One of the best thing about the Cannes Film Festival is the slew of images and news that comes out about upcoming films being sold to distribution companies there. Today, Sina.com posted some photos from the upcoming Confucius film by Hu Mei, starring Chow Yun Fat that came out of Cannes.




I think it's safe to say that everyone is hoping this film will be a "return to respectability" of sorts for Mr. Chow, although if you think about (or look at his IMDB page), you'll notice that only really bad movie he's done since 2003 is Dragonball: Evolution.



By the way, I went and saw Dragonball: Evolution and I can tell you that it wasn't any worse than Bulletproof Monk. But still.

CYF's also got Shanghai coming out this year, which co-stars John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Franka Potente, David Morse and Rinko Kikuchi (who is going to be in about 5 million movies this year herself). With that cast list, it's hard not to be optimistic, but I have this bad feeling about it turning out to be something like Memoirs Of A Geisha, where the cast is pretty much the only thing going for it.

I'm still wet-dreaming about the collaboration with Johnnie To that was being talked about last year. That's what we really need here. Really really really.

Thanks to Kung Fu Cult Cinema for the heads up on Confucius.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news
Current Music: Lustmord - Ash | Powered by Last.fm

I don't know why, but I have that damn song stuck in my head. I can't even remember the last time I heard it, but there it is. Ugh.

Anyway, I don't know if I ever mentioned it here before, but there's this movie coming out in Japan called High-Kick Girl that has a really, seriously great trailer I saw a month or two ago on YouTube and I just found out a little more about it today, thanks to Nippon Cinema.



Looks like damn good fun.


Also, while I'm here it looks like Chow Yun Fat is going to be playing Confucius in a movie about the philosopher. Also starring in the film is Cheng Daoming, who you might remember as the emperor in Hero or from Infernal Affairs 3.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE the idea of CYF as Confucius.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news

Everybody has embarrassing old photos, right? Not everybody's are on internet fan pages, though, and some are more embarrassing than others.



Fucking awesome hair, CYF.



The knee pads in the bike picture are what really make this for me.


If you want to see more of this type of thing, you need to go through the posts over at Asian Cinema - While On The Road. I have set up an LJ RSS feed for this at ac_blogspot if you want to add it to your friends list.

Good fun.

Tags: chow yun fat, heh, pictures

I've been out of it, but I got through some of my friends list today and read some of my feeds and now I bring you some highlights.


• The next release from Dragon Dynasty is scheduled to come out on January 13th, and it's another one I've been waiting for for some time. Jackie Chan's Police Story 3: Supercop!!!! Amazon link. According to Kaiju Shakedown, it'll be a 2 disc release and include interviews with Jackie and Michelle Yeoh. I expect the picture and sound quality will be somewhat lacking, as they have been in a couple other recent DD releases, but... I'm still happy it's coming out.


• Speaking of Michelle Yeoh and DVD releases, Quiet Earth has some details about the upcoming release of Babylon A.D. starring Michelle and Vin Diesel. I never got around to seeing it and, sadly, I'm perfectly ok with that. I would like to see it eventually.


• Everyone's heard that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, The Road To Perdition) has signed on to direct a film of Preacher, right? Well, he is. They don't have a script yet, but... it looks like it's happening.


• Oy. And you all heard that Steven Spielberg wants to cast Will Smith in a remake of Oldboy, yeah? Hope that's a joke...


• Is Terminator: Salvation going to suck? I don't know, but some of the production art looks pretty badass. Some of it also looks incredibly lame. Terminator motorcycles?!? Really??


• Oh, and it looks like there's a film adaptation of the Vertigo comic book The Losers in the works. Pretty badass book, I thought, although it got a little... weird at the end? The film is set to be directed by Sylvian White who, according to the article, is also working on an adaptation of Frank Miller's Ronin.


• December 9th sees the release of this beautiful monstrosity:



A 2 disc, COMPLETE score for The Dark Knight. Over 50 minutes of additional music. Comes with a 40 page hardbound book. You can pre-order it on Amazon for a little under $50 or you can pre-order it from The Official Soundtrack Website for $40.


