Saturday is Horror Day #164 - Titane

 Titane

As a result of a childhood accident, Alexia (Agatha Rousselle) is left with a titanium plate in her head. Fast forward to her adulthood. Alexia is a car model, wearing skimpy clothing and writhing on top of automobiles. She leads a rough life and is clearly unhappy. One night, an encounter with an obsessed fan ends badly. Afterwards, she finds herself in the car she has come to love, having sex - with the car.

Due to her own actions, Alexia has to become someone else to avoid the law. She spots a computer-aged 

picture of a missing boy who would be 17 now, and disguises herself as him. She presents herself to the law and the father Vincent (Vincent Lindon) is called. He identifies his "son" Adrien and takes "him" home. Vincent is the captain of a firefighting brigade and they don't know how to take Adrien. Alexia binds herself to pull off her disguise, including her pregnant belly. But the deception begins to take a toll on her.

This is, without a doubt, a strange film. I was intrigued by what I read was the premise, of a woman having a sexual relationship with a car and getting pregnant, but this is not what I expected. It's rather dark and violent, and the scenes with Vincent are both tender and sad. He wants to hold on to his "son", no matter what - including if he isn't his son. I can't deny it's well-made, and the performances are good, but it just didn't do it for me. And leaves many questions. 

I can't say I recommend it, but I will give it 3 Stars. I wouldn't watch it again.

Book Review: Love Control, Vol 2 by Ai Hasukawa

 

Love Control, Vol 2      

Author: Ai Hasukawa

Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing

American release date: August 4, 2009

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Yaoi/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

 

The path of true love never did run smooth…  Yamashiro is jealous of everyone he sees Okumura with, including the lovely Ishikawa.  And now there is a new young bartender, Sasatani, and Kei is afraid he is after his lover, which only feeds his insecurities. It doesn’t help when Takashi confesses that he scouted out the young man and lured him into his employment. Even back at the office, Kei can’t get away from the admiring comments about Okumura, from men and women alike. Frustrated, he calls him and suggests they meet at the bar.

An argument leads to a misunderstanding, and Kei gets drunk. It’s not until Sasatani puts him into a cab because of his inebriated state that he realizes he has totally misjudged who is the object of the bartender’s affection. Sasatani keeps working on Kei’s low self-esteem, and lies to him about what Takashi said, widening the gulf between the lovers. He promises to treat Kei better than Takashi, says he would never hurt him. Will Kei be swayed by his pretty words?

Ichinose has a meeting at the bar with a new client. Although he tries to explain that he doesn’t really drink, his words fall on deaf ears. The client orders a blue drink from the sexy bartender, but it’s stronger than Ichinose expected so he excuses himself to the bathroom. The client follows him and the situation grows ugly when Sasatani unexpectedly intervenes and kicks the older man out, making sure he will never be admitted again. Ichinose blacks out, waking some time later to find he’s never left the bar and Sasatani has been with him all night.

Ichinose is grateful for what the bartender did for him, even if he does make fun of him for being such a lightweight when it comes to drinking. He wants to thank the owners, as well, but Sasatani says he doesn’t come in all the time. Even so, Ichinose is determined, so he keeps coming back to the bar in order to properly thank him. At least, that’s what he tells himself.  But he still doesn’t drink and is thinking of requesting tea when Sasatani fixes him a drink that looks like a cocktail but is non-alcoholic.

Sasatani continues to tease Ichinose and he responds. They develop a strange back-and-forth relationship.  Ichinose has never felt this way about a man before, and he is confused, his feelings only compounded by Sasatani’s hot-and-cold behavior. Will they ever be on the same page and admit their true feelings to one another? And can Ichinose make Sasatani forget the man who broke his heart.

In the last story, Takashi makes a cheese dish for Kei.

I was hoping to see Kei and Takashi again, and I wasn’t disappointed, as they work their way to a better understanding of their relationship and themselves. I liked the second story, but I didn’t feel the same chemistry between Ichinose and Sasatani as I did Kei and Takashi. Maybe it’s because Sasatani stated out as something of a villain lol Interesting series, definitely worth a read.

