The grass is always greener…

MY FILMS - UNTITLED CHINA FILM - SCENES

Hi guys,

I’m just keeping prolific and YOU busy with my content! I’m posting 2 clips of scenes from my upcoming, as yet untitled, film about one man’s travels in China. Its fictional, about an adopted guy visiting his roots and meeting a girl, etc etc. It was shot during my travels around China and was basically made with no real script or budget. I’m still in the middle of editing this sucker so here’s a taste of the film.

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FUN AROUND BEIJING SCENE

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TIANANMEN SQUARE SCENE

I chose these clips as they’re basically montages set to music so they play out like music videos…ENJOY.

MY FILMS - TRAILERS - ‘THE KILLER’

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I got the new re-release DVD of the Killer and it prompted me to cut a trailer for it using the new print. Its basically a recut of a trailer i made for the film at uni, but since I lost the file I did purely on memory and made some changes (hopefully improvements).

I recommend this film to any lover of action and is a must for John Woo/Chow Yun Fat fans. Maybe I’ll write a review of it one day. There’s no reason not to see this film though, I mean, its in Martin Scorsese’s top 5 list all time movies. ‘Nuff Said.

Woolenitis #2

Well…still at home recovering. Insomnia is not helping the recovery. But I guess the extra time on my hands provided the impetus to start this blog!

I should really introduce myself a bit for those wondering what the hell this is about. So I’ll write an “Origin story” about the woolen one soon. In the mean time I’ll post up some of my video work to keep you entertained until the next exciting film review.

FILM REVIEW - SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE

(image: kfccinema.com)

*NOTE: This is an old review I did months ago. Its still one of the best films I’ve seen this year so I thought I’d include it here before we kick off some 2007 films reviews. ENJOY:

This was my most anticipated movie of 2006. I wish this film was released in cinemas in Australia as I’d love to see it on the big screen. Instead I saw a pirated version in China on a really big LCD screen…close enough.

I didn’t know whether Park Chan-wook could make a better film than Oldboy, his amazing second film in the revenge trilogy. While Sympathy For Mr Vengeance was about the act of vengeance itself and Oldboy was about the motivation that drives a person to seek revenge, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance focuses on the consequences of vengeance in society and the search for redemption.

Firstly, Lee Yeong-ae is amazing as the charismatic and tortured Lee Geum-ja. Everything about her is sexy, stylish and drop-dead cool. I loved her scenes in the prison as the inmate with the heart of gold which put a smile on my face, knowing she was hiding something much more malevolent. She was able to really get the audience to sympathize with her while, at the same time, totally understand why the other inmates referred to her as “the witch”. Even though I wasn’t able to emotionally connect with the character a lot of times, the ending with Geum-ja seeking redemption with her daughter really moved me.

Choi Min-sik’s makes another memorable performance as the antagonist in the film which leads to me conclude that he is the most amazing actor working in Korean today. He’s so charismatic and bad-ass in every role that even playing a vile character such as the one here, he becomes one of those villains you love to hate, with a smile on your face.

Visually, this movie is beautiful with such moody lighting and precise imagery. The clever use of specal effects reminds me of David Fincher’s work with Fight Club and Panic Room, where photo realistic CGI is incorporated into a shot seamlessly to enhance the cinematography. I recently received the Korean special edtion DVD where there is an alternate version of the film where near the half-way point, the film progressively fades to black and white. I’m not sure which version I prefer as the original full colour version was so beautiful, I kept wanting to savour all the detail and richness of the picture.

Whichever version of the film you prefer, I highly recommend this film. While not as visceral and mind-blowingly clever as Oldboy, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance is a beautifully haunting film that gets you on an emotional level and nicely concludes Park’s revenge trilogy on a hopeful and thought-provoking level.

Suffering from Woolenitis…

Trying to recover from a slight cold/virus/whatever. Probably shouldn’t have gone to the gym on Tuesday with a cold. Oops.

Well at least I’m still (mentally) young. Invincibility mentality of youth still there. WOOHOO!

kinda like this guy…

That image should get the gay readership numbers to improve! Hey, anything to promote my blog!

FILM REVIEW - CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (满城尽带黄金甲)

(image: sina.com)

I’ve decided to make my blog heavily themed in movies. Everyone who knows me will know it’s my passion and I might as well spend time procrastinating in my passion.

I will try to write a review of every film I see and may even extend to some reflective reviews of films that I believe requires attention and your viewing.

Let’s start with a film I saw recently at the cinema in Beijing, Curse of the Golden Flower (Chinese title: 满城尽带黄金甲).

