HK Cinema: Chow Yun-fat / Donnie Yen

Good News!!! Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat (Curse of the Golden Flower ) and director Johnnie To (Exiled) are in talks to shoot a Hong Kong action movie together, for the first time.

Donnie Yen is to star in Painted Skin, a rare Chinese supernatural actioner being put together as a China-Singapore co-production. The $10 million budget period pic is to be jointly helmed by Wilson Yip Wai-shun (Dragon Tiger Gate) and Andy Chin Wing-keung (Dragon Chronicles).

The Forbidden Kingdom

Chan and Li throw “rotten tomatoes” at The Forbidden Kingdom

Actor Jackie Chan have been talking abou the new Hollywood action movie he shot with Jet Li, saing honestly that "isn't great". And Jet Li said in his blog that fans should not have overly high expectations for the film.

The Forbidden Kingdom, which finished shooting in China last month, has been anticipated because it´s the first collaboration between the two chinese stars.
They have been playing down the film's potential appeal to Chinese viewers, saying it is targeted at a U.S. audience.

The Web site 'Xinhua News Agency' quoted Chan as saying, "The movie I just shot with Jet Li, actually isn't that great.", is a movie made for Americans. Chinese viewers may not like it. If I say it's a good movie now, then many people will be filled with overly high expectations and be disappointed when they see the movie."

Before shooting on The Forbidden Kingdom started, he told reporters, "I don't have any expectations. It's just making an American movie."
"I believe the world is anticipating the movie, but I'm not too involved," Chan also said at the time.

Separately, Li made similar remarks, seen on Li's Web site, "I hope everyone uses an open mind to watch The Forbidden Kingdom and not invest too much expectation into my fight scenes with Jackie Chan," he said.

The Forbidden Kingdom is about an American teenager's fantasy journey to ancient China to rescue a mythological monkey king. Based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," in which a monkey king, a pig and a friar guard a Buddhist monk in search of religious texts. "After all, this is a story about an American child's dream 'Journey to the West' created by American producers and American scriptwriters. We may have to look at many elements in the movie from a different angle. " Li plays the monkey king and a silent monk, while Chan plays another monk called T'sa-Ho.

Well, I´m pretty sure the Chan-Li fans (the people that enjoy their Chinese movies, not his mediocre American adventures) outside Asia are antecipating the film, and the two stars know that, and nobody had forced them into this project. They are powerful enough to do a decent job, in China or America, if it was their true wish. Just be hotesty and say “I´m in it for the money”, guys! They should do a Chinese comedy alla “The Odd Couple”. That would be funny!

Director: Rob Minkoff
Writer:John Fusco
Release Date:18 April 2008 (USA)

Tsubaki Sanjuro (Japan)

Remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1962 classic Sanjuro.
Scheduled to release in Japan on December 1st, 2007

Screenplay: Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, and Hideo Oguni (based on the original novel by Shugoro Yamamoto)

Starring: Yuji Oda (Bayside Shakedown 2), Kenichi Matsuyama (Shindô) , Anne Suzuki (Initial D), Etsushi Toyokawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Morio Kazama, Tamao Nakamura, Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Makoto Fujita, Tokuma Nishioka, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Takuya Nakayama, Ryohei Suzuki, Ichitaro, Kimito Totani, Kazuhito Tomikawa, Yukichi Kobayashi, Eri Murakawa, and Yoshihiro Kasuya.
 

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Assembly film Poster (China, 2007)

"Every Sacrifice Deserves to be Immortalized"
Trailer link: http://bit.ly/aZxMAj























Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's new war film The Assembly is adapted from a short story about a soldier who seeks recognition for his fallen comrades during the Chinese civil war (1945 - 1949).

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone - Japanese animation



(Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Jo)Chief Director:Hideaki AnnoDirector:Kazuya Tsurumaki & Masayuki Screenplay:Hideaki Anno
Animation Production:Studio Khara
homepage: http://www.evangelion.co.jp/
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Toronto International Film Festival (2007)

Toronto International Film Festival Winners
OTTAWA, Sept. 15 2007

Eastern Promises, a thriller by Canadian director David Cronenberg, won the Cadillac People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival which closed Saturday after screening 349 films over ten days.

