I grew up with a song by Vico C called Me Acuerdo, which was on constant rotation those days when we still listened to the radio. I listen to that song, and I immediately think of those days.
So when clicking on the video for Ken the 390 titled 壊れやすいもの (Koware Yasui Mono) – Breakable, it brought me back to that song. Must be the male vocal, the slow hip hop thing, and the female backing vocals.
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I have another confession to make.
As you may have already figured out, I grew up in a time when there was barely any stability. When things settled down, we had about 4 or 5 networks, usually broadcasting local productions.
But there was also syndication.
American television loves syndication, they ensure making a living with it. What’s a better example of syndication than… Baywatch. Yup, that’s my confession. I grew up with Baywatch. Especially the first season and the second… maybe the third. They re-ran those seasons a lot those years, so I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them more than once.
So when I was like 5 or 6, we would all watch the show — most likely for different reasons LOL — since we kids liked going to the beach, we would always joke that our local lifeguards looked like they had floatability devices inside them. We would laugh, and move on.
Then there was Shauni. Before there was Stephanie Holden… Shauni was the only girl in the cast — pretty sure, I could be wrong. I was Team Shauni! As a kid, I don’t know why I thought she was awesome. She seemed nice, no problems — I’m seeing a pattern here — and she had Eddie xD
I just realized I’m a crazy shipper… almost since I was born. LOL
Anyway, time passed. Country got better, we got cable. Sony had just launched their signal, and were re-running Baywatch. Browsing channels, there was this episode – or was it a movie? – of Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood. Ha! I didn’t know what a bordello was at the time. I didn’t speak any English, all I remember saying was “Hey! That’s Shauni!” And I watched it. The memory of it — me watching that — is hilarious.
So yeah, I like Erika Eleniak.
Very much like on the other tales, I was browsing channels and ended up on Sony. What a surprise it was to see Erika Eleniak on the latest season of Desperate Housewives. Color me surprise. Even if I have stopped watching the show, I… for a split second or more, considered watching the show again. Then I didn’t when I found out it was a one-ep gig.
Musica Criolla is a funny business — it’s not really hip. You don’t go to high school and said “you guys, I just bought the awesomest musica criolla album ever.” There’s no musica criolla playing on MTV. Maybe latin pop with hinted musica criolla on latin music channels — like Gianmarco, but NEVER on MTV. And we know that in school, MTV is hip – NOT MTV is not hip.
Then there’s this quality to musica criolla… musica criolla is many types of Peruvian music. There’s festivities music (festejo), then there’s Marinera — which is more the dance, than the actual music. I don’t recall ever hearing the term “Marinera album” but musica criolla has a very distinct quality — it’s better served live. Musica criolla, at least for me, it’s about the performance, the sentiment, the passion~~~
It’s like Tango, we don’t want to listen to an album with music for Tango, we want to see the passion and the performance of tango. It’s the same for me with musica criolla.
There are types of music that sound the best on albums, you can have great albums that are rubbish live because that feeling of the album is lost — that’s why concerts should be handled different to making an album, right? Then there are okayish albums that just go the extra-mile when they’re live.
That’s musica criolla. The albums, the productions — beside lacking in presentation and printing qualities and what-product-stuff-not — they lack that performance quality. They sound good, but they fall flat. But then you see these people perform, and just give their all on that one song and just… blown away.
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Continuing with our talks on Peruvian posters of 2010, we’ll continue with the smaller productions of 2, 3, Kasa Okupada, El Niño del Cusco, El Ultimo Piso and Vivir. If you’ve missed the first part of our discussion, head over here.
Obviously, because we are talking about more independent flare, instead of suggesting fonts for buying, we’ll be suggesting -if we’re suggesting any- free download fonts. Now, because these are completely independent, I have no idea where to watch them or have no idea what these films are about.
Also in Espanol at Cinencuentro~
Welcome to our second edition of Peruvian posters, if you’ve missed the first post on 2009 posters, you can check it out here — sorry, only in Spanish. There’s been an increase on Peruvian releases in the local film market that includes properly-Peruvian independent productions, as well as international co-productions.
Thanks to this, there has also been an increase in interest for marketing campaigns that include websites, social networking sites, and yes – posters, to make your film stand out from the bunch. The film poster culture in Peru hasn’t really exploded — in quantity or quality — , as marketing people and CEOs are still too scared of too much blank spaces or much too abstract concepts that may or may not confuse its audience.
We are still far from the less-is-more concept seen many-a-time in European or Japanese posters, and we are even farther from the mass-production of poster design that exists in the United States, but we’re taking baby steps as young people show more interest in design, and new designers get into the market.
Due to the number of posters this year, I’ve decided to split them into two groups – the first one with the “bigger” productions, and the second one with the independent productions. All will be listed in alphabetical order.
Hello to YAM012.
Goodbye (sorta) to YAM PDF.
Hello to yam-mag.com~
Head over, for the last time, to my portfolio to download the latest and last issue.
I can feel it in the air. Award season is approaching. I think Indie Spirit Awards are also done with submissions, and their nominations should arrive come early December.
In the meantime, the Academy Awards has released the list of the 65 countries (or not-countries… Greenland?) that will be competing for 5 spots as “Best Foreign” nominees, as well as their 8 short documentaries.
Here are some of the reviews of the ones I’ve seen.
Let’s talk wild guess predictions in here. Which countries will be the 5 chosen ones?
Mexico’s Biutiful seems like an easy assumption.
