Category: Chinese

  • Ip Man 2 and Kokuhaku at 2010 NYAFF

    I am all over Ip Man at the moment. So really, there’s no better way to kick of the New York Asian Film Festival than with the American premiere of Ip Man 2, which its pure kick-ass and feeling for martial arts. Sammo Hung will also be there, so that’s pretty kick-ass too.

    But the biggest news is that Tetsuya Nakashima’s latest film Kokuhaku (Confessions), which will open in Japan on June 5th, will be the Centerpiece presentation. According to Subway Cinema News, Kokuhaku has left dumbfounded at the market screening in Cannes. Must be the LSD on Nakashima’s film-making.

    Can’t effing wait for it now.

    via Nippon Cinema.

  • AfterEllen Top East-Asian Suggestions 2010

    Okay, I took a WHOLE lot more time on getting names for this list, because apparently I am not knowledgeable enough in female actresses and well singers from Asia as I first though…

    AfterEllen.com also made their annual list of Hot 100 2010 [as well as Top Women of Color, Top Out Women, Top Women over 40], only they made it backwards, so I’m linking you to their last page, and you’re going to have to work your way backwards… Ovbiously, I thought AfterElton worked better because I took the time to look through it more than once to make sure I wasn’t missing anyone.

    Tips for a better list for AfterEllen:

    • Start from #100
    • Point out with arrows who’s going up or down in positions, and who’s a new entry.

    And really? No Asians on your list?

    Not that I don’t appreciate the likes of Alicia Keys, Jennifer Beals, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, the girls from Glee (Cheerios plus Rachel, woah that’s bizarre xD), Meryl (who doesn’t need a last name), Rachel Weisz, Amanda Seyfried (even though the things that are coming out of her mouth lately), Christina Hendricks, Tina Fey, Penelope Cruz, Jodie Foster, Rachel McAdams, the whole cast of The L Word… right? Pink, Emily Blunt, Kate Winslet, Ellen Page, all whom often make appearances on this blog. And to top it with Olivia Wilde…

    but then again… no Asians?

    So me, barely scraping made a list of Top East-Asians that you might want to consider for future editions of your Hot 100. I would also offer a weekly/monthly (a la my AfterElton offer), but I don’t think I’m as knowledgeable in this area. I could try pimping Asian talents on a monthly basis if you want xD

    Okay… once again, in no particular order.

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  • AfterElton Top East-Asian Suggestions 2010

    Dear AfterElton,

    I love that Taye Diggs topped your list of Top10 Men of Color, and that you also included Ricky Martin. Though, I still wonder… really? Eddie Cibrian? Anyway…

    I like that you tried to include 1/5 of Asians… but there’s too much Asian hotness in the world to only count Daniel Dae Kim (from Lost), and John Cho… it just makes it seem like you know two Asians in the west.

    So here is a list of Asian male that I’m pimping so you could check out for future editions. I would be more than happy (and I’m sure my friend Julz would also be happy) to contribute weekly or monthly posts of Asian hotties on AfterElton.

    So… in no particular order…

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  • Cotillard in Lady Blue Shanghai

    Well, no wonder I hadn’t heard about Lady Rouge since her appearance in the Lady Dior series’ Lady Noire. It’s because Marion’s been so busy, that they didn’t have the time to make it happen… instead? They made a music video featuring Eyes of Mars by Franz Ferdinand.

    *spazz* Marion in a red dress… and Marion in a suit. I’m a little iffy about her singing voice in that song, but the visuals more than make up for any of it. She’s rocking, and looking smoking hot.

    It would look so SO good on HD.

    But alas… I can’t access the video through the Lady Dior website at the moment.

    Anyway~~~ I am posting because Lady Blue has just been released~
    and you can view it over at the Lady Dior website.

    Directed by David Lynch (Mulholland Dr., Inland Empire).

    Look, I like Lynch’s films as much as the next cinephile, and I appreciate his storytelling and the things he does… but seriously? Lady Blue? It looked too much of a student film to be a high fashion piece. I could accept the hand-held camera and the dim moody lights, but the blurry lights (which I usually love) and the whole “this looks all shaky and stuff because it’s not reality” was just too much. I could barely pay any attention to the purse.

    Also, you do not get Marion on a Dior piece and make her gorgeousity blurry.

    but you know… you can watch for yourself, and have your own opinion.

  • The final nail on LimeWire’s coffin?

    People are saying it’s time that LimeWire is put to sleep…
    or most likely…

    According to the article, 60% of people use LimeWire. Really?

    I haven’t used LimeWire in… at least, 8 years? I do know about two or three that use it, but that’s because they pretty much suck with anything related to computers. And I mean really suck.

    I have recently used aMule because I needed to get three albums (of an artist… Ding Wei, if you must know), and the only place I found it was on this Chinese website that only supported aMule/eDonkey files. However, I haven’t used it for anything else.

    After Napster — does ANYONE use that for legal downloads anyway? — I went through a lot of other programs, including AudioGalaxy, iMesh, Kazaa, eDonkey, LimeWire… and maybe a few others, but the lines have started to blur already.

