Asian Thrillers

"Hide and Seek"

1.The Eye (DVD, Hong Kong/ 2002)
Director: Pang Brothers
Actors: Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou
A blind young woman gets her vision back after a surgery and, with a very creepy bonus, starts to see evil spirits.

2.The Eye 2 (DVD/ Hong Kong/ 2004)
Director: Pang Brothers
Actors: Shu Qi, Jesdaporn Pholdee
As the first “The Eye”, the malevolent spirits are all around, frigthening the living ones. A girl is dumped by her boyfriend and, after a failed suicide attempt, starts to see spirits that, aparently, are trying to make harm to her unborn child.



3.Dark Water (DVD/ Japan/ 101 min.)
Director: Hideo Nakata
Actors: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno
A divorced young woman struggle to raise alone her daughter. They move to a suburbian building, were strange things happen, like growing stains on walls, and visions of a child´s angry ghost. It´s a very dark and sad tale, and a very interesting study of the women position in the opressive niponic society.

Legend of Gingko, Shinobi and Azumi

3 Action-Fantasy Films:


Moyuru Tsuki: The Legend of Gingko(“Danjeogbiyeonsu”: South Korea, 2000, 117 min.)
Director: Je-hyeon Park
Actors: Jin-shil Choi, Kyung-gu Sol, Mi-suk Lee, Seok-hun Kim, Yoon-jin Kim.

A not so well mixed pack of period action flick and fantasy melodrama. A fashion this days in the east cinema, this “genre” has better examples inside the japanese cinema. Two primitive tribes in war, a lot of bloddy fights, enchanted swords, tearful romances, make this a very uneven story. It´s worth to rent it if you´re curious about the previous movie career of the fine actress Yoonjin Kim, made a star to the west with the Lost TV series.



Shinobi (Heart Under Blade) (DVD/ Japan, 2005)
by Shimoyama Ten; with Yukie Nakama, Jô Odarigi, Tomoka Kurotani, Erika Sawajiri, Kippei Shiina, Takeshi Masu, Mitsuki Koga.

Imagine Romeo and Juliet having the X-Men powers, and living inside of a japanese epic. A good example of anime turned sucessfully into live-action film.



Azumi (DVD, Japan, 2003)
by Ryuhei Kitamura
with Aya Ueto; Kenji Kohashi; Takatoshi Kaneko; Yuma Ishigaki; Yoshio Harada; Yasutaka Sano; Tak Sakaguchi; Shinji Suzuki.

Inspired by the original manga and playstation 2 videogame, it´s a very well done and fun fantasy/adventure movie. Azumi is a teenage swordswoman trained, with the company of some skilled young men, to kill the insurgents of the empire. The director Kitamura manages to balance with great sensibility the action scenes and the storytelling, making a very enjoyable film to watch.

Joint Security Area / Mountain Patrol

Joint Security Area (DVD/ South Korea, 2000, 109 min.)
By Chan-wook Park; with Byung-hun Lee, Young-aeh Lee, Kang-ho Song.
The unexpected friendship between army soldiers, at the border of the divided Koreas, and it´s tragic consequences. Park directed the fantastic “Oldboy”.
(if you like JSA, don´t miss Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War)




Kekexili (Mountain Patrol )(DVD/ China, HK, 2004, 95 min.)
By Lu Chuan; with Duo Bujie (Ritai) and Zhang Lei (the reporter Ga Yu).
Awards: Golden Horse at the Taiwan´s Film Festival (Best Picture and Cinematography, Best Asian Film at Hong Kong Film Awards, Special Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

The true story of a group of courageous men that, as volunteers, had tried to protect the tibetan antelopes from the skin hunters, in the mid 90´s. The landscape is breathtakingly beautiful, the characters have great empathy; true heroes, the kind we don´t see a lot this days. Oh, and for the girls, be careful with that Zhang Lee guy, that smile could kill you!

Jackie Chan´s The Myth and New Police Story

Jackie Chan´s
The Myth (DVD/ Hong Kong, 2005)
by Stanley Tong
with Jackie Chan, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Kim Hee-Sun, Yu Rong-Gaung, Ken Lo
If you´re a Jackie Chan fan like myself, you´ll see this and all of his films, even if the critics are bad. Well, I did expect a lot more from The Myth, but the looks of “big budget production” were just an allurement, a fine bait. It´s lacking heart, and not money to Mr. Chan´s movies, this days.



