HOORAY!!! Father Geek is one happy puppy. We have finally scored a reporter to handle the Japanese Film Industry for Asia-AICN. Now we have the big three covered, what a relief. This column is now posed to really takeoff. Euro-AICN under the twin editorship of Edgard and Darth Bond in Paris, and with the regular reportage of Ozymandias from Dublin, Ireland, is doing great, far better than I expected 3 months ago. With the addition of LOBO handling Mexican film news to Coffin Joe at our Latin-AICN Offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and now this news from DARIUS 25 at Asia-AICN's offices we are rapidly becoming the worldwide geek network we envisioned at our Austin, Texas Headquarters nearly 5 years ago. Now we just need a regular weekly Wednesday columnist (an AICN-Downunderer) to cover Australia, New Zealand, etc...
Asia-AICN #7
Hey all. This week we have lots of info from the lands of the east,
including for the first time news from Japan! Without any further delays, here's the stuff:
INDIA
Hey all. This week we have lots of info from the lands of the east,
including for the first time news from Japan! Without any further delays, here's the stuff:
INDIA
- Dreamz Unlimited, the production company formed by actors Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza, have announced their next film. The film is titled Ashoka (Indian feminine name) and will star Shah Rukh along with Arwind Swamy and Kareena Kapoor. The film will be directed by Santosh Sivan, who made the critically-raved "The Terrorist".
- Model/Actress Lisa Ray has walked out of the film Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (Neither of Us Know), which costars Hrithik Roshan and Esha Deol. There are rumours that that Vikram Bhatt, director of her other film - Kasoor (Fault), has encouraged/convinced her to walk out of Na Tum Jaano Na Hum because her role in the film was way too small and unimportant. Kasoor also stars Aftab Shivdasani and Apurva Agnihotri.
- Speaking of Dreamz Unlimited, there is news that famous dance choreographer Farah Khan will turn director for Dreamz' third production. The film does not yet have a title.
- Actress Kareena Kapoor has walked out of director Raj Kanwar's film which costars Hrithik Roshan. The film does not yet have a title. There are rumours that since Kapoor is already doing director Subhash Ghai's film, Yaadein (Memories), also with Roshan, she does not feel it necessary to do another film with him so soon. Yaadein is set to begin principal photography in the fall and is set to release next summer.
- Actor Bobby Deol's next film will be Bichhoo (Scorpion) and will also star Rani Mukherjee. The film, directed by Guddu Dhanoa, will be a mystery/suspense thriller - much like Deol's blockbuster hit, Gupt (Secret).
- Actress Amisha Patel's next film will be Gadar (Traitor) which will co-star actor Sunny Deol. The film is a remake of a Punjabi movie, Shaheed E Mohabbat (The Sacrifice of Love).
- This one is for all the South Indian fans. Rumour has it that South Indian megastar Rajnikant will star opposite Bollywood mega-actress Aishwarya Rai in director K. S. Ravikumar's next film. The film does not yet have a title.
- Finally, Aishwarya Rai has joined the cast of Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja (Ashamed). Rai will star opposite Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala, Rekha, Mahima Chaudhary, and Madhuri Dixit.
- The new release last Friday (May 26) was Hum To Mohabbat Karega (I Will Love Her). This was the second of the two films by Kundan Shah and released back to back. The first, Kya Kehna (What did you say ?), was released last week and was mentioned in last week's Asia-AICN column. Hum To Mohabbat Karega stars Bobby Deol as a waiter in a middle-class restaurant and is in love with famous TV reporter Geeta Kapoor (played by Karishma Kapoor). He pretends to be a murder witness in order to get closer to Geeta and makes up facts about the crime. His guesses turn out to be the truth (it's a movie, live with it) and the criminals go after him and the reporter. The movie is an out and out comedy with a little bit mystery thrown in. As you can probably tell, the script isn't very strong, and much of the incidents rely on a string of coincidences. Also, the "mystery" element isn't very original and the movie is predictable all the way. However, the movie is meant to be viewed as a light (but dumb) comedy, and it doesn't fail to entertain. Just don't expect the movie to win any awards.
