Rachel Getting Married, and Frozen River lead with 6 nods each, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best First Screenplay, and Best Female Lead for Anne Hathaway and Melissa Leo respectively. I’ve heard only good things about Melissa Leo on Frozen River, will she be the Oscar winner next year?? I’ve yet to see both films…

Also nominated… Turn the River and Savage Grace, which I’ve seen. And… The Visitor, Synecdoche New York, Sangre de mi Sangre, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Milk and Towelhead. For the full list, go here.

Anyway… at the Matsuri, I saw Daikon-san.

And I thought of Osen, and I laughed… and took the picture. LOL - Then I had lunch, which wasn’t all that good (I think it also did me some wrong), saw the music performances… and stuff, and it was windy, so I got a fever, which did me more wrong. I was kinda screwed yesterday, so I couldn’t even sit in front of the computer… at least not until 10pm, when I began working on the photos.

I’m okay now, only a sore neck…

From left to right - Edo Harumi, Yukari Ichijo, Yukiko Ueno, Aoi Miyazaki, Kanako Higuchi, Juri Ueno, Mieko Kawakami, Suzanne, and missing Jakucho Setouchi.

Cute kimonos xD I especially love Aoi Miyazaki’s one just because I’m not a very colourful person, despite my colorful blog.

This was probably the third film I saw of Yu, I was most impressed with the fact that Asians could move their booties like that… call it my Latin American gene that told me that the Asian gene makes you unfit to dancing. xD

Here’s the 12-part video on YouTube. Or just wait for it on cable…

A little about the film:
(from Wikipedia)
It’s a 2006 Japanese-award-winning film based on true events of a small coal mining town facing the shut down of the mine, and looking at the loss of +2000 jobs. While all the grownups seemed to be fuzzing about the future of their coal-legacy, a young group of girls see a gleam of hope in the opening of The Hawaiian Center, and hula dancing.

Genre: Drama, Comedy and dancing!
Starring: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yu Aoi, Eri Tokunaga, Shoko Ikezu & Shizuyo Yamazaki
Duration: 2hrs

Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.

The film begins with a brown-tinted shot of 1965 mountain town Iwaki, in northern Japan, and a girl reading a Hawaiian-Center-Looking-for-Dancers ad on a dusty wooden message board. Her name is Sanae (Eri Tokunaga) who quickly informs her very-best-friend, Kimiko (Yu Aoi), of this opportunity.

Times are changing and the heads of families are losing their jobs for the increase of other energy suppliers, the town is about to disappear and people are mad. Except, there are some trying to open a Hawaii Center to try and save the town… with the help of their own people. The mountains and tone of the film is depressing, and it made me feel like Hirayama-sensei when she realized she was trapped in Iwaki, but…

Hula Girls is a crowd-pleaser… the only thing people who don’t watch Asian films will complain will be subtitles, they will request for a dubbed audio. Other than that, most will love Hula Girls. There’s the underdog story of a little town trying to survive, there’s the story of a teacher trying to find a place where to belong, there’s the story of a girl with a dream of a better future. There’s family, there’s friends… there’s laughs, there’s some melodrama, and there’s the booty shaking. LOL

If you know your Asian films (Japanese films) well, you will find little to anything new. If you’re looking for ground-breaking, just look away. The only way you will enjoy this film is by wanting to have a good time. I came to see the film not knowing anything at all, so I was very pleased, and I had no doubt in recommending this film to family and friends wanting to amuse themselves, because fact is that everyone I know that has seen it (meaning, I made them watch), was left with a silly grin on their faces~~ something that makes it hard for me to choose a favorite scene…

I asked my mother what’s the thing she remembered the most about the film (other than the dancing), she said the scene in which Hirayama-sensei is introduced drunk… go figure that one! The fact is, choosing the dancing sequence as a favorite scene is the easy way out, and seeing the film over four times already doesn’t make it easier to choose. I don’t speak Japanese either, so it makes the subtleties in dialog hard to get… subtleties given by the dialect spoken. This is why perhaps the subbed-film will be lost in translation, not to mention a dubbed version – yes, I got to see the Spanish from Spain dubbed trailer of the film, UGH – with all of that, it’s hard to choose a truly favorite scene.

But let’s talk Yu Aoi. This is probably the film that has earned her the most awards to date – of course! The film is a crowd pleaser, and you can’t help but to root for Kimiko. Even my mom rooted for Kimiko… and she never roots for anyone. LOL’ – There’s loads to see of Yu Aoi on this one~~ Shy Yu, Bouncing with the Ballet Shoes Yu, Smile like a Pro Yu, Pissed at the Teacher Yu, My Legs are Cramped Yu, I Drank the Sake Shot Yu, and all the Yu’s you can probably imaging including Shake that Booty Yu. Sounds like a Mattel Yu Barbie ad campaign… x’D So if you want Yu, watch this one.

