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- 70 plays / Created Apr 17, 13This one is sort of an unofficial continuation of the last mix "we are timeless" - still pretty dancy but with a couple of changes in tempo and leaning more towards rocky :D
- 59 plays / Created Apr 13, 13New songs and discoveries as well as some older tunes that I somehow passed over before; well that's fixed now!
- 37 plays / Created Mar 22, 13This mix began with the premise that NELL and Daughter should do a collaboration, and something ended up being based on the theme of love...of the frequently depressing type.
- 94 plays / Created Feb 24, 13This mixtape started out a little blue, but of course, just because something's broken doesn't mean you can't cheerfully fix it. In fact, sometimes that's the fun part. There; that was my rambling explanation of how this mixtape turned out to be cheerful. lol
- 76 plays / Created Feb 20, 13A bunch of k-pop "little guys" are back, along with some more established alternative-type staples which mix well with some new bits and pieces in the Taiwanese and Japanese music worlds, together with one or two English tracks that I've been kicking around for a while. Note: besides A$AP, the rest of the tracks are safe-for-work. (...I think)
- 155 plays / Created Feb 04, 13The inspiration for this 20-track mixtape was a song I came across the other day which reminded me of the music that was really popular around 2006 - lots and lots of emo. Not being able to resist, I decided to compile some of the songs I liked and some others I never did discover back then. Rather nostalgic, actually. Some of them still hold their own.
- 83 plays / Created Feb 03, 13A mix of varied songs in terms of languages, genre etc. yet they all share the same "sincere" feeling (^.^)
- 26 plays / Created Feb 03, 13A little bit of everything as usual, ranging from Japanese pop and rock to Korean rap and electronic pop and branching out to Taiwan and the further English-speaking lands :P
- 38 plays / Created Jan 31, 13Some awesome new finds and some slightly older favourites - context is everything especially when approaching "popular" performers. From pop to dance to atmospheric to rock to ballad? ...Things may be getting interesting.
- 134 plays / Created Jan 25, 13A mix of mostly new, mostly Korean indie/dance/I-don't-know-what-genre music mostly sung in English for an odd switch, with some French thrown in for a bit of flavour...also, a bit of acoustic...oh, and one of the groups that sounds Korean-ish is actually a well-established Japanese group...guess which one! lol
- 67 plays / Created Jan 02, 13dancing over the rim of the sun; grasp the trail of the sideways fall
- 24 plays / Created Jan 01, 13An eclectic mix of the newest and best (not necessary both at the same time) releases...more or less since oracaudio [yes I know it's a bit out of date now but the songs are still good]
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- Sep 27, 11
~ Official ~ Wikipedia ~ iMDb ~ YouTube ~
or "On the annoying habit of freezing before danger"
I have (and have always) been bothered by an exceedingly annoying habit of people in horror, thriller or action movies to freeze in the face of danger. I know that this reaction is probably realistic to a certain extent, but definitely not to the extent typically portrayed. This tendency appears (at least from my viewing experience) to be much exaggerated in Japanese films and anime (to be specific), with characters not only freezing, but also running whole monologues in their heads and/or giving others ridiculously long pep talks, all while the monster/enemy/etc. is running at them. I know it's a bit unfair of me to pick Gantz out as an example of this, but as I just watched it today, it's utter ridiculousness as far as this aspect goes is particularly fresh in my mind. There is one scene where they are facing down a multi-armed armed-with-100-swords alien, and they keep not shooting at it. Not only once, but multiple times. You would think that they would learn. This annoying reaction has much reduced my liking for this particular film, and other films as well. I suppose though, that as a side-benefit, films where characters don't completely lose their common sense in the face of danger (i.e. the mute girl in Midnight FM) become that much more memorable. Thank goodness for the exception to the rule!
Side Note: Gantz: Perfect answer looks like it'll be much better - I think I will watch it tomorrow. - Feb 13, 11
~ The Film Reel ~ Youku ~
or "On the importance of silence in films"
Sometimes, with more-indie films, they don't have the budget for a huge sweeping orchestral soundtrack, and this can cause them to feel a little flat, but in other cases, this forces them to really focus on the placement of silence. Some of the best movies I've ever seen really knew how to use silence to their advantage. Case in point, the film How to Date an Otaku Girl. Again, I won't bother with a synopsis, as I want to focus on one specific scene, when Yoriko is leaving for England. The couple part ways at a footbridge (and DON'T kiss, but that topic of appropriate and inappropriate times for movie affection can wait for another day). After Yoriko walks off, and the camera stays with Hinata, everything goes silent. The sounds of the wind and the pinwheels etc. which were (in retrospect) purposefully highlighted just a few moments ago are now absent, although we observe through frame cuts that the wind is still blowing and the pinwheels are still turning. Only when Hinata returns to a now empty apartment does sound return, echoing the now too-loud sounds of the door opening, and really emphasize his new solitude.
