For those of who are in the dark, Full Metal Alchemist (FMA) the movie is set two years after the end of the popular FMA TV series, with the Elric brothers Ed and Al separated by the Gate in two different worlds.
What’s new
The movie is set during the depression and economic catastrophe of Germany after World War I and the formation of the Nazi Party in our world. While in the alchemy world peace is setting down after the war. During this time Ed and Al continue towards their goals. Al tries to bring brother back using awesome power of alchemy while Ed tries to get back to his own world using the power of science. However Ed realizes that he is not the only one trying to leave this world and it leaves him facing some enemies. The movie manages to recreate the actual events of WWI and combine them with fictional events of the show and does a great job in doing so.
Pros
The movie has a great story line and enough twist and turns to keep you at the edge of you seat. From the beginning to the very end it continues to accelerate and keeps the audience with the pace of the story. Its has the same story telling style as the show. The character development is perfect and a lot of returning characters appear through out the movie. The fight scenes are good and well presented. Though short in length they feel thrilling and exciting as long as the last. The true FMA fan maybe a little disappointed by the movie like me but it’s a matter of opinion. The movie is the end of the FMA saga. It’s sad to see this masterpiece coming to an end but the movie delivered everything it had till the end.
FMA saga probably has the best and the best original story line in the anime world and seeing it coming to an end is indeed a sad thing.
Peeves
Well….. I am a FMA fan so it’s better not I say anything. The movie disappointed me a little as a fan of the show but as a fan of anime it was the best anime movie for I saw till now. There wasn’t as much music as I expected but still had the old soul stirring effects like the ones from the show.
Verdict
So the bottom line is the unless you have some complaining friends who can’t stop but criticize each and every part of the movie you can prepare yourself for one of the best anime movies there is.
Review by Gokhra
Rats are quite disgusting in reality. They started the plague, they carry germs, worst of all they cut your favorite clothes. But animate them and there is hardly anything more cute out there nibbling away.
Disney/Pixar's latest feature "Ratatouille" bring the animatedly cute furry creatures in a movie about a rat and his desire to be the best cook in the world.
"Ratatouille" is different form the other animated offerings in the sense that its humour is sly and sophisticated. It's a ratty movie with the appropriate dose of human touch. As for the visual aspects, the animators keep on taking it a level higher.
The plot: The film involves a bunch of rats ad their love or food. No surprise there but here the rodent team wants to create. It's a great story in the way their love for food is used as a unifying theme.
Set in Paris, the animators rendered the landscape in amazing detail that is bound to leave you breathless. But enough about the imagery.
"Ratatouille" is a tale of two young males from different worlds. They learn to grow up and make their way in their respective worlds. Remy the rat lives in the French provinces with his dad, Django, his brother, Emile, and extended rat clan. That's what rats do by the way, they have clans. He has an excellent nose for trouble so to speak and serves as the family's poison detector.
Rats grow in numbers and need food to grow further. So a food-finding mission takes the rats into a shotgun-wielding woman's farmhouse with expected results. What follows is a terrific ride over rapids on a nearby river. In the process, Remy is separated from his loved ones and finds himself in the City of Light.
A famous deceased chef Gusteau appears to Remy in ghostly form to guide him quite like Obi-an of Star Wars legend. Remy lands right into the very kitchen of Gusteau's restaurant, a former five-star landmark fallen on hard times. Now you may be wondering how in a world of rats being rats they also manage to have restaurants well, then it wouldn't be fun now would it?
Remy's trials and tribulations working in the restaurant business is just one aspect of the story line. Another concerns his relationship with a young twentysomething human named Linguini, a hapless new restaurant employee with a mysterious connection to the founder. Linguini's reluctant mentor in the kitchen is Colette, the sole female in a kitchen full of rough characters.
The plot:
Rats shouldn't be around food yet this movie makes you feel that if a rat can cook for you, you wouldn't mind. It's that well played out. There's an impressive sequence where Remy does just that for his human friend by cooking him an omelet.
Young viewers will miss out on the slightly complex machinations regarding Linguini and his dealings with the head chef. It's a bit of a cut throat business story line that is tailored more for the older viewers.
The movie offers unusual comic humour and surprise. Even the end credits are terrific. You won't look (or scream in some cases) at a rat in the same way again. Great fun pretty much sums it up.
