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
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…
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 filmDepending 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’
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.
]
] – which I have on the cheap Tarantino edition. SHIT.
]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.
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.
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,
Last viewed films list before the Indie Spirit, and Oscar this weekend! I think I did pretty okay for a bit more than a month… you think?
How’s YOUR movie watching?
A 2003 film directed by Su-yeon Gu about a high school student named Hidenori Kaneshiro (Hayato Ichihara) who lives in Tokyo as a Korean-Japanese, who gets bullied for being half-Korean despite being raised Japanese. Because of this, he’s developed a reckless answer to life’s problems by not caring about anything in the real world… except maybe his sister.
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Starring: Hayato Ichihara, Mika Nakashima, Shin Yazawa, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
Special appearances by: Akira Emoto, Rie Tomosaka, Yu Aoi, Kimiko Yo, Yoshinori Okada
Duration: +1:50hr
It arrived yesterday ^o^ !!!
I actually celebrated my b-day last night with a proper meal, and apparently my last YesAsia order. Belated Happy Bday to me!!! And happy 5 year blogging~~~ xD
My first EVER Japanese DVD – all because it listed ‘English subtitles’. I just couldn’t help myself.
Gu~ Gu~ Datte Neko de Aru, which was translated to GuGu the Cat, was not the movie I was expecting – in a good way. I think I had only seen a short clip of the film, perhaps the 30 second tv spot, where they open the box, GuGu shows up and they all go “kawaiiiiiiiiiiii”. So I thought the film was a comedy, but just like some other WOWOW projects I’ve seen, they border on the dramedy field (like Camouflage, 1 Million Yen Girl, and Don’t Laugh at my Romance).
– See, WOWOW people~~~ if you’d release those mentioned above with subs, I’d probably buy them. –
In GuGu, Asako Kojima (Kyoko Koizumi) is a manga artist who hasn’t had much time for life, other than taking care of her pet cat Ça Va and seldomly writing and drawing for her manga series alongside her team of assistants, including Naomi (Juri Ueno), a fervent fan since her teen years.
There’s a lot of fun moments… sometimes dealing with romantic relationships, and overall human relations… as well as some cat relationships xD – so if you like cats, you can probably enjoy this one.
Short days away from turning 23… O.o
Gosh~~~
*sighs* After that? At least on this blog… Grammy Awards, BAFTAs, Independent Spirits and Oscar! This is the first year I will be watching Independent Spirit Awards on television~~~ thanks to i-SAT who is now part of my cable provider! This is also the first year I get to vote for Indie Spirits~~~ I feel somewhat special… xD just for that.
Also, Coraline opens this week in the US, and next week here in Peru (even though it’s dubbed) – AND +++++ This month brings a new issue (2nd issue, in fact~) of YAM – if you haven’t read our first issue, do so here – this same week (same day as the Coraline opening day, in fact) Guu-Guu Datte Neko de Aru is out on DVD R2 wiht English subs~ My first Juri, first Japanese DVD ever. *excited*
As always, a little about the film:
This 2005 film stars Yuya Yagira (Tetsumu), of Dare mo Shiranai (Nobody Knows) fame – a role that earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival – as a young man who wants to become the first Japanese elephant trainer.
Genre: Drama
Starring: Yuya Yagira, Takako Tokiwa, Yu Aoi
Based on the novel by: Sayuri Sakamoto
Duration: +1:30hr
