Obsessions, obsessions...
Late again. My apologies. Rabid fangirling behind the cut.
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro was born October 11, 1973 to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother. His nationality is Japanese but he resides in Taiwan. After enrolling in high school, he made his debut in the entertainment industry as a singer under the name Aniki. In a year he managed to make it into the movies, and doesn't produce music any longer.
His first movie was Executioners (1993) and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai film Chungking Express (1994) and a string of other Hong Kong movies. He has also played in the Zhang Yimou film House of Flying Daggers, and starred alongside Jet Li and Andy Lau in the film The Warlords. Kaneshiro has also became well known in the video game industry portraying the samurai warrior Samanosuke in the Capcom hit Onimusha. In the movie version (expected in theaters in 2011) he will be taking the role of that character again.
Outside of acting, Kaneshiro has been a model for brands like Armani, Prada, VAIO, Honda, Sony Ericsson, Mitsubishi, Shiseido, Japan Asia Airways and many many more.
But the real reason why we love him is because he plays Zhuge Liang in the John Woo movie Red Cliff.
Takeshi Kaneshiro as he appears in Red Cliff
And why do we love Red Cliff, you might ask. Well. Where do I start?
The movie deals with the important historical battle taking place at Red Cliff and is best described with the word grandiose. The plot is nice, kind of plain but with lovely little twists to the side that still keep it going, so to speak. The characters, the battle scenes, the dialogue, it's all made of win. Some flashy battle moves may seem exaggerated, but (thankfully) not reaching the heights of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Cinematography is holy cow wow, if you'll excuse my lack of eloquence. Characters are pretty damn well done, fleshed out and just pretty grippingly real.
With a budget of US$80 million, Red Cliff is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date, and my, was that an $80 million well spent. The movie is epic and gets to be spoken of in superlatives by the media all across Asia. (Hey, it totally busted Titanic in mainland China.) Btw. there are two versions, make sure you get your hands on the Asian release (280 minutes) instead of the Western release (150 minutes). And trust me you want to get your hands on this if you like gorgeous reenacting of history.
Besides being an amazing movie, Red Cliff is also catering to the tastes of those of us who are attracted to the shiny and the gay. The sheer beauty of the costumes and the sets creates a marvelous visual experience. On top of that, we have the pretty Asian men. And then we have Kaneshiro's character totally fucking this guy. Sadly, literally nothing on screen, but I swear this is the most beautifully obvious thing, that is yet presented in a very subtle manner. Aka, anyone who misses it just doesn't want to see it. Just to give you an idea why I'm using obvious and subtle to describe it, here. Watch this.
Subtle: What are you thinking? Those are just two dudes playing some badass Chinese stuff. Even the blind can see that. And look! He has a wife! See the wife? (Or as I have seen it in comments: "hard-earned trust", "emotional friendship", "a deeply human connection", etc.)
Obvious: Damn if there wasn't some serious bed-wrecking follow-up to that. (And gods, does the wife KNOW. XD)
Holy damn but those two keep on messing with each other's head for 90% of their whole screen time for almost five blissfully long hours. Enter a very happy Sphinx in the joyful land of Purr. (The conversations those guys are having, I call those forplay, dammit!)
So, with all that in mind... there is no Red Cliff fanfic WHY EXACTLY? *goes to cry in a corner*
---
On a sidenote, some of you might have heard already, but I didn't yet broadcast it because, well. It kind of seemed so damn unreal even I couldn't believe it. I kept on waiting for the organisers to mail me with an apology saying they screwed up and made a mistake. But they didn't. And then I kind of realised that there are less than 20 days left for me to prepare myself.
I'm going to spend September in Canada.
Anyone in the area interested in having a coffee together or something? I have a free day on the 4th September in Brussels (Europe), then 12th September in Quebec, 19th and 25th September in Vancouver. Will be visiting Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto and Victoria as well, but organising meet ups there might be tricky since the schedule seems packed. Still, anyone interested? Use the chance, I don't bite and I don't think I'll be returning to the continent very soon. :D
Second, those of you lovely people over there, care to share some tips? Mostly the usual stuff like what are the must sees, must haves, where to shop for cheap food and supplies, what sort of weather to prepare for, etc. That would be extremely helpful!
