Well, he is hardly a spotting… more of a re-spotting, since I first saw him on 2001’s Heart in Atlantis with Anthony Hopkins, and later I recognized him on Along Came a Spider (with Morgan Freeman and Monica Potter). He later showed up in my radar starring in 2007’s Charlie Bartlett.
Well, look where he is now~~~
Where you will see him now? Well, he was on the latest Star Trek (as Chekov) and is now competing against himself at the Box Office with the recent Terminator Salvation where he plays Kyle Reese. All grown up. Who would’ve thought?
He does look a bit dorkish (in a funny… you can probably say he can rock the dorkability), but this photo I thought was pretty decent. And let us all forget that he was ever involved in that god-awful You and I movie (aka. Finding t.A.T.u) with Mischa Barton.
Cutest thing~~ like EVER. Here’s Bibi!! Almost exactly as she is now, isn’t she??
On that post, you’ll see some familiar faces like Zhang Ziyi (who hasn’t changed a bit), Jolin Tsai, Bridgette Lin, Vivian Hsu… is that Ella Chen (???), Jet Li, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse… and even Yao Ming!
But check after the break for some of the photos for Faye Wong, Jay Chou, Leehom, and Maggie Cheung – with a Japanese bonus… *tsk tsk*
A couple of days ago, I posted a random post as a quickie. I had found a photo (pictured on the right) that I hadn’t seen before, and that led me to one of the most interesting quasi-pseudo-intellectual post on any Japanese idol I had ever read.
Some might differ… Yu, an idol? Give or take~~~
I hope you do find that post as interesting as I did.
Here’s an excerpt:
“If you follow Yu Aoi through Japanese popular culture, you find that, over and over again, she’s cast as an advanced, soft being, a quirky, childlike, expressive, kind-hearted fairy, modestly unaware of her own beauty and unwilling to use it in power games.
…”
Now, if you haven’t found that post in your quest for more Yu Aoi, and are not interested by that statement. What’s wrong with you?? Ha!
What’s fascinating about it is the reference to Gutai, which got me asking what Gutai is and what it’s all about. Sure, that Wiki article just simplifies it all… so if you want to get into it, head over here to read The Gutai Manifesto.
I just spent all afternoon, and apparently… night, so~~~ I spent all day writing Yu’s Wikipedia entry. Unless you’re reading this at the proper time, the entry might have gotten edited or deleted by now. Man~ writing a bio is tough, and worse of all is that Wikipedia markup language. It sucks, SUCKS! I tell you! It actually took hours because of that Wikipedia format~~~
I also had to search for references… and try to read Japanese. LOL’
Also, that damn table… I still need to work on it, at least for the TV work and Awards.
So~~~ in case it gets deleted. Yu’s complete bio by Amy below the break ;P
Also, planning a Spanish version *laughs*
Aoi Yu (born Natsui Yu August 17, 1985) is a Japanese actress and model from Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai’s 2001 film All About Lily Chou Chou. She became widely known for playing Tetsuko Arisugawa in Hana & Alice (2004) – also directed by Shunji Iwai, as well as Kimiko Tanikawa in the hula-dancing film Hula Girls, and Hagu in the 2006 live action adaptation of the popular Honey & Clover manga series.
In 2009, Aoi was named Rookie of the Year in the field of Films in Media and Fine Arts by The Ministry of Education , Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Ooh la~~~ looking at Marion walking in those heels hurt me. LOL
Marion teams up for a viral/short film/commercial… but I can’t help but swoon. *swoon* – She does look gorgeous… total gorgeousity in those shots of her face. And wait~~~ wait for the ending. 3P
The whole page belongs to him LOL… so I ended up shooting Black & White. ;) – Celebrities included there are Tobey Maguire, Tim Robbins, Christian Bale, Rihanna, Peter Dinlage, Lenny Kravitz, Jude Law, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Schwartzman, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, and Adrien Brody.
If it’s Hip, it’s Here has a great post taking a look at Cannes Film Festival, which is about to finish over the weekend… loads of films, some apparently extraordinary… others dividing the critics with controversy, just another year in Cannes~~~ If you really wanna know some of what’s been going on (celebrity-wise), head over to Lainey’s ramblings on what’s been going on there~
Anyway…
Check out some of the Hollywood classic photos after the break, including Ingrid Bergman, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, and Geraldine Chaplin.
He found the interview I was looking for… almost half a year ago. O.o
Only it’s divided into two, and has Chinese subtitles instead. Video embeds after the break!
Show is called Jounetsu (Passion) and they followed Yu around when shooting some Hula Girls, promoting Honey & Clover, getting her driving license, renting/buying films to watch, kid Yu, etc etc… the segment aired on September 2006.
Today a year ago, I was introduced to Yu Aoi’s work on Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou, and the Shunji Iwai-related Rainbow Song. Little did I know that the characters that interested me the most in the films were played by the same actress. Nine days later, I watched Hula Girls, and a month later I was completely hooked with Yu Aoi, and yet another Shunji Iwai film… Hana & Alice.
A couple of days ago, I posted a random post as a quickie. I had found a photo (pictured on the right) that I hadn’t seen before, and that led me to one of the most interesting quasi-pseudo-intellectual post on any Japanese idol I had ever read.
