At the recently announced lineup of films in competition for the prestigious Golden Lion at the 65th Venice Film Festival which will take place from August 27th to September 6th, Japanese films are the most represented among all the Asian movies competing this year. Three Japanese movies have made it into the list of 21 films including two of the most anticipated animated features: Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea and Ghost In The Shell director Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers. The other Japanese movie in competition is award-winning director Takeshi Kitano's Achilles and the Tortoise. Ponyo debuted in Japan recently and has already topped the box-office records there. The Sky Crawlers will debut in Japan on August 2.
Unlike the previous years' La Biennale di Venezia, where Chinese language movies (including Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies) were quite well represented and a force to be reckoned with(3 films in 2006 including Golden Lion winner Still Life and 4 films in 2007 including winner Lust, Caution), this year, only one Chinese language movie made it to the list, Hong Kong director Yu Lik Wai's Plastic City, a Chinese/Brazil/Hong Kong/Japanese co-production about a group of Asian immigrant gangsters in Brazil. Plastic City stars über-cool Japanese star Joe Odagiri and well-known Hong Kong character actor Anthony Wong.
The trailer for Ponyo can be found here and the trailer for Achilles and the Tortoise can be found at this site. And here is the trailer for The Sky Crawlers that I found on YouTube:
Good luck to all the films competing in this year's Venice Film Festival :-)
Source: http://international-animated-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/ponyo_on_a_cliff_tops_japans_box_office, http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8674, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/31/content_8870603.htm
Tags: Venice Film Festival, Japanese movies, La Biennale di Venezia, Ponyo On The Cliff, The Sky Crawlers, Takeshi Kitano, Achilles And The Tortoise, Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshii, Anime, animation, Yu Lik Wai, Plastic City, Joe Odagiri, Anthony Wong, ponyo, Asian Films, Film Festival
Japanese Films Rule The Asian Movie Roost At Venice Film Fest
Red Cliff - Some Random Thoughts
As expected, John Woo's Red Cliff (赤壁) , the most expensive movie in Chinese film history, has broken opening day records in mainland China and topped the box-offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea over the last weekend. The US$80 million historical epic has already earned US$26 million on its opening weekend across these five Asian territories* and looks set to become the highest grossing East Asian hit movie this year. This is the first of a two-parter for Asian audiences and the sequel is scheduled to be released early next year. For audiences outside Asia, a condensed 2½ hour version will be released in January 2009.
I got to watch this highly anticipated movie over the weekend and I was largely satisfied with the performances in the film. From Tony Leung's portrayal of the calm yet brilliant Zhou Yu, to Takeshi Kaneshiro's portrayal of the witty Zhuge Liang, to Chiling Lin's beauteous Xiao Qiao, every member of the cast did a satisfactory job of bringing their characters to life. I was especially impressed by Zhang Fengyi's portrayal of the dominating and ruthless Cao Cao, although he is the singular lonely villian in the story, he still looked like he could eat every member of the gang of good guys - Liu Bei and his generals, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Sun Quan, Sun Shang Xiang and Xiao Qiao, for lunch. It's one against many yet the many seem to have a real hard time dealing with the ONE (Cao Cao), who looks to be the smartest of the lot ;-)
But what impressed me the most were the battle scenes, these do not disappoint and are the best parts of the movie. I could honestly say that these are some of the best battle scenes I have ever seen in an Asian movie. John Woo is really the master of action sequences and the battle scenes in this film retain his signature style ( lots of slow motion and sweeping moves) without losing the feeling of realism. Look out especially for the exciting battle scene just before the movie's end, for this is the part where we can finally understand and experience Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang's military genius (even though according to Wikipedia, this battle is purely fictional ;-P).
But the movie is not without faults, perhaps because of the plot, there is little human drama that is memorable. After watching the movie, except for the battle scenes, there were hardly any scenes that sticked in my mind. Lovebirds Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao do not generate a lot of romantic sparks and Cao Cao's obsession with Xiao Qiao somehow also comes out a but strange, maybe because it is quite unbelievable that a man like Cao Cao could be so obsessed over a woman, to the extent of going to war for her... And I also feel that the soundtrack could be improved, some of the film's music just sound too modern and do not seem to fit the time period of the movie.
All in all, I think this is one of the best big-budgeted Chinese historical epic that I have seen so far, definitely much better than the too-extravagant-for-its-own-good Curse Of The Golden Flower ;-P
Tags: Red Cliff, Chi Bi, John Woo, historical movie, Chinese film, Tony Leung, Chiling Lin, box-office.
Source: *http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/15/arts/AS-MOV-John-Woo-Red-Cliff.php,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cliff_(film)
Picture from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cliff_(film)
New Anime By Anime Master Hayao Miyazaki is called...
