Category: Art

  • Han Hong – The Woman with the Wonderful Voice

    I know I’ve tagged this with “new talent” and “new music” when in fact it’s not.

    First, a little about Han Hong – according to Chinese Wiki – She’s won the award for the Most Popular Female Singer, as well as the Best Female Artist Award (in mainland China). That means she’s critically acclaimed, and popular among the public – which doesn’t happen often on this side of the world. LOL

    Her voice is often compared (by the fans) to Sarah Brightman for her unique style… music and lyrics. – and everyone loves Brightman… she was even on the Beijing Olympics Opening.

    Now, a little on my story. I first noticed her at the Beijing Paralympic Opening Ceremony – with Andy Lau singing Flying with the Dream – but I didn’t have much luck getting her name or clips back then, so I kinda forgot about it until the day I was watching those music concerts on CCTV back in April and she appeared on stage. My mom thought what an amazing voice! While I added I had seen her in the Paralympic Ceremony… totally forgetting she’s also featured on the Beijing Welcomes You music video (thank you, whoever did those annotations! It’s hard to keep track of so many singers…) – Anyway, that day… I ended up discovering Chris Lee instead of Han Hong… but the wait is OVER!

    Since the beginning, I’ve always thought she had an amazing voice, but the video above moved me so much. It gave me shivers, and almost brought tears to my eyes. No, really. It’s THIS video in particular… this performance. She’s an amazing vocalist! I would love to see her perform with Sarah Brightman herself, or maybe even the lovely women of Celtic Woman – or Meav *tsk tsk*

    I’m not completely sold on her videos – like on most vocalist I follow – but her live performances are so much more worth it. Here are some of her other performances…

    Ommani
    Qinghai Tibetan Plains

  • Rebirth with Cheer Chen, by Keng-Ming Liu

    I just officially joined Vimeo – not entirely sure why, but we’ll see…
    In the meantime, this rocking video and song!

  • Inglourious Basterds Trailer

    Looks pretty good, I must admit.

  • Ponyo Gets a US Trailer

    First, see it for yourself~~~

    https://youtu.be/TCg1RYahEG4

    Now, I wasn’t to OMGWTFGOD when I saw the film. I liked it… I thought it was okay. The thing that I loved was singing that Ponyo song with the little girl – Ponyo, Ponyo sakana no ko!!! – Plus, Juri sings it too and that made me laugh so hard. I just had to mentioned that… just so you could see that part of the charm of the film is THAT song. This is why I think this trailer fails, makes it look all epic and sh!t… it is kinda, but it’s mostly cute.

    People will feel mislead. I can feel it in the air… and critics will bash it as childish.

  • Lucky Thirteen – Watch Over Me

    Fan-made video! And new video posting testing!! LOL

    First, a little about the video.

    I began this… when this episode (Lucky Thirteen) aired back in Oct. 2008 – so it’s been sitting on my computer forever. I worked on it one weekend, and sort of left it there – until this weekend. I’ve begun working on another music video (on a less fan-made side) and thought I should at least finish this one.

    I found Thirteen (I refuse to call her Dr. Hadley or Remy LOL) interesting from the beginning. It was a certain spark, and well… Olivia Wilde is pretty hot – which my friend Mob would be glad to agree on. And I also have to say that I’ve always found Foreman boring, so Foreteen makes me roll my eyes.

    That aside… the song is by Hanson from The Walk, and it immediately brought images of Thirteen and her out-of-control behavior, so I just had to do it.

    On a rant side… YouTube has removed already 2 of my fan-made videos, and I’m expecting them to remove the ones that are left, so I’m now forced to not use it. So please help out by linking back to this site =D

  • First Look at Burton’s Alice

    *passes out*
    this just in (okay, maybe a few hrs. ago) via InsidetheGold

    To just break off a little of all the Japanese films on the front page~~ xD

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland - Red Queen

    First, I must tell you. These are fantastic, and now I’m just dying to see it. Even more so than when I wrote my brief article on horrorific films~~~ Bonham Carter looks abso-bloody-lutely crazy  good on that with the big head… the eyebrows or lack thereof, the lips, the hair… and that look, man!