Book Review: Love Control, Vol 1 by Ai Hasukawa

 

Love Control, Vol 1       

Author: Ai Hasukawa

Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing

American release date: May 6, 2008

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Yaoi/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★

 

Love Control

Kei Yamashiro and his company have been hired to remodel the Italian restaurant Jiri by its owner Takashi Okumura. When Okumura arrives to the meeting, he immediately begins to hit on Yamashiro.  This man apparently doesn’t take no for an answer when he calls Yamashiro for a dinner meeting, tells him where and when they’lll meet, and then hangs up! Turns out the place is a secret bar, very private, members only. The reason for the meeting is that the owner of Jiri wants to hire Yamashiro to decorate his apartment. Yamashiro agrees but comes up with a plan of his own to get Okumura back for his flirtatious attitude. He vows to make the man fall in love with him and then he’ll break his heart.

But at some point, the game becomes real, and Kei isn’t sure whether to believe Takashi’s sweet words or not. Has he actually fallen for the man, and can anything good come from that? Or has he become a victim of his own game?

Near the Rainbow and You

Seno is in charge of the planning division of his company. He is very driven, a hard worker.  One day he receives an unexpected email asking him to come find them at the end of the rainbow. What does that even mean? When he passes by a rather beautiful fountain, he spots what appears to be a high school kid. Could this be the prankster? He approaches the kid and discovers he sent the same email to a number of addresses, just for fun. Seno asks the kid if he’s searching for a sugar daddy, and the kid tells him to take him somewhere private. Against his better judgment, Seno takes him to his apartment. There he takes the kid’s wallet and discovers his name is Yuu. Seno forces his attentions on an unwilling Yuu, who then leaves, but the next day he shows up at Seno’s work, claiming to be a relative.  Yuu tells Seno that he won’t stop pestering him until he admits he fell for Yuu first, so Seno retaliates by taking him to an amusement park.

I really liked the first story, watching Kei and Takashi get caught up in their own games until what they had pretended became real. I enjoyed watching them fall in love, and hope they’ll be back in the next volume. However, then we have the second story, and there’s the problem.  I don’t know how old Yuu really is, but he looks like a kid, which gave off all sort of bad vibes. But then the dubious consent. Very cringe. I am not fond of certain types of yaoi where one protagonist resembles a child, and often a very feminine on at that.  I wish they hadn’t included that second story in this volume, but they did. So I am giving the first story 4 Stars and the second story 2 Stars, for an average of 3 stars. I would suggest skipping the second story, the first is good.

Wednesday Briefs: Dracula #13 (4.2)

 Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.

The unfortunate encounter with the blacksmith has not gone well... for anyone. How will Dracula react? See what's happening in this week's chapter of Dracula. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's happening with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!

Dracula #13 (4.2)

The three figures froze, as if trapped in a horrible tableau. Nobody said a word. And then Bogdan’s wail tore through the unnatural silence as swiftly as his knife had pierced his wife’s heart.

“Doina! I didn’t mean—” he blubbered. “It’s not my fault!”  He grabbed for the knife, but Dracula was faster. He angrily shoved the man aside. The blacksmith collapsed in a sobbing mess as the vampire turned his attention to the wounded wife.

“Foolish woman,” he chastised her softly, but without malice. He might not love her, but he would never wish her harm. Their time together had been pleasant. Sometimes, after they’d had sex, he would listen to her speak of her husband and her life with him. He was not surprised that she should wish to stray from her marriage, considering the treatment she received from both him and his mother. Even so, she should never have thrown herself between them. He would have been fine without her intervention. She, on the other hand… He’d seen enough death in his long lifetime to know this wound was fatal and she must surely die. He sank to the floor and gently cradled her head in his lap to protect her from the cold stone, safe from the view of her murderous husband.

