jieho lee Tagged Articles at Cinematical
A Depressing, Star-Studded Trailer for 'Fireflies in the Garden'
Filed under: Berlin », Distribution », Trailers and Clips »
Let's see: a serious, multigenerational, semi-autobiographical family drama starring Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson and Julia Roberts -- it sure sounds like Oscar buzz for Fireflies in the Garden should have gotten turned up to 11 by now. There hasn't really been any; the bad reviews from the film's out-of-competition premiere at Berlin probably didn't help. Still, that cast is tough to beat (there's also Ryan Reynolds, Carrie Anne-Moss and Hayden Panettierre), and the movie should be able to land with at least a minor splash if its eventual US distributor puts in a bit of effort.There's now a full international trailer up at one of the film's websites. If the movie does indeed suck, the trailer doesn't telegraph the suckage -- it makes the film look solid, respectable. The reviews, on the other hand, make it sound embarrassing, with the sort of logistical difficulties (Texas failing to stand in for Chicago; implausible casting of younger and older versions of the same characters) that shouldn't really plague a production this high-profile.
Director Dennis Lee is making his feature debut after directing a well-received short film called Jesus Henry Christ. It's a heck of a pedigree for a first film, though the scenario and the reviews (and the director's last name) make me think of Jieho Lee's The Air I Breathe -- a feature debut by a director with a strong short on his resume, and a spectacular cast, that turned out to be completely unwatchable.
Bruce Willis to Play Kane in 'Kane & Lynch'
Filed under: Action », Casting »
A no-profile videogame adapatation may have just leapt into the A-list. Lionsgate has been developing Kane & Lynch, an adaptation of a reasonably popular but not particularly beloved videogame called Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, since last February; at one point last year, Jieho Lee, writer-director of the profoundly terrible The Air I Breathe was in talks to direct. Evidently that didn't work out, since the movie will now be directed by veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director Simon Crane. Crane is currently the stunt director on The Surrogates, a sci-fi thriller directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Bruce Willis. Which is a lovely segue into the bigger news: according to The Hollywood Reporter, Bruce Willis is in talks to play the first of the title characters. In the video game, Kane is a criminal sprung from death row to hunt and retrieve a stolen fortune under pain of death for his kidnapped wife and child. He's accompanied on his mission by fellow inmate and psychopathic killer Lynch (yet to be cast), who keeps an eye on Kane and reports to the people holding his family hostage.
Since there does not seem to be a huge fan base to capitalize on here (unlike with, say, Hitman), one hopes that Lionsgate has something interesting in mind with this adaptation. Sadly, I suspect that "generic Bruce Willis actioner" is itself a promising enough business proposition that something above-and-beyond is unlikely.
Review: The Air I Breathe
Filed under: Drama », Independent », ThinkFilm », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
It is interesting to learn that filmmaker Jieho Lee has a fondness for the ending of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. However, it is not so interesting to realize that he can't let go of this fondness enough to create a genuine film moment of his own. For instance, there is one significant scene in Lee's The Air I Breathe that plays so much like an homage to the final shot of Cabiria that it takes away from the actual film it is a part of. The scene involves a major character's death, so it's hard to go into detail without spoiling it for you, but I can say that recognizing the blatant tribute may cause you to feel less for that character than you should otherwise during that scene. After all, it is difficult to care about a character that comes off as simply a tool for Lee's unnecessary acknowledgment, or re-creation, of a part of a favorite film.
Maybe I just shouldn't read a film's press notes prior to watching it (I don't usually), as I might not have caught the homage without noting Lee's mention of Cabiria in his director's statement. And perhaps I wouldn't have been thinking about Lee's other influences, from The Wizard of Oz to Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss, and unfairly comparing The Air I Breathe to them. But it doesn't matter, because The Air I Breathe would still feel completely derivative without knowledge of the exact works that inspired Lee. To me, despite what I learned from the press notes, the film was mostly reminiscent of Inarritu's Amores Perros, and not only because of where it was filmed, how it interconnects multiple stories or the fact that it features a bank robbery, a female celebrity confined to an apartment and an obligatory car accident of some kind.
