kungfu Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Asian Trailer Watch: 'Bodyguards and Assassins'
Filed under: Action », Foreign Language », Trailers and Clips »
Just as fans of American action movies should be readying themselves for the explosionpalooza that will surely be Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, which brings together every big-name, bad-guy shooter of the last 20 years, so should fans of Hong Kong martial arts flicks begin bracing themselves in anticipation of the unholy ass-kicking that will be on display in Teddy Chan's upcoming film Bodyguards and Assassins. It tells the story of a group of (mostly undercover) bodyguards who must protect the revolutionary political leader Sun Yat-sen from an onslaught of highly trained assassins sent on the behest of the Emperor to quell the tide of reform in Hong Kong in 1905.
Think of it as 16 Blocks, but instead of a tired Bruce Willis protecting a witness as people shoot at him on the streets of New York, it's the amazing Donnie Yen and a pack of other Asian martial arts stars escorting a political leader across a wildly elaborate recreation of downtown HK at the beginning of the 20th century while a horde of assassins strike using darts, arrows, acid, and all manner of bladed weapon. The production design alone looks outstanding, but you'll soon be forgetting all about the set building once the fists, feet, and other limbs start destroying everything in the newest trailer for Bodyguards and Assassins (thanks to Twitch for the find).
I've included the previous B&A trailers below as well, but it's the action heavy one on top that's most likely to pique your interest -- aside from the bizarre choice of trailer music, this is one of the most blood-pumping, face-pounding, throat-grabbing, sword-chopping, pole-swinging montages I've seen in a while.
Scenes We Love: The Matrix
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
Time hasn't necessarily been kind to the Wachowski Brothers sci-fi trilogy, The Matrix. Granted, most of the blame can be placed at the doorstep of the Wachowskis themselves, thanks to some rocky sequels, although, I know I'm in the minority when I say that I kind of liked the final installment, Revolutions. But that probably had more to do with a soft spot for William Gibson styled techno-babble than anything else. But for today's Scenes We Love, let's all think back to the the spring of 1999, when the world was new, and you didn't have a clue what the Matrix was.
Now, whether this comes down to my extraordinary powers of observation or I've just seen too many movies, I can usually spot a plot turn coming a mile off. But in a million years, I couldn't have guessed that when Keanu swallowed that red pill he was about to wake up in a pile of goo as a human battery in an A.I. ravaged world...so suffice to say, I never saw it coming. The movie might be full of philosophical gobbledygook and borrow from every anime and comic book you can think of, but I never cared, because The Matrix (whatever it's faults) wasn't just a tired rip-off, the Wachowskis distilled all that pop culture into a movie like no other.
The Wachowskis did the unthinkable (or at least the unthinkable to our spoiler-happy culture), they managed to keep a secret. The trailers let you see teases of all the kung fu, slo-mo bullets, and latex that was to come (we even got a trademark Reevesian 'whoah'), but all the shocks and surprises were kept until you were in that darkened theater and Morpheus (as played by Laurence Fishburne doing equal parts Yoda and Shaft) takes you down the rabbit hole...whoah, indeed.
After the jump; the red pill or the blue pill...
Spike TV to Show 'Kung Fu Killer' As Part of Carradine Marathon
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom »
Spike TV will jettison its regular schedule today and instead run a David Carradine marathon, honoring the actor who died in Bangkok last week at age 72 under odd circumstances.Running from 2 p.m. through 3 a.m. EST/PST time, the marathon will consist of repeat showings of both Kill Bill films, as well as one airing of the 2008 Spike TV miniseries Kung Fu Killer, which teamed Carradine with his Kill Bill co-star Daryl Hannah.
Kung Fu Killer is a rather unfortunate legacy for Carradine, but since Spike TV owns the thing -- as well as broadcast rights for Kill Bill -- it's easy to see why they'd drag it out now. Still, it's just not very good, and it's too bad that they don't have a better Carradine property that would honor him more appropriately.
Set in 1929, the flick follows an American-born monk name White Crane (Carradine) who returns to his home monastery in China after roaming the earth, Kwai Chang Caine-style, for a couple of decades. But wouldn't you know it -- a bunch of bad guys kill all the monks, and White Crane vows vengeance on the crime boss responsible, who also plans to kill oodles of people with a deadly gas if White Crane doesn't stop him.
BREAKING: David Carradine Found Dead in Bangkok
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Newsstand »
Actor David Carradine has been found dead in a Bangkok hotel room, according to multiple news reports. BBC News says that he was in Thailand filming his latest movie, Stretch. He was 72.
The eldest son of character actor John Carradine made more than 200 appearances in films and television shows, first rising to prominence with his starring role as Caine in the TV series Kung Fu. At the time, me and my friends thought he was the coolest thing on the planet: he sought peace with everyone he encountered, yet could quickly put down any opposition that arose simply by using his hands and feet (and head). Later I caught up with his 70s film work: a union leader in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha, laconic race car driver Frankenstein in Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000, and, especially, his embodiment of folk singer Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory.
More recently he starred with Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, which were widely viewed as a "comeback" for him, but, really, he never went away. He had a trio of very solid performances in the early 80s: as Paul Gaugin in the TV movie Gaugin the Savage; as Cole Younger, an outlaw trying to hold his family together in Walter Hill's The Long Riders; and as a police detective tracking down a flying serpent run amuck in Manhattan in Larry Cohen's Q.