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland - Mad Hatter

    Tim Burton - Alice in Wonderland - White Queen

    is it just me, or is Johnny looking very Elijah Wood right there??? LOL

  • Monkey Majik!

    Just saw them on J-Melo! My first thought… what are these two white guys doing on NHK? I was pretty impressed, actually. They are fun to listen to… almost like having fun while listening to the Barenaked Ladies, only better. So I did a quick search, and found a list…

    Monkey Majik is a group of two Canadians and two Japanese dudes singing in Japan-glish xD
    give it a listen~~~ check out the song Fly, and their song Aishiteru (I Love You)
    actually… both those videos are pretty good. I liked Aishiteru quite a bit~

  • Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009 – Day1

    and a half~~~

    I just read over NipponCinema that the Japanese Cinema Blogathon has started. (yesterday, really…)

    What is the Japanese Cinema Blogathon?

    Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009

    Someone over at Wildgrounds.com thought it’d be a cool idea to unite forces in order to promote Japanese Cinema. Write, share ideas… anything goes as long as it’s about Japanese Cinema. Check their list of on-going activities…

    I’ll start off with something simple…

    What I Like about Japanese Cinema

    My history with Japanese Cinema isn’t as broad as other people’s. I don’t watch too many older classics, because they are harder to get~~ I mean, it’s just easier to get contemporary stuff. ;P but there are some really great films that I’ve been able to watch this past year.

    1. They can be about nothing at all, yet hold so much meaning or be so entertaining.
    I saw Kore-eda’s Aruitemo, Aruitemo (Still Walking) a couple of days ago. I think that’s perhaps my favorite Japanese film from last year *laughs* – besides from the fact that I really like Hiroshi Abe *laughs*. That film felt so right to me, from the moment we saw Ryo’s sister and mother discussing and trying to cook in the kitchen, to the very last scene of Ryo’s family walking. There was no big reveal of someone having another kid, or someone getting kidnapped or killed, someone having an affair – none of that. One of the things that just stands out was Ryo and his mom finally remembering the name of the Sumo wrestler… and always being late. Heartbreaking.

    A similar thing I can tell you of Linda Linda Linda, which I saw and liked, but LOVED after repeated viewings. Nobuhiro Yamashita’s story of a group of girls trying to make it on time to play on the school festival. Nothing at all! But add to that Doona Bae as non-Japanese lead singer, and rock!!

    2. They can be bizarrely good.
    From high-on-drug-styled film Survive Style 5+, bike-riding rococo lolita adventures on Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls), Moulin Rouge!-meets-Amelie-meets-Sin City-esque dramedy musical Kiraware Matsuko no Issho (Memories of Matsuko) – or even high-school-hardcore-Survivor Battle Royale. They are not your typical film, they can only be Japanese. LOL

    3. They don’t treat animation as if it’s only for kids.
    Yes, Japanese Cinema is not only Anime – to the dismay of some of my friends – but they do a pretty darn good job animating films like Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies. Since the day I discovered Hotaru no Haka 6 years ago, it’s become my favorite animated film to date. LOL

  • Four is an Unlucky Number – YAM004

    LOL’

    Does that say enough to you? Really, read the editor’s note. Lots of things on this new issue… new problems, new films, new music…

    Reviews of films from the blockbuster season… Star Trek, Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Up~~~ Brothers Bloom. Short film reviews, concert reviews… of Kiss in Lima. Music reviews of The Sounds, Green Day, Shiina Ringo… a bunch of K-pop courtesy of Julz~~~ off you go to Japan!!! WOOOOO – there’s Life on Mars, House M.D. and my more “professional” review of Yu Aoi’s Portugirl.

    Yam004

    Head over here.

  • Pretty School Day @ Kyoto Saga U.

    I’ve taken photos when I was studying… ~~~ Now, if only my school days had looked like THAT.

    Kyoto Saga Art University

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