Father Geek back with another Asia-AICN column from Darius25, pigmon, AccSpy and all our other Asian crew members... Well the news on this front that's got ol' Father Geek's blood boiling is that info about John Woo and THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES flick that Harry reported on one story back... Just Click Here to check it out. Also this may interest many of you action fans out there...
After poking around at Amazon.com, I see that a number of CYF back catalogue movies are on their way out, pre-order for now. Movies like "City on Fire" and "Hong Kong 1941" are coming out, I believe CYF wont the Hong Kong equivalent of Best Actor for "Hong Kong 1941" even!. Everyone recalls City on Fire was the original movie Quentin Tarantino based Reservoir Dogs off of. I cant wiat for the rest to come out so I can fill in my CYF DVD, im still waiting for "God of Gamblers" on disc!
I think this is newsworthy, shout it from the rooftops Harry!!!!! Lets the masses know!!!!!!!!!
gumbi
And then there's this good news for New Yorkers...
The Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rose Cinemas (kinda long name, I know) is having a Kinji Fukasaku retrospect , and will be screening "Battle Royale" on July 6th, 7:30 pm. They are also screening his awesome "Black Lizard" along with some other lesser known stuff (alas, no Green Slime--oh well).
More info can be found here: http://www.bam.org/asp/bam_frameset.asp
Fucking A!! Please give a shout out to all of the NYC geeks about this. The crowd for this one is going to be insane!
Call me...
Jurgis71
Now on to the regular Thursday column...
Asia-AICN
Hey All. While still recovering from the lack of Asian film news, we
managed to bring a rather full column for you, including my reviews of
the latest two Indian blockbusters, "Lagaan (The Tax)" and "Gadar
(Revolution)".
We also have the results of the 2nd Annual International
Indian Film Awards, the details on Roberto Benigni's next film, Rakesh
Roshan's next film, Wong Jin's "My Brutal Classmate", "Final Fantasy:
The Spirits Within", "Godzilla, Mothra and King Gidorah: All Monsters
Attack!" and Korean director Lee Bong Ou's next film. We also have some
new stills from "Lagaan", "Gadar", and "My Brutal Classmate". Now here's
the latest from Asia.
INDIA
- The 2nd Annual International Indian Film Awards took place in Sun City, South Africa, last Saturday and it was a star-studded event. Practically everybody from the Roshans and the Bachchans to the entire "Kaante (Thorns)" team showed up. Highlights of the evening included the Lifetime Achievement award being given to actress Waheeda Rehman and the best actor award presented by actress Bo Derek and Jackie Shroff to Hrithik Roshan. As expected, Kaho Naa Pyar Hai (Tell Me You Love Me) swept the major categories while the Bachchans got their deserving awards aswell. Here's the results of the major awards presented during the evening.
- Best Supporting Actress - Jaya Bachchan for "Fiza"
- Best Supporting Actor - Amitabh Bachchan for "Mohabbatein (Love Affairs)"
- Best Actress - Karisma Kapoor for "Fiza"
- Best Actor - Hrithik Roshan for "Kaho Naa Pyar Hai"
- Best Director - Rakesh Roshan for "Kaho Naa Pyar Hai"
- Best Film - "Kaho Naa Pyar Hai"
- Rakesh Roshan announced more details on his hotly anticipated follow-up to KNPH at the IIFA. He confirmed that the new film will again star his son, Hrithik Roshan, but this time he will be paired up with Preity Zinta. The film has been given the name "Koi Mil Gaya (Found Someone)" and it will start shooting sometime this winter.
- Actor/writer Saurabh Shukla (of "Satya" fame) will make his directorial debut with "Jaaneman, Jaan Le Tu (Take My Life, Dearest)". The film stars newcomers Amod Sinha and Sai Deodhar in the leading roles, along with Danny Denzongpa, Om Puri, Johny Lever, and Paresh Rawal. It will start shooting later on in the summer.
- Model Celina Jaitley has joined the cast of producer Pammi Sandhu's next film. The film stars Sunil Shetty and also makes the debut of ex-cricketer Ajay Jadeja. It will be released early next year.