By Taskin Rahman
Rashed Zaman a professional architect and a cinematographer by passion came to Bangladesh after completing his graduation in architecture from METU University, Ankara, Turkey. The passionate man then went on to practice it for four years. Photography and cinematography remained his childhood passion but taking it as a profession- he wasn't ready for it. Perhaps, he required someone who would give him the confidence to go ahead with his passion. His childhood friend Manzu Rahman did that.
From Turkey to the land of movies, Los Angeles where he completed a two and half years diploma in cinematography from UCLA. From then onwards, there was no looking back
Rased says “I grew up fascinated by the works of master architects, painters, photographers and cinematographers. Ultimately my love of light, painting and photography brought me to Los Angeles to study cinema
tography at UCLA.”
Rashed has shot many independent movies in United States besides doing still photography. His directed and cinematographed music video KAL RAATE would be coming to our local channels soon. This video was also shot in United States where a beautiful lady in red graces the blue ocean and toasted sands. The simple music video quite simple although certain techniques used were unusual. Having seen this, he became my personal interest and one of the reasons for this interview.
He became the first man from Bangladesh to have had his picture on the cover page of The National Geographic Magazine. That is a milestone. Upon asking how did it happen, he said National Geographic called him for the picture and they got the picture from his website www.rashedzaman.com His website has got a collection of pictures. The National Geographic's cover on his photograph can be foundat amazon.com upon searching.
Rashed is looking forward to working here professionally as a cinematographer. He has worked for Djuice and Banglalink commercials with Amitabh Reza and is personally grateful to him and to Apu Rozario. Currently he is working for Lal Teer with Rana Masud.
He intends to work for mainstream commercial Bengali films and commercials. His dream is to pursue his career as a cinematographer and die as a cinematographer.
UG Inc. isn't a name that is unknown to anyone, and their concert isn't anything new in town. On June 30th, UG Inc. in collaboration with Dhaka Project (a non-profit organization fighting against poverty) created some head buzz at Nazrul Institute. Lining up the show with crowd-rockers Artcell, old names dNA, Arbovirus, Stentorian and Soothsayer and the energetic Vague, Germantown, Synopsis, Neverland and Stent; the concert hosted rowdy fans and some great music.
The show head-started with Vague, covering Metallica and Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall', followed by Germantown with their original 'Amra Shadhin'. Performing covers from RHCP and Coldplay, this recently featured band hosted Mouri on 'Nemo' (Nightwish). Synopsis played Cryptic Fate's 'Protibaad', Sepultura's 'Refuse Resist' and Pantera's 'Mouth for War', with the Korn version of 'Another Brick in the Wall'. Crowd-entertainers, Neverland performed two Steve Vai numbers and Godfather. Due to some technical problems, the crowd felt the bands' performances weren't projected well enough; however it didn't stop them from head banging to their music.
Soothsayer pumped up the crowd with their originals and an Iron Maiden cover. Gibran (Dethrow) guest-starred in Soothsayer's IM cover, heating up the scene with lively stage acts. The more-excited crowd chanted along with Stentorian's originals, plus a Pantera cover. Stentorian has always been known for their memorable live performances, and this concert was no different from others. UG Inc. recalls dNa's 'Metropolis' (Dream Theatre) and 'Shopno' (original) as one of the most entertaining, adrenaline-pumping moments of the night. They were shortly followed by Arbovirus, playing two of their originals and Mission Impossible II. Short, yet with style and energy, Arbovirus was loved by their fans and 'distracted' by the more impatient, Artcell crowd.
The night ended with the sheer magic and mayhem of Artcell. Performing five of their originals, their music resulted with painful backaches, but a wholesomely satisfied audience. The concert ended with great memories, anxious parents of the rebellious, music-loving kids and a head-buzz that everyone looks back with a grin on their faces. The summer of underground concert has just begun, so watch out for more reviews on this section.
Source: www.uginc.org
The alternative-funk band, Maroon 5 are out with their new album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Featuring the US and UK chart hit, ‘Makes Me Wonder’, with the gorgeous Adam Levine back in all his studly goodness, the album has already scooped out its starry-eyed fans. Although, we, personally felt their debut release, ‘Songs About Jane’ contained more variation, and some unforgettable numbers; It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is expected to be another hit in their league.