Rumor Patrol: 'Voltron' Is Back in Business and Signs a Director
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », RumorMonger », 20th Century Fox », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Just one week after news surfaced that the big-screen Voltron was going into turnaround with Fox's Relativity Media, Latino Review is now reporting that Max Makowski has been signed to direct the live-action update. Now I know what you are thinking: 'Who the heck is Max Makowski?' Well, he might not be a household name, but according to Latino's sources "he's actually a great choice." Well, I guess we will have to take their word for it, because Makowski has a pretty scant list of credits to his name. The Brazilian born writer-director has been hired to direct an update of the 70's TV series Kung-Fu, along with penning the update to Hawaii Five-O.Voltron has been languishing over at Fox since 2005, and other than a few rumblings about Justin Marks' script, the project seemed to have stalled. Marks' take is described as "a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders." But now that Relativity has finally secured the rights to the big-guy, I guess all the loose ends have been tied up. Besides, what's one more giant robot movie to add to the pile?
So if you are a hard-core Voltron fan with nothing but contempt for a live action version, at least you can take solace in the fact that nothing has been confirmed -- but you might want to get used to the idea of an 'MTV generation' Pidge now.
Cannes Review: Kung Fu Panda
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Cannes », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Angelina Jolie »
Perhaps the best thing about Kung Fu Panda is that it's an action comedy that doesn't skimp on the action. Dreamworks Animation's latest effort may stick out a little on the Red Carpet at Cannes -- where it's screening out of competition -- but it's certainly a well-made kid's film that earns high points for how directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne clearly crafted and contemplated its look and feel with ambition and style. Anyone can make a computer-animated cartoon with fuzzy animals doing kung fu; you have to be at least a little inspired to make a computer-animated cartoon featuring fuzzy animals doing kung fu in widescreen Cinemascope. ...
Kung Fu Panda opens with a rousing, stylish action sequence, as a narrator (Jack Black, in full-on Tenacious D exposition mode) explains how "Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary. ..." But then, the heroic panda we've seen unleashing paws of power on the big screen ... wakes up; it was just a dream. Then Po the panda (Black), whose dreams of kung fu glory are the counterpoint to his unsatisfying life, gets ready for his day of helping his father Mr. Ping (James Wong) sell noodles to the people of the Valley of Peace.
Top Ten Mano-A-Mano Fight Scenes of All Time
Filed under: Action », Drama », Newsstand », Lists »
When I was growing up I was a huge fan of martial arts movies and Kung Fu movies, in particular -- still am, actually. Maybe its because we didn't have cable and only got a few channels with the rabbit ears perched on top of our 20' television. Fortuately, two of the channels we did get were 5 and 13 from Los Angeles. Back in those days when -- believe it or not -- there were only three TV networks, channels 5 and 13 were independent and showed pretty much whatever they wanted. One of the things they showed frequently were martial arts movies. In fact, channel 13 even had a weekly showcase for these movies called "Kung Fu Theater" complete with over-done sounds effects and out-of-sync dialog -- what many people refer to today as "chopsockey" cinema. During that time I watched many fun movies including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms and several films featuring the great Bruce Lee, including Game of Death and the classic Enter the Dragon. So, as a big fan of martial arts films and well-choreographed fight scenes with guys kicking the crap out of each other, I was pretty interested to see this Double Viking article featuring the top ten mano-a-mano fight scenes of all time.
Some of the fights they list in their top ten include Rocky vs Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Neo vs Agent Smith in The Matrix and one of my personal favorites: Nada vs Frank in John Carpenter's They Live. While I do agree with most of the choices, I'm not entirely sure about the order. I might have placed Nada vs Frank higher on the list due to its shear brutality and the fact that both the actors, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David, did their own fighting without the aid of stunt doubles. Still, a pretty good list and, with the included videos, a great way to see some terrific fights scenes. Enjoy.
What's your favorite movie fight scene?
Hughes Brothers Get Kung Fu Grip
Filed under: Action », Drama », Deals », Warner Brothers », Quentin Tarantino »
It's been five long years since Albert and Allen Hughes gave us Hell -- From Hell that is -- and though they have been busy with television projects, it is time they got back to the big screen. Well, their next project has now been confirmed as the long-awaited adaptation of the TV-series Kung Fu. For those unfamiliar with the show (I admit, I've never seen one episode), it featured David Carradine as a Shaolin monk who is forced to flee China and ends up in the American wild west. A script was written for the movie version by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, both of whom worked on the show, but it will be rewritten by Cory Goodman, who also wrote the upcoming Andrew Douglas film Priest. There is no word on casting yet, though Carradine will have to be involved somehow, but Warner Bros. is planning for a 2008 release to coincide, and hopefully garner a promotional tie-in with, the Beijing Olympics.
Considering The Hughes Brothers had been trying to get this job for past two years, they hopefully know what to do with it. Though we don't know who the other filmmakers were who wanted the gigs, I have to wonder if Quentin Tarantino was interested, at least as a writer or producer. After all, he has paid homage to the series through dialogue (Pulp Fiction) and casting (Kill Bill's title character is played by Carradine).
The tie-in part of the story makes me wonder if Hollywood will be putting together any other martial arts films around the same time. We still haven't heard the full stories on the Bruce Lee biopic Martha wrote about last summer, or the mysterious Rob Cohen-directed, Bruce Lee-starring film that Erik mentioned last month. And maybe Kung Fu Hustle 2 is on hold for this very same reason. Okay, I doubt it. The Olympics and cinema may already be linked enough by the promotional videos being shot by Oliver Stone, Giuseppe Tornatore and Majid Majidi.
Any fans of the show care to chime in with your opinion?
Warner Bros Will Make Clint Eastwood Fans' Day
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Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
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