Archives For Life

My 2015 Letterboxd Year in Review

I know… Letterboxd is trying to get me to pay~~~

Though I’m still kinda mad that they reset my movie-view count a few couple of hours before midnight, I do kinda appreciate their stats~

letterboxd-2015-review

Being the obsessive compulsive person that I am, I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t reach my 1000hrs of movie-watching, but was also glad because it turns out I’ve spent like 11% of my year watching movies. That’s like more than a whole month during a year. I’m so glad I’ve taken up exercise while watching movies xD

According to this, my bias Zhao Wei was my Most Watched Actor –though I’m missing actual numbers, I think I saw 8 films with her (including cameos) — and about 6 Anurag Kashyap movies (without the ones he’s produced). That doesn’t match the 23 movies I watched of Tabu in 2014 (LOL), and the 13 movies prior to that.

But overall, these skin-deep newsletter shows a good reflection of my movie-watching~ a little bit Chinese, a little bit Indian, a little bit European, a little bit of animation, and some Taiwanese melancholic rom-com.

Posted on January 19, 2016 In English, Films, Screencaps, Sharing , , , , , , , , , ,
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HAYA Band + Daiqing Tana for I Am A Singer 4

If I’m not mistaken, I’ve been listening to Daiqing Tana (黛青塔娜 / Дайчин Тана) for quite a few months, so total surprised to find out that they’ll be performing in the latest season of I Am A Singer (我是歌手). Strange on its own, because we all know that Chinese people’s music taste is all sorts of conventional love ballad. And I love LOVE LaLa with all my bobo heart, but come one~ COME ON!

Now THAT’s a fuckin’ performance!

Also~ the mysterious Guan Zhe (关喆), who performed that catchy Beijing, Beijing, Wo Ai Beijing (北京，北京，我爱北京) number, will also be participating. Both he and HAYA Band (HAYA乐团) placed last.

If you’re interested, the performances (sans interruptions) are available on Xiami. Including the clean version of HAYA Band.

Also check out HAYA Band’s albums Migration (迁徙) and Crazy Horse (疯马), which are available on Xiami and iTunes. Apparently, you can also buy Migration on CDBaby, and there seems to be an up-to-date-ish Facebook page. However, the best place -always- is Weibo + DaiQing Tana’s.

Posted on January 19, 2016 In Celebrity, Chinese, Clips, English, Fun, Jobs, Music, Sharing, Television , , , , , ,
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I’m Ready for Yeh Fitoor~

You probably know I’m excited for Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor, of course, mainly because of Tabu xD but also because of the whole tortured emo broken-heart soul of the story. Plus, it’s Amit Trivedi’s music. I was (and usually always am) less excited about the leads… even less with Katrina “I can’ts but I tries” Kaif. Like- I don’t even know why I sat down to watch Phantom, because that’s hilarious.

But I’m always surprise to hear people saying that Katrina sucks at dancing… because I’ve never seen that. I think the first time I saw her was in YRF’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and — okay, I was mostly in love with Saans [clip] because that’s a damn good sexy song. LOL — but I don’t remember her sucking in the Ishq Shava [clip] number at all. In fact, I remember I actually said she wasn’t a bad dancer.

And I know everyone EVERYONE loves to hate and hates to love Sheila Ki Jawani [clip], but it appears on so many movies I’ve come to accept its catchy qualities despite movie and content. And even then when it appears people say she’s not a good dancer, she dances alright.My Kaif knowledge ain’t extensive, but even in Dhoom 3 [Kamli][Dhoom Machale Dhoom], she does totally fine. I can’t picture her at all doing Indian dance, but she totally nails modern and contemporary.

They looked pretty good doing this. Who choreographed it?

Posted on January 14, 2016 In Celebrity, Clips, English, Films, Misc., Music, Music Videos, Sharing , , , , , , ,
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Missed 2016 Yu Aoi Greeting~

Oh, hey! I somehow missed this on my YouTube timeline- Yu Aoi’s 2016 New Year greeting xD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkL0LaH_BM

I’ve lost most my Japanese powers in the past two years of no Japanese movies, music and television. LOL I can only make out the greeting xD I feel deflated because -crossing fingers- I may be heading to Japan for the holidays in a couple of months and scares the crap out of me because no one speaks Japanese in this trip~~~

My dream is that I’ll meet Yu-chan and tell her how big a fan I am/was. xD Must also remember to stock up on movies (hopefully with subs) and/or Shiina Ringo concert DVDs and discography.

Posted on January 12, 2016 In Celebrity, Clips, English, Japanese, Sharing , , , , , ,
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PepsiCo Bring Happiness Home 2016: The Monkey King Family

Pepsi is prepping for the upcoming year of the Monkey in the Lunar calendar and Chinese horoscope with a commercial on the legendary Monkey King full of nostalgia and tradition. The recount of the generational Monkey King is a bit choppy, but it gets to its point.