The London-set film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai(starred by Viggo Mortensen), a Russian gangster tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is shaken when he crosses paths with Anna (starred by Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family.
official movie homepage: www.focusfeatures.com/easternpromises/

“... nobody goes quite so far in making it (violence) all look realistic than Canadian director David Cronenberg, whose Russian mob movie Eastern Promises contains the single most disturbing moment of movie violence I have ever seen. It comes at the end of a bloody bathhouse battle between a buck-naked Viggo Mortensen and two hired assassins in black leather jackets, and Cronenberg himself, in an interview with Canadian news magazine Maclean’s, has likened it to the classic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as “the scene that will get (people) to see the movie.” But Cronenberg also says that the explicit scene — one of three graphic, violent moments in a tense, dark movie — is essential because it shows death for what it is, rather than the James Bond-style action-movie punch-ups, where the hero takes battering after battering, and still stands up to fight another day.” (source: http://blogs.reuters.com/category/events/toronto-2007/)

The Prize of the International Critics Association (FIPRESCI Prize) went to Rodrigo Pla's LA ZONA, a revenge drama set around a gated community in Mexico City. This award is annually bestowed upon a feature film directed by an emerging filmmaker, and making its world premiere at the festival.

The Diesel Discovery Award, voted on by the 1,000 members of the international media attending the festival, was awarded to Cochochi, from directors Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman. The film is about two brothers who become separated when attempting to deliver a package to a faraway community.

The Artistic Innovation award went to another Spanish-language film, Anahi Berneri's Encarnacion, an Argentinean film about an aging actress who returns to her hometown, which was cited by the jury for its for its "critique of mainstream cinema" and issues around the "fetishization of the female body." (source: http://news.xinhuanet.com)

Assembly to Open Pusan Film Fest

The 12th Pusan International Film Festival (Oct. 4 to 12) will open with the world premiere of Chinese director Feng Xuaogang’s (The Banquet) new movie Assembly.

Co-produced by China’s Huay Brothers and Korea’s MK Pictures, Assembly is a drama about a man who devotes his life to restoring the honor of a comrade who disappeared during the war.

The theme of the festival this year is "Beyond Frame", symbolizing the importance of breaking down barriers that divide people within the world's film industry. PIFF has emerged as a major film festival in Asia, where innovative regional films are introduced to moviegoers, film critics, journalists and distributors.

The newly-added section, “Gala Presentation”, screens master artists' new or the year's most talked-about films. This year, the section will feature the latest works by Lee Myung-se, Royston Tan and Hou Hsiao Hsien. Organizers said there will be one screening per day during the festival period, making this branch "a festival within a festival".

And “Flash Forward”, a new world cinema section, looks into young filmmakers who stand out in the industry. This year, Kriv Stenders's Boxing Day, Serge Bozon's France, and Michael Kang's West 32nd will be featured, along with eight other innovative films by young directors.

Finally, the Korean Cinema Retrospective section will be devoted to Kim Seung-ho, a famous actor in the 1950s and 1960s, and seven Korean films which the office of Cutlural Heritage Administration has designated as "National Assets".

One thing to look forward to is a special program in honor of the late Edward Yang, one of Asia's most prominent filmmakers, who died in June. Festival organizer Kim said the program will feature Yang's entire film lineup, adding that the festival staff made great efforts to secure all eight films.
Pusan festival homepage at http://bit.ly/cIWStT

"This year, PIFF will focus on helping Asian films play a bigger role in the world market, while promoting exchanges that go beyond continents", festival director Kim Dong-ho said at a news conference held last week. The international premiere of the Japanese animation Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone by Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki and Masayuki will close the festival. The animation is a new theatre adaptation of 1995 TV animation Neon Genesis Evangelion, the first of three films Anno has planned and is released in Japan on Sept. 1. Source: http://english.chosun.com/

The Festival will feature a record 274 films from 64 countries, along with gala events in the southeastern port city of Pusan.

PUSAN Korean Cine Festival

PUSAN cine festival news:

The jury of the the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival - PIFF named Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow) to head the jury of its 12th edition. The New Currents jury will include Chinese actress Nan Yu (Tuya’s Marriage), Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine), Serbian filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic (The Powder Keg) and Romanian director Christian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days). Leesong Hee-il (No Regrets), producer Kim Il-Kwon and documentary director Choiha Dong-ha (Taxi Blues) will comprise the Sonje Jury, responsible for choosing the best Korean short film and documentary in the Wide Angle section.
Site: http://www.piff.org/

Venice International Film Festival

Ang Lee wins Golden Lion

Taiwanese director Ang Lee has walked off with the best film award at the Venice film festival.

Lust, Caution (Se, Jie) won the Golden Lion late on Saturday, two years after Lee  scooped the big prize for American drama Brokeback Mountain. Reporters and critics in the press room, watching the closing ceremony beamed live on a big screen, booed when Lee's Golden Lion was announced.

