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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

Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009 – Day1

June 16, 2009 — 7 Comments

and a half~~~

I just read over NipponCinema that the Japanese Cinema Blogathon has started. (yesterday, really…)

What is the Japanese Cinema Blogathon?

Japanese Cinema Blogathon 2009

Someone over at Wildgrounds.com thought it’d be a cool idea to unite forces in order to promote Japanese Cinema. Write, share ideas… anything goes as long as it’s about Japanese Cinema. Check their list of on-going activities…

I’ll start off with something simple…

What I Like about Japanese Cinema

My history with Japanese Cinema isn’t as broad as other people’s. I don’t watch too many older classics, because they are harder to get~~ I mean, it’s just easier to get contemporary stuff. ;P but there are some really great films that I’ve been able to watch this past year.

1. They can be about nothing at all, yet hold so much meaning or be so entertaining.
I saw Kore-eda’s Aruitemo, Aruitemo (Still Walking) a couple of days ago. I think that’s perhaps my favorite Japanese film from last year *laughs* – besides from the fact that I really like Hiroshi Abe *laughs*. That film felt so right to me, from the moment we saw Ryo’s sister and mother discussing and trying to cook in the kitchen, to the very last scene of Ryo’s family walking. There was no big reveal of someone having another kid, or someone getting kidnapped or killed, someone having an affair – none of that. One of the things that just stands out was Ryo and his mom finally remembering the name of the Sumo wrestler… and always being late. Heartbreaking.

A similar thing I can tell you of Linda Linda Linda, which I saw and liked, but LOVED after repeated viewings. Nobuhiro Yamashita’s story of a group of girls trying to make it on time to play on the school festival. Nothing at all! But add to that Doona Bae as non-Japanese lead singer, and rock!!

2. They can be bizarrely good.
From high-on-drug-styled film Survive Style 5+, bike-riding rococo lolita adventures on Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls), Moulin Rouge!-meets-Amelie-meets-Sin City-esque dramedy musical Kiraware Matsuko no Issho (Memories of Matsuko) – or even high-school-hardcore-Survivor Battle Royale. They are not your typical film, they can only be Japanese. LOL

3. They don’t treat animation as if it’s only for kids.
Yes, Japanese Cinema is not only Anime – to the dismay of some of my friends – but they do a pretty darn good job animating films like Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies. Since the day I discovered Hotaru no Haka 6 years ago, it’s become my favorite animated film to date. LOL

In English, Films, Fun, Graphics, Japanese, Reviews, Sharing animation, bae doona, blogathon, contemporary classics, hotaru no haka (graves of the fireflies), kore-eda, michael arias, nobuhiro yamashita, tetsuya nakashima

Machu Picchu Post – French Animation with Peruvian Flare

Years… well, maybe a year ago – I ranted Peruvian animation not being compelling enough. I have also ranted about how tired I feel of 3d animation (most of the times), but there are times when I have to talk about things because they are important to note.

Machu Picchu Post is an animated short from Clement Crocq, Margaux Durand-Rival and Nicolas Novali. They are French, and did their whole Machu Picchu Post style reference from research. Research!!! Research is so important, and this is why I ultimately decided to blog them.

I have always found Alpamayo (and most recently, the team in charge of the Dolphin story blah blah) to be lacking research, not storywise (though I beg to differ sometimes) but on execution. Of course, you don’t only research styles, textures, colors, etc… you also research movement, and light quality. It’s not enough to just HAVE the best computer equipment… you also go on field trips, you do experiments.

Anyway, this is my brief rant. French animation students (and now animators) are creating more compelling animations regarding Peruvian culture. Here’s the video:

Posted on May 19, 2009 In English, French, Jobs, Rants, Sharing, Short Films, Spanish 3d animation, animation, animation school, france, peru, short film

1 Comment

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~~~

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

Some more YAM

February 14, 2009 — Leave a comment

It’s V-day, so my non-V-day gift to all of you it’s more YAM. Yup, 2nd issue is done.

YAM - Issue 2

Featuring Coraline, which opened this past Thursday here in Lima (only dubbed). We are also taking on Best Picture Nominees, and our picks that shoulda been BP. We are also talking about Duncan Sheik, Melinda Doolittle, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Lee-Hom Wang, Franz Ferdinand… and many other reviews!

Now, if you’re ready~~~ head over here to get it.

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

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