Just saying.

There is an 80% chance that I’m gonna love this movie even if everyone else hates it, because Doona Bae cries in the movie. And whenever she cries, I cry coz she’s amazing like that [1].

If I was pretty pump before, I’m super eager to watch this as soon as possible in the best quality possible. There are big BIG chances that I will buy this in Blu-ray. And I haven’t bought an “American” product in quite a while. Remember when Natalie Portman was attached to this?

You can check some more info here.

Dear, America Television — aka. Canal 4

Next time you plan to bid for the Olympics~ Please, don’t.

I know I had my issues with you and your coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. But I thought you were just effing around with me because they were the Winter Olympics. Peruvians wouldn’t possibly CARE for WINTER WITH SNOW. Right? So I didn’t think you could do an even WORSE coverage of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

I mean, I know I thought your promotion for the Olympics was more like some ass-kissing to your Canal 4, showcasing your so-called team (to call it a “so-called team” is even an insult to so-called teams) to cover the games, instead of focusing all your attention on the athletes and the sporting spirit.

You just basically denied the whole country of the Olympic broadcast because you didn’t let ATV do it for you like they did with Beijing [1] [2]. It’s not like I care about your sports commentators (who are idiots), but cutting the Opening Ceremony broadcast right before they were about to light the Olympic Cauldron — which is THE moment the Olympics are about. Canal 4 America Television just cut the broadcast to show your mind-melting trash television, Esto es Guerra.

SERIOUSLY.

America Television, you guys, should be ashamed of yourselves.

PS.: F*ck, Danny Boyle too. Your ceremony was atrocious (except when they lit the Olympic cauldron, which America Television didn’t show hahahaha).

Liu Huan, Na Ying, Harlem Yu, and Yang Kun. I mean, dude- Liu Huan alone would trump Christina Aguilera. LOL And I have a soft spot for Christina Aguilera [1], but imagine participating and singing in front of Liu Huan, and having HIM picking YOU to be on HIS team.

His pitch-perfect and perfect-toned-singing-Mandarin.

I would maybe… MAYBE… change Harlem Yu over someone like Wang Feng. But that’s just me. These are all seasoned singers and vocalists (I can’t label Liu Huan as just a singer, sorry).

So the Chinese version of The Voice, aptly titled The Voice of China (中国好声音, Zhong Guo Hao Sheng Yin), has made its debut about two weeks ago. I’ve only seen the first episode, but I already like the judges selection better because you’re being judged by people already in their 40s or 50s who have been working in the industry for years — not a bunch of people in their 30s who have been barely working for 10 years.

And Liu Huan has been working as a music teacher for the past 10 years, besides still being a music icon, so he’s perfect. Plus, I’ve already taken a strong dislike to Adam Levine, whom I used to find so attractive. LOL I can’t stand him EVER again. xD How people change.

My dad is going to be crazy about this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCJVgGtLbA

Another four years, another Olympic ceremony [1].

After the Mandarin-class-favorite song of Beijing Welcomes You [1], Jackie Chan — ever the eager kid in class — has managed to gather even more artists willing to lend their voices than for the Beijing Welcomes You song, which boasted an impressive number of music stars.

No music video of Beijing Blesses You (北京祝福你) has been released… yet. But there are clips of the making of the MV [1] doing their rounds on YouTube and Sina Video, so we’re all up and guessing who’s singing which line in the massive 8min. song. It wasn’t enough for Jackie to get more names than the Olympic committee… no, he needed a song that’s even a bit longer.

I think it’s pretty fact that Han Hong is at 1.11. The rest are up for grabs from the likes of Leehom, Chris Lee, Sa Dingding, and BiBi~ going through the voices of Li Bingbing and Fan Bingbing. So there you go. xD

Video is here, if you’re interested. xD

Flavorwire.com made a video titled 135 Shots That Will Restore Your Faith in Cinema, after asking their readers what were “the most beautiful movies ever made.” The result is okay, I guess. I still don’t think that I’m as moved by Terrence Malick films as others are…

There was also some Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai added in there, alongside Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain — which was one of my picks for most iconic movie images. xD

In any case, there was some Noboru Shinoda (and therefore, Shunji Iwai) missing. The Hana & Alice ballet scene [1], just as Love Letter, as well as EVERYTHING on Picnic [1], and every single frame in All About Lily Chou Chou — they’re all perfect. LOL

Everyone loves to hate Jetpack. I actually hated the fact that… 1. I was forced to switch WP-Stats for it, and 2. How long it took them to address the fact that Jetpack had a YouTube embed conflict. It took them so long, that I had to choose between proper YouTube sizing or web stats.

A few days ago, I got a new Jetpack update that told me I had two new features. The first one was… COMMENTS. I could finally have the same commenting features that WordPress-hosted blogs had.

Continue Reading…

Yup. I finally bought Kyou, Konogoro (今日、このごろ。) — roughly translated to Nowadays, Lately. — which I had put off getting for years AND YEARS because… there’s a lot of text. But, damn. I was seriously missing out. There’s not many photos for the book, but there’s TONS of goodies for Yu-chan fans. A LOT of information (movie facts about Yu’s shooting projects, dates, movie suggestions, books she’s given or received, a sorta detailed work around to some of the magazine work she’s done, etc.) — In short, loads of great information for her Wikipedia page. xD

Having to tell you that my Chinese Mandarin classes are paying off for the Japanese reading. Ha! I’m just gonna have to go through all the text bit by bit. Coz seriously, there’s a lot.

Continue Reading…

YouTube had been conspiring against me showing me a series of videos of my childhood over the weekend, making me feel older than I should. One of these videos had to do with one of Nubeluz‘ host — aka. a Dalina — her name, Monica Santa Maria.

Her tragic ending in a bizarre high profile case of suicide wasn’t really registered in my subconscious. Maybe I was too little to understand, but I don’t think I realized she killed herself well into my years. Watching the videos of the case, looking back at those times with my grown mind, all one can really infer is that she had a deep troubled mind… one way or the other, it was going to end up bad. It’s terribly ironic that she never did what she preached — to enjoy life, embrace it… whatever small beautiful things you may get because life was short.

It’s such a sad thing to see.

ANYWAY. I remember that Nubeluz was celebrating their 20 years — GOSH! — and I ran into this clip of Almendra Gomelsky and the whole cast of the show back together. EVERYONE came back, however big they became… actress Daniela Sarfati, actress Rossana Fernandez Maldonado, twin hosts Anabel and Antuanet Elias, host Maria Pia Copello, and etc. Phew.

They sound atrocious, but it was damn fun. I don’t think Peru has ever developed as good a show as Nubeluz ever was. It has nothing to do with nostalgia. I don’t particularly think the show translated well into English, but I think they had a really good deal with the concept and songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p_YH-I5TA

Part of the Time Machine: Back to the 90′s Blogathon

I really REALLY REALLY am loving Chochukmo, and not because I interviewed them. I actually accepted to interview them because I really liked their first album, which you can listen to on Xiami or Bandcamp ;O

Don’t forget to check out my interview with Mike Orange from the band.

I know I have been a very bad Yu Aoi fan. First off, I had only a faint idea she was going to release a new photobook via HMV Japan, but since her website didn’t mention a thing, I didn’t think it was such a big deal. In any case, I ran into some of the photographs in my daily runs through Weibo — and voila!

I thought I should buy it. xD

Continue Reading…