Hey, Father Geek here with Darius25, AccSpy, pigmon, and the Monkey King with another great Asia-AICN Column for this Thursday. Of course it seems like the entire week has been an Asia-AICN report with all the breaking news from the far east that we've been covering the last few days. If you've missed them scroll back thru the week's headlines and check them all out, you won't be sorry. Right now ol'Father Geek has this bit for you...

Just to let you know they're currently doing filming for Shanghai Knights here at my university down in Greenwich, here in London. One of the buildings of the Old Royal Naval College has been turned into "Charing Cross Station", with lots of people dressed in Victorian clothes hanging around market stalls with and the area.

I saw Owen Wilson's chair, but alas, he wasn't in it.. Ah well. They're only here for another day or so.

Peace, Out... Sabbath

Then there was this that appeared on Father Geek's PC here in our Central Texas Geek Headquarters Compound...

I'm a regular reader from Chicago spending some time in the big scary city of LA and was "fortunate" enough to get a chance to see an advanced screening of Ballistic: Ecks VS Sever with the executives and possibly Lucy Liu. Let me not waste all of your time so I'll just say THIS MOVIE IS NOT WORTH SEEING AT ALL.

That having been said, Antonio Banderas plays Ecks, a former FBI agent (we think) and Lucy Liu plays Sever, a former weapon. (Once again, this is just conjecture, we actually have no idea what went on in the movie, this summary is from carefully reconstructed plot points my entire group gathered.) At the beginning of the movie, Ecks is paid to take a beating for someone because of something they did and he waxes philosophical on the nature of guilt. After that bizarre scene was done, giving us no insight into the actual film and having no connection AT ALL to the scenes that followed, we jump into what I laughingly call the story, where Ecks is blackmailed back into the service of somebody because he thought his wife was dead, but she isn't. She's still alive and there's a government plot of some sort with Sever hanging out in an underground lair complete with the requisite rats and steam and chains hanging around.

The director, KAOS, and do you get more pretentious than that, while we're on the subject, pads the film with slow mo shots that are so ridiculously slow, seconds actually pass between each bullet popping from a machine gun. Whenever anybody needs a car or a ride, it shows up, including a sequence where Ecks finds a brand new motorcycle feet from him. Once again, filmmakers show us computer hacking being much more exciting than it actually is with, when the system says "Access Denies," digital doors close with a metal sound like the doors in the T2 trailer. And we also have a brooding bad guy who, in the middle of an argument, sits down with his brandy at his piano and begins to play Moonlight Sonata. I think this is part of a growing trend for writers who don't know a lot about music or art to put the one piece they do know in their work, hoping it'll make the audience think they're cultured.

As I wind down here, just a few more grips will do. The film takes place in Vancouver. It didn't have to. This leads me to believe that the producers realized Vancouver would be cheap and didn't even bother to pretend the movie is set elsewhere. To slam the point home, they fill it with shots of the city. I won't spoil anything in the move for you poor souls who want to go see it, but I will leave you with some words of wisdom from Gant, the bad guy. "There are no innocent people. You know that. Only killers and victims."

If you print this, call me Windom Earle.

Well, Father Geek back to turn you over to our regular eastern crew of reporters. Here's our Asia Editor, Darius25...

>Hey all, hope you’ve had a great week. We have a fully-packed column for you with info on many cool films, including “Saathiya (Partner)”, “Kutumb”, “Boom”, Donnie Yen’s upcoming projects, “Land of Destiny”, “Ogaya”, “Tokyo.Sora”, and “Returner”. We also have a review of the latest Bollywood film, “Awara Paagal Deewana (The Punk, the Fool, and the Lover)”.

INDIA

- The big news for this week is sort of a spoiler – following the tradition of other Yashraj films, it seems that the upcoming Yashraj production, “Saathiya (Partner)”, will feature a MAJOR actor in a supporting role aswell. The cameos are usually well-guarded secrets until now when news leaked that Shahrukh Khan has a very important role in the film. “Saathiya” is a remake of director Mani Ratnam’s Tamil-language film, “Alai Payuthe”, which made actor R. Madhavan an overnight sensation in Southern India. This Bollywood version features Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukherjee playing a happily married couple, whose lives are suddenly disrupted when the wife gets into a car accident and develops amnesia. SRK will play the man who rescues the wife and nurses her back to health, creating a love triangle in the process. The film’s getting good buzz and Oberoi has reportedly given an excellent performance. We’ll know soon enough when the film releases this September.

