Father Geek here with this week's far east report from Darius25 and his crew... but first...

"Blood of the Samurai" opened this weekend in Honolulu. Blood of the Samurai" is an award winning independent/action/adventure film
made in
Hawaii and Los Angeles. A story is filled with nonstop wild action,
swordplay and martial arts. Highly inspired by comic books,
action/horror/fantasy movies, video games, Anime, Hong Kong(John Woo/Kung Fu)
and Japanese(Chambara/Ninja) cinema.

Here's what some critics have said about it...

"Sure to be a fave on many fanboy's lists"- YOLK Magazine

"Bombastic Action-pic!"- Filmmaker Magazine

"Will tickle every schlock-action fiber in your body"- The Hawaii
International Film
Festival

Now here's Darius with the regular report...

Asia-AICN

Hey all, hope you’ve had a great week. Sorry for the late report but I had to unexpectedly leave town for a few days. I managed to complete this as soon as I got back.

We’re back with some more great Bollywood news and coverage of the Hawaii International Film festival. In this column, you’ll find info on “Police Force”, “Tum (You)”, “Khakee”, the big Diwali release “Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (Live for Me)”, and “YMCA Baseball Team”.

INDIA

- Some major casting announcements were made for the upcoming action film “Police Force”, being directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. First off, the rumours are confirmed now that Amitabh Bachchan has officially left the project, citing date problems. He will be replaced by another veteran actor (albeit not as popular), Shatrughan Sinha. Next, the female ladies opposite the younger heroes have been finalized aswell. Model Lara Dutt has been signed to star opposite Akshay Kumar, Preeti Jhangiani has been signed opposite Sunil Shetty, and Tabu has also joined the cast – presumably opposite Jackie Shroff. The film looks to be shaping up pretty well, and the casting is now complete. Production is set to begin this winter.

- Famed choreographer Ahmed Khan has announced the cast for his upcoming directorial project – which was launched this week. The action film is another in a long line of multistarrers, with no less than 4 main heroes – Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Sohail Khan, and model John Abraham. The film will only have one leading lady which will be played by a popular model named Naheed. Principal photography is already under way and the film is set to wrap by the end of march.

- Director E. Niwas has launched a yet another project – this time a comedy named “Tum (You)”. The film will star Saif Ali Khan, Aftaab Shivdasani, Jackie Shroff, and Preeti Jhangiani. Principal photography is set to begin this winter.

- Rajkumar Santoshi’s “Khakee” has its first leading lady now – veteran actress Jaya Pradha (who will presumably paired up with Amitabh Bachchan). Besides Bachchan, the film also stars Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, and Akshaye Khanna. The search is now on for leading ladies opposite the 3 remaining stars.

JEENA SIRF MERRE LIYE (Live for Me)

Surprisingly, this year’s most-hyped Diwali film was this latest teenybopper romance from producer Vashu Bhagnani, which reunites the stars of “Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai (I Have Something to Say)” – Tushhar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Traditionally, some very big films have been released during this festive period (like “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Mission Kashmir”, “Mohabbatein”), but for now we’ll just have to settle for a derivative (yet somewhat amusing) romantic comedy.

The story isn’t very original either – Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) and Karan (Tushhar Kapoor) are childhood sweethearts who get separated when the girl gets sent away to London for her studies. As in every romance movie, they promise to meet again in the near future. Years go by, and the now-grown up Pooja comes to India and finds her guy quite easily. However she doesn’t really tell him that she’s his childhood girlfriend and decides to befriend him and see if she can make him fall for her. Of course the guy starts to like her, eventually realizes that she’s his girl, and then the couple reunite. All this is plagued by your typical typical domestic family matters, a villainous father, a hokey love-triangle subplot, and a couple of unnecessary action sequences. In short, this is a typical Bollywood romance with all the typical elements crammed in for the name of entertainment – this generally works, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

The acting is very teenybopper-ish. Kareena is SUPERHOT, acts pretty decently, and shows off her very nice body in some very skimpy outfits. She’s in the movie to lure guys, and this generally works very well. Tushhar is a typical male hero (very unnecessary for guys though) who’s just there to support the beautiful Ms. Kapoor. He does have a little bit more screentime than our leading lady, but is mostly relegated to the background whenever she’s on the screen. In terms of acting he’s ok, but still needs a lot of worth before he comes close to any awards. The supporting cast is fine in their respective roles.

The directing by Talat Jani is average, and so is the music. It’s exactly what you expect in a normal romantic comedy. The film is somewhat moderately paced with no real dragging scenes, and the songs are a pleasure to watch on screen (with the gorgeous Kareena hogging most of the limelight). The cinematography, editing, action sequences, and art direction are all of typical rom-com variety – don’t expect a “Lagaan” or “Devdas” here.

In short, “Jeena Sirf Merre Liye” is an average romantic comedy, joining a class of millions of others in Bollywood. It can definitely be skipped till the DVD release, but you won’t be bored if you decide to watch it in theatres. For fans of Kareena Kapoor though, this is a must-see!

The gorgeous Kareena, with Tushhar: Yummy!

Another hottie, Vangita, makes her debut in Bollywood (with Tushhar at right): Check Her Out Here

Another great Kareena pic: COOOOOOOL!!!

