Category: Posters/Artwork

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Welcome to the Quiet Room

    Something about the film:
    Quiet Room ni Youkoso is a 2007 dramedy telling the story of Asuka Sakura, a up-and-coming journalist who is trying to write an 800-character article, but one day wakes up and finds herself strapped inside the room of a psych ward. Inside, they tell her she had OD’ed, even when Asuka tells them it was an accident, they say she must go through mental treatment so she won’t do it again. During that time, she meets a few unique people that will or won’t mark her for the rest of her life…

    Genre: Dramedy… mind you, Drama is pretty straight forward, but Comedy is pretty dark.
    Starring: Yuki Uchida, Kankuro Kudo, Yu Aoi
    Appearances by: Ryo, Shinobu Otake, Yuko Nakamura, Mai Takahashi, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hideaki Anno, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kami Hiraiwa
    Duration: Almost 2hrs

    Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned. Really, these spoilers may ruin your watching…

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Mushishi – Bugmaster

    Now, let’s see… I wrote this review a long while ago. So long ago that I ended up watching the anime series xP

    I’ve re-checked this review to try and have a balance between someone who didn’t know anything about Mushishi, and someone who saw the anime, and I think this review serves its purpose. Many of the things I felt weren’t properly built up, are in fact because the anime is very episode-based, and not much of a series… which I liked by the way. The anime is really REALLY great, so if you’re thinking of watching it after (or before) the film, go watch it.

    Anyway… here we go~~

    Something about the film:
    (from Wikipedia)
    This is a 2006 Live Action adaptation of the Manga series by Yuki Urushibara, featuring ubiquitous creatures called Mushi, which most humans are incapable of perceiving. However, there are few who possess the ability to see and interact with them, one of them is Ginko who refers to himself as a Mushishi (or Bugmaster), traveling from place to place to research Mushi and help people suffering from problems caused by them.

    The film corresponds to chapters 2, 7, 9 and 15 of the Manga.

    Genre: Fantasy
    Starring: Joe Odagiri, Nao Omori, Makiko Esumi, Yu Aoi
    Duration: +2hrs

    You know the drill. Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.

    (more…)

  • 10 Years of 10 Things I Hate about You

    10 Things I Hate About You PosterToday I was re-watching BBC’s Shakespeare: The Animated Tales… particularly Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew. Despite it’s misogynistic theme, it reminded me of the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate about You~~

    How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

    Some time in 2003, on one of the many Writing classes I had, we got to ‘study’ the script for this film, which I had seen back when I was 13 or 14. I’m almost sure that I saw this film at the theaters… oh the times! And oh how innocent were teen comedies back then~~~

    Anyway, back to the topic~ my teacher pointed out that the film was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Shrew~ Back then I thought, WOW! That’s so cool. LOL, she also mentioned at how much the script sold, and I was most impressed. Hahahaha~~

    For those not so familiar with the film, or the Shakespeare story… here are some of the references:

    • Kat (as in Katarina) and Bianca are sisters. Bianca can’t date (or marry, in the case of the Shakespearean tale), before Katarina does.
    • Patrick Verona is the contemporary version of Petruchio of Verona.
    • Padua, the city, becomes Padua High School.

    You can check more references here.

    It’s so hard to imagine that the film is already 10 years old!! – Turned 10 about 20 days ago on March 31st – and that this film was the American debut of Heath Ledger (RIP) who’s got a remarkable career with great films… awards *sighs(, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a broad array of films as well more on the indie flare – and whatever happened to Andrew Keegan? I’m pretty sure he used to date LeAnn Rimes, whom we all know what’s going on with her~~

    Julia Stiles had a breakthrough with this role, and had a bunch of films out during those years, but eventually just settled for lesser roles. I did enjoy seeing her on The Bourne Trilogy~~ and Larisa Oleynik~~ I read she was seen on Without a Trace, but I don’t watch the show so can’t tell. I should go on the hunt for a few Oleynik flicks. Gabrielle Union is doing a big better on the more “commercial” work, as I’ve seen a few projects with her. Not really MY type of films, but she’s been active.

    I wonder if someone would be interested in a “collector’s edition” of this film. Would like to see them together…

    How do you feel this film is aging? I think it’s okay… I had a laugh watching it this afternoon. I was surprised how innocent it is compared to teen films now. I don’t know if I can call this the best teen romcom of the 90’s (or the last 20 years?), but perhaps… I could do a bit more research.

  • Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part II

    For Part I of this post, click away~~

    Okay, today is not really early either… but this will have to do because I only have 3 years to go. In case you haven’t read the first part, or are lazy to read it now that I’ve given you the link… I got a little mad remembering films that should have won in years past~~ which include Tekkonkinkreet, and/or Paprika getting nominations in 2006 (or 2007, pick your release date issue).

