Kim Ji-Woon Will Return To Korea After The Last Stand With Arnold Schwarzenegger
Korean director Kim Ji-woon (“I Saw the Devil”, “The Good, the Bad, the Weird”, “A Bittersweet Life”) is a badass. He’s made some of my favorite films in recent memory, and is currently filming his English-language debut with “The Last Stand”, a yarn about a hard luck cop along the US/Mexico border taking on a drug lord. “The Last Stand” is notable to most because it marks the return of a certain state governor to his true calling, action hero, as Arnold Schwarzenegger steps back into lead roles on the big screen.
Bringing foreign filmmakers to Hollywood is a dicey proposition. How many times have we seen a remarkable talent welcomed into the bosom of American film production only to turn out dud after dud? So I was understandably worried that the same fate would befall Kim. On that subject, however, it is being reported that Kim is not going to become a permanent fixture on the Hollywood scene, at least not yet, and that he will return to work in Korea after finishing work on “The Last Stand”.
He will collaborate on a film called “The Fall of Humanity” with director Lim Pil-seong (“Antarctic Journal”, “New Generation”). There is little known about the film at this point, or what the nature of Kim and Lim’s collaboration will be, but from what little info there is, this sounds like a good idea to me.
As pumped as I am to see Schwarzenegger kick some ass on screen again, and I am seriously pumped for that—I grew up watching him blow villains straight to hell and have sorely missed that in my life in recent years—I think I’m even more excited at the prospect of a new movie from Kim. I love every film he’s made, many of which rank among my personal favorites, and I am curious to see how his style and skills translate to a Hollywood film.
ARRIETTY UK DVD & BluRay Twitch review
For the most part this is Ghibli on top form, and easily the best they've done since the mid- to late 1990s. Arrietty feels like a dance, and not just because of Breton harpist Cécile Corbel's rippling, elegant score - Yonebayashi and his crew make much of the film seem almost effortless, a series of steps planned out so meticulously they could hardly have turned out any different. Ghibli definitely receive more than their fair share of hyperbole, and for all the technical expertise on display here Arrietty is still a simple children's story without much in the way of depth or subtext. But it's honestly wonderful for all that, captivatingly beautiful, the kind of transporting experience that few if any animation houses in the world know how to do. Despite its flaws, Arrietty is one of the jewels in Ghibli's crown, and pretty much anyone who loves great cinema ought to see it.
There's a top ten movies of 2011 from Far east films here that is a pretty decent list.
Man from Nowhere and the Lost Bladesman are overated by the guy though.
Wuxia and Let the Bullets Fly show no signs of coming to UK dvd so I haven't seen them yet.
REVIEW: THE GREAT MAGICIAN leaves the rabbit in the hat
In the end, however, it is the comedy that wins out over any political agenda and you never feel that you are being talked down to about anything more weighty than choosing the right future to wish for. That said, after all the showmanship and grand spectacle Yee dazzles us with for two hours, THE GREAT MAGICIAN ends with a fizzle rather than a bang that will glean little more than a shrug from the audience rather than rapturous applause. In doing so, THE GREAT MAGICIAN succeeds in delivering its pledge and its turn, only to sadly fumble the prestige, leaving us scratching our heads but without the sense of perplexed wonderment that comes from witnessing real magic.
WTH? Battle Royale has never been released in America? It's an awesome movie and should be seen ASAP.
At Last... BATTLE ROYALE Comes To The United States! trailer here too
Nordling here.
I remember jonesing to see BATTLE ROYALE way back in 2000 when I first heard about it here at AICN. Since then it's been released all over the world, but we here in the States have had to make do with bootleg releases and knowing that we'd probably never get to see it on the big screen except for maybe some small release in repertory theaters. Then 9/11 happened, and that pretty much put the quietus on any kind of release here in the United States. Until now.
Anchor Bay Entertainment will be releasing BATTLE ROYALE on Blu-Ray and DVD in March, finally in the United States, and I want to own this movie and show it to unsuspecting people in the worst way. It's likely you've seen the film already, but I'm very happy that we'll be getting some kind of official release here. Anchor Bay has done good with titles like this one, and I hope that the Blu-Ray is nice and pristine. I've only seen the film a couple of times myself, so I'm very keen on revisiting it.
Also Green Arrow is getting his own TV Series
IP Man 3 to be made as soon as Donnie Yen can
Donnie Yen, who talked about the possibility of making IP MAN 3 recently, has said in another interview that he will not wait till THE GRANDMASTERS is released before he makes another Ip Man film, because he has been thinking about it and will start filming as soon as he has the time and opportunity.
Kick Ass US Trailer For Korean Action Flick WAR OF THE ARROWS
Korean period-set action film War Of The Arrows has been winning praise everywhere it has been seen and with a US release coming in February distributor Well Go USA have just released an excellent local trailer.
Award-winning writer/director Kim Han-Min (Handphone, Paradise Murdered) unsheathes the lavish historical action epic War of the Arrows on Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo Pack and DVD February 21st from Well Go USA Entertainment. The international box office success stars Hae-il Park (The Host) as the best archer in Korea who is forced to go up against the Qing Dynasty in order to save his younger sister (Moon Chae-Won) from Mongolian invaders. The film was honored four times at the 2011 Daejong Awards, including Best Actor (Park Hae-il) and Best New Actress (Moon Chae-won), and picked up five trophies at the 2011 Blue Dragon Film Awards, including Best Actor (Park Hae-Il), Best Supporting Actor (Ryoo Seung-Ryong), Best New Actress (Moon Chae-Won) and the Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Movie. Bonus features include the behind-the-scenes featurette "The Making of War of the Arrows," interviews with the actors and director Kim Han-Min and deleted scenes.