Another great pic of the main couple: They're Here

And final one: Click

HK / CHINA

No major reports this week, but be sure to check out the official website for Zhang Yimou's "Hero", which includes the first trailer from the film and some stills and wallpapers. The site is located at This Exact Spot. And you guys should also check out the official site for "Naked Weapon", the big-budget remake of "Naked Killer", being directed by famed action-director Ching Siu-Tung, and starring Maggie Q, Anya, and Daniel Wu. The site includes some really FANTASTIC stills, some behind-the-scenes documentaries and a couple of awesome trailers. It can be reached: By Clicking Right Here.

HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Here’s Ms. MoonYun Choi with her second report from the festival. In this report, Ms. Choi reviews the Korean comedy “YMCA Baseball Team”, which was screened at the fest to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Korean Immigrants to the U.S.

YMCA Baseball Team

South Korea 2002 - 104 min. - Director/Screenwriter: Kim Hyunseok - Producer: Shim Jae-myung, Lee Woo-jeung, Cinematography: Park Hyungseok

“YMCA Baseball Team” made an impressive international debut as the opening film for the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) 2002, which began Nov. 1 in Honolulu.
Set In 1905, "YMCA Baseball Team" is about Korea's first baseball team formed around the time Japanese imperial rule over the country was becoming inevitable and before there was a division of North and South Korea. The film had heart, lots of comedy, and bad ass baseball plays in turn-of-the-century Korea, a contrast between the modern and the old that only hip filmmakers could make.

This is Kim Hyungseok’s directorial feature debut, a film well-crafted it makes you think of what was said of Orson Welles after his first crack in directing. He was too young to know what he could not do when he made “Citizen Kane.” Korean film star, Song Kang-ho, was dynamite as a scholar's son whose love for baseball conflicts with his father’s wishes for him to take over his school. Not that his father feels Hochang is the best person for the job. Rather his father feels his other son is but he’s off fighting in Korea’s underground resistance movement. Hochang came upon the sport when in the beginning of the film he accidentally kicks his soccer ball into the yard of a missionary's house. While looking for his ball, he comes across one that is much smaller than his larger soccer ball. The Western object intrigues him and the subsequent events, as a result of that discovery, change his life. He meets the very pretty, Junglim, played by Kim Hyesu, who gives him just the right nudge to join Korea’s first baseball team.

The daughter of a foreign minister, she brings back the knowledge of baseball to Korea through her travels to the United States and coaches the newly formed team with the help of American missionaries. We witness the social discrimination of that time in which a nobleman treats another recruit like dirt because he is a peasant who had once served his family. The peasant remains deferential but we know he's hurt. Junglim continues on with her introduction when out of nowhere a soccer ball hits her dead on in the head.

The team is stunned. The audience is aghast but then breaks out in laughter when they see it was Hochang who had kicked the ball. When Hochang first met Junglim, she asked him if he liked sports. You could tell he wanted to say yes but he puts on a “certainly not” face and says he’s a scholar. But his actions speak differently. He’s been kicking the ball “accidentally” into the missionaries’ yard to get closer to the game. So much for that act. He falls in line with the other recruits. Song Kang-ho comedic presence throughout the film is palatable. The actor pulls himself out of a tense or awkward situation because he exudes an adorable, playful side of the character. As Hochang falls for Junglim, he writes her a love letter expressing how he sees her whether his eyes are closed or open and calls her a thief for stealing his heart. He goes to her house to deliver the scroll but comes across many men whaling with grief. He finds that the family is in mourning and the visitors have come to offer their condolences. Junglim’s father had committed suicide in protest over the signing of a treaty, which hands Korea over to Japan imperialistic rule.

A person who came to pay his respects gets up to read the father's will but he instead reads Hochang’s love letter. The scroll had slipped from his shirt. As the audience realizes at the same time that Hochang does, we start to laugh. He tries to keep a straight face and breathes deeply, exhaling and inhaling, to not let his fear of getting caught get the best of him. But the mourners believe it’s the foreign minister’s will and cries over words. YMCA baseball team becomes the best, undefeated team in Korea but one day the Japanese soldiers took over their practicing field. A challenge for a match is issued and the YMCA loses terribly to the Japanese soldier’s team.

The team breaks up, Junglim disappoints her team when she ditches them after the Japanese brands her as a political criminal – a part of her life they weren’t aware of, and Hochang hangs up his uniform when his brother’s bloodied clothes arrive indicating he had been killed. His father catches him playing baseball and practically disowns him. Hochang speaks up and tells his father that while he may be no scholar, because of baseball he's as famous as the best of scholars.

There is a running theme in the movie in which the sons want to become something other than what their father had planned for them. Even their adversary, a Japanese soldier who is the son of Japanese military ruler overseeing Korea, went into the military not by choice but because it’s the will of his father. His father dismisses his son's passion for baseball as a hobby. Even though he's the adversary we still feel sorry for him.

The same goes for Hochan. He begs his father to take him back. He returns to teaching and becomes a strict, bitter disciplinarian. Hochan whips a student leg with a stick, a traditional Korean way of disciplining children at that time. His students tell him that he handles the whip like a baseball. The boys ask him what baseball is like. Hochan asks them where they had heard he was a baseball player. The boys say it's from Hochan’s father who boasts about him as being more popular than a scholar is.

There is a rematch with the Japanese soldier's baseball team in Seoul. It's time for baseball! Hochang heads to Seoul. The original members band together. Baseball has given the Korean people the hope and pride in their country in a way its government had not been able to. YMCA Baseball team is ready to kick ass.

To view some pics from the premiere of YMCA Baseball Team, click here.

And to view some pics from the Hawaii International Film Festival, please click here.

We have now reached the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@rogers.com. See you all next week.

Darius25