That SHE is number 1 and he is number 10. It was her birthday and everyone on the set of her lakorn with Por Thrisadee is avoiding her, teasing her that she is no longer the darling of the set–a woman who was playing with Yaya said James Jirayu is. In retaliation, Yaya looked at the camera and sent this message to James Jirayu in a cutesy manner:”To nong Jirayu I am #1, you are #10.’ The message has caught the attention of many lakorn fans. Producer  ‘Ja’ Yossinee Nanakorn joked on her IG this past Thursday May 16, 2013 that ‘Linping (a playful nickname for Yaya after the Panda in captivity) has changed channels. Everyone was crowding around Yaya for her lakorn fitting then James Jirayu came out of the elevator suddenly all of the cameras turned to him. Linping has fallen wrote Khun Ya (meaning Yaya is no longer popular). Yaya went around saying if she dressed up like a boy she would more handsome. It has become the ‘cute’ feud of the week–Yaya playfully getting jealous of James’ popularity. James and Yaya have very similar characteristic both are EXTREMELY playful and act ‘immature’ at times. Thai lakorn fans want to see a James and Yaya pairing in a lakorn directed by Paa Jaew because they want to be amuse in seeing James and Yaya compete for the attention of everyone on set. Yaya sends the message to James in the clip at the 1:11 time mark. Though fans talk of a playful feud between the two popular young stars, the two seem to like each other very much. James secretly crawled on his knees to watch Yaya’s lakorn fitting. Yaya personally praised James on his acting. ’I am watching your lakorn na. Your acting is really good and you have a good voice,’ she told him upfront which made him smile. James with Yaya and hugging Khun Ja. Here he is on his knees at Yaya’s ftting. I don’t remember where I read this, Sanook or Kapook, some people were dubbing James Jirayu as Nadech  Kugimiya’s downfall. Someone wrote this, James Jirayu was born solely to kill (not literally, career wise) Nadech. Then there is this clip of James being a normal 19 year old posting a comment on socialcam he wants to learn how to play ‘HON-Heroes of Newerth’ and you realize he is JUST a kid.  What he said in the clip at Mthai Games:’Hello during the evening of the 10th. I have been failing at this since this morning. I don’t understand it. The thing I don’t understand is how do you play this program?’-click on the link to watch the clip, he has a nice voice. http://game.mthai.com/online-games/23966.html/comment-page-1#comments Another James tidbit: Paa Jaew, the director of ‘Khun Chai Puttipat’ wrote this recently on his IG about James:’A star is born …… Born to be a star……… But better than that is being a simple actor name @jirayu_jj …Love to see you grow up smarter and stronger.’ Source: Kapook, Pantip, Mthai Games

The program for - one of Germany’s premier Asian film festivals - the 13th edition of the Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is complete! Over the course of six festival days, the audience will have the chance to discover more than 130 short and feature films from Japan, with many German, European, and world premieres, from 4 – 9 June 2013. The genres range from subtle dramas and wild comedies to anime and critical documentaries. Many filmmakers and artists from Japan will be present at the biggest festival for Japanese cinema worldwide. An extraordinary cultural program will top off the festival, offering a rich experience of this outstanding country. The wide and multi-faceted film program invites both experienced connoisseurs and curious newcomers to cinematic discoveries. Including Sion Sono’s science fiction drama Land of Hope, and Hajime Hashimoto’s erotic fantasy horror Princess Sakura - to name but a few. Full details, as always, on the fests official site.

Former Momoiro Clover member Akari Hayami, who has recently been active in TV dramas and commercials, will get her first starring film role in Momose, Kocchi wo Muite. Hayami will play a high school girl named Momose who becomes involved in a pseudo-romance with an emotionally awkward classmate. Showing her commitment to the role, Hayami cut off about 18 inches of hair, which she had been growing out over the past two years, in order to achieve Momose’s cropped look. The film is based on a...

The official website for Toshiyuki Morioka’s Jyokyo Monogatari has been updated with a YouTube embed of the movie’s new trailer. In yet another live-action adaptation of Rieko Saibara’s autobiographical manga, the film stars Kie Kitano as an aspiring artist named Natsumi Takahara who arrives in Tokyo to attend art school and starts living with a young man named Ryosuke (Sosuke Ikematsu). Although Ryosuke is kind-hearted, Natsumi gradually gets fed up with his inability to hold down a steady...

