Welcome back to another Asia-AICN Report... Father Geek here along with ol' Bollywood's Darius25 and our agent on the Hong Kong scene, AccSpy, buuuuuuut as is usual for the site's regular international columns Father Geek here has some stuff that came straight to Geek Headquarters in Texas that may interest some of you...
I just wanted to drop you a little note to say thanks for bringing "Shaolin Soccer" to my attention.
I was going to wait for the American release...that is until I heard about how Miramax was going to butcher the flick. So I went online and purchased a region-free import DVD. I just finished watching it with my little brother, Frankie, (a 10-year old movie-geek-in-the-making)and I am STILL grinning!
It was great...and without you and AICN, I probably never would have heard of this great movie. So, thanks. I really appreciate everything you do. Later.
Sod Off Baldric
I just like throwing in one of those FAN letters every-now-and-then so our writers and editors, and spies feel appreciated for all their hard work. We get lots of these... several everyday. Many more "Thank You"s than complaints, or spy reports for that matter. Next Father Geek has news of a couple of soundtracks due to be released in the near future...
Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin) OVA CD Soundtrack Pre-book date: 4/2/2002 - Street date: 4/30/2002; SRP: $14.98 ; Running Time: 55 mins, 16 tracks.
From composer Taku Iwasaki comes the beautifully haunting melodies of the Samurai X OVAs that fans simply can't forget. Fitting perfectly with the dark overtones of the series, this gorgeous score makes listeners relive Rurouni Kenshin's early struggles as the Battosai and gives true power and emotion to the animated series. A graphic of this CD jacket is located at: Just Click Here To View
Then we have the Boogiepop Phantom Original Soundtrack 2-CD Set Pre-book date: 4/2/2002 - Street date: 4/30/2002; SRP: $24.98 ; 2 Disc Set. Total Running Time: 85 minutes, 13 tracks.
This is the soundtrack to the hit horror-thriller Boogiepop Phantom! This 2 disc set is packed with a collection of some of the creepiest techno-laced tunes imaginable with a solid, pumping underground groove. From Happy End by Flare to Angel in the Dark by M.Y.K.N., the audio thrash of this roller coaster never lets you go. Boogiepop Phantom, are you ready to scream? The graphic of this CD jacket is located: At This Location Now
Annnnnnd now, Father Geek has this bit that found itself on my new Flat Screen monitor today from long time AICN reporter Ye Meng...
"According to multiple reports, Hsu Li-Kong, producer of the original, just confirmed that shooting of the prequel of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON will start in May next year and Ang Lee will return as the director.
Hsu, a long-time friend and working partner of Ang Lee, is currently in Los Angeles and has met with Lee. They have agreed that the script should be penned by Wang Hui-ling from the writing team of the original, to inject the sprit of the original into the prequel. Hsu said this one will "reflect the classic Chinese arts, traditional wuxia spirit and the sole of Chinese martial arts."
Unfortunately, the script has yet to be finalized but time is not a big concern. They got over a year to finish it.The prequel will probably be based on part II (Precious Sword, Gold Hairpin) and part III (Sword Force, Pearl Shine) of the Iron-Crane Pentalogy. The title will likely be "Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin".
In these two parts, young Li Mu Bai met and fell in love with Yu Shu Lien, who had already been engaged to Li's sworn brother Meng Si Zhao. Yes, there is a love triangle and it ended up as a tragedy, just like the original. Li Mu Bai's master Southern Crane, who has briefly mentioned in the original, played an important role in their relationships.
It is still too early to tell whether Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh will return but one thing for sure - Zhang Ziyi will not be in. Ang Lee, however, is currently preparing the big budget comic-book-based HULK, which will be released in the summer of 2003.
According to another report, Ang Lee said Chow Yun-fat is not the only candidate for playing Li Mu Bai. Jet Li, who has turned down the role for the original, is also being considered"
Ye Meng
Now, that was really interesting... Father Geek will have to keep his eye on that one for you... Here's Darius and AccSpy with this week's regular Thursday Asia-AICN Column...
Asia-AICN
Hey all, it was a yet another slow week, but we managed to find info on “Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (Heart and Love)”, “Aap Muche Achche Lagne Lage (I have Started to Like You)”, “Marry a Rich Man”, and “Chinese Odyssey 2002”. You’ll also find reviews to Bollywood’s latest releases, “Raaz (Mystery)” and “Filhaal (For the Moment)”. Now here’s the latest news from Asia.
INDIA
- Producer Rakesh Nath has signed director Aneez Bazmi for his next film, while Amisha Patel and Karan Nath have signed on as the leads. The film will go in production during this summer.
- Actor Rakesh Bapat has been added to the cast of Vivek Vaswani’s “Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (Heart and Love)”. The film, currently in production, stars R. Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Namrata Shirodhkar, and Juhi Chawla. It will be released on August 9.
- Some new stills were released from director Allu Arvind’s “Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai (Is this Love?). The teenybopper romance, which stars Aftab Shivdasani, Amisha Patel, and Jackie Shroff, is slated to release this spring. Here are the pics.
The dazzling Amisha Patel: See Her Now... Here
Amisha and Aftab: Click to See
One more pic of Amisha: Just Click
- The website for director Vikram Bhatt’s “Aap Muche Achche Lagne Lage (I have Started to Like You)” has finally opened up with lots of goodies. The film reunites the superhit duo from “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (Say There is Love)”, Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel, along with Kiran Kumar, Mukesh Tiwari and Raj Zutshi. It opens March 29. Click here to visit the website: Its All Right Here Here are some pics from the film.