Story:	★★★¾☆
Characters:	★★★¾☆
Direction:	★★★½☆
Acting:	★★★★¼
Visuals:	★★★½☆
Overall Film:	★★★¾☆
Yu Aoi Participation:	★★★★★
Yu Aoi Performance:	★★★★☆

Favorite Scene: Hardest thing to pick! People will expect dancing sequence… any of them~ But maybe the scene in which Kimiko tells Hirayama-sensei off by calling her an outcast, the teacher slaps her, and Kimiko ends running off… again. It is later followed by Kimiko’s meeting with her brother, in which she drinks the glass of Sake in one go, and finally ends with Kimiko smiling like a Pro on the bus. [03:00 – 07:30]

Here’s some posters… dvd covers and Yu’s Japanese Academy Award promo.

Yu Aoi will be on cable this month!!! With a showing of Hana & Alice, as well as Hula Girls!!!

Remember the 90’s and early 00’s

• 10 Things I Hate about You
  TNT – Sat. 27 12.45pm, Sun 28 6.30am
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  The Film Zone (75) – Tue2 12.30pm
• Cheaters
  I-Sat (74) – Mon8 2.30pm
• Boys and Girls
  Cinemax (77) – Mon8 1.45pm, Mon22 9.45am
• Head Over Heels
  Cinecanal (76) – Tue16 1.55pm, Wed31 11.40am
• The Crow
  Space (72) – Sun7 1pm, Sun7 9pm, Tue30 12pm, Tue30 5pm
• O
  Cinemax (77) – Fri12 5pm, Fri26 4.45pm

Oscar Films

• Out of Africa
  TCM (68) – Mon 22 7pm
  Best Picture, Best Director (7)
  Nomitated for 11 including Best Actor in Supporting Role and Best Actress
• Le Fabuleux Destub d’Amelie Poulain
  HBO (78) – Thu 4 12.40am, Fri 26 3am
  Nominated for 5 including Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay
• Memento
  The Film Zone (75) – Fri 26 11pm
  Nominated for 2 including Best Original Screenplay
• Moulin Rouge!
  Cinecanal (76) – Sun 21 9.55am, Wed 31 3pm
  Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design (2)
  Nominated for 8 including Best Picture and Best Actress
• West Side Story
  TCM (68) – Fri 26 11am
  Best Picture, Best Director (10)
  Nominated for 11 including Best Adapted Screenplay
• Cidade de Deus
  I-Sat (74) – Sat13 8pm, Sat13 10.30pm
  Nominated for 4 including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay
• When Harry Met Sally
  The Film Zone (75) – Tue2 9.10pm, Thu11 4.10pm
  Nominated for Best Original Screenplay
• Rain Man
  TNT (15) – Wed24 4am
  Best Picture, Best Actor (4)
  Nominated for 8 including Best Art Direction and Best Music
• Four Weddings and a Funeral
  MGM (73) – Sun28 4.50pm, Sun28 11.35pm, Mon29 12.20pm
  Nominated for 2, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  I-Sat (74) – Fri5 4.35pm
  Nominated for 2 including Best Adapted Screenplay
• Annie Hall
  TCM (68) – Mon15 9.10pm
  Best Picture, Best Actress (4)
  Nominated for 5 including Best Actor
• E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
  Fox (18) – Fri19 10pm, Sat20 3.30pm, Sat27 5.30pm, Sun28 3.30pm
  Best Effects, Best Music (4)
  Nominated for 9 including Best Director and Best Picture
• The Graduate
  TCM (68) – Thu18 10.40pm
  Best Director
  Nominated for 7 including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture
• Wo Hu Cang Long
  HBO (78) – Thu4 2.110pm, Sun7 11.30am, Wed10 1.10pm, Sat20 9.30am
  Best Foreign Film, Best Music (4)
  Nominated for 10 including Best Picture and Best Director
• The Last King of Scotland
  Cinecanal (76) – Tue9 12am, Sat20 7pm
  Best Actor
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  Cinemax (77) – Wed17 11pm, Sat20 8.45am, Tue23 4.15pm, Fri26 12.30pm, Mon29 10.30am
  Best Cinematography (+ Achievement Award)
  Nominated for 8 including Best Director and Best Actress
• Sideways
  Fox (18) – Sun7 3.30am, Sat13 1.30am
  Best Adapted Screenplay
  Nominated for 5 including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress
• Notes on a Scandal
  Cinecanal (76) – Fri12 7pm, Sun14 12.05am, Thu18 8.50pm
  Nominated for 4 including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  The Film Zone (75) – Thu4 1.15am, Mon22 5.40am
  Best Original Screenplay
  Nominated for 2 including Best Actress
• Philadelphia
  I-Sat (74) – Thu18 4pm
  Best Actor (2)
  Nominated for 5 including Best Original Screenplay
• Million Dollar Baby
  MGM (73) – Sat 27 7pm, Sun28 2.20pm
  Best Picture, Best Actress (4)
  Nominated for 7 including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor
• Grand Hotel
  TCM (68) – Tue9 9.25pm
  Won Best Picture, its only nomination.
• Little Miss Sunshine
  Cinecanal (76) – Sat6 7pm, Tue16 8.55pm
  Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor
  Nominated for 4 including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress
• It’s a Wonderful Life
  TCM (68) – Wed24 7pm
  Nominated for 5 including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor
• Mystic River
  TNT (15) – Thu4 10.45pm
  Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor
  Nominated for 6 including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay
• Shakespeare in Love
  The Film Zone (75) – Sat27 11.20pm
  Best Picture, Best Actress (7)
  Nominated for 13 including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor
• Children of a Lesser God
  The Film Zone (75) – Tue16 7am
  Best Actress (youngest winner)
• Titanic
  TNT (15) – Fri12 4.05pm
  Best Picture, Best Director (11)
  Nominated for 14 including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress
• Todo Sobre Mi Madre
  I-Sat (74) – Wed10 7pm, Sun21 10.45pm
  Best Foreign Film
• A Beautiful Mind
  The Film Zone (75) – Tue9 11pm, Wed31 3.30pm
  Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (4)
  Nominated for 8 including Best Actor