- Following last week’s news about Mahesh Manjrekar’s English-language remake of “Astitva (Existence), it has been confirmed that Sushmita Sen is now the lead actress of the film. It was thought that she would play a supporting actress in the film while Madhuri Dixit would play the lead, but Ms. Dixit has no part in the film anymore due to unknown conflicts. The film, titled “It Was Raining That Night” will go in production sometime this fall.

- Also, Mahesh Manjrekar is no longer involved with the upcoming remake of “The Godfather”, titled “Kutumb”. The writer-director had written a script for the planned remake, but final minute negotiations fell through with producer Feroz Nadiadwala (who holds the rights to the film). Vikram Bhatt has now been roped in to direct the film, which will still be partially based on Manjrekar’s script. The film’s starcast of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Abhishek Bachchan, will not be affected by the shuffle of directors. It will go in production in early 2002.

- Regarding Akshay Kumar, the actor has been signed in another Feroz Nadiadwala production, with the film featuring even more elaborate stunts than Nadiadwala’s “Awara Paagal Deewana (The Punk, the Fool, and the Lover)”. Akshay is currently heading off to China for a month-long intense training session in order to prepare for the project.

- Here’s an odd casting shuffle – Sanjay Dutt has replaced Shahrukh Khan for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s next production, “Munna Bhai MBBS”. SRK unexpectedly had to back out of the comedy due to health problems – the role required a lot of physical pratfalls, which the actor didn’t want to perform due to a recurring back problem. In other casting news, Dutt’s father, yester-year actor Sunil Dutt has also been signed for a key role in the film. It will be the first time that the father-son duo will be seen together onscreen. Also, actor Jimmy Shergill has also been signed to appear in a key role for the comedy, which starts shooting this fall.

- Actresses Bo Derek (!) and Zeenat Aman have been roped in to appear in director Kaizad Gustad’s “Boom”. The two characters have been signed, along with Amitabh Bachcan, to appear in substantial roles for the film. The comedy thriller focuses on a trio of supermodels forced to become high-tech jewel thieves by three gangsters (Bachchan, Gulshan Grover and Jackie Shroff). The low-budget film is in production right now, and is slated to release this fall. Here’s some on-set pics, giving us a first look at Bachchan’s new avatar for the film:

Amitabh Bachchan (in white) takes instructions from the director (in blue hat) while Gulshan Grover and Zeenat Aman look on: Click Here

Another shot of Bachchan listening to instructions: Click

Zeenat Aman, who appeared in many blockbusters during the 70’s and 80’s is making a comeback after more than a decade: Just Click

The superstar that he is, Big B still waves to the crowd as he arrives on the sets: See It Here

AWARA PAAGAL DEEWANA (The Punk, the Fool, and the Lover)

Last week’s new release was director Vikram Bhatt’s multi-starrer comedy featuring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Preeti Jhangiani, Amrita Arora, Aarti Chabria, Rahul Dev, Johny Lever, and the great Paresh Rawal. After coming off the year’s biggest hit (RAAZ – Secret) and the year’s biggest flop (AAP MUJHE ACHCHE LAGNE LAGE – I have Started to Like You), expectations were so-so for the film. Sure, it looked to be a great comedy with a multi-talented cast, yet the film’s director wasn’t as bankable anymore. Nonetheless, the film rumoured to feature some amazing stunts, combined with exotic locales and an equally strange yet ear-pleasing music. Does it disappoint?

In a word, NO!! Ok, the story may be a bit disappointing, copying every single plot point from “The Whole Nine Yards”. A gangster, Guru (Akshay Kumar) flees India to move into an upscale NYC neighbourhood, right next to an uptight dentist, Anmol (Aftab Shivdasani). The dentist has family problems of his own, and along with his desperate father-in-law (the hilarious Paresh Rawal), is forced to turn Guru in to another gangster named Vikrant (Rahul Dev). Anmol goes to India to claim the reward money (in exchange for Guru’s whereabouts) but instead shows up with another criminal, Anna (Sunil Shetty) who is assigned to kill Guru. Of course it turns out that Anna is actually in cahoots with Guru, and the deadly duo plot to capture Vikrant when he comes to New York. Poor Anmol is dragged along for the ride, in a story which also involves two domineering housewives, a hitman-wannabe secretary, Guru’s innocent ex-wife, and a mysterious bag of diamonds that everybody’s after. Confused yet??

