Father Geek here, just home from the Tarantino Film Fest here in Austin. We've seen lots of Asian related film and there's more to come. Last Saturday we saw 1957's The Mysterians (probably Father Geek's Favorite Ishira Honda film), Mothra from 1961 and #2 on my Honda list, 1968's epic Destroy All Monsters which is my #3 all time Toho film (saw this twice on Sat.), and Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster from 71(The year Harry was born).

Tonight I got an afterhours sneak peek at the 1961 black & white Sonny Chiba epic UCHU KAISOKU-SEN (Invasion of the Neptune Men, or The Space Greyhound) that we'll be showing to the kids Saturday morning. Man this rocks, great spaceships, fantastic invasion, and a very cool Sonny Chiba Kung-Fu-ing space aliens in "groovy" outfits. Someone standing behind me exclaimed, "WOW! A GOONIES with spacemen flick." The kids should love it.

There's more in the lineup too. Friday's Pimp Night at the fest and we'll be treated to THE CHINESE MACK and a flick set in Southeast Asia called SAINT JACK that kicks major ass. Sunday is a Kung Fu triple bill with 1979's Dragon Vs Snakefist, 82's Dragon vs Needles of Death, and from 1978 Jackie Chan's breakout film Snakefist in Eagle Shadow (She xing diao shou). Sooooo ol' Father Geek will have some reports on these for you next week...

Asia-AICN #20

Hey all. Hope you've all had a good week. This week, we have tonnes of news for you, including info on Feroz Khan's next movie, the film version of Yo Ni Mo Kikaina Monogatari, Chen Kaige, and Bulaklak ng Maynila. Now here's the latest from Asia.

INDIA

- The latest news on the Dr. Rajakumar abduction is that the emissary, R. Gopal will meet again with Veerappan. He will be delivering the response of the Karnataka and Tamil Naidu governments to the notorious bandit. Gopal had arrived from the jungles last week after a second meeting with Veerappan. He had brought questions from the abductor, who was seeking clarification on some matters. Both of the governments are ready to pay the 5 million Rupees as demanded and have also agreed to release Veerappan's colleagues from jail. The governments have also promised to set up a fund to compensate the villagers who suffered losses in operations against Veerappan by the police.

- Producer/Director Feroz Khan has announced his next feature, which will be titled Tera Sath Hai Kitna Pyara (Your Companionship is Lovely). The film will star Feroz Khan's son, Fardeen Khan, and Aishwarya Rai. Actor Ajay Devgan was also supposed to star in this film, but dropped out due to time constraints.

- Director Rajkumar Santoshit has also announced his next film, which will be titled The Legend of Bhagat Singh. (Bhagat Singh was a famous freedom fighter prior to India's independence.) The film will be released in Hindi and English versions. There is no news of cast members as of yet.

- Director Milan Luthria's next film will be Chori Chori (Secretive). The film will star Ajay Devgan, Rani Mukherjee and Sadashiv Amrapurkar.

- Director Anees Bazmee's next film will be Deewanigee (Romance). The film will star Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Karishma Kapoor, and Raveena Tandon.

- Famous painter M.F. Hussain's directorial debut, Gajagamini (the name of the title character) has found no distributors despite having a large cast including Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Aazmi, Nasseruddin Shah, Om Puri and Shahrukh Khan. The art film about the three shades of the female form (whatever that means!) will now premiere of certain cable channels in India in the near future. I am sure that the film will be simultaneously released on video and DVD.

- South Indian actor Vijay will star in a Tamil-language film titled Priyamaanavale, opposite Seemran. The film is the remake of the Bollywood hit Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rahte Hain (I Live in Your Heart) which starred Anil Kapoor and Kajol. Priyamaanavale also costars Simran and S.P. Balasubramaniam.

- Actress Sonali Bendre will make a one-song guest cameo in director Raj Kanwar's next film, Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (Two and a Half Words of Love). The film, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, will be released sometime this September.

