2

Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood (Tokio Blues)

Norwegian Wood (or Tokio Blues, in Spanish) tells the non-chronological story of Watanabe Toru, who remembers Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend in high school, who ended up killing himself. It deals with the aftermath of the suicide and their lives pre- and post-suicide.

3

Jongkook Kim – Eleventh Story

One of Korea’s “ballad kings” comes back to the music stage with an album that is filled with just that. Well, it’s not just ballads, there is also something else for his fans in the album, but it is definitely not dance music.

14

Avatar (2009)

I had the displeasure of enduring James Cameron’s preachy, unoriginal, over-indulgent sci-fi brain rapist, Avatar. I’d like to shake the hand of the netizen who named it Avatar: The Last Samurai of the Ferngully Who Dances With Wolves.

0

YAM – Issue 008

Well, we’ve got reviews for Bright Star, Nine, Princess and the Frog, New York I Love You, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Sa Dingding’s sophomore album Harmony, SNSD, 2AM, Mosquito-voice Kim JongKook, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie and more!

Plus! We’ve got articles on the direction of Chinese Pop music, our list of actresses that should get a cable show, and our picks that should have been Best Picture nominees at the Academy Awards.

1

Nurse Jackie – Season 1

A dark comedy about a nurse with a substance problem struggling to balance the insanely busy hours at a New York City hospital and her personal drama.

3

Sa Dingding – Harmony

If there’s interesting talent coming out of contemporary Chinese art, Sa Dingding leads the pack. Her sophomore album contains pieces dealing with self-discovery, mantras and sutras with classical Chinese instruments and electronic beats.

0

SNSD – Oh!

After a very successful year, SNSD is back in the spotlight with their cutesy style that seems effortless in their second album, Oh!

1

Enki Bilal – The Nikopol Trilogy

Set in 2023, this trilogy follows the return of Nikopol, who after spending 30 years orbiting the earth finds France under fascist rule after two nuclear wars. The result? It’s a cold, scary world out there with aliens, deformed human beings, and total chaos.

8

Princess and the Frog, The

The Princess and the Frog, Disney’s return to classic 2D animation, takes on the well-known story of the princess who kisses the frog, who in turn magically transforms back into a prince… and gives it a little spin. And it’s obvious that the princess, who isn’t really a princess, turns into a frog instead.