Don’t worry, the story may be a little complicated and confusing, but it all starts to make sense towards the end – when everybody’s intentions are finally revealed. There is a whole cast of unnecessary characters, but they all add to the film’s comedy in their own unique way. Central to film’s comedy is Paresh Rawal, who is yet again excellent as a hapless husband forced to do his wife’s bidding at every turn. His scenes with Aftab and Johny Lever (who plays Anna’s sidekick) are one of the highlights of the film and manage to keep the audience in splits during the many moments of confusion.

The film’s other highlight is of course – the breathtaking action, courtesy of Phillip Ko, Dion Lam, and Abbas Ali Moghul. The trio have composed such AMAZING scenes of wire-fu wizardry and over-the-top mayhem that you will swear you’re watching an HK production. We know that Akshay Kumar could kick ass, but with the help of these technical wizards, we watch in AWE when he walks up and down walls, soar CTHD-style into the air, do all kinds of scissor kicks and twirl 100 feet in the air. And I didn’t know Sunil Shetty could fly aswell!! There are only a few action scenes (4 in total), but holy shit they last for hours and hours – the climax alone is over 30 minutes long!! Only one scene (the EXACT copy of “The Matrix” lobby shootout) is cringe-worthy, but the rest are pulled off with style and class, and trust me, you WON’T be disappointed.

Are there any more pluspoints? Not really. The songs are great but except for “Habibi Feenak” aren’t really memorable after the end, while the cinematography is nothing too dazzling. The editing and structure is fine (for an action comedy) while the plot is just an excuse for the climactic showdown. The various one-liners, especially by Rawal and Lever, ARE hilarious though and you’ll remember them long after the movie’s over. The direction is average till the action scenes, where we see the HK-action people completely take over with greatness!!

So at the end, if you like Akshay Kumar, you’ll friggin’ go CRAZY for this film. If you don’t know who he is, then this is the best introduction to the guy’s action abilities. Don’t miss this movie!!

Here are some pics from the film (which are really DVD screencaps, since I can’t find any REAL pics online).

Our three heroes (left to right), Akshay Kumar, Aftaab Shivdasani, and Sunil Shetty: They're Right Here

Another pic of Akshay, as he prepares for the kill: The Action's Here

A pic of the beautiful Amrita Arora, who isn’t given much to do here: Check Her Out Here

HK / CHINA

Here’s some Donnie Yen news from Monkey King:

Although Donnie Yen is currently filming SHANGHAI KNIGHTS with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, he is also slated to play yet another "baddie" in an as-yet titled HK film to commence lensing soon. Possibly it is one of the first of 6 films that he will be doing for EMI under his new contract with them. Yen has been very busy recently with his "remakes" of classic Bruce Lee films THE BIG BOSS and FISTS OF FURY. It is uncertain if he will continue with this trend and do new versions of WAY OF THE DRAGON and ENTER THE DRAGON with EMI, since his popularity isn't as great as Lee's was back in the late 60's early 70's.

Based on his choreography in BLADE II and his starring in the upcoming SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, he just may be the next Asian martial artist to usurp Jet Li's shaky U.S. film throne(Yes, it's shaky!). Although Guillermo Del Toro has expressed no interest in doing the 3rd BLADE film, we can possibly count on Donnie Yen being involved yet again as fight choreographer.

If only someone would consider completing GAME OF DEATH the way Bruce Lee intended, but using Yen as the "body" stand-in for the digitally created Bruce and a few others for the younger James Tien and Che Yuen, this film would bury all the crap that has come out in the past 28 years. Yen knows all of Lee's like the back of his hand, trust me. John Little and Co.(or someone else) could do this film justice if the possessors of the other "missing footage" from G.O.D. would get off their collective asses and quit being so bullheaded. This is Bruce's greatest legacy in filmmaking that can still be completed to his original script and notes if done right(unlike that 1978 steaming pile of shit directed by Robert Clouse).

