0 thoughts on “Memoirs of a Geisha nominated for six Oscars”

1. More on Ziyi Zhang in our old posting.

2. I didn’t enjoy the movie that much, but I agree with the nomination for those categories. It was very well done technically.

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4. She really has one of those faces that can change a lot with different makeup.

5. I LOVED that movie. Knowing Japanese women fairly well, I was very impressed with Ziyi’s ability, as a Chinese woman, to not only speak English, but English with a Japanese accent.

   Her demeanor reflecting a geisha was perfect.

6. Hope to be able to see it soon. Still not showing here in Holland 🙁

7. Just saw it Sunday – finally. Not a big story but a very well done, touching story.

   DVD to be released in the US March 28 – two discs, packed with extras.

8. According to IMDB.com I will have to wait untill 6 April 2006! Well, that just is too long. So I guess I will have to talk to my download contact now. Hollywoods own fault 😉

9. Am I the only one who’s uncomfortable with Hollywood’s habit of using, say (as in this case), a Chinese actress to play a Japanese character? It seems they think all Asian women look the same, and that the audience can’t tell the difference.

10. I don’t think you’re the only one bothered. But it doesn’t bother me. There are differences of course but it’s not much more different then when you have and English actor playing a German soldier during a WWII epic or something similar. That’s why it’s called acting. My opinion anyway…

11. I agree, They should have used a Japanese actress.

    On the other hand, Al Pacino (of Italian descent) also plays persons of a different country sometimes (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Greek, Jewish).

12. Who deserves to take home Oscar gold? Vote for your favorite in each category, then compare your picks with other Yahoo! users and the Oscar Expert.
    oscars.movies.yahoo.com

13. These are certainly valid arguments, but it seems to me that Hollywood uses Asian actresses from the wrong country for the part more often than not. Then and again, probably the worst example of this sort of miscasting was Sean Connnery playing a Russian sea captain in The Hunt for Red October!

14. Yeah, but The Hunt still rocks! 😉

15. Let me say I hate defending Hollywood – a bunch of greedy hypocritical losers who blame others (pirates) for their stupidity (making bad movies). But I will: when they make a movie they are making an investment – Memoirs cost about $80 mil US (and another $40 mil in marketing). They should protect that investment. They do so by using big name stars. Zhang and Michelle Yeoh (oh, Michelle!) are current two (relatively) big name Asian actresses. There are probably no Japanese actresses who currently have any name recognition in the US. So their choices were: a) wait to make this movie until there are big name Japanese actresses – might be waiting a long time and miss out on the book’s popularity; b) use ZZ and MY. I’m glad they chose b).

16. ugh…can’t stand Ziyi

17. Please explain why Stacey!

18. I just don’t think she’s that great of an actress…nor do I understand her nomination for memoirs. Saw her on set…quite stuck up and prissy.

19. Saw her on set? Tell us more Stacey!

20. Memoirs of a Geisha won three Oscars last week: Cinematography, Art Direction and Costume Design.

    Ohw, I saw the movie and did not really like it. But the departments that won the Oscars sure deserved it. Apart from Ziyi, it were those things what made the movie worth while.

21. A parody on youtube by MAD TV:

22. Well that ‘parody’ was, quite frankly, pathetic. Mad TV can do much better than this – check out this brilliant and absolutely hysterical double parody:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE

    It looks like a parody of Steve Jobs, but it actually turns out to be a parody of somebody else entirely – very cleverly done indeed.