New Police Story (DVD/ Hong Kong, 2005)
by Benny Chan Muk-Sing; with Jackie Chan, Charlie Yeung , Nicholas Tse, Daniel Wu, Francis Ng, Charlene Choi.
After watching with disappointment the dvd of The Myth, it would be easy to disqualify this one. But looking with a certain dispassionate feeling, It wasn´t so bad, after all. New Police Story is a mix of “GenX Cops” and “Time and Tide”, but with the Jackie Chan extra special bonus! Only that I still prefer the old Police Story franchise.

Crazy Action in China

Only for the brave ones (warning: crazy editing, dubious acting skills and a lot of fun!)

 

Wheels on Meals (DVD/ Hong Kong, 104 min.)
by Sammo Hung; with Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung
“The horror, the horror!” Seriously, only for die hard Jackie´s fans. The 80´s clothes and hairdos can make you sick.

The Evil Cult or Kung Fu Cult Master (DVD/ Hong Kong, 1993, 90 min.)
by Wong Jing; with Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Sharla Sheung.
Again, only for kung fu fanatics, or if you bought it for five bucks, like myself. The director wasn´t present at the footage, or the editor is nuts, or both; Sammo Hung is crazy fun; we wait too much to see Jet Li do something, like fight (the sex jokes would be better at Stephen Chow´s lips). Oh, and the story doesn´t end, so look for the next chapter, if you dare.

The Twins Efect (DVD/ Hong Kong, 2003)
by Dante Lam & Donnie Yen
with Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi , Gillian Chung, Anthony Wong, Jackie Chan
This is the “so bad that is good” kind of film. If you don´t resist the kuteness of the new generation of HK movie stars, you´re in heaven, baby!

The White Dragon (DVD, China, 2004, 92 min.)
by Wilson Yip; with Cecilia Cheung, Francis Ng, Andy On
By the dvd´s cover picture, you may wrongly think that it´s another subproduct of the chinese epic-romance movie fashion. Actually it´s just another example of the Hong Kong´s new generation talent, a silly mix, at least to the west, of satire and melodrama, epic and teen movie flick (oddly, films like Clueless and Crouching Tiger... were reminded through the screening) . The film has it´s moments, specialy for the cantonese pop culture fans, so if your´re not a teen girl, don´t bother watching it.

CANNES Film Festival News

CANNES, France (Reuters)

Director Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" , a moving drama about the Irish struggle for independence in 1920, won the "Palme d'Or" at the Cannes film festival on Sunday.

The Golden Palm, the highest cinema award outside the Oscars in the United States, went to one of Britain's most highly respected and socially active film makers, and was a fitting choice for a festival were political pictures stole much of the limelight.
The 69-year-old film maker told Reuters in an interview earlier in the festival that the Irish fight for independence against an empire imposing its will on a foreign people had resonances with the U.S. occupation of Iraq today.

The Grand Prix, or runner up prize, was awarded to "Flanders" directed by France's Bruno Dumont. The movie is an examination of war and its effect on those who fight and those left behind told through the story of the young and taciturn farmhand Demester, who is called up to fight a war in an unspecified country.

While Dumont does not define the cause of the conflict, brutal images of desert landscapes, troops under fire from Arab snipers and executions of soldiers caught by the enemy will be seen by audiences as a clear reference to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ensemble female cast of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" including Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura, won the best actress prize.

The best actor category also went to a cast, in this case that of "Indigenes" screening as "Days of Glory" in English, about the role North African troops played in defending France during World War Two. The cast includes Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri and Sami Bouajila.

Almodovar won best screenplay for Volver, his bitter-sweet tale of abuse, abandonment and reconciliation which was the critics' favorite to take the Palme d'Or before the awards were announced.

Best director went to Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel", a sweeping portrayal of barriers -- personal, cultural and national -- which was shot on three continents and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

The Jury Prize went to Britain's Andrea Arnold, who was in Cannes with her first feature film "Red Road", about a woman whose job is to monitor the grim streets of Glasgow through security cameras that seem to be on every corner.

