Tag: japan

  • Miyavi Lets Go on Ellen~

    I said it before and say it again~ the best thing to come out of Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken was to see Miyavi being fabulous on carpet events in the US where so many oblivious in the west got to see him. [My favorite is Lainey who’s gushed over Miyavi twice] And now to see him on Ellen playing his guitar- that’s really more than I could hope for.

    And I love that he did a bit of What’s my Name on top of Let Go.


  • Mandatory Oscar Watchlist

    Except for the mandatory appreciation for Boyhood (the Patricia Arquette show) and Whiplash, which had me contorting from all the conflictive feelings, I’m feeling rather lukewarm with this year’s award season as you can see from my 2014 Films Ranked compared to my Academy Award Watchlist.

    oscars-2014-2015-nominations-watchlist

    Hot pink is watched, light blue on to-watched queue, highlighted in green haven’t been found yet. My excuse for lack of documentaries and shorts is because of access. I find them extra difficult to get. Also, any respectable award show needs the presence of Haider. LOL And I could do a LOT LESS from Clint Eastwood. I’m not even one of those complaining for lack of women behind/in front of the camera, the nominees are just so damn BLAH! except for the few couple of surprises- some spice with Marion Cotillard (even though I don’t feel strongly about the movie), Ida and Mr. Turner in cinematography… and The Tale of Princess Kaguya.


  • YAM’s Film Choices of 2014

    yammag-top-films-2014

    Like we always do, the YAM Magazine team got together to vote for their favorite movies in a good ole’ Facebook poll in our secret group. We are so different and live so far away from each other that our choices vary so much, making the list alive. Of course there are movies I wish were lower, and others that were higher… but, all in all, it’s a good varied list for everyone to discover a new title.

    So~ do your thing.


  • Girls Who (Punk) Rock: Vi Är Bäst!

    A double feature with Lukas Moodysson’s Vi Är Bäst! (We Are the Best!) and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Linda Linda Linda. Because~ Why not? RIGHT?

    vi-ar-bast-we-are-the-best


  • Top50 Songs of 2014

    I’m the crazy lady of Best Of lists~ so here’s another one.

    amys-top50-songs-of-2014

    Do your thing~

    But if you’re lazy, I’ve set up (almost) complete playlists on Xiami and YouTube.


  • Mahiro Maeda’s Nishi-Ogikubo Animation Short

    Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Metamorphosis meets Eega.

    Untitled-1

    It’s pretty awesome. You can watch it on AnimatorExpo.com


  • Early 2014 Music Highlights~

    Last time it took me 2 years to get my 2012-2013 list out. LOL This year, I’m early. I’m pretty happy with my picks at the moment, so I hope nothing mind-blowing pops up in these last remaining weeks of 2014. In the meantime~ you know where to go.

    amys-2014-music-highlights


  • Currently Obsessed with Last Night, Good Night~

    I never thought that I would actually, you know, really like a Hatsune Miku song. I had listened to a couple livetune tracks, but left them at bay until I saw Takashi Murakami’s Jellyfish Eyes where he used the song Last Night, Good Night to great effects during the ending credits. It was around 3-4am, so the effects of the song was perfect.

    Too bad the only version available on my iTunes is the one done with Pharrell to promote the movie somehow, and nothing prior to 2012 is on.

    On the topic of Miku, such a hybrid. I don’t know what to tag this post.


  • Holy Aoi Yu, Jo Eun-Hee

    I swear, for a while now South Korea has been trying to clone Aoi Yu. [1] Thank gods, Yu-chan’s switched styles and has been sporting different hair, and has sorta moved on from her Mori Girl vibe.

    jo-eun-hee


  • Yu-chan for 8740 DIARY 2011-2014

    Yu Aoi has a brand new book release simply titled 8740 DIARY 2011-2014, which is (from whatI was able to get) a collection of text and photos gathered between those years from different directors, screenwriters and co-stars. I am pretty sure there were texts from Shunji Iwai, Yuki Tanada and photographer Yoko Takahashi among many others.

    The book is fairly priced… and the yen is down, so I think I might get it. We’ll see. In the meantime, Yu’s been promoting it with this cute little video for MORE Magazine, as well as the customary press event.

    You can get the book on HMV Japan, which is my usual choice for Japanese items, even though YesAsia also delivers (but I find it extra pricey for them).