Archives For DVD/BR

Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Ashita e no Yuigon – Best Wishes for Tomorrow

May 11, 2009 — 6 Comments

Hmm… I actually saw this a long while ago, and I couldn’t re-watch this because I lost my copy, silly me probably didn’t back up. And I couldn’t take any screencaps of Yu in it. I might… someday, take the time to do it, but if you have the film at hand (because you are about to watch it, or plan to)… would you do some captures of Yu and shared them here? Just a few captures would be nice since there aren’t many images online~

Anyway! Let’s start, shall we?

Something about the film:
(From AsianMediaWiki)
Best Wishes for Tomorrow reenacts the war crimes trials against Lieutenant General Tasuku Okada, commander of the 13th Area Army in the Tokai region, and the general’s 19 subordinates who were accused for executing 38 American soldiers who had landed in the region after bombing it with high-explosives and napalm, killing thousands of civilians.

Genre: Drama, with depictions of war.
Starring: Makoto Fujita, Robert Lesser, Fred McQueen, Richard Neil
Appearances by: Sumiko Fuji, Masahiko Nishimura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Yu Aoi
Duration: Almost 2hr

Below, the spoilers~

Continue Reading…

In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Reviews, Sharing ,
permalink

February-ish, March, April Films

May 6, 2009 — Leave a comment

Wow~~~ Long time~~~ included some very varied films and short films. ;P

Have you been watching any lately???

Continue Reading…

In Chinese, DVD/BR, English, Films, French, Fun, Japanese, Reviews, Sharing, Spanish, Swedish, Torrents & Digital Streams, Watched
permalink

Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Welcome to the Quiet Room

May 3, 2009 — 14 Comments

Quiet Room ni Youkoso is a 2007 dramedy telling the story of Asuka Sakura, a up-and-coming journalist who is trying to write an 800-character article, but one day wakes up and finds herself strapped inside the room of a psych ward. Inside, they tell her she had OD’ed, even when Asuka tells them it was an accident, they say she must go through mental treatment so she won’t do it again. During that time, she meets a few unique people that will or won’t mark her for the rest of her life…

Continue Reading...
In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Reviews, Sharing, Stills , , ,
permalink

Coupling (UK) – Shows You Should’ve Watched

April 21, 2009 — Leave a comment

Coupling (uk)Though it wasn’t overly lasting, Coupling (the UK version, not its abominable US remake… ugh much?) should be included into anyone’s list of  “I should have watched this”. This is the case for me, I don’t get BBC comedies on my cable system (only the news, and they recently began showing BBC Entertainment), so the first time I saw this was on Eurochannel a few years back. In fact, they were already showing the final season… even then, I fell in love with the show.

I think of myself as a bit of a mix between Susan, Sally and Steve. LOL’ But all characters were equally hilarious in their own way… and unlike FRIENDS, I never ended finding a character annoying. Perhaps, it’s because it only lasted 4 seasons, so I never got around to growing to hate them… okay, maybe I hated Oliver – but that’s because he is too much of Joey, and I ended up hating Joey.

Steve (Jack Davenport) is hilarious… and man! His voice!! His voice and the monologues… like the one for “Lesbian Spank Inferno” LOL’ Jeff is also hilarious with his explanations, theories, women-related situations and many words on “breasts”.

And more than Richard, I love Richard and Sally’s interactions, because well… Sally is gold. LOL’ “I finally understand why you called him ‘donkey’.” And totally missing the point. I think that my favorite episodes of the show, revolves around these two~~ with episodes like the one and the Spiderman theme, and the one where Sally ends up singing “Susan the Happy Trotting Elf” – *snorts*

Then there’s Jane who is hilariously just out there… where? You know… there~~~ with the talking snakes, or improvising the traffic report… showing up naked to a dinner, or saying she’s a vegetarian that eats meat… you know, almost like a bisexual. x’D

And Susan! I love uptight Susan, and I love it when she says “apparently”, and her French accent. LOL’ “Giselle, the French bitch” xD and her history with Australian men~~~

In DVD/BR, English, Graphics, Sharing, Television , , ,
permalink

10 Years of 10 Things I Hate about You

April 19, 2009 — 2 Comments

10 Things I Hate About You PosterToday I was re-watching BBC’s Shakespeare: The Animated Tales… particularly Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew. Despite it’s misogynistic theme, it reminded me of the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate about You~~

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

Some time in 2003, on one of the many Writing classes I had, we got to ‘study’ the script for this film, which I had seen back when I was 13 or 14. I’m almost sure that I saw this film at the theaters… oh the times! And oh how innocent were teen comedies back then~~~

Anyway, back to the topic~ my teacher pointed out that the film was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Shrew~ Back then I thought, WOW! That’s so cool. LOL, she also mentioned at how much the script sold, and I was most impressed. Hahahaha~~

For those not so familiar with the film, or the Shakespeare story… here are some of the references:

  • Kat (as in Katarina) and Bianca are sisters. Bianca can’t date (or marry, in the case of the Shakespearean tale), before Katarina does.
  • Patrick Verona is the contemporary version of Petruchio of Verona.
  • Padua, the city, becomes Padua High School.