Stephen Chow Sci-fi Movie

(http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/)Hong Kong actor and director Stephen Chow has laid aside his sequel to Kung Fu Hustle and has recently turned to preparing for a sci-fi movie. The untitled project will involve a lot of kid actors and according to an earlier report, Chow will play an astronaut somehow falls in love with a girl in space. Casting and location scouting have already began for the new project. Recently, Chow went to eastern China's Ningbo to scout for locations and cast children actors. The title and plot of the movie has yet to be revealed, while the shooting is expected to begin this May.


While we´re waiting for Chow´s next film, we can watch on dvd some old sci-fi movies. Thinking about it there isn´t so many good films in the genre, not counting the classics like Star Wars. The sci-fi literature can be brilliant, but the movies about space...


The Fifth Element (USA/FR, 1997, 150 min.)
Directed by Luc Besson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker
In a futuristic planet earth a taxi driver helps an alien babe to save the world. It´s funny, has a beautiful art direction, and stylish clothes by J.P. Gautier).


Red Planet (USA, 2000, 120 min.)
Directed by Antony Hoffman
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Carrie-Ann Moss, Benjamin Bratt, Terence Stamp.
In a close future, humans decide to colonize Mars, as a last resourse of salvation to the mankind . They send astronauts in a mission to prepare the land of the red planet for a future mass migration.


Lost in Space (USA)
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc.
The cult tv series of the 60´s gets a much darker version in this film. It´s a nice homage.


Spaceballs (USA, 1987, 97 min.)
Directed by Mel brooks
Starring: Mel brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga.
Parody of the Star Wars movie. Sometimes I think that this hillarious comedy is best than the original SW.


Total Recall (USA, 1990, 120 min.)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox.
A man who´s memories may be false, search for his identity in Mars. The film didn´t grow old well, but the story (original from sci-fi autor Philip K. Dick) is great.

Germany´s World Cup

Football World Cup Countdown : 30 days left!
 

Everything about the Germany´s World Cup at:


http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2142,8053,00.html

THC Music "20 Love Songs"

爱 音 乐 20
Somebody Help Me [Full Blown Rose]
Remember To Breathe [Dashboard Confessional]
Brokenhearted [Vaughan Penn]
Beautiful [Goldfrapp]
Broadway [Goo Goo Dolls]
Wait [Get Set Go]
Don't Know Why [Norah Jones]
Suddenly I See [KT Tunstall]
Naked As We Came [Iron and Wine]
Publish My Love [Rogue Wave]
Portions of Foxes [Rilo Kiley]
Good Life [Francis Dunnery]
There´s a Girl [The Ditty Bops]
Learning to Breathe [Switchfoot]
Fools In Love [Inara George]
Fighting For My Love [Nil Lara]
Your Body Is a Wonderland [John Mayer]
Could Be Anything [The Eames Era]
Nothing Better [The Postal Service]
Cosy in the Rocket [Psapp]

Sylvia Chang (Actress, Taiwan)

Sylvia Chang (Ai-chia)

Sylvia Chang was born in the Chia Yi County of Taiwan in 22 july, 1953, but spent part of her childhood in Hong Kong and her early teen years in Riverdale, New York. Returning to her birthplace, began appearing in films in the 1970's, having debuted at the age of 16. Actually she began at radio programs, and singing. With only 18 years old, she signed a contract with Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest Productions and made her acting debut in Tattooed Dragon.

In 1973, credited as Sylvia Channing, she appeared alongside Chuck Norris in Slaughter in San Francisco (Huang mian lao hu). In 1977, she co-starred with Brigitte Lin in the Shaw Brothers’ Dream of the Red Chamber / Jin yu liang yuan gong lou meng . Back home, she appeared in films like 800 Heroes (1975), and in tv movies.

In 1979, got married and moved back to Hong Kong, where she established herself for good at the movie industry. In 1979, starred in King Hu’s Legend of the Mountain (Shanzhong chuangqi) and also served as his assistent director on Raining in the Mountain; was the female lead in Ann Hui’s The Secret/ Feng jie (1979), an important new wave film that so happened to be produced by a company that Sylvia had co-established with friend Selina Chow.

