Archives For September 2010

Prepare for Experiment Awards 2010

September 30, 2010 — Leave a comment

It’s time to work on the 2010 edition of the Experiment Awards – working title… anyone have another suggestion? Was thinking of The YAMmy Awards or The YAMmers xD Anyway, for those of you who didn’t vote last year or weren’t reading the site last year, The Experiment Awards is OUR awards. We watch the films, and nominate them.

The only thing you need to do? Watch over 48 films dated 2010 on IMDb. We still haven’t figure out what to do with films late in the year… well, tough luck.

My count? I’m 41 films dated 2010 on IMDb, so I’m almost there~

Anyone’s invited to participate, the detailed rules are here (includes nomination dates and deadlines).

And I made banners of my fave films watched until now!

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In English, Films, Graphics, Sharing , , , , ,
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Foreign Submissions Update

September 29, 2010 — Leave a comment

Some very exciting news – First, it seems I’ve seen more than TWO of the Foreign submissions this year LOL. Of course that’s without considering the 9 films that will go through the other stage, and the 5 that will be chosen. I’ll probably get a 1/5 ratio at the most.

Second of all… China chose Xiaogang Feng’s earthquake drama Aftershocks to represent them. *jumpy claps* Now, this is my weakness. I love tear-jerking dramas. Anyone who’s lived through an earthquake should and will be affected by the story, anyone who’s lived through a hurricane, typhoon, any catastrophic natural disaster. Aftershocks is for you. But this is not to say that Aftershocks is exploitative of the tragedy, because this “earthquake” film is little about the earthquake and all about the people affected by it.

Considering the technical achievement this is, and how human and audience-friendly this drama is, I think this might have high chances of passing to the “chosen 9”. *crosses fingers*

Here are some of the submissions I’ve seen and reviewed:

The updated titles via Indie Wire!

In Chinese, English, Films, Japanese, Korean, Reviews, Sharing, Spanish , , , , , , , , , ,
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Glee Quote of the Week – S02x02 – Britney/Brittany

September 29, 2010 — 4 Comments

Didn’t love the Britney episode. Heather Morris can dance, but not dance and sing. My fears were confirmed – Brittany’s on-liner awesomeness is too much to handle on one episode. I couldn’t even laugh that her name is Brittany S. Pearce. And despite her having a great performance on Slave 4 U — inlcuding VMA 2001’s Birmanian python, yup I watched a lot of Discovery Kids as a kid — I just didn’t care.

Actually, Brittany and DentistStamos was just… so awkward. LOL Same with Me Against the Music.

My fave of the night was Toxic at the assembly because it was the only song included in the storyline without drug-inducing the characters… and Artie’s Stronger – sound-wise – it was the most like the original song. But yay! Emma and Terry are back!

I didn’t find any particular quotable quote, but here’s the line that reminded me of the WB’s Popular with April Tuna, Emory Dick. I’m pretty sure Ryan Murphy is the only man on American television that’s constantly using the word “frottage” on national/international tv.

Becky: Hey, Coach! The Glee Club is doing Britney Spears for the assembly, I just found out.
Sue: Becky, you’re on Red Alert. If you see any awkward teenage frottage perform that citizen’s arrest we practice.

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Mario Testino for Todo o Nada at Madrid’s Thyssen Museum

September 29, 2010 — Leave a comment

Ooh la la, Sr. Testino.

I remember the Thyssen Museum was huge. I don’t even remember what I saw there, I just remember it well because as I always do in my travels, I was looking for a memorable key-chain that would remind me of Madrid. Of course, key-chains are supposed to be cheap, and I always put them in my backpack… that’s my thing, key-chain from whatever city, and/or coins or paper money.

However, in my short time in Madrid I couldn’t find a single decent key-chain that said Madrid. Americans seem to have the best name-of-city key-chains made in China. LOL So… I ended up buying  a super expensive Thyssen Museum key-chain which was about 10 Euros. At that time, probably $15. Frack. That’s why I remember the place.

And for all the key-chains made in China, I was never able to find a decent key-chain there. All I brought home was Yuans, and Hong Kong dollars. xD

But alas, we’re here for Mr. Testino. I wonder if they will be bringing this exhibit here?

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How to Feed the World? by Denis van Waerebeke

Just to make sure that we don’t forget infographics xD You can also vote for How to Feed the World? at the Vimeo Festival in the Motion Graphics category ;O

Posted on September 28, 2010 In English, Motion, Sharing
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APRICOT by Ben Briand

In case you missed it, you can still vote for APRICOT at the Vimeo Festival for Best Narrative. It goes against Nuit Blanche, as well as The Raven by Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil (Mujer de mi Hermano, Mancora).