- MTV India VJ Malaika Arora was supposedly offered a lead role in Roberto Benigni's next film. Benigni is looking for an Indian actress to play the role of a princess in his next film and thinks that Malaika should take the part. If she accepts, then this will be her first leading role (she made a guest appearance in "Dil Se (From the Heart)").
- Producer Vashu Bhagnani has signed actress Kareena Kapoor to star in one of his upcoming films. This new film may unite her with actor Tusshar Kapoor and director Satish Kaushik. All three have previously participated in Bhagnani's last film, "Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (I have Something to Say)".
- Two MAJOR films opened last week to smashing openings and both clicked instantly with the Indian audience. The more successful of the two, "Lagaan (The Tax)", opened to both critical and audience praise and proved to be a vastly entertaining time at the movies despite its near 4-hour running time. Don't get hyped up by all the buzz on this period flick because it is nothing more than a SPORTS FILM!!! That's right, even though it features a period setting with a really high budget, the film is just a good old-fashioned cricket film (a rare treat on its own) filled with great acting and direction. The plot takes place in the village of Bhuj near the turn of the last century during the British rule. The local ruler, Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) imposes a tax on the local villagers, which makes their bleak lives even more worse. The villagers, led by farmer Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), respond to this situation by hosting a cricket match between theirselves and the British. If they win despite the humongous odds, then they will be relieved of all taxation. The rest of the movie (after the Interval) follows the grueling, 2 hour-long, cricket match and proves to be one of the most exciting sports sequences in the history of cinema. Hell, I was swept up by all the excitement and I don't know nothing about the sport! The film is ok acting wise with Aamir Khan standing out like usual. His regional (Avadhi) accent is dead-on perfect and he handles the dramatic scenes with ease. Both heroines, Rachel Shelley and Gracy Singh, are equally impressive even though this is really a guy film. Paul Blackthorne is also pretty good as the sneering villain and he succeeds in providing a despicable character. The direction by newcomer Ashutosh Gowariker is very good and the story is very tightly written with very few dragging moments. You won't really feel the time go-by, especially in the 2nd half. The songs are very melodious and appear at just the right time. All in all, "Lagaan" IS overhyped but still manages to provide some really good entertainment.
Here's a pic with Paul Blackthorne (left) and Aamir Khan: Click
Here's a pic of Gracy Singh and Aamir Khan from the film: Just Click
Finally, here's a pic of Rachel Shelley: Click
- The other big release of last week was director Anil Sharma's "Gadar (Revolution)", starring Sunny Deol, Amisha Patel, and Amrish Puri. The film is set during the time of the Indian-Pakistani partition (in 1947) and starts by showing us some of the horrible events of the time (massacres, executions and the like). We are then introduced to a peace-loving truck driver, Tara Singh (Sunny Deol), who falls in love with a college student well below his age, Sakina (Amisha Patel). Tara is Sikh, which really complicates his romance since Sakina is a Muslim and the hostilities between each race were increasing at the time. Massive riots erupt due to political situations at the time and Sakina is separated from her family, who emigrate to Pakistan. Tara takes her in and eventually they get married. The real conflict begins at this point when Sakina is forced back to Pakistan and Tara follows in pursuit. I won't reveal the rest of the plot but let's just say the more bloodshed and violence follows. The acting is a mixed-bag: Sunny Deol is good during the drama scenes, but he just looked too uncomfortable playing the peace-loving romantic. He goes back to his violent ways with ease, and really gets the audience rooting for his character. However, Amisha Patel is EXCELLENT in her role of a simple innocent girl. She's cute and extremely likable and doesn't spend the movie pouting around all the time. While this is only her second film (her first was last year's "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai"), she seems to be growing as an actress by picking selective roles which really uses her acting abilities to the fullest potential. Amrish Puri is also at his scenery-chewing best as Amisha's father. The direction is pretty good and major kudos goes to the script for sticking to the main plot at all times. The songs are few and far in between and don't distract. All in all, "Gadar" is a "proper" period film with just the right amount of romance and action. It is not as entertaining as "Lagaan" in my opinion, but you won't go wrong with either film.
