Clint Eastwood brings humanity and depth to the theme of psychics and the paranormal so often misused as a horror genre when it could be much more. Using eerily familiar disasters as lynch pins, this film seems to be delving into the human need to understand tragedy, to touch "the paranormal" as a way of making sense of and deal with our mortality. Outstanding cast and the usual, understated but powerful direction of Eastwood. View the trailer at Apple here.
Sina.com has posted some gorgeous stills, some in high resolution, from YUEN Woo-pings's upcomingTrue Legend. You can view more by clicking here. This is truly becoming a must watch film for 2010.
There are some exciting projects coming together or already in production in Asia, so I thought it might be time to explore some of these for the month of December. I'll start with two films that are sure to generate quite a bit of anticipation among film fans, particularly of martial arts films.
TRUE LEGEND
Beyond having the incomparable Michelle YEOH and Vincent ZHAO (The Blade) in the cast, what is most remarkable and exciting about this film is that it is being directed by the legendary YUEN Woo-ping, his first in 12 years. Many people will be familiar with Yuen as the action choreographer for some of Hollywood's recent blockbusters, but there are those of us who remember Yuen as the director of some of the martial arts genre's representative films, including Drunken Master starring a young Jackie CHAN. True Legend will be focused on Beggar Su, a popular folk hero who has appeared in many martial arts films, including the aforementioned Drunken Master, portrayed by Simon YUEN. This time, however, director Yuen will cover Su's story from his days as a wealthy man who loses his fortune and reputation through machinations against him; penniless, he devotes himself to martial arts and rises up as a hero for the people, earning the monikor: "King of Beggars." From the teaser trailer below, the production design and more importantly, the action hearken back to the golden age of wuxia films which Yuen helped usher.
RAIN OF SWORDS (in the Pugilistic World) [working title]
With the success of the Red Cliff duology, it seems that John WOO has finally realized that things are certainly better back home after repeated and arguably mixed results in Hollywood (FACE/OFF being his best in my humble opinion). And while several projects to which he was attached to direct have fallen through, it seems project has begun production. The story centers on "an assassin (Yeoh) [who is] responsible for the death of a prominent court official. [She] goes into hiding and meets the slain official's son (Korean actor Jung Woo-sung) and falls in love without knowing his true identity. Assassins eventually catch up with Yeoh and Jung as they discover each other's identity and a tense, three-way standoff ensues." Sounds like classic John WOO themes transported to dynastic China. The Red Cliff saga displayed Woo's ability to employ some of the excellent character dynamics and storytelling he is known for, yet matured and adapted for the material. Add the impeccable costume designs of WADA Emi (Hero), and we could be looking at the renaissance of the Hong Kong action maestro. I, for one, will be more than happy to see John WOO retire the twin .45s and explore the wuxia genre. Below are the first stills from the production courtesy of Sina.com.
Ricardo Montalban was many things. For me his most glorious role was that of Kahn in Star Trek II. Forever one of the best science fiction movies ever made, and he anchored that story with a level of acumen and bad-assery rarely matched.
I read that Stan Winston passed away over the weekend (Tim Russert's passing did not go unnoticed, either). Because of Star Wars, I grew up devouring everything I could about film special effects, from the classics into the digital age. Winston's name was ever-present with the likes of Harryhausen, Dykstra, and Tippet. The list of groundbreaking and just plain awesome films under Winston's magical touch is simply amazing. Terminator 2 may be my favorite of his, but right up to Iron Man he went out with a hell of a bang. Film and how films are made is due in no small part to much of his work.
Stan Winston was the man. And if he wasn't, he just built one.
Arguably one of the best lines in movie history. A friend once told me about his experience seeing the actual first run theatrical release of Planet of the Apes back in '68, when all people knew of it was a crazy trailer and its bizarre premise. By the point in the film where Taylor is strung up about to be lynched by the apes, people were kind of freaked out by the striking and fearsome reality of the ape society. But upon delivery of that signature line, the crowd "went fucking nuts." The theater stood up and cheered as if it were a stadium event. In context, to that point in the film's fiction no human had ever spoken to an ape, which makes the line ten times more powerful. To witness that as a moviegoer in the theater for the first time, what an amazing show that must have been.
Heston's portrayal of a stalwart astronaut brought to a future never meant to be was one of his many, many roles that left an indelible mark on cinema-- and myself. Chuck had a very good run.
The tag line says it all. We love movies. All types. More importantly, we love movies as the modern conveyors of story and myth in contemporary society. Sound high brow? Don't worry, we love a movie that only aims to entertain as much as anyone...so long as it has a story to tell. These are our thoughts about film of every genre from every part of the globe. You may agree with us; you may not. That's fine. There's plenty of movies for everyone.
Ricardo Montalban was many things. For me his most glorious role was that of Kahn in Star Trek II. Forever one of the best science fiction movies ever made, and he anchored that story with a level of acumen and bad-assery rarely matched.
I read that Stan Winston passed away over the weekend (Tim Russert's passing did not go unnoticed, either). Because of Star Wars, I grew up devouring everything I could about film special effects, from the classics into the digital age. Winston's name was ever-present with the likes of Harryhausen, Dykstra, and Tippet. The list of groundbreaking and just plain awesome films under Winston's magical touch is simply amazing. Terminator 2 may be my favorite of his, but right up to Iron Man he went out with a hell of a bang. Film and how films are made is due in no small part to much of his work.
Arguably one of the best lines in movie history. A friend once told me about his experience seeing the actual first run theatrical release of Planet of the Apes back in '68, when all people knew of it was a crazy trailer and its bizarre premise. By the point in the film where Taylor is strung up about to be lynched by the apes, people were kind of freaked out by the striking and fearsome reality of the ape society. But upon delivery of that signature line, the crowd "went fucking nuts." The theater stood up and cheered as if it were a stadium event. In context, to that point in the film's fiction no human had ever spoken to an ape, which makes the line ten times more powerful. To witness that as a moviegoer in the theater for the first time, what an amazing show that must have been.