Posted on September 28, 2010 In English, French, Sharing, Short Films, Spanish
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8BITS by 8BCREW

old school video game graphics go against 3d!

oh, those graphics bring back so many memories xD

Posted on September 28, 2010 In English, Graphics, Sharing, Short Films , , ,
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The Remake and Adaptation Roles Reversed: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

September 27, 2010 — Leave a comment

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, adaptation of the novel by Gabrielle Zevin of the same name, or Dareka ga Watashi ni KISU o Shita (literally translated to I Kissed Someone) is the Japanese adaptation of said American book starring popular Japanese actors/idols Horikita Maki as the lead Naomi Sukuse (in the book Naomi Porter) who falls down the stairs, hits her head and loses the memories she’s recollected for the past 4 years, including her best friend Mirai Hasegawa (in the book Will) played by idol Yuya Tegoshi from boy band NEWS, and her American boyfriend Ace Zuckerman played by Anton Yelchin.

Gasp! Say what? Americans and Japanese young actors together in a Japanese film of an American book? Yes, that’s right. Because Teenage Amnesiac also includes actor Kenichi Matsuyama (recently seen in Norwegian Wood), and none other than the young Emma Roberts. So yeah, the roles have inverted. And how do American fans of the book feel about their beloved book being made in Japanese? Well, a lot of them aren’t happy about it… or at least, they weren’t happy about it. Talks about how “pointless” it is to change the setting, or how not “into Japanese” they could be. Even though the one involved in the making of this was the book’s author herself, and it was probably done because the book was such a hit in the country.

Sure, it’s just internet talk. However, it reflects the sentiment of *insert nationality* whose film/books of their home country get remade/adapted in America/etc. not-a-language it’s supposed to be. So we do understand your sentiments, and here’s to hoping you guys understand when it happens the other way round again and again… and again.

As for the film… well, suffice to say that I feel too old to be watching this. Kenichi Matsuyama should feel too old for this too. Maybe if I were 10 years younger – OMG, I’m that old – I could have maybe connected more. No scratch that, I felt like the characters were Mary Sue’s or Marty Stus… or whatever the male form of a Mary Sue is. Surprisingly, in a bad way, Anton Yelchin is a bit of a jerk in here. He’s literally your typical American jock… only he plays tennis. LOL Poor Naomi’s lost her memory, and all he can think of is getting laid for Prom?

Naomi’s other suitors are the Martys Stus, one playing the best friend from the yearbook commission. Mirai is dorky, well-natured, cares for Naomi… and well, that’s just telling you straight in your face that he’s the one. Then there’s the dark brooding opponent Yuji (Matsuyama) who rides a motorbike, works at a projection house where he watches foreign art house films, photographs Naomi for a play, and actively pursues her as she ends her relationship with Yelchin’s character. Yuji is what you know it’s bad but you still want to see what’s going on with him. In a dark indie film, Naomi would have pursued Yuji and ended up badly. In a fairly mainstream drama, she’d pursued Yuji and ended up fixing him. This is a romantic drama for teenagers, so you’d do the math.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Horikita Maki in anything else, but she seems like an average lead in here. And Emma Roberts is terribly underused in this.

2.5/5

Also can you believe Yelchin is the youngest in the cast? Gosh these Asians genes. Wait till we turn 60~

In Books, English, Films, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Rants, Reviews, Sharing ,
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Ahh… 2NE1, What Am I Going to Do with You?

September 26, 2010 — 3 Comments

I’m taking a wild guess here, I’m really confused with all the nicknames in the comments, but I’m guessing Southsideirish is Bill (you can change your name in the Intense Debate profile, you know xD), so… I finally took time to watch 2NE1’s presentation he recommended – in… Sketchbook?

Plus, I also took some time to listen to their debut album, and like I commented when they released their 3 singles, I’m giving the album a passing grade already. However, I’m doing so just barely. I’m giving them a 3/5, which is more than I could say for the likes of Rain or even Taeyang. xD But why is that? After all, I did love Try to Follow Me and Clap your Hands. I’m all over those two, and I’m partial to Go Away and Can’t Nobody. The rest of the album? It just sort of felt kind of bland, and I’m not counting the remixes. Can’t Nobody is so processed that I can’t even understand what they are saying, and if I give Kanye flack for it, I’m giving 2NE1 flack for it too. LOL

2NE1 defends themselves vocally, but they’d better be prepared when autotune begins wearing out. I am not convinced they could kill it vocally, or in a 100% full-on Michael Jackson-worthy choreography. 2NE1 is cool, it’s fun, but I don’t think I can see them here once Bom and Dara hit 30.