Here's a pic of Sunny Deol (playing a traditional Sikh, turban and all) and Amisha Patel: Click Here
Here's another pic of Sunny and Amisha: Go Here
Finally here's a pic of Sunny (minus the beard), left, with two other people: Click Here Now
CHINA / HK
Here's the weekly report from AccSpy:
- Director Wong Jing is currently filming a high school combat movie titled "My Brutal Classmate (lit. title)", starring Nicolas Tse, Stephen Fung and Joey Yung (from "Feel 100% II"). Loosely based on a Japanese comic book, Tse plays a skillful fighter who protects and rescues his newly transferred classmate, played by Fung. A Chinese Ghost Story's director Ching Siu-Tung will serve as the action director in the movie.
The film will be released at the end of August in HK. Here's some pics from the set.
Stephen Fung (from left) , Nicolas Tse and director Wong Jing: Click Here
The set of the private school: Click Now
Stephen Fung playing basketball: Just Click
- HK actors Daniel Wu and Josie Ho (both from "Purple Storm") have joined the cast of Japanese action flick "Dead or Alive 3".
- With the surprising success of Christian film "Life is a Miracle", two more non-fiction Christian films are in the works. Karen Morris will play a drug addict in "When Life meets Life" while Dave Wong is slated to play a famous ex-gambler in the second Christian film. Stareast Studios will co-finance both films.
- As expected, "The Mummy Returns" debuted at no.1 of the HKBO, earning a stellar $14 million in just 4 days. Tony Leung and Sammi Cheng's "Fighting for Love" collected another $4 million this weekend, giving it a total gross of $11.5 million so far. "Visible Secret" fell to no.3 and grabbed a million dollars over the weekend.
JAPAN
Here is the latest report from Pigmon:
- The Japanese premieres of A.I. and Pearl Harbor. Two big American films will be held this week. There were actually some screenings of "A. I." on June 18 for about 3000 people. The Japanese audiences had a negative reaction to the film and its prospects doesn't look to be too good in Japan.
- The "Pearl Harbor" Japanese premiere will be held on June 21 at the Tokyo Dome with more than 20,000 people attending at this humongous screening. Ben Affleck will be the honorary guest for the event.
- Japanese rock group L'Arc-en-Ciel will sing the theme song of upcoming "Final Fantasy" movie.
- There is conflict between the Gamera VFX group and the Toho-Godzilla VFX group on the sets of "Godzilla, Mothra and King Gidorah: All Monsters Attack!". This supposedly is one of the biggest VFX groups assembled in Japan but Toho wants more analog effects (suit,suit, suit.....) while Gamera team wants to use more digital effects. The fight looks to continue on during production.....
- The 9th Annual French Yokohama Film Festival will take place from June 20 to 24. Around 20 new French films will be showing, most of which have not been shown in their home country as of yet. I will see about 16 of them and report on the good ones.
- The director of "15 Minutes", John Herzfeld, will direct the remake of "Yakuza". Production is slated to start sometime in the near future.
- Two new Japanese horror films have been completed. The first one, "Moju vs. Isshunbousi" was directed by legendary cult director Teruo Ishii while "Watashi No Hone" was directed by first time director Takayuki Ogino. I'll keep you up-to-date on these films as more information is released.
KOREA
Solaris has a little tidbit on director Lee Bong Ou's next film:
There was an interesting piece in the Herald Tribune on June 18th about Lee Bong Ou, the director behind South Korea's two smash hits "Shiri" and "J.S.A." Bong Ou, however, is not South Korean, but is an ethnic North Korean who was born in Japan, thus giving a personal added weight to "J.S.A." as it deals with North vs. South Korean cooperation and mistrust. According to the Herald, Bong Ou's next feature is will be "KT," a code name used in the Kim Dae Jung kidnapping incident that occured in Japan in 1973. To my mind, Bong Ou represents the ever increasing transnationalism occurring in East Asian cinema today. Along these lines himself, Bong Ou has said that "movies are his nationality."