You can check more references here.

It’s so hard to imagine that the film is already 10 years old!! – Turned 10 about 20 days ago on March 31st – and that this film was the American debut of Heath Ledger (RIP) who’s got a remarkable career with great films… awards *sighs(, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a broad array of films as well more on the indie flare – and whatever happened to Andrew Keegan? I’m pretty sure he used to date LeAnn Rimes, whom we all know what’s going on with her~~

Julia Stiles had a breakthrough with this role, and had a bunch of films out during those years, but eventually just settled for lesser roles. I did enjoy seeing her on The Bourne Trilogy~~ and Larisa Oleynik~~ I read she was seen on Without a Trace, but I don’t watch the show so can’t tell. I should go on the hunt for a few Oleynik flicks. Gabrielle Union is doing a big better on the more “commercial” work, as I’ve seen a few projects with her. Not really MY type of films, but she’s been active.

I wonder if someone would be interested in a “collector’s edition” of this film. Would like to see them together…

How do you feel this film is aging? I think it’s okay… I had a laugh watching it this afternoon. I was surprised how innocent it is compared to teen films now. I don’t know if I can call this the best teen romcom of the 90’s (or the last 20 years?), but perhaps… I could do a bit more research.

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Posters/Artwork, Sharing , , ,
permalink

Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Hachimitsu to Clover – Honey & Clover

April 17, 2009 — 6 Comments

Live Action version of the famous manga series Hachimitsu to KURO~BA, it follows the lives of five art school students, who are trying to find their way through life and love. Takemoto is not a very good art student… preferring to talk about Japanese castles and models. Morita (Yusuke Iseya – Kiraware Matsuko no Issho, Blindness) is an amazing artist, but fears the real world and prefers to stay behind in the safety of college life. Mayama (Ryo Kase – Tokyo!, PAKO to Mahou no Ehon, GUGU Datte Neko de Aru) is in love with (and stalking) his boss, while Yamada is head over heels for him. And Hagumi (Yu Aoi) is a child prodigy…

Continue Reading...
In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Reviews, Screencaps, Sharing , , ,
permalink

Disney Animation Collection – Vol. 1, 2, 3 & 4

April 11, 2009 — Leave a comment

First, let me tell you – I don’t physically own these collections. I am basing my opinion on the content of the dvds, their price and their overall value compared to other collections that contain some of the same shorts.

Disney Animation Collection 1: Mickey & Beanstalk [Amazon.com] which is another release related to this Fun and Fancy Free~~~ They both have Michey & Beanstalk short, what this new release has is the 1938’s Brave Little Tailor in which Mickey kills 7 flies in one blow and the townspeople mistake it for 7 giants, putting Mickey at the front to get rid of the town’s own giant. There’s also 1934’s Gulliver Mickey in which Mickey… eh, gets to a miniature people island. Also 1936’s Thru the Mirror and 1940’s Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip.

Continue Reading…

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Reviews, Screencaps, Sharing , ,
permalink

Happy 3rd Anniversary, As If!

April 11, 2009 — 3 Comments

BALLS. I suck at working anything new or worthy with this fanlisting, but I do try to keep up with members. But it’s 3 years since I opened it!! Only 150 members barely though…

As If Fanlisting - 3rd Year

Many or most As If websites are either inactive, or totally gone… HOWEVER! You can still find some activity in Facebook! First, the As If Appreciation Society (who by the way are using the banner I made for my fanlisting, without crediting… balls much?) And there is also… and this is VERY important~ There’s the As If/Et Alors/Asi Somos/Som Aixi on DVD FB group. Yes, you read right… it on DVD.

If you are still interested on the ‘original’ set, you can still sign the petition (which I made) and has over 700 signatures – whoa~~ and where are these people and why aren’t they on the fanlisting? LOL’

Things against the petition, and the whole As If on DVD idea~ copyright music on the show. The show had an uber cool soundtrack, and because of this it probably gets killed by copyright fees of use for the music on dvd format. Just to tell you an example… I wanted to use a Sony Music song in a project in film school once, and this is the info I got.

