MUSiCAL MOViES

Hi guys! I’ve been away for a long time but I promised myself to post atleast once a month. I got busy at school since it’s the last semester before graduation. So to all graduates this year, I would like to congratulate you for making it through these years. I was relaxing and suddenly it’s two days before January ends. It’s so hard because I can’t finish my writing but even if it’s a rush,  I’m still posting some list of musical movies which I find interesting and informative to watch. You might get disappointed if you won’t see your favorite musical movies here because I excluded some of the musical movie series which we are all familiar with, like the Camp Rock, different Cinderella Stories, the Highschool Musical and the most current, Pitch Perfect.

Many people say that Music is an expression. And I agree. It’s an expression of feeling, style, culture, fashion, arts and anything. I may not be a musician but I love music, I’m not complete without it. Having a terrible voice not cool but it couldn’t stop me from singing. I hope you will enjoy these movies that are beautifully fashioned for individuals who love music so much.

1. LEMONADE MOUTH (2011)

This is definitely one of my favorites. The movie was polished and perfect for teen-age girls including those oldies. Each cast has their own style, culture and personality that made them different among the others.  It’s a Disney movie with a story of how the band, “LEMONADE MOUTH” came to be.

The Band

What I also love in this movie is how they supported each other and the great friendship that they had. Honestly, I didn’t find it interesting when I first saw it but after watching the whole movie, I was awed by how beautiful it was made. From the characters to the choice of song/music, everything is worth it. I love all the songs but “More than a Band”, “Break Through” and “Determinate” is really something that you need to hear.  I promise you, it’s not unsatisfactory because I, myself even watched it repeatedly.

The Cast

Stella Delgado - Lead Guitar

Mohini - Base

Olivia White - Lead Singer

Charlie - Drums

Wen - Keyboard

Scott - new member, Mo's Boyfriend

2 . LOVESTRUCK – THE MUSICAL (2013)

Who would miss this beautiful Romantic Musical Movie mixed with a touch of dance and magic? From the Another Cinderella Story (Selena Gomez), Drew Seeley’s charisma never fades. He still has his Peter Parker moves until these days. The story has romance in it, especially a wedding scene.  There’s this magical tonic, Maribella’s mom took a sip and turned young. She did not want her daughter to get married to an Italian playboy so she seduced him. She met her ex-husband and gave him some of the tonic that made him young too. Well, I don’t need to discuss the happenings but they dance and sing so I hope you’ll enjoy the scenes. Oh, the Italian guy has a very good voice, it’s funny because I never imagined a guy like him to be a romantic singer.

The Cast

as Mirabella Hutton

as Harper Hutton

as younger Ryan

as Marco Vitturi

as younger Harper

as Ryan Hutton

3. STARSTRUCK (2010)

Again, it’s Disney’s one of the best. A story about a famous young celebrity who met a girl who isn’t crazy about him. He experienced his first insult as a person because he thought every girl was crazy about him. It’s a very teen movie but you can relate to it. You will come to understand the hardships, schemes and risks of every celebrity. In reality, you should not believe every news or gossips about the lives of the people in the entertainment Industry because there are facts but surely, there are also strings of lies, made up to protect or make the celebrities more popular. Oh! I love this couple..it's really fun to watch them arguing.

Starstruck Couple

as Jessica Olson

as the famous Christopher Wilde

4. TEEN BEACH (2013)

If you are looking for inspiration on Retro Clothing, then this is for you. This movie has a old-fashion concept about Music and Fashion (Clothing). I don’t exactly know if it’s inspired by the 1960’s but it’s a good movie with some upbeat music which are from the past. It’s setting was on a beach of course and there’s surfing, dancing and singing so you won’t get bored.

5. MAMA MIA (2008)

The setting is in Greece and most of the music used in this movie is not current. The song “I have a dream” reminded me of my childhood days when we sang it at school. After fifteen or more years, I got the chance to hear it again. Not just I have a Dream but, Does your mother Knows, Chiquita, Dancing Queen and other songs were also included. This is fun to watch even if the cast are not as young as me.

