Eden of the East Music Video

This is my second anime music video. I used the brilliant anime Eden of the East.

Let me know what you think or give it a thumbs up on the youtube page! Thanks.

Eden of the East is available at Manga UK

Asian Film Awards 2013 Nominees

www.asianfilmawards.asia/

The nominees for the 7th Asian Film Awards have been announced. The ceremony will be held on 18th March in Hong Kong. And the Nominees are...


Best Film
'Drug War' (Mainland China)
'Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 1 & 2' (India)
'Mystery' (Mainland China)
'Outrage Beyond' (Japan)
'Pieta' (South Korea)

Best Director
Anurag Kashyap, 'Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 1 & 2' (India)
Abbas Kiarostami, 'Like Someone in Love' (Japan/France/Iran)
Kim Ki-duk, 'Pieta' (South Korea)
Takeshi Kitano, 'Outrage Beyond' (Japan)
Lou Ye, 'Mystery' (Mainland China)

Best Actor
Joseph Chang, 'GF*BF' (Taiwan)
Choi Min-sik, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)
Eddie Garcia, 'Bwakaw' (Philippines)
Tony Leung Ka-fai, 'Cold War' (Hong Kong)
Liu Ye, 'The Last Supper' (Mainland China)

Best Actress
Nora Aunor, 'Thy Womb' (Philippines)
Cho Min-soo, 'Pieta' (South Korea)
Golshifteh Farahani, 'The Patience Stone' (Afghanistan)
Gwei Lun-mei, 'GF*BF' (Taiwan)
Hao Lei, 'Mystery' (Mainland China)

Best Newcomer
Chien Man-shu, 'When a Wolf Falls in Love With a Sheep' (Taiwan)
Masahiro Higashide, 'The Kirishima Thing' (Japan)
Huang Yu-siang, 'Touch of the Light' (Taiwan)
Kim Sung-kyun, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)
Qi Xi, 'Mystery' (Mainland China)

Best Supporting Actor
Ha Jung-woo, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)
Ryo Kase, 'Like Someone in Love' (Japan/France/Iran)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, 'The Answer Lies Within' (India)
Chapman To, 'Diva' (Hong Kong)
Rhydian Vaughan, 'GF*BF' (Taiwan)

Best Supporting Actress
Jun Ji-hyun, 'The Thieves' (South Korea)
Kim Hye-soo, 'The Thieves' (South Korea)
Li Lieh, 'Together' (Taiwan)
Qin Lan, 'The Last Supper' (Mainland China)
Makiko Watanabe, 'Capturing Dad' (Japan)

Best Screenwriter
Anand Gandhi, 'Ship of Theseus' (India)
Kohei Kiyasu, Daihachi Yoshida, 'The Kirishima Thing' (Japan)
Mei Feng, Yu Fan, Lou Ye, 'Mystery' (Mainland China)
Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi, Ryker Chan, Yu Xi, 'Drug War' (Mainland China)
Yun Jong-bin, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)

Best Cinematographer
Touraj Aslani, 'Rhino Season' (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey)
Choi Young-hwan, 'The Thieves' (South Korea)
Rajeev Ravi, 'Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 1 & 2' (India)
Katsumi Yanagijima, 'Like Someone in Love' (Japan/France/Iran)
Zhang Li, Ma Cheng, 'The Last Supper' (Mainland China)

Best Production Designer
Cho Hwa-sung, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)
Bahman Ghobadi, Ali Daryai, 'Rhino Season' (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey)
Wasiq Khan, 'Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 1 & 2' (India)
Man Lim-chung, 'The Silent War' (Mainland China/Hong Kong)
Yee Chung-man, Eric Lam Chi-kiu, 'The Last Tycoon' (Mainland China/Hong Kong)

Best Composer
Pritam Chakraborty, 'Barfi!' (India)
Jo Yeong-wook, 'Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time' (South Korea)
Peyman Yazdanian, Johann Johannsson, 'Mystery' (Mainland China)
Keiichi Suzuki, 'Outrage Beyond' (Japan)
Koji Ueno, 'The Floating Castle' (Japan)

Best Editor
Takeshi Kitano, Yoshinori Ohta, 'Outrage Beyond' (Japan)
Mototaka Kusakabe, 'The Kirishima Thing' (Japan)
Valerie Loiseleux, 'Rhino Season' (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey)
David Richardson, Allen Leung, 'Drug War' (Mainland China)
Shin Min-kyung, 'The Thieves' (South Korea)

Best Visual Effects
Chas Chau, Lewis Chan, Benson Poon, Johnny Lin, 'When a Wolf Falls in Love With a Sheep' (Taiwan)
Kwak Tae-yong, Hwang Hyokyun, Lim Jung-hoon, 'Doomsday Book' (South Korea)
Farbod Khoshtinat, 'Rhino Season' (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey)
Lee In-ho, Je Young-ho, 'Soar Into the Sun' (South Korea)
Katsuro Onoue, Tetsuo Oya, Atsuki Sato, Minami Tsujino, 'The Floating Castle' (Japan)

Best Costume Designer
Chen Xue-bing, Zhong Jia-ni, 'The Last Supper' (Mainland China)
Jessie Dai Mei-ling, Chan Chi-man, 'The Last Tycoon' (Mainland China/Hong Kong)
Kwak Jung-ae, 'A Werewolf Boy' (South Korea)
Man Lim-chung, 'The Silent War' (Mainland China/Hong Kong)
Mitsuru Otsuka, Kazuta Matsunaga, Akihiko Inamura, 'The Floating Castle' (Japan)

Wee Korea Film Group Glasgow, Scotland

I recently attended the first WeeKorea Film night in Glasgow, and it was a brilliant way to start the group!

