Friday, July 12th, 2013
Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi star in the “true story” (exaggerated and/or largely fabricated) of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, the man best known today as the dude who trained Bruce Lee.
It came out in China back in January, and it’s finally schedule to hit American theaters this August. Check it out:
Wednesday, July 10th, 2013
FilmDistrict has released a Red Band trailer for Oldboy to Yahoo! Movies. Based on the manga by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya, the film, which was previously adapted by Chan Woon Park, is “a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.”
The original film has a lot of its fans feeling like this re-adaptation is pointless, but I wasn’t in love with it, myself. There are a few small(?) differences that people who have seen the original will notice — perhaps from the manga, perhaps new to this film — I wouldn’t know. But between that and the suitably bleak tone, I think there’s a chance this could be worthwhile.
Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley co-star in the Spike Lee film (apparently he doesn’t make joints anymore?), from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich (The Cell). The film is out on October 25.
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
The Host and Mother director Bong Joon Ho’s English language debut, Snowpiercer, is out in South Korea in August, with a North American release… sometime after that, probably. Anyway, the trailer has hit the web courtesy the film’s official YouTube page.
Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, it is set in a post-apocalyptic future where…
an ice age has killed off nearly all life on the planet. The only survivors are the inhabitants of the ‘Snowpiercer,’ a massive train that travels around the planet and is powered by a perpetual-motion engine. Over time a class system evolves on the train, with the elites inhabiting the ‘front’ of the train and poor inhabiting the ‘back’ of the train. Tired of the poor conditions suffered by riders in the ‘back,’ a revolution occurs with the riders attempting to seize control of the engine which the elites in the ‘front’ consider ‘sacred.’
So, a little bit far-fetched, but sometimes movies have a way of transcending a goofy premise, you know?
The film stars Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Jamie Bell, Alison Pill, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, and Ed Harris.
Thursday, July 4th, 2013
A new international for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives is online. It’s got a little more plot (thin as that plot appears to be) and a kickin’ soundtrack. I’m in.
The film stars Ryan Gosling and hits theaters on July 19th.
