Archives For Moving Media

Vidya and Dubbing in Indian Films

So… I thought I was wrong [1], but now I’m not so sure.

One of my pet-peeves with Indian cinema (and Chinese… and Russian) is when some sort of dubbing is involved. The Russians, of course, are the worst offenders of that when they just slap some Russian over-dubbed without even caring if it’s a man talking over a female character. It’s not even like it’s properly dubbed, it’s just lazily slapped onto the original track without even lowering the audio.

Then the Chinese mess around with you because you got Hong Kong actors that don’t necessarily speak proper Mandarin working with Mainland actors who wouldn’t necessarily speak proper Cantonese (or at all). The result? You don’t exactly know which one is the original audio track. The way I go about it is to choose always Cantonese when film is set in Hong Kong, and go for Mandarin in most epics. Anything historical epic HK production pre-97 also gets the Cantonese favoritism. xD

India has suchhhhhh an array of languages that I’m not entirely familiar with that it would mean little to choose one language over the other, unless you’re bothered with lips syncing. Though Hindi now sounds familiar, I must admit. What bothers me is that I get accustomed to people’s voices. It seems people in India find certain voices more appealing than others, and could -in a whim- dubbed you over. One of the reasons I can’t stand Ghulam is because it bothers me that Rani’s dubbed voice doesn’t match my idea of Rani.

Tabu has done a bit of non-Hindi films, and though her acting can be epic- Telugu dubbing, man. I know and I like Tabu’s voice, and it freaks me out a little how different the dubbing voice can be. As a general dubbing rule, companies tend to go for voices that are similar to the original audio… or they go for someone with a similar flare. Not generally in Indian cinema.

All this talk is because I found a clip of Vidya Balan from Urumi, for which I complained that they probably dubbed their voices. However, in the clip, it sounds… almost like Vidya. For a very long moment I thought it was her, until I read the comments… now, I’m not sure. LOL

If it’s dubbed, it’s the best dubbed I’ve seen. It’s a Japanese super-dub!

If it’s Vidya’s voice, she apparently speaks perfect Malayalam for the movie.

Posted on May 14, 2014 In Celebrity, Chinese, Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Misc., Russian, Sharing , , , , , , ,
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Shiina Ringo’s NIPPON for NHK’s FIFA

If FIFA’s World Cup is making me choose between Pitbull and Ricky Martin. Okay, I’ll take this~

NHK got Shiina Ringo to make a song for their coverage of the event, and that’s all we need to know. I’m not sure what’s the coverage is gonna be like down here (cable or networks), but I’m sure we’re stuck with Pitbull.

I just knew songs were gonna suck when they started announcing the social media contests to “create the song” for the World Cup. Cheap music will always be cheap.

Posted on May 12, 2014 In Clips, English, Japanese, Music, Sharing, Television , , , , , ,
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Funny Tabu for Meenaxi Extras

You know how we love to put stars on pedestals? Often reserved and measured in interviews — except for the fact that Ang Lee told her she laughs like a school girl [1] — it was totally worth the buy of the Meenaxi DVD for the Making Of. Now we have these~

tabu-meenaxi-making-of-funny-001
My reaction when I saw that?

Continue Reading…

Posted on May 4, 2014 In Celebrity, Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Screencaps, Sharing , , , , , , , ,
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These Japanese Child Actresses Are Killer~

Let’s give a warm welcome to child actress Hamada Kokone (濱田ここね, with English transliteration of her name “Cocone”) — I wonder if I can call her Coco-chan xD~ ANYWAY, debuting in film Oshin, she just rode the film like a pro.

cocone-hamada-kokone-oshin

According to her profile, Coco likes sea grapes (haha, with Latin name “Coccoloba uvifera,” get it?), plums, dried herring roe, Chicken nanban and Thai food. She also likes 2NE1, Lady Gaga, Cyndi Lauper, Carly Rae Jepsen and Big Bang. Like a boss~

She can also pull at your heart strings and make you cry when she’s trying to make it through her character’s life.

