jamie chung Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Within five minutes, I suspected the movie was a stinker; within 15 minutes, my suspicions were confirmed. Yet I stayed until the end of Sorority Row, a horrid pustule on the hind quarters of horror, filled with self-described bitches, sluts, and hos, and not enough Carrie Fisher with a shotgun. "Admit it, these are horrible people," one character says, describing the sisters of Theta Pi sorority who are the ostensible stars of the movie. And why would you want to hang out with horrible people for any more time than is absolutely necessary? So why didn't I walk out?

I have, in fact, walked out of movies before: at this year's SXSW, for example, I walked out of my third movie of the day within 15 minutes because I wasn't laughing at the comedy and had two more movies to see later that evening. I wasn't assigned to review it, but it sounded interesting; when it fell flat for me, I cut my losses and got some fresh air. I walked out of a shorts program at Fantastic Fest last year because I grew weary of viewing so much blood and too many disgusting images. And I've stomped out of non-fest flicks due to technical problems (i.e. poor projection and/or sound) and demanded my money back.

Somehow, though, the idea that I'd already been dumb enough to pay $9.50 on a Friday night to see the umpteenth flaccid remake of an 80s horror flick made me dig in my heels.

Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch has been like a rare jewel of girl power with its all female cast, but a little testosterone never hurt anyone, especially if belongs to Jon Hamm. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hamm has just signed on to be the sole man on set against the likes of Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Carla Gugino.

As you know, the film centers on a young girl named Baby Doll (Browning) who is sent away to a mental health institution by her stepfather. He intends to have her lobotomized in five days time, and the horror of that sends her and her fellow inmates planning for an escape in a twisted Alice in Wonderland world of adventure and ass-kicking. THR notes that Hamm's role is being kept under tight wraps, that he's only known to be playing someone named High Roller. But given what major role has yet to be cast, I'm willing to bet he's playing the stepfather. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Hamm doing a bit of Captain Hook duty, and popping up as the antagonist of the girls' dream world as well.

Between the cast, the concept, and the girl sized t-shirt, there's not much more Snyder could add to this film to make me long for 2011 more than I already do. But something tells me he'll find room for some 300 and Watchmen cast cameos, and then the wait will really become unbearable.

How do you reconcile a potentially naked Disney star with a director of extreme violence -- and a PG-13 rating? Director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen) recently suggested that he might deliver a PG-13 rated film for the first time in his career, but without softening the action of his upcoming Sucker Punch. Now comes word that Disney star Vanessa Hudgens "will strip naked" for her role as a prostitute in the film, according to Metro UK.

Except that she doesn't actually say that. Her actual quoted words are: "I'm playing a character named Blondie and it's set in a brothel in the 1950s, so there's not a whole lot of clothes." From that, the publication surmises that she'll be naked. More likely, she'll be dressed in revealing, sexy outfits that don't show as much as her leaked private photos did (which reportedly showed everything). Unless, of course, Snyder plans to shoot additional footage that can then be released as part of an "unrated" or "director's cut" version for DVD and Blu-ray, while keeping a PG-13 rating in mind for theaters.

Whatever the case, at least this is one bit of casting news for the film that has been nailed down. Hudgens was previously reported to be "in talks." Emily Browning will star alongside Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, and Jamie Chung. Described as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns," Sucker Punch starts production this fall and aims for an October 2010 release date.

Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch has been a revolving door of casting and schedule conflicts. Last month, the film lost Amanda Seyfried but quickly replaced her with Emily Browning. Now, he's cast Jena Malone and Jamie Chung, who have stepped in to replace Evan Rachel Wood and Emma Stone, respectively.

Wood and Stone were both forced to drop out due to schedule conflicts and as of now, only Abbie Cornish and Vanessa Hudgens remain out of the original line-up, which was always in negotiation anyway.

But don't despair, because every casting report gives us a bit more of its grindhouse plot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Malone will be playing Cornish's younger sister, both of whom have the unfortunate luck to be locked in this hellish mental institution. Chung will be playing Annie, "a country girl with a big heart." (I want to add "as big as all Texas" but I'm not going to jump to geographical conclusions. Maybe she's from West Virginia or Tennessee.)

There's not much more to say about the casting, except that I'm glad to see a little diversity by way of Chung, and I'm uncertain about Malone. She's certainly a very respectable young actress (and co-producer these days) but she always comes off so brittle and humorless. Maybe all she needs is a part like this where she can cut loose and have fun ... and how can you not have fun with a film like this? It's a laugh just writing about it.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder why Fox even bothered trying to bring Dragonball to the big screen. Just a few weeks after the underwhelming trailer for the anime update hit the internet, a notice has been found over at Actors Access looking for Tibetan and Nepalese actors for Dragonball re-shoots. The shoots are scheduled to begin on October 30th, but there aren't many specifics on what Fox might have planned. One thing is for sure, director James Wong could stand to make a few changes before the flick hits theaters in April (if you don't believe me, take a look at James Marsters as Lord Piccolo).

Let's just take a moment to consider the history of the project -- because, for me, it all started with the casting of Justin Chatwin (War of The Worlds). As soon as Mr. Chatwin signed on the dotted line as the hero Goku, fans haven't been behind the project like Fox had hoped. Even if you ignore the obvious problem of hiring a non-Asian actor for the role, Chatwin didn't have much to recommend him other than the hair type to pull off anime spikes.