- This week's new release is producer Boney Kapoor's latest film, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (You Have My Heart). The film, directed by Satish Kaushik, stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Sonali Bendre, and Puru Raaj Kumar. Anil may get the higher billing but make no mistake, this is out and out Aish's film. Aish plays the role of Preeti, who's the victim of a sexual assault by a criminal. Unlike other movies, Preeti does not commit suicide or anything like that, but instead decides to move on with her life. She gets taken in by Avinash (Anil Kapoor) and becomes a caregiver to his younger siblings. Eventually Avinash falls in love with her but Pretti feels that his love is based more on pity than anything else. Acting wise, Aishwarya Rai does not fail to disappoint. In each successive film, she continues to make a greater impact on the audience than her previous work. Anil Kapoor is also fine in a supporting role, which is rather surprising since the film was produced by his brother and directed by one of his best friends. The songs are more of the slow, love-ballad type variety, which fits the mood of the film perfectly. The film is well-written and not overly long, and the direction is also very good. All in all, if you're in the mood for a female-oriented drama (like those Meryl Streep flicks) or you just LOVE Aish, don't miss Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai.

Here's a picture from the film, with Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor:

And I know you guys can't get enough of Ms. Rai, so here you go:

- This week's recommendation is an extremely famous film from last year, Taal (Beat), which was directed by Subhash Ghai. It stars Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor. This was the film that made Roger Ebert declare Aishwarya Rai as one of the three most beautiful actresses ever born. The story is initially a love triangle set within the music industry. Akshaye Khanna plays Manav, who just arrived in India for the first time. While visiting a village, he falls in love with Mansi (Aish), the daughter of a famous folk-singer residing in the area. He promises to marry her and then heads to the city. Mansi visits him in the city, only to be insulted by his family members for being poor. Feeling hurt and betrayed, she is about to leave for her village when she meets Vikrant Kapoor (Anil Kapoor), a famous composer and record company owner. He convinces her to stay and give the music industry a try. She becomes an extremely famous singer, and eventually becomes engaged to Vikrant. But Manav still wants to marry Mansi. Like her latest film (see above), Aish is in fine form. The role of Mansi is quite complicated as she starts out as an innocent girl who gets corrupted by greed and ambition. We start out sympathizing for her but by the end of the film she almost turns into a cold-hearted bitch and we end up rooting for Manav. Aishwarya portrays both sides of the character quite easily while still winning our applause at the end of the film (note I said almost in the last sentence). Akshaye Khanna does OK with his role, but I found his character way too whiny for most of the film. His was the only character who is completely good throughout the movie with no gray areas and I guess I wasn't happy with the way that his character is written. If only his character was a little more of a bastard than we could have sympathized with Mansi a little bit more, making her less of a bitch later on in the film. However, one character I was not disappointed with was Anil Kapoor's role. As Vikrant, the sleazy record producer, he's at his very best. Anil plays it hilariously over the top so even though he's greedy and manipulative, we can't help liking the guy. Anil Kapoor won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Filmfare Awards this year and you will definitely see why. Also, for a film about music, it would not be fitting if the songs weren't good. In Taal's case, the music is EXCELLENT. There are many different varieties of songs with excellent rhythm and beat (I had to say it!). Taal also features GORGEOUS cinematography with breath-taking scenery and art direction. The direction is very good, and you can tell that the camera is in love with Ms. Rai as much as the fans are. All in all, if you even remotely like Aishwarya, you HAVE to see this film. If you want to buy this movie on video or DVD (and I strongly recommend the DVD with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound!!), Click Here and then enter "Taal" in the search engine.

CHINA / HK

The following was reported by "The Accidental Spy":

- According to ew.com, Jackie Chan is in talks with Disney to star in the superhero action comedy ''Stretch Armstrong'', based on the elastic action figure from CAP Toys Inc. The movie, which has not been greenlit and has no director attached, will be written specifically for Chan. Jackie will play an uptight Chinese spy who discovers a secret formula that provides him with unlimited stretching powers.

- John Woo's "Windtalkers" is now shooting in Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii. The film, reportedly in its last seven weeks of shooting, stars Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach ("Smoke Signals") and Christian Slater. Woo told Star-Bulletin News that this film is no "MI2", and the action scenes in "Windtalkers" will be more realistic and in a documentary-type style. (What does this mean? There BETTER be two-gun battles!! - D25) You can read the full article here: Just Click

- Guys, if you can't wait till Dec 8, here's a hint: Go check your local Chinatown or wherever the regular place to get your latest HK movies, you might find that the video of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has already been released. (However, let it be known that Asia-AICN and its staff is not advocating piracy !! - D25)

- After more than a year of pre-production, Stephen Chow will finally start shooting his latest project titled "Shaolin's Soccer"(Chinese translation title) this September. The movie is co-directed by Stephen Chow and his long-time partner Lee Lik-Chi. Beside Chow, the movie also stars Chow's regulars - actress Karen Morris and popular mainland actress Vicki Zhao Mei. Chow is considering shaving his head bald for the role and demands that Vicki Zhao do so aswell. A big open audition is being held in HK right now as Chow is looking for lots of fresh faces to play his teammates and cheerleaders (you heard it, cheerleaders for a soccer team!) Here are two tabloid pictures in which Chow is practicing his soccer skills at a parking lot:

And here's the other one:

- Mainland director Chen Kaige, most popular for his critically acclaimed "Farewell, My Concubine", will make his English-language debut with "Killing Me Softly", starring Joseph Fiennes and Heather Graham. Based on a novel by Nicci French, the film is about a London research scientist (Heather Graham) who ends a stable relationship with her boyfriend and gets into a dangerous one with a mysterious mountain climber (Joseph Fiennes). This $25 million USD project will start filming Oct 29 in London.

- Director Tsui Hark has decided to go back to Beijing later this year to re-shoot some scenes for "Zu Warrior 2". Also, Tsui's long-finished "Time & Tide", an "Assassin vs. Bodyguard" actioner which is financed by Columbia/Tristar, will be released September in HK and will be released in USA sometime next year.

- Soon to be competing against "Time & Tide" in September is "A War Named Desire", starring Francis Ng ("Bullets over Summer", "The Mission") and Gigi Leung (the upcoming "The Legend of Tekken"). Deniel Chan, Sam Lee and Dave Wong also star. Francis Ng plays a HK triad boss who escapes to Thailand along with his immature brother (Daniel Chan) and his sidekicks (Sam Lee and Dave Wong) to start a new living. Take a look at a still with Francis Ng from the movie:

- Last weekend at the HK box office, the suspense thriller "What Lies Beneath" made a smashing debut at no.1. Sammi Cheng's "Summer Holiday" slipped to no.2, along with both "Scary Movie" and Ekin Cheng's "Help!" also slipping one spot each to no.3 and no.4, respectively. Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" has surprisingly lost its battle by debuting at the fifth position.

JAPAN

The following was reported by "Pigmon":

- The film version of the popular TV series "Yo Ni Mo Kikaina Monogatari (Unbelievable Spooky Stories)" will hit theaters in October, according to Toho. More than 160 episodes have been aired in the last 10 years on Fuji TV, but the more spookier and higher-budgeted film version will make the Japanese audience scream in horror. Like the TV series, the movie will be an anthology of four short stories. "Unbelievable Spooky Stories" is like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits but the big difference is that it is based on true events!

- Finally "Testuo" is released on DVD in Japan. Tsukamoto did not like the American version of Testuo on DVD because of the poor quality so he personally did the color correction for the Japanese market. I saw it already and found the video image to be super sharp.

- "Gojoe", a big-budget samurai movie directed by Sogo Ishi, had its world premiere on August 23. Many critics says that this movie will be the Japanese answer to"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but it is too far from that. The film is about two legendary warriors, Yoshitune and Benkei. The fighting sequences feature the worst sword action in years. Also, the actors were simply not practicing enough. Sorry, this is one of worst Japanese films of Y2K already.

- This week's Japanese top 10 box office: 1. Whiteout 2. M:I-2 3. The Perfect Storm 4. Taxi 2 5. The Talented Mr. Ripley 6. Rules Of Engagement 7. Stuart Little 8. Mirai Nikki 9. Pokemon 3 and 10. Sakuya Yokai Den. Whiteout become the first Japanese movie to be the number one at the box office in a long time. Starring Yuji Oda, the film is about a huge dam that is occupied by terrorists. Only one dam technician will fight against the terrorists to rescue his best friend's girlfriend. The Japanese media have declared this movie as a Japanese Die Hard. It will be releasing all over Asia next year.

KOREA

The following was reported by "Matrix1966":

- Three Korean films and their directors are invited to the 25th Toronto International Film Festival. Sang-Soo Hong's romantic drama 'Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors' will participate in the Contemporary World section. And Youn-Hyun Chang's serial killer thriller 'Tell Me Something' and Jiwoon Kim's comedy 'The Foul King' are included in the Midnight Madness section. The Toronto Film Festival will begin September 7th and close on 16th.

- Tube Entertainment, one of the biggest Korean studios, invested about 20% of the budget of Shunji Iwai's next project, whose shooting already started late July. Tube Entertainment , WowWow TV and three other Japanese companies invested in Shunji Iwai ('April Story' 'The Love Letter')'s 'Everything about Lily Shushu'.

PHILLIPPINES

The following was reported by "AznFob55":

I basically just sat in front of my TV this whole week and watched about 200 movies on tape. I decided to review some of them because the movie news is somewhat slow this week. Anyway, here goes.....

- "Pedro Penduko: Episode 2 - The Return of The Comeback" was a very fun movie. It's definitely on par with the original. The special effects in this movie are astounding and so are the fight sequences. This movie is probably the best sci-fi/fantasy Filipino Movie ever. The plot of the story was somewhat cliched and forced but it all works out in the end. The story this time picks up where the first one left off, Pedro Penduko battling the forces of hell and stuff. He gets pissed and quits the job but another dimension grabs him and asks for his help. While fighting the five villains in this flick, he loses his amulet (therefore losing his power). He must lead the people of that dimension against the villains as mentioned in the prophecy. The movie, like the first one, included tonnes of inside jokes and cameos. The first one saw Darna, Captain Barbel, Panday and others help Pedro. This time, Muro Ami and Joyce Jimenez give him support with tonnes of other A-list stars like Christopher de Leon and Rudy Fernandez. It was no surprise considering the first one had Sharon Cuneta and Robin Padilla on it. Overall, a visual masterpiece filled with tonnes (and I mean) tonnes of surprises.

- "Bulaklak ng Maynila (Manila's Flower)" is probably one of the best movies in Philippines Cinema History. It is based on a literary masterpiece and it cleverly and realistically paints the reality that most Filipinos live in and it is harsh. Elizabeth Oropesa was deserving for her Grandslam awards because she really did give a performance of a lifetime. Christopher de Leon is also devilishly convincing but the real treat in this flick is Angelu de Leon's tortured performance. I really think she deserved a FAMAS for her performance.

- "Esperanza (Hope)" and "Mula Sa Puso (From the Heart)" were movies made from soap operas. To summarize these movies into two short sentences is impossible. As most soaps-turned-movies are, there were way too many storylines to allow secondary and tertiary charaters to fully develop. Both movies were great but way too melodramatic (as most Filipino dramas are). Mula Sa Puso was great and Claudine Barretto shined. The story was quite predictable but still, it was a great movie. Esperanza was the unpredictable one. I kept guessing who kidnapped Esperanza. I kept changing who I thought was the suspect every three seconds in the movie because there were way too many villains in this movie. Judy Anne Santos was very good (she seems to be the next Nora Aunor considering that all the roles she chooses are that of a victim). It was also very sad when one of the major characters dies in the end (not telling who). To sum up, all the characters are retarded because these movies are ensemble flicks and nearly all known Filipino actors appear in these movies.

- "Mana-Mana, Tiba-Tiba" was ridiculous. It was a typical Filipino B-rate comedy and full of slapstick routines and dance numbers that don't make any sense. The plot of the movie was a good concept (ala Hercules and his labours) but it was watered down with about 100 T&A shots of Ruffa Mae Quinto. Bayani Agbayani is a great comedian but he needs to choose his materials carefully. He was awesome in "Resbak: Babalikan Kita". Ruffa Mae Quinto does not fit the roles she chooses. She was awful in "Asin at Paminta" (Salt and Pepper) and now in this movie. Her best performance, which truly made me laugh was in "Dahil May Isang Ikaw. Andrew E.? I think he should just stick with rapping because he ain't that funny.

We've now come to the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any movie industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices Just Mail Here. See you all next week.

- Darius25