One final thing. Rumor has it that John Little also has a script written by Lee that was the original basis for THE SILENT FLUTE, and was originally meant as a Lee film vehicle called NORTHERN LEG/SOUTHERN FIST. The story follows the journey of a young martial artist who seeks "the truth" about what is the "true" meaning of martial arts. Little is "supposedly" talking about possibly getting Jet Li to play the role originally intended for Bruce Lee. Many elements of NORTHERN LEG/SOUTHERN FIST were incorporated into the script for THE SILENT FLUTE that was written by Lee and students Sterling Silliphant and James Coburn. Sadly the "true" version of THE SILENT FLUTE was never made, but badly rewritten and made into another "steaming pile of shit" entitled CIRCLE OF IRON and starred David Carradine, Christopher Lee and one of Carradine's "buddies" Jeff Cooper as Cord. An uncut version of COI exists, but it isn't much of an improvement. Bruce Lee, originally, was meant to play the characters played by Carradine, one of which was the Monkey King. Yet another example of Carradine riding on Lee's coat tails. The first of which was a series called THE WARRIOR, then retitled KUNG FU when the producers found Lee to look "too Asian." This "closemindedness in Hollywood" prompted Lee to pick up and move his family to Hong Kong where he made a name for himself with a small, but soon-to-be-big film called THE BIG BOSS. FISTS OF FURY and WAY OF THE DRAGON followed, solidifying him as a martial artist and actor to be reckoned with.

zai jian..... Monkey King

And here’s the latest report from AccSpy:

- Director John Woo and Nicolas Cage have come to HK for the premiere of "Windtalkers". In the press conference Cage pretty much confirmed that he will be starring in John Woo's next film "Land of Destiny" with Chow Yun-Fat. John Woo is also saddened by the death of his mentor Chang Cheh and recalled Cheh's influence on his films in the press conference. Here's some pics from the event.

John Woo, Nicolas Cage with the action figures: Play With Them Now

Another pic from the press con: Join Them Here

John Woo, Cage and Chow Yun-fat at the premiere: They're Right Here

- Eason Chan's "Visible Secret 2" dominated the box office with $2.5 mil grossing in 4 days, becoming the highest entry last weekend. The Twins' vehicle "Summer Breeze of Love" fell one spot to no.2 with total grossing of $6 mil in 11 days. "The Sum of All Fears" was at no.3, Miriam Yeung's comedy "The Frugal Game" is at no.4 with more than $7 mil total grossing while "Murder by Numbers” debuted at no.5 with $0.6 mil.

JAPAN

Here’s the latest report from Pigmon:

- George Lucas was in Japan this week promoting “Episode 2”. While the rest of the questions were of the standard variety, one question was particularly interesting – “Are Luke, Han Solo, and Chewie going to be in Episode 3?”. Lucas saiad that “I’m not sure about Han and Chewie, but Luke will definitely be in Episode 3 – but he’ll be only a couple of years old”.

- The MIB2 Japanese premiere takes places this week and Sony is said to be giving away a rare MIB2 edition of the AIVO at the event. Only 3 of these devices are supposed to exist – one for Sony, one for Will Smith, and one for some lucky audience member at the event. The early buzz is that the Japanese audiences are going crazy over this film!

- Horror film director Tomishiro Kouseki (“Tomie: Replay”) will make a serious film debut with his next release, titled “Ogaya”. The film focuses on a middle-aged woman who meets her daughter for the first time after abandoning her, and how their relationship changes once the daughter herself becomes pregnant. The movie, which was filmed in the beautiful Okinawa, will be in theatres this July.

- Director Toshiki Sato’s next film is a psychological/fantasy thriller titled “Yumenara Samete”. The story, which stars Nanpo Oomori (“Ichi the Killer”), focuses on a stalker obsessed with a young girl who manages to steal her life and become her (?!?). The film should be in theatres next month.

- Commercial director Kan Ishikawa will make his feature film debut with “Tokyo.Sora”. The story is about the romantic escapades of 6 different girls in Tokyo. It should be in theatres within the next 2 months.

- The production of “Ultraman Cosmos: Blue Planet” has hit a major snag. The actor who plays Ultraman was arrested two weeks ago for a crime he committed over 2 years ago (when he was 19). The TV series (which had 15 more episodes yet to film) has been cancelled, and the Shochiku studio fill release a feature film version using the completed footage and adding some new scenes. Any scenes featuring the actor will now be deleted and removed from the film. This version (which I’ve seen and highly recommend) will be released in August.

- The highly-anticipated new film from VFX wizard Takeshi Yamazaki (“Juvenile”), titled “Returner”, has now been completed and is heading into post-production. The trailer is in theatres now, and looks just AWESOME!! Some of the scenes look very much like “The Matrix” and “MIB 2”. You can check out some of the images at the film’s website: http://www.returner.net

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