Tuesday, February 21, 2006

hard gay at yahoo, wooo...

here's a segment from a japanese variety show featuring comedian hard gay's visit to yahoo! japan. yes, i kno, how many more gay caricatures do we need in the world, rite? but i couldn't help but crack up watching hard gay at work (or at someone else's work). i feel like his comedy isn't so much about how "gay" he seems, but the reactions of the people around him to his loud, flamboyant, and friendly nature. for me, anyways. plus, how can you deny that there is something deeply powerful about hard gay? watch that manly man shake his leatherbound package at people and marvel. (via jeff)

Monday, February 20, 2006

out and in

i just finished reading out by kirino natsuo, about a group of women who work at the night shift at a boxed lunch factory in the outskirts of tokyo and what happens when one of them kills her husband. it's funny i even considered giving this book to my mom to read. it was sadistically violent and gory, with every gruesome action described in careful detail. kinda. the story was definitely involving and it propels rather quickly after the murder happens up until the end of the book. i'm not completely satisfied with the conclusion, but i guess it did sorta make sense within the logistical bounds of the book. what was really interesting was that the narrative perspective switched up regularly, so that you would see how things unfolded from the point of view of several of the characters. i think the number of people must have reached at least ten. unfortunately, not all the characters were drawn very well or completely, which i probably wouldn't have noticed as much had kirino not bothered to focus on them, in particular the hot brazilian guy (i dunno if he was that hot in the book, but i cast this guy (thanks made in brazil) in the movie i made in my head). speaking of the movie i was making in my head, i could see a really cool japanese-style indie movie made out of this book. something in a style between kurosawa kiyoshi and tsukamoto shinya. anyways, it was entertaining, tho some of the really gross stuff was a bit over-the-top, and it was also a pretty quick read for me for it being a 400-page book (i read slow).

so wait, what's that other cover? i'd read murakami ryuu's in the miso soup sometime last year (or was it the year before? i don't remember...), and i have to say out reminded me a lot of that book. both are about the seedy underbelly of japanese urban society, tho they definitely take different paths to describe what might be going on just under the surface. however, i liked out a lot more than i did in the miso soup. in the miso soup was almost pointless and the end was too obscure to the point that i didn't feel like the story ended at all. kirino actually mentions murakami in her book, so she's just begging for the comparison. i wonder why so? i figured people would have compared them anyway... at any rate, if you need something to occupy your time on a plane, out would definitely be a good pick, tho if you were on a flight to japan, you might want to pick another book.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

rhydian vaughan, part two

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hey look, it's rhydian! in case you've forgotten, rhydian vaughan is one of my very favorite taiwanese models. this spread is from the february issue of taiwan men's uno (don't bother clicking on that, it says it's in the middle of "system maintenance," whatever the fuck that means. actually, why did i even link it...?). i don't have much more to say about him, so here are more pictures: pondering the wine, and cutting the cheese.

Friday, February 10, 2006

boogie down

finally, dudetube brings us what we all wanted to see from youtube: boys in their underwear, some drunk, some singing and dancing, some both. best idea ever. (via towleroad)

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

oscars, best adapted screenplay

a good movie usually starts from a good script, and some great scripts are based on previously existing works, so here are the nominees for the best adapted screenplay oscar.

i'll say it again. i enjoyed all these movies. well, except for the part in munich when they intercut a scene with avner having sex with his wife with the massacre in munich. what was that about? mebbe i just didn't look deep enuf to get the real meaning behind it, but i think i'm okay with that. other than that, tony kushner and eric roth wrote some fantastic back-and-forths about faith and revenge and that sort of thing. unfortunately, i didn't feel like it was put together in the best possible way, so it's not my favorite. a history of violence was good, and some of the characters were written very well by josh olson, but i didn't feel like there was anything particularly special about it (except for mebbe them). enjoyable, yes, but best? probably not. dan futterman's capote script was good, and i think it has the most to do with the best qualities of the movie, but parts of it still just didn't connect for me. i felt like there was just a little bit lacking. i really liked the constant gardener, but i think it's missing a nomination. yes, it may just be a great adaptation by jeffrey caine, but where's a director's nod for meireilles? i felt like most of what was best about this movie was the direction, and yet no nom. boo! anyways, i don't kno why i just went thru all that, cuz of course i loved brokeback and hope it wins in this category (as well as others). it's remarkable how larry mcmurtry and diana ossana turned a tiny (tho very wrenching) proulx short story into something bigger while retaining exactly everything that the story had been about. so many things went into making brokeback such an amazing movie, and the script was definitely part of it. go brokeback!

Saturday, February 04, 2006

oscars, best animated feature

i love watching movies, and i like the oscars too. you may have heard that the nominations were announced this past tuesday, and while most of them were given, there were a few surprises here and there. as i always do during this time, i start watching all the movies that were nominated, so that i can get a good feeling for what's really good and what movie was just campaigned to death. i think i did pretty good this year in that i'd already seen most of them, but there are a few of those best actor and actress movies i never bothered to see. anyways, i thot it would be fun to make my own picks. let's start simple (tho i'm sure everyone knos what best picture nominee i thot was best).

it's a young category, but i like it. animated movies are usually so much fun to watch. you can do so much wacky stuff that's just not possible in the realm of live action. pixar has won two out of the three times it was nominated in the four years since best animated feature film (tho i thot monsters, inc was better than shrek in 2001), but there is no pixar movie this year, so who will win this year? howl's moving castle was an enjoyable movie, and i love miyazaki's movies usually (spirited away ritefully won in 2002 for this category), but the story was weak and didn't make that much sense, and the happy ending was so sudden and baseless, one wonders why the rest of the story was worth telling. the world was well-shaped and i liked all the little miyazaki touches to diana wynne jones's story, but that doesn't automatically make it a great movie. corpse bride was short and simple. the animation was great, most of the jokes were pretty funny, and i even enjoyed the music. i liked it, but i didn't feel like there was all that much to this movie, compared to the other two. i think it's obvious i liked wallace and gromit in the curse of the were-rabbit the best. it was hilarious from start to finish and well-imagined. there were so many small details that were put in for careful watchers. i enjoyed this movie immensely and want to get the dvd for my little cousins so that i can watch it again with them. i think this category is no contest. wallace and gromit is way better than the other two.