Ponyo On A Cliff (崖の上のポニョ or Gake no Ue no Ponyo) and it is a story about a five-year old boy and a goldfish princess (hmmm... not sure why the goldfish princess has a human face but she sure is super cute!). This long-awaited follow-up to 2004's Howl's Moving Castle
Update (July 31): Here is the trailer which has the theme song on YouTube, somehow I have a feeling that this song is going to be a huge hit ;-) Can't wait to watch this movie.
Tags: Ponyo On A Cliff, Ponyo, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, anime.
Live-Action Manga & Anime Coming To A Theatre Near You
A number of high profile live-action movie adaptations of popular Japanese manga and anime are currently in the works, including adaptations of highly popular manga/anime like Dragonball. It is usually pretty exciting to see what the live-action versions of these manga will be like, especialy if you are a fan. But the thing is, if you are a fan, you may not like the live-action version all that much too, especially if it does not fit into your idea of what the characters should be like. And if the filmmakers engage in some "creative" modifications to these well-loved characters as most film makers are wont to do, well...
But that is not likely to stop the film industry from raiding the manga/anime world for new film making ideas in this increasingly competitive industry where audiences are always looking for the next new (and totally original) thing. Here is a list of the "manga/anime to live-action" films that I managed to find that are being planned or in-production now:
Dragonball 
(Dragon Ball Anime)
One of the most popular anime/manga of all time. This live-action adaptation adaptation stars Justin Chatwin as the super-powered Sun Goku (pic), Chow Yun Fat as Master Roshi, Goku's eccentric senseh who teaches him the powerful "turtle-style" martial art - the Kamehameha, James Marsters (most famouus for playing Spike the vampire in Buffy The Vampire Slayer) as Lord Piccolo the villian, Jamie Chung as Chi-Chi, Goku's love interest and Emmy Rossum as Bulma. This movie is currently in post-production and will be released worldwide in April 2009. An interesting piece of info is that the producer is none other than Stephen Chow, the famous Hong Kong comedian! Check out the screen shots here.
Akira (Akira Anime
This is considered by many as one of the greatest anime of all time. Right now what I have managed to find about this project are the following: it will be produced by Warner Brothers. The lead actor is none other than Mr. Titanic himself - Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio! He will play the main character 'Kaneda' and will also serve as co-producer of the film. The action is now in Manhattan instead of in Tokyo (so guess that means that everyone will speak English instead of Japanese now...). It will be made into two films and each film will cover three volumes of the manga. It will be directed by Irish direcctor Ruairi Robinson. The first film was planned for tentative release next summer, but this does not seem likely because as of now, I can't find any news on whether filming has started or not.
20th Century Boys ( 20th Century Boys Manga)
This 22 volume classic by Naoki Urasawa is being made into a US$60 million three-part Japanese language movie. The first part of the trilogy will be released in Japan in August this year and the second and third part of the trilogy will be released in 2009. The cast is really something, there will be 300 actors (!) in total, and among these 300 people are some of the biggest names in the Japanese entertainment industry, including Toshiaki Karasawa as the main character Kenji, Tokiwa Takako as Yukiji and Etsushi Toyokawa as Otcho. The rest of the cast and more info on the movie can be found at the official website (in Japanese).
And I managed to find the trailer on YouTube :-)
Antique Bakery (Antique Bakery Manga
This 1999 manga by Fumi Yoshinaga will be made into a South Korean movie starring Princess Hours star Joo Ji-Hoon and Kim Jae Wok and will be released in South Korea this year. You can find some screen shots and more info on the movie here.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion Anime)
One of my all-time favorites, this complex anime has the most compelling storyline that I have ever seen in an anime. I have always felt that that it may be rather difficult to adapt this anime into a live-action film. But according to this website, an Evangelion live-action movie is moving into production right now. However, there seems to be no info yet on who will be acting in it or who will be directing this movie.
Blood: The Last Vampire (Blood: The Last Vampire Anime)
Based on the anime of the same name, this movie is currently in post-production and stars My Sassy Girl herself Jun Ji-Hyun (credited as Gianna Jun in the movie) as the 400-year old half-vampire half-human character Saya. Japanese sweetheart Koyuki will also play a role in the movie. The film is directed by Chris Nahon and according to IMDB, will be released in the U.S. in the later part of this year. You can find screen shots here.
Ghost In The Shell (Ghost In The Shell Anime)
Based on this news article, DreamWorks has licensed the rights to make a 3D live-action version of Ghost In The Shell. And the person at the helm could very well be the great Steven Spielberg himself :-)
And besides these live-action movies, there will also be CGI remakes of two of the best-loved anime of all time Astro Boy and Gatchaman or G-Force :-)
I for one sure can't wait to watch all these live-action and CGI anime come to life on the big screen ;-)
Tags: anime, live-action, manga, dragonball, akira, 20th century boys, antique bakery, neon genesis evangelion, blood: the last vampire, ghost in the shell, upcoming movies.
Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1098327/
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/movies/news/n15138.htm
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/akira/news/1684775/
http://kpopyunhae.multiply.com/journal/item/458/Korean_Studio_to_Produce_Antique_Bakery_Adaptation http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=39057&Category=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood:_The_Last_Vampire
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/movies/news/n15138.htm
Image from http://www.scifimoviepage.com/upcoming/previews/dragonball.html
Winter Sonata And Full House Are Back... As Anime
Following the success of the animated version of Dae Jang Geum - Jang Geum's Dream, animated versions of another two highly popular Korean dramas - Winter Sonata and Full House are currently in production and will be released in 2009.
The animated version of Winter Sonata will consist of 26 episodes and will have the original stars of the drama series Bae Yong-Joon and Choi Ji-Woo reprising their roles as the star-crossed lovers - Joon Sang and Yoo Jin.
Here is the trailer for the animated verion of Winter Sonata that I found on YouTube. I think that it is pretty well made and manages to capture the atmosphere of the drama serial very well. Really, when Bae Yong-Jun calls out "Yoo Jin ah" in the trailer and the theme song starts playing, I am transported back to the scenes in the drama immediately... some good memories there ... :-)
Another drama that is going to be made into an anime is Full House the 2004 hit Korean drama starring Rain and Song Hye-Kyo. Originally a manhwa (Korean manga), it was made into a drama serial and now it is going to made into a full-fledged anime. At the moment, I can't find any news on whether Rain or Song Hye-Gyo will be lending their voices to the anime but regardless, if the animated version is able to capture the spirit and exquisite comic timing of the two leads in the drama serial, I will definitely be looking forward to this animated version ;-)
Till next time...
Source: http://www.innolife.com/mlist.php?ac_id=14&ai_id=16246, http://www.asianpopcorn.com/default.asp?display=1825, http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3284.
Tags: Winter Sonata,animated version, animation, anime, Full House, Bae Yong Jun, Choi Ji Woo, Rain, Song Hye Kyo, korean drama series.
John Woo's Next Project After Red Cliff - 1949
John Woo's mega production Red Cliff is set to be released in July this year in Asia and a spate of new trailers for the movie have just been released (one of them below). High profile appearences by John Woo and the the cast of the movie including Tony Leung (Zhao Yun), Lin Chiling (Xiao Qiao), Chang Chen (Sun Quan), Hu Jun (Zhao Yun), Vicky Zhao (Sun Shang Xiang) and Zhang Feng Yi (Cao Cao) at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival have generated much buzz for the film.
And while we are still anticipating the arrival of Red Cliff, John Woo has already announced his next project at Cannes - 1949, a US$40 million epic romance set during the tumultous WWII era which will star Chang Chen and Korean actress Song Hye-kyo (left picture). As Song will play a Shanghai lady in the film, she will be taking Chinese language lessons in preparation for her role. This film will start shooting in December this year and is set for release in December 2009.
John Woo is one busy man ;-)
Picture from http://news.yule.com.cn/html/200805/9954.html
Source: http://www.movieweb.com/news/76/28776.php, http://news.yule.com.cn/html/200805/9954.html
Tags: Red Cliff, 1949, John Woo, upcoming movies, Chinese movies, Chinese film, Tony Leung, Chiling Lin, Chang Chen, Song Hye Kyo.
Forbidden Kingdom Breaks Box-Office Records Across Asia
This result is truly incredible and shows the immense pulling power of the two biggest martial arts stars of today. But honestly, although North American audiences seem to love this movie (based on what I gather from the user reviews on IMDB) critical acclaim from Asian audiences have been rather muted*. For me, I think the movie is not too bad... But in a perfect world, I would have prefered Jackie Chan and Jet Li collaborating in a true blue Made-In-Hong Kong movie, with more spectacular and faster fight scenes, and for added oomph, have Donnie Yen and Ong Bak star Tony Jaa joining in the cast as well. We will then have Drunken Fist, Shaolin Kungfu and Muay Thai all in one movie haha!
Btw, according to this Chinese language news article, Jackie and Jet got along so fabulously that they are planning to make another movie together, and this time they are thinking of inviting the legendary Bruce Lee to join them! How are they going to go about doing this, I honestly have no idea, but with the magic of state-of-the-art special effects nowadays, well, anything could be possible! If they really succeed in making this movie, I can safely say that the box-office will explode! And don't forget to ask Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen too ;-)
And here is a YouTube video that shows the much talked about fight sequence between the two masters in The Forbidden Kingdom. Enjoy!
Gokusen V.S. Change
This battle between the new dramas in Japan this season is starting to look very interesting indeed! Gokusen 3 starring Nakama Yukie has exceeded all expectations scoring a sky high rating of 26.4% on its very first episode last Saturday! This result has undoubtedly put pressure on ratings king Takuya Kimura's new drama Change which will debut on May 12, whether Gokusen 3 will continue to triumph when Change debuts remains to be seen. But it definitely looks set to be a tough fight!