Curse of the Golden Flower is the third wuxia (Chinese martial arts) film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the two previous being Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Many older fans of Zhang’s work have criticized him for playing to commercial interests of the martial arts epics trend, leaving behind his smaller, dramatic work of earlier days. But I disagree. In addition to the two martial arts films, which I loved, Zhang recently made a return to his smaller films with Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. Riding Alone was a wonderfully intimate film, which I found to be both funny and deeply moving.

I don’t know whether Zhang will continue making wuxia films after this, but I believe as a trilogy, Curse would make a perfect last film in the series. Although both incredibly impressive, I found both Hero and House to be lacking in certain areas. Hero was visually sumptuous, yet emotionally cold and House, while emotionally intense, lacked an interesting story to make it great. I found Curse to be the most satisfying experience out of the three and the best cinematic experience I had this year overall.

Casting for Curse has received a great deal of publicity in Asia as it marks the return of Gong Li to a Zhang Yimou film. The queen of 90s Chinese cinema delivers another incredible performance in the empress, and in many ways, the film belongs to her. She is the emotional core of the story also serves as the main plot device. Her interactions with her sons are deeply moving, yet manipulative at the same time, and when she finally reveals her true plans it is both shocking and equally understandable. Zhang has always sympathised with the women of Chinese history, showing us their suffering in a male dominated, feudal society.

Also receiving notoriety in the media has been the casting of Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, his second film role since Initial D. Much has been written about the idol’s acting and how it has improved to a serious dramatic stature. It was surprising then (thankfully), that Chou actually doesn’t have such a pivotal role in the film until its climax. Jay Chou plays the second of three sons of the royal family and gets the least emotionally conflicted role in the whole story. His performance is adequate, yet definitely amateurish standing next to the likes of Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. Zhang made the right choice to give Chou the less demanding role. If Chou had the far more complex role of the crown prince, it would have been far less successful. Instead, Jay Chou gives a physical performance during the actions scenes and handles himself well, maybe as practice for the final emotional third act.

Lui Ye is yet again given a thankless role (as was the case in “The Promise), this time playing the eldest son in the family. He gets the most complex role in the film and handles himself well enough. Many have said his acting was bordering on over-the-top, however, I believe he simply played the character written on the page. The crown prince is intelligent, emotional, insecure and uncomfortable with is destined role as heir to the throne. He even manages to steal some scenes when playing against Gong and Chow, a feat not easy to achieve.

Speaking of Chow Yun Fat…what can I say that hasn’t been said already? He’s been an idol of mine since I first saw his heroic bloodshed movies with John Woo of the 80s and 90s. Always a charismatic presence onscreen, Chow beautifully plays the stubborn Emperor who insists on the preservation of his family on the surface even if the results are actually tearing it apart. The depth he injects into the role is truly amazing with every glance and gesture conveying so much. Even though the film is actually an adaptation of the famous Chinese play “Thunderstorm” by Cao Yu, the tragedy of the film’s climax didn’t lose any impact on me knowing full well what will happen. This was mostly due to the performance of Chow Yun Fat in the final moments, which made the end devastating.

Being a wuxia epic, we can’t escape discussing the martial arts in the film. Curse marks a slight change in style to the action compared to the two previous films. The story and emotional drama is the main component of the film and the action scenes only serve to carry the story. Stylistically, the action scenes themselves differed greatly also. Gone are the traditional one on one martial arts duels (apart from a short spar between father and son early on), instead, replaced mostly with fast-paced chases and infantry action. The final battle is indeed epic on its scale and scope and much bloodier than we have seen before. The departure in style was a welcome to me as it was a much more natural part of the film, rather than purely showy set pieces designed to just look pretty.

Finally, the look of the film was also an impressive feat in Curse. If there’s one thing Zhang knows how to do right, its making every frame of a film gorgeous to look at. Set in the late Tang Dynasty of China, Zhang uses the rich culture of the period to paint an extravagant world of opulence. The internal palace walls are lined with miles of gold and coloured glass, while the external sets frame the film in an epic scale. Xiaoding Zhao returns as cinematographer and gives the film a lush palette and some truly memorable camera work. The use of sweeping pans, tight close-ups and wide-lens cameras all added to the emotional and visceral feel of the film. The final shots of the film were some of the most beautiful use of high-speed photography I have ever seen. The composition and symbolic nature of the images beautifully capture the ultimate message of Zhang’s film, a palace of beauty and opulence hides at its core the rotten nature of a feudal society.

This is a film I highly recommend. Even those who didn’t enjoy Zhang’s earlier wuxia films will find something to like here and fans will not be disappointed.

First Post

Hello there.

This is the first post of my blog. Its currently pointless as I haven’t found what I will use it for. Most likely, it will be a platform for my rants and occasional non-PC tirades (KRAMER STYLE!).

Enjoy.