STUDENT FILM MAKERS
$200 administration fee payable to Sony Music
Proof of school enrollment as well as proof of class credit
A VHS copy of your film

Depending on the particular recording and the scope of your project, we will determine your total cost.

And that was only for a song use for a weekly assignment TOTALLY non-profit … LOL’ – Of course I didn’t use the track ;) – so imagine how much a profitable project would have to pay. They already pay for the use of music on broadcast, but they will also have to pay fees to have the right to include their already made episodes on dvd… and a +10 dvd copies has a different price range ;) at least in some websites like ‘freeplaymusic‘ which is not so FREE.

So the As If DVD idea is kind of expensive to do, unless you want to swap the soundtrack on the whole series for other cheaper music (like The WB’s Popular did on their DVDs), but you don’t really want that with As If.

Well, this turned into sort of a rant… anniversary rant, but I felt it was time to put these on a post, instead of just complaining on IMDb, and getting people who keep asking the same question. “Why isn’t this show on DVD already?” Because of copyright music… *sighs*

In the meantime, do support the fans As If DVD project. To the lack of actual content, fans do what fans gotta do~~~ we must mess with the status quo, because the status is NOT quo. xD LOL’

In DVD/BR, English, Jobs, Music, Rants, Screencaps, Television , , , ,
permalink

Criterion Collection, I Wants!

April 2, 2009 — 3 Comments

Continuing the trend on pricey stuff – yes, beacuse we love the economy xD –

*ironically* Thank you, Lainey… if it wasn’t for you mentioning Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love,  I wouldn’t have gone through all the Criterion catalogue and pretended to get a debt buying Criterion… because OH HOW I WISH I could buy more of those… especially since lately, so-called double-disc “special” DVDs have been SHIT.

Yes, I’m talking to you The Dark Knight 2-Disc “SPECIAL” Edition~~~

So… you know, just in case – gonna put this out there.

But you know… any Kurosawa Criterion would be nice as well or Wes Anderson. Or you can be daring and buy this Twenty-four Eyes film (the 1954 film version of the made-for-tv film Yu did a cameo for…) or… you know something recent like Benjamin Button.

In Chinese, DVD/BR, English, Films, Japanese, Sharing, Swedish , , , , ,
permalink

Paco and the Magical Book, Tetsuya Nakashima + Dramatic Comedy Meets Disney on LSD

March 21, 2009 — 1 Comment

Tetsuya Nakashima’s latest film, PAKO to Maho no Ehon is one horrorific Japanese film – and you should see it for it. Nakashima has become quickly in one of my favorite Japanese directors (alongside Shunji Iwai, who is, by the way, a total different approach to filmmaking) and Memories of Matsuko is my favorite Japanese film to date.

Nakashima is quickly turning into my Japanese sort of Tim-Burtonesque filmmaker stylist, in the way he uses rich visual enhancements to his storytelling – thanks to his background in CMs, and just found out and remembered watching this – He combines amazing color treatment, art direction, cinematography and mashes it all up with anything he can… be it a bit of violence, grandeur musical numbers, and animation.

PAKO to Maho no Ehon - Paco and the Magical Picture Book

In the end, it isn’t much of a surprise when you begin watching Paco and the Magical Book and find yourself in a very Disney-nesque world (the film starts with a Lion-King-esque chant, literally) – after all, this is supposed to be aimed at a younger audience. However, don’t ever fool yourself thinking that this will dumb down anything that Tetsuya wants to show… which includes a punk-goth-tatooed-blond nurse (Anna Tsuchiya), a psychologically-insane-ex-child-star-bum (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a raging-drag-queen whom a lot of people are referring to as ‘gay’ (Jun Kunimura), and a blood-sucking-neck-biting-vampiresque nurse (Eiko Koike). And don’t forget the grumpy old man who doesn’t back down when hitting the kid (Koji Yakusho)… well, I actually laughed at that bit. Does that make me an asshole??

Yes, the film is nuts, but it’s worth watching. For international audience, it might not be recommended to watch with their kids, unless they are willing to read subtitles… because films like this should be enjoy in its original language. I still think is not as brilliant as Matsuko, but I will have to see it once more with proper subtitles to form a strong opinion. And man! Those CGI animated sequences… and the whole thing, like I said~~ dramatic comedy meets Disney on LSD. I think that’s the perfect description for Nakashima’s style.

I’ll leave you with some links,

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Screencaps, Sharing, Torrents & Digital Streams , ,
permalink