Screw you dodgy servers and Ukranian dick pill farmers, or whatever you are. It takes more than your poxy efforts to keep Teleport City down. In fact, the phoenix-like resurrection of that venerable site continues apace, with the latest good news being that my complete archive of film and music reviews -- some five years' worth -- has now been fully reinstated. This process has provided a real walk down memory lane for yours truly -- except, of course, in those cases of reviews that I don't remember writing, which happens. In any case, feel free to check it out, maaaan.

"We [the Barrymores and the Drews] were the theater's royal family, and I was the clown prince."If you're a younger viewer who knows "The Great Profile" John Barrymore only as Drew's granddad--if at all--then the melancholy, almost ghostly nostalgia stirred by the opening moments of BARRYMORE (2012) may be lost on you. Those with a fond affection for both old Hollywood and the Shakespearean stage may find themselves getting wistful right away. But when Christopher Plummer takes the stage in the title role and goes to work, his bravura performance of this stunningly well-written play should captivate anyone who sees it.A belated filmization of a 1997 Tony award-winning Broadway success that has reportedly been improved with the retelling, the story begins with an over-the-hill Barrymore, circa 1942, hiring a theater in which to rehearse for a backer's audition that will hopefully return him to the classical stage as King Richard III in "Hamlet." From his first moments onscreen Plummer is a joy, capturing Barrymore's voice and physical traits while bringing his own sense of humor and fun to the role. While guzzling the booze that would ultimately destroy him, the already-tipsy actor elegantly recites crude limericks and bawdy anecdotes with a naturalistic gusto and at times almost giddy enthusiasm that one can't help but share.The first segment is filmed before a live theater audience, whom we understand is a figment of the egotistical actor's imagination as he awaits the arrival of his young prompter, Frank (John Plumpis, 'TIL THERE WAS YOU). Plummer so chummily interacts with this audience that one misses their delighted reactions during the later scenes in which Frank's presence prevents Barrymore from "imagining" them.Still, Plummer is never less than riveting even when performing to an empty house, and the script by Erik Canuel (screen adaptation) and William Luce (original play) is brimming with a non-stop barrage of hilarious one-liners which he delivers with expert timing. Barrymore constantly confounds the impatient Frank by taking time out to reminisce about his youth, growing up with brother Lionel and sister Ethel, surviving an equally alcoholic father, and serving as a political cartoonist for the Evening Journal before eventually settling into the family business of acting, which he derides as "a scavenger profession." Every time it looks as though the aging thespian is getting down to work, a certain line from Shakespeare brings on a fresh wave of memories. What seems to bring him up short more than anything else are his recollections regarding women, particularly his four ex-wives ("For 20 years, Katherine and I were ecstatically happy--and then we met"). He also regails us with tales of less than complimentary reviews from the likes of Louella Parsons and George Bernard Shaw, and the dubious account of how one of his departed friends was such a lush that when they tried to cremate his body the funeral home exploded. More laughs come in the form of exchanges such as this between Jack and the brutally frank Frank:"Frank, do you think my fans will remember me when I'm a has-been?""Of course they do, Mr. Barrymore."But behind all the often black humor is the unspoken tragedy of Barrymore's extreme alcoholism, how it has ruined his life and the lives of his steadily decreasing number of old friends, and how it has rendered him unfit to perform his beloved Shakespeare before an audience without requiring a prompter's assistance to remember every single line.It's deeply satisfying to watch an actor so talented at both expertly interpreting Shakespeare and bringing to life a profane, drunken, irreverent figure of fascination such as Barrymore as though the man himself were speaking directly to us. Whenever the Bard's words serve to express the lead character's own feelings, Christopher Plummer delivers these timeworn quotes with a depth and passion that gives them new life and meaning.The Blu-Ray from RLJ Entertainment

What do you do with a half-dozen mail-order ninja suits, some black eye-liner, a few friends willing to tumble around a public park like idiots and a heap of public domain films? Well, in the 80s if you were Godfrey Ho, you made two million movies comprised of newly filmed ninja-frosted kung-fu fights cut into older [...]

