Category: Japanese

  • First Ouch Reviews for Redline and Raiou

    Okay, the Raiou review isn’t so ouch because it’s in Japanese, and it didn’t seem to talk much about the film – other than the synopsis – but they gave it 2/5 which… you know, it’s bad. It doesn’t really surprise me after Ryuichi Hiroki’s April Bride. We’re not talking about Shinobu Terajima — fully, in-your-face actress — with Ryuichi Hiroki. We’re talking about Eita and Nana Eikura — the idols.

    But still, as an idol film, I think it’s gonna floor me. I’ve seen the clips, it’s got Yu-chan riding a horse in slow-motion. Screaming. Talking with an accent. Shooting an arrow. It’s got Yu-chan’s first proper on-screen kiss — it’s not an “in your head” kiss scene, it’s not a stolen kiss — it’s a proper romance.

    Then Mark Schilling from the Japan Times – who also kicked FLOWERS in the shins – kicks Redline too. I’m gonna pick the phrases that sum up his review the best:

    “Redline” is all about visceral thrills that peak in the first slam-bang, headlong race scene. The film then spends the next 90 minutes trying to top this opener — about 90 minutes too long for me.

    …

    But the first 10 minutes are terrific.

    There you go. He gave it a 2.5/5

    But he says the animation is good, which… I mean – have you seen the World Record short from The Animatrix? Same guy directing. I can’t wait to just feast my eyes. Maybe, if the story and action is as sucky as he says (not enough drama, again?) Maybe I’ll just watch it one more time. I mean, he did love Tekkonkinkreet.

  • Yu Aoi on Asahi TV’s Tetsuko’s Room

    Or at least that’s what I translated Tetsuko no Heya. xD

    The interview is good, we learn a bit — including two questions that some fans wanted to know, or at least that’s what your questions were about. What was her favorite role (or at least that’s what I understood when she replied), and a bit about her family… which also gave us some new photos – including this one!

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  • Asia Pacific Screen Nominations 2010

    Never have followed the Asian Pacific nominations… mainly because it’s hard to, you know~~~ watch films from that part of the world for me. However, distribution is getting better – dvds are being launched so much faster, and many of them come with subtitles in English (when needed), and there’s a lot more people willing to fansub when needed.

    And YAY! Aftershocks has landed 6 nominations – including Best Film, Best Directing, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay PLUS! Best Actor and Best Actress. Now, I’m trying not to be biased, I don’t think actor Chen Daoming was THAT good in Aftershocks, but actress Xu Fan completely deserves it.

    The other big nominee of the night is South Korea’s Poetry (Shi) – crap! I’m really that good at film recommendations for distributors, someone hire me ASAP! – which received 4 nominations for Best Film, Best Directing, Best Screenplay and Best Actress. While Taiwan’s Monga – see, I’m good – was nominated for 3 awards for Best Film, Best Directing and Best Cinematography.

    The APSA(wards) will be handed out December 2nd on a live webcast at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards site.

    All nominations below the break~

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  • Why Raiou Needs to Reach #1~

    Raiou, based on the novel by Mari Ueza about tragic lovers, is set to open next week on Friday the 22nd. It stars idol-in-the-rise Masaki Okada opposite established-idol-transitioning-to-actress Yu Aoi. What does Raiou mean to their careers?

    A rising-star and an established-idol starring in a period drama romance? If it succeeds, it means the rising-star will keep on rising, and the established-idol still has “it”. A period drama romance lays solely on its protagonists’ shoulders, and their chemistry. If it fails, it’s because of them. That’s a lot of scary thoughts right there~

    Why does Yu Aoi need Raiou to succeed? She is indeed an idol still. She sponsors products, and she makes a living selling products. She’s young — to westerners, anyway — she’s cute, youthful… the whole shebang. However, the life-span of a Japanese female idol is short, some of them have retired at 20! So Yu, having turned 25 already, isn’t… well, a young idol any longer. She’s been away of major mainstream entertainment, she’s had relationships, she’s been on tabloids as people discuss who she really is dating. Everything takes its toll. She’s now a woman. An actress who is still an idol. Will people support her passed her prime-early-twenty years like they did when the hit Hula Girls came out?

    Raiou holds Yu’s idol-hood future. Will it be a hit right away? Shoot to number one the first week to then drop the next? Will it slowly climb to number one in two or three weeks and stay there a week or two? Will it climb slowly up to stay there for several weeks? Will it never reach number one?? Whatever happens, it will change Yu’s bankability.

  • Hello, Goodbye YAM012~

    Hello to YAM012.

    Goodbye (sorta) to YAM PDF.

    Hello to yam-mag.com~

    Head over, for the last time, to my portfolio to download the latest and last issue.

  • The 65 Foreign Submissions are in + Documentary shorts

    I can feel it in the air. Award season is approaching. I think Indie Spirit Awards are also done with submissions, and their nominations should arrive come early December.

