Lost in Beijing (Ping guo) is a 2007 film directed by Yu Li about two financially opposite couples entwined in a greedy and selfish dispute over a yet-to-be-born child.
The film has been steeped in controversy due to the realistic tone and with its roots in a censor-heavy China.
Trouble started even before its premiere with Chinese censors demanding multiple cuts of the sex and gambling portrayed as well as scenes in slum-like settings. And despite the film acquiring international distribution, it still had problems being released in its own country. Read more…
I guess I saw Koyuki for the 1st of many times in The Last Samurai (2003). She had a key-role in the film as Taka, the widow of a warrior slain by Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise). In her role she spoke only Japanese, but it was her ethereal beauty, and her soulful eyes that captured my attention.
I’ve since watched this film again and again. The reality is that Koyuki was so mesmerizing, that I’ve wanted to see her in other roles. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been able to see Koyuki in a good number of Television drama series. Read more…
Lust, Caution (Se, jie) is a 2007 film directed by Ang Lee based off a story by Eileen Chang. The setting is 1930-40s China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
It stars Wei Tang as the foolhardy young student Wong Chia Chi who poses undercover as Mak Tai Tai in a resistance effort to assassinate Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), a high-ranking official of the Wang Jinwei Regime. Read more…
From Hong Kong director and co-writer Hark Tsui comes All About Women (Nu ren bu huai), a romantic comedy about the modern love of three very different women.The setting is Beijing, China.
The first of the three we meet is Ou Fanfan (Xun Zhou), an introvert scientist who has trouble attracting men. Besides that, whenever she’s touched by a man, her body stiffens comically.
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Remember Yuka, or was it Yuuka? Maybe you called her Yu-ka? However her name appeared in print, she was unforgettable. Her series of gravure videos back in 1998 and 1999: Breath, to, and be, became instant classic collectors’ items.
And if you look closely on the cdjapan page for each of these DVDs, you will see that on each of the DVD covers, her name appears as Yu-ka. Despite this, cdjapan lists her as Yuuka. And as you will see, her name has undergone yet another change.
She took leave of the gravure world after her Yuuka DVD in 2002, and headed for TV, print ads, and movies. She got work, and was never forgotten, but she was no longer a headliner.
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Isn’t she lovely?
Isn’t she wonderful?
Isn’t she precious?
Less than one minute old.
I never thought through love we’d be
Making one as lovely as she…
But isn’t she lovely made from love
Singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder wrote these words for the song, Isn’t She Lovely for his 1976 album, Songs In the Key of Life. He was celebrating the birth of his daughter Aisha. But here we are going to take a look at Japanese beauty Yui Aragaki and her recent award winning acting performance. While Yui is not my newborn daughter, for me, she is just a little more than a few days old as I had just started watching her in the J-TV Series Smile last week.
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