She smiled at him, her love for him shining through her eyes even as her very lifeblood drained away, staining her white dress a deceptive scarlet hue, as though someone had spilled a glass of red wine upon her at dinner. “I love you, my lord. I would…”

But whatever she intended to say remained unspoken as she struggled for breath.  Crimson streams bubbled from her mouth, over her lips. She grasped his arm, as if attempting to cling to him, even if just for a moment longer. But then her grip suddenly relaxed. Her body shuddered once and stilled.

Dracula turned furious eyes to the sniveling blacksmith. The idiot was moaning and groaning to himself, rocking back and forth, as if seeking solace in his own embrace. “Useless woman,” he muttered. “Who will take care of Mother and me now? Stupid bi—”

“How dare you!” Dracula roared as the blacksmith flinched in the face of his anger. “You kill your wife, who did nothing to harm you, who did her best for you in every possible way, and then you have the temerity to whine about who will take care of you and your damned mother?”

He laid Doina’s body gently upon the floor, carefully removing the blade from her silent breast, wiping her blood upon his breeches. The fury of long-dead ancestors burned inside of him. He’d heard stories of his grandfather many times removed, Vlad Dracula, and the cruelties he’d inflicted. And while Nicolae himself had had occasion to kill men during his hundred and fifty years of life, never had he felt the desire to torture someone such as he wanted to inflict pain upon the blacksmith. Only a modicum of common sense, and Avram’s voice in his head warning him that would not be a good idea, restrained him.

“Did nothing? Did nothing?” The blacksmith had stopped sniveling, his voice rising in indignation as he stared stupidly at the enraged vampire, his wounded vanity vying with his fear and overcoming it. “She lay with you, did she not? She betrayed me, betrayed our marriage bed. She deserved to die.” His voice had hardened, perhaps emboldened because Dracula had made no move to harm him.

Yet.

So now he was attempting to justify his actions? Foolish mortal. He would soon learn otherwise. Dracula knew he could snap his thick neck with one twist, but that would not give him the satisfaction he sought. The man did not deserve any such consideration.  Dracula struggled to quell the urge to violence that threatened to overtake his reasoning. He had once mentioned to an acquaintance in Paris, a French author, that revenge is a dish best served cold. How best to prolong the blacksmith’s demise? Perhaps by drawing upon tales of the Impaler as inspiration?

He'd never impaled anyone before, but there was no time like the present, was there?

He gently lifted Doina’s body and laid it upon the pew they had so recently occupied. Then he turned his full attention to Bogdan. Just to scare the man, as he had no intention of biting him, Dracula grinned, deliberately allowing his canines to drop into view. Bogdan paled at the sight.

“You are… you are strigoi?” he stammered.

“I am strigoi,” the vampire confirmed. “And I am a descendant of ruler of Wallachia as well. I suppose you have heard of Vlad Dracula?” He strode menacingly toward the blacksmith, who began to tremble before the reality of his situation.

“He died a long time ago. And you are not him.”

Dracula knew he was bluffing. Far from being brave, he could smell that the man had soiled himself in his fear.  And he hadn’t even begun yet…

He stood above the blacksmith, contemplating his options. “Would you like to hear some stories about my forebear?” he asked in a deceptively calm voice.  Not waiting for an answer, he continued. “One time the Turkish ambassadors came to pay their respects. But they did not remove their turbans. And when he asked them why they did mot, they said they could not, as they were not permitted to do so. Then let me assist you with that, he said, and had their turbans nailed to their heads so they would no longer have to worry about removing them.”

Bodgan’s eyes widened as he clutched at his head, but the fool wore no hat.

“Obviously, that does not apply to you,” Dracula said blithely. “But there are other things—”

A noise from outside drew his attention. Someone was coming.

If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly.”

He plunged the dagger into the blacksmith’s evil heart.

 to be continued

Now go see what the other Briefers are up to!