6. BECK (Japanese Movie) 2010

This is about a band and an iconic guitar. So if you’re looking for anything about GUITAR kind of stuff, or metallic kind of stuff, better watch this. What I love in this movie is the sound of the guitar being plucked or strummed, it gives a soothing feeling. 

photo credits

7. THE LIAR AND HIS LOVER (Japanese Movie) 2013

The story is concerning a composer and musician whose name is famous but faceless from the public. One day he met a highschool girl and lied about his identity. He gave her a fake name and they started dating. Unknowingly, the girl he is dating became a contract singer even if he warned her that he do not like singers. As usual, I’m not gonna blab about the happenings. It’s for you to find out how the story ended.

8. AUGUST RUSH (2007)

credits to Misury

If you love classical or orchestral music, this movie is for you. It’s a story about a young boy who is exceptionally gifted with music. However, because of his grandfather’s doing, he ended up in an orphanage without the knowledge of his mother. After 11 years, his mother came to know of his existence and immediately look for him. He was tossed from different places until he was enrolled in Jilliard School of music. He, his dad and his mom were reunited through MUSIC. Hmm.. Music must be really powerful. J A quote I learned from this movie is, “The Music is all around us, all you have to do is, listen.”

as Evan Taylor/August Rush

as Louis Connelly

as Lyla Novacek

9. GRACE UNPLUGGED (2014)

If you are Christian, you must watch this. This is so amazing. It’s about a loving father and a daughter who wants to be a famous singer. It is true that when you train up a child on the way she should go, she will not depart from it, according to the book of Proverbs. In conclusion, growing up with the word of the God as your guide is really important because when you’re away from home, it will be a guide to your path.

I hope ya'll watch it all.. Let's welcome February, a month of love with Music.

:)  pj

Asian Fashion Series

Bonjour! I hope you’ve watched the movies that I’ve recommended. I’ve been searching a lot of movies with a theme of Fashion but it seems like every blog have the same post. Every blog’s lists includes 2000’s films like Confession of a Shopaholic, The Devil Wears Prada, The Woman and 1990’s film such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pretty Woman, Pretty in Pink and the likes. Then again, it may contain documentaries about Fashion and modelling, but some recommendations are not available online. Well, it was very informative to me but I have not seen Asian films from their list yet so I tried to write one.

If you really love fashion, you don’t mind if it’s a Western or Asian or European. People in the Fashion industry have their own preferences in everything. However, today’s generation, there is a vast impact of fashion in every countries of Asia. From rising Fashion Designers, models, fashion bloggers, stylist...I’m sure you have noticed that the Fashion Industry demands more of Asian models because of their looks and skin tone. Also, in the expansion of Fashion to Music, Some countries in Asia are really invading the Music and Fashion Industry because of their unique and weird styles. There are varieties in which we can choose, it is your choice to judge anyway, but not all people in a country or nation are the same. I wish no people were racist so there will be no discrimination going on.

Here is a set of Drama Series that includes fashion in it. I really enjoyed every part of the series and I didn’t find it boring. Most of all, I find it informative and helpful in understanding people’s lifestyle, personality, character and behavior. Yeah! There are things in life that are really tough to achieve because of many obstacles but the good thing is that God gave us a “FREEWILL” to choose between good and evil.

1. Real Clothes (2009)

(photo credits)

- by the name itself, I believe you can tell what’s it all about. Right! It’s about clothing. Some say it’s a Japanese Version of The Devil Wears Prada, but not really, it's more fun to watch this drama than the latter. I promise you, it’s interesting and mind-blowing, that’s the reason why it’s my on my top list.

Real Clothes Stars, Madam Miki and Kinue

Our leads here are two amazing women. Amano Kinue is simple and hated clothes but comes to love it in the end. She works in the Bedding Department of Echizen Department Store and has impressive records. Her peaceful living disarrayed when there was a huge change in Echizen. The Women’s Clothing Department is sinking and Jinbo Miki, the most important Japanese woman in the Fashion industry, was chosen to re-establish the department. The Goal is to raise the sale of that department to $1,000,000 on the first month. Kinue was transferred to the Women’s Clothing Department after meeting Miki, who mocked her clothing telling her that boring clothes means boring life. Kinue strived every challenge until she was promoted. After achieving some several promotions, from a mere salesperson she became Chief Manager. 

Miki and Kinue's first meeting.

