When it comes to Hollywood movies, Chinese censors have always been a little strict. Case in point: The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television tells Variety that the upcoming release of The Mummy 3 Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is still pending until Universal makes unspecified changes to the flick. The censors didn't give any details about what would have to be cut from the film, but speculation has it that the source of the problem is "usually themes involving ghosts are taboo in China".

Emperor sets the new and improved O'Connell family (Brendan Fraser, Luke Ford, and Maria Bello) smack dab in the middle of another adventure battling a tyrannical emperor (Jet Li) and his legion of undead armies. Universal already made some concessions to the Chinese government in exchange for permission to shoot on location. According to Variety Universal was urged to make the film, "less political and more focused on fantasy than real history" -- Less political? Now that's a word I would have never associated with the Mummy franchise.

A flack for Universal has already released a statement saying, "Universal does not anticipate any obstacles to clearing the film for China and looks forward to releasing "The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor" in the country where it was set and shot." Translation: We just spent $145 million bucks on this movie, and we want some of those Chinese box-office dollars. Emperor is just the latest Hollywood production to get a rough deal from Chinese censors, but at least they are in good company. On the upside, I guess the Chinese will never know what they're missing.

The Mummy 3 Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opens on August 1st, 2008.

Four of the most exciting movie stars in the world are currently appearing in two of the least interesting new movies, taking a back seat to less interesting stars. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are master martial artists, Chan with a comedian's touch and Li with an appealing stoic quality. They team up for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom (105 screens), a movie about a white kid and his attempt to beat up some bullies. Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh team up for the second time in The Children of Huang Shi (43 screens), about a British journalist (not played by Chow) and an Australian nurse (not played by Yeoh) saving some orphans.

Chow had a suave, cool quality that could have turned him into the next James Bond or Cary Grant, and Yeoh is a beautiful martial artist who could have become a groundbreaking feminist action star. It's a sad state of affairs, but I guess these films are the final proof of the cold, dead corpse of the Hong Kong New Wave.

Cinematical has just received a batch of exclusive images from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (see gallery below for more). The first poster for this sequel hit the other day, and I imagine a trailer will be knocking on all our doors real soon. In this third Mummy installment (technically fourth if you include The Scorpion King), father-and-son duo Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford) find themselves in the Far East where they unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin. Needless to say, said Emperor (as played by Jet Li) is your basic, run-of-the-mill shape-shifting entity, cursed by a wizard centuries ago, and out to wreak some havoc. The beautiful Maria Bello and Michelle Yeoh round out the cast.

Rob Cohen directed this one, and if you like what you see in the gallery below, make sure to head on over to Rob's official Mummy production blog. Dude's been keeping that loaded with all sorts of tasty goodies ever since production first began, so definitely check that out, as well as the film's official website (which just went live). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor arrives in theaters on August 1.

This weekend's release of The Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, features the first teaming of the two Asian action heroes. (My review is here.) Jackie is older and got established first as a comic martial arts master before making a string of modern-day thrillers and adventures. Jet came along later and became known as an ultra-serious, ultra-deadly lethal weapon. Their relative merits have been debated endlessly, and The Forbidden Kingdom finally gives fans a chance to see them go man to man -- first against each other, and then against the bad guys.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Who's your favorite Asian action hero? (For the purposes of this poll, we'll stick to the living, so that's why Bruce Lee is not included.) Do you prefer Jackie's humor and larger than life thrill-seeking stunts? Or do you favor Jet's solemn precision and frequently death-dealing fighting?

Or ... have you always been a secret backer of Donnie Yen? (He had his own square-off against Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights.) Sammo Hung? (The former Martial Law TV star is still active in Hong Kong.) Michelle Yeoh? (Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Or the younger generation represented by Tony Jaa (Ong Bak, The Protector), Collin Chou (Jade Warlord in The Forgotten Kingdom), and Wu Jing (Invislble Target, Kill Zone)? Sound off in the comments to tell us your faves and let us know about anyone else we haven't mentioned.

Welcome back to another fun-filled edition of Insert Caption -- the game Totally Wicked Awesome Magazine called, "Delightful, Delicious and a Damn Good Time!" Last week we asked you to give us your bestest captions for a photo from this week's new release, The Forbidden Kingdom -- starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li and some white kid, who, judging from the picture, is quite obviously stuck in the middle with you ... and I'm wondering what it is I should do. Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right ... okay, that's enough. Congrats to our three winners below ...


1. "The MPAA's ongoing battle with illegal movie downloads in China as an interpretive dance routine." -- Todd G.

2. "This is my dance space, this is your dance space. Spaghetti arms!" -- Kathi F.

3. "Oh I know this! Wax on! Wax ggghhhhttt!" -- Paul R.

See full image and all captions


And speaking of things stuck in the middle, this week we're catching up with our old SNL pals Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as they prepare to launch their new comedy, Baby Mama. The three winning captions this week will carry away one Baby Mama poster, one Baby Mama t-shirt, one Baby Mama baseball hat and one Baby Mama baby blanket. (One Baby Mama baby unfortunately not included since you have to make that yourself.) Now push ... harder ... and sound off below!



Read the official rules for this contest

The good news? Two of Asia's biggest action superstars have teamed up for the first time. The bad news? It's 15 years too late. And what's with the white kid?

