Father Geek here with Darius25 to present you with this week's Asia-AICN Thursday column. Info was a little slow coming in this week, make sure to send the Column's Editor Darius , or Me (the site's International Editor) any Asian related rumors, stories, news, or reviews you may have run across. We'll be glad to get them! For example: Anyone out there know what's happening to Norrington's "Master Of Kung-Fu" project? We haven't heard anything on it for quite a while.
Here's a piece that reached ol' Father Geek's office computer yesterday...
Here's a piece that reached ol' Father Geek's office computer yesterday...
I'm writing to you so you alert your readers to how the MPAA has castrated the new movie by Takeshi Kitano, Brother. Since you can order the uncut version of this movie on DVD from Japan or Hong Kong with English subtitles maybe you can get Sony Pictures Classics to restore the violence to the DVD release or face the fact that us Kitano fans will just order the DVD from overseas. Here is a list of cuts that I'm 100% about:
1) When Yamamoto (Beat Takeshi) is captured by the Mexican gang he shoots them in the car. When the driver is shot the windshield gets covered in blood. All the blood on the windshield has been cleaned up using digital effects in the US version.
2) When Yamamoto asks Denny (Omar Epps) to kill the Mexican gang leader with one shot and he'll give him $10, Denny just shrugs and the Yamamoto shoots the gang leader in the head bathing the blue wall behind him red. In the US version, the blood on the blue wall has been cleaned up digitally.
3) When they catch the drug dealer that ran off they make him cut off his finger. In the Japanese version you see the finger get cut off, you don't see it in the US version.
4) When Yamamoto's buddy from Japan shoots himself in the head in front of rival Yakuza to prove his loyalty to Yamamoto you see him pull the trigger and blood splatter against the wall behind him. In the US version, you just see the aftermath.
5) When Yamamoto's Yakuza friend back in Japan disembowels himself in front of his leader you see him graphically cut his belly open and get to see his intestines hanging out. In the US version, it's mostly implied.
6) When at a sushi place a couple of Yakuza capture an assassin and stick chopsticks up his nose and push them up his nostrils. In the US version it cuts to black, in the Japanese version you get a point of view shot of the assassin as the chopsticks are push forward up his nostrils as blood shoots into the camera.
These are the parts I remembered but I'm pretty sure I missed a few other things as I saw the uncut Japanese version almost a year ago. A couple of scenes look like they were put into slow motion so they could take out more graphic shots but I'm not 100% sure. It's sad that they didn't just release the movie NC-17 or unrated especially since Sony Pictures Classics were only going to being giving it a limited release. Hopefully future Kitano releases will be released by a company like Lions Gate who have no problem releasing movies unrated.
Jackie
BUMMER!! Looks like Father Geek will be spending his money on one of those Eastern produced ALL REGION DVD's of this for sure.
Now, on to Darius and his take on what's happening out in Bollywood...
Asia-AICN
Hey folks, I hope you've all been well. It has been a really slow week
in terms of Asian news and unfortunately we have no Chinese or Japanese
news in this week's column. However I did manage to find some Bollywood
news and cover the latest release, "Yaadein (Memories)". Enjoy.
INDIA
- Producer Sanjay Khan's son, Zayed, will make his Bollywood debut in "Janam Janam (A New Life)", to be directed by Ranjan Kumar Singh. The script is still being completed for the film while the makers are still looking for a larger starcast. Meanwhile, Zayed will also have a role in his father's multistarrer based on "The Ramayana". The latter film stars Hrithik Roshan as Lord Rama, Amitabh Bachchan as Lord Dasharath, and Jackie Shroff as Ravana.
- Writer turned director Sanjay Chhel's next film will be "Kya Dil Ne Kaha (What the Heart Says)". The film stars Tusshar Kapoor, Esha Deol, Rajesh Khanna, and Raj Babbar. Another love story, this one features yesteryear star Khanna as Tusshar's father who doesn't believe in marriage. The film is currently in production and is expected to release during the last week of December.
- Director Rajiv Rai will repeat stars Sunil Shetty and Arjun Rampal for his next film, which is in the planning stage. It will be a three-hero film and rumours state that Rai is considering Hrithik Roshan as third hero. The rest of the cast remains to be completed. Rai's latest film with Sunil, Arjun, Kirty Reddy and Aaftab Shivdasani - "Pyaar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat (Love, Affection, and Desire)"- releases tomorrow.
- Some new pics were released online from directors Abbas-Mustan's upcoming action film "Ajnabee (The Stranger)". The film which borrows slightly from "Consenting Adults", and adds a lot more action, stars Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Akshay Kumar. It will be released in September.
Here's a pic of Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor, who play a married couple in the film: Just Click Here Now
The other "couple" in the film, Akshay Kumar and Bipasha Basu: Click
I think this one's a SPOILER pic, with Akshay and Kareena: Just Click Here
- Another blockbuster was released last week, this time Subhash Ghai's latest film "Yaadein (Memories)", which stars Jackie Shroff, Kareena Kapoor and yes, Hrithik Roshan. While the main plot focuses on the romantic angle between Hrithik and Kareena, this is really Jackie's film all the way. The director has chosen to stick to his routine formulas and decided to go the safe way. Hence you'll see the standard drama scenes, the "youth" scenes, some comedy and then a happy ending. The plot isn't much. Jackie plays a rich businessman (Raj Puri) living in London who takes off to India in order to find better suitors for his three daughters. Hrithik plays Ronit Malhotra, a really close friend of the family and a potential suitor to Isha (Kareena Kapoor), Raj's daughter. Ronit follows Raj to India and helps him with his (minor) problems. There has to be a twist in the plot so Ronit's family decides to marry him off to a wealthy girl and being the good man that he is, Raj encourages Ronit to marry this girl rather than his own daughter. Things don't end up that way of course and several scenes later, everybody lives happily after. Now even though the story is not much, the film is still watchable, mainly because of the acting. Jackie Shroff has been making a slow comeback since "Mission Kashmir" last year and this has to his biggest role to date since atleast a decade. It's needless to say that he doesn't disappoint. Hrithik Roshan once again turns in a fine performance in a less serious role from "Mission Kashmir" - he doesn't have a vendetta in this film! Both actors share the chemistry that we saw in the previous film, and we really feel they are almost related. The same can be said (to a lesser extent) for the relationship between Jackie and Kareena. The girl is far from adequate and is able to display a various amount of range in her somewhat limited role. Amrish Puri and Rati Agnihotri also perform well in their small roles though one wishes Puri was allowed to keep on chewing the scenery for a longer period of time. The technical values of the film are superb with many gorgeous settings in London and Rural India. However, the film defines a new meaning for the word "product placement". I won't go into it much, but basically the whole film is a really long Coke commercial - the product has a bigger role than Hrithik and Kareena!! Also, while the story is decent, the film could have been edited a little bit more tightly. At roughly 200 minutes, the film is way too long and many scenes (especially in the first half which features an unnecessary sporting event and a really bad croc scene) could have been trimmed or deleted for a shorter running time. These problems aside, "Yaadein" is a typical Indian blockbuster and is worth watching in theatres. It's an average Subhash Ghai fare.
Here's a pic of Jackie Shroff (left) and Hrithik Roshan: Click Now
Here's a pic of Kareena Kapoor: Just Click
Another Kareena pic: Click Here
Finally, here's a pic of Kareena and Hrithik: Click
