Category: Moving Media

  • Yu Aoi and the Rest of 2009~~~

    It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of the year… only 3 proper months left!

    Anyway! I was checking YesAsia stuffs and turns out Ikechan to Boku will be released this coming December 4th… sadly, no English subtitles listed. TuT So I’d figure we’d list what’s left of upcoming Yu related stuff (without counting magazine and CMs appearances because frankly those are hard to keep track of).

    October 9th, 2009
    NHK – Gakuya Presentation

    October 15th, 2009
    2009 Calendar Launch [Amazon.co.jp][HMV.co.jp]

    eh… Nov? xD

    December 4th, 2009
    Ikechan and Me DVD [R2, no subs] [YesAsia][Amazon.co.jp][book]

  • So more piracy talk~~~

    So now French users can be (can be, under the current law) banned from using the internet for up to a year, if they are caught downloading illegal music, and a fine of 300k Euros. [AFP] Oh, my! And apparently, Sweden is also monitoring user download activity? Any word on that, Julz~?

    There was also this article talking about a DRM server the Japanese RIAA wants to use to check on the music their users are playing on their phones… considering we (iTunes users) have already moved away from DRM tracks, I think it’s a very bad idea…

    And then comes this very interesting post/article by dear Lily Allen for The Times, in which she expresses some of her thoughts  about the issue, and the opinion of some of her more “legendary” colleagues…

    Music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some rich and successful artists such as Nick Mason, of Pink Floyd, and Ed O’Brien, of Radiohead, don’t think so. Last week, they told The Times that file sharing is fine. It probably is for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent, though, file sharing is a disaster — it makes it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.

    That’s partly true. But so it’s this…

    By moving to a microtransaction model (charging <£1 for an album) for recorded music and increasing the emphasis on live concerts musicians can increase their revenue stream and attempt to reduce the abuse of their IP.

    I understand what Lily Allen is saying, but the music industry spends too much money on advertising and pushing poor catchy music.

    If your product is so good, then it does not need advertising or pushing.

    Itunes and other sites are still overpriced in terms of album costs.

    Books survived the photocopier, music will survive the internet. Real musicians have realised concerts are more of a money spinner and are have brought live music back to the front of entertainment.

    As I’ve mentioned before, I watch as many films, and listen to even more music than I ever did. I still buy CDs, but only the really good ones. The ones that are worth my $14 for album/DVD package. Right now, they just happen to be Asian albums… which actually are worth my +$30. So I am paying $30 or $40 for a CD from Japan because it’s good. Wanna wonder why I haven’t bought much from anything else?

    And yes, digital content is way overpriced.

  • VMA’s 09 Afterthoughts

    Actually, VMA’s are still going… 45min left, but I’m kinda bored.

    First, it’s though to follow up anger Janet Jackson. Ever since MJ’s passed, I’ve been listening to the HiStory album like crazy – Most Played album on my iPod xD and I’ve been hallucinating about Janet performing Scream, because Scream is an “I am pissed” song and I love it for it. I love it when they go “stop fucking with me/makes me want to scream” – I love it. MJ says it with such conviction. Everyone loves Thriller, Billie Jean and Bad, but it’s all about Scream and They Don’t Care About Us for me.

    If my mom hadn’t been watching with me *legasp!* I would’ve cried after she finished her performance.

    So I loved the MJ tribute from Janet. I imagined her breaking the glass. I had dreams (hahaha) about that song of her (plus someone else to do the duet) trapped in a glass and breaking free. So I kinda got my wish xD

    And then, that was a hard act to follow. I cheered for Taylor Swift xD with her skinny legs and all~~~ and Kanye is a dick (and so is Beyonce, kinda xD). Green Day requesting for more music videos played on MTV, followed by a commercial of FAN VAN with Green Day… the reality of fans competing for something. Right…

    I wanted to like Taylor Swift’s performance, but I thought it was too sweet for a Subway performance xD – but she looked like a dork, and I support dork. I like her a lot. And Kanye still a dick.

    Performances are kinda weak. Good attempt with Lady Gaga, but more than a great performance it was trying to be different. I looked when she began bleeding, very theatrical but it did nothing for me. Beyonce does nothing for me… and I’m still waiting for Pink.

    —

    Muse performance > Green Day.

    why is this still on? Lainey said it’s over. MTV Latin America is delayed for at least 30min! WTF~~~
    En Vivo my ass that rocks.

    —

    Geez, is Pink a circus performer now? That is crazy, how can she sing upside down?? And I absolutely worship Pink’s hair. I wish I had straight hair, the crazy things I would do with my hair xD

    Anyway, I think it’s up from last year’s mess.
    More music videos, less reality.
    More musical numbers, less commercials.
    Better music videos, less has-beens as hosts.

  • More Experiment Awards’ Warm-up

    It’s 35 films this year! Woohoo! Well, not much to celebrate since some of those were really REALLY bad, but they count for the movie countdown~~~
    In the meantime, I’ve decided to put my list of Best 2001 films.

    It was really difficult to choose some, as I seem to not have seen many 2001 films, so many of my nominees are the same as the Oscar, I feel. Remembering the films made me remember about the first time I actively waited for the Oscar. I mean, the event in itself was something I did, but that year was the year I said I’m gonna watch the Oscar to see who will win. American Beauty won that year, as did Kevin Spacey and The Matrix. 1999 Films, wow~~~ I was 13 going on 14.