- This week's recommendation is a great film (and last year's Filmfare Awards' Best Picture winner) Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (I Have Given My Heart To You), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film stars Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan and is basically a love triangle. Sameer (Salman Khan) comes to India from Italy to learn music from a great musician and falls for his daughter, Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). Nandini returns the favour, but the musician disagrees and marries Nandini off to a lawyer, Vanraj (Ajay Devgan). When Vanraj hears about Nandini's love, he takes her to Italy in order to reunite the lovers. I won't disclose the climax, but it's fairly predictable. I do agree that the story is very soap-ish, but the real star of the movie is the beautiful cinematography by Anil Mehta. This movie is just BEAUTIFUL to look at. The first half takes place in a rural village in India, and showcases gorgeous images, from the wildly vivid colours of the traditional Indian costumes to the rustic but ravishing palaces. The second half is equally beautiful as the movie takes place all over Italy. The acting is also very good in this movie. Aishwarya Rai won the best actress for her role, and she deserved it. Ajay Devgan is also very good as the honourable husband who must do the right thing, even though he regrets it every moment of his life. Salman Khan is good at the comedic scenes in the beginning, where he is the dumb outsider, but he isn't very convincing in the dramatic scenes later on in the film. The movie is also very long (over 3 hrs) and is very slowly paced, but the acting and the cinematography is so good that you wouldn't mind sitting through it.
CHINA/HK
The following is from "The Accidental Spy":
- The buzz is true...sort of. John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat are teaming up again, for a video game. Sony announced that they are developing a role-playing game based on Chow Yun-Fat's movie characters and famous gun-battle scenes from the classics which are made by John Woo. Woo agreed to attach his name to the project once he heard the idea. The game is set to released in 2002 for Playstation 2 with the fact that both stars agree to do the promotion together.
- Chow Yun-Fat didn't attend Cannes to promote CTHD. Rumour has it that the star had a few problems with the statements of his contract with Columbia Pictures and his manager suggested him not to go. He went for a trip to celebrate his birthday instead.
- USA films has bought "In the Mood of Love" only after watching it for 3 minutes in Cannes. USA films wants to bring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai to Hollywood but Leung said that his schedule is full until the year 2002, but he is willing to give it a try until then. Personally I hope Leung would do an indie flick instead of the big-budget stuff in Hollywood, and USA films is a studio which is quite promising to release some low-budget, critical-acclaimed films. (I agree, Leung would be better suited to do some wicked indie drama than some big budget actioner like RMD or The Replacement Killers - D25).
- Beside two official sequels and one prequel, the sixth installment of "Young and Dangerous" is now shooting in HK, Taiwan and Japan. The film will be directed by Andrew Lau (who also directed the first five Y&D, The Stormriders and A Man Called Hero). Also, the movie will be written and produced by Manfred Wong (who also wrote and produced the same films mentioned above). The latest episode of the triad series will focus on the new marriage between Chicken (Jorden Chan) and the Japanese gang's daughter, the Taiwanese politics element, and how the Hung Hing Triad survives under the Japanese triad's challenge. Ekin Cheng (Ho Nam), Hsu Chi, Sandra Ng (Sister Thirteen), Alex Man, Ko Shou-liang, Jerry Lam and Chin Ka-lok would all reprise their roles with a big new cast, Sonny Chiba, who portraits the Japanese gang's boss who is planning to conquer the HK triad world. Here's a picture from behind the scenes with Sonny Chiba and Ekin Cheng in a Japanese sword fight, along with Chin Ka-lok(center) teaching some moves:
- I heard someone in the talkback column said that they can't get enough of Jaymee Ong from "Gen X Cops". Let's check out her latest movie, "Rave Fever", a well-scripted suspense comedy which follows a single story shown from multiple perspectives (think Hong Kong version of "GO"!). Jaymee Ong protraits a bitchy party animal who just can get enough fun and sex. Also starting Mark Lui, Sam Lee and YoYo Mung. Here's the link to purchase the movie on VCD: JUST CLICK HERE. Also, here's a link to purchase the movie on DVD: CLICK HERE.
JAPAN
Please welcome our new reporter "Pigmon", who will be reporting each
week on Japanese films.
- On Monday, May 29, the VFX department of Godzilla vs. Megagilas starts shooting!! The story is that the humans try to kill Godzilla with new weapon on development, the Dimension Tide, which makes the Black Hole to suck Godzilla . At the same time, some primitive bugs, Meganulun, have appeared from the past through this Black Hole and begin to grow rapidly. These Meganulun suck the energy from Godzilla and become one big (55-meters) monster, Megagilas. Godzilla , Megagilas and humans start fighting each other at the heart of the Tokyo bay area. First time director Masaaki Tezuka will direct. He has been working long time as 1st AD. Visual Effects Director (we don't use "supervisor") is Kenji Suzuki who did Godzilla 2000.