    What I have been doing for music? I have been listening to a LOT of stream music over at HaoTing.com [literally meaning “good music” or “good sound” or “pleasant to hear”], and whenever I decide the album is quite good, I download via any place. Those MP3s sit on my HD for a while until I finally add them on my iPod, and once they become my favorite “albums” [hint: albums, not single tracks], I look them up in different online stores, and actually buy the physical album.

    The last album that has defy that system was Salyu’s Maiden Voyage, which I pre-order for fear of losing my copy of the limited edition with DVD concert… like I lost Seo Taiji.

  • Welcome to Tokyo

    A while ago the Tokyo Metropolitan Government commissioned Studio 4°C to make an animated short to promote visiting Tokyo. Available in original Japanese audio with English, Korean, Chinese Traditional and Simplified, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch, the short is titled Honey Tokyo and tells the story of a girl from the future traveling to present-day Japan to bring back Happiness to her time. A boy named Takeru serves as her guide to different places in the city, doing different activities and learning about traditions.

    The short had a budget of around half a million $USD, and can I just say~~~
    it’s a really great investment? It just fuels my wanting to go to Japan.

    Check it out at the Welcome to Tokyo website.

    Great way to mix Art and PR. Tagged as commercial and short! xD

  • TheAuteurs Turns into MUBI

    First reaction was a shriek. What the hell had happened to my TheAuteurs.com account? Well, it had just turned into a MUBI account instead.

    From indieWIRE;

    It had to happen. The cinephile site The Auteurs has changed its name.

    …

    Cakarel wants to grow members into the millions. So he went on a quest for a new name. He called on ad agencies all over the world to find a simple, easily-typed name. “Find me my global brand, my Sony,” he told them. It took nine months, but finally an agency in Tokyo knew they had found the name. Mubi.

    The word “movie” is mispronounced in many cultures that have trouble with the letter V. It isn’t a word in any language. It is a city in Nigeria. And Cakarel plans to make that city the movie-lover capital of the world.

    Even if finding out about the change of names through indieWIRE and not TheAuteurs itself is just a little offensive, I could understand a change in branding. However, the change in brand seems to be a complete move towards the mainstream market to attract more members, who aren’t necessarily interested in auteur-driven films, and hence wouldn’t know how to type “auteur” in the first place… than a re-brand to actually make the product better for its core audience. It’s like Inca Kola trying to be hip and cool, when it doesn’t taste the same.

    With this “strategic” branding idea, they have stirred up their community by having many users complaining about the change of name, and those who aren’t complaining? Well, they are indifferent to the change. Overall feedback seems to be quite negative so it has prompted forum boards by now-MUBI Efe (Cakarel) titled “Why did we change our name to MUBI”

    The most interesting part of it all, is their deals with the Sao Paulo Film Fest to stream their films — and possible future deals with the likes of Tribeca — and deals with Cannes.

    Let’s just hope they continue to focus on Silents, Foreign Films, Classic Films and other hard to watch films, and/or other hard to find for people to share with, than mainstream Hollywood films.

  • Ip Man: The Movies

    Dude! Bad-ass with a heart.

    Ip Man, for the people who don’t know, is Bruce Lee’s martial arts master.

    Though, from the little info I could read on the real Ip Man, they do make him look like a total hero here. I mean, you watch the first Ip Man film [semi-biographical], and he’s painted like a real nice man who likes to spar with other martial artists. He’s just a family man, and good to everyone, but he does sure love his martial arts.

    Ip Man is the hero. He is the man, and this is a total blockbuster, but with a lot more heart. I teared up a bit in parts, and I’m not even supposed to feel “patriotic” about it. But this is not about that, right? Wow, Ip Man… or I mean, Donnie Yen can totally kick ass.

    I suspect my grandfather would have enjoyed this movie very much. My dad sure did.

    And because Ip Man 2 [pretty much not biographical] has just opened in China and some other territories (including Australia, damn those lucky SOBs xD), Ip Man has been battling it out on the box office against Iron Man. However, despite Ip Man 2 not being as good as the original Ip Man… it totally beats Iron Man 2 to a pulp… in quality, not in box office power.

    Yeah, sure. Ip Man 2 is a little bit Rocky and a little No Retreat, No Surrender — and all the many fighting movies — but I can’t deny Ip Man has a lot of heart. I mean, can’t get more patriotic than fighting to “defend all Chinese culture.” How was the line? Something like you can put me down, but not all Chinese martial arts?

    And oh man, Bruce Lee was such a total cocky child actor.

    *sighs* if he only were alive.

  • Liu Zhu Cross-dressing on Super Boy

    In the latest edition of Super Boy — the show like American Idol in China but only for guys — had contestant Liu Zhu, who’s now shot to popularity in Baidu searches after appearing on the show dressed like a girl.

    His feminine look and delicate voice made guest-judge Annie Meigui turn on the interrogation hat with questions regarding gender-testing, and even asking for Liu Zhu’s address (so that people could harass?). In the end, judge Ding Wei intervened by saying they were not there to judge his gender identity, but his talent.

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  • WOW, only one week of music?

    OMG, I think I’ve broken my own whatever record of music heard ever.

    I’ve been listening to whatever I could find for streaming. Including albums that I had no plans to listen to, but I figured I should just to say I have listened to them when giving my opinion, and not get that “well, if you don’t listen to it, how do you know it’s bad?” – you know that response, right?

    So I think you’d be surprised to see what I’ve listened to.

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