Category: Art

  • The Man from Sheredar with English Subtitles

    I was looking for Chulpan Khamatova news (she’s gonna be acting and co-producing a film on the life of writer Vladimir Mayakovsky, if you must know), and ran into news about this short documentary for the Sheredar Foundation [Facebook][Twitter][VK.com] titled The Man from Sheredar (Человек из Шередаря), and it’s got to do with charity work.

    I haven’t watched the whole thing (just ran into the subtitled version), but it seems to deal with children with severe illnesses and the rehabilitation they get through this charity fund, which allows over 100 children to get the help they need.

    The Vimeo version available is HD but lacks subtitles.

    The documentary is also competing at this year’s Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema in the category of Documentary, so I don’t know if there’s a longer cut of the film available since it’s not considered Short-length.

  • The Event, Sobytie

    This is one of the last movies I saw with Chulpan Khamatova in — titled The Event or Sobytie (Событие), it’s supposed to be a stage play or something by Vladmir Nabokov, but somehow it’s dramatically shot by Andrey Eshpay, who has directed Khamatova in Deti Arbata (Дети Арбата, aka. Children of the Arbat… or The Children of Arbat Street) as well as Mnogotochie (Многоточие, Ellipsis).

    I haven’t been able to watch all of Deti Arbata because it’s got no subtitles AT ALL, but the first episode seemed kinda good. Mnogotochie is supposed to be good, but it’s also sans-subtitles and I fell asleep. Also, Khamatova doesn’t play such a big role in that film, so maybe my bias made it possible for me to sit through Sobytie and enjoy it A LOT with or without subtitles.

    It’s a really quite gorgeous piece of cinematic theatricality.

    On the split YouTube uploads, it’s not as evident… but you could try to see for yourself. It’s dramatic as Russian theater can only seem to be, and Khamatova sports some very drastic style that actually… suits her really great!

    I have a thing for Khamatova’s hair style changes for roles. It’s crazy, she’s nuts. I’ve never seen anyone sport the hair she’s sport in the history of the worldwide arts EVER. She really REALLY must love her characters. xD

    If any Russian-knowing kind person stumbles upon this post, would anyone care to help me work out subtitles for it? You guys, where do you hang out for subtitles? So many films left without subtitles!

  • The Sun Dims into Twilight ~ Suraj Hua Madham

    All this much touching should be forbidden! They don’t eve kiss, yet-yet is just so over-the-top-Pyramid-dancing-and-musical-non-graphic-love-making. I’m obsessed with the song, and specially the clip of the video, which I actually had caught on a Top SRK-Kajol songs video, that I immediately added to my list to watch because THOSE VISUALS.

    That’s some sexy stuff without ever taking any piece of clothing or over-touching. Considering the lack of touchy-touch that I’ve seen in mainstream Bollywood, this feels like it almost should be censored for some audiences. Yet, deprive the audience of such a song feels like a sin.

    I also love the lyrics to the song…

    The sun dims into twilight, the moon beams simmer brightly,
    and the sky seems to be melting.
    I stand still as the earth spins around me,
    my heart beats faster, as my breath goes deeper.
    Is it the sigh of first love?
    My love, is it the sign of first love?

    Savour these beauteous moments, when everything changes-
    Our dream blends into the realms of reality,
    I wonder if our love travels through centuries,
    and has bound us in its silken threads.

    Let this season of love remain eternal,
    Let us meet through birth after birth, like today.

    The colors of our souls have melted into one,
    I’m losing myself to your love.
    Beloved, it’s the waves of your love that drown me,
    before transporting me to the shore.

    It’s the thirst of the ocean, it’s the dream of the night,
    the hearts of the flames have been set afire

    via IndianMusicLyrics.com

  • Current Flavors and Getting Your Type

    Has people ever ask you what’s your type? In terms of the people that you like, and you really have no idea because you’ve never really talked about.  I wondered if I could see a pattern in the people I like on-screen, so I made a list of women and men — 25 picks each — and placed generally okay photos of them to see if I could see any characteristics they shared.

    A few rules- it has to be people that you follow — not randoms that you just find hot. Sofia Vergara is hot but I haven’t seen her outside Modern Family or Chasing Papi. And it also isn’t about talent… completely. It’s people that you would somehow, if given the chance, do / be with / however you want to call it or do is.

    Also, photos should generally be color and looking to the front-ish. Natural looks favored, but since it’s a type thing, I suppose you can use any photos you find your subject attractive in.

    (more…)

  • Zhao Wei Gives Me the Ai Feels

    zhao-wei-mark-chao-love-ai-scene-still

    I think I’ve seen Ai Love at least three times, and I really like more when we get to focus on Zhao Wei’s storyline, even though most of the stories are pretty good. But with the re-watches, Zhao Wei’s character gets extra good. EXTRA. The camera sizzles when Mark Chao is in proximity of her, then smacks one on her and she slaps him.

