Category: DVD/BR

  • July + August Films~

    Let’s see how the movie count goes~
    shall we?

    (more…)

  • Why I’m not an Avid Moviegoer

    I used to be a really good moviegoer when I was 17… 18 and 19~ Perhaps catch 1 or 2 films a week… if there was something indie, maybe 3 or 4 films at the cinema! That’s a lot of money. I don’t go to the movies too often, and I wonder why.

    1. Peru doesn’t cater to my taste in movies when I want to… where I want to. I would watch Inglorious Basterds, but it hasn’t open here yet. So considering… I would watch it only if it’s really good. Hopefully it will make it before it comes out on DVD in America xD

    2. It takes ages for some films to be released, so by the time they’re released I already bought them on DVD, have already watched them as downloads or have already lost interest.

    3. They never make it here. Hooray for cable! LOL But sometimes they don’t even make it there.

    4. Little to no independent films. It’s always the big studios… Can I re-suggest IndieScreenings? You can read some of my thoughts about it in this YAM issue.

    5. 98% of American films in the market. 0.01% of Asia. 1%Europe… 0.03% Canadian~~~ What gives? xD The rest can be whatever… co-productions, etc.

    6. I know it’s about the money-making, but how about opening a specialized cinema that shows new independent/foreign releases?

    7. Not cinema means I get to watch films when I have the time, not when they want me. I can watch any film at 2am even if theaters are closed. No need to queue or complain about the noisy couple behind you.

    Anyway… how do they choose the films to be distributed? And who chooses??? Maybe I should work for a distributor company or something. Maybe we should work with Indie Screenings for a test.

  • We Are Making You Pay for It Now~

    I loved Pixar’s UP. The first 15min. of the film is pure magic, so when I saw it on my Amazon recommended page, I was thrilled because I want to get it. But here’s the thing…

    **Edit**
    Since this post, they have announced a 2-disc DVD.

    There’s only the single-disc DVD, and the 4-disc Blu-ray (which comes with the blu-ray, plus digital copy, plus DVD and who knows what else…) – To be honest, the $+30 price tag on the Blu-ray makes me not want to get it. Even worse because I haven’t made the switch to the format yet…

    Then… the +$10 price tag on the single disc… which is ONE disc only, hardly any worthy extras. Compared that to the $20-something 3-disc DVD WALL-E version. And I’m not sold on UP. I’m sorry. If the price doesn’t go down below $15 for the single disc, I’m not buying it. I would’ve paid $20 for a two-disc DVD. What gives?

  • Time Album + Mini-PB + DVD by Bibi Zhou

    It’s here, it’s here!

    Bibi Zhou - Time - Package

    Pretty photos courtesy of me (so please, respect hot pink watermarks LOL),
    plus a professional/sort-of-fan product review below the break~
    enjoy, and link back if you’re sharing! xD

    (more…)

  • June and Mid-July Films~

    Am bored. Also remembered I haven’t done this in a while…

    Plus, it’s Twenty 2009 films!! Only 28 more LOL!

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi Short Takes~

    I know, I know… I’m being lazy.

    By the way, by the time of posting this, I’m probably away taking photos at a concert. This is a scheduled post because I wanted Maggie Cheung as the first post for a little longer… xD

    I usually post one thing per post, but there’s too much Yu to post –
    all via aoinohoho’s Yu-dedicated JP blog.
    dozou~~~

    First!

    Rumors that NHK’s future 2011 (I know, I know… so far ahead) Taiga drama (a la Yoshitsune, Atsuhime) would be centered around three sisters… The Three Asai Sisters (?). They throw in some names like Masami Nagasawa and Aya Ueto, but seem positively (?) more thrilled to throw in Yu’s name xD – though you know, it IS a Google Translate.

    Me on the other hand… I loved Atsuhime… a strong female who moved the pieces in this game of life. That may have had to do with the high ratings the show got alongside the writing, and production values. So the prospect of Yu on a Taiga drama thrills me. For one thing, I will be able to watch her once a week on my TV for a year. LOL – but then, that will mean a decrease on films… *eek!*

    Second!

    Apparently (this is old old news), FRaU Magazine had a list Yu’s 10 Best Films~
    Some interesting choices there!

    3 films in English made it to her list…

    • White Oleander (2002)
    • 2:37 (2006) [starring fellow Teresa Palmer of December Boys, Daniel Radcliffe fame]
    • Almost Famous (2000)

    A very international one… actually, a two-part film project titled Ten Minutes Older, divided into The Trumpet and The Cello. (2002)

    And the rest are Asian… though I’ve only heard of Sway (with fellow Joe Odagiri), which I wanna watch.

    and third!

    aoinohoho uploaded this 9min video of… Yu talking about a book? Book reading?

