personal.amy-wong.com - A Blog by Amy Wong. | Tag Archive

To Watch Until They’re 35 – Jérémie Renier

April 22, 2010 — 5 Comments

Steadily moving up our list of the 20 to Watch, this time around with a less mainstream face.

It’s Belgian actor Jérémie Renier, born in Brussels on January 6th 1981. At 29 years old, Renier has a prolific filmography. Probably first known worldwide by his performance as Thomas d’Apcher in Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) alongside Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci.

He later starred as Bruno in the Dardenne brothers’ l’Enfant (The Child), which would eventually open the opportunity to play Claudy Moreau in the 2008 critically-acclaimed Le Silence de Lorna (Lorna’s Silence). Renier’s also had appearances in well-regarded films such as Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and Saoirse Ronan, , as well as In Brudges with Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson.

Last time we saw him on screen was on Olivier Assayas’ l’Heure d’Été (Summer Hours) alongside Juliette Binoche. The film was a favorite among critics in 2009, gathering a bunch of Best Foreign Film Awards. Hopefully, we will get to see him soon on Niki Caro’s The Vintner’s Luck alongside recently-nominated Vera Farmiga and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider). Add to that his role on François Ozon’s Potiche with Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Judith Godrèche, and fellow the 20 to Watch Ludivine Sagnier… and well, we’re sold!

In Celebrity, English, Films, French, Photographs, Sharing actor, discovering new actors, rankings

To Watch Until They’re 35 – Ben Whishaw

April 21, 2010 — 3 Comments

Moving from #9 to #8 on the list of the 20 to Watch, there’s another familiar face… even if the name doesn’t really ring a bell, unless… of course, you are already familiar with Ben Whishaw~

Born in Bedfordshire, England on October 14th 1980, this 29-year-old actor is probably most recognized for his starring role on Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. However, before his big break as smelling murderer Jean-Baptiste, Whishaw participated in the film Layer Cake alongside Daniel Craig, and Sally Hawkins.

In 2007, Whishaw became part of the cast of I’m Not There, the experimental film about Bob Dylan credited alongside the likes of Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, and Heath Ledger. His last big hit on the silver screen was playing poet John Keats in Bright Star, directed by acclaimed director Jane Campion. The film garnered considerable buzz not only for him, but also his co-star Abbie Cornish.

Next up for him? A re-adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest by writer/director Julie Taymor (Across the Universe) alongside Djimon Hounsou, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming and Helen Mirren.

In Celebrity, English, Films, Photographs, Sharing actor, rankings

To Watch Until They’re 35 – Nick Stahl

April 20, 2010 — 1 Comment

Continuing with our list of The 20 to Watch… in the actors category, comes perhaps a familiar face, but not really a name that sticks around. It’s none other than Nick Stahl~

Born in Texas, USA on December 5th 1979, Stahl barely cuts it with the age at 30 years old. However, with films in his filmography like the critically-acclaimed The Thin Red Line by Terrence Malick with heavy-weights like Sean Penn and George Clooney, or the fantastic In the Bedroom, sharing scenes with Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek and Marisa Tomei… we can’t help but keep an eye on him.

He doesn’t stop with the heavy drama, since he also starred as John Connor on Terminator 3, as well as playing Yellow Bastard on Sin City. Moreover, he also played Ben Hawkins in the kind-of-short-lived but critically-acclaimed HBO series, Carnivale.

Stahl has a few projects on the works now, including On the Inside alongside the newest It Girl, Olivia Wilde, as well as Burning Palms with Zoe Saldana, Rosamund Pike and Paz Vega. However, we really REALLY think he should get a better agent… I’m sure there are a lot of interesting independent films that are much better suited for a fine actor than… let’s say, Mirrors 2.

In Celebrity, English, Films, Photographs, Sharing, Television actor, rankings

To Watch Until They’re 35 – Eita

April 18, 2010 — 14 Comments

Guess who’s #10 on the list of The 20 to Watch Between 25-30?

But it’s, of course, Eita!

Born in Tokyo, Japan on December 13th 1982. He might be unknown to almost everyone, unless you are already familiar with Japanese films and series, but this 27-year-old actor has proven that you should keep on watching him.

His list of films include Aoi Haru (Blue Spring), Azumi, Densha Otoko, Su-ki-da and Memories of Matsuko. Of course, Matsuko as a film works because of so many different aspects including Eita’s ability to make you want to connect with the brilliant Miki Nakatani.

Last year, Eita worked on two films that seemed to be in many of the “best of lists” in Japan, including the acclaimed Dear Doctor — by famous director Miwa Nishikawa, who wrote and directed Yureru (Sway) — as well as the seemingly popular April Bride, directed by indie acclaimed director Ryuichi Hiroki.