The Forbidden Kingdom is yet another picture in which we are meant to experience an exotic locale peopled entirely by "others" through the eyes of a Caucasian character. In this case, it's a fantasy world cobbled together from classic Chinese literature and period martial arts movies. As the latest entry in the category of "low expectation, Asian-themed, English-language movies written and directed by respectful American creative talent," the film is slightly above average entertainment. But I grow tired of having to lower my expectations in exchange for the pleasure of seeing talented Asian performers make an appearance on the big screen in America.

Writer John Fusco and director Rob Minkoff make fun of some of the stereotypes inherent in period martial arts pictures, while also sprinkling shout-outs into the material to demonstrate their love and knowledge of the various source materials that inspired them. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are cheerfully engaging as a drunken beggar and monk on a mission, respectively, providing most of the film's comic and action highlights in supporting roles. That's right -- Chan and Li have both achieved Hollywood stardom, are top-billed, are no doubt top-paid, but play second fiddle to "the white kid," Michael Angarano. We waited years for this?

Welcome to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game where we provide the photo and you provide the funny! Last week, we asked you to throw on your lamest Hawaiian t-shirt and give us your best captions for a photo from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Congrats to our three winners below for sharing their warmth, their passion, their creativity ... and their ability to conjure up a mental image of Jonah Hill on a spit. Our apologies to you Mr. Hill -- we still love ya man!


1. "I was speaking figuratively when I said I had a lot of baggage." -- Mike R.

2. "Crap... I thought I ditched the Verizon guy at the pig roast!" -- Russell K.

3. "They just put Jonah Hill on a spit and fired up the tiki torches. I'm outta here!" -- Andrew W.

See full image and all captions

This week, we're taking a trip back to ancient China for a visit with legendary martial arts stars Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Their new movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, arrives in theaters on April 18 -- and ... I just feel so bad for that poor, innocent white kid right now. It'd be hard enough running into one of those guys in a dark alley -- imagine getting stuck between both AND you have to go to the bathroom real bad? Ouch. The three lucky winners from this week will run (as fast as they can) away with one Forbidden Kingdom poster, one pack of Forbidden Kingdom trading cards, one box of green tea and one container of incense. Hmm, I smell a lot of captions this week ... and for some reason they smell like burnt roses with a splash of lemon vanilla? Sound off below ...



Read the official rules for this contest

OK, so we all jumped the gun a little when the first image of what was being touted as the poster for The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor hit the net. But, now Coming Soon has snapped a photo (that's only a little blurry) of the honest to goodness one-sheet for Rob Cohen's addition to the successful franchise.

By the looks of things, it was possibly an unfinished version that was released. So while it might look somewhat similar, there has been a big change. Now the poster has the entire cast on it. Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) is front and center, along with Maria Bello as Evey, John Hannah as the bumbling brother Jonathan and son Alex (Luke Ford). Surprisingly, bad-guy Jet Li's photo is pretty far down on the poster, but I guess Universal wants to remind us about all the stuff we like about The Mummy in the first place right up front.

Stay tuned to Cinematical for the official poster release and hopefully we'll be getting a trailer sometime in the near future. Let's just hope we get the real thing this time. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opens in theaters on August 1st.

Before anyone accuses me of being too hard on the latest installment of The Mummy, you should know that it is coming from someone who really liked the first movie. So you would think that I would be happy with the news of a fourth film -- but here we are. MTV news reports that according to the brand new Evey (Maria Bello), "[There will] absolutely be The Mummy 4." She also went on to tell MTV that she has signed for not one, but three more sequels.

We all know by now that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a bit of a departure for the franchise. Not only do we get a new bad guy and exotic locale, but we also have Bello taking over where Rachel Weisz left off. Sure, Brendan Fraser and John Hannah have returned, but this is not The Mummy that most of us know and love.

On the upside, at least Evey is going to get the chance to kick a little butt of her own. Bello told MTV, "In the beginning of the movie I do a sword fight with an invisible mummy, I had to be on wires and do sword work. It took days to do, and it was so much fun. I would do flips on the wire and I'd land down and be like a little kid." It's about time Evey got to handle a little more of the rough stuff.

Bello wasn't quite sure when movie number four will happen. Although she did hint that the next film might take place in South America -- or maybe she's just angling for a vacation. Universal might want to see what the box-office returns are for Emperor first. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor arrives in theaters on August 1st.

You know, I am really trying not to be too hard on the latest installment of The Mummy franchise. I want to give the film a fair shot and all that, but it's getting pretty hard to keep the snark at bay when Universal insists on doing stuff like this. Over at Horror Movies.ca, they have posted what is said to be the first poster for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (courtesy of Filmz.ru). You can see a small version to the right.

Over the last few months, there have plenty of production updates and a stray photo here and there. But other than the glowing praises of director Rob Cohen on the official production blog, most of the details of the film have been kept under wraps. What we do know is that this time Jet Li stars as an immortal emperor, and that Maria Bello is taking over the role of spunky Evelyn. Both Brendan Fraser and John Hannah have both returned in their original roles, and for the most part, it looks like the same old thing -- a movie chock full of cursed relics, plenty of 'adventuring,' and some kicking special effects.

But if we were to just look at this leaked poster, it would appear that this time the action is centered on a cursed take-out menu. Seriously, couldn't they have come up with something a little better than a Mortal Kombat rip-off? For the sake of everyone involved, I just hope this poster turns out to be a fake. If it isn't, I'm afraid this is just a sign of crappiness to come.