• One of the crappy things about not being on the internet much at this time of year is that the American Film Market is going on right now and so much news about upcoming movies is hitting the nets. And I feel like I'm missing a lot of it. But I did catch this:



The first poster for the live action Blood: The Last Vampire film. The film is due out on February of 2009 and marks the US film debut of that lady, Gianna Jun. Formerly known by her ACTUAL name of Jeon Ji-Hyun, star of My Sassy Girl. She's pretty awesome. Add to this the fact that Koyuki (The Last Samurai, Kairo) is in it and you've got a recipe for getting me to plop down $10. I really hope it doesn't suck, but I'm kind of afraid that it will.


• Another AFM thing I came across recently was this:



From the upcoming Shanghai, starring Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, John Cusack, Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi. Holy shit, right? Right. I've been so out of it, I didn't even know this thing had started production. Then I go to the IMDB page just now and see three other, better quality, photos from the film, including this one:



Goddamn, I love that man. I hope this movie doesn't suck.



And that's what I got for you.

Tags: chow yun fat, dvd news, movie news

Chow Yun Fat & Johnnie To. IT'S GONNA HAPPEN, RIGHT?



Back in April was the last we heard anything about the upcoming collaboration between Chow Yun Fat and director Johnnie To. A collaboration which would be nothing short of a dream come true for yours truly. At that time, word was that To was set to make his American film debut with a remake of John Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge and it was probably going to star Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson and Chow Yun Fat.

Well, in an interview on Ain't It Cool News, actor Tim Roth has stated that he will be working with Chow Yun Fat and Johnnie To!!!

No mention of Bloom or Neeson, or even the movie title there, but...

FUCK YEAH IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, SON!!

I want this so bad, you guys. So so so so bad. I want Chow Yun Fat to be in something good and fucking awesome at least one more time. Just one more.

And whenever this gets done... whoever ends up distributing it better give it a fucking theatrical release.

Or else.


Thanks to Kaiju Shakedown for the heads up.

Tags: awesometown, chow yun fat
Current Music: Karen Dalton - Kaite Cruel | Scrobbled by Last.fm

I know that everyone is all jazzed about a certain movie coming out today involving a certain older gentleman who wears a certain type of hat, but I feel obligated to remind folks that there is another movie coming out this week that might also deserve some attention.

That movie is Roger Spottiswoode's The Children Of Huang Shi.



I imagine you can probably guess why I might feel like mentioning this film just by looking at the poster there.

Yes, it's Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh together in the same movie. In a perfect world, that right there would be enough to get most people excited and perhaps ignore the mostly lukewarm reviews of the film. Because, you know, IT'S CHOW YUN FAT AND MICHELLE YEOH TOGETHER IN THE SAME FILM. This is not a perfect world, though, and I imagine that the not so great reviews combined with the limited theatrical release probably means this film won't do all that well.

I'm still going to see it, though.

You can check out the official website to watch the trailer and such if you're not convinced that the cast alone is reason to spend money on the film.

Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Tags: chow yun fat, michelle yeoh, movie news

EXACTLY what I needed today. Remember way back in September when it was being reported that Hong Kong director Johnnie To (Exiled, Election) was "talking" to Chow Yun Fat about the two of them doing a movie together?



Remember how fucking awesome that sounded?

Well, according to The Golden Rock, this article here and this article here, both say that those plans are progressing. Neither of those sites are in English, so we'll have to take their word for it.

It says that To is going to start shooting his english film debut, a remake of the French film Le Cercle Rouge by John Pierre Melville, in June, starring Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson and Chow Yun Fat, although apparently only Orlando Bloom has signed on and Liam and CYF are still in talks.

Still. It looks like this is actually going to happen.

FUCK YES.

Tags: awesometown, chow yun fat, movie news, remakes

Chow Yun Fat has joined the cast of the Dragon Ball movie.

I guess I'll have to start paying attention to the news regarding this from now on.

The live action film is being directed by James Wong, whose previous directing credits are Jet Li's The One and two of the Final Destination movies. Currently signed on to also star in the film are Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Emmy Rossum and Jamie Chung.