    So just after the break, I will be talking about 2005, 2007 and 2008…

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Hachimitsu to Clover – Honey & Clover

    Let’s start with what the film is about:
    Live Action version of the famous manga series Hachimitsu to KURO~BA, it follows the lives of five art school students, who are trying to find their way through life and love. Takemoto is not a very good art student… preferring to talk about Japanese castles and models. Morita (Yusuke Iseya – Kiraware Matsuko no Issho, Blindness) is an amazing artist, but fears the real world and prefers to stay behind in the safety of college life. Mayama (Ryo Kase – Tokyo!, PAKO to Mahou no Ehon, GUGU Datte Neko de Aru) is in love with (and stalking) his boss, while Yamada is head over heels for him. And Hagumi (Yu Aoi) is a child prodigy…

    Genre: Drama, Light Comedy
    Starring: Sho Sakurai,Yu Aoi, Yusuke Iseya, Ryo Kase, Megumi Seki
    Appearances by: Masato Sakai, Shido Nakamura
    Duration: nearly 2hrs

    Spoilers ahead!

    (more…)

  • Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part I

    Most often than not, there’s a lack of foreign films in the Animated Feature (and in any other) field~ So how many times must we pass over great animation (not only for kids) to open our eyes? I started out with a qucik search for 2006 released animation (because I was discussing that year with a friend), but that didn’t do anything except make me skim through an article stating that “2006 was a great year for animation” – NOT! That there were 2 or 3 animated (3d CG) films each months totaling more than a dozen films of pretty much crappy quality… and if they were lucky they were worth a straight-to-dvd release is NOT a great year for animation. That just makes it a great year for movie business…

    2006 was the year I began hating 3d animation, because everyone seemed to be releasing their 3d films JUST to cash in.

    I ended up at the Academy Awards site to search all animated films nominated since the category began in 2001 with Shrek (the original not sequels) won. I also ended up on IMDb and their ‘Power Search’ tool to search for animated films with feature releases from the year.

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Otoko-tachi no Yamato

    Delay, again~~~ SORRY! xD Yamato took a bit longer to re-watch. I really feel it’s been just sitting… there… ANYWAY! Next up is Honey & Clover, which has also been just sitting there~~~ Promise to try to re-watch sooner.

    Something about the film:
    (from Wikipedia)
    Otoko-tachi no Yamato is a 2005 Japanese war film telling the story of Kamio, a teenage boy who ended up fighting in World War II on board of the biggest Japanese battleship, and its crew who ultimately met its death in battle.

    Genre: War, Drama
    Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoka Suzuki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kenichi Matsuyama, Shido Nakamura,Yu Aoi
    Appearances by: Kimiko Yo, Kayoko Shiraishi, Takahata Atsuko
    Duration: +2hrs

    Alert!!! Spoilers ahead!

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Nijuuyon no Hitomi – 24 Eyes

    Something about the film:
    (From AsianMediaWiki)
    Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world and their place in it, despite the fact that she knows full well that most of them will die in the war.

    Genre: Drama
    Starring: Hitomi Kuroki, Kaoru Yachigusa
    Appearances by: Akira Emoto, Yu Aoi, Shun Oguri
    Duration: +2hr

    Below, the spoilers~

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Guuzen nimo Saiaku na Shounen – Worst by Chance

    Decided to do this one already! Just to get going… this goes all the way back to… Before Hana & Alice? 2003! A lot of faces on this one… you might recognize many~

    About the film:
    A 2003 film directed by Su-yeon Gu about a high school student named Hidenori Kaneshiro (Hayato Ichihara) who lives in Tokyo as a Korean-Japanese, who gets bullied for being half-Korean despite being raised Japanese. Because of this, he’s developed a reckless answer to life’s problems by not caring about anything in the real world… except maybe his sister.

    Genre: Drama, Comedy
    Starring: Hayato Ichihara, Mika Nakashima, Shin Yazawa, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
    Special appearances by: Akira Emoto, Rie Tomosaka, Yu Aoi, Kimiko Yo, Yoshinori Okada
    Duration: +1:50hr

    Below, the spoilers~

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Henshin

    You’re in luck! Well, that depends on perspective~~ I was lucky (or not) to watch Henshin and it turned out to be the film right after my previous review, so I killed two birds with one stone. So here we go…

    Something about the film:
    (by me, ‘coz everyone misguided me to this film)
    A 2005 film about Junichi (Hiroshi Tamaki), who has recently gone through a brain operation, and while his recovery seems to be going on the right direction, not all is well inside his head. Before the surgery, Junichi was a nice guy, hard working, a painter… and a loving boyfriend to Kei (Yu Aoi). Now, however, he has quit his job, has violent outbursts, has stopped painting, and is not longer interested in his girlfriend.

    Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller Drama with Romance
    Starring: Hiroshi Tamaki, Yu Aoi
    Duration: +1:30hr

    Below, the spoilers~

    (more…)