2000s
Noah’s Barks pages covering things related to the years 2000 to 2009, i.e. the 2000s.
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A History of Violence
A sort of Blue Velvet contemporary, which is of the highest compliment. A History of Violence features similar themes of violence invading the idyllic American dream, only this time around it’s resurfacing instead of being dug up. The darkness spreads like the plague in this fantastic thriller, and David Cronenberg is at his most clever… (read more)
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Blood Red Shoes – “Box of Secrets”
Box of Secrets by UK band Blood Red Shoes (BRS) actually has a gutsy punch to their sonic assault, immediately putting them above 90% of all their garage rock revival contemporaries. Well, to be fair, while they have the raucous spirit, the better production values probably only did them favors if The Strokes‘ Is This… (read more)
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Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny
As it moves away from its predecessor’s survival horror roots, what awaits the series in ‘Onimusha 2?’ (read more)
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Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love is a very unexpected mix of palpably uncomfortable anxiety-ridden drama, frilly romance, and absurdist comedy that comes incredibly, incredibly close to imploding in on itself by becoming a wild mess – but there’s just enough ambiguity to its strangeness to blur these cracks over and make it a really lovely trip. Any primary… (read more)
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Soul Nomad & the World Eaters
Nippon Ichi Software concludes an incredible streak of games on the PS2 with ‘Soul Nomad.’ Will they apply everything they’ve learned and release their best game yet? (read more)
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Star Ocean: First Departure
With ‘Star Ocean: First Departure,’ the SNES JRPG classic is remade for the PSP. Can its legacy survive a modernized environment? (read more)
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Foo Fighters Retrospective
(Original publication date unknown) Oh ho, neighboring music nerds. So you want me to apologize for my love of Foo Fighters? Call them a “guilty pleasure?” Say the usual stupid image-preserving apologies like “I like them, but they aren’t objectively good?” Tough luck. Foo Fighters are great. Foo Fighters kick ass. Foo Fighters are possibly… (read more)
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Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
This oft-maligned sequel to ‘Zeta Gundam’ is known for its tonal whiplash complete with frequent slapstick comedy. Is ‘Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ’ better than people give it credit for? (Includes ‘Gundam Frag.’) (read more)
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DemiKids and the Fallacy of Comparing Shin Megami Tensei to Pokémon
I find it annoying when people compare the Shin Megami Tensei and Pokémon franchises. There are key differences that make this categorization useless for both sides. (read more)
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Appleseed (2004)
Masamune Shirow’s ‘Appleseed’ is once again adapted into animation—this time in full CG. (read more)