Amisha Patel: Go Here
Hrithik and Amisha: They're Here
Another pic of the lead pair: Click Here
- There were two new releases last week. The first was director Vikram Bhatt’s latest thriller, “Raaz (Mystery)”, with Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, and Ashutosh Rana. The film is a rare horror story, which despite some overacting from the cast, doesn’t go into the B-movie realm. Bipasha Basu plays Sanjana, a woman who’s feeling increased distance from her workaholic husband, Aditya (Dino Morea). To solve their marital problems, Aditya takes his wife to a secluded village where they first met. Oh yeah, their house is deep within some spooky-looking forest while the local townspeople act pretty creepy aswell. Sanjana, left all alone in the house (her husband works on vacations aswell!), starts to encounter some unnatural events ie. hearing whispering voices, seeing floating objects, and eventually bloody walls. After being scared witless, she starts to face the spirit haunting her house and finally encounters the real reason behind the haunting events.
Ok, is the acting really that bad?? Yeah it kinda is – Bipasha Basu kinda impresses in a dramatic role, but sometime goes overboard during the scarier moments. However she did present a believable character and I did root for her towards the climactic events. Model-turned-actor Dino Morea makes a not-so-well debut here and seems to be only present to sing songs with Bipasha Basu. He’ll definitely have to improve his wooden acting if he wants to make it big.
Now for the icing on the cake, the usually reliable Ashutosh Rana goes WAY WAY WAY overboard as the local librarian / ghost expert. Everything about his performance screams B-movie (while being on par with Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons) and he nearly drags the movie down with him. However, even these performances were over-the-top, I have to give the movie some credit for the really nice special FX (for Bollywood) and the overall tense plot. Also, there was no subplot/romance story whatsoever – the film starts with the couple’s arrival and ends with the final showdown while managing a scary atmosphere all the way through. The film is really fast-paced and it was hoot to see it with a sold-out audience. The songs were adequately placed and were the only relief from the creepier/disturbing scenes. Overall, “Raaz” is nothing spectacular but is pure popcorn fun.
Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea: Just Click Right Here
An extremely NICE pic of Bipasha: Click!
The second film released last week was the more serious “Filhaal (For the Moment)”, which marks the directorial debut of Meghna Gulzar – the daughter of acclaimed poet/lyricist/director Gulzar and actress Rekha Gulzar. The film stars Tabu, Sushmita Sen, Sanjay Suri and Palaash Sen. The women-oriented plot focuses on the lives of Rewa (Tabu) and Sia (Sushmita Sen), who have been best friends since childhood and are closer than most sisters. Rewa is the romantic, sensitive type while Sia is the career-oriented woman. Rewa falls in love with, and marries, Dhruv (Sanjay Suri) while Sia keeps on postponing her marriage with Saahil (Palaash Sen) until her career takes off.
This is a film so naturally the lives of both couples are torn when Rewa suffers a miscarriage and Sia agrees to serve as a surrogate mother for Dhruv’s baby. Of course, Sia gets attached to the unborn child while Rewa becomes increasingly aggressive. Both women have a fallout but eventually come to terms with the situation at hand. That’s enough for the story so let’s move on to the acting – of course this is Tabu and Sushmita Sen’s movie and they both give superb performances. Tabu is a natural and she pulls off the role of the desperate mother with ease. Sushmita Sen is the real surprise here, even managing to out-act Tabu in the more dramatic scenes. The film started off with Rewa in the sympathetic lead but at the end, everybody managed to side with Sia. Her transformation from a career girl into a sensitive woman is superbly portrayed and is extremely believable.
I have a feeling this role might finally bring Sushmita out of supporting roles and into a limelight of her own. The two men are just filler material with Sanjay Suri having the bigger role (while not doing anything special with it). The direction by Meghna Gulzar is decent for a debut, and she is beginning to show some of the same skills as her father. The film is slowly paced (just right for a drama) while the set design is superb. The songs, although on the slow side, are very pleasing to the ears. All in all, “Filhaal” is a decent drama but is worth watching for the superb acting from the two leads.
HK / CHINA
Here is the latest report from “AccSpy”:
- Still a relatively slow week for HK movie biz and the news are all focusing on the two BIG Chinese New Year films opening this week. The premiere of "Marry a Rich Man" was held on Monday. Here's some photos from the night.
The premiere attracted more than 100 reporters from all over Asia: They All Right Here
Richie Yen: Just Go Here
Sammi Cheng reportedly earned $4.5 million for her role in "Marry a Rich Man", the highest ever for a HK actress: Click Now
Candy Lo: See Her Here
- Also opening this coming weekend is the Wong Kar-wai-produced, Jeff Lau-directed period comedy, "Chinese Odyssey 2002". The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong, Vikki Zhao and Zhung Zhun, with cameos of Eric Kot, Athena Chu, Rebecca Pan and Roy Cheung.
Here's the poster: Click Here to See
A hilarious image of Tony Leung from the movie: Just Click
- "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" debuted at no.1 in HK last weekend with a spectacular $9.11 mil opening. "Black Hawk Down" hung on at no.2, while Francis Ng and Daniel Wu's "Beauty and the Breast" (WHAT A TITLE!! – D25) was at no.3. Dayo Wong's self-starring, self-directed and self-written comedy "Fighting to Survive" debuted at no.6.
We have now reached the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@home.com. See you all next week.
Darius25