'The Air I Breathe' Trailer Hits the Net
Filed under: Drama », Distribution », Trailers and Clips »
Almost two years ago, back in January of 2006, Cinematical first posted about the upcoming film called The Air I Breathe. While it went away for a bit, the film is finally gearing up for limited release in January, and a trailer has made its way online, courtesy of Aglet Productions. Coming from writer/director Jieho Lee (and co-written with Bob DeRosa), Breathe is a drama based on the Chinese proverb that says life is based on four emotional elements -- happiness, pleasure, sorrow, and love. Sure, this sounds like a film with four unrelated vignettes, but it's actually looking to be a rather dark story where each emotion intertwines with the others.Lee uses them to tell the stories of a businessman who bets his life on a horse (Forest Whitaker as Happiness), a gangster who can see the future (Brendan Fraser as Pleasure), a popstar who falls victim to a crime boss (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Sorrow), and a doctor trying to save the love of his life (Kevin Bacon as love). As if that wasn't enough for a solid starter cast, the film also boasts the likes of Andy Garcia, Emile Hirsch, and Julie Delpy. All of these people are interconnected through a dark and seemingly desperate backdrop. The only thing that's funny about all of this is that Gellar is playing a woman famous for her singing and dancing (she sings when she has to, but as Once More with Feeling will attest, she's no an American Idol). Still, it's a good trailer, and if these clips are any indication, it should be one heck of a film. And at the very least, it's got to be better than Southland Tales!
[via Empire Online]
Jieho Lee In Talks To Helm 'Kane and Lynch'
Filed under: Action », Deals », Lionsgate Films », Games and Game Movies »
It looks like Lionsgate is not wasting any time when it comes to their big-screen version of the upcoming Eidos Interactive video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Variety reports that Jieho Lee is in talks to direct the film version of the action title. This would be the third film for writer/director Lee, whose last pic was the drama The Air I Breathe with Sarah Michelle Gellar, which played at Tribeca. There are already two scripts being prepped Kane; one by Lee and Bob De Rosa -- who was also his co-writer on The Air I Breathe, and the other is a solo effort from Kyle Ward -- a 27 year old assistant at Dreamworks who, just over a month ago, had sold his first script and was then hired to pen the adaptation for Lionsgate. On board to produce are Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter -- they are also the producing team behind Hitman (another Eidos title), and the graphic novel adaptation Hack/Slash.The storyline of both the film and the game center on a psychopath (Lynch) and a mercenary (Kane) out for revenge. The two are kidnapped from death-row by Kane's former team and forced into retrieving a stolen fortune -- and like most shooter action games, there are shadowy conspiracies and a relatively high body count. The video game is set for release this fall for X-Box 360, so judging by the speed with witch Lionsgate is working on the project, the film might even try for an early release and use the game's release for a little built-in marketing.
Air I Breathe cast expands
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Newsstand »
The
Air I Breathe, co-written and directed by Jieho Lee, is a
crime drama that can only be either utterly brilliant or a complete disaster. It's based on a Chinese proverb
"that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones": pleasure, love, happiness and sorrow. Where things
get a little crazy is that each of the film's "inextricably linked" characters is identified with one of the
cornerstones. Wow. Well, with a concept like this, I really don't think there's much middle ground - like I said, it'll
either be magical or just totally incomprehensible.As of this morning, the film's main cast is set: joining Sarah Michelle Gellar (Sorrow), Kevin Bacon (Love), and Brendan Fraser (Pleasure - nudge, nudge) are Forest Whitaker (Happiness) and Andy Garcia, whose role hasn't been announced. Also reportedly involved are Ken Watanabe and Diego Luna. Shooting begins in Mexico City later this week, so it's good that whole casting thing was worked out. The hope is that the film - the second feature from the independent NALA Films - will be in theaters this December, at which point it will likely either get some minor awards buzz or be mercilessly mocked.
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