Category: Films

  • Anomalous Material Potluck: Hard Eight

    Ah, it’s been a busy weekend, but finally found the time to watch Hard Eight. Here goes to the Potluck! Why do I think about Chinese Hot Pot when I say Potluck? Makes me hungry~~~

    First, I must admit that aside from There Will Be Blood and Punch-Drunk Love, I’m not familiar with Paul Thomas Anderson’s work. I mean, Magnolia and Boogie Nights do belong to my “to watch” list — the properly watch, not caught on TV when it was already on one — but it’s not like that list is getting any shorter.

    Hard Eight beings with a very young John C. Reilly playing… Well, John being a bum outside one of those American diners, when Philip Baker Hall playing Sydney — which apparently was the original P.T. Anderson title… even though Hard Eight seems like a better title — picking him up, and offering a cigarette. Sydney asks John what’s up with him, and he says he’s broken even from the  casino trying to get some money to bury his mom. Sydney asks him what he would do if he gave him $50. Simple John just tells him he’d buy a meal, but Sydney seems to have other plans… he’s going to teach him how to survive with just $50 and head over to Las Vegas for some trick gambling.

    However, this is not a film about how John learns the craft, and lives happily ever after. First there’s a two-year jump, and we see John well-dressed, as Sydney plays Keno — isn’t that Bingo? Why the name-change? — They are living the life, but what were Sydney’s motivations for picking John up? It certainly wasn’t for cheap tricks, or taking advantage of him… as John responds “I will f*ck you up if you f*ck with me, ok? I know three kinds of Karate: Jujitsu, Aikido, and regular Karate.”

    Oh, yeah~ Three kinds of Karate~

    Thought Hard Eight is a bit “okay, I did not see that one coming” as much as it could be predictable, it’s pretty much worth it. I mean, not only because almost 15 years after — feeling old again — Gwyneth is being addressed as Gwyneth (and won an Oscar), and Philip Seymour Hoffman is an Oscar winner, and John C. Reilly is an Oscar nominee while P.T. Anderson is like a what – five-time Oscar nominee?

    Hard Eight is the movie for Sydney, you want to know about him, why he does what he does, and in the end – you know, it’s worth it. The acting is convincing, but it just made me realize John C. Reilly pretty much plays that same role over and over again. And… must all actresses play a version of a hooker before they turn to serious acting? It’s Gwyneth… with, it must be some kind of neurosis! She just loved to get in trouble. That incident with the motel and the handcuffs… you must admit it came out of nowhere. LOL

    I guess this might be the perfect time to get Magnolia and Boogie Nights~~~

    3.5/5

  • Peruvian Posters 2010 – Part I

    Welcome to our second edition of Peruvian posters, if you’ve missed the first post on 2009 posters, you can check it out here — sorry, only in Spanish. There’s been an increase on Peruvian releases in the local film market that includes properly-Peruvian independent productions, as well as international co-productions.

    Thanks to this, there has also been an increase in interest for marketing campaigns that include websites, social networking sites, and yes – posters, to make your film stand out from the bunch. The film poster culture in Peru hasn’t really exploded — in quantity or quality — , as marketing people and CEOs are still too scared of too much blank spaces or much too abstract concepts that may or may not confuse its audience.

    We are still far from the less-is-more concept seen many-a-time in European or Japanese posters, and we are even farther from the mass-production of poster design that exists in the United States, but we’re taking baby steps as young people show more interest in design, and new designers get into the market.

    Due to the number of posters this year, I’ve decided to split them into two groups – the first one with the “bigger” productions, and the second one with the independent productions. All will be listed in alphabetical order.

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  • Long Version – Masaki Okada and Yu Aoi for MAIKA’s Kokoro – Raiou MV

    Okay, this is bordering on Spam~

    But Raiou opened on Friday (it’s been more than half the day in Japan already). So there’s been a lot of news naturally, and I hope there are more reviews… super-hoping in English. xD

    You know I’ve been listening to Maika’s album right? That she reminds me of Shakira, and I’ve been pimping some of Maika on YAM [1][never never never give up]. Also OFF-TOPIC, but this made me realize Twitter needs a search your tweets feature.

    Anyway, this is Kokoro… but 2 minutes longer =D So more Yu and Msaki Okada singing. LOL

    [iframe src=”https://player.yinyuetai.com/video/player/88676/v_5501040.swf” width=”480″ height=”334″]

  • 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.

  • The effects of Twitter on my Blogging

    I’ve run out of material to post. I was working on part 1 of a post, that still needs a part 2. While also working on coding for YAM… which I didn’t do today. Haven’t had time to watch anything, listen to anything… or even finish the book I was reading.

    Oh, yeah – I haven’t posted that I’ve been reading Handling the Undead – and finally, the reliving are doing something. Also… have I told you I’ve been going to bed at 6am everyday? Sighs…

    Having said that, I got an email from the Spirit Awards – hope to get screeners early next year, though I would really like to get the screeners now. xD Looking forward to the nominees =D

  • 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.

  • Black Swan Limited Edition Posters

    These are gorgeousity~~~ xD

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  • Distribution: Chinese Films to Open on Same Day in North America as in China

    Film Business Asia is reporting that China Lion Film Distribution has made a deal with AMC to release Chinese films in the cities with most Chinese demographics in the United States and Canada the same day as the films open in China.

    Now, that’s how you do distribution.

    Sure, Hollywood’s kinda getting good in World Premiere business, but only the big-studio stuff. We actually have to wait a ton for a theater release, or the release of the DVD to catch a film that’s not mainstream. The Chinese film industry lacks distribution — only films that get distributed in the US, get distributed in Latin America. The last Chinese film I saw at the cinema was Curse of the Golden Flower~~~

    So with this deal, China expands that ever-expanding Chinese film market with hopefully more than just Martial Arts Films and/or Arthouse Films. And HOPEFULLY, this will mean more Chinese films down here as well.

    So guys! Get ready for Aftershocks (aka. After Shock) kicking off this new deal on October 29th in the cities of  New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Houston, Boston, Seattle, Toronto and Ottawa.

  • 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.