Chang began to reduce her onscreen appearances in the mid-80's and instead focused on directorial work. In 1981, after having been the a.d. of Lung Gong (on Hiroshima 28), was asked by Raymond Chow to direct a melodramatic production called Once Upon a Time (Jiu meng bu xu ji).

With 26 years old, made a guest appearance on USA tv series M*A*S*H*. Other foreign works include 1982´s australian Attack Force Z (with Mel Gibson), Mike Newell´s Soursweet (1988, a British adaptation of Timothy Mo’s novel), and the canadian sucess Red Violin/ Xiang Pei (1998).

With more than 90 films to her credit, Chang is one of Asia's most prolific cinema professionals. Chang has written, directed and produced numerous projects of her own. In 1996, she started up Taipei's cable channel Go Go TV of which she was General Manager for two years. She has a very sucessfull career as a singer, with seven platinum albums to her credit. She is happily married mother of two.

Aside from being a well-known figure in the film industries of both Hong Kong and Taiwan, Chang is also renowned internationally. London and Toronto Film Festivals have screened her works as retrospective specials, and she also was a member of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival.

Some awards include:

Golden Horse Awards´s Best Supporting Actress in 1976 for her performance in Posterity and Perplexity.
Best Actress for My Grandfather/ Wo de ye ye (1982).
Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Passion/Zui ai (1987, also scripted and directed); scripted and directed Siao Yu (1995, USA, Ang Lee´s production), garnering the Best Film and Best Screenwriter awards at the Pan Asia Film Festival.
Best Screenplay winner for Tonight Nobody Goes Home (1996) at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
HK Film Awards´s Best Screenplay winner for Tempting Heart / Sam dung (1999), and Best Actress winner for Forever and Ever/Di jiu tian chang (2001).

She speaks: "I've learned so much about directing from my acting in the past 20 years. It's such a big help to me. I can better understand the feelings of the cast. I'm a trouble-shooter. I can quickly find ways to solve their problems."

Selected Filmography (1980-2006):

White Jasmine/Mo li hua (1980, best actress nominee Golden Horse Film Fest)
Aces Go Places/ Zuijia Paidang (1982, as a tough policewoman, making up a comedic duo with actor Karl Maka; HK Film Awards: Best Actress nominee, Best Mandarin Movie)
That Day On The Beach/ Haitan de yitian (1983 Taiwan's New Wave, dir. by Edward Yang)

Shanghai Blues/ Shanghai zhi ye (1984)
Passion/Zui ai (1986 Best Director nominee at GHFF)
Lucky Stars Go Places/ Zui jia fu xing (1986)
The Game They Called Sex/ Huang-se gushi (1987, dir. only)
Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing? (Taiwanese box office hit)
The Game They Call Sex /Huang-se gushi (1987)
All About Ah-Long/ You jian A Lang (1989)
Full Moon in New York/ Ren zai Niu Yue (1990)
Eight Tales of Gold/ Ba liang jin (1990)
Queen of Temple Street/ Miao jie huang hou (1990)
Sisters of the World Unite /Sha sha jia jia zhan qi lai (1991, also writer/producer)
Mary From Beijing/ Mungsing Sifan (1992, writer/director only)
Three Summers/ Ge ge de qing ren (1993, Dir. Lawrence Ah Mon; writer, exec. prod., singer)
In Between /San tung gui shut doi (1994, also director)
Eat Drink Man Woman/Yin shi nan nu (1994)
I Want to Go on Living/ Wo yao huo xia qu (1995, also writer/director)
Tonight Nobody Goes Home/ Jin tian bu hui jia (1996, writer/director only)
Bishonen/Meishaonian zhi lian (1998, executive producer)
Tempting Heart /Xin dong (1999, one of the top ten grossing films of the year)
Princess-D/ Xiang fei (2002, writer/director only)
20:30:40 (2004, also writer/director)
Rice Rhapsody /Hainan ji fan (2004)
American Fusion (2006)
Bibliography:
http://www.brns.com/
http://hkfilmart.com/
http://www.filmbug.com/
http://www.imdb.com/

