Father Geek here with our regular weekly Asia-AICN column for today, buuuuut first I have this that came directly to the barbedwire enclosed Geek Headquarters Offices at our wooded compound here in Austin, Texas all the way from Rotterdam's great fest...

"Deadly Outlaw: Rekka", directed by Miike Takashi, Japan, 2002.

Of course it is possible to criticize Miike Takashi for a lot of things, but
he has a knack for opening a movie in a very cool way. Anyone who saw "Dead
or Alive" will immediately feel at home here: the leader of the Sanada clan
(a major yakuza family) is shown being killed, intercut with bits of scenes
featuring several main characters, while loud Japanese rock music is
playing. What follows is one hour of decent storytelling, showing the
various yakuza families nervously awaiting the war which must undoubtedly
follow. By the end, all factions neatly gang up against the main character,
a lower Sanada gang leader called Kunisada, as an excuse to stop the war.
Kunisada is played by Takeuchi Riki (the bad guy from "Dead or Alive") as a
stubborn loner, following a strict code of honor and occasionally exploding
with rage. When he finds out what's been happening, he starts an apocalyptic
retaliation against everyone, and a very weird last fifteen minutes follow.
And had there been one clear enemy for Kunisada to hate and kill, this could
easily have been called "Dead or Alive 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" as it almost follows a
formula: MTV opening, slow fleshing out of intrigue, and setting everything
up for a cliché ending (hero wins, or hero loses, both have been done to
death). But in true DoA style, when it's time for that cliché ending to
happen, Mr. Takashi gets bored and starts having fun by throwing the
damnedest weird stuff in there. For his next yakuza movie, I fully expect to
suddenly have aliens attack Japan at the end. Or all main characters to turn
into werewolves, or vampires, or seahorses, or something.
The same thing happens here, as a pretty clear-cut revenge story gets very
confusing later on, but the difference is that much of the weirdness can be
explained away as long as you take the paranormal into account. There is a
lot of paranormal goings-on in this movie, with Kunisada getting a warning
from beyond the grave, and early on he has a telepathic connection to the
Sanada leader who gets killed at the start (whose severed hands only release
their grip on their murderer when Kunisada gets released from prison).

But no matter if the story make sense or not, there were a lot of things I
really liked here. To start, the Sanada family leader who is the target at
the beginning. The first time you see him he looks funny, but when he
attacks his murderer he becomes just cool. Imagine Patrick Stewart with
waist-long white hair kicking ass in a medieval samurai outfit, and you're
close. Is that Sonny Chiba? Rock & Roll indeed...(you'll understand this
after seeing the film). It's obvious why this man's death upsets the yakuza
balance of power as shown in the picture, as the rest of the yakuza
"management" here consists of cowards, backstabbers and perverts. Other neat
touches are the crude jokes such as the Chinese secret-weapon bazooka's,
which cause small initial but HUGE secondary explosions, and a very obvious
and funny reference to John Woo which is more a spoof than an homage. There
is also some subtle character development here: Kunisada is of Korean
heritage, which means he has been discriminated his whole life by both
yakuza and society in general. This turns out to be one of the reasons why
he is totally devoted to the late Sanada Boss, who didn't care about this
and allowed him to achieve some sort of rank.
What I liked less is that after having seen a couple of movies by
Miike Takashi, this one doesn't really surprise or shock a lot. It's fun,
but not as good as "Audition" (which I think is a great, great movie), as
outrageous as "Ichi the Killer" or as startling as "Dead or Alive".

All in all a good popcorn movie, if you don't mind being befuddled as well
as entertained. Stay to watch the credits, as there are bits of movie hidden
in them. Ando from the "Ando's gang" movies gets a thanks in them, but I
don't have a clue what for.

Amahagger Muggle

Father Geek back with another bit of info...

Hey to all you folks at AICN!