Finding people in a city such as Glasgow with interests in Asian cinema can be quite rare. It can be even rarer to get the chance to see an Asian film in a cinema or at a public showing. I was quite surprised to stumble upon the WeeKorea Film group on facebook but was delighted and intrigued about the idea of watching and discussing Korean films with like minded people.

WeeKorea film is the brain child of Trent Kim, a hard working young man who wants to bring a slice of Korean culture to the people of Scotland bimonthly. The event was supported by the Glasgow School of Art and the screening was in the Glasgow School of Art Student Union. It's a great and handy location because it also has a reasonably priced bar with food available too.

The film of the night was 'Where is Ronny?' by Sang Kook, Sim. An excellent, funny and thought provoking film which I will be reviewing shortly. And rather than sitting through trailers and adverts, we were shown a short film to start the night 'Merry Christmas' by Yang Joon, Choi. Another classic little gem to come out of South Korea, and this one was actually subtitled by Trent Kim himself for us... What a guy!

Members of WeeKorea Film enjoying the movie Where is Ronny... Nice hats guys.

For all information about the WeeKorea film group and to join, check out the facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeeKoreaFilm/

The next night is going to be held on Tuesday the 19th of February 2013 at 7pm at the Glasgow School of Art Student Union. Hoping to see you all there!

Summer Time Machine Blues

Comedy | Sci-Fi - 3 September 2005 (Japan)
107 mins
Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro
Writer: Makoto Ueda
Stars: Eita, Yoshiaki Yoza and Daijiro Kawaoka


I would like to kick start this blog with one of my favourites. Not a recent film but a film that should be brought to the attention of everyone. This Japanese comedy is one of the most brilliantly written and intelligent sci-fi films I have ever witnessed. Which is why I personally believe it is at the top of the best Time Travel films of all time! That's correct, just as good as Back To The Future and slightly better than Bill & Ted.


Samâ taimu mashin burûsu or in English; Summer Time Machine Blues is a Sci-Fi film to come out of Japan in 2005. Yes, the film is 7 years old yet most people still haven't heard of or seen this excellent film. Why? Because for some reason unbeknownst to me, this film hasn't had an International DVD release.

WHY NO INTERNATIONAL RELEASE!

Setting; An extremely hot summers day in Japan. A Sci-Fi club are indulging in a bit of Japan's favourite sport Baseball, while a member of the local Camera Club(who share the same building) are taking shots of their not so technically great game. When an accident between the members breaks their remote control for their air conditioner they seek their club tutor to fix it. However the extreme heat has everyone acting a bit loopy and the tutor is practically useless. Back at the club house they stumble upon a strange looking contraption, which turns out to be a time machine. Not knowing where it came from or who it belongs to they decide to try it out. The best use they can come up for the time machine? Go back to yesterday and save the air conditioning remote control from being broken!

Yes, the plot isn't the most intelligent outline for a time travelling film. But this film has so many surprises and tricks up it's sleeve. On first viewing you will often wonder why people are saying or doing certain things, but don't worry, everything will be answered in time.... almost!

The young cast are all fantastic in their roles. With Eita who was the star of the Water Boys TV show and Juri Ueno who was in Swing Girls playing the leads brilliantly. One of the characters who steals the film with his bit part is the manager of a B-Movie Sci-Fi Cinema who offers the group advice on time travel from the many hours of film he has watched. While wearing his Star Trek Next Generation uniform he explains the laws of time travel. This sets up one of the funniest scenes of the film when Professor Kohtaro Hozumi takes them all into his classroom to explain time travel and the consequences. The cinema manager and the Sci-Fi club member's reactions are hilarious to this scientific explanation of time travel... Which will actually leave the viewer with a deeper understanding of the laws of time travel.

Yes. I see what you did there.

Look out for references and part homages to other Sci-Fi films like Back To The Future and The Time Machine, it's easy to see what helped inspire this film, and it isn't afraid to show were it borrowed some ideas from.

Summer Time Machine Blues is relatively low budget with a small cast and most of the scenes being shot in the Sci-Fi club house. But the special effects are on par with Hollywood as they are used sparingly. Also, the camera is used brilliantly to capture the scorching heat to help you feel their desperation. The Director also uses a simple effect to show the parallel time line differences, split screen, simple but very effective and humorous.

This is one of those rare films you should really see at least twice to understand exactly what is going on and it will open up new perspectives and theories about the story, you will notice events and background details which you wouldn't bat an eyelid at on your first viewing. Even then, you will still be trying to decipher the time line paradox of the remote control... or where the time machine really came from in the first place?

Tomorrow is perfect to watch it! Or how about yesterday?

Summer Time Machine Blues can't be described in any more detail without ruining the ride you are in for. It's ironic that it's a comedy and it acknowledges it's own paradox, yet it stays true to science and logic and ends up being one of the most intelligent time travel films I have witnessed. And it's definitely the funniest. See it for yourself! For the full effect, watch it on a very hot day!

9/10