Give me a performance where 2NE1 kills it Acapella style a la Acapella Candy Man from Brown Eyed Girls, and I’ll eat my words. Same with the dudes of Big Bang – I know Daesung can sing – but can all of them kill an Acapella performance together as Big Bang?

And… is it me, or is Minzy the lovechild of Daesung and G-Dragon? There, I said it.

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What I Like about Hollywood Movies

September 25, 2010 — 3 Comments

Following AM’s advise on better blogging, I thought it’d be cool to follow through with my post on “What I Like about Japanese Cinema” which I wrote for the J-Film blog-a-thon last year.

So now I’m going to be talking about Hollywood movies! And by “Hollywood” I mean American films. Since I’m more familiar with commercial Hollywood stuff, while I’ve only begun catching indie flicks online (or when I was in Canada) for the past few years.

My current Facebook Flixster movie count says that I’ve rated 2431 films. Of course, that’s only counting the films that I’ve been able to find in their database (american, foreign, commercial, or indie), and I’m far too lazy to send them stuff now. My MUBI account states I’ve rated 1450, so that should give you a proper average… I think.

So what do I like about Hollywood Movies?

1. Ah… the Hollywood Golden Era.
I’m familiar enough with Garbo and Crawford to know that I loved their films. And it’s fact, LOL, Hollywood created movie stars, and actors went to Hollywood to become movie stars… and I love movie stars. I always complain now that they don’t make them like that anymore.

Sure, sure… people who aren’t into “old films” keep telling me that films in the era didn’t look as great as they do now, or that acting was weird, and that subject matter in films have improved since then. To them I tell them… well, 1986 is not that old. Try a film from 1929. ;P

2. No matter how Indie they are, they still look sharp and clear.
There’s something my mom always tells me when we, for some odd reason, end up catching a clip of any local – hint: non-American – film, “Why do films here look like they’re stuck in the 70s?”. It isn’t that the local cinema shows the great quality of films in the 70s, here they just look like they’re stuck with the technology.

It happens in American film, but not as often… and if it does, it’s because they’re really REALLY low-budget. But even really-low-budget filmmakers manage to bring a great DP on board. I mean, have you seen some of the stuff posted online? It’s amazing what people are doing with “I shot this with my Canon” LOL

3. You guys have mastered the art of pseudo-indie.
Right? I mean, you have also begun to call these films Hipster… in a mocking kinda way, but alright – I admit it, I tend to like them because well, to me, these films can only be American. I cannot imagine an Asian hipster film, I cannot imagine a European hipster film. Little Miss Sunshine, Juno – people say Juno reminded them of me, LOL – they can only be American.

But you guys have also mastered the art of making big budget films, and call them independent. I mean how on earth do you call Inglourious Basterds an independent film but spend $70M USD in making it. To me, that’s a big Hollywood movie – and I like it. LOL

4. Don Bluth, Disney, and Pixar
I grew up with Don Bluth’s and Disney animation. Now, I’m growing old with Pixar (oh, gawd… I’m growing old). I mean, anyone my generation who hasn’t grown up with Disney animation and Don Bluth’s work, they might not have had a childhood – unless, of course you’ve grown up with Studio Ghibli… in which case, hate you.

5. I love when you support World Premiere… even if it’s for sucky huge blockbuster films.
I’m an impatient gal, if I want to watch a new film over the weekend, it needs to open locally over the weekend, otherwise my enthusiasm for the film will wane, and I’ll just end up catching it on dvd – or worse, on cable.

Most major studios have offices in most major cities in countries, so now it’s easier to get a film to open on the same weekend as in the States. It just happened with that new Drew Barrymore rom-com, which opened one week after the US, and I’m pretty sure we’re getting Narnia and Harry Potter (not that HP is American, but it’s being distributed by Warner so…) the same day, or one day ahead. Now, if that could also happen with flicks like Black Swan, and other Award season flicks, I’d be a happy gal.

So… how about you guys? What do you guys like about Hollywood Movies/American Cinema? Or why do you hate it? I know some of you hate anything American with a passion. Such a tiring task. LOL

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