Father Geek here, sorry this is alittle late, the ComiCon thru off my bio-clock and I seem to be running a day behind on everything, but all is right now and here is Darius25's report with all his spies' reports to boot. Lots of info... check it out...
Asia-AICN #15
Hey all. Hope you've had a good week. We have lots of new information
this week, including news on Indian content in Episode 2, Andy Lau,
Thunder Cop and Jiang Wen. Here's this week's news from Asia:
INDIA
Hey all. Hope you've had a good week. We have lots of new information
this week, including news on Indian content in Episode 2, Andy Lau,
Thunder Cop and Jiang Wen. Here's this week's news from Asia:
INDIA
- Actress Ayesha Dharker (who was the lead of The Terrorist) will be in "Episode 2". She will play the role of a "regal leader" in the film. Dharker was nominated by the National Film Awards of India in the Best Actress category for her role in The Terrorist. (Special thanks to "Sholaybandit" for providing this scoop.)
- The current Miss World, Yukta Mookhey, has just signed for her first film role. She will appear in a South Indian film to be directed by Gautam Menon and starring Madhalvan. It looks like Mookhey is following another Miss World (Aishwarya Rai) who made her debut in Southern India and then came to Bollywood for much, much more success.
- Actor Nana Patekar will make his South Indian debut in a Malayalam film which is going to be directed by P.K. Prakash. Patekar will play famous South Indian poet Mahakavi Changhampuza. The film does not yet have a title.
- Post production on director Kailash Surendranath's Love You Hameshaa (Love You Forever) is nearly complete. The film stars Akshaye Khanna and Sonali Bendre. It will be released in September.
- Last week, we told you that there is an upcoming film which stars Salman Khan and Rinke Khanna and is produced by Ketan Desai. Well, Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Sharad Kapoor and Amisha Patel have joined the cast of the film, which David Dhavan will direct. The film does not yet have a title.
- Remember how I said that the film Refugee was way too long in Asia-AICN # 12? Well, the audience in India thought this as well. The film, which opened to fabulous collections, had been dropping quite a bit following its first week. To combat this situation, director J.P. Dutta has made several cuts to the film, which resulted in shortening the 3 ½ hour long film by nearly 25 minutes. Now, if only this would happen to What Lies Beneath and I'll be a happy camper.
- Director Padam Kumar's Champion is also in its final post-production stages. The long-in-making film, which stars Sunny Deol, Manisha Koirala and Kashmira Shah, is set to release in September.
- One of Anil Kapoor's upcoming releases will be Badhai Ho Badhai (Congratulations). The film will be produced by actor Anupam Kher and will also star Karishma Kapoor and Amisha Patel.
- Both Manoj Bajpai and his girlfriend, actress Neha, have been dropped from the director E. Niwas' Jackpot. The rumours say that apparently Bajpai had a fallout with producer Ram Gopal Verma (who directed the recent hit Jungle) and Neha was dropped because she was Bajpai's girlfriend.
- Following the success of the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire ? (Kaun Banega Karodpati ?), TV producers are trying to introduce more shows with movie stars as the hosts (Amitabh Bachchan is the host of KBC). Two new shows are in the pipeline right now, with one rumored to be hosted by legendary actress Rekha and another one to be hosted by current superstar Shahrukh Khan. Nothing's fixed yet so this may turn out to be a complete hoax. I have to add that it's highly unlikely that SRK would host a TV show.
- Last week's new release was Kunwara (Single), starring Govinda, Urmila Matondkar, Naghma, Om Puri (from East is East) and Kader Khan; and is directed by David Dhawan. The movie is a typical David Dhawan comedy about a guy, Raju (Govinda), who agrees to help a girl out by pretending to be her husband. The girl's husband had taken off on her, leaving her no choice but to commit suicide (It's an Indian thing - although a pretty dumb choice). So Raju pretends to be the girl's husband and deal with her angry father (hillariously played by Om Puri) until his own girlfriend shows up and things get somewhat complicated. Yeah the story isn't much but then again this is not meant to be Shakespeare. Govinda and David Dhawan made a pretty good team in the early '90s with the hits Aankhen (Eyes), Raja Babu (it's name of the title character), Coolie No. 1 (a coolie is a guy who carries the passenger's bags at Train and Bus Stations), and Hero No. 1. Ever since they decided to make films separately, David's films have been declining in quality and Govinda has pretty much hit rock bottom (see Asia-AICN #1). But this movie is good for what it is - a time pass entertainer. It is funny, and even got the occasional laugh out of me, and I was not looking at my watch. At just under 2 hours and 10 minutes long, I suspect comedy fans will not be bored. Also, the songs were not bad, and the acting was not bad at all - Govinda does seem to do his comedic best while working for Dhawan. All in all, a pretty good comedy film.