Cia Nordwell

J Ray Lamb

  

 

Book Review: One Piece, Vol 12: The Legend Begins by Eiichiro Oda

 

One Piece, Vol 12: The Legend Begins       

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: October 3, 2006

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Action Adventure/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

 

Buggy the Clown and Captain Alvida have both reappeared in Luffy’s life! And they are both after him! He narrowly escapes being blown up on the scaffolding where Gold Roger met his end.  Now everyone is trying to escape from the Marines under the command of Captain Smoker!  The storm that Nami warned them about is about to strike! As they race back to the ship, Zolo finds himself face-to-face with an irate Master Chief Tashigi, upset because she unwittingly helped him pick out his swords and he is a pirate! Since everybody seems to be after Luffy, and Luffy is headed to the Grand Line, then everybody has decided to travel there. Even if that’s out of the marines’ jurisdiction. But Smoker doesn’t seem to care.

As they get closer to the Grand Line, Nami is disturbed by what she sees on the charts. Namely, that the entrance to the Grand Line is up a mountain! How does that even work? Things get worse when they find themselves inside the Calm Belt and have to row rather than use their sails. There is a reason they have to stay in the canal leading to the Grand Line, and they quickly discover what that is!

Just as they’re about to pass through the Grand Line, Luffy spots what he thinks is a mountain, which makes no sense. Except it isn’t a mountain, it’s a giant whale! Determined to fight the whale, Luffy jumps on him. But then he discovers his friends and his ship are missing and he demands the whale give them back! Luffy spies a trap door on the whale and heads inside to find the insides are not what he expected. There seems to be a canal in there, and more. Luffy runs across two strangers – Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 - just as they are about to blast open a door, and all three find themselves inside the same place where his friends are.  There’s also an old man there, who id very determined to keep the strangers from capturing the whale and taking it back to their village for food. He tells them the whale’s – whose name is Laboon – sad story.

Luffy gives the whale a reason for living, and then amiably agrees to take the strangers home, to the dismay of the others. Just as they reach the island where their village, Whiskey Peak, is located, the two bid them farewell and jump ship.  They sail the Merry Go into the harbor where, to their delight, they are warmly welcomed by the mayor and citizens of Whiskey Peak. A celebration is held in their honor that includes much food, much drink, and many girls for Sanji to flirt with. But all is not as it appears to be, and Zolo is the only one to realize that. Can he defend them against a whole village that is determined to kill them?

Just because Luffy and his crew have reached the Grand Line doesn’t mean their adventures are about to end, does it? Certainly not! In fact, they are just beginning, since I know there are like a hundred more volumes to come lol Not to mention, the Grand Line isn’t a single place, and Gold Roger gave no clue as to where the treasure is. I still have my theories about what the One Piece is and also about Gold Roger and who he really is, but I won’t speculate right now, since that is all it is, speculation.  I know we’re bound to run across Buggy and Smoker and Alvida at some point. I didn’t recognize Alvida, to be honest. Where’s that gum gum fruit she ate? Sign me up lol I really like the story drawings at the beginning of each chapter, with Koby and Helmeppo. I suspect we’ll see them again too, and Vice Admiral Garp. I found Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 rather creepy. In fact, the whole village is creepy. Who knew they’d find an entire village of pirate hunters? Good thing Zolo has more common sense than the rest of them.

Another great volume, look forward to the next!

 

 

 

Saturday is Horror Day #163 - Late Night With the Devil

 Late Night With the Devil

It's the 70s, and Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) is a late night TV talk show host who is determined to compete against the Tonight Show for ratings. But he never quite succeeds, no matter how hard he tries. He has his own sidekick, Gus (Rhys Auteri), as well as his own band. It's Halloween, and he has some special guests lined up for the occasion, including a psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a woman who wrote a book about conversations with the devil, June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and the girl who is the subject of her book, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli) as well as skeptic Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss). Christou seems fraudulent at first, fumbling with his "psychic" impressions, until he hits on one that resonates with the host. Mysterious afflicted suddenly, Christou is rushed to the hospital, to everyone's horror.