What the hell did 9/11 have to do with it not being released?
Heh, I've been reading Battle Royale: The Novel for the past couple days. Will have to check the film out when it's released here.
Foolz said:What the hell did 9/11 have to do with it not being released?
Good question. And whatt did happen at 9th of October anyways?
October is the 11 month where you are from Iga? 
Excited?
I'll be there, crying.
I really should not post in the morning anymore. Lesson learned now off to watch Supernatural.
Darth Maul death in 3D.
Crying tears or joy I assume?
Ravenprose said:Heh, I've been reading Battle Royale: The Novel for the past couple days. Will have to check the film out when it's released here.
That's a happy coincidence, I read that novel a few years ago. The film is more impactful but the book is very good, although they throw a lot of hard to remember japanese names at you.
Oh crap, Star Wars in 3D now? The pimping needs to end.
Park Chan-Wook And Bong Joon-Ho Team Up For Snow Piercer, In Talks With Chris Evan To Star
Here’s an interesting bit of news to kick off your Friday the 13th weekend. Park Chan-wook, director of “Oldboy”, “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, and “Lady Vengeance” (AKA “The Vengeance Trilogy”), and Bong Joon-ho, helmer of “The Host” (maybe the best giant monster movie in recent memory), are teaming up for a film called “Snow Piercer”. This is like a power team of badass Korean movie makers, and they are talking to none other than Captain America himself, Chris Evans, to star.
“Snow Piercer” is “set in a world covered in snow and ice, the story follows a train full of travelers who struggle to co-exist.” Park will produce, while Bong will handle the directorial duties, though the two collaborated on the script. That isn’t a lot to go on, but in these very capable hands, this is premise holds quite a bit of potential. “Snow Piercer” is slated to begin filming this March.
This will be the US debut for Bong. Meanwhile, Park’s “Stoker”, his first foray into English language film, is in post-production and should, in theory, be released in 2012. “Stoker” stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, and Mia Wasikowska. Both of these directors have particular styles that aren’t necessarily ready made for Hollywood. Their films tend towards measured, deliberate pacing with gradual builds, not the fast paced tempos usually embraced by wide American audiences. I’m curious to see how their Western introductions will go. Will they alter their styles to match American expectations, will they stick with their own approaches, or will the two sides meet somewhere in the middle? Like I said, it will be interesting to watch. “Snow Piercer”, at least, is described as an “indie” film, and Park has a certain amount of renown in film circles (as many of you know “Oldboy” is getting a well-publicized American remake with Spike Lee directing and Josh Brolin in the lead role), so hopefully they will be able to make the movies they want to make.
WTF whhhhhhhhhhhhhhy?
Snow piercer was set to be Bong Joon-Ho's next film after the Host. He ended up making Mother afterwards instead but Snow Piercer was set to be his sci-fi Korean movie. Now it's all western bullshit for two of my favourite directors.
I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and it was really good.
I was worried it would be a stupid action movie with shoot-outs and shaky cam shit. You know the shit Vader likes, but the scenes were really spy like with a ton of tension. Sure action happens, but you know why it happens. The story was a bit non nonsensical, for instance the IMF team was really often compromised and you never knew how. And the gadgets were cool, but they were probably made by ACME, because they kept failing all the time. But again the tension was there and the 'acion' scenes were awesome.
Action scenes tell a story too, and if it is easy to follow and you have tension it is good. If it is shaky cam and stuff blow up with no reason, than it is bad. Michel Bay is bad, Mission Impossible 4 is good.
Overall 4/5 stars.
Iga I dont care for shaky cam but I dont mind it if the movie is fun. Anyway I TOLD YOU SO.
travo said:I enjoyed MI 4 almost as much as the first. My wife and I discussed how none of thir gadgets ever seemed to work, but that made it cool because the IMF team still had to accomplish the mission regardless. I'm a little surprised how good that movie is.
It was on purpose, they even said it in the movie, they had to use impromptu gadgets cause they were not run by the US government in this movie.
GG, you have yourself to hate for not liking their more Asian films such as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and so forth.
In case you missed it:
Talented attorney Mia Fey (Rei Dan), who shows understanding for her junior lawyer, Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya), is murdered. Arrested for the murder is her spirit medium in training sister Maya Fey (Mirei Kiritani). Phoenix believes in Maya’s innocence and takes the case where he meets Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saitoh), a level-headed, prodigy attorney and childhood friend. An intense courtroom battle unfolds as testimony and evidence are presented. After the trial, Phoenix receives word that Miles has been arrested for murder! Phoenix steps forward to defend Miles. Opposing council is none other than Miles’s master, legendary prosecutor von Karma (Ryo Ishibashi) who has been undefeated in court for 40 years. As the trial goes on, the 15 year old DL-6 case, where Miles’s father Gregory Edgeworth was shot and killed in the evidence room, is examined closely. What will become of Phoenix, Miles and Maya? What dangerous truth lies behind this mysterious case?
'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney' is due for release across Japan on the 11th February, 2012.
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