ジェト・プログラムのジャスティン

２００８年７月６日

今週の漢字: 遅れる

Late:
During this past weekend, I finally watched Juno. My family sent me the DVD when it was released in the US, which was in April. It took me this long to watch it, because I promised some friends that we’d watch it together. Of course, timing just wasn’t with us. Actually, when I saw it, most of my friends couldn’t come because of prior engagements. This wasn’t the most surprising news to my ears. Instead, it was shocking to find out that Juno was released in Japanese movie theatres merely a few weeks ago in early June! Let’s think about this. The movie came out in America early December, but it came out in Japan early June.

Juno is an independent film. You might be thinking, “It’s going to take some time, because not all independent films are released internationally. Think about how many foreign films (to the U.S.) are released in America.” Okay, you have a point there, my manipulated reader. Let’s look at Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released in America on May 22, 2008. When was it released in Japan? It came out on June 21, 2008, whereas the rest of the world had its release in May.

Why do the films take so long to come out in Japan? I have a couple of thoughts. When a studio or distributor releases a film, there’s a lot of money that goes into it. The company needs to have the proper permission to release a film as well as plan a good strategy in releasing the film wherever it is released. Instead, it may be the fact that most foreign films (to Japan) have two types of viewings in Japan: dubbed and subbed. It takes time for the studio to hire voice actors. The timing to translate a film does not take as much time, so I don’t consider the subbing to be a cause for the major lateness.

If you think that films are released within a year of its home country release, it’s not always the case. The Illusionist was originally released on August 18, 2006 in the U.S. However, it was released in mid May 2008 in Japan under the name 幻影師アイゼンハイム (geneishi aizenhaimu). Note the difference of more than a year. What do you think is the reason behind all of this?

Stay tuned next week for another update!

En français:
Je reviendrai à New Jersey, USA sur le 24 juillet. Je regarderai des films avec mes copains. Les titres sont The Dark Knight, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Wall·E, et Get Smart. Il est possible que je regarderai Wanted au lieu de Get Smart. Le film que je veux regarder le plus est The Dark Knight. Batman est mon caractère favori dans le monde de DC Comics.

今週の聖書の詩: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
- Ephesians 5:19-21 (NIV)

Keep in mind all that has been given to you. It’s funny how people blame God or others for the sour things and events. However, they credit themselves for the good things. Keep the motivation pure and in check.

今週の写真: 1) The first two pictures are of a rice ball with salmon from a student. Doesn’t it look delicious? I assure you it was. 2) Tanabata: People write their wishes on paper to tie onto the bamboo, which will then be set on a river. In this particular event that I attended, the children were writing their wishes; I was invited to watch a show that’s geared toward families.