Longtime reader who just thought I had to send this link in. I was surfing my usual Asian Film Message Boards when I came across this link from the Hollywood Reporter, saying that the WB is going to make a US version of the Tony Leung - Andy Lau Blockbuster, Internal Affairs! This movie just came out in the winter of '02 and it's already one of the top 10 highest grossing domestic films in Hong Kong! Plus, this could be even more interesting... apparently Brad Pitt is already attatched to the movie as a producer!

Here's the link, hope you guys enjoy the info!
Just Check It Out Right Here

Thanks, keep up the good work!

From, the "God of Cookery"

Annnnnnnd here's one last piece for ol' Father Geek...

Sir Greg here from big, bad, Bangkok.
Been posted once before with a quick review of 'The Eye' and am writing
again to tell you of a new Thai kickboxing movie I caught last night called
'Ong Bak'.

I've been wanting to see this one ever since the trailer came out a few
months with the opening shot of a huge, British brute shoving his face into
the camera screaming "FUCK MUAY THAI!" (that's the real name of what we
mighty whities like to call kickboxing), only to get his head nearly knocked
off a few seconds later by a well-placed kick. Anyway, the movies starts
off in a very rural Thai village called Ong Bak, where we find young Ting, a
sweet, gentle orphan who just happens to be a Muay Thai asskicker of epic
proportions, but is forbidden by his master to use it, as it is a very
dangerous thing to be proficient at.

Anyway, some thugs come into the
village, offer to buy a sacred amulet, get turned down and decide that
they're not leaving without SOMETHING to bring their boss in Bangkok. So
later that night, they saw the head off of the villages main buddha image (a
seriously bad thing to do in Thailand) and head for the hills. The next day
finds the village with a severe case of Temple of Doom, with the village
elders screaming that the village is doomed and they must get the sacred
statue back or face death. Ting volunteers, takes some donations to help
him on his mission and heads to Bangkok to find the statue.

From there on in, the movie moves at a pretty wicked pace. As soon as Ting
arrives in Bangkok, he manages to get himself involved in illegal street
bike racing and backalley muay thai brawls, while making a reluctant
sidekick of the street-hustling son of the village elder, who provides a lot
of comic relief - I had tears in my eyes a few times. The acting here isn't
going to win any Oscars, but it's still totally passable. The actor who
plays Ting started out as a stuntman (and also did some stunt work on Mortal
Kombat), but he sure delivers on what he's hired to do, and that's kick some
ass. Let me tell ya Harry, I've seen a lot of martial arts movies in my
time and am no stranger to creative cinematic fighting, but Ong Bak just
blew my mind. It has some of THE MOST amazing, creative, realisitic and
BRUTAL fighting I've ever seen on film. (my favorite - when Ting throws a
massive guy through a second floor window, jumps out after him and gives him
one last boot to the head on the way down).

The guy who plays Ting is
getting a lot of press over here about how he's the new Jackie Chan and I
can totally see it. Some of the stunts he does are truly jaw dropping - all
without the aid of CG or wires, I might add. Oh, another thing that made
the movie were the subtitles. The translators must use the English
dictionary of cuss words - quite often you'll get a line like "You fuck!
What the shit are you doing? Oh, fuck me dead!!!" Really funny.
Anyway, the rest of the movie plays out like the old Kung Fu video game (or
The Big Boss, for that matter), with Ting starting at the bottom of the
barrel henchmen and moving his way up through the ranks to the head dude,
kicking ass and not taking names the whole way.

This movie also has the
distinction of having the only tuk-tuk chase I've ever seen in a movie.
During the flick, the theater was filled with gasps of "OH!" and "OUCH!"
every time a knee, elbow or foot connected, which made it a hoot to watch.
The only two negative things I can say about the movie was that the token
female's voice was really high and whiny, and that when someone did an
amazing stunt or acrobatic move (which was a lot), they replayed the stunt
in it's entirety about three times in a row.

Other than that though, definitely worth checking out if you can find it,
and an absolute must-have for any serious fan of martial arts movies.