Add to that his recurring role as Mine on the Nodame Cantabile franchise [headed by fellow 20 to watch Juri Ueno] which sprung not only an 11-episode series, and two television special, but also two theatrical films opening on December 2009 and this month.

There is a certain softness in Eita’s aura that translates well whenever he’s on screen, making him perfect to play the sensible young man. He doesn’t even need to speak a single word, even though you probably would need the subtitles to actually understand what he is saying [unless, of course, you speak Japanese], but whenever he’s in a dramatic scene… all of that doesn’t matter. He’ll deliver the goods in a way that language would really not be a barrier.

Very few [men or women] can captivate you like this.

In Celebrity, English, Films, Japanese, Photographs, Sharing, Television actor, eita, japan, rankings

20 Actors Between 25-30 to Watch until They’re 35

April 13, 2010 — 41 Comments

I’m starting out my list this week… with lack of visitor’s response.

No complaining from you then~~~

I’m gonna start out with 5 of the guys, followed by 5 of the girls like last time. Only properly.

Love Exposure – Ai no Mukidashi: Psychotic Young Women

April 1, 2010 — 8 Comments

I saw Love Exposure (愛のむきだし) last night, and despite the nearly 4-hr running time — yes, the film is EPIC — it did never seem uninteresting. Yes, it actually felt like 2 or 3 films into 1, yet somehow… it didn’t bother me. It was highly entertaining… in a very dark and sick kind of way.

I mean, it can only be Japanese.

Ai no Mukidashi tells the story of Yu Tsunoda, a boy growing up in a very Christian family. Suddenly his mother dies, but before she does… he promises to introduce his Maria to his mom when he meets her. With the death of his mother, his father decides to become a priest, until he meets with a woman in church who has decided to become a Christian herself. She is baptized, and when she does her first session at the confessional, she tells Father Tsunoda that she is in love with him.

At first, Father Tsunoda refuses but in the end gives into this woman, and begins having an affair with her while still giving sermons at church. Three months later, the woman in question seems bored of him, and is tired of sneaking around as the priest doesn’t show signs of quitting priesthood, so she leaves him which turns Father Tsunoda into a pessimist who gives sermons about doom and destruction.

This also makes his relationship with his son Yu difficult, as Father Tsunoda gets a sick satisfaction from hearing his son confessing his daily sins, whom in turns has been looking for better and scandalous sins to commit in order to please his dad. His major sin-accomplishment is becoming a panties-photo-snapping-on-the-street perv.

That’s a whole movie all on itself, then there’s the part where he meets the most perfect panties, falls in love/lust, there’s a lot of killing, girl-on-girl action, girl-on-drag fantasy… etc, etc and… then there’s crazy women.

Or… I mean, crazy girl.

Psychotic women… sociopaths~~ it’s all about the crazy… and not only because they’re unstable. They are scary because they coolly kill people or get people killed, and they show no remorse.

It is so sick… but highly entertaining.
Continue Reading…

In Celebrity, English, Films, Japanese, Korean, Sharing, Stills actress, chiaki kuriyama, contemporary classics, huzzah, japan, korea, kou shibasaki, quentin tarantino, rankings

Top5 Little Girls on Film

March 27, 2010 — 5 Comments

In honor of the release of Let the Right One in here in Peru, I have put together my Top5 Little Girls on Film. It wasn’t how cute they were, it was about young girls — I’m only taking into consideration girls younger than 15 years old — dealing with not so innocent stuff. It wasn’t also about dealing with issues teens deal with normally.

These characters weren’t dealing with coming-of-age stories. These were already adults inside girly bodies.

Yu Aoi Films Ranked

Hey, guys~

Just wanted to let everyone know that I created a Yu Aoi list on TheAuteurs ranking her films. I’m still undecided about overall film or just Yu’s performance, so I’m going to say a mix of both.

I think it’s time to take the post-its off…

Posted on February 23, 2010 In Celebrity, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Sharing, Snapshots actress, distributors, fandom, fansubs, post-it messages, rankings, subtitles, theauteurs.com, yu aoi

12 Comments

Best Songs of 2000-2009 – Part 5/5

December 31, 2009 — 2 Comments

Well, it’s last post of the year!!

I’m off to the family’s big Asian dinner as always.
Sadly, no fireworks T.T [watch last year’s here]

Best Songs of 2000-2009 – Part 4/5

December 30, 2009 — 1 Comment

We are nearly at the end of our list of 100 Songs of the Decade~~~

Some really great songs on this one, with loads of variety
with music of many genres and different languages.

Archives For rankings

Blogroll

YAM Magazine

Archives

Categories

Yu Aoi Events

YAM Magazine