That’s the longest title I’ve ever written. I think. Not sure, but pretty~
First, let’s start with Oscar talk. There are 10 animated shorts line-up for 3/5 spots at the Academy.
If you remember, there was a negative (and the only) review for FLOWERS that I ran into. I didn’t look for more… because I was lazy, and I forgot. However, I ran into this info:
The 14th Sydney Japanese Film Festival is showing FLOWERS and Otouto.
As I rant that every film festival gets more up-to-date stuff than my local festivals… I also read a sweet quite glowing positive FLOWERS review, which resembles uzaigaijin‘s thoughts on FLOWERS.
But the single biggest thing that makes “Flowers” so remarkable is the authenticity of its feel from a cinematic viewpoint. It is an experience tailored to the psychology of moviegoers as a class. As such, it functions as a tribute not only to the growth of Japan as a society, but to the development of movie-making in general.
And I love that they mention that Yu-chan is one of the most talented and bankable actresses. (see Why Raiou Needs to Reach #1, which it didn’t)
Koizumi-san, at least, shares his vision of the 1930s in gorgeous antiquated tones as he beautifully captures Yu Aoi, one of Japan’s most talented and bankable actresses, in crisp black and white. Aoi-san comes across delightfully in vintage; the part well suits her subtle and subdued acting style. She flawlessly looks the part of the Yamato Nadeshiko, resplendent in various kimonos and decked out in traditional bridal regalia. One of the most memorable scenes in the film sees Aoi-san running through a sakura (cherry tree) grove in full bloom with mountains visible in the distance, a wide shot reminiscent of some old time silver screen epic.
You can read the full review over at the Japanese Film Festival blog.
Hello to YAM012.
Goodbye (sorta) to YAM PDF.
Hello to yam-mag.com~
Head over, for the last time, to my portfolio to download the latest and last issue.
Yu-chan’s been busy! Or it’s actually been busy for us…
REDLINE opened in Japan, as well as some dates in San Francisco – jealous! There was also the re-run of last-last week’s episode of Ryomaden on Friday night. On Saturday, there was a re-run of Hana & Alice on i-Sat. Plus, Yu-chan’s also been in Korea for the Pusan Film Festival to promote Raiou!
G-Dragon must be there stalking. He really should visit the site and comment, we could really be friends.
Anyway! As you know, Yu-chan’s pretty popular in Korea. Hana & Alice opened there as well, and even her film Letters from Nirai Kanai (with no subs yet) was released there under the name “Aoi Yu’s Letters” Snap!
Yu-chan looks so pretty xD
I just spent nearly 2hrs. posting this somewhere else, and I still need to email everyone. LOL
Without further ado,
Hi, guys!
YAM011 is almost done. The Lima Film Fest ends tonight, so I’ll be closing the issue — hopefully on time, for a release on the 15th at 00.00hr. My timezone, not yours. GMT -5, FYI.
While I was writing the editor’s note — and addressing everyone on the Facebook group — I wondered what to call YAM readers. I thought YAMMIES would be nice, but then the Urban Dictionary told me those are tits/knockers. But then again, Penn & Teller said that pretty much any noun in plural can mean knockers. LOL Watermelons, lemons, air bags. There you go, wouldn’t be much of a difference.
So… then I thought about YAMMERS, but that can’t be good, right? So maybe YAMMIES is fine. Sounds a bit like “jammies” because you know… I’m a Spanish speaker. To me, the sound of a Y with a vowel, and the sound of a J with a vowel is the same. When I first moved to Canada, Yellow and Jello were the same to me. Well, I still can’t get it right. Frak.
Anyway, it’s getting late. I just wanted to post the streams to some of the albums we are reviewing and rating in the new edition of YAM. Not all, but most of them~ Thank you, Xiami ;P
* denotes that they have a written review.
Anyway, happy listening! Off to zzzz. Busy day today.
Again.
I actually think I’m short of 2 reviews…
I wanted to watch some of the Peruvian films playing at the Lima Film Fest, but 8pm is a horrible time. I hate going to the cinema at 8pm… it’s just so full of people. That was Octubre last night, instead I saw The Art of the Steal… and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Time well spent? I’m not sure about Wimpy Kid, but at least I avoided 8pm rush hour.
Contracorriente (Undertow) plays tomorrow… at 8pm. I might try to catch that, but again. Why 8pm?
