I wish I had known sooner, but I just found out today.
REDLINE will be opening in San Francisco this Friday 8th at 7.15pm at VIZ Cinema – at the same time as in Japan! And will continue showing the film throughout the week. I already added them to the Yu Aoi Events calendar.
Friday 8th – 7.15pm
Saturday 9th, Sunday 10th – 12.30pm , 2.45pm , 5pm , 7.15pm
Monday 11th – Thursday 14th – 5pm , 7.15pm
Admission is $10
If you catch the show, let me know. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Other than not having anything to post, I thought I could write a little about me (maybe add an “about page”) – who knows… I mean, other than having the seldom post with an anecdote related to the post, what do most people who visit know about me other than the fact that I like to post about Yu Aoi, I post weekly on Glee, what I watch or what I listen to.
My favorite genre is tear-jerking dramas… of the art house foreign kind. The more I cry, the more I feel satisfied with a film. For two hours of my life – or how many films or shows I get to watch in a day – I like high-tension dramas that will get my heart beating faster, and feel so much pain for the characters. I often like to put myself in the position of the main character, and pretend I can be them — making me cry even more. So as I grow older, the movies I tend to watch have less to do with the younger crowd. LOL Sometimes I think I could be an actress. LOL
Anyway, in real life? I’m the complete opposite. I like my life tension-free. I hate drama, and I live a simple life enjoying art and eating. I avoid high-tension situations, I avoid big crowds, and avoid meeting too many people at once. I prefer a dinner for two on a weekend at home with a good film to watch, than partying in a room full of people I see less than twice a year.
So while I love super dramatic dramas xD my life is more like an artsy fartsy film in which nothing happens. xD
In my life, a lot of people speak Spanish… then someone mixes in Cantonese. We also speak English… and sometimes… only sometimes, we end up a bit snobbish with some French. See, very artsy fartsy.
My home life was very much like some quirky Asian film – queue Hong Kong film – maybe a reason why I have a soft spot for them despite some of their lacking points. My grandfather was a character, out of World War II, telling me how in China he was relatives with someone of Royal blood. LOL I never really believed THAT but it’s one of those things that’s funny to remember.
I have a weak heart for films that deal with Alzheimer disease – I literally spent half of Away from Her crying every time she didn’t remember a thing. And I cried my heart out watching Ken Watanabe on Memories of Tomorrow struggling with living with the disease as he begun forgetting his own wife. Another reason why The Notebook affected me as it did… LOL
I also have a soft spot for Family dramas… less prominent in America or Europe, but oh so popular in Asia. I wonder why? LOL Asian and Latin Americans are similar that way. Despite all the arguments I may have with my family — not only parents, but extended family as well… uncles, aunts, cousins~~~ we poke fun at each other in good spirits. We actually do love each other.
In light entertainment? I literally haven’t enjoyed a silly comedy since I saw Zoolander at the cinemas, though The Sweetest Thing is a good one. My humor tends to be either silly — as in Asian gag-related — or really bizarre… which I only use with members of my family, because we all get each other. That’s political humor, religious humor, race humor… and so on. We sometimes poke fun of dead people on the news LOL
I love musicals – sometimes I think I’m a gay man trapped in a little girl’s body? LOL – I love hipster films, I like romantic comedies… but I tend to avoid Jennifer Aniston. I like animation (can you imagine how much I enjoyed Happy Feet? LOL), and I think female comedians are funnier than male ones. Romantic comedy Dan in Real Life with gorgeous Juliette Binoche… and a surprisingly good Steve Carell (and zing! Emily Blunt) was great… except for the annoying experience to see Dane Cook on screen. I despise Cook. It’s something I can’t explain. xD
old school video game graphics go against 3d!
oh, those graphics bring back so many memories xD
Following AM’s advise on better blogging, I thought it’d be cool to follow through with my post on “What I Like about Japanese Cinema” which I wrote for the J-Film blog-a-thon last year.
So now I’m going to be talking about Hollywood movies! And by “Hollywood” I mean American films. Since I’m more familiar with commercial Hollywood stuff, while I’ve only begun catching indie flicks online (or when I was in Canada) for the past few years.
My current Facebook Flixster movie count says that I’ve rated 2431 films. Of course, that’s only counting the films that I’ve been able to find in their database (american, foreign, commercial, or indie), and I’m far too lazy to send them stuff now. My MUBI account states I’ve rated 1450, so that should give you a proper average… I think.
So what do I like about Hollywood Movies?