    And, of course, Zhao Wei does her ‘sexy’ funny dance with a cast hidden behind the door frame. And she aches, and she’s embarrassed, worried, nonchalant, pissy and a total ditz.

  • The East Asian Heat Wave and the Perfect Mango Shaved Ice

    I ran into this article in Japanese that talked about the heat wave in Japan and how the shaved iced business has increased (to like $40B USD worth or 4000億円) with a brief mention of Yu-chan. Because Yu-chan LOVESSSSSSSS shaved ice. Even has her own machine at home, and writes monthly articles and whatnot, and apparently that’s a thing with other young women who eat their shaved ice while walking back and forth.

    Yu has also talked about the perfection that is the shaved ice parlor in Taiwan. Dude, she’s serious. Taiwanese shaved ice is serious business. My Mandarin teacher told me he missed them because the raspadillas [1] here are so wishy-washy. Then I saw Taiwanese shaved ice.

    mango-shaved-ice

    The mango shaved ice that I saw in one of the brochures is still in my to-eat list. but I’m still scared of going over there in the summer season, because I’m a total city wuss that can’t take extreme weathers. I’m one of those lucky ones that can only take temperatures between 14-27 Celsius without complaining. LOL

  • Some Things Happen: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

    Russian be gone! xD I’ve spent the last week watching Bollywood films!

    First official Indian films with musicals, excluding A Wednesday (which didn’t have musical numbers, but does star Anupam Kher), Slumdog Millionair (which isn’t officially Indian), and some random Punjab film that I caught once when I was living in Vancouver and randomly watched the Punjabi channel. LOL

    First thoughts? I’m loving it. It cost me a bit to get accustomed to the 3hr running time of most films, but I think I don’t care… that much any longer. Fluff musical numbers are still fluffs, and that’s what irks me the most… but at least they’re good for exercising.

    It’s been my first week and I’ve already seen a couple of few Shahrukh Khan films, and I’ve already learned Kajol and Rani Mukerji’s names. Already reviewed Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and this is my second time watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I think I took to the song because it’s one of the few that I can actually pronounce. LOL

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-j5pzoN670

    I love the complicated melodrama they get into. I can totally get why people in Peru are into Bollywood films and numbers.

  • BEG Kills Bill

    When Brown Eyed Girls released the name of the songs, I was immediately drawn to Kill Bill, because DUH! It’s Kill Bill, dude. Now I’m so psyched that THAT song is going to be their comeback single.

    I really don’t know and haven’t looked into who is directing this, but it could be either Hwang Soo Ah or Zany Bros, haven’t decided yet. It could be either of those two due to the style of the MV.

    Now, the question is… should I buy the CD or wait for the repackage?

    Though, I must admit that both versions of Sixth Sense were SO pretty.

  • JeA, How’s Junior High?

    I look young. My older cousins, who are just a bit older than JeA is, still see me and still tap me on the head. I still get carded. When traveling or meeting new people in general they always ask me about school… and I don’t mean it like asking about university. They ask me about high school or wonder what I’m choosing to study at university.

    I graduated from high school ten years ago (gosh!).

    I usually look at people on movies or tv shows, watch their music videos, [1] and I think people… look like contemporaries of mine. When I google them, however, I’m surprised some of them are five or ten years younger than me. It’s crazy. So because I tend to look at myself and think of my age, my expectation of how young people look is skewed.

    Strangely enough, JeA still surprises me.

    Starting out, I thought she was older than she is. Mid-thirties instead of early. As the years go by, she seems to be getting younger and younger, though. In this promo photo for the Brown Eyed Girls comeback (YAY! Comeback!), JeA looks like she’s 16. It’s nuts. 14 if you consider the giant teddy ages her down. And the pout makes her maybe a year younger than that.

    It’s crazy that with my skewed view on how ‘old’ people should look, JeA manages to look half my age. And what’s funny~ if we ever meet in person, she’ll probably be able to boss me around. Coz that’s her presence. xD

    brown-eyed-girls-jea-black-box-beg-teddy

    Also, I’m psyched about the new album. I’m lukewarm on the Recipe single, though.

  • Khamatova Has Two Speaking Voices

    A lot of people describe Chulpan Khamatova having a deep raspy voice, and I usually disagreed with them because I find her acting voice quite high-pitched… except on The Event, which no one has watched, and I think that’s a play. So maybe… she used her voice differently when she acts on stage and when she’s on set?

    She definitely has two voices, as you can see from this video. Khamatova had recently received some award from the Russian government for her work as an actress, alongside another actor and a whole bunch of other people. Sorry I’m not helpful looking for links or exact words, but I want to be quick about it.

    You know who else has different speaking voices depending on whether she’s giving a sponsor interview, making a commercial, regular talking in a serious talk show or just talking about acting? Yu Aoi.