Call me Sir Greg

Now here's Darius25, AccSpy, Ms. Moon Yun Choi and the rest of our Far East crew...

INDIA

- Actresses Namrata Shirodhkar and Meghna Kothari have signed on to play Aishwarya Rai’s sisters in “Bride and Prejudice”. The umpteenth English-language adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” will be set in India, and will be directed by Gurinder Chaddha (“Bend it Like Beckham”). Shooting will start this spring.

- The stars of next week’s “Khushi”, Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor, have joined the cast of Govind Nihlani’s “Dev”. The film is a psychological thriller starring Amitabh Bachchan and Om Puri in the lead roles. Shooting is set to begin at the end of February.

- Actress Mahima Choudhary has been signed to star opposite Salman Khan for director Ravi Chopra’s “Baghbaan (The Gardener)”. The two will feature in supporting roles for the film, which stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in the lead.

- Scriptwriter Sunjiv Puri will turn director with the film “Agni Pankh (Firewing)”. The small-budget actioner will star Jimmy Shergill, Shamita Shetty, Rahul Dev, Divya Dutta and model Sameer Dharmadhikari. The film will be launched this week.

- After the success of “Aankhen (Eyes)”, producer Gaurang Doshi is keen to start work on his next project, tentatively titled “Deewar (The Wall)”. The film currently only has Amitabh Bachchan as the lead (who was also the star of the original “Deewar” back in the ‘70s), and will feature 3 more male leads. The director and additional castmembers have yet to be announced.

CHINA / HK

Here’s the latest report from AccSpy:

- The HK Film Critics Society awards 2002 have just been announced. For the first time more than 10 films are being listed as recommendation films, pointing out that 2002 may not be a bad year for HK films as anyone thinks after all (for this matter, thanks to "Infernal Affairs"). After three rounds of voting the result is here:

Best Film: "Chinese Odyssey 2002"

Also being discussed: "Hong Kong* Hollywood"
"Fat Choi Spirit"
"Three-Going Home"
"Infernal Affairs"

Best Director: Peter Ho-sun Chan - "Three-Going Home"

Also being discussed: Jeff Lau - "Chinese Odyssey 2002"
Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai - "Fat Choi Spirit"
Fruit Chan - "Hong Kong*Hollywood"
Wilson Yip - "The Mummy, Aged 19"

Best Screenwriting: Fruit Chan - "Hong Kong* Hollywood"

Also being discussed: "Second Time Around"
"Chinese Odyssey 2002"
"Runaway Pistol"

Best Actor: Anthony Wong - "Infernal Affairs"

Also being discussed: Anthony Wong - "Just One Look"
Anothny Wong - "Princess D"
Fung Hark-On - "Shark Busters"
Leon Lai - "Three-Going Home"
Felix Wong - "Golden Chicken"

Best Actress: Faye Wong - "Chinese Odyssey 2002"

Also being discussed: Angelina Lee - "The Eye"
Karena Lam - "Inner Senses"
Gigi Leung - "Fat Choi Spirit"

The 11 Top Recommended Chinese Films of 2002:

• "Hong Kong Hollywood"
  
• "Infernal Affairs"
  
• "Fat Choi Spirit"
  
• "Runaway Pistol"
  
• "Shark Busters"
  
• "Three-Going Home"
  
• "Inner Senses"
  
• "The Mummy, Aged 19"
  
• "The Eye"
  
• "Second Time Around"
  
• "New Blood"

- HK films continuously dominate the box office as Lunar New Year is coming this weekend. Last weekend Sammi Cheng once frickin' again charmed the audience with "Love for All Seasons" with a two-days opening of $4.35 mil grossing, co-starring Louis Koo and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai, the film will probably become the best grossing film of this holiday, helm the third film of such starring Sammi Cheng three years in a row. Coming not far behind is "My Lucky Star", starring the hardest-working star of the season Tony Leung Chiu-wai and crowd favourite Mariam Yeung, which grossed $4 mil in four days. "The Two Towers" dropped to the third with $22 mil grossing so far. "Die Another Day" debuted at no.4 with $1.7 mil. The film will expend its screens this weekend. Now's the third grossing HK film of all time, "Infernal Affairs" is still in top 5 with total grossing of $54.6 mil, on the way to exceed Jackie Chan's "Mr Nice Guy" which is now sitting at the no.2 position. "Hero" and "Golden Chicken" are also in top 10, with $26.5 mil and $17.2 mil grossing in their pockets respectively. Here's some still from the latest HK films:

