22. July 2008 by Ria.

This movie was excellent for several reasons, and one of them was because most of it was filmed in the city I was born and raised in, sweet home Chicago! Where else would you make a blockbuster action packed movie? Only thing is, where in the hell was I when the city was being blown to bits by the Joker?

Let’s talk about him for a hot second, do you think that the Joker was able to live up to all that hype? The answer is, HELL YES! While I really didn’t care to see his face on every Poster, T-Shirt, and every piece of underwear, I will give him kudos for a fine performance.

I would describe the Joker as eccentric, and cocky, definitely cocky. While he was able to crack a good joke from time to time, he wasn’t the kind of guy that had you rolling around in the isles laughing. Besides, you can get thrown out of the theater for that.

Now we all know what a bad ass Batman is, so I won’t talk about him, so I’ll move on to his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. I’m telling you, the director hit the jackpot when he picked Christian Bale to play the part. I mean, the guy is so charismatic, it’s not even funny.

Hell, he’s better than that Michael Keaton guy who played Batman in the 80’s, and I actually can’t believe that I can still remember that dude. Anyway, I’m gonna leave you with two spoilers, but don’t worry, they’re not the really important ones, so feel free to keep reading.

First spoiler, the Joker takes over Chicago, oops I mean Gotham City. Now don’t get me wrong, the Joker is a smooth dude and can be quite intimidating, but I wouldn’t just up and leave my house because of some crazy guy, give me a damn break. But the way he was able to seize control of a huge city was so ingenious, you’ll just have see the movie to find out how he does it.

Second spoiler, Lucius quits his job after Batman does something unethical. Now I’m on Batman’s side here, he did what he had to do in order to catch the Joker. I know you’re probably saying, “Ria, who gives a damn about Lucius anyway?” Well I care!

You know Morgan Freeman plays the character, who is extremely cool. Who else is Wayne gonna rely on to design all his awesome suits and Bat Cadillacs? I like Lucius, and I don’t appreciate Hollywood for trying to write him out of the script like that.

Yes, you have to see this movie, but you might want to wait a couple of weeks until the hype dies down a bit. Why? Because I had to wait in a line for 20 minutes after I bought my ticket, just so I could get a good seat in the movie theater!

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22. July 2008 by Ria.

In this episode, we find Ginko, but unfortunately he’s lost in a bamboo forest, along with a guy named Kisuke. They have a nice conversation, then split up, and Ginko is able to make his way out of the forest.

A few ladies from a nearby village approach him to say that Kisuke is being held hostage by a monster, which just happens to be a white bamboo tree. This amazes Ginko, and he goes back into the forest to do some research.

He runs into Kisuke again, who tells a story about a couple who couldn’t have a child. Eventually, the woman started sneaking around at night, so her husband followed her to see what was going on.

Meet “the other man”, a white bamboo tree. Not only did this ruin the couple’s relationship, but the lady became pregnant by the tree. Damn, that’s messed up, I hope it at least took her out on a date first.

The lady gave birth to a bamboo chute, but of course there was a real kid inside of it, named Setsu. Several years later Kisuke and some friends went into the forest to see her, then strange things started happening.

Kisuke couldn’t get out of forest, and as long as he was with his friends, they couldn’t get out either. However, when they separated from Kisuke they were able to get out. In other words, Kisuke was stuck inside the forest with the bamboo queen.

Out of boredom and loneliness (I guess), he hooked up with Setsu, and they had a bamboo kid. After the villagers saw this, no one ever visited them again. Ginko realizes that this amazing bamboo tree that’s able to go around knockin’ women up is a mushi called the Magaridake.

This tree lives off of other bamboo roots, but gives back elements that keep the forest green. Now we know the tree is mushi, but Ginko has to find out why Kisuke can’t get out of the forest.

After further probing, he finds out that Setsu gave Kisuke some water from the tree several years ago, so now Ginko is wondering if the water has anything to do with it. He sneaks some, then realizes that he can’t get out of the forest either.

So now we know that the mushi tree can impose it’s will on people through the water. That’s weird. So the tree can make people so stupid, that they can’t find their way out of a paper bag?

“Oh well Ginko, I guess you’re just stuck with Kisuke and the Bamboo Witch, good luck!” Setsu overhears the conversation, and is consumed with guilt because the mushi bamboo tree had to hypnotize a guy to make him stay with her.

Oh well, maybe if she was better lookin’ this wouldn’t be happening. Anyway, later on, Setsu comes back to the tree, and chops it down. Kisuke was able to find his way out of the forest, but his sister won’t open the door for him, calling his daughter “The Thing”.

That’s kind of sad, when your own relatives don’t want to be bothered with you and your bamboo family. It’s okay, ’cause Kisuke still has a home to go to, and we know that Ginko can finally get out, so he can continue his mushi adventures, and I can watch more episodes.

Six months later, Ginko goes back to the forest to check up on things, and he finds out through Kisuke, that Setsu and his daughter died, as a result of cutting down the mushi tree. See, they needed the water inside that tree to survive, but Setsu didn’t know that, or did she? 

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