Pray with me now, my friends, that this isn't going to be another Bulletproof Monk.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news

I swear, this is not going to turn into a meme/quiz blog, but I had to do this one. I'm sure you understand.

( Which Chow Yun Fat are you? )

Tags: chow yun fat, meme

My friends, it is finally happening. FINALLY.

Up until about 10 minutes ago, it had been almost 2 months since I updated asian_cinema_la. I just haven't had time. But I felt guilty, especially since AFI Fest 2007 started this week. So I did a sort of barebones update this morning and I discovered something that made my heart flutter with joy and glee.

The New Beverly Theater down in Los Angeles is doing a double feature on Friday, December 21st and Saturday, December 22nd of... wait for it... Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels... and... wait for it.... The Killer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YES, MY SON!

Finally. I will FINALLY be able to see my favorite movie of all time on the big screen. Finally.

I could not possibly explain how fucking happy this makes me. AND the fact that it's playing with Fallen Angels, which is one of only a couple Wong Kar Wai films I haven't seen on the big screen yet (along with Happy Together and Ashes Of Time, but that one doesn't count).

...

If you could have seen me when I discovered this bit of news... man... you would have thought I was having a seizure. What I was doing, though, was dancing. You just wouldn't have been able to tell.

Goddamn. You know how long I've been waiting to see this on the big screen? FUCKING FOREVER. The Killer is the movie that got me into Asian cinema, the movie that made me believe in the power of Chow Yun Fat and it's my favorite movie of all time. I can't believe it's taken so long for this opportunity to present itself, but that will probably make it all the sweeter when December 21st rolls around. I am TOTALLY taking that day off from work and wearing my The Killer t-shirt to that screening that night. Oh fuck yes.

There will be cheering, there will be laughter, there will be smiles and there will probably even be tears. Tears of joy. Tears of happiness. I may pass out. After the movie is over, of course.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



In other news, being busy means that the number of movies I've been to lately is severely limited, as is the number of movies I'm planning on going to. There are a number of really awesome films playing at AFI Fest this year, including the new Johnnie To movie, Mad Detective (which you can watch the trailer for here), but I'm going to have to miss most of them.

I'm only going to 2 screenings this year, and those because they fall on my day off and are consecutive. On Wednesday, at 2pm I'm going to see The Tracey Fragments (previously mentioned here) starring Ellen Page and then at 4:30 I'm seeing a Japanese movie called Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!, which I know nothing about but the description sounded cool. This morning, I also found this review of it, from it's screening at the Pusan International Film Festival recently which confirmed my suspicion that it is, in fact, weird and probably awesome.

So if any of you local-types have Wednesday off or can take it off and want to go see these with me, let me know. Maybe we can carpool.

Oh, and EVERYONE (I mean EVERYONE) should come to the double feature screening. There are no excuses. "But, Adgy, I'm busy!" "But, Adgy, it's almost Christmas!", "But, Adgy, I live in Delaware!"

NO.

Not acceptable. If you miss seeing The Killer on the big screen, it will go on your record and it may prevent you from getting into heaven after you die. Just so you know.



DO IT!!!!!!!!

Tags: awesometown, chow yun fat, listen to me now, movie news

Chow Yun Fat and Johnnie To are going to do a movie together.



They're in talks right now. Johnnie To says he hopes to being shooting next month.

Johnnie To being the best director in Hong Kong right now, after Exiled, Election, Triad Election and such. The only director there doing Hong Kong gangster drama the way it should be done.

Permanent. Wood.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news
Current Music: Dirty Three "Hope"

Someone go to China and steal one for me.



The one in the background there.

Actually, I saw another photo that showed individual posters for the main cast members, so if someone wants to snag me a Chow Yun Fat or Michelle Yeoh solo poster, that would be rockin', too.

There's good karma in it for you.

Tags: chow yun fat, michelle yeoh

A post in ohnotheydidnt about movie roles that were turned down by celebrities. I knew I shouldn't have clicked the link, but I did.


Chow Yun-Fat turned down the role of Morpheus, later played by Laurence Fishburne.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



DEAR GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?!?!?!?!?!?! WHY MUST I BE REMINDED OF THIS UNHOLY TRAVESTY?!?!


KIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL MMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM IN A WORLD OF SHIT!!!!!!!!

Tags: chow yun fat, weaksauce

There is no more doubt. I am very near to forgiving the Weinstein Brothers.

See this?



This comes out on July 24th. Amazon link

I haven't seen or heard anything about exactly what special features are going to be on this set, but... you know what? It almost doesn't matter. I mean, it does matter in that I am anxious to find out what they're going to be, but it doesn't matter because finally... FINALLY we are getting a decent, subtitled copy of this film on DVD here in the US AND IT'S A 2 DISC SET. Whatever the special features may be, they are added bonus, and that's it.

I actually have not heard anything about the transfer or sound on this set yet, either, but I have yet to hear anyone do any complaining about those things on any of the previous Dragon Dynasty discs. In fact, I was reading a little about the Above The Law DVD that came out yesterday, and it seems that both the audio and picture quality on the disc are top notch.

Now, the cover isn't necessarily the greatest piece of art in the world, and I don't really think Brett Ratner deserves to have a quote on the cover (he did the Rush Hour movies, so now he's an expert on action films?) but... you know what? I don't give a shit. I am just so fucking happy to see this is actually happening.

The Weinsteins, who for so many years shat all over every Asian film they grabbed the rights to (and there were a LOT of them) have finally changed their tune. Although, honestly, I think more of the credit for this new way of thinking goes more to Brian White, the man the Weinsteins put in charge of Dragon Dynasty, but... even still. Other than some idiotic renaming of films, these discs have all been incredible. Even the most staunch anti-Weinstein Asian film fans have to be changing their tune a bit nowadays.

And I've said this before, but I'll say it again. One of the reasons this line has been so impressive is that they're giving quality releases to older films as well as newer ones. Witness the following Shaw Brothers titles coming out on June 19th.




Fucking beautiful. I could cry.

36th Chamber Of Shaolin on Amazon
One Armed Swordsman on Amazon
King Boxer on Amazon
My Young Auntie on Amazon

Just wait until we see artwork for Tai-Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors) and Fist Of Legend. I may actually cry.

Tags: chow yun fat, dvd news, materialism
Current Music: Alec Empire "Sweet"

Last night, I went and saw Pirates 3. I really didn't want to wait any longer and I don't think I'm going to have time to see it this whole week, so I went to a later showing last night.



I enjoyed it, for the most part. It was a lot like what I remember the second one being like. Fun, but not great. A little overblown. I haven't seen the second one since it was in theaters and I found myself a little bit lost at references made back to it, but none of that really ruined anything. It was a bit long, and it probably could have used some cutting at points, but clearly everyone was having fun and I wouldn't be surprised if half of the shit that could have been cut out had been thought of on the very day they were shooting.

Who cares about the movie, though, right? I'm pretty sure that every single person in the world that has gone to see this film so far has gone for one reason and one reason only.

Chow Yun Fat.



Goddamn, he's fucking awesome. I am glad that I was warned in advance that his part wasn't that big, otherwise I might have been really disappointed. As it was, he actually got more screen time than I'd expected, although not nearly enough for my liking. I thought his character was great, though, and that he was great playing it.

I am ready for the Sao-Feng spin-off sequel. Are you listening, Jerry Bruckheimer? DO IT.


EDIT: Pirates 3 is only the 40th movie I've seen on the big screen this year, including multiple screenings of the same film. Weak. :(

Tags: chow yun fat, movie reviews
Current Music: Melvins "A History Of Bad Men"

Bubba Nosferatu in '08? One can only hope. The fact that there are even casting rumors at this point is a great sign, if you ask me.

Kim Ki-Duk, Korean film director extraordinaire, is currently working on a film called Breath with Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Happy Together), who is, I think, Taiwanese. He is also awesome. The film looks pretty awesome, too.



Download the trailer


Also, ATTENTION ALL CHOW YUN FAT FANS!