THe poster of My Lucky Star:
Click

Stills from My Lucky Star: Click Here
and Right Here

The Posters of "Love for All Seasons": Sammi's version ,and Louis' version

The Stills are Right Here,and Also Here, and Here too.

- Shawn Yue, Edison Chen, Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong will all reprise their roles in "Infernal Affairs: The Prequel", while another big name, Francis Ng will return to the big screen after two year's absence to play a character connected to both main characters, who are relatively unknown to each other in the prequel. Co-director Alan Mak are penning the screenplay now.

- Beside the Infernal Affairs franchise, Media Asia are also developing a car-racing action film starring Nicholas Tse (no pun intended) and Richie Yen. It marks the return of Nic Tse since his infamous court controversy last year. The film is set to start production in March.

- After the eternal delay, Wong Kar-wai and the crew are back to the production of "2046". Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong and Zhang Ziyi are still the main cast, beside that anything's unrevealled, except here's a glimpse of Tony Leung in glasses which resemblances alot of his character in "In the Mood for Love". If Mr. Wong is working according to the schedule(fat chance!)this time around, the film will debut at this year's Cannes film festival.

Exclusive!! Tony Leung in suit again!!
Click to Check it Out

Another pic of the same: See It Here

HAWAII

Here’s the latest report from Ms. Moon Yun Choi:

OUR HEARTS WERE TOUCHED WITH FIRE

“Pitch Video Clip” Screened Before Supportive Crowd in Hawaii

“The play was great. I hope the movie (version) will be as good as the play. There are lots more work to be done,” said Bert Turner, the son of Col. Farvant L. Turner, 100th Battalion first commanding officer, after viewing a two-minute “pitch video presentation” of OUR HEARTS WERE TOUCHED WITH FIRE at a fund-raising event for the movie held recently in Hawaii.

OUR HEARTS WERE TOUCHED WITH FIRE is a drama based on a play written by celebrated Hawaii playwright Ed Sakamoto about the brave men of the highly decorated 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II. What makes this story unique is that it centers on the second generation Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii who fought for their country despite the prejudice and discrimination directed toward the Japanese living in the United States.

At full charge into its financing stage, Sakamoto says he hopes the pitch video clip, or “trailer” as the people involved in the project will call it, will draw investors because the filmmakers need to raise $500,000 in order to have the film made. The trailer is not a preview of a finished project, but a peek into the potential of what the movie can become.

So what were people’s thoughts on the video clip, in which the film’s project leaders solicited support for their film in the first half and then looked into the on-the-set shooting in the second half?

Shizuya Hayashi, a private in the 100th Infantry Battalion and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, shrugged and replied plainly as folks of his generation do, “It was not real.” Another member of the same Battalion said it looked “amateurish.” He’s most likely referring to the made-up battle scene in the video clip.

Perhaps the filmmakers could use the war veterans as technical advisors and maybe keep the film in black and white rather than having it in color so that it will have less of an amateurish look to it. However, the trailer did manage to be a touching and moving piece, and the film needs only to heighten the drama.

In order to shoot battle scenes for a low-budget production, Sakamoto, who’ll be adapting his play into the screenplay, said, “We have to be ingenious in how we film the battle scenes.”

The movie will span from pre-WW II time, to wartime and then to the post-war time and show what happened to the families of the veterans as well as tell the story of the war heroes, said Sakamoto, who did four years of research on the topic and interviewed the “Nisei” (meaning second-generation in Japanese) soldiers.

