Blog: Date Archives

September 2003

shaolin soccer

  • Posted Sep 23, 2003
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“Shaolin Soccer” is one of the most popular movies being traded on peer-to-peer networks, ranking right up there with “Pirates Of The Caribbean” and “The Matrix Reloaded”.  And yet, it still hasn’t come out in North American theatres, with Miramax editing (and re-editing) the film and constantly pushing back the release date.

Obviously, eople want to see the film, as the excessive download traffic shows.  And obviously, people aren’t relying on Miramax to give it to them.  So why doesn’t Miramax(e) do something to capitalize on that interest, rather than sit on a film that was supposed to have come out last year?  It makes me wonder what will happen with Miramax’ other hot properties, such as “Hero” and “Zatoichi”.

These are hot properties with a guaranteed audience.  Miramax wouldn’t even have to do that much marketing, compared to your “normal” film release.  They could rely on word-of-mouth, because if there’s one thing about us Asian film nuts, it’s that we’re very vocal about our films of choice.  (And when we get pissed off by some company slicing and dicing up our favorite films, we’re even more vocal.)  What’s more, Miramax has already spent the money to acquire these films, and the longer they sit in the storehouse collecting dust, the longer that money will continue to go to waste.

It just boggles the mind.

directors’ label

  • Posted Sep 22, 2003
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Coming October 28th from Palm Pictures…

» “The Work Of Director Chris Cunningham”
» “The Work Of Director Michel Gondry”
» “The Work Of Director Spike Jonze”

tasty

  • Posted Sep 22, 2003
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Who needs porn when you’ve got this?  (Don’t worry… it’s safe for the co-workers and the kiddies.)

toronto, pt. 2

  • Posted Sep 21, 2003
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I just finished adding the rest of my reviews from the Toronto Film Festival, as well as bunch of stills.  It was quite a bit of fun to go back through those films and remember my favorite scenes, especially for films like “Save The Green Planet” and “Ju-On”.  I hope you enjoy reading about them, and check them out if they ever happen to be playing in your neck of the woods.

kill bill

  • Posted Sep 20, 2003
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I just spent some time going through the newly updated “Kill Bill” website... and it’s suh-weet!

toronto, pt. 1

  • Posted Sep 20, 2003
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I just put up the first batch of reviews from last week’s Toronto International Film Festival, as well as some creepy stills from “Ju-On”.  There are 7 more to come, but hopefully these will tide you over until the next update.

toronto, pt. 1

  • Posted Sep 19, 2003
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I just finished uploading a batch of photos from my trip to Toronto.  I’ll be adding more content over the weekend, including reviews from year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  Stay tuned.

arrrr

  • Posted Sep 19, 2003
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Well shiver me timbers!  Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!  Let’s all get loaded to the gunwales and find us some wenches, what say ye?

ong-bak

  • Posted Sep 18, 2003
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One of the movies I really wanted to catch at the Film Festival last week was “Ong-Bak Muay Thai Warrior”. Sadly, it screened before I arrived, and from what I heard, the crowd went absolutely insane during the midnight screening.  Oh well…

Anyways, I did some perusing and stumbled across this little bit of video goodness. (Requires an AVI player.)  It’s not really a trailer, but more like a “Best Of” collection of stunts and fight scenes. There’s some incredibly brutal stuff in there; I was wincing and cringing everytime some guy’s knee connected with his opponent’s sternum. Other stunts, like the guy sliding under the truck while doing the splits, just had my jaw on the ground. I was reminded of the first time I saw “Police Story”, just shaking my head in amazement at what they pull off onscreen.

Needless to say, I gotta see this movie. Sadly, the only DVD release currently available doesn’t have English subtitles, but I might get it anyways. Somehow, I don’t really think you need dialog to understand what’s going on. Heck, it might even get in the way.

whisper

  • Posted Sep 18, 2003
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I know that I’ve got a ton of great CDs to review and share with you all, and more seem to arrive everyday.  However, right now, all I can seem to listen to is the “Whisper Of The Heart” soundtrack that I picked up while in Toronto.

I’m sure that much of my appreciation stems from the fact that listening to it conjures up all sorts of wonderful scenes from that amazing Studio Ghible film.  However, it’s been so long since I’ve listened to music as graceful and full of magic as this.  Even the film’s version of John Denver’s “Country Roads”, set to a Renaissance Fair-esque tune, fills me with emotion because it reminds me of Shizuku’s joy at discovering the beauty inside her creation, the beauty inside herself.

I’m tempted to review the soundtrack, but I fear trying to capture its spirit in words would somehow cheapen these songs.  It’s rumored that Disney will be released “Whisper Of The Heart” domestically by year’s end.  I sincerely hope that is the case, because it’s a wonderful movie (as if Studio Ghibli has put anything but wonderful films).  Hopefully, they’ll release the soundtrack too, like they did for “Princess Mononoke”, because it’s a beautiful piece of work.