Out of Asia: The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, Abbas Kiraostami, and Zhang Yimou; Essays and Interviews
Seraphic Secret (Free subscription) | yesterday
Until meeting Gong Li in China, I never posed for a picture with any of the stars with whom I worked. She is, quite simply, the greatest movie actress of our time. Raise the Red Lantern (1991), places all of Gong Li's considerable talents on display in this powerful tale set in 1920's China. Gong Li plays Songlian, a nineteen-year old girl whose family has fallen on hard times. She agrees to an arranged...
BLDGBLOG (Free subscription) | yesterday
According to the New York Times , there is, in Beijing, "a secret network of detention centers used to prevent aggrieved citizens from lodging complaints against the Chinese government." [Image: "Bunk beds are seen in a room in a black jail in Beijing in August 2009," the New York Times explains. Apparently, "more than a dozen illegal detention centers known as black jails...
Londonist (Free subscription) | 25/11/2009
If you yearn for exotic adventures, but lack funds to get you through Christmas, let alone journeys to far off lands, fear not. A magic carpet in the shape of the Pan- Asia Film Festival awaits you. China, Japan, Taiwan, Bhutan, Iran and the Philippines are just some of the destinations on offer where unique insights into eastern lives, literal and metaphorical journeys and beautiful and unfamiliar...
Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Free subscription) | 24/11/2009
John Woo’s first film since the hilariously shitty Paycheck finds him back in Asia for the first time since 1992’s Hard Boiled ’s grim vision on handover end-times. But Red Cliff finds Woo not navigating the intricate urban milieu of his hometown of Hong Kong, but rather swooping over the broad landscapes of the Mainland. Expurgated from a two-part saga into a rather overstuffed...
Get the Big Picture (Free subscription) | 22/11/2009
We got our first look at Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart this week, and that might not seem like a big thing to get excited about, but Bridges is being penciled into the Best Actor category with about six other guys. Still, with his track record, he's got to be a good bet to make it in the category, especially since Fox Searchlight is uncharacteristically weak with Oscar nominees this year. There's also...
JoBlo (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Curious to see what a remake of the Coen Brothers' noir classic BLOOD SIMPLE might look like if it was made by acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Zhang Yimou (HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS)? Wonder no more, and witness the decidedly zany trailer below. The period movie is apparently either going by the title THE FIRST GUN or AMAZING TALES: THREE GUNS, although the rough translation of the Chinese title...
Filmshaft.com (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
They’ve been directing films since 1984’s neo-noir thriller Blood Simple, ...
Cinematical (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
The term remake has predominantly negative connotations, but once in awhile we see proof that a redo can be a good thing. Just look at Werner Herzog's new film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , which isn't quite a remake of Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant so much as it's a stand-alone sequel or simply another filmmaker's take on the same sort of character explored in the original. It's enough...
Film Junk (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Ever since it was announced earlier this year , a lot of people have been wondering what the heck is up with Zhang Yimou's remake of The Coen Brothers' very first film Blood Simple . It was believed that he would be turning it into a comedy, and with the odd title Amazing Tales: Three Guns , it seems clear that we should probably expect something completely different. And wow... that's exactly what...
Cinema Blend (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Not even close to what you'd expect.
Best Movies 2008 (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
First up, Zhang Yimou's sorta-remake of Blood Simple, the amazing debut feature by Joel and Ethan Coen, has a new title. Once called Amazing Tales: Three Guns, the title now seems to be The First Gun. Except that in some places, as on the upload for the trailer featured below, the title Amazing Tales: Three Guns, or some variant on it, persists. But the new name was reported by Yahoo, and they've got...
Reverse Shot - (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Financed by the state-owned China Film Group Corporation to the tune of $80 million, John Woo's Red Cliff is the latest “most expensive Chinese film ever made,” following quickly upon such prior contenders as Curse of the Golden Flower and Hero . Woo's film is of course a massive-scale martial arts epic like its spendy predecessors, both directed by Zhang Yimou. And Woo's take on the Asian...
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Asia: War drama, Cultural Revolution tale in mix -- Chinese helmer Zhang Yimou is mulling whether to follow his comedic take on the Coen Brothers' "Blood Simple" with a World War II movie or a Cultural Revolution drama.
Miami Herald (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Looking for a new project after finishing a comedy, Zhang Yimou is considering adaptations of novels set against China's Cultural Revolution and the Japanese invasion in World War II, his assistant said Wednesday.
ReverseBlog (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Financed by the state-owned China Film Group Corporation to the tune of $80 million, John Woo’s Red Cliff is the latest “most expensive Chinese film ever made,” following quickly upon such prior contenders as Curse of the Golden Flower and Hero. Woo’s film is of course a massive-scale martial arts epic like its spendy predecessors, both of which were directed by Zhang Yimou....
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