Not yet officially attached as the director of the film, James Nakamoto, who has directed ten of Sakamoto’s plays in the past including the Honolulu and Los Angeles production of OUR HEARTS WERE TOUCHED WITH FIRE, is slated to direct the movie.

The film’s project leader, Stacey Hayashi, spoke before a crowded auditorium inside the 100th Battalion veteran’s clubhouse, Club 100, and thanked all the film’s supporters. “It’s time to show appreciation to the veterans and to tell their story because it’s an important part of history. That’s why I’m so committed to the project,” said Hayashi who first saw the play when she was still a student at the University of Hawaii and then years later contacted Sakamoto to make OUR HEARTS WERE TOUCHED WITH FIRE into a movie.

“Go for broke!” was the Hawaii colloquial term cried out the by the two underdog combat units that fought in hellish terrains in Europe.

Yes, there’s still a long road ahead for the Hawaii filmmakers from completing the trailer to getting the film made, but hey, “Go for broke!”

To view the video clip and to find out how you can help with the project, log on to www.442movie.com.

MOVIE MUSEUM

“I’d give the Movie Museum six stars,” said Col. Margaret Lee, a retired surgeon from the U.S. Army, who is a regular at the small, specialty theatre and video rental in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The reasons Col. Lee appreciates the Movie Museum are “I like movies with stories and no violence but with history, human interest, and warmth.”

Dwight Damon, the owner of the Movie Museum, is one of influential members in the Hawaii film community. An avid supporter of film festivals and filmmakers, Damon runs the Movie Museum out of pure love for the movies. He has regulars who come to the Movie Museum because they know they’ll see quality movies. He’s also very knowledgeable about movies and his Museum has an extensive library of films to choose from.

Check out the photos of the Movie Museum and the schedule for the first week of February via links below:

Just Click Here

or, you could Check right Here.

The Movie Museum’s address and phone number can be obtained from the first link.

SOAP GIRL - RINSE, LATHER, REJECT

by Albert Lanier

Sometimes it is necessary to be cruel to be kind and so, I guess, it is time for me to be kind of cruel in evaluating the independent romantic drama SOAP GIRL which had a press screening here in Honolulu on Thursday, January 30 at Wallace's Art House Theater complex.The 86 minute feature shot on DV and transferred to 35 mm is being fourwalled by its director, Young Man Kang. The pic has already been screened at individual theaters in Mission, Texas and Gardena, Ca. SOAP GIRL has also been shown at two film festivals- the Big Bear Lake and Riverside Fests.

Upon viewing SOAP GIRL for myself at the press screening, I was forced to conclude that the film is not just bad but technically inept. How inept you say? Let me just cite a few major flaws I found while watching SOAP GIRL:

1) THE OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE-The initial credits appear against the backdrop of waves rolling and crashing onto a beach. The problem? The credit sequence seems to go on forever as the waves continue to roll and crash, roll and crash, roll and crash (I'm beginning to sound like Kevin Costner in JFK). For a minute, I thought "Love is a many Splendored Thing" was going to blare out on the soundtrack.

This title sequence seems so cliched and so ridiculous that I thought I was watching a Jerry Zucker parody or some sketch on MAD TV. It would have been far more logical for the director and his editor to cut to, say, another part of the ocean or even the upper shores of the beach even to vary the pace of this sequence. A long, drawn out, monotonous title sequence tires your audience before the bulk of the film begins. Iam not a fan of MTV style editing, However SOAP GIRL could
have used faster cuts during the opening credits.

2) POOR EDITING CHOICES-SOAP GIRL suffers from some substandard editing. I have two scenes in mind. The first involved the film's male lead and his attorney walking and talking in a frontal two shot. At one point, the film cuts to the main character's shoes as he is walking. Why? I have no idea. I assume they are trying to vary the pace of this scene but this seemed like a poor piece of imagery to cut to and for no logical reason whatsoever.