- This week's recommendation is one of David Dhawan and actor Govinda's earlier collaborations, Raja Babu (the name of the hero and I am sure everyone here knows that the word "Raja" means King). The film also stars Karishma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan. Again, like Kunwara (Single), this is one of those comedies where everything relies on the one-liners, pratfalls and pretty dumb jokes than an award-winning story.
The movie is about a spoiled rich guy named Raja Babu who likes to pretend that he is the smartest guy in his village, even though he is illiterate. He falls in love with a girl but when she finds out that he can't even read or write, she dumps him. The rest of the movie focuses on how Raja gets his girl. Govinda was at his prime when this movie was made, and it's hard to think of anybody else in his role (well, atleast an Indian actor anyway). His mannerisms, accents and snappy jokes are the things that make this movie really shine. The acting, especially by Kader Khan as Govinda's father, is very good. The songs here are very good, with really catchy tunes and some pretty good footwork. The direction is solid, and the movie never falters throughout its 150 min.+ running time.
CHINA / HK
The following is from "Anonymous":
Today a story by the Associated Press was picked up by our local newspaper, The Waterbury Republican. The following is a summary and not a complete transcription of the article.
Chinese director Jiang Won, winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is facing complications in his homeland over the release of his film "Devils on the Doorstep", about Chinese villagers who capture a wounded Japanese soldier at the end of WW II.
Beijing censors have refused to allow a screening of his movie, and they won't give him any explanation why. "This is a little absurd and it's a little terrifying," said Jiang in a telephone interview conducted from his hometown in Beijing. One government censor (a person not identified by this article) did acknowledge that "Devils" was being held up because Jiang violated regulations that require approval before a movie can be shown at international festivals.
"We haven't had a chance yet to make a final ruling on the film's content because we're still considering the legal issue," said Zion Jiandong an official at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's conservative censorship committee.
According to this article, Jiang never kept the film a secret from the Government and attributes the motivation behind the ban on the film to an as-of-yet unpublished critique of the film. (Presumably this is a Beijing critique.) This document criticizes the film for having the Japanese characters curse the Chinese as "chink pigs". [This is the end of the summary of the AP article.]
So it seems that we here at home in America sometimes have a rough time with the MPAA, imagine having to contend with this? Let's hope censorship in this country doesn't lead down the same path, because if we were to apply the Chinese model of what passes for acceptable to the United States, I doubt movies such as "Primary Colors", "Wag the Dog", "All The President's Men" and Speilberg's future release "Minority Report" would ever be seen.
While the MPAA isn't quite in the same league of censorship as the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (thankfully), the latter does play fast and loose with it's classification system. Consider the troubles with "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut," and the recent release of "Scary Movie." It is similar to comparing "The Sound of Music" with "Caligula". Who can figure this one out?
The following was reported by "The Accidental Spy":
- On July 21st, actor Andy Lau attended the opening ceremony of the 23rd Asian Film Festival in New York. Audience members waved about the opening film "Running out of Time", which won Andy the Best Actor award in HK earlier this year. Andy tells the media that he's ready anytime to start a career in Hollywood. He said he would like to work with John Woo, they nearly got a chance to work together back in 1991 but didn't due to a scheduling conflict. He also said Brad Pitt would be his best choice to work with in his first Hollywood movie. The NY media was surprised to learn that Andy Lau's English dialect is better than other HK actors like Chow Yun-fat and Jet Li. Andy is now preparing for shooting his 100th movie in his acting career, a boxing ramance "A Fighter's Blue", a tragic love story between a Thailand-style boxer and a Japanese. The movie is produced by Andy Lau's own Teamwork Studio. Here's a picture of Andy Lau after an an interview at WNYC radio: CLICK HERE TO SEE
- This project didn't sound really cool until now: Mark Dacascos ("Drive") has joined Stanley Tong's "Thunder Cop" in a villainous role. The movie is now shooting in Shanghai, China.
