I've always wanted to attend the LA Eiga Fest. However, I always miss the tickets to the screening I'm interested in or it falls on a day that Q and I made plans for already. This year, I made sure that this will not happen.
Ever since summer, I watched their Facebook page and constantly checked if the tickets were already up. My birthday, as you all know from my previous post, was on September 11. Q and I were actually planning to go on a birthday trip on my birthday weekend but because the LA Eiga Fest was on September 12-14 and it actually looked very promising, we decided to move the birthday trip further away. At first, I was debating if I should still go but after they announced that they will be screening Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Lupin the III, there was no need for second thought.
The tickets for Lupin the III and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno were put up on Tuesday, August 26, 12:00 noon P.T. Luckily, I'm on break at the time and was able to log on to their site around that time. Unfortunately, the LA Eiga Fest team seemed to underestimate the popularity of the two films. Instead of hosting the ticket sales on a ticketing platform, they integrated it on their own website. Of course, the website kept crashing but I did not give up and kept trying till 1:00 PM when I finally secured tickets for me and Q. I felt bad doing that because I was sure that I contributed to the malfunctioning of the site but at the same time, I don't want to lose my chance to see the films.
Despite all the commotion and technical difficulties, I was really impressed with the LA Eiga Fest team for being responsive and helpful. I e-mailed them about an issue with my tickets and they responded promptly and the problem was easily resolved. I'm still waiting for a refund though. The Rurouni Kenshin tickets were supposed to be only $25 each but they made a mistake and charged everyone $35 instead. The next day, they decided to use Eventbrite to host their tickets and I hope no one had problems after that.
The red carpet was on the first day, September 12. As a line of attendees formed outside the Egyptian Theater, I noticed that there were these group of ladies holding Jerry Yan photos. I found it very sweet of them.
I loved Jerry Yan ever since the Taiwanese version of Hana Yori Dango, Meteor Garden, aired in the Philippines. Jerry Yan played the role of Dao Ming Si. After that burst of popularity in the Philippines, it seemed like the F4 disappeared off the face of the planet, or at least I wasn't hardcore enough to know where they've been up to after Meteor Garden. When I found out that Jerry Yan was in Lupin the III, I was overjoyed. I was just happy to see him in something.
There were a lot of guests and I'm quite ashamed that I didn't know most of them. There were authors, comedians and designers. Most of them are Japanese, of course. But some of the people I was very happy to see was
Kenichi Ebina, 2013 America's Got Talent winner
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Q and I spent our first LA Eiga Fest by watching Lupin the III, Shiren & Ragi and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno. I wish I could review each one but if I have the time for that, I'll definitely do that on a separate post.
Bottom line is, we really enjoyed the LA Eiga Fest. I was really glad to have spent my birthday weekend by attending this event. So thank you so much to the Japan Film Society and everybody else involved in this event. It was a great success and we're definitely looking forward to the next one! Don't forget to screen Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends!
The tickets for Lupin the III and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno were put up on Tuesday, August 26, 12:00 noon P.T. Luckily, I'm on break at the time and was able to log on to their site around that time. Unfortunately, the LA Eiga Fest team seemed to underestimate the popularity of the two films. Instead of hosting the ticket sales on a ticketing platform, they integrated it on their own website. Of course, the website kept crashing but I did not give up and kept trying till 1:00 PM when I finally secured tickets for me and Q. I felt bad doing that because I was sure that I contributed to the malfunctioning of the site but at the same time, I don't want to lose my chance to see the films.
Despite all the commotion and technical difficulties, I was really impressed with the LA Eiga Fest team for being responsive and helpful. I e-mailed them about an issue with my tickets and they responded promptly and the problem was easily resolved. I'm still waiting for a refund though. The Rurouni Kenshin tickets were supposed to be only $25 each but they made a mistake and charged everyone $35 instead. The next day, they decided to use Eventbrite to host their tickets and I hope no one had problems after that.
The red carpet was on the first day, September 12. As a line of attendees formed outside the Egyptian Theater, I noticed that there were these group of ladies holding Jerry Yan photos. I found it very sweet of them.
There were a lot of guests and I'm quite ashamed that I didn't know most of them. There were authors, comedians and designers. Most of them are Japanese, of course. But some of the people I was very happy to see was
Kenichi Ebina, 2013 America's Got Talent winner
Takato Yonemoto, actor (Basho from 47 Ronin)
and last but definitely not the least, MEISA KUROKI.
I was so starstruck when I saw her. Not only because she's the female lead in Lupin the III but because she's perfect and gorgeous. I took so many photos of her but blurred or not, she looked stunning in each one. Her outfit was very simple yet very sophisticated. She carried herself with such class that it was so inspiring.
Q and I spent our first LA Eiga Fest by watching Lupin the III, Shiren & Ragi and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno. I wish I could review each one but if I have the time for that, I'll definitely do that on a separate post.
Bottom line is, we really enjoyed the LA Eiga Fest. I was really glad to have spent my birthday weekend by attending this event. So thank you so much to the Japan Film Society and everybody else involved in this event. It was a great success and we're definitely looking forward to the next one! Don't forget to screen Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends!
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