Lilly comes off as very bratty and an attention-seeker. Haig has an ongoing offer to anyone who can prove 

the existence of the supernatural. When the audience clamors to see June bring out the so-called entity inside of Lilly, the one she calls Mr. Wriggles, she reluctantly agrees. And then things get even darker...

When I saw the trailer for this film, I admit I was intrigued and couldn't wait to see it, hoping I wasn't seeing all the best scenes. I was not disappointed. This is rather unique in horror films, and very entertaining. It captures the feel of late night talk shows from the 70s, and David Dastmalchian does a great job as the main protagonist. Everyone does well, including the Ed McMahon-like sidekick, Gus, who tries to warn Jack not to meddle with things, that he is in over his head. It's well-written and well-acted and directed, and leaves you in suspense as to what is going to happen.  I haven't touched on everything in the film, because I don't want to give spoilers. I highly recommend this film and I'll give it 4.25 Stars

Book Review: Future Lovers, Vol 2 by Saika Kunieda

 

Future Lovers, Vol 2          

Author: Saika Kunieda

Publisher: Deux Press

American release date: March 24, 2009

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Yaoi/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Akira has taken a permanent position with the school where he began as a sub due to the other teacher’s retirement. So now he and Kento work together every day. They keep their relationship from the people at school. Although Kento has introduced Akira to his grandparents, he has yet to meet Akira’s family. Then one day a flashy woman in a fur coat and sunglasses is standing outside the school when they leave, and Kento is finally introduced to Akira’s mother! That’s when he learns that Akira has a mommy complex, and actually calls her Mommy! Seriously?

She’s come to tell him she’s getting divorced… again. Akira isn’t even sure how many times that makes. It’s clear the pair dote on one another, but Kento is beginning to suspect the relationship is unhealthy. Turns out Akira’s mother had him when she was seventeen and he has no idea who his father is. When Akira leaves school early one day and doesn’t tell him, Kento searches for him, asking his mother if she’s seen him. She hasn’t, but she quickly guesses the nature of their relationship.

Kento finds Akira, who is hungover, and down, concerned unnecessarily about Yukie, whom Kento says is already in a new relationship and Kento doesn’t care because he has Akira. Akira is a complex man and Kento doesn’t always know how to take him. He realizes he’s had a hard life with his unstable mother and his childhood must have been difficult. And sometimes he and Akira seem poles apart. For example, when they end up going to a spring festival together, each is aghast at what the other is wearing. Still, no matter what happens between them, they seem to solve their problems in bed, making everything right once more.

They decide to take a Golden Week vacation but get off to a bad start. Apparently, Akira is a terrible navigator.  To make matters worse, when Kento picks up Akira at his apartment, he finds another man there with him – his art teacher from middle school! And the man not only doesn’t leave, he comes with them! He and Akira sit in the back seat together, with Kento playing chauffeur. This is not what he bargained for at all! Not surprisingly, they get lost! When Akira spots someone and goes to ask for directions, the art teacher tells Kento about what Akira was like as a child, and how much he has changed for the better.  When they finally reach their destination, they find they are all to stay in one room! Not exactly conducive to lovemaking. Kento and Akira become worried when the teacher disappears, which is compounded when his wife shows up looking for him and explains what is going on with him. Now they are even more concerned that he might do something drastic!

Akira’s mother is getting married… again! Kento starts bringing up the idea of marriage to Akira, and they fight over that. Kento wants a future with Akira, but he seems to be less than receptive to the idea. Akira provokes Kento, and finds himself in the nurse’s office with Yukie. Things get worse when Akira thinks Kento’s grandfather has died and Akira gets drunk and crashes the gathering. Will these two ever be on the same page?

I love these two guys, they are so sweet together. I like that they have their ups and downs, like any couple, which is exacerbated with the societal difficulties of being in a same-sex relationship.  The picture of Akira as a sweet little angel is priceless!  So is Akira’s dream of the future.  What a wonderful ending! I am a sucker for a happy ending. I would definitely recommend this book series.