Reviews of Lust, Caution were generally negative, arguing that at 156 minutes it was much too long. The explicit and sometimes violent sex scenes are getting more attention than the story and acting skills. I guess the fact that is the third consecutive year that a Chinese director has won the Golden Lion had upset some people. Jury president Zhang Yimou said Lee's movie has won applause from all of the seven-member jury.

Lee had made an excellent integration of international resources while filming Lust, Caution, which played an important role in winning him the award, he said. Anyway, can´t wait to watch the film!

But, happily, in Taiwan the people were flushed with pride on Sunday as favorite son and world famous director Ang Lee took Venice film festival's top award.

"Ang Lee steals another Golden Lion," proclaimed the United Daily News, calling him "the glory of Taiwan". "Ang Lee has again won glory for Taiwan," proclaimed the China Times. Both papers pointed out how Lee's two wins, coupled with Jia Zhangke's win last year for Still Life, mean the coveted award has gone to ethnic Chinese directors for the last three years. Jia's Wuyong, or Useless, took the Orizzonti Doc Prize at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Lee told the red carpet prize ceremony that the movie "has taken me to some very difficult places." The director said he was accepting the prize "in the shadow of the passing of two great giants, Michaelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman."

The director said he would like to dedicate the award to Bergman, whom he saw while working on Lust, Caution. "Ingmar hugged me the way a mother hugs a child. This hug was not for me, it was for you, the keepers of cinema," he said. Bergman died on July 30, and Antonioni of Italy one day later. Lee also expressed his gratitude to Chinese viewers and his colleagues in Hong Kong, saying that he hoped to share the award with all Chinese.

List of the main winners

GOLDEN LION FOR BEST FILM
"Lust, Caution" by Chinese director Ang Lee China

SILVER LION FOR BEST DIRECTOR
"Redacted" by U.S. director Brian De Palma US

SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
1. Tunisia-born director Abdellatif Kechiche for "La Graine et Le Mulet"("The Secret of the Grain")
2. U.S. director Todd Haynes for "I'm Not There" US

SPECIAL GOLDEN LION FOR BODY OF WORK
Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov Russia

BEST ACTOR
U.S. actor Brad Pitt for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" US

BEST ACTRESS
Australian Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There" Australia

BEST YOUNG ACTOR OR ACTRESS
French actor Hafsia Herzi for "The Secret of the Grain" France

BEST SCREENPLAY
British Paul Laverty for Ken Loach's "It's a Free World..." UK

ORIZZONTI PRIZE
"Sugisball" (Autumn Ball) by Veiko Ounpuu of Estonia

ORIZZONTI DOC PRIZE
"Wuyong" (Useless) by Jia Zhangke of China

SPECIAL MENTION:
"Death in the Land of Encantos" by Lav Diaz of the Philippines

THC Wallpaper

THC Wallpaper - September calendar

Johnnie To´s Trilogy

Johnnie To to film trilogy thriller - NEWS

Johnnie To´s next project will be a trilogy thriller based on the popular online novel Ghost Blows Out the Light.

The Shanghai-based Meridian Pictures Group will produce the movie. To was invited to supervise the shooting of the trilogy, and will choose to direct one of the three pieces. The screenplay hasn't been finished yet.

Chinese film director Zhang Yibai, with award-winning work, The Longest Night in Shanghai, is back to his hometown of Chongqing in southwestern China, shooting a star-studded new film. The film, titled Shao Nian or The Boy, its cast members
including new comer, Tan Jianci, as the leading role, while other performers will be top actors from Hong Kong, including Eason Chan, Eric Tsang, Karen Mok, and mainland actress Jiang Wenli.

Zhang Yibai's romantic feature The Longest Night in Shanghai, starring Chinese actress Zhao Wei and Japanese actor Masahiro Motoki, won the Press Prize at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival.
(http://english.cri.cn/)

Toronto International Film Festival

Taiwanese director Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers were invited to the Toronto Film Festival.

Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers, a crime drama set in 1930s Shanghai, was one of the two Asian films to be shown as gala presentations. The other one is Indian director Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Year.

Lust, Caution, an erotic espionage thriller, based on Eileen Chang's short story about a shy Chinese drama student drawn into an assassination plot against a Japanese collaborator during WWII is co-written by Focus CEO James Schamus and Wang Hui Ling. Tony Leung (Hero) and newcomer Tang Wei star. The festival is set to last from September 6 to 15.

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