Ted::Blogs(): Movie Talk

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Movie::Byakuyakou

I love stories. I love drama. Byakuyakou is a Japanese TV series ("drama") based on a novel with the same title. It is about a boy who kills his father to protect a girl. It is also about a girl who kills her mother to protect a boy. At the age of 11, they fall in love with each other and walk under the sun hand in hand for the first - and for the last time. All they want is to walk under the sun one more time, but they fall deeper and deeper into the darkness as much they try to get out of it.

"Byakuya" means "White night", which means a never ending day, just like the mobius band. They try to get out from their past sin, but they commit new sins in doing so. Ryoji, the main character is not afraid to become a monster if that means protecting Yukiho's chance of happiness. And Yukiho does her best to try to be happy, just to make Ryoji's sacrifice worth it.

Starring the main actors from "Sekai no chûshin de, ai wo sakebu" (which is another, if not more, beautiful film), Byakuyakou is one of the best tv drama I've seen in a long time. I liked the story, the characters and the music. I especially loved the characters who are, unlike usual movies, not perfect and not purely innocent. They are not afraid to commit terrible, unthinkable sins, just to protect each other. I felt such characters are more "real" than any other I've seen. The music is also beautiful. The main theme reminds me of Enrio Morricone's "Cinema Paradiso", whereas the title song "影" by Shibasaki Kou (which is played at the end of each episode) just makes me want to cry.

April 03, 2006 in Movie Talk | Permalink | Comments (19)

Movie::And the Oscar goes to...

Black_tuxedo I just watched the 78th Annual Academy Awards. I would say that it was a very 'quiet' one, without much surprises. Oscar ceremony is a big entertainment event for me and my family, and we have always had the Oscar pool for the past 15 years or so.

This time, I was trailing my wife by 2 points two thirds into the game, but I finished strong, getting all the final 7 categories right. The Best Pictures was the most important one, because everone else thought that Brokeback Mountain was going to win and I was the only one to get it right. At the end, I got 16 out of 25, which is a bit above average compared to other years (Usually, I would get 12-15 right).

The Host

I was surprised to find Jon Stewart hosting the ceremony. He is a good comedian, but I didn't think he had enough of name value to run the show. He was pretty funny all along, ("Oscars, Martin Scorsese: zero, Three 6 mafia: one"), but no song-and-dance, and no controversies. I guess he was okay, but I really miss Billy Crystal for I always enjoyed his openings.

The funniest moment

We all agreed that Ben Stiller was the funniest guy tonight. He came out to present the "Visual Effects" award. He was wearing a green spandex and acting like he was invisible neck down with the special effects. He would later pull out a green mask and pretended as if the envelop was opening itself. It was classic Ben, and nobody does this better. Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell were hilarious as well.

Pleasant Surprises

I was really happy to see George Clooney win the Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. I wanted him to win because I think he is one of the not-so-many mainstream actors/actresses that are good enough to win an Oscar.

Oh, Nicole Kidman was stunning as usual:)

The Montages

The montages are one of the reasons I like the Oscars so much. The official site lists 6 different montages that were shown during the ceremony: Heroes & Heroines, Film Noir, Widescreen, Issues, Spectacles, and Biopics. I think they missed out the first one, which I thought was the best - it was about the 'gay' scenes in the old pictures (mocking Brokeback Mountain).

The Best Moment

I'm a big fan of Robert Altman, and it was great to see the giant get acknowledged by the "mainstream" academy. I love his unique style (sometimes it can get too complex for most people), and it was great to hear that he just finished another one. ("A Prairie Home Companion") He looked wise but older than I thought and I didn't know he had a heart transplant 10 years ago. He said he has 30~40 more years in him, and I surely hope so.

The Biggest Moment

When Ang Lee won the Best Director award, it seemed like Brokeback Mountain was going to get everything they wanted. I usually pick the same movie for the best director and the best picture, but I just felt that this could be one of those years that they would be a split. In fact, I think the academy tries to split them whenever they can to justify the separation of the two categories. There were two very outstanding movies, Brokeback and Crash, and they couldn't ignore one of them for the main awards. I thought it was very well done.

...Could have been better

Overall, I thought the 78th Academy Award was well done, but I really hoped there would be more enthusiasm. The host, at one point, made a joke that Three 6 Mafia was the most excited one, and it seemed like that's how it ended. Everybody was cool and happy, but nobody was Cuba-Gooding-Jr-happy or Roberto-Benigni-happy. I don't think anyone made an impressive acceptance speech as well - I was even starting to miss James Cameron's famous "I am the king of the world" moment.

Tech Tags: oscar academy+award brokeback+mountain crash ben+stiller jon+stewart

March 05, 2006 in Movie Talk | Permalink | Comments (4)

Movie::Oscar Predictions!

For the past 15 years or so, our family members have been running an Oscar pool. Usually the winner gets something less than $10, but it's still a lot of fun and it really makes watching the show much more exciting. Here is my this year's pick for the Oscar.