[Update 20/05/08
According to the latest ratings for the week of May 12 to May 18, Gokusen 3 is still on top with an average rating of 25.3% beating Change's 23.8%. But Change is only just a little behind and could still end up being the ultimate winner as this dorama has been getting generally postive reviews since it started airing on May 12. ]
The main attraction of Change is undoubtedly Kimura as the Prime Minister of Japan. He reportedly gained weight to make himself look more serious and authortative. And after seeing some screen shots of his new "un-kimutaku-like" nerdy image in the drama serial from this site, I think this drama could just be the vehicle that he is looking for that will finally allow him to leave his "teen idol" image behind him and propel him to greater heights in his acting career.
And besides Change, he is also starring in a new English language movie - I Come With The Rain with Josh Hartnett, South Korean hunk Lee Byung-hun and Hong Kong hotshot actor Shawn Yue. Here is the trailer of the film that I managed to find on YouTube. With so many good looking hunks all together at one place, this definitely looks like a great movie to me ;-)
Tags: Gokusen 3, Change, Kimura Takuya, Nakama Yukie, ratings, Japanese drama serials, drama series, dorama, I Come With The Rain.
Jet Li Wins Best Actor At The Hong Kong Film Awards
The Warlords won eight awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards today, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jet Li) and Best Director (Peter Chan). Co-star Andy Lau lost out to Jet Li in the Best Actor category but won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Protege. Best Actress was scooped up by Siqin Gaowa for her role in The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt. And Ang Lee's Lust, Caution added another feather to its cap with an award for Best Asian Film. More details can be found in these news reports:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgQXtvJTwayGc1gUGZAseXxpUCIg
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5902/1/
Tags: Hong Kong Film Awards, The Warlords, Jet Li, Best Actor, Andy Lau, Lust Caution, Siqin Gaowa.
Much Anticipated Upcoming Chinese Dramas
After writing about the much-anticipated Japanese/Korean upcoming dramas in my previous post, here are the Chinese language dramas that I think will be pretty hot this year:
Royal Tramp 2008 (pic)
This Chinese drama, based on Louis Cha's martial arts novel Duke of Mount Deer has been in the news recently because over 700(!) cuts/changes to the original version has to be made in order for it to be approved for broadcasting in China. This could be due to the theme of polygamy (the hero Wei Xiao Bao has, ahem, seven wives) and some pretty racy scenes that has never been shot before for a prime time TV drama in Mainland China. BTW, this is the umpteenth remake of Duke, the one that I liked best is still the 1984 Hong Kong TVB version starring Andy Lau as the Emporer and Tony Leung as Wei Xiao Bao. The current version stars Huang Xiaoming as Wei Xiao Bao and will debut possibly in April/May this year. I am not sure how this drama will turn out after all the cuts and changes but hopefully the entertainment value has not been too badly affected. I wonder if we can get the original "uncut" version on DVD hmmm...
Hot Shot (籃球火)
With a cast of three of the hottest Taiwanese idols at the moment - Jerry Yan, Show Luo and Wu Zun, exciting basketball matches and special effects never seen before in Taiwanese idol dramas, this one should be a sure-fire ratings hit when it is shown later this year in Taiwan.
The Condor Heroes
Ok this is another remake of Condor Heroes. But remakes of Louis Cha's novels usually garner much public attention and this is no exception. Hu Ge (of Chinese Paladin fame) stars as the hero Guo Jing and Ariel Lin (star of It Started With A Kiss and They Kiss Again) stars as Huang Rong. Currently in post-production and will be shown possibly in summer this year
It could be a side-effect of the Beijing Olympics but 2008 is turning out to be the "let's remake all the great works of Chinese literature" year, two of The Four Great Classics of Chinese literature are scheduled to start production this year:
Dream Of The Red Chambers
This classic has been adapted into a TV serial only once in 1986 and it was a big hit in China when it was aired then. This time round, the three main protagonists of the novel (Lin Daiyu, Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai) wil be played by relative newcomers: Lin Daiyu - Yao Di, Xue Baochai - Bai Bing and Jia Baoyu (as yet unconfirmed). This heavyweight project is tentatively scheduled to start filming in April.
Wikipedia - Dream Of The Red Chambers
Water Margin
This classic is tentatively set to start filming soon (possibly in May/June 2008?), till now the only confirmed cast is Nie Yuan as Lin Chong. Hmm, I am just curious who will play the notoriously adulterous pair: Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing hehheh.
Wikipedia - Water Margin
There is also some news that the other two novels in The Four Great Classics of Chinese literature - Romance Of The Three Kingdoms and Journey To The West will also be made into TV drama serials but I did not manage to find any news on when these two will be filmed...
Btw, the earlier TV drama versions of these four great classics by mainland China's CCTV station could also be regarded as classics themselves. Although the pace of these dramas were pretty slow and languid compared to today's television dramas, they were really well filmed and the acting and attention to detail were truly superb, check them out if you are interested in these classic Chinese literary works:
Dream Of The Red Chambers, Water Margin, Journey To The West, Romance Of The Three Kindoms.
