A blind samurai. Two geisha. A gambling nephew. A ronin - a bodyguard. Three rival gangs. Somehow they all wind up in the same village, and their fates slowly intertwine. The story stirs with a slice of life as it used to be (did it really?) in the old days of Asia, and soon moves to encounters, confrontations, occasional comedy, and some of the quickest sword draws I've seen in a movie.

The action's good. Violent. Brutal. Varied. Bizarre in its close ties to comedy, as if death is no big deal. But then again, death is no big deal is it? Eventually it happens to us all. Maybe the part that is, but doesn't feel like such a big deal in this movie - is the excessive violence. Arms get chopped off for little here, but in the context it's not out of place.

Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, is but a passerby in this mad village, but all character fates weave together nicely; lead up to the grand showdown. Though it's short, it's an intense battle. And then: a few steps and a trip. It's a refreshing movie.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.
Eleven.

(more…)

I'm not a Hobbit.
I saw a bank, I pondered I'd rob it,
But the plan stank, laundered Monopoly money,
I took nothing from it.

I think nothing of it!
All of the thoughts that I think,
A potion for me, a notion of drink.
It quenches my thirst, it leaves me a mill
On thoughts when I would, be frequently still.
And leap to the hill, a tea table stands,
It caters to me, and meets my demands,
I table for thrills, for all of my plans,
Are there when I need them, like grains in the sand.

I'm not a Hobbit,
I'm like a tree where I stand!
I'm like the mountain of hope!
I'm like the fountain of prose!
I'm like a noun or a note!
I'm the profound and the close!
I'm the bigger, the better, the thinker, forever!
And yet, I'm little as a toast.

I'm not a Hobbit,
I'm like a coast,
I'm as wide as the Earth!
But sometimes I feel like a moat.

Yeah I've got writers block
I was writing quite alright and stopped
Got myself a cup of coffee hot
Then I came back and slopped back down but what
Is wrong with my head
I try to write but what I write is not
Fluent, it aint doin it
Aint proving to me or anybody else either that I'm the top
I want to write a masterpiece and show the world all that I got
Blow em all away like I'm a hurricane, or a grasshopper swarm swarming ravaging crops
But this is what came out, this verse that sounds like shit
Aint a little tiny bit like me
I want to show that I can spit like E
I want to keep making hit after hit after hit
Not this shit, maybe I should quit or flee
This shit is horrible, like when I split my knee
Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up to a richer dream
Maybe I'm dreaming right now maybe this is a nightmare
That would explain why I can't get my mind clear
I fear running out of ideas that's my big phobia
Now you know it now you think you know me huh
I didn't fear it as a kid, but all the way growing up
I started wondering if I was cut for the rut
How I planned it, at the start I did stand strong on this planet
It was so obvious that I planned wrong
Didn't do shit but write shit and bite lips
And now sit here and spit these quiet bits?
About time I quit... nah, I'll frighten not.
I'll just write a block.

Since old times, I wrote chimes, so you know I
I grow rhymes in my own mind
So dope lines you won't find
A way out.

Now I'm co signed, by me and I
And my clothesline, will be so fly cause I don't like
Jeans, you say where have you been
I've been way out.

I'm way out with 47 AKs!
I spray doubt like I'm a renegade with grenades!
And grade A mouth I'm
Way way way way out.

I was born in the North moved away south,
I was formed on the porch of my playhouse,
I've drawn all my swords in my notebook,
But I'm not a drawer, so don't look.

I grew up out in the garden,
Farmed cabbage and lived in starvation.
Now I'm paving my path to stardom,
I'm going to take the nation by -

Storm! More! More! More! More!
War! War! war! War! YEAH
I! Am! So! Calm! I! Am!
Gooood *blasphemy*s

I thought I had it all planned out...
I kind of understand it now.
All I ever planted here was sand of doubt.

I put a rancid pear in candy clouds,
Just keep it candid, let me rant it out!
Let me stamp my brow!

I borrow frowns like a foreigner, I scurry round.
Half the time I don't know what is real,
What's funny now?

Pen in my hand, while others have a gun in mouth,
I'll stand the test of time, I'm not running out.
Time! You're running now.