    Anyway~ without further ado~~~

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  • Let’s Pimp some Shugo~

    Shugo Oshinari is freaking 28 years old! WTF, man!
    He’s almost 30, looks in his early 20s still and totally lacks fangirls.
    And I mean like “good” fangirls the ones who work hard
    to get whatever scans, whatever movie, and work on whatever needs subbing. LOL
    You can’t really find many good scans, screencaps…
    etc, etc… everything fandoms love to fuzz about.

    Shugo Oshinari

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  • More Japan at the Oscar?

    Kawaii Joyuu is reporting that Japan has just chosen Dare mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody to Watch Over Me) to represent them in the next race for the Academy Awards. If they are successful, Japan would win Best Foreign Film for the 2nd time in a row, which would be awesome. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m skeptical…

    They are also reporting a possible Oscar nod for Mirai Shida… which I’m a little even more skeptical.

    First of all, it’s way too early to predict anything considering studios have decided to start late this year, meaning that “most” Academy contenders will be released in November and December. Except for films like Precious (aka. Push) or An Education which premiered at Sundance, it will all be about keeping momentum during new Academy releases season.

    Then, as we all know the Academy lurvs English speaking. It is very rare for a non-English lead role to win… It’s happened twice in the Lead Actress category (and once? in Lead Actor with Benigni) with Sophia Loren for Two Women (which I recently saw, *swoon*) and my dear Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose~~~

    I’m getting excited with this future Oscar race~~~

  • 20 Actors Between 20-25 to Watch until They’re 30

    This week I was thinking about making a compilation of 20 actors (women and men) between the ages of 20-25 to keep track until they’re 30. I tried writing the post today, but it turns out I don’t have many names. Ha! First, some of the people I was considering adding to the list are 26, or not even 20… or are already in their 30s, which is great for them since I thought they were in their 20s… not so good for my list.

    At the moment though, I have 8 actresses already picked out. However, I’m missing 2 more actresses. And I’m missing all of the guys (10). HAHAHAHA. So I need help. Leave a comment with some names of young actors/actresses.

    Just some things to keep in mind…

    • must be between 20-25, can also be turning 20 this year.
    • must have more than one or two films on her/his CV.
    • too much TV and only 1 film doesn’t count.
    • award recognition is nice, but not mandatory.

    As I add the people in single posts, I’ll be adding their names here and linking. :)

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  • Oh, the Mysteries of Shipping~ Declan+Miranda~~

    So I started re-watching Mysterious Ways the past week. It’s hilarious how I can’t get away from Harmony, ever. The other day was too much that I went back to PK to talk about it xD “ships that remind you of Harmony” xD It’s funny how I never noticed how I shipped Declan and Miranda.

    Declan is a total adventurer dork. Miranda is a super intelligent goth. I love them together. And they totally flirted, at least Miranda did… xD but that episode, man! The Greater Good episode~~~

    *swoon!* Swoon not that Miranda almost died, LOL’ xD But *swoon* how Declan put Miranda ahead of all humanity~~~ He had the chance of curing and saving everyone in the world, and he chose her. xD And she woke up, even though we knew that Miranda didn’t want to be resuscitated, and she saw him. She grabbed his hand, and didn’t want to let go. I loved it! xD – You’ll love it too~~~

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  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Hito no SEKKUSU o Warauna – Don’t Laugh at my Romance

    Well, long time no see, eh?

    It’s been nearly 4 or 5 months since our last discussion, and I really thought there’d be more people discussing Tekkonkinkreet, but alas~ No one has commented on it. If you have just discovered Yu Aoi (either through Osen, or a random watch of either Hana & Alice, One Million Yen Girl or Lily Chou Chou) and have been hit in the face with like a meteor, I invite you to watch Tekkon as well. Any animation fan won’t really regret it.

    Anyway, we’re here to discuss Don’t Laugh at my Romance, or Sex is no Laughing Matter or Hito no SEKKUSU~~~ whatever your pick on names is.

    First a little about the film~
    Don’t Laugh at my Romance is a 2008 film adaptation of the the novel by Naocola Yamazaki, directed and sort of adapted by Nami Iguchi. It is about a 19-year-old student (Matsuyama) who falls in love/lust with his lithography teacher (Hiromi Nagasaku) at university, though he isn’t aware that his friend and classmate (Yu Aoi) is quite fond of him.

    Genre: Dramedy with Romance
    Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Hiromi Nagasaku, Yu Aoi, Shugo Oshinari, Yoichi Nukumizu
    Duration: a little over +2hrs

    Beware! Possible film spoilers~~~

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  • Film Titles~

    idsgn has a post on how Film Titles have evolved since its early days.

    Of course if you read many of the posts here, you know about Forget the Film, Watch the Titles, as well as The Art of the Title Sequence. I don’t really need to explain them, right? Their names are pretty specific~~~

    But how about The Movie Title Stills Collection?

    And just so this post gets more hits haha,
    let’s add some Yu Aoi pimping! She’s been tweeted!
    And people are buzzing “Yu Aoi dressed up dude-like in the new issue of so-en”
    – which I sorta blogged here.

    Here are more photos of the photos of it!