Tags: Chinese dramas, upcoming dramas, drama serials, drama series, hot shot, royal tramp, duke of mount deer, condor heroes, louis cha, jin yong, dream of the red chambers, water margin, journey to the west, romance of the three kindoms, chinese classics.
Character Posters For John Woo's Red Cliff
Character posters for the 8 major characters in John Woo's mega production Red Cliff were presented at the recent Hong Kong Filmart. Just click on the names of the characters below to check them out.
Zhao Zilong - played by Chinese actor Hu Jun. Hmmm, I like Hu Jun but his Zhao Zilong really looks a bit too burly and tough.... isn't Zhao supposed to be a rather debonair and dashing general? For another version of Zhao Zilong, check out Andy Lau's version of this heroic figure in the YouTube trailer for his upcoming new movie Three Kingdoms - Resurrection Of The Dragon below - in case you are wondering, yup he is the guy in the "WWII" combat helmet ;-P
(Wikipedia entry for Zhao Zilong aka Zhao Yun)
Zhuge Liang - played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. OK... he looks suave and scholarly enough...
(Wikpeda entry for Zhuge Liang aka Kong Ming)
Zhou Yu - played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Not bad at all. He looks more tanned and buff here compared to his Lust, Caution days. (Zhou Yu On Wikipedia)
Xiao Qiao - this ancient beauty is played by modern beauty Chiling Lin. Much much better here than I expected :-P
Cao Cao - played by Chinese character actor Zhang Fengyi. Fits the widely accepted image of Cao Cao. (Cao Cao on Wikipedia).
Sun Quan - played by Chang Chen. Not bad too. (Sun Quan on Wikipedia)
Sun Shang Xiang - played by Vicky Zhao Wei. Me thinks that glow from her forehead is caused by the reflection from the glass pane in front of the poster, it should not be in the poster itself :-P
Gan Xing - played by Japanese actor Shido Nakamura.
All in all, the characters don't look too bad at all. The film will be released in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong on 10 July this year just before the Beijing Olympics and in Japan in October.
Here is the Japanese version of the trailer:
And here is the trailer for Andy Lau's Three Kingdoms - Resurrection Of The Dragon:
Tags: Red Cliff, John Woo, Tony Leung, Vicky Zhao, Zhao Wei, Chiling Lin, Hu Jun, Chang Chen, Shido Nakamura, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Andy Lau, Three Kingdoms, trailer, upcoming movies, Chinese movies.
Most Anticipated Upcoming Korean and Japanese Dramas
What are the East Asian drama serials to look out for in the upcoming months ahead? I was asking myself that question and decided to look for some clues from the net and here is what I found:
Korean drama series:
East Of Eden
Anticipation Score: 3.5/5
This is Korean heartthrob Song Seung Hun's comeback drama after his military service stint and his first drama after 2003's Summer Scent. It will be interesting to see how he has matured since his tragic hero days in Summer Scent and Autumn In My Heart (aka An Autumn Tale or Endless Love). And the storyline seems pretty dramatic: spanning from the 60's to the 21st century, it tells the life stories of two men born on the same day in a hospital but switched at birth (hmmm sounds suspiciously like a male version of Autumn In My Heart). The other guy, his rival in the show, is played by the equally good looking Yun Jung Hoon of Yellow Handerchief and Sad Love Story (aka Forever and Ever or Sad Love Song) fame.
This is going to be a big-budget project, it will be 50 episodes long and there will be international on-location shoots in China, Hong Kong, Japan etc. Filming is scheduled to start in March and it will likely be aired in Korea in June.
Daemul
Anticipation Score: 3/5 (if Lee Young Ae is in it: 4/5)
This drama attracted much attention earlier cos of rumours that Dae Jang Geum star Lee Young Ae will be acting as a female president in this drama serial! Since then there has been no further news on this that I know of but Kwon Sang Woo of Stairway To Heaven fame has been cast as the male lead. According to Dramawiki, he will play a male socialite who is ordered to create a scandal to bring down a woman aspiring to be South Korea's first female president. Lee Young Ae as President?? Kwon Sang Woo as a male socialite?? This I must watch haha ;-)
On Air
Anticipation Score: 3/5
Seems some of the hottest hunks from the golden period of weepy Korean romantic dramas in the early 2000s are making a comeback with a vengence... Besides Song Seung Hun's comeback drama East Of Eden, we have Park Yong Ha(Winter Sonata) making his return to Korean dramas in On Air. This drama starts airing in March and also stars popular actors and actresses like Lee Beom Soo, Song Yoon Ah and Kin Ha Neul (best known for her role as the klutzy tutor in 2003's My Tutor Friend). Popular stars like Lee Hyo Ri will also be making guest appearances in the drama.
Ths story is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a TV drama. A drama set in a drama? Interesting... For more info on this drama, check out this news report.
