'Something New' - film review and thoughts on jdorama 'Long Vacation'

[winterspel]

I went to see 'Something New' today, and I loved it. Sure, the plot follows the typical romantic comedy formulas, and the ending is a foregone conclusion, as always, but I loved it anyway. One of the reasons I liked it is because it features an interracial romance, and I'm always pleased to see this tackled without it becoming a ridiculous object

Comments

[koalathebear]

I am so glad you enjoyed Long Vacation! As I mentioned, it's a favourite jdorama for many people. It would be mine as well if I wasn't so in love with Shinkai and Ogawa - there was so much pain and uncertainty with Sena and Minami. Misunderstandings, hurt and angst and I was so exhausted, relieved and happy by the end. For me, Good Luck was quite different because the problems for the lovers were all external and not aboout how they felt for one another.

Kimura also has a beautiful voice - the intro to 2046 in Japanese by him is just dreamy and much as I love him in the 'future' scenes of 2046, he is soooooooo cute in the Directions scene when he and Faye first meet and he's babbling in Japanese and she's babbling in Cantonese and they have no clue what the other is saying but they're already starting to fall in love :D That caused a lot of laughter because Kimura's known for his long hair, or shorter funky hair - seeing him with his hair all slicked back like that was a bit of a jolt for some fans. He also looks soooo sad sitting on the sofa while Faye's father is yelling for him to hear that disapproves of the relationship :'(

I also totally adore his voice in the rainbow scene when Faye's reading his letter. *swoon* 'Let us meet again'

It's funny you mention that scene from the 'future' because when I was doing the caps for that scene, I went a bit nuts and I found it very sexy as well - the way he's kind of slouching towards her, leaning against her and she's moving around provocatively. Gah. I was just looking again and I seem to have really liked the kiss scene given by how many caps I did :P

[winterspel]

Koala, I really, really can't thank you enough for getting me to watch both of these jdoramas (btw, why is it spelled that way? I write it this way because everyone does, but I want to understand why it's not jdrama or something like that). Also, I want to thank you for your 2046 passion - this weekend I went back through your 2046 posts and just soaked them in. While I had read them before, I hadn't really just wallowed in all of it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I owe you such a debt now! :D:D:D:D

Btw, I can't tell you how many times I've re-read your description and picspam of that future scene in 2046 with Takuya trying to tell his secret. It is unbelievably sexy. Gah! Takuya is just dripping sexiness! He has such an expressive face and body. I think he's grown up amazingly from the thin, gawky boy!

I'm kinda glad that TK is older than me so I don't have to feel like an awful dirty old lady...:D

[koalathebear]

*ogles your icon and drools* That is a gorgeous icon :D He really has grown up a lot from when he was that skinny little kid in LV although him eating the wedding photograph of Miniami's so that Minami won't be hurt is so hilarious :D

The funny thing was, the first thing I ever saw Kimura in was 2046, then I saw Good Luck, then I saw the cover of LV - and didn't even realise it was the same guy ;) How dumb am I? :) They're called jdoramas because 'drama' in Japanese is pronounced 'dorama' (hee yes it's derived from the English). On the net, people add a 'j' on it to mark it as Japanese. It would also be fine to call it a 'dorama'. :D There are a whole bunch of Japanese specific things I didn't understtaand when I first started watching. I wrote about a few of them here - stuff like what must be said before and after a meal, when you leave home when you come back home, what the person says when you come home etc.

2046 was Kimura's first international movie and there was a lot of publicity. There were a lot of rumours that he was going to walk out because the movie took several years to film and he was flying back and forth between Japan and China. Japanese actors are very methodical - they memorise their scripts, they know the storyline - everything's very neat and tidy. Wong Kar Wai frequently doesn't know the story himself until he starts cutting it all together. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are used to his style of filming now but even they openly confess they never have a clue what on earth the story is - WKW just tells them to act and feel a certain way and then they find out the story at the same time the audience does ;) I gather that Kimura found that a little tough.

I typed up and capped the 'making of documentary' which should be on the US dvd but I'm not sure. By that time that came out, I think that the two had made their peace :) I think a lot of Kimura fans were upset that Kimura didn't get a larger part - but I personally think his part was very significant - both present and future 'Tak'. Naturally I wish there were more Faye/Tony, Faye/Kimura bits (eg. more of a backstory on Tak - who was he, why was he on the train, is it true he was a hitman?) - but I'm really happy with what we got. I thought Faye and Kimura had amazing chemistry together.

The problem with 2046 is that people either like it or they hate it. :( So many people have described it to me as the most boring piece of crap they have ever seen that I don't even try to defend it anymore.

Last but not least don't thank me. You would not believe how happy I am that you like these. Normally most people I know are quite happy to watch things I recommend but I have had appalling luck with jdoramas - no one will watch them. I suspect it's because no one wants to invest time to watch 10-11 episodes of subtitles. They can watch a series in English or a movie with subtitles but the thought of 11 hours with subtitles is probably too much :P

Sorry for waffling. 2046 and Kimura bring out the worst in me.

[winterspel]

I had this whole long reply, but it disappeared, so here's just a few things. I have no problems with watching series in subtitles, because I watch everything with captions/subtitles. Lots of times, I have to watch things maybe twice so I can see the video part as much as the language part. But I was so very interested in watching the excellent expressions on the characters faces in both these series that I was racing to read and then ogling their faces! Here's something else: I never really listened to Japanese before, but I've been leaving the audio of the episodes run in my headphones while I've been doing other things, so I've been listening more to the language (without seeing it) and I'm coming to like it quite a lot, at least certain things. Well, Kimura's voice. Somehow I think you will understand!

I am planning to watch 2046 (again...) when I get home tonight after salsa class. Yes, I will have panda eyes tomorrow, but, well what can I say? It's the life of an addictive personality. ;) I haven't watched any of the special features on my 2046 DVD so I'll be sure to check those out!

*hugs you* again in heartfelt thanks. I know you said not to, but I must. I must. I'm just that grateful. :D