Therefore, despite the fact that both the lighting and the colour-editing are generally only satisfactory, the acting is a little uneven (although some scenes are truly excellent), and some of the soundtrack choices are a little off, How to Date an Otaku Girl will remain with me as an excellent film, not just because of its unique treatment of an interesting topic, but mainly because of its finely-crafted use of silence.
Reviewer's Note: Of course, I'm not forgetting 3-Iron (some basic info) which probably stands as the masterpiece of silence in film. - Feb 05, 11
~ Wikipedia ~ IMDb ~ HanCinema ~ YouTube ~
This review is the main motivating factor for starting this blog, which probably gives it too much credit, but I thought it was interesting enough to merit being written down.
I got the Korean film Green Chair a couple of years ago, but due to the mature content was somewhat hesitant to actually watch it. I finally buckled down to watch it a couple of weeks ago, and was actually very impressed with the story and the acting and the general accomplishment of the film. I won't go into detail over summarizing, because you can just as easily read the synopsis online, and I actually just want to focus on one specific scene of the film.
I've been noticing a general annoyance I've been having with Korean dramas/films of any sort of romance leaning, and this morning, while getting ready, I realized that I am starting to be very bored of the constantly recurring drinking scene. I know that one can't extrapolate real life from movies, and conclude that Koreans are always drinking, or get drunk a lot, or are incapable of communicating true feelings (especially in the love department) without being inebriated, because that is obviously not the case. However, this plot contrivance is so overused that I find myself becoming annoyed by the characters, which is generally not the intent of the scriptwriter (at least I hope not). The only saving grace is that the drunken confession-type scene is fairly equally distributed between both genders. Therefore, the scene in Green Chair where Kim Mun-hee and Seo-hyun are at one of those tent-bar things (I'm sorry, I don't know what they are actually called) and Seo-hyun gets typically drunk and is telling Kim Mun-hee his true feelings about their relationship, has an increased impact when the viewer realizes that Seo-hyun is not actually drunk. He was just using the drunken confession stereotype to communicate some important things to Kim Mun-hee that she wouldn't otherwise take seriously. Therefore, the fact that this over-used plot contrivance is turned on its head so to speak, makes this scene particularly memorable and effective. The film Green Chair, like most films, has its stronger points and its weaker areas, but it is by using scenes such as this one that it really manages to stand out. - Feb 05, 11
I've been thinking about doing this for a while: judging from my LiveJournal friends/subscriptions, I'm obviously a very interested Korean entertainment industry fan (film, dramas, music etc.) as well as Japan and Taiwan to lesser extents (especially in the case of the latter) and some key North American / European / South American elements as well of course. I've never really wanted to write anything about it though, because I don't have any new content to share, I can't translate between any relevant languages, and I'm not a super motivated fan. However, I do have a lot of impressions/opinions/reviews on things that come out, which I mostly spout out in a running monologue to my sister, generally when we're on the bus to school surrounded by the extensive population of Asians (mostly Filipino, Chinese or from Hong Kong but some Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese) who attend my university. This of course causes her to be exceedingly annoyed with me / embarrassed when I'm giving her my currents reactions to / opinions on the latest Kpop, Jpop, Jrock and Cpop news.
Consequently, I've been thinking that it would be good to write down some of my more relevant reviews/opinions, if only as a personal record. Therefore, I expect this blog to be fairly sporadic (not unlike my haiku blog, which was supposed to be more consistent, but for technical reasons has become very annoying to update) and inconsistent and generally quite unorganized. I won't talk about everything I come across, or even do a complete review on what I do want to write about, but just focus on the aspects of things that leave a lasting impression on me or impact me in some way. We'll see how it goes.
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UploadsDec 20, 12" data-title="artifice"> May 12, 12" data-title="moogers winks"> May 07, 12" data-title="Moogers' sad day at home"> May 07, 12" data-title="Mr Moo's walk"> Mar 20, 12" data-title="Mickermook Whimmerbum"> Mar 13, 12" data-title="M.P.t.S."> Mar 08, 12" data-title="Moogers gets a treat"> Feb 26, 12" data-title="Mickermook Sadderpool"> Feb 25, 12" data-title="Mickermook Pinkerblack"> Nov 25, 11" data-title="extended China clips and pieces by Magisto"> Nov 24, 11" data-title="China trip bits and pieces by Magisto"> Nov 17, 11" data-title="Moogers makes an entrance"> Mar 31, 11" data-title="Messy Spring">
