in Takahata's tanuki film, Pom poko. For the first time we experience a lively suburb in a Ghibli film. The animation pushes towards realism with the fantastic exception of sequences from Shizuku's story which were inspired and animated by Naohisa Inoue based on his fantasy land of Iblard. This style was revisited in the 2006 Ghibli museum short Hoshi o Katta Hi (The day I harvested a star). I strongly urge everyone to watch this film - it's beautiful and real: something that most people wouldn't believe an animated film could be. Sadly, the director Kondō passed away from a brain aneurysm three years after the film's release.

In 2005 I had the chance to go and see Neko no ongaeshi (The cat returns) at the cinema. I'm actually really glad I didn't cos I think I would have been very disappointed. Running at a mere 75 minutes, the story is a simple fantasy adventure - not the kind of thing you would expect from Studio Ghibli. However, once you have been primed by Whisper of the heart the film takes on much more significance. The story stars none other than The Baron from Nishi-san's shop so it is assumed that the story is one of Shizuku's. Thus it makes sense that it is short and simple as Shizuku is still starting out. No mention of any of the characters from Whisper beyond the cats is made to ensure that this film works as a stand alone entity for those who haven't seen the previous film. The story follows the adventures of Haru, a school girl who one day saves a cat from being run over. To her amazement, the cat rises to its hind legs and thanks her before running off. That night she is visited by a procession headed by the king of the cat kingdom. He tells her that the cat she saved was his son and the cats will thank her over the following days. As Haru is bombarded with boxes of mice and other gifts she is met by an envoy to the cat king. She is told that the cats will take her to their kingdom where she will marry the prince. Naturally Haru is a bit freaked out, but a strange soothing voice tells her to seek out the cat business centre. She is guided to a meeting with the large cat Muta (who made an appearance in Whisper) who leads her to the Baron in a hidden realm. Whilst they plan their strategy, the cats arrive and take Haru and Muta to the cat kingdom. As Haru spends more time in the kingdom she begins to resemble a cat more and more. The Baron eventually finds the cat kingdom and must plan an escape for not only Haru, but himself and Muta as well. The film was originally meant to be a 45-minute short, but ended up as a film as Miyazaki and producer Suzuki were impressed with director Hiroyuki Morita's dedication in storyboarding his ideas. As a standalone film, it's nowhere near the usual Ghibli standards - the animation isn't as smooth, the characters not as detailed and once Haru reaches the cat kingdom, the slow building pace accelerates to the film's climax. Knowing that that this is supposed to represent Shizuku's work is an extra excitement. We see how the Baron has been made into the hero and the large train-riding cat Moon has his character from Whisper transcribed here as Shizuku imagined him - a cat with more than one identity who is primarily concerned with himself. If I had one wish, it would have been that the story featured was based on the one we see Shizuku working on in Whisper that featured the land of Iblard.

Infernal affairs

I'd heard many good things about the Infernal Affairs trilogy. In fact, when I saw a trailer for US film The departed I immediately thought of the Hong Kong film. Eventually I decided to buy it and see what all the fuss was about before the Western remake hit the screens. Set in Hong Kong in first years of the 21st century Infernal affairs tells the story of the police force's struggle against the criminal gang headed up by big boss Sam. Both sides think they have the perfect weapon - a man on the inside. Sam sent several of his men to sign up to the police force and one of them, Ming, has rapidly risen through the ranks. In the meantime, undercover officer Yan has infiltrated several criminal gangs. Now he is a trusted lieutenant in Sam's. The only man who knows his true identity is Inspector Wong to help maintain his cover. Both men feed information back to their superiors keeping the situation at an uneasy stalemate. Things come to a head when the police attempt to swoop on a drug deal between Sam and some Thais. Yan conveys the progress of the deal to the waiting police force, whilst Ming is able to warn Sam that a raid is about to happen. The result is that both Wong and Sam realise they have a traitor in their midst. Sam turns to Yan and The police to Ming to try and uncover the moles. Both realise that the only way they can succeed is to unmask each other to their real bosses. The only problem is, after so long undercover do they still feel they want to keep up their double lives? This is a film that really reinforces the idea of the thriller. It's not full of violence like the HK-films of John Woo, it's all about ratcheting up the suspense until something has to give. (Spoilers follow - to read highlight the box)

Sam's idea to flush out the mole in his ranks leads to the death of Inspector Wong. The moment of his death is a complete shock and as Yan turns around to see the body, we can see him suddenly realise that he is now completely alone - noone else knows he is really a police officer and Wong's computer files are encrypted, much to Ming's annoyance.

At the same time, Ming is settling down with his girlfriend and begins to question his loyalty to Sam. The film is a brisk 101 minutes and is paced perfectly. By the end of the film both characters have decided on their futures, but they are dependent on each other - Yan needs his identity back and Ming needs to know that his status remains hidden. It comes to a head with a tense meeting on top of a building which leads to the film's big ending. The ending is a complete surprise and in fact the film required an alternative ending to be filmed to allow it to be shown in mainline China as the authorities were uncomfortable with the implications.

Oldboy

Moving east to one of the first K-films I've seen. I remember several of my friends getting excited by this film's DVD release back in 2005, but it wasn't until Film4 showed it that I got to see it. It forms the second part of Chan-wook Park's revenge trilogy. The film starts with Dae-su Oh drunk in a police station. His friend arrives to bail him out and take him home to his wife and young daughter. As he calls them to let them know Dae-su is coming home, he leaves the phone box to discover that Dae-su has simply vanished. Dae-su comes around in a small locked hotel room. He is imprisoned in this room for 15 years without seeing another human except on the TV in the room, whenever he becomes violent or suicidal he is gassed. Whilst he is imprisoned he learns that his wife has been murdered and his daughter sent to live with foster parents. Dae-su trains himself by shadow boxing and punching his prison's walls. One day, he is suddenly released with no explanation. Clothed, given a mobile phone and money he stumbles into a sushi bar and passes out in front of the young chef Mido who takes him in. He soon discovers that his kidnapper still has plans for him and he is told that by a man called Woo-jin that unless he can find the reason for his imprisonment in 5 days Mido will be killed. Despite their large age-difference they feel an attraction and Mido agrees to help Dae-su in gaining his revenge. Dae-su eventually tracks down the prison where he was being held and "extracts" information about his captor. His escape from the prison involves the infamous "corridor fight scene" - a long unbroken one-take fight scene in the prison's hallway as Dae-su is attacked by the prison guards. He and Mido follow more clues, becoming even closer and eventually sleeping together. Finally Dae-su discovers the truth behind why Woo-jin imprisoned him. He confronts Woo-jin but Woo-jin is prepared and turns the tables not only on Dae-su, but turns around the whole plot of the film. I won't spoil the ending, but I do encourage you to watch this film as an excellent example of how to script, plan and shoot a film.

Nana

Moving even further east we reach Japan and the phenomenon that has swept the country in the last few years - Nana. It's the story of two girls called Nana who meet on a train as they move to Tokyo. Nana Osaki is moving to try and make it with her band, The Black Stones and Nana Komatsu is moving to be with her boyfriend who is at college in Tokyo. They are completely opposite in character; Osaki is strong willed and determined to prove herself whilst Komatsu is heavily dependent on others. Eventually they decide to live together. The film is split into two parts - Komatsu learning to be more assertive and take control of her life after she discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her. The second half focuses on Osaki's journey to face her past and her ex-boyfriend Ren who left their old band to join popular group Trapnest. The film is based on the original manga and as with many films based on long-running series, the film doesn't have a definite ending, which will lead on to plenty of sequels. Whilst the Nana phenomenon is fairly unknown outside of the East, it is constantly being touted as the next big thing that will hit the West. The two Nana's are played by Mika Nakashima - a popular Jpop artist - and Aoi Miyazaki - popular Japanese actress. There are certain films that stick with you for some reason. It's clear they're not the best film in the world, but it stays in your head. This is one of those films. I saw it about a KLM flight to Osaka on a 5" LCD panel with crap headphones. I didn't think much of it at the time, but by the time I made my return flight a few weeks later I felt the urge to watch it again. It's sort of like having the last song you heard in the morning stick in your head. The pacing of the film is pretty slow and the split between the two stories is extremely jarring, but the main song from the film (here) is extremely catchy and the OST has a pleasing mournful tone that completely fits with the film. Mika Nakashima is well known as a Jpop singer, but Nana's band is a Jrock band. Their main song is penned by L'arc en Ciel frontman Hyde and has both an edge and some nice guitar work. Strangely, the main song by the Jrock band Trapnest (here) is unbelievably pop-based. I know that for a lot of Jrock banks their bark is worse than their bite (it's all about visuals), but would even a visual-kei band play something like this?
The sequel to the film was widely anticipated, but much of the original cast (including Aoi Miyazaki) haven't returned. The theme song this time sounds a lot more pop rather than rock (judge for yourself here). Sadly, I smell a straight-to-DVD release.