First, let me tell you – I don’t physically own these collections. I am basing my opinion on the content of the dvds, their price and their overall value compared to other collections that contain some of the same shorts.
Disney Animation Collection 1: Mickey & Beanstalk [Amazon.com
BALLS. I suck at working anything new or worthy with this fanlisting, but I do try to keep up with members. But it’s 3 years since I opened it!! Only 150 members barely though…
Many or most As If websites are either inactive, or totally gone… HOWEVER! You can still find some activity in Facebook! First, the As If Appreciation Society (who by the way are using the banner I made for my fanlisting, without crediting… balls much?) And there is also… and this is VERY important~ There’s the As If/Et Alors/Asi Somos/Som Aixi on DVD FB group. Yes, you read right… it on DVD.
If you are still interested on the ‘original’ set, you can still sign the petition (which I made) and has over 700 signatures – whoa~~ and where are these people and why aren’t they on the fanlisting? LOL’
Things against the petition, and the whole As If on DVD idea~ copyright music on the show. The show had an uber cool soundtrack, and because of this it probably gets killed by copyright fees of use for the music on dvd format. Just to tell you an example… I wanted to use a Sony Music song in a project in film school once, and this is the info I got.
STUDENT FILM MAKERS
$200 administration fee payable to Sony Music
Proof of school enrollment as well as proof of class credit
A VHS copy of your filmDepending on the particular recording and the scope of your project, we will determine your total cost.
And that was only for a song use for a weekly assignment TOTALLY non-profit … LOL’ – Of course I didn’t use the track ;) – so imagine how much a profitable project would have to pay. They already pay for the use of music on broadcast, but they will also have to pay fees to have the right to include their already made episodes on dvd… and a +10 dvd copies has a different price range ;) at least in some websites like ‘freeplaymusic‘ which is not so FREE.
So the As If DVD idea is kind of expensive to do, unless you want to swap the soundtrack on the whole series for other cheaper music (like The WB’s Popular did on their DVDs), but you don’t really want that with As If.
Well, this turned into sort of a rant… anniversary rant, but I felt it was time to put these on a post, instead of just complaining on IMDb, and getting people who keep asking the same question. “Why isn’t this show on DVD already?” Because of copyright music… *sighs*
In the meantime, do support the fans As If DVD project. To the lack of actual content, fans do what fans gotta do~~~ we must mess with the status quo, because the status is NOT quo. xD LOL’
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!
NP.com went all overboard with this year’s April Fools joke. Funniest thing ever. You can head over here to experience it… or in case it’s gone~~ here’s a capture.
You almost got me there, guys~~~
Tetsuya Nakashima’s latest film, PAKO to Maho no Ehon is one horrorific Japanese film – and you should see it for it. Nakashima has become quickly in one of my favorite Japanese directors (alongside Shunji Iwai, who is, by the way, a total different approach to filmmaking) and Memories of Matsuko is my favorite Japanese film to date.
Nakashima is quickly turning into my Japanese sort of Tim-Burtonesque filmmaker stylist, in the way he uses rich visual enhancements to his storytelling – thanks to his background in CMs, and just found out and remembered watching this – He combines amazing color treatment, art direction, cinematography and mashes it all up with anything he can… be it a bit of violence, grandeur musical numbers, and animation.
In the end, it isn’t much of a surprise when you begin watching Paco and the Magical Book and find yourself in a very Disney-nesque world (the film starts with a Lion-King-esque chant, literally) – after all, this is supposed to be aimed at a younger audience. However, don’t ever fool yourself thinking that this will dumb down anything that Tetsuya wants to show… which includes a punk-goth-tatooed-blond nurse (Anna Tsuchiya), a psychologically-insane-ex-child-star-bum (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a raging-drag-queen whom a lot of people are referring to as ‘gay’ (Jun Kunimura), and a blood-sucking-neck-biting-vampiresque nurse (Eiko Koike). And don’t forget the grumpy old man who doesn’t back down when hitting the kid (Koji Yakusho)… well, I actually laughed at that bit. Does that make me an asshole??