Between Pirates 3 and Curse Of The Golden Flower, the other movie the man has finished recently has gone mostly unnoticed. He also did Ann Hui's The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt, a drama/comedy co-starring Vicki Zhao. Ann Hui previously directed CYF way back in the day in Love In A Fallen City and The Story Of Woo Viet. I haven't seen either of them. Watch the trailer on YouTube.



Anyway, I just recently noticed that this film is now available on DVD with English subtitles. $7.99 at YesAsia, or there's a version of it for $8.99 here that's part of Yes Asia's Buy 3, Get 1 free deal, which I did not know about until just now. There are also $8.99 and $9.99 versions on Sensasian that look like they might be part of some free shipping deal. There are also plenty of copies on eBay.

Ok?

Ok.

Tags: chow yun fat, dvd news, movie news

Guess what I just got tickets to.

HOT FUZZTIVAL

Oh yes.

The Aero Theater in Santa Monica is hosting it. Saturday, April 7th at 6pm.

Not only are they showing a sneak preview of Hot Fuzz, but motherfucking Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright, ARE GOING TO BE IN ATTENDANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE!!!!!!

Not only are they screening that movie and having a Q & A, but the Q&A doesn't start until after they show a different movie.

Know what movie it is?

HARD-BOILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES, MOTHERBITCHES!!!!!! FINALLY, I WILL GET TO SEE A CHOW YUN FAT/JOHN WOO MOVIE ON THE BIG SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCKING FINALLY!!!! AND THEN THE THREE OF THEM ARE GOING TO FUCKING TALK ABOUT IT AND STUFF!!!!!!!!!! HOLY JESUS GOD!!!!!!!!

After Hard-Boiled, they're also showing Point Break.

$11 GETS YOU IN FOR ALL OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!



Wanna go?

Buy tickets here!!!

I bought 4, and as of right now I may have one of them extra, BUT DO NOT DEPEND ON THAT!! If you want to go, BUY YOUR OWN TICKET RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!!! I can't imagine they're going to be available for very long.



AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEE!!!!!

Tags: awesometown, chow yun fat, geeking

Gerard Butler of 300 has signed up to star in a remake of Escape From New York.

SIGH.

In other news, a whole bunch more Pirates 3 photos are there. Plenty of hot Chow Yun Fat pr0n.



Hells yeah.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news

Props to reannon for making this known to me. Ain't It Cool News has promo pictures for Pirates 3. Including...



Yessssss!

I also just read that the first real, actual trailer for Sunshine, the new Danny Boyle film starring Michelle Yeoh and Cillian Murphy is currently showing in UK theaters in front of Casino Royale and White Noise 2. I assume, then, that it's only a matter of time before I get my hands on a downloadable version. Oh yes.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news

Today I bought this:



And thus, today was good.

Tags: chow yun fat

Alright, peeps. Friday is a big day. You know why?

Curse Of The Golden Flower comes out.



It's going to be playing at both the Edwards near UCI and the Arclight in Hollywood. As of now, I'm planning to see it in Irvine on Friday night.

YOU ARE INVITED.

Want to go? Want to come see Chow Yun Fat come back to theater screens and completely own them? You should.

The Edwards at UCI has screenings at 9:40 and 10:00. Either one of these works for me.

If you can't make it, I will, of course, be up for more screenings later on. But this is opening night, so I am going to make a big deal of it and wet myself.


Let me know if you're interested.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie news, plans

:)

And don't forget... we're only 8 days away from Curse Of The Golden Flower....

8 days away from Chow Yun Fat COMIN' BACK, BITCHES!!!!

Tags: chow yun fat

Man...

On Sunday, salinas and I went to AFI Fest in Hollywood to see Election and Election 2. I had to go to work before the movies and after. Walking around in the time between the movies, we saw that the festival had laid out the red carpet and press people were getting ready for something.

It was the premiere for Curse Of The Golden Flower. You know, the new Zhang Yimou film with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li.

It was the closing event of the festival. North American premier and all. Big thing. I knew this in advance. Tickets were $75 and they sold out well before I had even discovered that they had gone on sale. $75 is more than I'd have paid, anyway, but...

But once we saw the red carpet, I knew. I KNEW.

Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li were BOTH THERE.



FUCK!

No fair. I had to go back to work. We couldn't have stuck around, even if I would have been able to convince Salina to do it.

Damn it.

Tags: chow yun fat

Chow Yun-Fat Confirmed for Pirates 3


Source: Variety
July 7, 2005
Variety has confirmed rumors that Chow Yun-Fat will star in Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Chow will play Captain Sao Feng, a notorious pirate who plays a major role in the second sequel to 2003's Disney blockbuster. It is the Hong Kong native's first English-language role since Bulletproof Monk in 2003.

"Pirates" 2 and 3 are shooting back-to-back, with production scheduled through January. The trade says the shoot is currently in a scheduled hiatus so director Gore Verbinski can ready portions of "Pirates 2," formally monikered Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, for post-production, with an eye toward a July 2006 release. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is scheduled for summer 2007.

Shooting stopped June 10 and will resume in mid-August in Los Angeles, shifting back to Caribbean locations later in the year.

http://www.comingsoon.net/



:D

Tags: chow yun fat

Man. Today has been a good day for movie stuff.

The first full length trailer for Sympathy For Lady Vengeance is up!!!!!!!! AND IT IS A FUCKING DOOZY!!! It makes my stomach all weird and gives me goosebumps. I am so excited to see this movie.

And in other OH HELL YES news, Monkey Peaches says that a Chinese newspaper is reporting that Chow Yun Fat is in talks to star alongside Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's next martial arts film. Zhang Yimou, of course, being the director of Hero and House Of Flying Daggers as well as lots of other excellent dramas. SO EXCITING!

Goddamn. Chow Yun Fat is coming back. In a big fucking way. His career has been going downhill since he started doing American movies in 1998 (although he made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000), but now? He's doing that Zombie Western Horror movie The Wretched which I have insanely high hopes for, he's going to be in John Woo's big Chinese epic The Battle Of Red Cliff (expected to be the most expensive Chinese movie ever made) which should also help drag Woo's career out of the toilet, and he's still in talks to be in the Pirates Of The Carribean sequels. THE MAN IS COMING BACK!

This makes me giddy as fuck.

GIDDY AS FUCK.

And don't forget:

Tags: chow yun fat
Current Mood: GIDDY AS FUCK
Current Music: Pixies "Broken Face"

Remember when I posted a picture of the poster for the new Chow Yun Fat western zombie horror movie, The Wretched?





Well, today I read that he is co-starring with Paz Vega (Talk To Her) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace).

OH SHIT YES!

I think, right now, I would seriously pay $100 for one of those posters. Just so I could look at it and think about HOW FUCKING COOL IT IS THAT CHOW YUN FAT IS GOING TO BE IN A ZOMBIE WESTERN HORROR MOVIE.

Tags: chow yun fat

Ladies and gentlemen, bow your heads.



Chow Yun Fat, the coolest person to have EVER walked the earth is 50 years old today. Show some reverence.

Tags: chow yun fat

Still haven't checked my friends page. Might try doing that tonight, after I finish this and then reply to the various comments and emails I've received over the last few days.

I only worked 11 hours today. Yay! I'm still physically and mentally exhausted, but less than I was after work yesterday. Today was quite busy, but thankfully there weren't any major problems. Most of my day was spent going around fixing little things for various people in their various offices. Like putting in an extension cable because their calculator needed more slack. Everyone is pretty much unpacked and tidied up in their new offices except my department. Because, of course, not only do we have the most stuff, but we have to make sure everyone else is happy before we can start cleaning our own shit up. I'm hoping to get back to my regular schedule tomorrow. Did I already say that the new building is awesome? Well, it is. It's beautiful. They went all out. All the lights in the building are on motion sensors. Which is really cool to have in your office and in the computer room.

