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Welcome to Tokyo

May 15, 2010 — Leave a comment

A while ago the Tokyo Metropolitan Government commissioned Studio 4°C to make an animated short to promote visiting Tokyo. Available in original Japanese audio with English, Korean, Chinese Traditional and Simplified, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch, the short is titled Honey Tokyo and tells the story of a girl from the future traveling to present-day Japan to bring back Happiness to her time. A boy named Takeru serves as her guide to different places in the city, doing different activities and learning about traditions.

The short had a budget of around half a million $USD, and can I just say~~~
it’s a really great investment? It just fuels my wanting to go to Japan.

Check it out at the Welcome to Tokyo website.

Great way to mix Art and PR. Tagged as commercial and short! xD

First reaction was a shriek. What the hell had happened to my TheAuteurs.com account? Well, it had just turned into a MUBI account instead.

From indieWIRE;

It had to happen. The cinephile site The Auteurs has changed its name.

Cakarel wants to grow members into the millions. So he went on a quest for a new name. He called on ad agencies all over the world to find a simple, easily-typed name. “Find me my global brand, my Sony,” he told them. It took nine months, but finally an agency in Tokyo knew they had found the name. Mubi.

The word “movie” is mispronounced in many cultures that have trouble with the letter V. It isn’t a word in any language. It is a city in Nigeria. And Cakarel plans to make that city the movie-lover capital of the world.

Even if finding out about the change of names through indieWIRE and not TheAuteurs itself is just a little offensive, I could understand a change in branding. However, the change in brand seems to be a complete move towards the mainstream market to attract more members, who aren’t necessarily interested in auteur-driven films, and hence wouldn’t know how to type “auteur” in the first place… than a re-brand to actually make the product better for its core audience. It’s like Inca Kola trying to be hip and cool, when it doesn’t taste the same.

With this “strategic” branding idea, they have stirred up their community by having many users complaining about the change of name, and those who aren’t complaining? Well, they are indifferent to the change. Overall feedback seems to be quite negative so it has prompted forum boards by now-MUBI Efe (Cakarel) titled “Why did we change our name to MUBI

The most interesting part of it all, is their deals with the Sao Paulo Film Fest to stream their films — and possible future deals with the likes of Tribeca — and deals with Cannes.

Let’s just hope they continue to focus on Silents, Foreign Films, Classic Films and other hard to watch films, and/or other hard to find for people to share with, than mainstream Hollywood films.

More Opera Live!

May 11, 2010 — Leave a comment

After posting about Rigoletto, the good guys who worked on these Opera Live projects [Peter from Little Miss Robot] have sent word that the second “episode” is now up for streaming for free. More FREE Opera!

With more pretty cool illustrations presented on the trailer for Gaetano Donizetti’s Il Campanello di Notte (The Night Bell). Impossible to miss the chance to watch this… come on! It’s FREE!

And we support great FREE stuff.

Check it out at the OperaLive.org site for a WHOLE month.

Coming from an article over at Wildgrounds

What is this “super dub“? In fact, they’re trying to make the translation sounds more natural in Japanese.

what were you attempting with Super Dubbing to deal with this difference?
For example, Leonardo de Caprio, who plays Teddy, faces a woman working in the hospital and asks, “Were you a nurse?” If you change this to natural Japanese, just saying “Kankoshi?” However, in English when you say “Were you a nurse?” your lips move three times.

Continue Reading…

but it sure is time for YAM009 =D

is the cover kowaii??? [scary??] I would love to hear your opinion on fansubbing, as well as distribution, which are two topics I always bring up one way or the other.

You are also welcomed to comment on reviews and give suggestions.

With no further ado, go over here for download.

Is this the new contender for this year’s Best Abstract Music Video? It seems like it, because I love me some shiny things. I can just look at shiny stuff all day… I love how pretty light looks… especially with Depth of Field.

You can also download six tracks from the Vital EP.
Directed by Takafumi Tsuchiya.

I don’t get the title.

But this is coming from Aiya They Didn’t.

GT: Do you see many Chinese films in US cinemas?

Rosen: There are not many Chinese films in the US, and the few Chinese films that are available in the US were directed by famous directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, and so on. There are several types of Chinese films that have played here.

Martial arts films are one type, such as Hero (Yingxiong) by Zhang Yimou and The Promise (Wuji) by Chen Kaige. The other type would be art films, such as those by Jia Zhangke, but these only get a limited release.