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro was born October 11, 1973 to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother. His nationality is Japanese but he resides in Taiwan. After enrolling in high school, he made his debut in the entertainment industry as a singer under the name Aniki. In a year he managed to make it into the movies, and doesn't produce music any longer.
His first movie was Executioners (1993) and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai film Chungking Express (1994) and a string of other Hong Kong movies. He has also played in the Zhang Yimou film House of Flying Daggers, and starred alongside Jet Li and Andy Lau in the film The Warlords. Kaneshiro has also became well known in the video game industry portraying the samurai warrior Samanosuke in the Capcom hit Onimusha. In the movie version (expected in theaters in 2011) he will be taking the role of that character again.
Outside of acting, Kaneshiro has been a model for brands like Armani, Prada, VAIO, Honda, Sony Ericsson, Mitsubishi, Shiseido, Japan Asia Airways and many many more.
But the real reason why we love him is because he plays Zhuge Liang in the John Woo movie Red Cliff.
Takeshi Kaneshiro as he appears in Red Cliff
And why do we love Red Cliff, you might ask. Well. Where do I start?
Click to viewThe movie deals with the important historical battle taking place at Red Cliff and is best described with the word grandiose. The plot is nice, kind of plain but with lovely little twists to the side that still keep it going, so to speak. The characters, the battle scenes, the dialogue, it's all made of win. Some flashy battle moves may seem exaggerated, but (thankfully) not reaching the heights of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Cinematography is holy cow wow, if you'll excuse my lack of eloquence. Characters are pretty damn well done, fleshed out and just pretty grippingly real.
With a budget of US$80 million, Red Cliff is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date, and my, was that an $80 million well spent. The movie is epic and gets to be spoken of in superlatives by the media all across Asia. (Hey, it totally busted Titanic in mainland China.) Btw. there are two versions, make sure you get your hands on the Asian release (280 minutes) instead of the Western release (150 minutes). And trust me you want to get your hands on this if you like gorgeous reenacting of history.
Besides being an amazing movie, Red Cliff is also catering to the tastes of those of us who are attracted to the shiny and the gay. The sheer beauty of the costumes and the sets creates a marvelous visual experience. On top of that, we have the pretty Asian men. And then we have Kaneshiro's character totally fucking this guy. Sadly, literally nothing on screen, but I swear this is the most beautifully obvious thing, that is yet presented in a very subtle manner. Aka, anyone who misses it just doesn't want to see it. Just to give you an idea why I'm using obvious and subtle to describe it, here. Watch this.
Subtle: What are you thinking? Those are just two dudes playing some badass Chinese stuff. Even the blind can see that. And look! He has a wife! See the wife? (Or as I have seen it in comments: "hard-earned trust", "emotional friendship", "a deeply human connection", etc.)
Obvious: Damn if there wasn't some serious bed-wrecking follow-up to that. (And gods, does the wife KNOW. XD)
Holy damn but those two keep on messing with each other's head for 90% of their whole screen time for almost five blissfully long hours. Enter a very happy Sphinx in the joyful land of Purr. (The conversations those guys are having, I call those forplay, dammit!)
So, with all that in mind... there is no Red Cliff fanfic WHY EXACTLY? *goes to cry in a corner*
---
On a sidenote, some of you might have heard already, but I didn't yet broadcast it because, well. It kind of seemed so damn unreal even I couldn't believe it. I kept on waiting for the organisers to mail me with an apology saying they screwed up and made a mistake. But they didn't. And then I kind of realised that there are less than 20 days left for me to prepare myself.
I'm going to spend September in Canada.
Anyone in the area interested in having a coffee together or something? I have a free day on the 4th September in Brussels (Europe), then 12th September in Quebec, 19th and 25th September in Vancouver. Will be visiting Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto and Victoria as well, but organising meet ups there might be tricky since the schedule seems packed. Still, anyone interested? Use the chance, I don't bite and I don't think I'll be returning to the continent very soon. :D
Second, those of you lovely people over there, care to share some tips? Mostly the usual stuff like what are the must sees, must haves, where to shop for cheap food and supplies, what sort of weather to prepare for, etc. That would be extremely helpful!