Father Geek here with Asia-AICN for this Thursday morning... but before I turn you over to Darius25 and Pigmon for the news from India and Japan here's this interesting information that found itself on Ol' Father Geek's PC at Geek Headquarters in Austin this morning...
Yeah, you know the spiel - daily reader, first time writer. In any case, was compelled to write b/c I've been a Chiba Shinichi fan since childhood, from episodes of the Japanese tv shows "Shadow Warriors" and "The Yagyu Conspiracy" which we watched every Sat. night in San Diego on a feed from LA (if you are a fan you should definitely check out both series - he's awesome). Don't know how many episodes, but "Shadow Warriors" had five different series so I assume around 60 total episodes (Japanese shows average around a total run of 12 episodes).
In any case, Hattori Hanzo (Hattori is the family name, Hanzo the given name) is an actual historical figure, head of the Iga ninja which were loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate, which govern the storlines of Shadow Warriors. I assume Tarantino's selection of that name for Chiba's Kill Bill character was not coincidence but based on his familiarity with Shadow Warriors.
Chiba's character in "The Yagyu Conspiracy" was Yagyu Jyubei, who was a legendary swordsman who lost his eye when he was betrayed by his family (at least according to the tv show) and formed a group that fought the Iga ninja to bring down the Tokugawa shogunate (at one point in "TYC" Yagyu Jyubei fights Hattori Hanzo which is ironic if you associate CS with HH). I assume that both Hattori Hanzo and Yagyu Jyubei can be researched (again, beware of the reversed name order) in a library or even on the Net for those who wish to know more.
Also, the Chiba Shinichi in a wheelchair rumor is bogus b/c I just watched a drama in Japan last month that featured CS and he was fine - even had him swinging the katana in a bit of a parody of his past.
Okay, that's my two cents. Also, if you want to watch some good katana action, a show from the past that is still currently being played on Japanese tv now is "Abarenbou Shogun (Tough/Desperado Shogun)".
Keep up the good work.
HH
Asia-AICN
Hey all, I hope you’ve had a good week. We’re going through another dull season here (partly due to the tragic events) and hence we were only able to come up a with a few news items. In any case we did manage to bring you info on Ripples Entertainment’s next film, producer Jhamu Sugandh’s next film, “Kaante (Thorns)”, “Platonic Sex”, and “Pikaresuku – the Story of Osamu Dazai”. We also have some pics from Mahesh Manjrekar’s “Tera Mera Saath Rahen (We Should be Together)”. Enjoy.
INDIA
- Ripples Entertainment, who will release their first production titled “Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar (This is Our House)” this week, have announced their second project. The new film will be directed by Satish Kaushik and will star Anil Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. It will be launched on Friday to coincide with the release of Ripples’ maiden production.
- Producer Jhamu Sugandh has signed Aamir Raza Hussain to direct a war film to be set in the area of Kargil. Titled “Lakeer (The Line)”, the film is rumoured to star Nasseeruddin Shah and Om Puri in the leading roles while additional casting remains to be completed. This will be the second film on the same subject matter (the situation in Kargil) after J.P. Dutta’s “Tiger Hills”.
- Actor Uday Chopra has opted out of starring in Pantaloon Studios’ new film. He will most likely be replaced by Vivek Oberoi while the leading lady will be Esha Deol. The film will be directed by Sangeeth Sivan. No reason was given for Chopra’s departure from the project.
- Model/actress Malaika Arora has replaced Lisa Ray for Sanjay Gupta’s “Kaante (Thorns)”. Ray, who replaced actress Raveena Tandon, had to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict. Malaika will fly to LA (where the movie is being filmed) in the coming weeks, when the shooting resumes after a short break. The actress will be paired opposite Sunil Shetty in the film.
- Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra (“Mission Kashmir) has signed on Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi for his next film. This may be the action film he was rumoured some time back, but nothing else is known on this project. The director is also being rumoured to writing another film which will star Amitabh Bachchan in the leading role.
- Some new stills were released from director Mahesh Manjrekar’s “Tere Mere Saath Rahen (We Should be Together)”. The drama features Ajay Devgan raising his younger brother (who is stricken with cerebral palsy) while romancing two different girls at the same time (good man!). The film will be released on Nov. 16th. Anyway, here’s the pics.
Here’s a pic with Ajay Devgan and Namrata Shirodhkar: Click Right Here
Here’s one with Ajay and Sonali Bendre: Just Click Now
Ajay and Namrata again: Go Here
And here’s one of Sonali: Click Here
JAPAN
Here’s the latest report from “Pigmon”:
- Due to the “Final Fantasy” debacle, the Square film production studios at Honolulu is shutting down for good and the company has decided to halt all productions. One of the biggest films affected by this decision was the “Astro Boy” film based on the classic anime. The film was a joint production between Square and Sony but it looks like it might never see the light of day. Too bad!!
- I just saw the film “Dan-Ball House Girl”, directed by Masako Matsuura. It stars supermodel Ryoko Yonekura as a girl who loses everything and becomes the most beautiful homeless person in the world. Despite good acting by Ryoko, the film’s story just doesn’t make sense and comes across as an utter bore. It has already opened in Tokyo, with openings in the rest of Japan following shortly.
- A much better film from the same director is “Platonic Sex”, based on a best selling novel by former porn-queen Ai Iijima. The story recounts Iijima’s experiences as a high school student who worked as a prostitute on the side and eventually became one of Japanese porn’s biggest stars. Western audiences might be quite shocked at some of the scenes depicted in the film, but the drama and acting works for most of the time making this a memorable viewing experience. It will open in Japan on October 20th.
- I saw another disappointing film, this one being the feature film debut of TV director Isamu Nakae. Titled, Reisei To Jyonetu No Aida – Calmi Cuori Appassionati”, this is a hopeless love story set in Italy. Lead stars Yutaka Takenouchi and HK icon Kelly Chen are just about average but the same old storyline doesn’t find anything to do with them. A big waste of time, the film is set to open in Japan this November.
- A film based on the life of famous novelist Osamu Dazai, is in production now from Museum pictures. Titled “Pikaresuku – the Story of Osamu Dazai”, it will be directed by Hidehiro Ito and will star rock star Kouich Kawamura (of the group Luna Sea) as Dazai. Actors Shiro Sano and Ren Osugi will round out the supporting cast. The film will be released in Japan sometime next spring.
