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Archives For Chinese
Next Wednesday, TalkAsia will be interviewing Epik High.
In the meantime… you can enjoy past interviews that you may have missed:
– AI [clip]
– Buyi and the Beijing Rock Scene
– Anna Tsuchiya
– Lang Lang
– Lee Byung-hun [clip]
– Zhou Xun [clip]
Also! Heads up [at the bottom of their page]!
You can write to TalkAsia and request they interview someone.
Hello? Yu Aoi is waiting for TalkAsia xD and TalkAsia is waiting for our questions, I have decided to leave the questions opened until the end of April. =D
but it sure is time for YAM009 =D
is the cover kowaii??? [scary??] I would love to hear your opinion on fansubbing, as well as distribution, which are two topics I always bring up one way or the other.
You are also welcomed to comment on reviews and give suggestions.
With no further ado, go over here for download.
Like I’ve said to Julz, this is by far SHE’s best song to date.
I could have done without the puffs, but the song is pretty Girl Power.
Who said that girls don’t have Rock N’ Roll
I tell myself, when I’m the only one left
“Who is my hero?”
Can’t see, can’t find, can’t wait for your hero.
Why not be your own sky-holder Shero.
You can, I can be a Shero and face all obstacles
like an Empress waving a proud cape
[make sure the annotations are on so you get the English translation and the pinyin]
That’s a first for me from SHE. There’s also that bit about changing History to Herstory. Totally Girl Power. Awww… I’m missing Girl Power, and I wasn’t even a Spice Girls gal. What’s wrong with me? xD
I think… it feels like I watched a lot of films.
Mainly because I don’t think I listened to too much music…
or watched much TV xD
… or read. LOL
27 Asian Music Albums OWNED. [One, Mirotic… thanks Julz~]
That’s like 50 regular Western music albums in price… just so you know.
Over 240 Asian Music Albums HEARD…
it’s been 2 busy years of Asian Entertainment…
and I can’t seem to stop~
musicians and idols~ I can’t hate any of them…
and they’re making me broke xD
I don’t get the title.
But this is coming from Aiya They Didn’t.
GT: Do you see many Chinese films in US cinemas?
Rosen: There are not many Chinese films in the US, and the few Chinese films that are available in the US were directed by famous directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, and so on. There are several types of Chinese films that have played here.
Martial arts films are one type, such as Hero (Yingxiong) by Zhang Yimou and The Promise (Wuji) by Chen Kaige. The other type would be art films, such as those by Jia Zhangke, but these only get a limited release.
However, most Chinese films will never be shown in theaters here, because I think there simply isn’t enough of an audience for them. This is also true for most foreign language films. They are more likely to appear on DVD than to be shown in theaters.
Up to now, the most successful Chinese film has been Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu Canglong), the second most successful was Hero, and then Fearless (Huo Yuanjia).
The most successful Chinese films at the box office in the West have all been martial arts films, where language is less important than the action on the screen.
These are some of my comments,
Instead of Rosen suggesting China focus on big historical blockbuster to compete with Hollywood films, he should have only suggested “you should dub your films in English” – I mean, even great films produced and directed by American fave Clint Eastwood suffered from the “why no dub version” threads online.
Just look at the percentage of Chinese films on the Top Grossing Foreign films. I think they’re doing pretty great as far a top grossing in the US compared to other foreign films.
What I would like to see is more Chinese films (and over all Asian films) being distributed more in cinemas… in my country. LOL The last Chinese film released here was Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower. AGES ago. So if China wants to have more distribution of their films, they could use their own embassies and consulates around the world to actually screen films locally, instead of the Beijing Screening for international distributors.
I bet most distributors watch them, like them but see no market for them unless they have action sequences. So in the end those distribution screenings are for nothing. China should take distribution of their films in their own hands, I’m sure a lot of people would go to the movies instead of watching online (at least many of you) if the films you want to watch are available locally.
Like I’ve said, I’m not trying to be biased, since I do watch films made in America. But if you take a look at what a Blockbuster is in America, which they are discussing in the interview, films like Transformers 2 and Twilight made big bucks. China’s productions just wonder how they can get that many people to watch their films… and not only martial art films, but other types of films too.
The fact is many foreign films don’t get wide releases because they aren’t mass-appealing (worldwide), most markets just are filled with a lot of crappy American films, and I’m not talking about District 9 or Up… but with things like Transformers 2 and All About Steve or any Jennifer Aniston rom-com. While crappy foreign films (because everyone has their crappy films) can’t even make it outside their country.
The other question is… why does Hollywood remake My Sassy Girl, when My Sassy Girl is a fine film. Why can’t they just release it with subtitles. What does China need to get a film like Internal Affairs in theaters in America, instead of getting The Departed winning Best Film at the Oscar?
Why is there a Best Foreign Film category?
DGenerateFilms has translated an essay by director Jia Zhangke with some interesting ideas, as well as some others that I don’t particularly agree with… but maybe it’s one of those things lost in translation.
In a few years, young people throughout Asia will probably sing the same song, be attracted to the same clothes; girls will wear the same makeup and carry the same handbag. What kind of world is this turning into? It is precisely in this cultural environment that only independent films that remain committed to the depiction of local culture can provide some cultural diversity.
That’s an interesting statement, considering I have been talking about the exact opposite. I often talk how there will never be a “definite” 2000’s or 10-19’s list like we had in the 90s, because the internet has opened this gate with floods of information regarding anything… including music, films and overall entertainment. You don’t need to listen to what the record companies send to the radios, or watch what networks believe to be quality television or pay for a movie a distributor thinks you should be watching.
What the essay seems to be referring to is the vapid teenage kids who won’t bother researching and finding out about something that won’t be fed through distributors. I mean, you can’t even rely on what MySpace suggests any longer. LOL
Also… Amateur Cinema? With all the technology and all the quality cinematographers out there, even the most low-budget film can look okay. I’m sorry, but an image alone can speak a thousand words. That’s all I’m saying. I may be a “production value” girl, and I can appreciate costume, and art direction, but I also always give more importance to storyline and overall mood of the film. It shouldn’t matter if it’s “amateur” or a big-budget production.
Don’t give me Amateur Cinema, give me quality Independent Cinema.
I found an interesting post!
Here’s an excerpt;
Just as the music industry had it’s comfy, soulless, profit-raking, creatively-void existence shaken out of it’s tree, so too the film industry started to feel their profits shrivel in this freshly democratic media landscape. It seems innovation and profit didn’t necessarily go hand in hand though as the massive film production companies tried to plug the gaps with endless remakes, 3D tomfoolery and crap loads of marketing driven genre dirge. If anything it was a decade of extremes, as the mainstream became more generic and formulaic so there were the occasional glittering gems shining through the shinola, that kicked against the tide and were all the better for it.
They talk about Hollywood remakes, Indies and International films~~~
One thing to note, there aren’t any Asian films… like you know, Memories of Matsuko, 3-Iron, Oldboy, In the Mood for Love, All About Lily Chou Chou, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Battle Royale, Nobody Knows, Still Walking, etc.
You can read the post here.
