dorm Tagged Articles at Cinematical

(All this month we'll be bringing back some of our favorite Halloween-themed posts, as well as digging up some brand new stuff from beyond the grave. Enjoy!)

By: Peter Martin

"The answer is not in the avoidance of remakes. The plain fact is that remakes of very good original films sometimes fail because they have not been remade by people as talented as those who made the first versions." -- David O. Selznick, 1956.

The famed producer of Gone With the Wind and Rebecca was on a downward slide when he wrote the above in a memo to the president of 20th Century Fox. Selznick spent much of the 1950s repackaging and selling his earlier productions to studios, pocketing tidy fees for his efforts. The modern-day equivalent is Roy Lee. As explained in a profile in The New Yorker: "What Lee does for a living sounds simple enough, but no one in Hollywood had thought of it before. He watches videos of every Asian movie ever made, picks the biggest hits, and then, on behalf of their Asian distributors, sells the 'remake rights' of those films to studios here, so that they can be turned into big-budget American spectacles."

That article was published in June 2003, on the heels of the financial success of The Ring in the fall of 2002 but before the coming horror onslaught that included The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Dark Water and The Ring Two (all involving Lee), plus Pulse and others. Lee quickly expanded into other countries and other genres, but the most appealing remake target for Hollywood in general remains Asian horror. This year has seen the release of One Missed Call (Japan), The Eye (Hong Kong/Thailand), and Shutter (Thailand); awaiting release are The Uninvited (AKA A Tale of Two Sisters, South Korea), and The Echo (the Philippines), with Alone (Thailand), The Ring 3 and The Grudge 3 all listed in various stages of production on Lee's upcoming slate.

"The answer is not in the avoidance of remakes. The plain fact is that remakes of very good original films sometimes fail because they have not been remade by people as talented as those who made the first versions." -- David O. Selznick, 1956.

The famed producer of Gone With the Wind and Rebecca was on a downward slide when he wrote the above in a memo to the president of 20th Century Fox. Selznick spent much of the 1950s repackaging and selling his earlier productions to studios, pocketing tidy fees for his efforts. The modern-day equivalent is Roy Lee. As explained in a profile in The New Yorker: "What Lee does for a living sounds simple enough, but no one in Hollywood had thought of it before. He watches videos of every Asian movie ever made, picks the biggest hits, and then, on behalf of their Asian distributors, sells the 'remake rights' of those films to studios here, so that they can be turned into big-budget American spectacles."

That article was published in June 2003, on the heels of the financial success of The Ring in the fall of 2002 but before the coming horror onslaught that included The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Dark Water and The Ring Two (all involving Lee), plus Pulse and others. Lee quickly expanded into other countries and other genres, but the most appealing remake target for Hollywood remains Asian horror, with The Echo (the Philippines), Shutter (Thailand), The Eye (Hong Kong/Thailand), A Tale of Two Sisters (South Korea), Alone (Thailand), The Ring 3 and The Grudge 3 all listed in various stages of production on Lee's upcoming slate alone.

Lee has an eye for good films -- the titles include several of my recent Asian horror faves -- and some of the remakes have involved the original creative talent, but horror needs a strong personality at the helm, and too often the Hollywood studio machinery has softened and homogenized what made the originals so distinctive. So why not go back and watch the originals? Or try others I've written about before (Audition, Freeze Me, Koma, Memento Mori, Alone), or seek out the ones I've gathered below. Some are harder to find than others, but all represent dangerous visions that are carried out with flare. Why not share your favorites in the comments section?

I watched Finishing the Game with an enthusiastic audience as the Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) got underway last week. As Scott Weinberg pointed out in his Sundance review, the film's humor is scattershot and inconsistent, but overall "delivers a solid parcel of good, goofy chuckles." In the post-screening Q&A, director Justin Lin noted the challenges he's faced in meetings with Hollywood executives as "the only Asian guy in the room." He feels that Asian Americans are underrepresented -- on screen and in the stories told -- not so much due to racial discrimination but because studio execs are not convinced that a market exists that will support them. Lin and two of his superb actors, Roger Fan and Sung Kang, kept the Q&A lively and stayed late to sign posters in the lobby.

My Friday screenings began with The Heavenly Kings, a quasi-mockumentary about the Hong Kong pop music scene. Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote a positive review when it played at the San Francisco Film Festival and the AFFD audience obviously enjoyed it. Personally, I thought the editing was choppy and the tone inconsistent. Still, Daniel Wu has come a long way from the late 90's, when he first started landing roles in Hong Kong after moving there from San Francisco. He was considered a pretty boy who didn't speak Cantonese very well, and some of his work was barely tolerable. He's blossomed into a fine actor and definitely shows promise and ambition in his directorial debut.

The Victim (from Thailand) looked gorgeous but its unimaginative use of horror movie conventions (loud! bang!!) and "twists" that were telegraphed far in advance quickly became tiresome. Happily, Dorm (also from Thailand) was much better. It's immediately captivating, relating the tale of a boy sent away to a private school where things go bump in the night. While the thrills and chills are not entirely original -- the premise is reminiscent of The Devil's Backbone -- the filmmakers do a great job of making you feel for the lost little kid. And there are just enough original touches to keep you off balance. Dorm was a pleasant surprise. Even better if you missed its festival showings: it's available on Region 1 DVD from Tartan Home Video. The Asian Film Festival of Dallas continues through Thursday, August 30.

Once upon a time I encountered a tiny group of people who wanted to see more Asian films on screens in Dallas, Texas. Rather than just belly-aching about the shortage, they put up their own money and mounted the Asian Film Festival of Dallas in 2002. The first festival screened 10 films over a weekend; some of the screenings sold out and others drew just a handful. The organizers bravely pressed on and now the sixth edition of a very fine showcase for Asian films is upon us. The festival gets under way tonight with Justin Lin's Finishing the Game.

Finishing the Game is said to be an affectionate mockumentary about the hilarious search for a stand-in for Bruce Lee after the legendary star died before filming on Game of Death was completed. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg saw it at Sundance and felt it was "a pretty funny little diversion." Check out the film's MySpace page to see more people dressed up in Lee's trademarked yellow track suit., not to mention a plethora of video clips. Lin made the terrific Better Luck Tomorrow before "going Hollywood" and directing Annapolis and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, so it's very nice to see him returning to his roots, as it were. Lin and actors Roger Fan and Sung Kang are scheduled to attend. IFC Films will release Finishing the Game in limited engagements in October.

Other highlights include Thai drama Dorm, Japanese "family portrait" The Taste of Tea and Vietnamese comedy-drama Owl and the Sparrow, which our own Kevin Kelly was very glad he saw at the Los Angeles Film Festival, calling it "a wonderful, character-driven story." Director Stephane Gauger will attend the screening. The program continues through next Thursday, August 30; check out the official site for more information. I hope to write more about the films as the fest continues through the week.