The prelude was a scene shot in Paris, France where both Kinue and Miki are leading two different lives. Kinue was touring with her boyfriend and Madam Miki, working as a designer. In the end, Jinbo Miki leaved Echizen after explaining the primary mission of her sudden appearance at Echizen. I also want to ask you the question asked by Madam Miki that until today, I haven’t figure it out yet. “IN FIVE YEARS, TEN YEARS. . . WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?” 

Interior Design of Madam Miki's Office, see I told yah! There's interior designing too!

This series is enjoyable because you can learn a lot from it. Everything related to fashion is presented in this drama. Though the focus is about Clothes, varieties of things are added to it. There is romance, friendship, runway show, styling, blogging, fashion design, interior design and of course, business management.

Look at these amazing things. It's present at the Women's Clothing Department.

Real Clothes' characters. :) They are really good.

2. First Class 1 (2014)

(photo credits)

This is a drama series about fashion magazine. The story revolves around Yoshinari Chinami, 26 who was labelled as the Mistreated Cinderella of this story. She was a genuine person who always wanted to work in the fashion Industry. Her peaceful life became chaotic after meeting the Editor-in-Chief of First Class and started working as an intern in the Editorial Department. She began encountering two-faced people, bitches, aggressive and competitive people. From then, her battle started. There are clashes, arguments, fights and ranking among women who wants to get to the top. Women who want to win by crushing each other. A place where it’s hard to trust anyone or find real friends. I can say that it’s a perfect area to apply “Survival of the Fittest”, where only those who got the stamina can stay. The weakling can never survive in this kind of environment. Though she is new to that kind of surrounding, still she struggled a lot inorder to pursue her dreams. After a lot of tribulation, she finally became the Editor-in-Chief of the First Class magazine. However, she resigned because the company ceased the publishing. In the end, she manages to find another job in designing.

Meet the cast of the movie. They got different styles and personalities. :)

Chinami-san, the Mistreated Cinderella.

I feel like I needed to warn you. Not all fashion victims love this kind of drama. I’ve read some reviews and other find this drama as bitchy and trashy, but for me, I actually learned something from their conversations. It is maybe a drama but it’s also a reality displayed to us inorder to understand that what is behind all the Glitz and Glamour that we see on glossy magazines are hardships, misunderstandings and difficulties of every individual who contributed in making Magazines possible. Working in this kind of Industry is definitely not a Bed of roses, as others believe to it be. It’s a situation where no one can save you but yourself. 

These are two gorgeous models, they're competing. hmm. who do you think is the winner?

(Miina vs Erena)

I wish my future work place would be as beautiful as their work place.

You might be surrounded with sarcastic people but there are still few individuals that you can be friends with.

Be prepared because you’ll surely get pissed, annoyed, and inflamed because of extreme scenes. Beware, you might explode with anger, I nearly did. Haha! Just kidding!

At every end, there's actually a ranking based on Love, job, money and personal belongings. If you don't have any of those, you're a loser.

Basis of mount the ranking.

Mounting ranking. It's always updated at the end of every episode.

Chinami's workplace after resigning from the publishing Company. It seems like chaos never leaves her. I hope she survives on the next story, First Class 2.

3. First Class 2 (2014)

It’s the second installment of First Class 1, it’s a battle of striving fashion designers, young and old who wants to be on top. Just like the first one, there is bitterness and competition going on. But the difference is that Chinami is now an Assistant Fashion Designer and a little knowledgeable on how the Industry operates. You can witness how she transformed from the sweet girl to someone who also knows how to play her part. She became more competitive, fiercer and braver. Gone was the nice girl we knew from the beginning. This drama is still ongoing and you can watch it online without English subtitles. I really don’t understand Japanese Language so I’m still waiting for the English subtitles to be released in order to understand what is going on. 

Chinami's new working environment. They're a lot more competitive than before.

Guess what? she leveled up from being an Editor-in-Chief to an assistant Designer.

They still have a Mounting Ranking and she needs to beat this 10 women ahead of her.

Chinami, it's a long way to go so good luck.

4. Fashion King (2014)

(Photo Credits)

This is a Korean Drama. I haven’t watched it yet, but still I’m putting it on this list because I am planning to watch when I find time. In my opinion, this drama must be centered on Fashion Designing. I believe we can learn about anything concerning the Fashion Industry by watching these kinds of dramas or movies. 

I guess that's enough already. Do watch and enjoy. I would be happy to hear from you guys.! Have a great time watching any of these dramas. 

love,

Pj :)