China’s Aftershocks seems to be a good candidate for several reasons besides “film”. Whatever your thoughts on melodrama are, I mean… you really need to be a sour grape not to feel something for the family in that film. Either that, or you’ve never been in a natural disaster. Having said that, it is because it’s a melodrama that it’s perfect for Oscar. Moving family drama that deals with catastrophe with a really powerful and magnificently handled Earthquake scene that was a box office hit in China. It’s just good business.
Also, China being nominated is controversial. Anything to do with China since 2008 is controversial. Controversial always brings ratings. Also nominating China is just plain good business. If China gets nominated – I dunno, what are the chances of some state channel broadcasting the Oscar? Just imaging 2/3 of China’s internet population watches the Oscar that night. That’s 200 million viewers. Anything in China is big.
If there’s no China, it must be another cheese movie… like South Korea’s A Barefoot Dream. An underdog story of a kiddie football team and a coach. It shall make you feel happy xD
Canada’s Incendies?
and… I dunno what else. Peru’s chances? From what I have seen, and what I’ve heard. It could very well get into the nine before they select the final five. I’ll have a better grasp once the 9 are out xD
… but the Spanish title sucks balls. Atracción Peligrosa – meaning: Dangerous Attraction. Pure cheese. First, a couple of fun pop culture differences. When the credits rolled, and the people began discussing the film. They started talking about “the prostitute” – “the junkie.” Then came another guy that said, “that Rebecca Hall is good, huh. She’s something.” And then we talked politics. LOL
-note: the paragraph was edited to not spoil the film-
So anyway, while people refer to Rebecca Hall – who’s only been on Vicky Cristina Barcelona in films here, people talk about Blake Lively’s character as “the prostitute” or “the junkie” while her show Gossip Girl plays on TV every single day of the week. Not even a “the Gossip Girl girl is something.” Just saying. It was interesting to see.
Adapted from the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, The Town tells the story of a group of bank robbers from the city of Charlestown in Boston. Passed from father to son as if it were traditional work, there’s Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), and his fellows Jim (Jeremy Renner), “Gloansy” and “Dez” – they’re about to rob a bank, and successfully take the money without leaving any evidence, except for the bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). They take her hostage, only to set her free and to keep an eye for anything she might know.
As Doug befriends Claire and gets info on what she knows and is or not telling FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm), Doug and his “buddies” get going on their next targets, because the money is never enough… not for Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite) anyway.
Actually, I’m making it sound so very complicated, when it’s not. The Town is a very straightforward film, that gets you going from the minute the film begins. It seems Ben Affleck’s talent for directing wasn’t mere luck when Gone Baby Gone was done. If you had any doubt, The Town just proved he’s good for real. In here, he does it bigger, faster and better – it’s a bigger production, it’s a faster-paced film, and it turns out better. The film’s engaging in terms of action for those who need adrenaline in what they watch, and it terms of performances for those who need “more than a mindless action flick”. It also has drama, romance… and even humor. My mom watches a lot of CSI, too.
Best, and craziest, performance goes to Jeremy Renner who, after this and The Hurt Locker, might be turning into an adrenaline junkie for real. The highest moment of tension, for me, it’s possibly the scene in which Renner’s Jim runs into Affleck’s Doug while he’s having a lunch date with Hall’s Claire. You don’t really know what’s going to happen, but it grips you in a way none of the car chasing and shooting got to you. Maybe it’s because we’re Claire… or we’re Doug. We think she knows, but we don’t want her to know?
The frailty of Claire’s character – she’s new in town… a yuppie? No friends in town, no family. She was just kidnapped, it’s easy to understand why she might have befriended Doug – her friends said so, kidnap rebound. Did I want the bad guys to succeed? I think many in the theater did. Maybe that’s why no one liked Blake Lively’s character. She’s a junkie prostitute with a kid… in the end, she’s still a junkie prostitute with a kid. Did not love or hate her.
Anyway, film’s good fun. Very exciting, and very recommended. Women and men, FYI. xD
4/5
Ahh… Peruvians and Chinese, Peru and China – countries so far away, but with so many links. Almost a year ago I read a book called 1434 by some guy Menzies. He also wrote 1421 where he says China arrived to America first. It’s an interesting thought considering how similar our cultures can be.
I mean, sure – Peru has the biggest Chinese colony in Latin America. Many of us may not speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but it sure has caught on everyday life. I mean, not only do we have a dish called Lomo Saltado (Sautee Sirloin?) that’s made with soy sauce, and that’s now a landmark dish.
Obviously, we don’t call soy sauce “soy sauce,” Peruvians call it “sillao” [si yau in Cantonese]. Everyone in Latin America doesn’t — just saw some Colombian “chef” doing some ceviche with lime and “soy sauce” and “ginger”. As well as an Argentinean doing “Chinese noodles” with “soy sauce”.
Ah… English, such a direct language. I often have discussions with people about the nuances of the different languages. Friends tell me that French and Italian are great for flirting, and my mom keeps telling me that different dialects in Chinese have so many words to describe food flavors, impossible to describe in Spanish or English.
However, what about songs?
My favorite songs, my favorite artists in English — 99% of the time, I try not to find the lyrics any longer. Whenever I have enjoyed the songs, looked for the lyrics, 90% of the time I’ve ended up disappointed.
My first language is Spanish, however, I often find myself thinking in English – so, whenever I listen to music in Spanish, my brain begins translating lyrics into English. The repertoire of songs that I actually like in Spanish tend to be songs that are hard to translate literally into English.