    [iframe src=”https://www.tudou.com/v/GIK0Jvglz5w/v.swf” width=”480″ height=”400″]

    Oh yeah, and did I mention my mom loves Yu? She told me that tonight… again. LOL

  • Don’t Laugh at my Romance Hong Kong!

    I posted this a while ago.

    Now I found out that there’s a Hong Kong version – VCD and DVD Region 3 – with subs (sadly no extras), which I’ve decided to purchase. I would’ve chosen the Taiwan Free region edition, but I decided to get the HK version instead because I had found other product reviews for the releasing company, and I couldn’t find anything on the Taiwan company.

    DVD reviewers, please review the DVD and not the movie!

    In any case, I will be reviewing the product once I get my hands on it.

    Also on my order? Bibi’s Time – China version which includes a Bibi Photobook and DVD!!!
    ZOMG! I had to get it… short PB with album with dvd! Less than $20!
    I couldn’t resist…

    I will be reviewing that too.

  • Daria on DVD?

    What???? – via TVShowsOnDVD
    xD

    Daria on DVD Soon!!

  • Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009 – Day4

    I’ve hated #4 this past weeks. That number is an unlucky number…

    Anyway, this is my 4th contribution to the Japanese Cinema Blogathon, if you haven’t been reading… which I hope you have had~~~ because that’s the whole point of this blogathon, right? To promote J-Films…

    Which brings me to today’s topic.

    First, Your Friends~ Then the World!

    How to Make People Watch Japanese Cinema

    It’s all about compromise. God knows I’ve tried so hard to get my friends interested in it, because sometimes it can get boring talking to people about it just online… *sighs* I’m sure I come off as pushy, etc~ and many of them won’t budge. I even offer them films to watch for free… they only need to come over, and that’s that.

    Last year I had a Foreign Film gathering (they chose the foreign theme, anyway), two of the nine films scheduled that day were Tetsuya Nakashima’s Memories of Matsuko – mainly because I’m crazy about that film, and I had just watched it a few weeks prior – and Shunji Iwai’s Hana & Alice, because Iwai-san and Yu Aoi is lurv. Sadly, no one came on time to watch Matsuko (only one friend arrived… halfway through the film), and I highly doubt they made any connection with Hana & Alice.

    Needless to say, I’m setting up another film gathering, though I haven’t made them choose themes yet. I have a few lists I’ve made and they contain a couple of Japanese films. Let’s hope one of them stays this year! *crosses fingers*

    Anyway… you don’t want to come off as pushy – and like I said above… it’s all about compromise.

    • You have a friend who wants to make you watch something of his own?? Maybe he wants to get you into Lost, Heroes… or Battlestar Gallactica? Give in, tell him you will watch a season (or maybe a few episodes, depending on your willingness to compromise) in exchange he should watch a film or two.

    This will make your friend feel like you are not pushing him to watch something, instead you’re just exchanging interests… and who knows, you might end up enjoying both those hobbies.

    • When you blog about it, mix things up a little. We blog about Japanese Cinema, but in the end people who already like Japanese Cinema read your posts.

    The point of this blogathon is to promote Japanese Cinema, but we are the ones dealing and discussing. I mentioned this blogathon to a friend, and she had no idea why she should care. *doh!* – combine the idols with your favorite Japanese Directors, and get them at least skimming through your posts. Make a western comparison… got something to write about vampire films? psych ward films? I mean Clive Owen has said that he wants to work with Wong Kar Wai and Ang Lee again… that means some teenage Owen fans would be at least be interested in checking out some more work by both directors.

    How about a crazy collaboration between Johnny Depp and Tetsuya Nakashima? Or Juliette Binoche and Shunji Iwai?

    • Make a fuzz about collaborations. No matter how good or bad you may think they are.

    I made a fuzz about Tokyo! – I kind of really worship Michel Gondry’s visual style… then there was Ryo Kase, and Yu Aoi. – I’ve also been making a fuzz over New York, I Love You because it’s got Shunji Iwai’s short with Orlando Bloom. Now, I don’t like Orlando Bloom (I’ve only ever liked him as Legolas LOL), but if there are people who enjoy the short… there is a small chance that a teenage Bloom fan might check out Iwai’s past work.

    • Introduced them with what they like.