Cut to a few months later, and a nasty rumor emerged claiming Fox might possibly scrap the film altogether. The studio has since debunked that rumor, and according to their spokesperson, they are completely behind the film and loved what they saw. Then again, if they loved it so much, why are they back for re-shoots?

Dragonball is expected to arrive in theaters on April 3rd, 2009.

[via io9]

I might have been raised on the old maxim: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all -- but even I can't keep my mouth shut on this one. A new poster and some stills from the live-action Dragonball have hit the net (along with some official pics from Fox), and it is not looking any better for the anime update. If you are one of the few Dragonball fans left out there with hope for this movie, I'm afraid once you get a look at James Marsters as Lord Piccolo, the dream of a decent flick goes right out the window. Although to be fair, I have to give them credit for trying out a slightly more 'modern' look on the new poster art.

Dragonball stars Justin Chatwin as the mighty Goku (a casting decision that has yet to ever really make sense), a legendary warrior who is responsible for protecting the awesome powers of the mystical 'Dragonballs'. Jamie Chung also stars as Chi Chi (Goku's love interest), along with Marsters as the evil Lord Piccolo (oh Spike, where did it all go wrong?), Chow Yun Fat as Master Roshi, and Emmy Rossum as Bulma.

Just last week, the rumors were silenced that Fox would be scrapping the one hundred million dollar film. The current spin from Fox is that they are 100% behind the project -- but honestly, what else could they say? So whatever you may think about Dragonball, plenty of fans will probably be there on opening day. Who knows? Maybe I'll be one of them. I have been known to enjoy watching a train wreck on screen -- how about you?

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We all know that the Internet is the birthplace of nasty rumors. It has been proven many times before that bad word of mouth has the power to cripple a flick. But Fox has been fighting back the naysayers and have debunked a rumor that has been gaining speed surrounding James Wong's live-action Dragonball. Rumors had surfaced over at Film Junk last week that the studio was about to pull the plug on their feature film version of the classic anime. The speculation began when Junk received a tip that "the higher-ups at Fox are not too impressed the footage that has been shot thus far, and are seriously debating shutting the whole thing down. -- the movie supposedly has a budget of over $100 million and I can understand them wanting to cut some losses while they still can."

Dragonball stars Justin Chatwin as Goku (a controversial casting choice to say the least), a hero on a quest to find the "mystical Dragonballs" before the evil Lord Piccolo (as played by James Marsters) can get his hands on them. Also starring are Emmy Rossum as Bulma, Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi, and Jamie Chung as Goku's love interest, Chi Chi.

But, for better or for worse, it turns out that it was nothing but a load of nasty innuendo. The official blog for Dragonball has since gotten to the bottom of the whole mess, and according to them, "20th Century Fox states the information reported was false and the film is still scheduled for an April 2009 release." Now, new reports are surfacing that Fox 'loves' what they have seen, and the only reason the release date was pushed back was to ensure enough time for finishing the F/X.

So what do you think? Is Fox's enthusiasm genuine for the much-maligned project, or just damage control gone into overdrive?

Dragonball will hit theaters in April, 2009.

So while details surrounding the big-screen version of Dragonball have been kept relatively under wraps, it is wise to remember that nothing ever stays secret for long in the age of the internet. Just a few weeks after the first image of Justin Chatwin as the anime hero Goku hit the net, a crop of new magazine scans have been posted over at the Dragonball fan site, dbthemovie.com, with a few new shots of Goku, Bulma (Emmy Rossum) and Master Roshi (Chow Yun Fat). So even though this latest batch looks pretty similar to some of the earlier shots, at least these aren't watermarked.

Based on the classic anime series, Dragonball is the story of the hero Goku and his mission to protect the famed 'dragonballs' from the evil Lord Piccolo (played by James Marsters). Throw in some romance in the form of Jamie Chung and you have a summer blockbuster, right? Well, for director James Wong's sake I hope so, because let's be completely honest: expectations for this film are not high. In fact, most fans are probably just praying that Wong and company don't ruin their favorite characters, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Dragonball is scheduled to arrive in theaters on April 10, 2009.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has signed on to play Master Roshi in the live-action adaptation of Dragonball. Rounding out the cast are Justin Chatwin (Tom Cruise's exceedingly obnoxious son in War of the Worlds), James Marsters (Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Emmy Rossum (from such disaster movies as The Day After Tomorrow, Poseidon, and The Phantom of the Opera), and Jamie Chung. Marsters will play Piccolo, Rossum will play Bulma, Chung will play Chi-Chi. Master Roshi is Goku's mentor, and he "helps him achieve the highest state of fighting and spiritual powers." He's the Yoda of Dragonball, if you will. James Wong (Final Destination) wrote the screenplay and is directing the film.

The world of Dragonball has already been made into several anime series, animated feature films, a live-action Chinese movie, action figures, a collectible trading card game, comic books, and electronic games. The new film will focus on Goku (Chatwin, whose Caucasian-ness didn't set well with Cinematical commentors), "a warrior alien who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling mystical objects known as Dragon Balls." Hm. I liked this movie better the first time when it was called Gandhi. I don't have much more to say on this project, so let me just ask you -- given the opportunity, do you think you would be able to handle Dragon Balls? Like if Dragon Balls were suddenly thrust into your face, would you know what to do with them? I am immature.