However, most Chinese films will never be shown in theaters here, because I think there simply isn’t enough of an audience for them. This is also true for most foreign language films. They are more likely to appear on DVD than to be shown in theaters.

Up to now, the most successful Chinese film has been Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu Canglong), the second most successful was Hero, and then Fearless (Huo Yuanjia).

The most successful Chinese films at the box office in the West have all been martial arts films, where language is less important than the action on the screen.

These are some of my comments,

Instead of Rosen suggesting China focus on big historical blockbuster to compete with Hollywood films, he should have only suggested “you should dub your films in English” – I mean, even great films produced and directed by American fave Clint Eastwood suffered from the “why no dub version” threads online.

Just look at the percentage of Chinese films on the Top Grossing Foreign films. I think they’re doing pretty great as far a top grossing in the US compared to other foreign films.

What I would like to see is more Chinese films (and over all Asian films) being distributed more in cinemas… in my country. LOL The last Chinese film released here was Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower. AGES ago. So if China wants to have more distribution of their films, they could use their own embassies and consulates around the world to actually screen films locally, instead of the Beijing Screening for international distributors.

I bet most distributors watch them, like them but see no market for them unless they have action sequences. So in the end those distribution screenings are for nothing. China should take distribution of their films in their own hands, I’m sure a lot of people would go to the movies instead of watching online (at least many of you) if the films you want to watch are available locally.

Like I’ve said, I’m not trying to be biased, since I do watch films made in America. But if you take a look at what a Blockbuster is in America, which they are discussing in the interview, films like Transformers 2 and Twilight made big bucks. China’s productions just wonder how they can get that many people to watch their films… and not only martial art films, but other types of films too.

The fact is many foreign films don’t get wide releases because they aren’t mass-appealing (worldwide), most markets just are filled with a lot of crappy American films, and I’m not talking about District 9 or Up… but with things like Transformers 2 and All About Steve or any Jennifer Aniston rom-com. While crappy foreign films (because everyone has their crappy films) can’t even make it outside their country.

The other question is… why does Hollywood remake My Sassy Girl, when My Sassy Girl is a fine film. Why can’t they just release it with subtitles. What does China need to get a film like Internal Affairs in theaters in America, instead of getting The Departed winning Best Film at the Oscar?

Why is there a Best Foreign Film category?

Discover Opera Live

March 21, 2010 — 2 Comments

If you love opera, you’ll love this… and if you’re new to opera, you should still like it. I mean, look at those luscious drawings. And the drama! Opera is embracing the new technology =D

“Available on demand from March 23rd” :O

Check out the website (speakers on) over at OperaLive.org

You guys really REALLY need to work on what you call “Special Features”. It’s been a long time coming, but the review I sent to Amazon.com of Linda Linda Linda never showed up, even though I was reviewing the material in the DVD and even making suggestions… so it was a valid write-up.

Last time I bought something in Amazon.com, my order included a copy for the Viz Media release for Tetsuya Nakashima’s Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari) and Linda Linda Linda by Nobuhiro Yamashita.

Where to start?

Continue Reading…

DGenerateFilms has translated an essay by director Jia Zhangke with some interesting ideas, as well as some others that I don’t particularly agree with… but maybe it’s one of those things lost in translation.

In a few years, young people throughout Asia will probably sing the same song, be attracted to the same clothes; girls will wear the same makeup and carry the same handbag. What kind of world is this turning into? It is precisely in this cultural environment that only independent films that remain committed to the depiction of local culture can provide some cultural diversity.

That’s an interesting statement, considering I have been talking about the exact opposite. I often talk how there will never be a “definite” 2000’s or 10-19’s list like we had in the 90s, because the internet has opened this gate with floods of information regarding anything… including music, films and overall entertainment. You don’t need to listen to what the record companies send to the radios, or watch what networks believe to be quality television or pay for a movie a distributor thinks you should be watching.

What the essay seems to be referring to is the vapid teenage kids who won’t bother researching and finding out about something that won’t be fed through distributors. I mean, you can’t even rely on what MySpace suggests any longer. LOL

Also… Amateur Cinema? With all the technology and all the quality cinematographers out there, even the most low-budget film can look okay. I’m sorry, but an image alone can speak a thousand words. That’s all I’m saying. I may be a “production value” girl, and I can appreciate costume, and art direction, but I also always give more importance to storyline and overall mood of the film. It shouldn’t matter if it’s “amateur” or a big-budget production.

Don’t give me Amateur Cinema, give me quality Independent Cinema.