But for some reason, they also put motion sensor lighting in the one room that you do NOT want motion sensor lighting in. The bathroom. As I found out this evening, much to my dismay. Sitting there, you know, going to the bathroom when all of a sudden the lights go out. It's pitch black, can't see a thing. And sitting there waving your arms in the air frantically is no help, of course, thanks to the fact that you're in a stall. I'll let you fill in the rest. Thankfully, no one else was in the entire building at the time.

pansy_burke!!! I got your package this evening!! THANK YOU! Unfortunately, the DVD did not work in my DVD player. I'll have to try it in my dad's. And if that doesn't work, well... I've been needing to buy an all region player forever now anyway. Now I have an excuse. And since the paycheck I'll be getting on Friday is going to have almost 80 hours on it (with overtime and double time), now is the perfect time to buy one. Thank you, for the movie, Andrea. :)

krazycat! Are we still planning on going out on May 2nd? Want to verify because I'm going to schedule the day off tomorrow.

House Of Flying Daggers comes out on DVD tomorrow. I'm very excited. It's nowhere near as good a movie as Hero, IMO, and the way it ends is somewhat unsatisfying (although understandable, given the death of a castmember), but this movie has one thing going for it that makes all of that not matter so much. One area in which this movie surpasses all others of it's kind, and is the main reason that I am already salivating at the thought of getting to watch it again. And that one thing is... Zhang Ziyi. Yes. I know, she's done lots of other movies. But in only one of them does she have anywhere near as much screen time, and that's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And I HATE her character in that movie. See? Plus, and it must be said, she looks MUCH better in this movie than in that one. In fact, I'd go so far as to say she looks better in this movie than in any of her others. Although... hrm... maybe Rush Hour 2 might still beat it. I'll have to think about that one. Anyway. Yes. DVD tomorrow. Includes commentary by ZZ and Zhang Yimou, which is not available (to the best of my knowledge) on any other versions of the DVD. Which is a big reason why I haven't bought an all region copy of the movie already. Plus, I do get some pleasure in the delaying of gratification sometimes. Also, having picked up the score recently has added to my desire to re-watch the movie quite considerably. It's extremely cool, and I've been listening to it often.

I've been feeling the ZZ love something fierce lately. Which is probably fairly obvious. New icon of her. That picture is on my desktop at work. One of the guys who was at work today, working on our new phone system asked me about it. He knew who she was, but he didn't know who Scarlett Johansson was. Odd. Scarlett came up thanks to the wonderful screen saver slideshow thingie that Macs have.

Finished reading Memoirs Of A Geisha a few days ago. I thought it was great. I won't lie and say that being able to picture Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, and even Ken Watanabe as the characters they'll be playing the movie didn't add to my enjoyment of it, but I'm positive that I'd have enjoyed the book immensely even if I didn't know about the movie. I definitely have to say that, despite the "controversy" over Chinese actresses playing Japanese characters, I think that the three of them are extremely well suited for the characters they'll be playing. I'll be very interested to see how the movie handles the fact that the vast majority of the book takes place before the character Zhang Ziyi is playing (Sayuri) is even 15 years old. They'll probably just not even bother to mention the ages.

I watched Rich And Famous tonight.



Goddamn, Chow Yun Fat is a pimp. Hardcore. And if you've never seen the man use an uzi, well... you just haven't lived.



The truth is, unless you're a hardcore CYF fan, this movie probably won't do a whole lot for you, despite an excellent cast including a baby-faced Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Alex Man, Danny Lee, and a bunch of guys you'd recognize if you're a fan of 80s HK cinema, but might have trouble naming. CYF basically gets to play The Godfather, except with more charm than Marlon Brando and a slightly cheerier disposition (until the end, anyway). Two brothers (Andy and Alex) find themselves joining CYF's underworld organization just in time to get in the middle of a gangwar. But then one of the brothers decides to be a prick and joins the other side. It's not a bad movie at all, but it's definitely not something I'd show to someone else that didn't already think this kind of movie was cool. CYF is INSANELY cool, though. As per fucking usual. He wears nothing but suits and has his hair all slicked back and... the man is just FUCKING COOL. There's this one scene where he's all pissed off and he's sitting at his desk and Andy Lau apologizes to him and he just freaking slaps his lamp off his desk and yells at him to get out of his office. Hahahaha. Trust me, it was cool. That was one of the first CYF movies I got ahold of when I first got into Asian cinema. I liked it a LOT at the time.

