I watched the Japanese blu-ray version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind last night. For the Blu-ray version the movie has been restored and the picture quality is great. They haven’t retouched things like the film grain and the occasional crooked animation cell, but left it as it was in the original film, which keeps an “authentic” feel.
I’ve finally started chewing away at the pile of Asian movies that I have, so I thought I’d post some short thoughts about some of the movies that I’ve watched.
I just placed a mega order (well, several medium size orders actually) at YesAsia. It’s been a good while since I ordered any J-Pop and K-Pop CDs and DVDs, so the must-haves have piled up.
This is what I got: […] there’s more! »
I finally watched Dear Friends (starring Keiko Kitagawa) the other night. I’ve been meaning to watch it for years (still not out on DVD with English subs). I liked it for the most part, although it was a bit awkward at times. Very emotional.
After watching it I browsed around YesAsia a bit and saw an in-store banner about some pre-order discount and thought “Hey, isn’t that Keiko?”. Turns out that she’s starring in a new movie called Hana no Ato, where she plays the daughter of a clan official who develops a relationship with a low-ranking samurai […] there’s more! »
I just came back from the cinema after watching The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. I didn’t watch it on the premiere (yesterday) because I couldn’t get a good seat (I got the best seat today). I didn’t get the notification that the tickets were going to be released until the day after I had already purchased my ticket (great service 
).
This was the first of the movies where I had actually read the book before watching the movie. I actually found it a bit distracting at first. I was comparing what was going on on the screen with my recent memory of the book too much. There were plenty of scenes that weren’t in the book. I liked Eclipse — I was smiling when I left the cinema, so it can’t have been too bad.
100 days with Mr. Arrogant (Naesarang ssagaji) is a Korean romantic comedy that I’d been meaning to watch for a long time, but I didn’t get around to it until last week. I know Kim Jae-won from the drama series Romance, but it was the first time I saw Ha Ji-won.
Ha Ji-won plays Kang Ha-yeong, a high-school senior who runs into Kim Jae-won’s character Lee Hyeong-jun when she, after having been dumped by her boyfriend, kicks a beer can down the street and causes a minor traffic accident where Hyeong-jun slightly damages his luxurious car. Since she doensn’t have any money he demands her to be his slave for 100 days to work off the debt.
I watched the movie Ninja Assassin yesterday. Although it’s starring Korean actor/pop star Rain, it’s not what most people would call a chick flick.
The movie is produced by the Wachowski brothers (Matrix, V for Vendetta) and directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), but as I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the title, it’s not so much about a deep meaningful story as it is about ninjas chopping people into bits.
The opening scene sets the tone of the movie right away. It’s extremely bloody. But not in a disgusting way. People are dismembered right and left, but they stop there. They don’t do any “weird” things to people. It’s just a bloody action movie (literally).
During my lunch break today I went to buy the movie New Moon on Blu-ray. At the store, the guy behind the counter went and got the BD for me and first put it on the counter. Then he quickly took it down behind the counter again and asked in a slightly hushed voice: “do you want me to put it in a bag for you?”. It was as if I was buying a porno 
I watched the Korean movie Our School E.T. the other day. I bought it because Park Bo-young (from Scandal Makers) is in it.
The movie is about a gym teacher who goes the extra mile to take care of students who are having troubles. E.T. in the title first stands for his unorthodox/alien ways to handle things, but then it stands for English teacher once he is faced with the “choice” of being fired or start teaching English.
The story has a nice message and there are a few good moments - I got a little Great Teacher Onitsuka vibe once in a while - but the delivery of said story is not very good I’m afraid.
I’m a very patient person, but […] there’s more! »
I’ve written snippets about the Korean movie Scandal Makers before. Now I want to show you a clip where Park Bo-young, who plays Jae-in/Jeong-nam in the movie, sings* the song 아마도 그건 (amado geugeon). I really like this song.
When this song came on the first time I wached the movie, I had to rush over to my CD shelf to pull out Park Hye-kyeong’s album When a Woman is in Love, because I recognized the song and knew I had it on CD. I didn’t know the title, but I could hear Hye-kyeong’s voice when I thought about the song.
I think the original artist for this song is Choi Yong-joon (최용준) (that’s what they say in the movie). According to the tag in the mp3 from the soundtrack it’s composed by 박병규.
*I think it’s actually sung by someone called Hong Min-jung (홍민정) here. She’s the one who sings on the soundtrack and the vocals sound just the same as in the movie.
Here’s the song from the soundtrack:
mrdeus: Me too 
alyaa: I miss Maki and HMC mrdeus: Thanks, I know it’s out.
kr4kez: hey mrdeus, the japanese version of genie is out! I would like to...
chewi: haha you the only one who ever twiged that 
mrdeus: Hehe, how did that picture of Maki Goto end up there? 
chewi: lol, i remember i wrote a blog about the guy Maki left the band for...mrdeus: Poor Halca I mean, it’s not her fault that Maki left....