- Here's some news on the upcoming Summer season. The Japanese film summer season starts in June:
- On June 3, Jin-Roh (Anime) will be released. Mamoru Oshii (of Akira and Ghost In The Shell fame) has written this movie about a wolf-man and a woman. The movie is directed by Hiroyuki Okiura who was Ghost In The Shell's character designer and animation director. I haven't seen this one yet.
- On June 10, Crossfire (Toho release) will be released. The film has a website at CLICK HERE which is in Japanese only but you can see some wonderful shots. It is directed by Gamera series' Shusuke Kaneko. It looks a bit like "Fire Starter" but much advanced digital effects makes it very different. The story is about a girl, Junko, who has Pyrochenesis power and how she tries to get revenge for her boyfriend's little sister's murder. At the end, the battle between Junko and youth gang in the amusement park is awesome! Superb effects movie!
- Also on June 10, Senrigan (Toei release) will release. The English title is not available yet. The film's website is at This very spot . The story is about two women who got telepathic powers and try to stop a terrorist attack in Tokyo. I am going to see a special preview this week and hopefully can report next week.
- On June 15, Jouvenile (Toho release) will be released. They have a website at Click here for it which is in Japanese only but you can see all the creatures. It will be the best Japanese VFX-oriented movie in years. There are over 600 VFX shots!! The story is about a small robot, Tetra, who comes from the future to stop an alien who came to Earth to steal sea water. Tetra becomes friends with some kids and they help find all the things Tetra needs to become a big robot. Tetra assembles the materials from a junk yard and becomes a big (20 ft) size robot to confront the alien attack. Tetra gets destroyed in the battle but one of the kids decides to be scientist in order to fix Tetra in the future. In the year 2025, the boy becomes a scientist to be able to fix the robot. Tetra goes back to the past (2000) inorder to save Earth. Mr.Yamazaki,a first time director but famous for VFX directing, did a good job. Only 8 members of Shirogumi, one of the top VFX houses in Japan, did all the 600 shots! Even the director did all the texture mapping for the alien and its spaceship! This movie is like E.T., Stand By Me, Goonies, Gandam and Back To The Future combined!!
- Also on July 8, the third Pokemon movie will release. Who cares, right?
- On May 9th, the Romeo Must Die premiere happened in Tokyo (I was there). Joel Silver and Jet Li came to this premiere and Joel promised to the audience that "Jet Li will be in Matrix 2!" Of course, all the audience went nuts! (Very good news indeed - D25)
- Finally, a leader of Tokyo Shock Boys, Nambu, has been cast for Episode 2.Do you know guys know about this story? He looks like Yoda and behaves like Jar-Jar. (NOOO!!!! - D25)
Here's a script description of Takeshi Kitano's latest movie that just finished principle photography, BROTHER by "Penny Century" set for release in Japan this Christmas season:
I did some translation work for a production company which has been making a documentary about Beat Takeshi. They shot some footage on the set of his new film which is an American / Japanese co-production. I've read the script and seen some of the rushes, so I'm in a good position to tell you something about the upcoming movie I guess.
Kitano plays a Yakuza who is shamed back home when his boss is wiped out, so he comes to LA to see his little brother, who he thinks is working as a waiter. When he gets to LA he discovers that his bro is actually running a petty drugs gang. Kitano organizes his bro and his friends into a kind of Yakuza ring of his own, with a load of Japanese and African-Americans as the henchmen. They wipe out the local triads, then the Mexican gangsters and so on, until they eventually meet their match in a full on gang war. It's quite a good laugh, and the funniest scenes in the script are about Kitano's obsessive gambling.
The finished scenes that I've had the chance to watch look OK - there's a great scene where Kitano and one of his henchmen throw paper airplanes off the roof of a building. There's also quite a gruesome sequence shot in Tokyo, where he chucks a severed finger across a room. It's the usual thing - lots of black suits and dark glasses - but it has the added element of the little brother, who's a bit of an unshaven scruff with a wooly hat on and all his black friends this time. None of the stuff I've seen so far features any of Kitano's trademark visual flair and I haven't seen any of the gun battles, which sound like they'll be cool, but I guess that will come later. As far as I understand, the shoot has already wrapped, but I've no idea when it's due for release.