Continue Reading…

Posted on January 12, 2016 In Chinese, Commercials, English, Films, Sharing, Short Films, Television , , , , , ,
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Indian Cinema of 2015

December 29, 2015 — 2 Comments

I already published my list of 2015 Best Films, now I’m just segregating all the content from each other. I even have my Top10 Films Directed by Women.

The journey, you guys, the journey is two-and-a-half years old [1][2][3][4][5] already and counting. I’m no longer tracking what I’m watching because it got way too complicated. And though the number of Indian films I get to watch is minuscule to the actual output; at 38 films this year (of 203), it’s the most I’ve seen in a year. It’s almost one movie a week (!!) and it almost reaches my mark of 46 (of 274) of last year. And it totally surpasses my 33 mark in 2013 when I started it all.

*Note: Though 113 films (over 55% of the list) is English-based, not all of them are Hollywood movies. The number also considers UK, Canadian, Irish and Australian productions and some other mix-and-match co-productions.

Of course, I’m way more comfortable navigating mainstream Hindi cinema than I am Tamil or other industries. But Anupama Chopra has just released her video of the Best and Worst of Hindi Cinema in 2015, so I got inspired to have my own segregated list. xD

The Best of Indian Cinema 2015

  1. Dil Dhadakne Do (dir. Zoya Akhtar)
  2. Talvar (dir. Meghna Gulzar)
  3. Piku (dir. Shoojit Sircar)
  4. Masaan (dir. Neeraj Ghaywan)
  5. Dum Laga Ke Haisha (dir. Sharat Katariya)
  6. NH10 (dir. Navdeep Singh)
  7. Margarita, with a Straw (dir. Shonali Bose)
  8. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (dir. Kabir Khan)
  9. Baahubali: The Beginning (dir. S.S. Rajamouli)
  10. Angry Indian Goddesses (dir. Pan Nalin)

The Worst of Indian Cinema 2015

  1. Dirty Politics (dir. K.C. Bokadia)
  2. Badlapur (dir. Sriram Raghavan)
  3. Phantom (dir. Kabir Khan)
  4. Katti Batti (dir. Nikhil Advani)
  5. Hawaizaada (dir. Vibhu Puri)

Haha, Kabir Khan in both lists xD

Still Pending~

  • Aligarh
  • Ayal Njanalla
  • Bajirao Mastani
  • Charlie (dir. Martin Prakkat)
  • Dilwale
  • Dhanak
  • Kothanodi
  • Main Aur Charles
  • Orange Mittai
  • Premam
  • Shaandaar
  • Tamasha
  • Thani Oruvan
  • Thoongaa Vanam
  • Umrika
  • Zubaan

 

In Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Jobs, Misc., Sharing , , , , , , ,
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Top50 Songs of 2015

It’s out, it’s out! You know what to do~

yammag-amys-top50-songs-2015
Posted on December 17, 2015 In Chinese, English, Fun, Graphics, Japanese, Jobs, Korean, Misc., Music, Sharing, Spanish, Swedish , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Hilarious Van Houten Cocoa’s Mamametal CMs

December 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

Japan does have some of the best commercials.

Japan-based Latina YAMmie Roxanne just shared these hilarious commercials for Van Houten Cocoa, featuring a mom who goes metal when crap things happen at home— her son begrudging her for not waking him up, a husband who does nothing, and a daughter who arrives late without notice.

And because lyrics are important, they have it subtitled— so don’t forget to turn the CC options on!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7ZvoHXwi_k

No info on who’s in charge of the campaign, but their website states there will be a Special Movie coming out soon.

van-houten-cocoa-special-movie-mamametal

In Commercials, English, Japanese, Sharing , , ,
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Early 2015 Music Highlights!

Yup, once again~

Back in 2010, the YAM Magazine website was launched officially— it was my grandpa’s 5th death anniversary. Today, it’s his 10th year anniversary… also it’s the 5th YAM web anniversary! Numerology galore~~~

Anyway~ I posted my 2015 music highlights~ early, once again. There were a few albums of my biases, but most of these picks are new people I’ve begun following this year. So… happy listening!

amys-2015-music-highlights
Posted on December 15, 2015 In Chinese, English, Graphics, Japanese, Jobs, Korean, Music, Sharing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Anushka Sharma for the Film Companion’s FaceTime

Anupama Chopra’s Film Companion just published their interview with Anushka Sharma, where she talks about being an actress in the Indian film industry, Hollywood gender numbers, being a producer and a public figure. It all comes down to the simple~

At the end of the day you want respect.

It’s a big on the long side (33min. long), but it’s worth it. Anushka is really outspoken and it’s great to listen to with her back and forth with Anupama.

Posted on November 30, 2015 In Celebrity, Clips, English, Sharing , , , , ,
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