iris chang Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In August of 1937, the Japanese army invaded China. By December 13th, they had defeated the Chinese army and invaded the nation's then-capital, Nanking. The events that followed, referred to as "the rape of Nanking," are documented in the film Nanking, showing at Sundance in the US Documentary competition. The structure of the film was put together largely through the journals and letters of a small group of missionaries, professors and doctors -- and a Nazi businessman, John Rabe -- who refused to evacuate the Nanking when the Japanese army invaded, choosing instead to band together to establish a "safe zone" within the city in order to protect the civilians who lived there.

Like Schindler's List and Hotel Rwanda, Nanking tells a tale of war-time horror through the story of people who tried to help. Directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman (with a script co-written by Elizabeth Bentley) bring the events of the invasion of Nanking to life through vintage footage, interviews with survivors, and a staged reading of excerpts from journals and letters by a group of actors including Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway, Rosalind Chao and Jurgen Prochnow.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• After scheduling conflicts forced her out, Kate Walsh has been replaced by Mary McCormack in the Stephen King adaptation, 1408. McCormack joins a cast that already includes John Cusack (What is it with this guy and scary hotel movies?) and Samuel L. Jackson. As we previously reported, pic is based on King's short story and revolves around a debunker of paranormal occurrences who finds his beliefs put to the test upon checking into room the mysterious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. McCormack will play Cusack's ex-wife in the flick.
• Maybe I'm nuts, but I find it so bizarre when a country unveils plans for a film, instead of, say, Rob Schneider. But hey, that's how they do things in China, right? The country announced plans today to make a massive war movie, financed by Americans, that will chronicle "the 1937 massacre of civilians in Nanjing by invading Japanese soldiers." Based on Iris Chang's best-seller, The Rape of Nanking, pic's budget will fall somewhere between $20-25 million. Investors are already aiming high, setting their sights on Zhang Zyi and Michelle Yeoh to potentially star in the film.
• Since everyone seems to be talking an Aquaman movie these days, why not ask Mark Wahlberg what his opinion of a possible real-life film is? After all, Wahlberg is an executive producer on Entourage, whose fake version of Aquaman: The Movie helped build a tremendous amount of buzz around the underwater superhero. Speaking to IESB, the actor acknowledged the rumors, but said he'd rather come onboard as a producer and not take on the role of Aqauaman himself. And who does he think should play Aquaman? None other than Adrian Grenier, whose fictional character (Vincent Chase) on Entourage stars as Aquaman in the fake film. Confused yet? I am.