Other Films

• Becoming Jane
  Cinemax (77) – Sat 20 11pm, Tue 30 6.30pm
• Brick
  Cinecanal (76) – Tue9 10.20pm, Fri19 9pm
• Casino
  Space (72) – Sun 28 8,30pm
• Mean Girls
  TNT (15) – Mon15 10.25pm
• Connie & Carla
  TNT (15) – Mon15 1.35am
• Lola Rennt
  I-Sat (74) – Sat27 10.40pm
• December Boys
  Cinemax (77) – Sat13 11.15pm, Mon22 3pm, Sun28 12.15pm
• Dogville
  Europa Europa (80) – Wed10 1am, Mon 22 1am
• O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias
  Cinemax (77) – Sat13 10.45am, Sat27 10am
• The Good Shepherd
  Cinecanal (76) – Mon29 7pm
• The United States of Leland
  I-Sat (74) – Mon15 10.30pm
• The Devil Wears Prada
  Fox (18) – Mon22 10pm, Sun28 6pm
• The Boy Who Could Fly
  Cinemax (77) – Tue2 8am, Mon8 11.45am, Mon15 10.30am, Mon29 8.30am
• Elephant
  I-Sat (74) – Wed3 7pm
• For Your Consideration
  Cinemax (77) – Mon1 9.30pm, Sun7 9.30pm, Thu18 9.30pm, Sun21 1.15pm, Tue30 1.15am
• Human Nature
  I-Sat (74) – Sun7 9.50pm
• The Fountain
  Cinecanal (76) – Tue16 12.05pm, Thu18 7pm
• The Secret Life of Words
  Cinecanal (76) – Wed10 3.15pm, Fri26 11.20pm
• To Kill a Mockingbird
  TCM (68) – Sun21 9.40pm
• Ninotchka
  TCM (68) – Mon15 2.35pm
• The Virgin Suicides
  Cinecanal (76) – Mon8 12.45am, Wed24 11pm

Asian Films

• Azumi
  I-Sat (74) – Sun 28 11pm
• The Road Home
  Cinemax (77) – Sat13 9.15am, Sun 21 8am, Wed24 12pm
• Hana to ARISU
  I-Sat (74) – Mon1 7pm
• Hula Girls [check more time here]
  Cinemax (77) – Tue2 11pm, Fri26 6.45pm, Mon29 5.30pm
• Taegukgi
  TNT (15) – Mon1 11.20pm

Tim Burton Films

• Bettlejuice
  Cinemax (77) – Sun 21 5pm
• Ed Wood
  Cinemax (77) – Sun 21 6.45pm, Wed31 6am
• Big Fish
  I-Sat (74) – Tue16 4.15pm
• Edward Scissorhands
  Fox (18) – Wed31 2am
• Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
  Cinemax (77) – Mon1 12.30pm, Thu4 1pm, Sun21 3.15pm, Fri26 8.15am

So I re-watched the three episodes last night, though the 3rd episode only had subs in the story and not on the introductions (in which the director and writer explain a bit), and the ending (where the photographer shows and explains the photos taken), so kinda missed some of the episode.