Iljimae / Il Ji Mae 
Anticipation Score: 3.5/5
After his star-making turns in 2005's The King And The Clown and My Girl, any production that stars the interestingly androgynous looking Lee Joon Ki seems to attract lots of attention. This time he plays the lead role of Iljimae (picture), a legendary Korean robber who seems to be like Robin Hood and Zorro combined, he steals from the corrupt rich to give to the poor (like Robin Hood) then leaves his special mark (a branch from a plum tree) to let all and sundry know that he did it (like Zorro). This historical 20 episode drama is scheduled to be aired at the end of 2008.
Japanese Drama Series
Kimura Takuya's yet unnamed drama
Anticipation Score: 4/5
Ever since practically every one of Kimura Takuya's dramas have been ratings champs, his television dramas are regarded as almost sure hits by the public. And this April, the television dorama that he will be acting in may be an even bigger hit compared to all his previous television dramas. Why? Cos he will be acting as the Prime Minster of Japan! What with Lee Young Ae as President of South Korea and now Kimura Takuya as Prime Minister of Japan? Whew!! Go Go Prime Minister Kimura! I for one will surely vote for you ;-)
Another reason why I think this drama will be a ratings champ is because this drama is made by the team that gave us the super popular Hero. The drama also stars Fukatsu Eri as the Prime Minister's romantic love interest.
Gokusen 3
Anticipation Score: 2.5/5
This is the third series of the highly popular Gokusen high school drama series - Gokusen 1 in 2001 and Gokusen 2 in 2005. Gokusen 2 was especially popular, garnering a high rating of 32.5% and winning the Best Drama Series in the 44th Television Drama Academy Awards. Stands to reason that Gokesen 3 will be just as hot as the main cast members will all be reprising their roles. Gokusen 3 will be aired in April as well.
Rookies
Anticipation Score: 2.5/5
Since baseball is so popular in Japan and manga is also so incredibly hot, a live action version of the popular manga series on baseball by Masanori Morita should of course be a hit... well at least I think so ;-P The story is about how a high school teacher hones a motley bunch of delinquents into baseball champs. The manga series ran from from 1998 to 2003 and 12 million copies have been sold so far. And another reason why it will be hot, the number of episodes is not confirmed, in other words, the show can go on as long as needed! This means that it is popular, they will just continue filming and it can only get more popular as time goes by. This drama will start airing in April too.
Ok so this is my list of most anticipated Korean and Japanese drama serials in the upcoming months ahead, I wanted to add in the Chinese language drama serials as well to this list but as this is becoming such a long post, I think I will leave those to my next post...
Until next time :-)
[Picture from http://seouldelight.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/drama-il-ji-mae/]
Tags: upcoming korean dramas, upcoming japanese dramas, korean drama series, japanese drama series, drama serials, east of eden, song seung hun, daemul, kwon sang woo, lee young ae, on air, park yong ha, iljimae, lee jun ki, lee joon ki, kimura takuya, rookies, gokusen 3.
Interesting Article on Asian cinema
Came across this article today on Asian films:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/185459,asian-cinema-faces-up-to-critical-year--berlin-film.html
According to the article, East Asian films are in danger of becoming formulaic and possibly even petering out due to censorship issues and a general tightening in film financing brought on by the uncertain global economic climate. Some snippets that I found especially interesting:
On the face of it, Asian cinema has had a remarkably successful year winning top prizes at each of the world's major film festivals - in Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
But behind the scenes, the film industry in many Asian countries is under pressure not the least because of the global credit crunch and the current uncertain world economic climate which has resulted producers becoming more worried about budgets and the box office.
This in turn has raised the prospects of many film producers becoming conservative about the movie scripts they are prepared to back just when international film critics would like Asian cinema to become more daring.
The result could be that instead of more experimental filmmaking, Asian cinema could retreat to the relative safety of romantic comedies and horror movies.
This is particularly the case with Korea, which in recent years has helped to spearhead the so-called new wave in Asian cinema.
But a dozen years after South Korea emerged as a new filmmaking nation, some industry analysts say that the country risks tempting the same fate as Hong Kong, which has been unable to shake off the downturn that hit the industry a decade ago.
At the same time, China is still battling to come up with the magic movie formula to produce films that meets its ambitions to become a global movie powerhouse and which strike a chord with western, Asian and national Chinese audiences alike.
Tuya's Wedding from Chinese director Wang Quan'an about a Mongolian shepherd family, which took home the Berlin's Film Festival coveted Golden Bear last year flopped
badly at the box office in China.
While the sheer size of the Chinese market has made co-productions with mainland China almost a necessary part of filmmaking for many Asian countries, looming large over China's film sector is censorship which appears to become even more rigorous recently.
Hmmm, good analysis and a valid viewpoint, guess 2008 may be a critical year for East Asian movies... you can find the rest of the article here.
Technorati tags: East Asian Films, Film Industry Trends, Chinese movies, Chinese Films, Korean Films, Korean Movies.