    My dad likes comedies… and action films, but well~ he also happens to like Asian culture, LOL’ so maybe I’m being a little unfair here. Anyway, I’ve made him watch films like Linda Linda Linda, Matsuko, Swing Girls, Tekkon, Kamikaze Girls… then one day he brought me Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams. *laughs* I was surprised myself, but my dad had a newly-found interest in Japanese films (mostly the epic kind though… xD)

    and to just not have FOUR bullet points here…

    • … just keep pushing~

    Keep bugging people. Someone will need to budge, right? LOL

  • Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009 – Day3

    Continuing with this Blogathon (hmm… I’m finding it harder and harder to write) – I read the following post by Ulrik about Japanese subtitle distribution on blu-ray~ sad, sad indeed~

    But the question is… would you buy blu-ray/DVDs with English subs?

    Many of us, who watch through torrents and P2P, would probably not buy. I know a LOT of people who think they have the right to not buy a film they love – I get a little pissed when they say that. Not because they do not pay for films… but because they don’t WANT to pay for things they supposedly LOVE. I really can’t stand that.

    You will always find me with little money on the wallet or my bank account (depending on where I do the buying…) because I literally spend whatever I get to cash in on the films I love (and used to be films I liked, LOL). It’s really depressing, if you think about it economicaly~ but my love for certain films make it worth the while. Really, watching films and talking about films make me forget about my surroundings hahaha.

    [so please, ads my clicking. oh yes, i did again~~ LOL]

    So I yearn for English (or Spanish… or even French as of lately) subtitles, so why aren’t they getting subbed? And even sadder (but not as sad as others…) – Why do some films take over six months to get fansubbed?? I worship fansubbers, because they provide something so very useful. But it would be nice to get DVDs with subs, right?

    So let’s see… Hmm… I dunno if I can make it to 10 films, so we’ll see~~

    The Japanese Films I’ve Bought with English Subtitles

    Not including Region 1 releases
    Hooray for multi-region players! Yes, because I still haven’t made the change to Blu-ray xD

    • Memories of Matsuko 2-disc Special Edition [Hong Kong]
      I bought this one right away after watching the film. I loved the film so much, that I didn’t even cared that the only version I could find online was a Region 3. This also happened to be the first Region 3 disc I ever bought. I ended up really happy with the product because everything came subtitled (including extras), and at a descent price.
    • GUU GUU Datte Neko de Aru 2-disc First Press Limited Edition [Japan]
      I have to admit. It hurt me to pay~ LOL – Specially because the Korean version is half the price, but I also must admit that I was curious to see the difference between Japanese DVDs and the rest… so this became my first ever official Japanese DVD.
    • The first Inuyasha Movie (Toki o Koeru Omoi, Affections through Time)[Japan?]
      – hahaha, I know~ – I used to watch Inuyasha when I was in school. It was during those years that my friends had tried to anime-fying me, so I went to this “specialized” in anime shop in town, and bought a copy of the film. Though I’m not entirely sure now if it was a real copy or a bootleg, because to tell you the truth… it doesn’t compared to my copy of GUU GUU.
      And in the end… I bought a Region 1 copy. LOL
    • Love Letter 10th Anniversary Version [Hong Kong]
      I can’t remember right now if the Japanese was available for purchase, when I bought this. I really, really love Shunji Iwai’s work (part of the reason I want to watch New York, I Love You now~), so I just couldn’t help myself from getting a copy of Love Letter… because I’m a sap. I was slightly disappointed on this release due to some issues with the sync of subs, but I can live with that. If I come around some more extra cash, I would consider getting a better copy though~~~
    • Niji no Megami [Hong Kong]
      Truth be told… I wish this film had a better release, but since this is the only version I found with subs – this one it is! LOL’ – Again, it’s got Shunji Iwai on it as a stamp, so I couldn’t help myself. Add to that Yu Aoi and Juri Ueno. I’m lost. Plus, Hayato Ichihara is a cutie. He’s weird here, but he’s so so pretty.

    Some other films, I’ve found on Region 1. But I only wish someone would release Hyakuman-en with subs – and I know they aren’t films but I would love someone would release Camouflage (this one doesn’t even have complete fansubs!) and Osen with subs. LOL

    Come on WOWOW~ Get on with it! You’ve already licensed Hito no SEKKUSU as a Free Region with Subs in Taiwan! Which I’m so thinking of buying… but really, I’m more interested in getting Camouflage subbed/fansubbed… okay, and maybe Hyakuman-en.