I'll be watching the sequel, Tragic Hero, when next I have the time. Haven't seen that one in ages, either.

Let's see... what else...?

Oh yeah. Myspace. I haven't made up my mind what I think about the whole thing yet, but I am already glad I decided to join it. I've gotten messages from this chick that I was friends with in high school and college that I haven't seen in years and a guy I was REALLY good friends with in junior high and haven't seen since. Although, I have a feeling that he and I are going to have some difficulty reconnecting. The title of the first message he sent me was "What's up, Dogg?" and every message I've gotten from him since sounds like someone doing a parody of ebonics. But, sadly, I am pretty certain that he is not intending to be funny with it. He and I were one of three in junior high. Three nerds. The three of us hung out together all the time. Frequently, in the library. But now he's gone gangster, while I went goth during high school. Yeah... I wonder if we'll have much still in common? Heh. The girl, though... Jane. She is cool. She was actually more Tiffany's friend than mine, but mine too. Really nice and quiet and shy. In our freshman year of college we had the same Theater 101 class. I haven't seen her since then. That class was awesome. Any class where being a class clown actually pays off for you is cool. There were two professors. Forrest and... I think the girl's name was Janine, and they were both actors, and they were both totally awesome. I had a total crush on Janine. Or as much of a crush as someone can have when they're already in love with someone else. Man... I miss them. Since they practically encouraged clowning around, they both totally LOVED me.

Anyway. Yeah. Myspace. Cool. I've pretty much gone ahead and added anyone who has added me on there. Especially if they're local. Because then there's a better chance of getting people to go see movies with me. And that sort of thing.

Team Sleep's album is coming out in May. FINALLY. It's only taken them... what... 3 years since it was announced? Hope it was worth the wait. I love Chino Moreno, but if it's anything like that last Deftones album, I'm gonna be pissed.

Alright. I better stop if I actually plan on replying to some comments and maybe replying to some emails. I don't know how much longer I can keep my eyes open.

Tags: chow yun fat, movie reviews
Current Music: A Perfect Circle "The Package"

From Fangoria:

"March 29: Chow Yun-Fat gets WRETCHED for horror/Western


Variety reports that Chow Yun-Fat has taken the lead role in THE WRETCHED, the horror/Western from Sheerfilms and Patriot Pictures that we first reported on here. The Asian action star will play Rellik (pictured in concept art by Sonia Grande), a veteran bounty hunter who trains a younger hunter named Twenty-One in the craft of tracking and capturing the undead. The pair ultimately face their greatest challenge when a whole gang of ghouls break out of the catacombs where they’ve been imprisoned. Andrew Goth will direct from a script by Joanne Reay, both encoring from Sheer’s COLD & DARK, about a murdered cop who revives as a vigilante creature, which hits U.S. video from First Look June 14. Arclight Films will handle international sales on THE WRETCHED; go here for more updates and production art from the new film, and see Fango #243, on sale April 19, for our feature story on COLD & DARK."


OH SWEET JESUS! YES!

Chow Yun Fat as a zombie killer.

I can't think of any better way for him to go back to ass kicking movies than that.

Tags: chow yun fat

Chow Yun Fat to star in Pirates sequels?!?!?!?!!

Hong Kong's Chow Yun-fat is set to star in the upcoming sequels of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, says Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily. Chow's wife, Jasmin Chan Wui-nin, said the actor will play the famous 19th century Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai for the second and third installments of the film. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley are expected to return in their roles.

Chan said both the movie's producer and director contacted Chow's management company in the U.S. two months ago and director Gore Verbinski flew to Hong Kong last week to discuss the screenplay with Chow. "The director was very sincere about it and specially flew to Hong Kong and discuss the script with Fat Gor (Chow's nickname) ... but we cannot talk about the details until we sign the contract," Chan was quoted as saying.


YES!!!!!

Not that I was all in love with the first one, but it was enjoyable. And... it'll just be nice to see CYF get a nice, big role in a popular movie that will probably be decent.

That is the kind of news I like to get in the morning.

Tags: chow yun fat
Current Music: Portishead "Numb"