Category: Moving Media

  • Interesting One Million Yen Girl Brief Review

    I found this curious review of One Million Yen Girl in Italian… now my Italian, actually I don’t have an Italian to speak of, but I will try to translate as best as I can. Or you know… you can Google Translate.

    Road films with a female protagonist are quite common, but Tanada Yuki’s film takes an unusual direction. Instead of embarking in a self-liberation and self-discovery journey like the protagonists on the big screen have done since the women’s liberation movement on films like “Thelma & Louise” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, Suzuko (Yu Aoi) decides to leave simply because she no longer stands the human race, including her family and friends.

    Tanada, who also wrote the screenplay, tells the story of Suzuko with mocking humor but also with perception on the difficulties and dangers usually found in human relationships. Her protagonist who is not bitterly disillusioned nor naive by her own self-delusion, has the confidence and is aware of herself, which is comforting, despite continuing to run into funny and embarrassing situations.

    Her journey begins with the wrong choice of roomate, which leads to an absurd process in court and the unfairly smear of her criminal record. The incredibly heartless family, and the insufferable moralist brother don’t support her at all, so Suzuko decides to leave home without goals, except for saving one million yen (roughly $10 000 USD).

    Why this sum of money? According to her calculations, it’s enough for renting an apartment and living alone – which is rather expensive in Japan, where tenants often have to pay a large deposit before they can move in.

    After being on the road with the money, she ends up in a seaside resort, where she finds employment in a “sea house” (“umi no ie”, or a temporary shelter for bathers at the beach) and begins to restore her bank account immediately.  The next stop is in the mountains, where she finds a job as a peaches collector and lives with her employers. Finally, she arrives to a city of the province, where she begins working at a market for home supplies.

    I haven’t seen Hyakuman-en with subtitles yet, but I didn’t think her family was heartless. I thought her parents were a bit spinless… they lacked the attitude to tell her off and/or protect her. And her brother being a moralist? He’s what? 10 years old maybe? He’s a pompous brat at home because he is being bullied in school… I think. I would find his fault if he were the big moralist brother… but he is not. I thought he did care for Suzuko.

    Also… I was under the impression she was saving money to pay her debt… no? I thought part of her fine was paying that sum of money to make up for what she had done to the roomate, and when she told her parents they didn’t have the attitude to do anything so she took matters in her own hands, and decided to pay the debt herself. Was I so wrong? Anyone who understands Japanese has seen the film, or subbed?


  • Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part II

    For Part I of this post, click away~~

    Okay, today is not really early either… but this will have to do because I only have 3 years to go. In case you haven’t read the first part, or are lazy to read it now that I’ve given you the link… I got a little mad remembering films that should have won in years past~~ which include Tekkonkinkreet, and/or Paprika getting nominations in 2006 (or 2007, pick your release date issue).

    So just after the break, I will be talking about 2005, 2007 and 2008…

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

    Let’s start with what the film is about:
    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…

    Genre: Drama, Light Comedy
    Starring: Sho Sakurai,Yu Aoi, Yusuke Iseya, Ryo Kase, Megumi Seki
    Appearances by: Masato Sakai, Shido Nakamura
    Duration: nearly 2hrs

    Spoilers ahead!

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  • Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part I

    Most often than not, there’s a lack of foreign films in the Animated Feature (and in any other) field~ So how many times must we pass over great animation (not only for kids) to open our eyes? I started out with a qucik search for 2006 released animation (because I was discussing that year with a friend), but that didn’t do anything except make me skim through an article stating that “2006 was a great year for animation” – NOT! That there were 2 or 3 animated (3d CG) films each months totaling more than a dozen films of pretty much crappy quality… and if they were lucky they were worth a straight-to-dvd release is NOT a great year for animation. That just makes it a great year for movie business…

    2006 was the year I began hating 3d animation, because everyone seemed to be releasing their 3d films JUST to cash in.

    I ended up at the Academy Awards site to search all animated films nominated since the category began in 2001 with Shrek (the original not sequels) won. I also ended up on IMDb and their ‘Power Search’ tool to search for animated films with feature releases from the year.

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  • For Fans, by the Fans: The Hunt for Gollum Trailer

    Looks pretty darn good… aside from one or two things on the trailer ;)

    Check it out yourself…

    [iframe width=”560″ height=”349″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSTYubpLxg8?rel=0″]

    Or you know… you can watch the French & Saunders version~


  • Muahaha – New from Lars Von Trier: Antichrist Trailer

    Yeah, the new film from Lars Von Trier doesn’t deserve an Ooh La~ it’s far to creepy, that’s why it deserves an evil laugh. *MUAHAHA*

    [iframe width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/eBdDcQONmkM”]

    I wonder WHEN the final installment of the Lars Von Trier trilogy, Wasington, will get (if ever) made~~


  • Ike-chan and Me in Theaters this June!

    Yu’s site says her new film, Ike-chan to Boku, will be released this June 20 in theaters in Japan. Yes, I still haven’t seen TOKYO!, One Million Yen Girl is still NOT subbed, Osen is NOT on DVD, and Camouflage is still not done subbing either… BUT Yu’s got more new work on the way.

    Synopsis sounds SAD! Check this over at Nippon Cinema~

    For as long as he can remember, Yoshio (Arashi Fukazawa) has had a mysterious blob-like companion named Ike-chan (Aoi) watching over him. When Ike-chan is happy, she multiples; when she’s troubled, she shrinks; and when he becomes friendly with girls she turns red and starts getting angry. Throughout their time together Ike-chan sticks up for Yoshio when he’s bullied, and the two of them fight when she becomes too smothering for his liking. Then one day when Yoshio is older and has experienced his first love, Ike-chan vanishes from his sight.

    T.T reminds me of Winnieh the Pooh. Anyway, Nippon Cinema’s got a teaser, the one-sheet and a little more info on the book it’s based on.

    Also~~ Yu’s voice is only feature, and she’s a blob. LOL’ Not sure about the blob on the movie, but illustration looks super cute. Anyway, Yu has proven she’s good voice acting, though this role feels like its very soft unlike her voice acting in Tekkon~~ just saying. xP

    Here’s the Japanese website… and the trailer with subs~~ weird subs, but subs. Any Yu Aoi subs are appreciated~~

    [iframe width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/WWoIEtqYAGM?rel=0″]


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

    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.

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  • Happy 3rd Anniversary, As If!

    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’


  • Okuribito Subbed Trailer!

    I loved watching Departures. I thought it was quite poetic in its handling of oposing themes as life and death~~ good and bad… and a great balance between it’s light comedy and its drama. Plus, Kimiko Yo appears… she cracks me up sometimes *points at fried chicken* xD And Ryoko Hirosue also appears… both of them appear with Yu. I love playing 6 Degrees of Separation in the Japanese entertainment industry… xD

    Why is this tagged as ‘oscar history’? Well, this is the first Japanese film to officially win Best Foreign Film since it was first given away~~~

    [iframe width=”560″ height=”349″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/MtdENmR6jKw?rel=0″]