Departures Wins Best Foreign Language Film Oscar!

This just in - Japanese movie Departures (Okuributo) has just won the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Congratulations to the cast and crew of Departures! What an achievement for East Asian film!

The full list of winners at this year's Oscars can be found here. Congratulations to all the winners!

The trailer for Departures on YouTube:



Tags: Best Foreign Language Film, 81st Academy Awards, Oscars, Departures, Okuributo.

Japanese Academy Awards Results

Departures (Okuributo) has become the biggest winner in the just concluded Japanese Academy Awards. The movie picked up 10 awards out of its 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Yojiri Takita) Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki), Best Supporting Actor (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and Best Supporting Actress (Kimiko Yo). And Okuribito might yet score an even bigger win as it has been nominated for the coveted Best Foreign Film award at the upcoming Oscars this Sunday. Another big winner is animated feature Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea which won Best Animated Feature and Best Music (me thinks that can't-get-out-of-your-head theme song definitely played a big part in the win ;-P).

Japan Academy Prize Winners:

Best Film: Departures
Best Director: Yojiro Takita (Departures)
Best Actor: Motoki Masahiro (Departures)
Best Actress: Tae Kimura (All Around Us)
Best Supporting Actress: Kimiko Yo (Departures)
Best Supporting Actor: Tsutomu Yamazaki (Departures)
Best Screenplay: Kundo Koyama (Departures)
Best Animated Film: Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea
Best Foreign Film: The Dark Knight
Best Music: Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea

For the full list of prize winners, check out http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=43384

Tags: Japanese Academy Awards, Departures, Okuribito, Best Film, All Around Us, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea, Japanese Movies.

Three Exciting Japanese Trailers

East Asian movie trailers have been getting more and more exciting lately. And the most interesting ones have been coming from the Land Of The Rising Sun. The Japanese are well-known for their incredibly creative and over-the-top CMs or TV ads and it seems that now they are bringing that CM-making creative genius over to their trailers.

Here are three Japanese language trailers that have been generating much buzz recently:

1. Blood: The Last Vampire Teaser
This live-action adaptation of the popular anime film stars Gianna Jun (a.k.a. star of Korean hit movie My Sassy Girl : Jun Ji-Hyun) as Saya the 400-year old half-human half-vampire with superhuman powers. Just from the teaser itself, this movie looks promising...




2. Yatterman trailer
The live-action remake of 1970's cult anime Yatterman is helmed by acclaimed director Takashi Miike (who directed such classics as Audition and Dead Or Alive) and will be released in Japan in March 09. Really love the campy 70's style and the creative blend of live-action and CGI in this trailer. This should be good.




3. Plastic City trailer

This Brazil/Japan/Hong Kong/China co-production about Chinese and Japanese immigrant gangsters in Brazil combines the acting prowess of Joe Odagiri and Anthony Wong. It could be because of the setting but I suspect it is mainly because of the music that gives this trailer a funky samba-like feel that is rarely seen in Asian film. Directed by Yu Lik Wai who is well known for his cinematography in award winning films like Still Life, expect nothing less than gorgeous visuals. This film is set to be released in Japan in March as well.




Enjoy the trailers and if you have a chance, do check out these movies :-)

Tags: Trailers, Upcoming Movies, Blood, The Last Vampire, Yatterman, Plastic City.