    In the meantime, the Academy Awards has released the list of the 65 countries (or not-countries… Greenland?) that will be competing for 5 spots as “Best Foreign” nominees, as well as their 8 short documentaries.

    Here are some of the reviews of the ones I’ve seen.

    Let’s talk wild guess predictions in here. Which countries will be the 5 chosen ones?

    Mexico’s Biutiful seems like an easy assumption.

    China’s Aftershocks seems to be a good candidate for several reasons besides “film”. Whatever your thoughts on melodrama are, I mean… you really need to be a sour grape not to feel something for the family in that film. Either that, or you’ve never been in a natural disaster. Having said that, it is because it’s a melodrama that it’s perfect for Oscar. Moving family drama that deals with catastrophe with a really powerful and magnificently handled Earthquake scene that was a box office hit in China. It’s just good business.

    Also, China being nominated is controversial. Anything to do with China since 2008 is controversial. Controversial always brings ratings. Also nominating China is just plain good business. If China gets nominated – I dunno, what are the chances of some state channel broadcasting the Oscar? Just imaging 2/3 of China’s internet population watches the Oscar that night. That’s 200 million viewers. Anything in China is big.

    If there’s no China, it must be another cheese movie… like South Korea’s A Barefoot Dream. An underdog story of a kiddie football team and a coach. It shall make you feel happy xD

    Canada’s Incendies?

    and… I dunno what else. Peru’s chances? From what I have seen, and what I’ve heard. It could very well get into the nine before they select the final five. I’ll have a better grasp once the 9 are out xD

  • Yogashiten Coin de Rue Trailer

    Okay, too much Yu-overload this week. My fan-brain can’t handle all this information. Plus, the new film opens nearly one week after my 25th bday –oh, Grilled Cheesus! I’m so old!

    [iframe src=”https://www.nipponcinema.com/v2/play.swf?config=https://www.nipponcinema.com/cfg/yogashiten-coin-de-rue-trailer” width=”560″ height=”315″]

    Highlights from the trailer? Hello, tasty pastries? It wasn’t long ago that I was trying to think of nice Foodie films. I think Coin de Rue could be a good candidate. That mousse looked potentially-mouthwatering-inducing.

    Second, I love that Yu-chan gets to work with pastries. And this one’s even more about the pastries.

    Third, Yu-chan cheek-pulling. I literally burst out laughing when I saw that. Does that happen a lot? I know that in America is considered very “aunt-y” for a woman to pull her nephew or niece’s cheek. I think it happens a lot in Asia. All my Korean roommates (and some friends), we used to pull each other’s cheeks all the time. But then again, there was also some un-wanted Korean spanking.

    via Nippon Cinema.

  • Raiou at the Pusan Film Fest

    Yu-chan’s been busy! Or it’s actually been busy for us…

    REDLINE opened in Japan, as well as some dates in San Francisco – jealous! There was also the re-run of last-last week’s episode of Ryomaden on Friday night. On Saturday, there was a re-run of Hana & Alice on i-Sat. Plus, Yu-chan’s also been in Korea for the Pusan Film Festival to promote Raiou!

    G-Dragon must be there stalking. He really should visit the site and comment, we could really be friends.

    Anyway! As you know, Yu-chan’s pretty popular in Korea. Hana & Alice opened there as well, and even her film Letters from Nirai Kanai (with no subs yet) was released there under the name “Aoi Yu’s Letters” Snap!

    Yu-chan looks so pretty xD

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  • SF Yu Aoi and Animation fans: Redline Opens this Week in your City

    I wish I had known sooner, but I just found out today.

    REDLINE will be opening in San Francisco this Friday 8th at 7.15pm at VIZ Cinema – at the same time as in Japan! And will continue showing the film throughout the week. I already added them to the Yu Aoi Events calendar.

    Friday 8th – 7.15pm
    Saturday 9th, Sunday 10th – 12.30pm , 2.45pm , 5pm , 7.15pm
    Monday 11th – Thursday 14th – 5pm , 7.15pm

    Admission is $10

    If you catch the show, let me know. Would love to hear your thoughts.

  • What Are Good Lyrics?

    Ah… English, such a direct language. I often have discussions with people about the nuances of the different languages. Friends tell me that French and Italian are great for flirting, and my mom keeps telling me that different dialects in Chinese have so many words to describe food flavors, impossible to describe in Spanish or English.

    The Beautiful Language.

    However, what about songs?

    My favorite songs, my favorite artists in English — 99% of the time, I try not to find the lyrics any longer. Whenever I have enjoyed the songs, looked for the lyrics, 90% of the time I’ve ended up disappointed.

    My first language is Spanish, however, I often find myself thinking in English – so, whenever I listen to music in Spanish, my brain begins translating lyrics into English. The repertoire of songs that I actually like in Spanish tend to be songs that are hard to translate literally into English.

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