Jon Lee Brody is an actor and Martial Artist (he is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do) with a dual degree in Accounting and Finance. Jon was accepted for admissions to prestigious law schools like Harvard and Northwestern, but he instead chose to go against the grain and pursue his other childhood dream: acting. He didn’t wait long to buy a one way ticket to Los Angeles, and since then he hasn’t looked back. You can see him TODAY in the giant summer blockbuster sequel to Star Trek – Into Darkness. We talk about his various projects and what lies ahead in his career in this exclusive interview. Read below for the full Q&A… You have done work on TV series, films, wrote, directed, the list goes on. What was your journey like to become so multi disciplined in so many areas? JLB: Well, when I first started, I was focused on acting. I definitely had a passion for all aspects of filmmaking but I knew that I had to take things one step at a time. Sometimes people try to learn everything at once and that very seldom works out.  I knew that I had to make sure my acting was on point, and I am still a perfectionist when it comes down to it. Then as my career progressed, I started to explore editing. The editing started when I was cutting together demo reels. And then I started applying what I learned on various movie sets to directing. That entire time, I was learning how to write screenplays. I was always a pretty creative writer, but screenplays are a different animal.  But like I said, all of these things came to me one step at a time. The journey has been great. I’m still learning and when it comes down it, I’ll always be learning. I think as my career goes on, I want to keep improving and keep learning new things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2WIeH7vbcs You stated you were a big fan of Good Will Hunting and Titanic. It seems dramas and well written films initially motivated you to get into the business. How has your body of work thus far correlated to the types of projects that inspired you years ago? JLB: You’ve certainly done your homework! I’m impressed [laughs]!  I saw both of those movies when I was in junior high. And that is when I truly fell in love with cinema as an art. Up until then, movies were just a fun thing to do with friends. But it was after seeing those movies that I started to appreciate the art of filmmaking. I’m not sure if my being a fan dictates the kind of projects I take on, but they are definitely two movies that I look to for inspiration. As an multi-racial actor, do you find it a struggle to interact with casting directors based on your Korean ethnicity? Has this situation decreased due to your resume building over the years? JLB: Casting has actually been pretty good to me and I’ve had a chance to play a variety of roles. I’m very grateful for that. You’re very tall and you are passionate about sports. Down the line, could we possibly see you take the leading role in a Jeremy Lin bio pic? Would that be of interest to you? JLB: I do love basketball. Jeremy is a guy who I admire. He had an uphill battle just getting to the NBA. And then another uphill battle to stay in the NBA. And those battles will continue. As far as playing him in a movie, that’s a tough one to answer. Ultimately, it’s not up to me. But if the director and producers thought I was the right fit then sure. But the most important thing is that his story would be told right. Of course you are in the big summer blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness. What could you tell us about your character? JLB: I play a Star Fleet Security Officer. Not much I can say other than I am a redshirt. I’m sure any Trekkie knows what that means…[laughs]! Interestingly enough, the producers’ background on the film is in TV, which means there’s always a last-minute possibility of changing story, dialogue, character points, action beats, etc. Having worked in TV as

Hotaru Amemiya (Haruka Ayase) and Seiichi Takano (Naohito Fujiki) visit Italy in the manga adaptation, HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE. Photo courtesy of NTV. © 2012 HOTARUNOHIKARI FILM PARTNERS Source: NTV (Nippon Television Network) Official Movie Site: himono-movie.jp (Japan) In June 2012, HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE (?? ???????, Eiga Hotaru no Hikari), the big screen spinoff from the manga-inspired television series, was released to theaters across Japan by Toho. NTV is now offering the film for international sales. The following production notes and movie images are courtesy of NTV... English language international promo art for HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE. Photo courtesy of NTV. © 2012 HOTARUNOHIKARI FILM PARTNERS Hotaru no Hikari is a popular Japanese women's romance comic written and illustrated by Satoru Hiura. It was serialized in Kodansha's Kiss magazine from 2004 to 2009 and was collected in 15 volumes with a total of 3.8 million copies in circulation. The live-action HOTARUNOHIKARI: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE (???????, Hotaru no Hikari) television series was aired from July 2007, starring Haruka Ayase and Naohito Fujiki, it marked high viewership ratings and instantly became all the rage among mostly female viewers. It depicts the love life of Hotaru Amemiya, who is like a "dried fish" in that she has basically given up on love and would rather be lounging around at home, even though most other women her age are actively seeking love and building their careers in the ocean of their twenties. But Hotaru's personality and way of life gained the support of many women who felt the same way as her but couldn't really come out and admit it. The work created quite a stir and the expression "dried fish woman" (himono-onna) was even nominated as one of the most popular words of the year. The second season was aired three years later in July 2010 and the work's popularity proved to be long-lived, inspiring the production of the much-awaited movie spinoff. Continued...