Posted on April 29, 2014 In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Japanese, Sharing, Stills , , , ,
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Movie Streams, VOD, and Worldwide Online Distribution

I’m still not sold on Netflix- never to this date I’ve ran into a film that I wanted to watch on it. At least in terms of this region, which doesn’t count with as much content as the US or Canada one. Similar issues with iTunes… and Amazon is out of the question.

I used to subscribe to MUBI for a long while (at least for a bit over a year), but eventually turned off my subscription because I wasn’t watching anything, while things I had added to my watchlist stopped being available, and the selection of their films eventually was reduced to their now curated content. I’m only subscribed to EROSNOW now, and have seen a few couple of films there, but had to turn to other mediums when found links that were region-restricted or surprisingly without subtitles.

My experience with streaming has been decent- and for as cheap as $5-9 bucks you can watch a lot in a month, and it just makes your life quite easy. Similar flawless experience with my first Vimeo On Demand watch. Thanks Joss Whedon for the heads up, and actually putting the film up there right after its premiere. To top it all off, subtitles in Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Japanese (plus English CC) were available making it the smoothest watch if you decided to watch it with any bunch of people.

Paying $5 to stream a new movie can seem like the best way possible to make it look as if you’re going to the cinema. It takes me back to those days where I would watch 2 or 3 new movies a weekend. If studios ever decided to really go off their way to online distribute their new movies almost simultaneously, I’d be willing.

Here’s In Your Eyes.

Apparently Vimeo streaming is not as smooth (or at all) if you don’t have a Vimeo account, though. Take it as a good chance to get one, or don’t complain. I really don’t know any other streaming (paying) website that would let you use their content without an account. You need one in iTunes, in Amazon, in Netflix, HBO, et all. So please, people, stop complaining about THAT.

Spanish (more serious) related note.

Posted on April 22, 2014 In English, Films, French, Fun, Japanese, Jobs, Sharing, Spanish, Torrents & Digital Streams, Trailers , , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Tabu 5 Character Dinner Table

April 22, 2014 — Leave a comment

Interesting interview that I think I had read back when Jai Ho premiered, but now that I’m more knowledgeable makes much more sense and it’s much more interesting.

Since you’ve played such diverse and memorable roles I’m curious to know if you could invite any five characters to dinner, who would you choose?

Nimmi (Maqbool), Mumtaz (Chandni Bar), Aditi (Astitva), Panna (Hu Tu Tu), and Veeran (Maachis).

Source.

tabu-dinner

From left to right .– Veeran, Panna, Aditi, Mumtaz, Nimmi.

I would surely agree that those are her best characters, but I’m not sure I would like to sit in a room with Nimmi, Panna or Veeran (unless that’s pre-Maachis events). I would certainly feel uneasy with Nimmi. LOL And Nimmi would definitely not get along with Panna, so the whole dinner party would end up being blown up to pieces ;P that is if Nimmi doesn’t get someone to get her first~ ha!

With my current watches, I would keep Aditi and Mumtaz, and add~~~ Sowmya (Kandukondain, Kandukondain), Kavita (Ghaath) and- I can’t pick between Ashima (The Namesake), Nina (Cheeni Kum) or Meenaxi. xD Or maybe I’ll go thematic and pick Dr. Malini (Fanaa) or Neetu (Khuda Kasam), with whom we will talk about laws, the justice and defense system.

Aditi and Mumtaz will probably enjoy the company of Ashima, Meena (Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya) and… Janki (Chachi 420) or Gehna (Virasat).

Also, I went on a binge Amazon purchase and got myself a bunch of Tabu movies (and other movies) as the good fan that I am with my fandoms.

 

In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Graphics, Sharing , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Film Journey Continues with Freemind

April 20, 2014 — 3 Comments

I broke MindMeister a while back. Around early March actually, so I went back to FreeMind. It doesn’t look as slick, and you gotta install it… but the interface works in the most straightforward of ways. And their PNG export works really good.

