2 posts tagged “iwo jima”
Firstly, here's a shameless plug--for all North American Arashi fans...final day for sign-up is today! Don't miss it!
Yay!! ^^v
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Finally got around to posting the May entry. This is going to be quite lengthy. I don't think I've updated in a quite a while. ><
There's a couple hours left of May so I'll post right now how my May banner has been for the past month.
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I know I'm behind with all the fangirling about this...but...I got my Arashi Around Asia DVD last Saturday after I got home from my morning dentist appointment. It's a fun watch, though I wish it had English subs. Since it's "international" I'm surprised it didn't have more languages attached to it like Chinese or Korean or Thai. In my opinion, English is good to throw in there since it's used widely (yes I am biased since I use English on a daily basis, so I'll take the heat for that ><).
Anyway, I watched the DVDs through already, but once I give it another go, I'll do a review after my second viewing.
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I also bought Letters From Iwo Jima DVD the other day. I recommend it even to non-Arashi / non-Nino fans (as I've said before). It is a very poignant movie that definitely earned all the accolades it had in various reviews like the one in the New York Times (the name of the writer escapes me at the moment, but he could only say good things about it). It's disappointing it wasn't as hyped up as Flags of Our Fathers. It's definitely a must-see. For me as cliche as this sounds, the movie isn't just a story about a war of two countries, but a struggle of the individual and his homeland.
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Speaking of movies...I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End last Friday with my little cousins (I really shouldn't say little because the other kid is about taller than me already ><). I actually liked the movie. I was a little rusty on the details from the second installment, but otherwise, it's pretty good. ^^
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Arashi fans have been laughing out loud at the latest Shukudai-kun. Saw it yesterday and yes, Jun's facial expressions are priceless in that episode haha. I think Jun has loosened up tremendously as he's grown older. I'm disappointed that Nino didn't try any of the food. Would have loved to see his reaction hehe.
Something not too funny, but definitely interesting. Look at this bracelet here:
He got that from a Native American turquoise jewelry-maker. I dunno if you guys have watched that special when Sho went to Las Vegas, NV, but here's pictures. He semi-made it hehe.
It's been around two years since he got it. That's nice of him to still be wearing it. ^^
Video credits: tenshi_angels87.livejournal.com // arashianfiles.orgfree.com
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Next month (err, tomorrow hehe) is Nino month since June 17 is his birthday. Nino banner, Nino song for ringtone...all that good stuff. :D
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Later!
It was my goal to watch ALL the nominees for Best Picture in this year's Academy Awards before Awards night itself. And I did. In the order of when I saw them...
1. Letters From Iwo Jima (in a special premier last November)
2. Little Miss Sunshine (DVD)
3. The Departed (DVD)
4. Babel (DVD)
5. The Queen (in the theater last Saturday)
Here's what I'll have to say about the whole deal with Best Picture on last Sunday's Academy Awards:
<rant>
I saw The Departed on DVD two weekends ago. And it wasn't a good movie. Given, I'd seen Infernal Affairs before already so I was a bit spoiled, still...I can't believe The Departed won Best Picture and Best Director. It was such a macho-ized, American-ized, Scorsese-ized Infernal Affairs. It was basically the same movie, but worse. Why didn't they just show Infernal Affairs on the big screen here?
Even if I hadn't watched Infernal Affairs beforehand, I don't think The Departed is that great of a movie. I have no idea why only one out of the four Academy Award winners for the movie, the scriptwriter (and for good reason), acknowledged Infernal Affairs.
</rant>
Letters From Iwo Jima was my choice for Best Picture. Compared to the other contenders in the category, I thought Iwo Jima had REALLY good chances.
Best Picture because (aside from Nino being there ^^), seriously, it really is a good movie. The cinematography, the story, the characters...everything played a huge part in the movie. Another Eastwood classic. It definitely satiated my tastes in a movie, so in the Jean Awards, Iwo Jima would win Best Picture. I'll bet you, years from now, we won't be talking about The Departed. We'll be talking about Infernal Affairs which The Departed was based on. We'll be talking about Letters From Iwo Jima which was the superior movie over The Departed. I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand the fact that that movie won an Oscar. I feel like Infernal Affairs should've won an Oscar, too.
All right...despite my annoyance with the butchering of Infernal Affairs by the movie The Departed--I will admit it's tied with second as my pick for Best Picture. The other movies were just--not good enough for Best Picture. I think if Iwo Jima was more hyped up and shown in more theaters before Oscars night, it would've gotten top prize. However, that's where The Departed ultimately won--not in the quality of the movie, but how much it appealed to audiences. And yeah, maybe because they said either: "I think we've given Eastwood and Spielberg too much already," or "Ahh, fuck it, give Scorsese an Oscar already."
Tied with The Departed as my second pick for Best Picture would be Little Miss Sunshine. An awesome movie that's enough to make you laugh and cry. It had that indie feel, didn't it? A very good movie that reminded me of Stranger Than Fiction (surprised this movie didn't receive an Oscar nod). The little girl was amazing. She really did deserve that nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The Queen was my personal third. It was simple, yet quite interesting. It wasn't dragging and we see a speculative look at how the Royal Family dealt with Princess Diana's death. And I love the Welsh Corgis. Who can't love a movie with Welsh Corgis?
Babel was my least favorite of all. Such a weird movie, even for me. Too deep to understand. I'm the type to critique on a movie (similar to literary criticism) rather than just watch for entertainment. I like it when there's symbolism and symmetry to movies. I guess Babel had that kind of audience in mind--but really--I got lost watching the movie. It was an ambitious production tying up different people, etc. Honestly--it was confusing, dragging, and lacked cohesiveness.