Yes, the film is nuts, but it’s worth watching. For international audience, it might not be recommended to watch with their kids, unless they are willing to read subtitles… because films like this should be enjoy in its original language. I still think is not as brilliant as Matsuko, but I will have to see it once more with proper subtitles to form a strong opinion. And man! Those CGI animated sequences… and the whole thing, like I said~~ dramatic comedy meets Disney on LSD. I think that’s the perfect description for Nakashima’s style.
I’ll leave you with some links,
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~
TotalFilm.com has ranked Natalie as one of their best Sesame Street appearances xD Yes, the one with the elephant… cute as a button. I always thought Sesame Street (aka. Plaza Sesamo) was a pretty good kid’s show… and I always thought Elmo was cute, plus! he doesn’t speak like a stupid Teletubbie. “nuff said.
[iframe width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/4y-b9cjaxVs?rel=0″]
Well… ‘interactive’ almost haha
Hmm… two weeks ago, in fact~~~ On February 25th, I was watching NHK and saw this pretty awesome segment where they showed this JDrama that you could put your face into, the second segment mentioned a new for of ‘karaoke’ to voice-over anime~~~ To tell you the truth, I found it hilarious!
Anyway, I was trying to find some info on it, but since my Japanese is so limited I couldn’t really google anything. Luckily, I was watching NHK this afternoon and recognized the hosts, so I could go to the show’s website and find out. And so I did!
The first segment is Sangwoo & my Story – obviously a romantic JDrama aimed at women who want to put their face into the protagonist body. LOL’ You literally scan your face, and they will make it all digital and moveable… they will even give u a digital surgery so your face is not wonky xD ~~~ Then they just paste your digi-most-improved-face onto the body of the person playing the lead, make your digi-mouth move at the proper sync and you got yourself into your love story JDrama. You buy it on DVD, go home to watch yourself on screen with your Asian hunk.
Pretty amazing stuff, really… even if it’s kind of weird. Can’t possibly imagine what the porn industry could do with that… LOL – Can you?
Anyway~~~
The second segment was a feature on JoySound.com – who have released a type of Karaoke machine to dub anime, so otakus can go… knowing all their favorite anime lines, begin recording with a passion, and then watch their masterful over-dubbing~~~ Funny stuff considering I could sit with my friend and play Harry Potter PoA while watching the film~~~ I find this one more funny, than impressive though… The above ABOVE idea was crazy.
Now, if all dramas could be like that~~~ let’s start with Japan. Can you imagine being in Nodame? Or Osen??? Can you imagine put your face into Eita’s body and get to hug Juri playing Ruka. LOL Can you imagine that in a western show… or I mean, your favorite American or English show?
I know a few that will probably considering being on FRIENDS… Well, I know many will likely do the karaoke-voice-over thing with it anyway.
It was sort of nice meeting you.
Spoilers did their work on just not hyping it up, but still the final episode was pretty bleh. And Sholly… Sholly has been forever tainted with Jenny’s *disease* LOL. I blame it all on the rumor of Hollywood Ebola. HAHAHA, ‘coz Julz knows that Hollywood Ebola’s disease is so powerful, that even a rumor can infect you.
Anyway, as a goodbye to Sholly, I did a little funny.
(more…)
Rookie? LOL’ I don’t think she’s a ‘rookie’ perse but okay… I’ll take it!
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan has named Yu (in the fields of Media and Fine Arts) their Rookie of the Year Award (Movies).
On why they are giving this award to her, they talk about her debut on the Shunji Iwai film All About Lily Chou Chou, and her steady career throughout the years mentioning Hula Girls. They also mention her work on One Million Yen Girl the past year, as well as her natural talent. Finally, they close their paragraph saying that Yu’s future is expected with much anticipation.
Or something like that…
Also named there in the field of Public Art, Shiina Ringo!!!! Like… Rookie?? Again~~
Sorry, no photos~~
*update March 30th* – Added a photo from Yu’s site.
*update May 20th* – Added a link to video. Check it out after the break…