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Ponyo Gets a US Trailer

First, see it for yourself~~~

Now, I wasn’t to OMGWTFGOD when I saw the film. I liked it… I thought it was okay. The thing that I loved was singing that Ponyo song with the little girl – Ponyo, Ponyo sakana no ko!!! – Plus, Juri sings it too and that made me laugh so hard. I just had to mentioned that… just so you could see that part of the charm of the film is THAT song. This is why I think this trailer fails, makes it look all epic and sh!t… it is kinda, but it’s mostly cute.

People will feel mislead. I can feel it in the air… and critics will bash it as childish.

Posted on June 23, 2009 In English, Films, Sharing, Trailers 2d classical animation, animation, cate blanchett, hayao miyazaki, japan, matt damon, only-dubbed films, ponyo on the cliff by the sea (gake no ue no ponyo), studio ghibli, tina fey, ueno juri

The Beatles for Rock Band

I’m not much for video games, though I must admit games like this are fun for a bit. xD

I certainly don’t find a strong reason why I should blog video games, you’re better off playing yourself, but I thought this commercial in animation for Rock Band is pretty good… actually, I thought it was just okay until I reached “I Met the Walrus” then it got me. xD Take a look yourself~

Really, totally weed-induced Walrus sequence. LOL’

Posted on June 2, 2009 In Commercials, English, Fun, Music, Trailers 2d classical animation, 3d animation, commercial, the beatles, video game

Yu Aoi – Fan First Year!!!

May 16, 2009 — 7 Comments

WOOOOOO!! A freakin’ year~~~~

Yu Aoi - Year One

Today a year ago, I was introduced to Yu Aoi’s work on Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou, and the Shunji Iwai-related Rainbow Song. Little did I know that the characters that interested me the most in the films were played by the same actress. Nine days later, I watched Hula Girls, and a month later I was completely hooked with Yu Aoi, and yet another Shunji Iwai film… Hana & Alice.

Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Tekkonkinkreet

May 15, 2009 — 12 Comments

Let’s start with what the film is about:
Tekkon Kinkreet is an animated film adaptation of the Black and White manga series by Taiyou Matsumoto, directed by Michael Arias (Animatrix). The name of the film is a pun on “Tekkin Concrete”, the Japanese term for reinforced concrete. It tells the story of two street kids, tough Kuro (Black) and innocent Shiro (White) living in a fictional city known as Treasure Town, a city that is filled with crooks and the yakuza.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Comedy, Action with violence.
With the voices of: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yu Aoi, Yusuke Iseya, Kankuro Kudo
Duration: nearly 2hrs

Spoilers ahead! Of the film and manga~~~

First-ish Look at Disney’s The Princess and the Frog

Is this a trailer? Doesn’t feel like one 3P

Anyway! Disney’s 2d animation is back! It’s been years since the last 2d animated Disney film (2004 with Home on the Range which wasn’t so good), in fact… this is their first princess-ish animated film since~~~ since Aladdin’s Jasmine in 1992, but that was more like an Aladdin flick… or Beauty & the Beast in 1991, but Belle was not really a princess. LOL So! That leaves us with The Little Mermaid’s Ariel in 1989~~~

Wow, 20 years of my life have just flown by~~~

The Princess and the Frog reminds me of The Rescuers, and All Dogs Go to Heaven – hint fat crocs… and fat crocs who sing, with a hint of Sebastien from The Little Mermaid~~~ ‘LOL. Still wanna watch though~~~

[iframe width=”560″ height=”349″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/uQBy6jqbmlU?rel=0″]

Posted on May 10, 2009 In Drawings, English, Films, Sharing, Trailers 2d classical animation, disney

4 Comments

Oscar 2009: Best Short Films Animated Nominees

I finally got to see Tsumiki no Ie (or La Maison en Petits Cubes)!! This year’s Academy Award-winning animated short~~~ I remember I had only read the synopsis, after watching all the other four nominated shorts, and thought “Wow, that’s a pretty interesting write-up. I’m giving it my vote” and then it WON. Woohoo!

Well, perhaps it was just chance~~ After watching it, I feel it was very deserving. To tell you the truth, I’m a little tired of 3d animation, so watching this was like a breath of fresh air. It’s a quiet little piece that explores the memories of an old man that was forced to ‘bury’ part of his history… I liked it. It made me feel very melancholic~~ NO dialogue… though I’ve read the Japanese version has a voiced-over version (by Masami Nagasawa… which surprised me a little.) – However, I don’t think the piece needs narration~~~

Check out the shorts after the break,
Continue Reading…

Posted on April 29, 2009 In English, French, Japanese, Sharing, Short Films 2d classical animation, 3d animation, academy awards, animation, nominations, short film

Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part II

April 17, 2009 — 2 Comments

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…

Continue Reading…

In English, Films, French, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Rants, Sharing, Stills 2d classical animation, 3d animation, academy awards, animation, hayao miyazaki, nominations, pixar, ponyo on the cliff by the sea (gake no ue no ponyo), ratatouille, studio ghibli

Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Nominees – Part I

April 16, 2009 — 1 Comment

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.

In English, Films, French, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Rants, Sharing 2d classical animation, 3d animation, academy awards, animation, disney, hayao miyazaki, lilo & stitch, michael arias, nominations, paprika, pixar, studio ghibli

BAFTA Winners 2009

February 8, 2009 — Leave a comment

Paving the way to Oscar… BAFTA were just handed out~~ My private predictions weren’t too far off, scoring 15/20… considering this is my first BAFTA prediction, I think I did ok~~

Slumdog got 7 out of the 11 nods it had, including Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Score – Benjamin Button didn’t leave empty handed either (finally!, lol) – It took home 3 out of 11 nods, all in technical categories such as Best Visual Effects, Makeup and Production Design (which is Art Direction).

Kate Winslet pushes forward as the favorite in the Best Actress for winning for The Reader, Heath… well, like, is that a surprise anymore? I’m sure a lot of America will tune into Oscar night to see Heath winning. And Penelope Cruz pushes forward for an Oscar win as Supporting Actress for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona – and well, Mickey Rourke~~~ MAN, that’s a tough one to call. Sean or Mickey?

Animation was a tough category, WALL-E ended up victorious against AWESOME animated films, Persepolis and Waltz with Bashir, which also lost Best Foreign Film against I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a Longtemps que Je t’Aime)

Read the whole list of winners here.

In English, Films, French, Fun, Sharing 2d classical animation, 3d animation, a.r. rahman, animation, awards, brad pitt, cate blanchett, danny boyle, david fincher, france, kate winslet, penelope cruz, pixar, winners

Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies) – Films that Changed your Life Forever

October 7, 2008 — 3 Comments

It’s time for a new “Films that Changed your Life Forever” post! If you check the link to my “Favorites,” you will notice that the film I’m about to talk to is the ONLY animated film that has made its way to my Top10. I am surprised myself, but here is my story…

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Posters/Artwork, Sharing 2d classical animation, animation, contemporary classics, films that changed your life forever, hotaru no haka (graves of the fireflies), japan

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