- Meanwhile, two accidents happened on the set of "Thunder Cop" last week, with the leading actor and actress separately:
Actor Aaron Kwok (" The Stormriders") got his chest bone broken during a stunt. Aaron was riding a motorcycle chasing after a moving double-decker tour bus. He had to jump onto the opened upper deck but failed, and his chest hit on the metallic handle of a seat. Aaron didn't know he's in serious injury until he finished a fight scene with a Korean actor on the bus. He was then delivered to the hospital and realized that his fifth chest bone was cracked. Aaron needs to take at least a month of rest.
Also Japanese actress Norika Fujiwara was also involved in an accident while she had to jump from the sixth floor to the fifth floor of a shopping mall, but hit a fence and fell off from around 200 ft. The actress was not serious injured since she was being supported by a wire.
Here's a picture shot during a fight scene between Aaron Kwok and a Korean Actor after the accident, but before Aaron was sent to the hospital: CHECK IT OUT HERE
- Last week, "Born to be the King" a.k.a. "Young & Dangerous 6" was finally released in HK theaters. The all-star cast included Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Sonny Chiba, Hsu Chi, Gigi Lai, Alex Man, Sandra Ng, Jerry Lam, Roy Cheung and Chin Ka-Lok. It'll probably be the last official installment from the director Andrew Lau. Here's the official site, which features a trailer and a wallpaper: RIGHT HERE
- Two action flicks released in HK theatres last Chinese New Year: "2000 A.D.", starring Aaron Kwok and Daniel Wu; and "Tokyo Raiders", starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Ekin Cheng; are now both available on VCD ("2000A.D." is also available on DVD). Go check it out from these links:
"Tokyo Raiders" on VCD: CLICK HERE
"2000 A.D." on VCD: CLICK HERE
"2000 A.D." on DVD: JUST CLICK HERE
JAPAN
The following was reported by "Pigmon":
- It seems that the Final Fantasy movie will not be released by this Christmas after all. There were rumors regarding its preponement from Summer 2001 to Christmas 2000 but now the film has been delayed to its original release date of Summer 2001. The reason for the delay is that the production of the movie will progress till at least May 2001. Expect more details in the future.
- Last week's Japanese box office was dominated by children's films. Still, M:I-2 was able to keep the no.1 position. #2 to #6 were all kids' movies! They were Stuart Little (No. 2), A Boy Who Saw The Wind (No. 3), Pokemon 3 (No. 4), Digimon 2 (No. 5) and Juvenile (No. 6). A Boy Who Saw The Wind (Kaze O Mita Shonen) is directed by Kazuki Omori who directed Godzilla vs. Biolante.
- There were two big Japanese premieres held this week. Ang Lee, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Chen came for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on July 24. All of the Japanese have accepted this super kung-fu fantasy film. The Perfect Storm hit Tokyo on July 24 with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Wolfgang Petersen. Ang Lee did not answer the question for possibilities of sequel of GTHD.
- Small documentary films are very popular in Tokyo this year. Some of these films include Crazy English (US/China), New God (Japan), Play Documentary (Japan), and Modulation (US). New God, which is the story about a 19 year old right wing punk rocker, is becoming a cult favorite.
KOREA
The following was reported by "Matrix1966":
- Chinese director Jiang Wen, whose 'Devils on the Doorstep' garnered the Grand Prix award in the 53rd Cannes International Film Festival, will direct a movie in Korea. Dong-Kyoo Ahn of 'Movie World', the Korean motion picture production company, recently announced that Jiang Wen will direct the film version of one of Hua Yu's most famous novels. Hua Yu was the screenwriter for Zhang Yimou's 1994 movie 'To Live', starring Gong Li. The budget of the movie is expected to be around $5 million. It is reported that Jiang Wen and Hua Yu are close friends. By the way, Jiang Wen will visit Korea as the juror of the 5th Pusan International Film Festival.
- Shunji Iwai, the Japanese director of 'April Story'(1998) & 'Love Letter'(1995), and director Ming-liang Tsai ('The River' (1997), Vive L'Amour (1994)) will attend the 3rd Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP), which is the film market for the 5th Pusan International Film Festival. Their latest film projects will participate as the official projects of PPP. Among the Korean directors, Sun-Woo Jang ('Lies', 'A Petal') will showcase his new movie.