Trailer For Red Cliff
The Chinese version of the trailer for John Woo's movie of the year Red Cliff is finally here. Check it out:
http://tw.movie.yahoo.com/videoplayer.html/id=2556&type=movie&play=3052&tab=r
My thoughts: Frankly, I was ho-humming away while watching this 2 minute plus trailer because the battle scenes, although truly spectacular by anyone's standard, is just too similar to the battle scenes from so many other expensive period movies that I have seen recently, no surprises there...
That is... until I saw THE DOVE... Oh My God I actually missed the John Woo doves so much! LOL ;-D
Enjoy the trailer!
Tags: Red Cliff, trailer, John Woo, Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chiling Lin, Chinese Movie, Period Movie, Chinese film, Upcoming Movies.
Most Satisfying Japanese Dramas Of 2007
Based on Oricon's Annual Most Satisfying Japanese Drama Ranking, the drama serials that provided the most satisfaction in 2007 were Hana Yori Dango 2, followed by Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu and Galileo. However, these do not necessarily match the actual drama ratings; the highest rated dorama series in 2007 was perennial favorite Kimura Takuya's Karei Naru Ichizoku but it was ranked only at number 5. On the other hand Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu was the second most satisfying dorama but it only achieved a rating of 13.5% at its highest. So it would seem that satisfaction does not equal good ratings...
But despite the discrepancy, these drama serials are definitely worth checking out especially those ranked within the top 10 most satisfying dramas :-)
Top 20 Most Satisfying Dramas (Red = one of the top 30 highest rated TV shows of 2007 in Japan)
1. Hana Yori Dango 2 花より男子2 (75.2%) Highest Rating: 27.6%
2. Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu 帰ってきた時効警察 (74.9%) Highest Rating: 13.5%
3. Galileo (73.6%) Highest Rating: 24.7%
4. Iryu 2 医龍2 / Team Medical Dragon 2 (73.2%) Highest Rating: 21%
5. Karei Naru Ichizoku 華麗なる一族 / The Grand Family (71.3%) Highest Rating: 30.4%
6. SP (70.9%) Highest Rating: 18.9%
7. Haken no Hinkaku ハケンの品格 (70.0%) Highest Rating: 26%
8. Papa to Musume no Nanokakan (69.7%) Highest Rating: 16.7%
9. Liar Game (69.2%) Highest Rating: 13.6%
10. Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (69.0%) Highest Rating: 21%
11. LIFE (68.0%)
12. Proposal Daisakusen, Hotaru no Hikari, Haikei, Chichiue-sama, Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi 3 (67.7%)
16. Tokyo Tower (66.9%)
17. Yamada Taro Monogatari (66.8%)
18. Watashitachi no Kyoukasho (66.7%)
19. Bambino! (66.2%)
20. Hataraki Man (66.1%)
Source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/50799/full/
http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/07best30.htm
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Category:JDrama2007
Tags: most satisfying drama, Japanese drama, dorama, drama serial, drama series, tv ratings, top 20 Japanese dramas, hana yori dango, oricon, 2007 japanese dramas.
Takeshi Kanshiro's Latest Japanese Movie - Sweet Rain
After appearing in a string of Chinese movies (including the mega-budget hits like The Warlords and Red Cliff), Takeshi Kaneshiro has finally made another Japanese film: Sweet Rain (死神の精度) that is set for release in Japan on March 22 this year. Based on the 2005 novel Accuracy Of Death by Isaka Kotaro, Takeshi Kaneshiro plays a God of Death (and what a very handsome God of Death I must say...) who appears before people who are to die in a week's time, spends the week with them and then makes the critical decision on whether to off them or not. Hmmm... don't know why but the plot somehow reminds me of that 90's television drama series Touched By An Angel (starring Roma Downey, John Dye and Della Reese) and Brad Pitt's Meet Joe Black. In Touched By An Angel, John Dye who plays Andrew the Angel of Death also appears before people who are about to die in human form, spends some time with them (usually) and then takes them to their final destination. And similarly, Brad Pitt's character Joe Black aka Death is also in charge of... er you know what. I am not sure how similar the storylines are but one thing is for sure, Takeshi's God of Death, John's Angel of Death and Brad's Joe Black are all incredibly gorgeous looking hunks ;-)
Sweet Rain also stars Manami Konishi and Sumiko Fuji. Here is the trailer for the movie from Youtube. Looks like a pretty good movie.
Tags: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Sweet Rain, Accuracy of Death, Japanese Film, Japanese Movie, Upcoming Movies.
Trailers of Upcoming Kungfu Films
It's 2008 and great to be back :-) Here are the latest trailers of 2 highly anticipated kungfu related films to be released in 2008 that I found on YouTube.
First up is the the Jackie Chan, Jet Lee kungfu blockbuster film - The Forbidden Kingdom which is set to be released in April 2008.
Well... all I can think of after watching this trailer is how did people in ancient China thousands of years ago learn to speak American English so well??? Strange...