1. Ah… the Hollywood Golden Era.
I’m familiar enough with Garbo and Crawford to know that I loved their films. And it’s fact, LOL, Hollywood created movie stars, and actors went to Hollywood to become movie stars… and I love movie stars. I always complain now that they don’t make them like that anymore.
Sure, sure… people who aren’t into “old films” keep telling me that films in the era didn’t look as great as they do now, or that acting was weird, and that subject matter in films have improved since then. To them I tell them… well, 1986 is not that old. Try a film from 1929. ;P
2. No matter how Indie they are, they still look sharp and clear.
There’s something my mom always tells me when we, for some odd reason, end up catching a clip of any local – hint: non-American – film, “Why do films here look like they’re stuck in the 70s?”. It isn’t that the local cinema shows the great quality of films in the 70s, here they just look like they’re stuck with the technology.
It happens in American film, but not as often… and if it does, it’s because they’re really REALLY low-budget. But even really-low-budget filmmakers manage to bring a great DP on board. I mean, have you seen some of the stuff posted online? It’s amazing what people are doing with “I shot this with my Canon” LOL
3. You guys have mastered the art of pseudo-indie.
Right? I mean, you have also begun to call these films Hipster… in a mocking kinda way, but alright – I admit it, I tend to like them because well, to me, these films can only be American. I cannot imagine an Asian hipster film, I cannot imagine a European hipster film. Little Miss Sunshine, Juno – people say Juno reminded them of me, LOL – they can only be American.
But you guys have also mastered the art of making big budget films, and call them independent. I mean how on earth do you call Inglourious Basterds an independent film but spend $70M USD in making it. To me, that’s a big Hollywood movie – and I like it. LOL
4. Don Bluth, Disney, and Pixar
I grew up with Don Bluth’s and Disney animation. Now, I’m growing old with Pixar (oh, gawd… I’m growing old). I mean, anyone my generation who hasn’t grown up with Disney animation and Don Bluth’s work, they might not have had a childhood – unless, of course you’ve grown up with Studio Ghibli… in which case, hate you.
5. I love when you support World Premiere… even if it’s for sucky huge blockbuster films.
I’m an impatient gal, if I want to watch a new film over the weekend, it needs to open locally over the weekend, otherwise my enthusiasm for the film will wane, and I’ll just end up catching it on dvd – or worse, on cable.
Most major studios have offices in most major cities in countries, so now it’s easier to get a film to open on the same weekend as in the States. It just happened with that new Drew Barrymore rom-com, which opened one week after the US, and I’m pretty sure we’re getting Narnia and Harry Potter (not that HP is American, but it’s being distributed by Warner so…) the same day, or one day ahead. Now, if that could also happen with flicks like Black Swan, and other Award season flicks, I’d be a happy gal.
So… how about you guys? What do you guys like about Hollywood Movies/American Cinema? Or why do you hate it? I know some of you hate anything American with a passion. Such a tiring task. LOL
Aha… Guinness World Record and commercials.
This time you’ll see a girl escaping the impending un-threading of her world.
Okay, I really must admit posting directly to Twitter is easier and faster. I decided there are some things I must post twice… or maybe more, and Bjork is one of them.
I met Moomins on my trip to Sweden! Those hippo-looking like creatures, my cousin said “they’re Moomins!” – Oh, how lucky little kids are in Scandinavia to grow up with a children song (?) from Bjork. xD Did I tell you all my niece used to only sing Los Pollitos Dicen? She was like Marylin singing Los Pollitos Dicen. xD
Anyway… this song is for the Moomins movie xD There’s going to be a Moomins movie!!!
Is it wrong that a 1944 short brings back memories of childhood to me?
From my group of friends, I think I’m the only one that grew up with old Disney shorts, and sometimes I talk about them with a whole bunch of my friends wondering what I’m talking about.
Did any of you grow up watching this short? How old are you? xD
Maybe I’m not the only 20-something.
Another great one has gone.
Animated film director Satoshi Kon passed away from a heart attack. His animated gems included Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika. That alone with the news of Studio Ghibli wanting to close down doors, is just right down depressing.
via Fearnet.com
Anomalous Material just posted a Meme about 10 Things that Bring You Joy.
But before we start with mine… let me just say… “Forehead Titaes!” *giggles*
Okay, moving on… what are some of the things that bring me joy?
1. The sight of chocolate
In any shape or form. It doesn’t matter how pissy or how gloom I may be, I see chocolate and suddenly the world seems a better place. And forget about having a taste of the chocolate-y goodness.
Or also known as Love ~ I Won’t Say Goodbye ~ the emotional animation version.
Yes, it’s actually the “emotional animation version”.
How can the little pollitos make such a sad PV?
Right?