Inside Man Movie OST

Music Notes

Spike Lee´s Inside Man Movie Soundtrack

Bollywood´s Dil Se Original Movie Soundtrack
Track: “Chaiyya Chaiyya”

Á La Vertícale De Lété (Vietnam) / Yi Yi (Taiwan)

My DVD Collection



Mua he chieu thang dung (Á La Vertícale De Lété)
(DVD/ Vietnam, France/ 112 min./ 2000)
Director and Screenwriter: Tran Anh HungActors: Tran Nu Yen-Khe, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Le khanh, Quang Hai Ngo, Chu Hung, Manh Cuong Tran, Le Tuan Anh, Ngoc Dung Le.

Yi Yi (DVD/ Taiwan, Japan/ 173 min./ 2000)
Director and Screenwriter: Edward Yang
Actors: Nianzhen Wu, Issey Ogata, Elaine Jin, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang.
“Yi Yi” won the awards of best film (National Society of Film Critics of the EUA) and best director (Cannes Film Festival).

Dragon Tiger Gate News

The website for Dragon Tiger Gate is now online with a short teaser available.
Visit the official site at http://www.dragontigergatemovie.com/main.html


The $10 million action flick, from director Wilson Yip (SPL), is adapted from Hong Kong cult comic book The Gate of Dragon and Tiger and is scheduled for a Summer 2006 release date in Hong Kong.


The film stars Donnie Yen (Seven Swords), Nicholas Tse (A Chinese Tall Story) and Shawn Yue (Initial D), with art direction by William Chang (2046).

Mew "Wherever" Single

Music Notes

“Wherever” By Mew

http://www.mewsite.com/site_fr.html

Book: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

My Library



I´m currently reading (again) ”Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” how the sex-drugs-and rock´n´roll generation saved Hollywood, by Peter Biskind (Simon & Shuster Ed., 1998). The book tells the story of the last golden days of Hollywood, when Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas created the blockbuster cinema, changing the movie bussiness forever. It´s a very funny material, interviews with all the Hollywood people in the 70´s, onscreen and off.
Now, there´s a documentary of 2003 about the book. But many of the subjects profiled in author Peter Biskind's book, including directors Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Robert Altman, and William Friedken all declined interviews for the documentary. So, better read the book!

Vacations

paradise now
this is why I couldn´t write last month. too busy at paradise. It was like beeing at the Lost island, without the invisible monsters :-) (by the way, this Lost story reminds me so much of the Shakespeare´s play The Tempest).

Art: Andy Goldsworthy

I´m fascinated by this artist: Andy Goldsworthy, a sculptor/photographer of the nature. It´s hard to explain the impact of his work, you have to see it to feel the power and the beauty, it´s like to surprise a garden inside a natural landscape. You can read a good assay about the artist in http://d-sites.net/english/goldsworthy.htm,

and google him to apreciate the photographs of his works.

Happy Xmas!

Wishing you a holiday filled with

oceans of memories

and waves of fun!

Asian Cinema (DVD)

“Green Tea”

1.The Returner (DVD/ Japan/2002) ***
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Actors: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anne Suzuki, Goro Kishitani

2.After Life “Wandafuru Raifu” (DVD/ Japan/ 1998/ 118 min) ***
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Actors: Takashi Mochizuki, Shiori Satonaka

3.Dolls (DVD/ Japan/ 2002/ 115 min) ****
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Actors: Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima

4.Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... ***
(Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom)
(DVD/ South Korea/ 2003)
Director:Ki-duk Kim
Actors: Yeong-su Oh, Youg-min Kim, Yeo-jin Ha
 5.Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War***
(DVD/ South Korea/ 2004/ 140 min)
Director: Je-gyu Kang
Actors: Dong-kun Jang, Bin Won

6.Ong-bak (DVD/ Thailand/ 2003) **
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Actors: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao

Books: Cinema

My Library

Dictionnaire du Cinéma/Les Réalisateurs
by Jean Tulard

Le Cinéma Selon François Truffaut

col. by Anne Gillain

Dictionnaire des Films
by Georges Sadoul

Les Films-Clés du Cinema

by Claude Beylie