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Monday, December 31, 2012

Mannequins of Ginza

This will be the last video I put together for 2012.

Of Mannequins in Ginza.

In truth, it's more like my impressions of Ginza.

[VIDEO] Train Ride to Otaru with Dad

The year is about to end.

There is less than 24 hours left in the year 2012 for me. I wish to end the year the way I wanted to start the next. Just to keep on doing what I love to do, working on my craft, seeing more things.

This is a video that I shot in September 13th, 2012 (my sister's birthday!) when Dad and I took a train to the town of Otaru in Hokkaido. At that time, we were in Hokkaido for the Sapporo Short Film Festival where my short film LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER was screening. (I would later pick up an award from the festival)

The footages I shot were left in my hard disk for quite a few months, I decided to finally cut them together.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas lights in Shinjuku 2012

Since I do not have the luxury of being on a plane flying back from Estonia like last Christmas, yesterday, I decided to just go to my familiar stomping grounds at Shinjuku for dinner and also to check out its illumination.

If you are too lazy to read my heartfelt writing, you can just watch my video of Christmas Illumination in Shinjuku. Now.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Manoel de Oliveira turns 104 today.

Today (December 11th) is the 104th birthday of Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira. This blows my mind.

He is currently the oldest active director in the world (unless the Spanish director Miguel Morayta, who is year older than Oliveira and retired since 1978, suddenly chooses to come back to make another film) and has remained prolific since he made his first film in 1927. (he became exceptionally prolific since 1990, when he would make at least one film every year until now)

Again, it blows my mind when I realized that Oliveira is actually older than the likes of Orson Welles, all of the French New Wave directors, Akira Kurosawa, Frederico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman... When GONE WITH THE WIND came out, Oliveira was already 30. When Orson Welles made CITIZEN KANE, Oliveira was already in his mid-30s. Oliveira was 50 when a group of French guys made films that spark what we now call the French New Wave.

I can go on and on with this, but I will share with you an Oliveira tale.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

I AM NOT THE WORLD YOU WANT TO CHANGE by Izumi Takahashi [Tokyo Filmex 2012]

I Am Not the World You Want to Change あたしは世界なんかじゃないから

Izumi Takahashi's (高橋泉) I AM NOT THE WORLD YOU WANT TO CHANGE あたしは世界なんかじゃないから is one of the two Japanese films in competition at the Tokyo Filmex this year. (The other is Odayaka, which I, being the editor of its trailer, have seen much too many times)

Friday, December 07, 2012

EPILOGUE by Amir Manor [Tokyo Filmex 2012]


Having attended the Tokyo Filmex three times, this year marks the very first time when I actually got to catch the Grand Prix winner in the festival.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

MEMORIES LOOK AT ME by Song Fang [Tokyo Filmex 2012]


The Tokyo Filmex ended a few days ago. I was surprised that I had managed to catch all three of the award-winning films. (well, except Kim Ki-Duk's PIETA, which won the Audience Award)

MEMORIES LOOK AT ME 记忆望着我 by Song Fang 宋方 is a Chinese docudrama that received the Special Jury Prize at Filmex. It was also the Best First Feature award winner at the Locarno Film Festival.

Saturday, December 01, 2012

Photos of Tokyo International Forum at night. And autumn.

While waiting for the "111 GIRLS" screening at Filmex last night, I decided to take a walk and kill some time.

People crossing the road in dramatic fashion.

Nearby was the Tokyo International Forum building, which I haven't stepped in for four years. I thought it would snap some photos of the place.

BAD FILM by Sono Sion [Tokyo Filmex 2012]

I have been attending some screenings at the Tokyo Filmex since it started last week on Nov 24th.

The Tokyo Filmex is one of the two major film festivals in Tokyo (the other being the Tokyo International Film Festival held a month earlier). Ever since I moved to Tokyo, I had attended screenings at the 2008 and 2009 editions of the festival, but was unable to do so in the last 2 years because I was either at the Torino Film Festival 2010 or the Golden Horse 2011.

So it's good to finally be back, indulge myself in some films.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Happy 30th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

All my life, I have never really remembered the actual date of my parents' wedding anniversary.

But today is their 30th anniversary, so there's no way I'm going to forget it. (it only happened because 2 years ago Mom was emailing me an e-card she made for Dad to celebrate today, and I had a glimpse of the actual date of their anniversary!!)

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Songs sung by my mom 我妈妈戚舜琴的歌

Yesterday (November 17th) was my mom's birthday.
昨天(11月17日)是我妈妈的生日。

In certain parts of the world, it IS still my mom's birthday.
在一些国家, 现在还是我妈的生日。

Over the years since I started this blog, I usually mention about her birthday.
每一年我都会在这部落上提起这一天。

I might have also mentioned before that she was a singer before she married Dad. And these are her albums.
你们也有可能知道我妈妈戚舜琴曾经是一名歌手。 跟老爸结了婚以后就退出歌坛。

Friday, November 16, 2012

Fascinated by THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER, an incomplete masterpiece 30 years in the making

I haven't updated this blog the past two weeks because I was busy with my doctorate dissertation. The week that led to the dissertation were spent mostly in my dimly-lit room or my lab in Waseda University. It was a repetitive cycle of writing, researching, drinking lots of black coffee. The topic was something I have been familiar with for the past four years (It's an expansion of my Masters' Thesis), so it's not as difficult as I have worried. But there were still a lot of things to write.

Exactly a week ago, on a Friday afternoon, I managed to turn in my dissertation. Whatever happens next is beyond my control. Having not slept for the past 48 hours, I was tired when it all ended.

Saturday was a day I chose to recharge my energies. There was nothing else I planned to do except staying on my bed.

While doing that, I read on The Playlist about a documentary called PERSISTENCE OF VISION, a documentary about animator Richard Williams' 30-year-long work on his passion project "The Thief And The Cobbler".

Monday, October 29, 2012

I talk about horror films, ghosts, and Woo Ming Jin's short film DOUBLE (The Star, 26th of October, 2012)

Last week, just before I returned to Tokyo, I did an email interview with Phyllis Ho of R.AGE (the weekly youth section of The Star) about Woo Ming Jin's DOUBLE (which I co-wrote, produced and edited), and also horror films in general. I assume it's for Halloween. The article came out a few days ago.

Candy Lee in DOUBLE

Here's my part: