Father Geek here again with Darius25's Asia-AICN Thursday morning column. This week's report also has a long ANIME report from Scott Green who it looks like will be handling the weekly anime chores for us. The column is long this week so I'll get out of the way, here's Darius25...

Asia-AICN #35

Hey all. Hope you all had a fine week. We have tonnes (and I seriously mean that) of new stuff for you this week, especially for you HK film lovers out there. On that note, I have to encourage all of you to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and see it as many times at possible. We were lucky enough to get it in Toronto last week, and almost every single show (on roughly 5 screens) has been selling out. The film got better every time I saw it (3 times now) and I'm sure most of you will agree. Anyway, now here's the latest from Asia.

INDIA

- Preeti Jhangiani and Twinkle Khanna have joined the cast of Aawara Paagal Deewana (The Punk, the Fool and the Lover), which is to be directed by Vikram Bhatt. The actresses are joined by Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Aaftab Shivdasani, and Jackie Shroff in the film.

- Actors Anupam Kher and Manisha Koirala have been sacked from the TV show Sawal Dus Karore Ka (A Question of 100 Million Rupees). The show (obviously a Millionaire clone) has been hit by disastrous ratings and will be taken off the air after Dec. 21 to undergo some major changes to the formats. It is rumored that actor Ashutosh Rana will become the new host.

- Producer/director Rajkumar Santoshi has announced Rashk (I have no idea what this word means) as his next project. We will finally see the long awaited pairing of Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan in this film. Kareena Kapoor will be the main female lead. The film will begin shooting in February.

- The shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas is temporarily stalled due to a grisly accident involving a storm fan on the sets. The huge blades of the fan came loose and struck two crew members on the face. Both members are said to be seriously injured, and one is also severely disfigured as a result.

- Preity Zinta has joined the cast of director Shankar's new film with Kamal Haasan. The film does not yet have a title.

- Producer Pahlaj Nihlani's next film will star Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai. It is rumoured that some of the songs' footage from Nihlani's unfinished film, Indian, will be used for this movie. Indian also starred Sunny Deol. No other details have been released to the public.

- Director Raakesh Mehra has announced some details on two of his upcoming films. Both of these films will star Abhishek Bachchan. The first film's name is Aawaz (Voice) while the second film has not yet been titled. The second film will also star Abhishek's parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.

- Last week's new release was Ghaath () and was directed by Aakashdeep. The action film stars Manoj Bajpai as a cop-in-training who is unable to become a police officer due to corruption in the police department. He keeps on fighting the injustices of the corrupt society until a local gangster and some cops kill his sister and brother-in-law. You already know what happens next. I really didn't notice anything special about this film. The acting is great, but it's the same actors in the same roles we have already seen before. Manoj Bajpai has the same role as in his earlier film (Shool) and he does not dissapoint, while Tabu has played the girl who stands by her man many times before. Om Puri is excellent as always as the one honest officer in the police department. The action scenes are not outstanding in any way (no Matrix-y scenes here) but they don't disappoint either. There's lots of blood and gunplay here so action fans will not be disappointed. The direction and editing are decent while the songs are ordinary. I liked the songs during the film, but I don't want to buy the soundtrack. All in all, this is by no means a bad film and if you have some time and money to spare, go ahead and see Ghaath. But if you're not really into action, or are just sick of the same cop films, look elsewhere.

Here's a still of Manoj Bajpai in Ghaath: Just click here

Also, here's another picture from Ghaath, with Manoj Bajpai and Tabu: Click right here

- This week's recommendation is the extremely funny Namak Halal (The Loyal Servant), directed by Prakash Mehra. Amitabh Bachchan absolutely rules as the village bumpkin who comes to Bombay looking for a job. He finds a job as bell hop in a hotel and eventually becomes a sidekick to the owner, Raja (Shashi Kapoor). Arjun (Bachchan) uncovers a plot by the manager to take control of the hotel and tries to stop him. Of course Raja mistakes Arjun for the bad guy but they eventually join forces to stop the bad guys. Now, while this may sound like a action film, it definitely is not. The film really focuses on Arjun's character as he stumbles his way from one comedic situation to another. Yeah, it's the same old fish-out-of-water situation, but I found it all to be extremely hilarious. It IS stupid funny, but you'll laugh anyway. Acting wise, well, Amitabh is the one and only reason to watch this movie. Shashi Kapoor is ok as the straight man to Arjun Singh, while the two heroines (Smita Patil and Parveen Babi) do their job adequately. Kudos must go to actor Om Prakash's hilarious performance as Arjun's grandfather. You'll be dying with laughter whenever both Om Prakash and Amitabh are in the same scene. The direction is good, for a comedy, and the songs fit the situations really well. All in all, if you're looking for pure entertainment, make sure to check out Namak Halal.

CHINA/HK

The following was reported by "AccSpy":

- "Stormriders 2" has finally been greenlighted. Ekin Cheng will reprise his role as "Whispering Wind", while Louis Koo is replacing Aaron Kwok as "Striding Cloud". Andy Lau is in talks to play the character of "No Name", a mysterious and legendary master character who inspires "Wind" to upgrade his power (In the comics, "No Name" is a God-like person who NEVER loses a fight. The character only appears when things are downright hopeless and when all else fails.) Daniel Chan ("A War named Desire") will also join the cast as the one and only student of "No Name". Though producer Manfred Wong doesn't want to spill too much at this time, he promises that the production will definitely begin next year.

- Actor-turned-director Derek Yee Tung-Sing is about to remake his martial arts classic "Death Dual". Yee will only produce the film while Tsui Hark will direct. Zhang Ziyi is confirmed to be in the film as "The Doll" while Leslie Cheung is in talks to join, as well as Japanese actor Yutaka Takenouchi who is likely to star as the main character (originally played by Derek Yee).

- Art-house director Stanley Kwan ("Centre Stage", "Rouge") will take a dramatic turn to direct a triad film next year. He wants his "Rouge" stars, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, to star in the film.

- Director Johnnie To's "Chung Mo-Yim (lit. title)" is about to wrap up in a month. The $30 million HKD production is set to release in the Chinese New Year and is sure to score some big bucks as this year's "Needing You..." did. Here's some fresh stills from the film:

The evil concubine Ha Yan-Chung (Cecilia Cheung, left) and Sammi Cheng as Chung Mo-Yim can be seen: Right Here

Cecilia Cheung and Anita Mui, who plays a cowardly and horny king in the film: Is Right Here

Anita Mui and Sammi Cheng are:

- This year's annual Pacific Asian Film Festival (held in Vietnam) started from last Monday. Among the visitors were recent Golden-Horse winners Francis Ng, Maggie Cheung, Johnnie To and Fruit Chan, as well as other big stars, including Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Sammi Cheng and Sandra Ng. Five HK films were chosen to join the competition and would automatically be nominated in any category. The five films are "Juliet in Love", "Needing You...", "In the Mood for Love", "Summer Holiday" and Fruit Chan's new film "Durian Durian". Andy Lau couldn't come to the festival as he is banned from entering Vietnam because of his controversial 1989 film, "Stars and Roses".

- Chinastar Studio owner Charles Heung Wah-Keung is also attending the festival and he told the press that Jet Li will star in another Hollywood production next January right after "Kiss of the Dragon". Jet is now settling in L.A. and will start his own TV production company next year. Meanwhile, the star still has a movie deal with Chinastar so his HK days are not over. Heung also revealed that Tsui Hark has finished the Thailand shooting of "Black Mask 2", but he is not fully satisfied with the footage.

- Actor Anothny Wong will sign a two-year contract with EEG (Emperor Entertainment Group) next year and the contract may block him from starring in films from other studios.

- Eason Chan has joined the cast of director Ann Hui's new suspense thriller opposite Shu Qi. The production will be start as soon as both stars finish their current projects.

- We are very proud to announce that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has been named as the Best Film of 2000 by Time Magazine and Time Asia. In the Mood for Love and Time & Tide were also ranked no. 3 and no. 7 respectively in Time Asia's best films of 2000 list. Click here to go to Time Magazine's article: Right Here and here to go to Time Asia's article: Just Click. On a related note, here's a very cool interview with Zhang Ziyi:At This Site.

- Also, here are links to two more articles from Time Asia. Tony Leung was chosen as one of the best people of 2000 and you can read all about it here at Their Site. Finally, Time Asia recently conducted an interview with Yuen Cheung-Yan (the younger brother of Yuen Woo-Ping) who talks all about his experiences as the fight choreographer of "Charlie's Angels": Right Here

- Last week at the HKBO, "The Sixth Day" entered the no.1 spot, "Charlie's Angels" stuck around no.2, "Skyline Cruisers" fell two places to no.3, "Bio-Cops" slipped to no.4 and Chilam Cheung's romantic light-comedy "Perfect Match" debuted at no.5. This week is round two of the holiday season when both "Gen-Y Cops" and "For Bad Boys Only" face off at the box office. The films open on Thursday and Friday respectively.

JAPAN

The following was reported by "Pigmon":

- Jeremy Thomas, one of the producers of Takeshi Kitano's "Brother" announced that the film will be opening at 300 theaters in France on December 13th . The world premiere was held on December 7th in Tokyo. I will see the film shortly and tell you all about it.

- Toei just announced that a film version of "Akakage" (Red Shadow) will be on the big screen next summer. "Akagage" is a popular Ninja TV series from the 60's. The director of the film will be Hiroyuki Nakano of "SF Samurai Fiction" fame. This is going to be great!

- Toei will be releasing "Inugami" very soon. The erotic horror film, directed by Masato Harada ("Kamikaze Taxi"), is a really horrible film and it's not worth any body's time. It probably won't be picked by any of the foreign markets.

- Here is last week's Japanese Box Office: 1.) Charlie's Angels 2.) The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen 3.) 100 Miles to Heaven 4.) Gakko 4 5.) Titus 6.) Space Cowboys 7.) Pitch Black 8.) Ekiden 9.) Shaft 10.) Untold Stories.

ANIME

By Scott Green

Korean Anime Screenings Delayed

According to Kankoku Anime Gekijo http://higher.x-y.net/ ("Korean Animation Theater") the Korean theatrical release of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa, originally scheduled for December 16th, was postponed until 30th, and Jin-Roh, originally scheduled for the 2nd, was postponed until the 9th. In order to protect the domestic film industry, Korean law restricts the amount of foreign films that can be screened in Korean theatres during any given period but Kankoku Anime Gekijo suggests the delay is due to a lack of faith in the part of the Korean distributors. These fears are due to the poor performance of Jube-Ninpu-Cho (released as Ninja Scroll in the US), which failed to draw significant audiences. The release of the Pokemon movie has not changed from the 23rd.

US Vampire Hunter D Movie

As the finishing touches are being put on the new Vampire Hunter D, Urban Visions is working towards a release with a wider scope than the typical art house run anime movies recieve. Urban Visions is hoping for five or more theaters per city in twenty cities at a time. The movie, which is based on the same Japanese horror novel series as the 1985 Vampire Hunter D OAV tells the story of the mysterious "D" in a three way conflict with a powerful vampire, and a group of monster hunters who, like him, have been hired to retrieve the kidnapped daughter of a noble family or produce evidence of a clean death in the event that she has become a vampire. The movie will bring together character design by Yoshitaka Amano, known for his work on the Final Fantasy series, and animation by Madhouse, which has been behind many anime action hits, such as Ninja Scroll. The latest news from Urban Vision is that they are hoping to release the new Vampire Hunter D movie sometime during spring ! 2001. A trailer can be seen Right Here

Upcoming ADV Films Releases

ADV Films will be releasing the first volume three episode of 24 episode tv series, Orphen: Scion of Sorcery (Sorcerous Stabber Orphen in Japan) on March 20th. Orphen: Scion of Sorcery tells the first of three stories in a popular series of Japanese fantasy novel series. A Playstation: 2 game, and manga (comics) series have also been made based on these novels. Its titular character, Orphen is a graduate of the elite Tusked Tower who travels making money by tutoring people in magic, and other less scrupulous methods, ie money lending. Orphen's more significant goal is to free his friend who was transformed into the demon-dragon known as "Bloody August". The series is often compared to the more humorous and quicker paces swords and sorcery series such as Slayers. Many viewers praise the series for escaping the tired clichés that plague many series with like subject matter. The tv series was made with a large budget, though like most television series the quality of di! rection and animation fluctuates. Yhe money spent is evident in its detailed character designs and animation. Japan's Animage magazine ranked the show number eight in its annual "Favorite Show" reader poll, and its protagonist Orphen ranked the second most popular male character. ADV has posted a Flash preview at This Site

The DVD releases of two titles that have been released on VHS were announced, first volume Blue Seed, and the 90 minute feature Curse of the Undead Yoma, for a January 20th release.

Blue Seed is a modernized continuation of a Japenese legend features the conflict between the a groups of specialists known as TAC, and the plant demons known as the Aragami. For thousands of years the Aragami have been kept in check through human sacrifice, but after the most resent sacrifice disappears under mysterious circumstances, her sister must work with TAC to combat the Aragami in a more direct manner. The 26 episodes television series starts off with the "monster of the week" formula of TAC meeting and defeating a new adversary episode, but eventually becomes more character and plot driven. The DVD release will be distributing seven episodes in the first two volumes, and six and the third and fourth volumes. The series' omake (shorts, usually of a humorous nature) will be included in the DVD release.

ADV dropped hits during last summer's anime conventions that they were working towards getting several anime series onto American television. Blue Seed is rumor to be one of the titles that they were referring to.

Curse of the Undead Yoma is a story of a ninja's conflict with the undead that excels as a horror story, in the tradition of Noh drama than the fight scene driven movie the description suggests. Set in Japan's Tokugawa era, in the midst of clan wars Hikage, and Marou grew up like bothers, but when Marou severs ties with his clan and wounds Hikage the clan's elders suspect demonic yoma, and send Hikage to investigate. Yoma borrows elements from classic samurai cinema such as Akira Kurosawa's Dreams and Kwaidan (a movie of Japanese ghost stories), which make sense considering the feature is from Toho Studios, who was behind the classics Yojimbo, and the Seven Samurai. Its haunting "Counting Song" by itself would make the feature worth watching. The feature is based of shojo (girl's) manga by Kei Kusonoki.

Media Blasters Acquisitions

Media Blasters has announced a number of titles that they have acquired the rights to for a US release: "Jewel Hunter Lime BEM", a "magic girl" (a series in which an average girl is granted super powers to fight evil ie Sailor Moon) comedy, "Kiteoranma", "an epic Samurai battle with a touching love story", "Madonna", a comedy about a teacher showing "a group of bad boys how to straighten out and fly straight", "Maho Tsukai Tai", a magical girl story about a high school Magic User's club battling an alien invasion, "Mezzo Forte" a group who will do anything for the right price are hired to kidnap an underworld boss who owns a baseball team, "Puppet Princess", an adventure about a ninja and the daughter of a king who made mysterious puppets, "Twin Signal" about a robot who changes every time it sneezes "first into an adorable baby robot, and then back to a passionate, temperamental adult with another sneeze", and "Very Private Lesson" about a high school teacher who becomes i! nvolved with the daughter of a member of the Japanese mafia. The two most noteworthy titles are "Maho Tsukai Tai", and "Mezzo Forte".

Mezzo Forte is a tangent to the popular "Kite", also released in the US by Media Blasters. Mezzo Forte seems to promise the same sort of brutal action, over the top violence, and dark, twisted plot as Yasuomi Umetsu's prior work on Kite. Umetu seems to be creating his own genre of what has been described as ""adult-oriented girls-with-guns". Kite is marginally similar to "The Professional"(Leon), but darker and more depraved. After the protagonist Sawa's parents were killed, she was taken in by an amoral cop who trains her to be an assassin, and offers her services to kill criminals for a price. Though its action was very graphic, and shattered suspension of disbelief it is done in such a stylish manner it's breathtaking. Kite's bathroom fight scene was an influence on a scene from No Doubt's music video of "Ex Girlfriend". Sawa of Kite reportedly makes an appearance in Mezzo Forte.

Maho Tsukai Tai (which has been translated to "Magic Users Club") is cute, but slightly ecchi (risqué) comedy. An alien ships invaded earth, but though the fighters, and battleships that tried to intercept it were disintegrated, their crew were unharmed. Years pasted and people became accustomed to the site of the probes that the alien ship periodically sent through the streets. One of the alien's goals is research magic, which brings them into conflict with the series heroine, the seemingly inept Sae, and her friends in the Magic Users Club. Much of the story revolves around Sae's battle with self-doubt, and the romances between the characters. There is a six episode OAV (direct to video release), and a thirteen episode television series. Images on Media Blaster's web page suggest that they have the rights to the OAV series, but it is not clear whether they also have the rights to the TV series. The production quality of the OAV is high, with good animation, specia! l, and memorable introduction and ending music.

The first volumes of Maho Tsukai Tai, and Twin Signal will be released March 27th. The release of Maho Tsukai Tai will be two episodes, and be available in dubbed VHS, subtitled VHS, and bilingual DVD. Twin Signal is 90 minutes long and available in dubbed VHS, and bilingual DVD.

Spirit of Wonder on DVD

AnimEigo has announced that their next DVD release will be The Spirit of Wonder : Miss China's Ring . AnimEigo stated on their web site: "We used this disc to test out a lot of digital restoration and enhancement techniques and the results are pretty cool." The disc is about to go into replication. Those interested in purchasing it should check back at AnimEigo's web page http://www.animeigo.com/ The VHS version is currently on sale for $9.98. Spirit of Wonder features a Chinese restaurant owner living in Sherlock Holme's England, with a mad scientist and his assistant renting the rooms above her restaurant. A collected volume of the manga (comic) by Kenji Tsuruta is available through Dark Horse comics. The artwork is stunning, the story is sweet, and it would make a good holiday gift.

Gundam Wings Leaves Cartoon Network

On Tuesday, December 12th, the mecha epic Gundam Wing will cease to be shown on Cartoon Network for the scheduled future. Gundam Wing has been part of Cartoon Network's anime programming block known as Toonami, which also shows Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and the romantic comedy/adventure Tenchi Muyo. Its immediate replacement will be Batman the Animated series. Gundam Wing will certainly be described as a successfully beach head in the path to bring anime to a wider American market. It received some of Cartoon Network's highest ratings, the first airing of Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz in November was the second-highest rated show in the network's history, behind the third season premiere of Dragon Ball Z. The resulting merchandising campaigned (which is one of the motivations a series like Gundam is brought to the US, and may encourage more anime to be shown on TV), was highly success. Its model kits sold out in many of their initial runs. Perhaps best of all in the ey! es of many fans, it received uncut airings as part of Toonami's "Midnight Run" programming block.

The original 52 episode Gundam series from 1979 is expected to start airing on Cartoon Network first quarter 2001, possibly in March, when Gundam Wing debuted. Unlike Gundam Wing, which focuses on five angst filled teenage boys, the original Gundam is more of a sweeping sci-fi/military epic. Where as the five Gundam mecha in Gundam Wing where flashy, individual and the mecha from the original Gundam series are more drab, functional, and militaristic. Cartoon Network will be re-airing their collected version of the three episode OAV series Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz on Friday December 22nd. Endless Waltz is sequel, and prequel to Gundam Wing television series. Its five Gundam mobile suits have been retroactively re-designed in the feature, and are a must see for mecha fans. Those who did not watch the 49 episode Gundam Wing television series can still enjoy the feature for its impressive mecha battles and mostly self contained story.

Princess Mononoke on DVD

The DVD release of Princess Mononoke is due out Tuesday, December 19th. Some retailers have reported that they have the title in stock, but are waiting for the street date before releasing it. Those who have managed to acquire a copy have reported that the video transfer is excellent. The disc is definitely anamorphic. In addition to a Japanese language track there are both the Gaiman subtitles done as close captions and the Miyazaki script done as true subtitles. The DVD had been scheduled for an August 9th release, but was postponed so that it could be released with the Japanese audio track.

Anime on Billboard Charts

The second volume of Vision of Escaflowne, a combination of the "school girl get transported to mystical land" and mecha genres of anime has made it to number 22 on Billboard magzine's Top 40 Video Sales Chart. An edited version of the show, with changes made to its background music by the renowned composer Yoko Kanno, as well as content and time editing, was recently taken out of Fox's Saturday morning lineup. ADV's game based Sin The Movie and the current volume of the mecha drama Gasaraki recently took the respective 5th and 6th spots on the chart. This fall Samurai X spent four weeks in the top 10, and 5 in the top 20.

That's about it for this week. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices. See you all next week.

- Darius25