And here is the trailer of another kungfu movie, this time in the unlikely setting of a basketball court - Kung Fu Dunk starring Jay Chou.
After watching this trailer, I think all martial arts exponents should seriously consider a career in professional sports. They will definitely beat all the non-kungfu trained competitors hands down in gymnastics, sprinting, high jump, long jump, volleyball, soccer, basketball etc etc... ;-P
Tags: Kungfu Film, Forbidden Kingdom, Jackie Chan, Jet Lee, Trailer, Kung Fu Dunk, Jay Chou, Basketball, 2008 Movies.
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East Asian Film And TV News & Trends In 2007
It's almost the end of the year and time once again for reflections on what happened in this past year ;-P Wow time flies, it seems that it was only yesterday that I was celebrating the 2007 New Year. I think that this has been a pretty decent year for East Asian films and TV dramas on a whole. Here is a general recap of the news and trends that have caught my attention this year.
1. Chinese Movie Of The Year: Lust, Caution
This film was the most talked about Chinese movie in 2007. With Ang Lee's signature low-key approach, attention to detail, the engrossing storyline and great acting by Tony Leung and Tang Wei in some of the most daring erotic scenes ever seen in an Asian movie, it comes as no surprise that this film enjoyed fantastic box-office takings throughout Asia and won the Golden Lion and seven awards at this year's Golden Horse Awards.
2. Ancient Is Golden 
Period movies and drama serials continue to be popular in Korean and Chinese dramas and films in 2007. Big-budget period movies with star-studded casts and state-of-the-art CGI like The Warlords performed very well at the box-office. The period drama boom was also seen in Korean drama serials with period dramas like Jumong and Taewangsasingi snaring the top positions in television ratings. This period boom looks set to continue in 2008 with the release of the most expensive Chinese film ever made - Red Cliff during the Beijing Olympics.
3. More Pan-Asian Co-productions
Co-productions between different Asian countries seem to have become the norm in 2007. From arthouse productions like director Kim Ki-duk's Breath starring Taiwanese actor Chang Chen to Japanese hits like Hero with Korean actor Lee Byung-hun in a cameo role to big-budget Chinese flicks like The Warlords and Red Cliff that are financed by investors throughout East Asia, filmmakers are cooperating in more ways than ever to expand a film's appeal to a wider pan-Asian audience.
4. Quest For New Themes
To counter the whimsical and fast-changing tastes of viewers, movie and drama makers must come up with new themes at an ever-increasing speed. This is especially apparent in the Korean TV drama market where it seems that viewers have become increasingly tired of the same romantic drama plot used countless times in the past. To maintain viewer interest, TV stations and production houses have had to come up with new themes for their dramas. This has resulted in the type and range of drama serials expanding considerably this year. From dramas about money lenders to police action thrillers to romantic comedies with "cross-dressing"themes, this aggressive search for new themes have already yielded gems like War Of Money, Time Between Dog And Wolf and First Shop Of Coffee Prince. It remains to be seen if this exploratory approach will continue into 2008...
5. International Recognition
East Asian films continue to perform well in international film awards in 2007. Lust, Caution took home the Golden Lion and Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon won the prestigious Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine, only the second time an Asian actress has won this award in the history of the Cannes Film Festival.
All-in-all, 2007 has been a good year for Asian films and dramas. Let's hope for an even better 2008 :-)
Have A Happy New Year!
Tags: Lust, Caution, Asian Movie Trends, Chinese Movie, Korean Movie, Japanese movie, Drama Serial, Drama Series, Korean Drama Series, co-productions, Pan-Asian Films, Asian Drama Themes,
Lust, Caution Takes Home 7 Golden Horses
As expected, Lust, Caution is the big winner at this year's Golden Horse Awards held on December 8 in Taipei, Taiwan. The Ang Lee thriller won 7 awards including Best Film, Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), Best Director (Ang Lee) and Best Newcomer (Tang Wei) among others. Best Actress was also won by a Lust, Caution alumni - former Golden Horse Award winner Joan Chen for her portrayal in The Home Song Stories. The full results can be found at
http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/gh_main/gh/gh-e-5.aspx
And here is a clip of a rather interesting moment that happened when Ang Lee and Sandra Ng (a Hong Kong actress well-known for her talent in comedy) were about to give out the Best Actor award, rather unexpectedly Sandra Ng tore the sealed envelope containing the results without opening the envelope (for comic effect perhaps?), shocking the normally sedate Ang Lee into a minor panic who then hurriedly tried to piece the torn pieces together, dropping the bits of paper in the process... hmmm... poor Ang Lee, he looked really distressed by Sandra's er playful act ;-P But I guess this was just a minor blip in an otherwise fantastic night for the cast and crew of Lust, Caution.
Tags: Golden Horse awards, Ang Lee, Lust, Caution, Tang Wei, Tony Leung, Chinese films, Chinese Movies, Chinese Film Awards.
