Friday, Oct 16, 2009 10:58PM /
News
Wu Jing's currently filming
Fantastic Four Detectives (whatever it'll be called) by Gao Qun Shu, playing "Goatherd" Yang Xiao Ming, a Shaolin disciple and one of the four detectives who are pursuing two criminals and two hired guns to the desert.
Duan Yi Hong, Zhang Li, Ni Da Hong will play the other three detectives, while Francis Ng and Yu Nan are the assassins. Charlie Yeung plays Francis Ng's girlfriend. The film is expected to wrap by December 2009, with a release on May 1, 2010.
Wu Jing feeling reinvigorated in the vast desert, being given much creative latitude by the director. Wu Jing will then be joining Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan (cameo) in
Shaolin by Benny Chan from December 2009 to April 2010. Not sure if Jet Li will eventually accept the cameo as a senior monk.
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Sunday, Sep 20, 2009 6:29PM /
News
Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 3 has finally begun production earlier this month. Expected to be released in late 2010.
It's about Emperor Kangxi sending a few Manchu officials, escorted by 8 Shaolin monks, on a mission bringing a cabalistic chest to the Western Region. Along the way, they are ambushed by Ming loyalists and the crown price's clique who are trying to uncover the secrets that lie within the chest.
Glad to know that
Li Yuan, one of the best martial arts stars to emerge from the new generation, will be the best fighter among the monks yet again. Thankfully, they've cut down the number of monks to only 8 this time. There's lack of focus in part 2 due to it having too many main characters - 13 monks. And hope they'll address the crazy editing in part 2 where scenes kept being switched after barely a few lines of dialogue.
Seems that
Xu Ming Hu will have a part as one of the 8 monks.
Our favourite baddie Ji Chun Hua will play a Manchu official whose intentions are unclear, bordering between good and evil, but not totally a villain.
More pics on Li Yuan's
blog.
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Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 9:39PM /
News
While awaiting and hoping eternally for the activation of Wu Jing here since Feb 2008, Wu Jing finally has his blog launched, but on
Sohu. His first entry is about his return to Sichuan for charity activities. So only available in Chinese. Hopefully, he'll have a blog here too, and be able to reach out to English fans.
Anyhow, Wu Jing is now in Hong Kong filming
City Under Siege by Benny Chan. Ngai Sing is on board too! Expected to be release no earlier than summer 2010.
"In this film on courage, a group of circus performers goes on a rampage after some kind of mutation, that grants them superhuman abilities, in an accident. However, one of them, an ordinary clown originally, would not condone the others' misdeeds and for the sake of the entire city, stands up against them."
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:39PM /
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A letter that a VSS member sent to a local newspaper Today.I REFER to “When Meat Really Is Murder” (April 29). This article highlights the harm done by factory farming of pigs and other animals. Factory farming refers to the modern and rapidly spreading practice of raising animals in buildings similar to the factories in which we produce objects such as watches or plastic furniture.
These factory farms reduce the cost of meat by providing the highest output at the lowest cost via machinery, biotechnology, global trade, and economies of scale. However, by confining thousands of animals in one building, factory farms create a breeding ground for pandemic diseases, such as swine flu and avian flu. In a vain attempt to combat such diseases, antibiotics must be used on a large scale. In fact, one expert estimates that livestock production accounts for 50% of U.S. antibiotics use.
Factory farms also damage the environment. For instance, the involuntarily confined animals produce huge amounts of manure and other wastes which foul the air and water. This waste also emits methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouses gases more potent than carbon dioxide.
But perhaps the most important reason to end factory farming lies not in the danger of pandemics or in the damage to the environment, but in the living hell suffered by our blameless fellow animals trapped on factory farms and deprived of the social and physical characteristics of a natural life. Recent research is documenting that other mammals, such as pigs and cows, and even birds, such as chickens, have the capacity to think and feel. (See, for example, the March, 2008 issue of National Geographic.) Indeed, they are not objects to be produced by us in factories.
We can reduce the threat of pandemics and show kindness towards other animals by moving away from factory farming, reducing our consumption of meat, and enjoying more fruits, vegetables and other plant foods.
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Sunday, Mar 1, 2009 1:11PM /
Standard Entry
/ Review
The movie itself is more engaging than the action, which is a letdown to genre fans, considering what Nicky Li could come up with in Fatal Move's finale, which is one of the best fights ever. Rather than topping it, they're going downhill, with action that relies too much on editing and overuse of wires at odd moments - this is a contemporary movie where gravity-defying stunts are a taboo. At this rate, it's not going to do his career any good, since even if he doesn't top his previous works, Wu Jing should at least maintain a certain standard in the action department, given that the audience is getting more sophisticated and picky.
I find the movie and script captivating enough to be glued, especially when things are always kept busy throughout, with some light, humorous touches, Ronald Cheng's character, or Wu Jing's conversation with Lam Suet. The sweeping paranomic view in the opening boat ride scene is majestic - they should do more of such shots of the island to give one an overview of its surrounding and make good use of it. It's nice to see them coaxing some nice performance out of Celina Jade, who appears quite natural. But I find her accent in the Mandarin dub (was it her own voice?) rather weird - maybe I'll try the Cantonese (but my Cantonese is half-baked) track later. And the finale is quite heartbreaking.
Wu Jing handles his own role with aplomb, there's some magnetic and inscrutable about his character that draws one to him. And he seems like a spiritual, reflective person - he reads sutras like Tao Te Ching - to ask the question and get one thinking would God forgive you for your past mistakes. God is all-forgiving, but we're bound by the law of cause and effect, as well as answerable to our own conscience.
The dark, brooding, elusive and haunting atmosphere in the opening fight is great, but Kou Zhan Wen is underused here. Wu Jing shouldn't have his character character overwhelming everyone else, and should have opted for a more balanced approach to fighting, with some of his opponents standing on equal footing, especially when it's a wasted opportunity with Kou Zhan Wen and later Ken Lo. There are some good and creative moves here and there, but as a whole, the action scenes fall short ultimately, lacking coherency and flow with too many "short cuts".
I suspect Wu Jing is behind some nifty ideas since you can spot some similarities to his TV works in some fights (since Fatal Contact and he mentioned before that he has some part to play in choreography of his works and the martial arts directors are often quite receptive to his suggestions) and maybe he's also to be blamed for too much misplaced wirework for a modern day work. After all, I don't see Nicky Li using so much wires in his other movies or being that creative, in fact his past works seem more monotonous in fighting (excepting Looking for Mr Perfect).
A pity Wu Jing couldn't find an actual martial arts star to play his final opponent (because they're unwilling, Wu Jing isn't famous enough), that's why he could only create a 1 against 100 for the finale. The first half is very unoriginal and sloppy, with Wu Jing randomly kicking the hell out of everyone who're just punching bags and don't get a chance to land any blows. There's no exchange at all. In the second half, after falling of the building, when he's injured, the fight gets more interesting, he's at a disadvantage and there're some good implementations. It's also very tragic and touching, how he's willing to go all out and sacrifice himself for Celina, but the film didn't build up enough romance between them.
If Wu Jing's going to do Tai Chi, he would benefit from getting Cheung Sing Yim's help in casting and calling forth wushu wonders like Xu Xiang Dong, Ji Chun Hua, Li Yuan, Philip Ng, et al, as well as having an able choreographer for period movie, like Yuen Wo Ping, Sammo Hung, or Tan Qiao.
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Wu Jing feeling reinvigorated in the vast desert, being given much creative latitude by the director.