Instead, I caught my 2nd viewing for Inception today. I was surprised to catch myself yawing a couple of times. I have made up my mind about it. It’s still a good movie, but this time I can officially tell you that I liked Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard scenes the best.
I need to keep up with my music reviews.
While formatting my aunt’s computer. That’s a bonus. I hate Vista.
I also need to format mine. The audio and video are playing… funny.
;P
I’m lazy, don’t wanna make a Top10.
I hate photographing social events, mainly because I’m anti-social. Also because social events are usually all about who you photograph, and them posing, and faking their smiles. There’s nothing I hate more about photos than fake-smiling. But alas, we must photograph those sometimes… not so much about social events parties, but the events themselves.
I have a few rules that I follow. They might be strange rules, and nobody probably does it because they’re not anti-social like me, but I always keep them in mind.
– I never call out celebrities so I can take pictures of them. I don’t want them to see me — I do carry weird hair, and that calls attention… but that just goes with the hair — I don’t want them to look into my camera. I like that when they don’t look at my camera, it feels voyeuristic. LOL
– I never use flash. Flash is hard on the skin – mind you, sometimes events are so badly lit, it’s impossible to take photos without it. However, in those cases, sometimes I borrow/steal other people’s flashes. I believe the use of flash is only appropriate on studio settings, because when flash is used in a natural or “non-set-up” setting, it just makes it look out of place.
Plus, women who aren’t necessarily made-up like models for a shoot look rough with a flash hitting on their faces. Clear skin women looks very pale like zombies… and overall, people have shiny skin. Plus PLUS, flash in these cases make wrinkles pop up as if they were the grand canyon.
I have a lot of issues with flash.
– A natural pose is better than Pose-Hard. I rather catch a person standing naturally in conversation with someone else, than having to photograph them standing in pose and smiling at cameras.
– Be a tourist. I love photographing the stages and how the light hits different parts of the scenery. It makes the event about the place, as well as the people behind it. You know, the people who work on the stage and the lights.
So having said that, these are my Top5 Tips for Red Carpets Events from my photographing point of views – as well as a viewer at home ;P
Only without the Cannes part. xD
The Lima Film Fest opened tonight, at a freezing night for reporters. I saw people shivering, but we had to wait outside for people to go in before us… and you know I don’t do “social photos” I HATE, LOATH the social section on magazine and newspapers. So I decided to take more photos of the sceneries xD
And then camera people screamed at people “please, such-and-such a pose for this side too” so I felt obliged to take photos. And you know I hate using flash, even though it’s so dark… but I like blurry grainy photos anyway… so when I was going through the few photos I took, I thought… Hmm… wouldn’t they look nice in black and white?
So this is me trying some “classic” look.
I’m thinking of writing a 10 Tips for a Better Red Carpet event list. xD
Remember guys, it’s PASO, PASO, POSE. Not PASO, PASO, PASO… OKAY I’M GONE.
La Casa Muda (2010) – aka. The Silent House
Genre: Horror, Suspense
Directed by: Gustavo Hernandez
The Silent House tells the story of Laura, a young woman, and her father who decide to install themselves in their country house to fix it for sale the next day. At night time, Laura hears noises, so her father decides to check it out without ever returning.
The film, directed by Gustavo Hernandez, is supposed to be based on a true story from the 40s — I can’t tell for sure, though. The Silent House is very stylish, with prime photography, and nice sound design. The acting is fine, and it all should make a pretty good film, except it isn’t that great. Sure, the film is supposed to be a horror suspense, and it is in the beginning, but it gets boring 30 minutes into the film with repetitive running around, and cheap thrills without moving the plot… or lack thereof.
In the end, there’s a big reveal… of sorts, which isn’t that surprising. However, the lack of plot is just too much for a one 78-min-long shot — was it really one shot? It seemed like a DV camera, so it’s possible. Like I said, The Silent House looks really REALLY good, but that’s it.
2.5/5
COMPETENCIA OFICIAL – FICCION
Screenings:
Monday 9 – 8pm – Cineplanet San Miguel – Sala 1
Tuesday 10 – 5.15pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 1
Wednesday 11 – 3pm – Cineplanet Alcázar – Sala 5
Thursday 12 – 8.30pm – Cineplanet Risso
Saturday 13 – 8pm – Centro Cultural Católica – Sala Azul
