My blog

Label... Category... Standard Entry Video Information Press Release Event News

• Evolution: Trailer

  Saturday, Aug 22, 2009 12:39PM / Standard Entry

  
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRPRpo0k0ko
  

  
  or
  
  http://www.vimeo.com/5989692
  
  
  Please check out the trailer of "Evolution" and comment. The film will premiere in the East Coast in October, more information will be provided soon. Thanks a lot.
  
  
  
  

  1 comment–  Add a comment

• Evolution, a short film by Kenji Lui & Vivian Po

  Saturday, Aug 22, 2009 12:35PM / Standard Entry

  
  
  
  Evolution
  directed by Kenji Lui & Vivian Po
  HDV/16mins/English/Stereo
  
  Story
  Lois is forced to play a game of life and death with no instruction. She doesn't know she has become the prey of a monster, or is it the other way around?
  
  Cast
  Ka-Yan Wong ......... Lois
  Chris Garcia ........... Ben
  Joti Nagra ............... Singh
  Stanley Huang ....... Chan
  Charvy Quvm .......... Johnson
  
  Crew
  Director: Kenji Lui, Vivian Po
  Screenwriter: Kenji Lui
  Producers: Vivian Po, Kenji Lui
  Director of Photography: Jason Joseffer
  Editor: Kenji Lui
  Action Consultant: Gary Kong
  Original Music: Ricky Lee, Edgar Hung
  Art Director: Vivian Po
  Sound Design: Egan Kolb
  
  
  
  
  

  2 comments–  Add a comment

• Memories of Typhoon

  Sunday, Jul 19, 2009 4:59PM / Standard Entry

  I haven't lived in Hong Kong for a long time,and I always avoided going back in the typhoon season, so typhoon seems to be really distant to me...but then I still have a lot of memories about typhoon.
  
  I remember when I was small, I lived in a really tall and old building, when typhoon no.9 hit, I could actually feel the building tilting. I mean, it wasn't like it was going to collapse, but it was really "moved" by the strong wind...so it was pretty scary.
  
  However, on the other hand, most students welcomed typhoon at that time, coz a no.8 typhoon means a day off from school, and since typhoon usually came in the summer, when the final exam at school began... so an extra dayoff was good for studying, when a typhoon came, almost all of my classmates were hoping it would escalate to no.8...
  
  Also, one strange habit of my family (or my father) is that he always liked to bring us out for dinner during no.8 typhoon time. I forgot if I asked him why, but I kinda remember he once mentioned that it was nice going out to eat during typhoon...
  
  
  

  1 comment–  Add a comment

• Oldboy remake by Spielberg and Smith??
  ( 繁 | 简 )

  Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009 3:23AM / Standard Entry

  I just came across the news below:

  "Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are planning to collaborate on a remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, according to Variety. The pair, who have been looking for a project to work on together for some time, are said to be in early discussions about reworking the acclaimed Korean thriller, which centers on a man who is kidnapped and held in a dirty cell for 15 years without explanation.

  Smith would play the imprisoned man - Choi Min-sik in the 2003 original - who is freed just as he is about to put an escape plan into practice. He is given money, clothes and a mobile phone and sets out to discover who stole his life from him in order to take revenge."

  

  I remember a few years ago, the project was associated with director Justin Lin, but now looks like there have been some major change to the cast and crew.

   

  Either way, I am just wondering if a remake of Oldboy is necessary? I mean, among all the Asian remakes in recent years, how many of them would you consider a success? And how many of them did end up being big flops?

   

  Ring (2002) is perhaps a moderate success at the box office, but after that, fans of Asian horror cinema probably wouldn't forget all the mess Hollywood produced. "The Grudge", "One Missed Call", "Pulse", ...etc., I really couldn't think of an appropriate word other than "crap" to describe these films.

   

  Ok, so perhaps Hollywood filmmakers don't really know how to interpret Asian horror, what about other genres? I wonder if anyone here actually knows that the remake of "My Sassy Girl" is already out at the market? The fact that it goes straight to DVD with no promotion at all and is already listed as bargain item in my local department store probably tell you how "good" the film is. And not to mention "Lake House", which is probably Keanu Reeves' lowest grossing film in the past decade.

   

  Hollywood should stop butchering Asian films, and most importantly, stop making Asian film your cheap source of ideas that compensate the impotence of your highly paid screenwriters!

   

  P.S. Yeah, I know Spielberg's Oldboy is supposed to be an adaptation of the original comic, but still, I just feel uncomfortable with all the crappy remakes Hollywood produced.

  
  

  7 comments–  Add a comment

• Nagisa Oshima retrospective at PFA

  Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 3:38AM / Standard Entry

  Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley is having a Nagisa Oshima retrospective, I strongly recommend anyone in the Bay Area who is interested in Japanese cinema to go take a look. Actually the first part of the program is almost over, but the second part will continue until mid July.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  For those who have no idea, Nagisa Oshima is one of the most influential and controversial Japanese directors from the 60s to 80s. He is known for his radical view and outspoken criticism of his own country. Some of his most well known films include "The Ceremony", "In the Realm of the Senses", "Night and Fog in Japan", "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence"... He last made Gohatto in 2000, before he suffered from a stroke that prevented him from working on any new project.

   

  I have seen quite some Oshima's films before the retrospective. The most unforgettable one is probably "Death by Hanging", which I saw in my Japanese cinema class at Cal. It was really an eye opening experience and I still remember I was so startled by his sharp criticism of the system as well as his concern for the plight of Korean residents in Japan.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Another important film is probably "Night and Fog in Japan". The title is derived from Alain Resnais's "Night and Fog". Despite the highly political content, the technique itself already makes it a must see. The film is composed of 45~47 sequence/tracking shots and the narrative structure consists of series of flashback and contemporary moments. Anyone who wants to learn about storytelling, this is certainly a good reference.

   

  "In the Realm of the Senses", his most controversial film, is actually my least favorite. In terms of visual, it is perhaps the most stunning one, with real sex scenes of the lead female performing fellatio and also being put an egg into her vagina, but somehow I just feel it is more an attitude that shows how far an artist can go, than something concrete and meaningful.

   

  Since I have seen quite some of his films before, and also because I have been busy with some other projects, I didn't spend too much time at PFA this time, but then I certainly didn't miss "The Ceremony" last week, a film that is said to be the summation of his early career, and also one that represents his philosophy and style the best. While many of his films are already on DVD, "The Ceremony" is one that is hard to find, and since PFA is also showing a new print, it just gave me no excuse to skip it.

   

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  "The Ceremony" is an epic scale family drama that chronicles the life of a big family from 1946 to the 70s when the film was made. Through the story of this family, which consists of series of ceremonies, Oshima harshly criticizes his country, from the patriarchal family structure to the government, and from tradition to the postwar mindset of the people. One of the most remarkable scenes is probably the wedding ceremony without the bride. Due to saving the face for the family and also to preserve the tradition, the protagonist is forced to carry on his wedding ceremony even though his bride has already run away. It reflects the absurdity of traditional practice at times and how it is so difficult for one to get away from social and traditional codes.

  
  

  2 comments–  Add a comment

174

2/35

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

>

>|