Anyway…

Chapter 1 tells the story of Chika-chan (Yu Aoi) who tells us Ryo-kun (her boyfriend) is dead, and we soon find out how. Probably a silly way to die as Chika-chan points out, she says she cannot feel sorry or sad for that stupid death, but she’s just blocking things out. Chika-chan also tries to avoid attending the funeral, and ends up running into a guy whose wife has just left him… when they both meet Chika-chan finally lets it go and begins taking in the news of Ryo-kun’s death.

By the end of the episode, Marisa Shimamoto delivers a set of photograps titled Black Outfit, capturing Chika-chan’s emptiness, which is a lie.

Episode 2 is probably set a few days later, and has Chika-chan dreaming about Ryo-kun. Normal life with him suddenly turns into wanting to escape reality and always wanting to be in this dream with him, as Chika-chan takes a pretty quantity of sleeping pills. She understands, but doesn’t want to when Ryo tells her she is alive, and has to eat real food, take real baths, sleep in real beds and continue living…

Marisa-san presents a new set of photos based on the theme of dreams, titled While She Is Sleeping.

Finally, episode 3 follows Chika-chan a year after Ryo-kun’s accident, and has her receiving a short story written by Ryo and sent it by Ryo’s father. The book/script titled Neko no Yoru (Cat’s Night) is read and played out in a sort-of-Dogville-like-sequence, in which Chika’s apartment is turned into a stage, and the cat living in her place transforms into an ojii-san. LOVE IT.

Marisa-san finally presents her third set titled Korekara, and focuses on the theme of faces.

Here’s a link to Marisa Shimamoto’s blog.

Also known as Izu no Odoriko, or The Izu Dancer is the first published work (1926) to achieve popularity and acclaimed by Yasunari Kawabata. The book, very much like Kyoto, is about nothing at all… in fact, this is just a compilation of stories put together.

The first one, which gives the name to the book is one of the few interesting ones, as well as Diario de mi Decimosexto Año that tells some of the moments of Kawabata’s dying grandfather. Some other stories I liked were  La Princesa del Palacio Dragón, El Camino de Monedas, and Una Oración en Lengua Materna.

Despite that, the just over 200-page book seemed to be a very long and slow book, compared to the reading time it took me to finish Kyoto. If you are a fan of Yasunari Kawabata’s writing about a time and a place and the people, you might enjoy this compilation of stories. If you’re looking for an introduction to him, or an epic tale about Japan… you might want to skip this one.

I have also Bibified my dad (he says Bibi is my ringtone on his cell), my two older cousins are also Bibified as well… are you ready to be Bibified?

Okaasan to Issho 1999 song, at first I thought it was a Takoyaki Mambo song, but I was lucky enough to find it on a website listing all the songs. Video and Romaji after the break!

Dango San Kyou Dai

Kushinisasatte dango
Dango
Mittsu narande dango
Dango
Shouyu nurarete dango
Dango
Dango san kyou dai

Ichiban ue wa chounan
Chounan
Ichiban shita wa sannan
Sannan
Aida ni hasamare jinan
Jinan
Dango san kyou dai

Otouto omoi no chounan
Niisan omoi no sannan
Jibun ga ichiban jinan
Jinan
Dango san kyou dai

Kondo umarete kuru to kimo
Negai wa sorotte onaji kushi
Dekirebakondo wa koshianno
Takusan tsuita andango
Dango
Aruhi kyoudai genka
Kenka
Kogeme no kotode kenka
Kenka
Sukima no aita dango
Dango
Demo sugu ni naka naori

Kyou wa todanade hirune
Hirune
Sannin sorotte hirune
Hirune
Ukkari nesugoshi asagakite
Katakunarimashita

Haruninattara hanami
Hanami
Akininattara tsukimi
Tsukimi
Ichinen tooshite dango
Dango
Dango san kyou dai
Dango!
Dango dango dango dango
Dango san kyou dai
Dango san kyou dai
Dango san kyou dai
DANGO!

As some of you know, The L Word is making its final showing this coming January (woo! exciting!) - Promo looks good, as in it looks pretty. Not sure about the “killer’s look” - I wonder… will they give me Sholly? I saw the poster, and Shane was licking Jenny… are they trying to throw me an anvil? ARGH, I hate anvils… they bring bad memories to my shipping heart.