However, my first example is relatively minor compared to my second scene which involves the female lead and the male lead walking down a rocky beach road in a wide shot. The woman is talking about her past and as she does the film cuts to seagulls flying then back to the couple in a tighter shot and then seagulls again. Again, I don't know why the director decided this cut was necessary (especially as the the main female character is discussing her background and this information would
be important for an audience to hear without visual distractions).

3) BAD CAMERA MOVEMENT- Let's go back to the scene I just mentioned involving the main male character of the film and his attorney walking and having a conversation. This is filmed as a frontal two shot with the camera following both men. Once the conversation begins to wind down, the camera begins to move away from the two actors as they remain in place. In fact, the camera appears to drive off (I assume the camera was on a car or truck or something mechanized) and leaves the actors almost frozen in place at the spot where they stopped.

The end of this scene should have been edited out. As it stands,this is sloppy and unprofessional work and inexcusable to boot. As you can see, I have just demonstrated why SOAP GIRL fails on a technical level alone.

SOAP GIRL is also a film of poor quality outside of its lack of mastery of basic film grammar.The film basically centers around Maya (Kerry Liu), a shellshocked, emotionally distraught young woman who, in need of shelter, finds a new home working for a Massage parlor run by the aging Mamasan (Tomiko Lee). Maya is expected to work to earn her keep but she refuses to have sex
with clients.

However, Maya finds herself attracted to Harry (Luciano Saber), a nerdy writer who works on technical manuals for a living who comes into Maya's workplace for a massage.Harry and Maya soon strike up a relationship and start to fall in love but Maya has issues and secrets from her past that eventually are revealed There are also problems at the massage parlor. Mamasan has to pay protection to corrupt cops and hoods such as Teddy Song (Dennis James Lee) in order to keep operating. Some of the other girls such as the sassy and outspoken Asia (Gina Hiraizumi) and the slightly catty Sammy (Kate Holiday) at the massage parlor are also suspicious and jealous of Maya who quickly becomes a favorite of most of the clients. It would have helped if SOAP GIRL's script was rewritten a bit before the film went into production.

Actually, I take that back. It would have helped if this script had been burnt to a crisp.

Tony T.L. Young's screenplay consists largely of bad dialogue and paper-thin characterizations. I laughed at these lines so that I would not cry.The acting is ridiculously bad. Stiff and wooden performances would be an improvement over the level of acting found in this feature. Kerry Liu does her best to emote as Maya but she comes off as someone trying to act than an actress embodying a character. I felt sorry for her actually as she appears more like someone with a sinus
condition than an emotionally vulnerable young woman.Luciano Saber's performance as Harry is essentially a shy, almost spastic imitation of Woody Allen. Although he makes for an attractive lead, Saber is ill-prepared to play a geeky character and his work is terribly forced and obvious. Perhaps the film's one bright spot is Gina Hiraizumi as Asia. Hiraizumi brings fire and spunk to her role and at least provides energy to an otherwise weak and listless film.Certainly, the performers are not helped by Young Man Kang's direction which consists mainly of making sure his actors are in focus and framed correctly.

SOAP GIRL has attracted controversy on the internet because of the film's depiction of Asian women working in Massage parlors but considering the junky nature of filmmaking on display and the poor storytelling ability of SOAP GIRL's director and screenwriter, this so-called controversy is not worth considering and can be construed as nonsensical.

Speaking of nonsensical, Film Threat has given this film five stars. I certainly question the reviewer's poor taste and lack of judgement in giving any stars to this film in light of SOAP GIRL's technical gaffes alone. Was the Film Threat critic looking at the same film that I saw? It is a shame really. I got to meet the director and some of the actresses from SOAP GIRL at the press screening and they seemed likable. I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. However, a bad film is a bad film and I would advise any filmgoer not to bend over to pick up this bar of "soap."

SOAP GIRL is ninety-nine and forty- four one hundredths crap. And you can quote me on that.

Well, that’s it for 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 next time.

Darius25