Since March, there’s been a bunch of changes in the list, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra got his own hub after a watch of Delhi 6 — which is the change that broke MindMeister. Mani Ratman also got his own hub, and a watch of Fire sprung a Deepa Meetha hub.

I’ve watched a bunch of Sridevi movies, but not a big fan of the movies themselves except for Sadma / Moondram Pirai. Also added random single titles, catching up with films as varied as Udaan (which sprung a Vikramaditya Motwane hub), Stalin, Highway, and Student of the Year (Alia Bhatt is YUCK in there), and single film additions for Aamir Khan, Shahrukh, Juhi, Madhuri, Rekha, Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas and Tabu.

According to IMDb, it’s nearly 200 movies already.

indian-film-journey-apr2014

I also bought a bunch of Indian movies. The first batch arrived yesterday with Rani Mukherji (2 titles), Vidya Balan (1), Tabu (2), Mani Ratman (1) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (1) titles. I still wish and hope for SLB Bluray releases for everything pres-Saawariya.

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Graphics, Misc., Sharing , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Manisha Koirala’s Women in India Plea in Lajja

April 18, 2014 — 4 Comments

Lajja has got to have to longest and best emotionally-biting monologue in pseudo parallel-would-be-commercial film in the history of Indian cinema. Pseudo parallel because subtlety isn’t exactly the film’s strongest point; it’s got some over the top drama, comedic moments, big stars, musical numbers [1], chopping of the limbs, and a super evil baddie that gets a la chancla [1] payback. Plus, a big BIG social message.

Are you kidding me? I love it. This is my second time watching, and I moaned, denounced, clapped, sang, shouted at the screen, called people names, and cheered.

I was so into Manisha Koirala’s ‘shame on you‘ monologue, I tried to make an image sequence of it. It’s impossible. It’s so long, but here’s part of it. Considering, the not so recent events in Delhi and Mumbai, Lajja is more relevant now than ever. It freaking needs a re-release, and more freaking women need to get off their bums and watch it.

manisha-koirala-lajja-quote

Continue Reading…

In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Graphics, Misc., Screencaps, Sharing , , , , ,
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Rani and Preity for Girly Friendships

I’m really really sad that the synopsis for Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega sounds boring, and it’s got two girls vying over Salman’s affection, because you got the cutest smiles in early 2000s Bollywood and they didn’t make a girly friendship movie.

I NEED girly friendship movies that aren’t necessarily about boys, and Japan is disappointing me lately. I admit it, though, the video for Piya Piya O Piya is pretty cringe-worthy for the first three minutes of the clip, but if you make it, you’ll find the dorkiest and cutest Rani and Preity having silly pajama parties.

Last time I had this much girly fun was with Sunny [1], and that was nearly 3 years ago!

Posted on March 31, 2014 In Celebrity, Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Misc., Sharing , , , , , , ,
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We need a Joan Crawford Revival

March 31, 2014 — Leave a comment

Ok, I admit I’ve been getting a bit crazed over Madhuri and Juhi over the past couple of days, and I was reading a double interview they both did for the promotion of Gulaab Gang, with the whole talk on female-centric films et all. I just thought: Joan Crawford.

We need a Joan Crawford revival, yo!

joan-crawford-john-webster-torch-song

Since Madhuri wouldn’t mind doing a musical, I propose a re-imagining of Torch Song for her. Coz, duh! Just switch the Broadway musical star to Bollywood, and you got yourself a Madhuri vehicle right there. You only need to avoid the blackface scene (lol!), develop better the relationship with Michael Wilding’s character, and add a demanding choreography a la boastful excess Bollywood style. I’ll need to re-watch it to figure out the whats and hows.

How about Autumn Leaves and Queen Bee as alternative?

Or a re-imagining of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Juhi as Baby Jane! LOL! I LOVE IT! Now that I’ve seen her doing the evil smirk politician, I wanna see her in a Bette Davis grotesque role. That’ll really stretch her acting. I dunno how the rat scene will fly in India, though.

In Celebrity, English, Films, Fun, Graphics, Sharing , , , , , , , ,
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