Are you single and you have a Facebook account? Very soon, you’ll be able to use it as a
platform for finding your soul mate. Facebook is about to launch a dating feature that will make it a kind of dating site. Perhaps, this idea came to your mind earlier when you contacted some nice eastern European brides, whose profiles caught your eye, and thought to yourself whether it was appropriate. Guys behind Facebook analyzed the marital statuses of their users and found out that there are 200 million singles. Moreover, it’s customary today to look for love online. It’s quite an obvious assumption that Facebook folks might be interested in finding love within their social network.
Are you a potential user of a new dating service run by Facebook? Read about its main features to decide for yourself.
The aim: serious dating
The dating industry is quite diverse. It offers services for finding flings, friendships, serious relationships, casual relationships, etc. At Facebook, they want you to find a partner for a solid and long-term relationship using this feature.
Privacy and transparency
If you want to date through Facebook, you’ll need to create an additional dating profile. Your friends will not see whether you have one or not. Also, your friends will not be on the list of potential matches. The feature will translate only first names, which means you’ll see the real names of people. Also, you’ll send and receive messages from strangers not through Messenger, but through a separate chat that supports only text messages. This will ensure a solid first chat free from images and links.
The choice of mature people
It’s expected that the majority of users will be people in their 50s and divorcees. This can be explained by the fact that older people want to use dependable and traditional services. While young people widely use different sites and apps, trying new services that keep popping up, mature people want to use something they are already somehow familiar with. Facebook is a familiar environment for them, so they are expected to be actively using its dating feature.
No longer an intermediary
Such services as Tinder or Bumble ask you to register using your Facebook account. It means that if you get interested in someone’s dating profile, you can check out their Facebook page to get a better idea of what kind of person they are. Since Facebook is getting its own dating service, it becomes self-sufficient.
Free or paid?
We know that most of the popular dating services operate on a subscription basis or charge fees for premium services. It’s still unknown whether Facebook’s dating feature will be free or paid, and if paid, what the rate will be.
Opponents
Although the idea of finding a romantic match within your social network seems quite
tempting, there are some people who don’t fancy such a perspective. You’ll be matched with people based on the attended events, liked posts, and common groups. However, you may not be interested in dating people who simply share your interests. Your online community is not the same as the pool of potential dates.
Stunt coordinator-turned-director, James Mark (filmmaker behind 2017’s Kill Order aka Meza), is back in action with On the Ropes, an upcoming thriller that’s finding its way to DVD from Screen Media Entertainment.
On the Ropes follows a young man (Aydin) who starts watching over his family’s criminal business after the death of his father and must face off against his brother, who presents a threat.
On the Ropes hits DVD on July 3, 2018 (or you can stream it right now). Watch the film’s Trailer below:
Xu Haofeng (The Final Master) – a filmmaker known for presenting martial arts in a less stylized and more realistic manner – made a name for himself by penning the screenplay for Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster. But it was 2011’s The Sword Identity, his directorial debut, which showed Xu’s true talent.
Here’s what you can expect from the film’s plot: Swordsman Wen Sanchun (Zhou Xun) is on the run from assassins, and is saved by wandering hero Ye Motian (Chen Kun). Together, they escape to the armoury, the stronghold of Anda, a Yuan rebel commander and Ye Motian’s foster father. It is later revealed that Wen Sanchun is a trusted subordinate of the crown prince, and is here to persuade the rebels to surrender. Now a wanted criminal, Ye Motian and Wen Sanchun engage in a deadly struggle (via cfensi).
Expect a Trailer for The Weary Poet to hit soon. Until then, here’s the Trailer for The Final Master:
Director: Eric Zaragoza Cast: Scott Adkins, Aaron McCusker, Michelle Lahane, Vahidin Prelic, Lukas Loughran, Alaa Safi, Milan Kovacevic, Arkie Reece, James MacCallum, Vladan Dujovic Running Time: 89 min.
By Kyle Warner
SCOTT… ADKINS… IN… SPACE! For a certain group of movie viewers, that’s hand over the money, give it to me now sort of entertainment. Me, I like Adkins. Though he hasn’t reached the popularity of the high kicking stars of yesteryear (the mainstream action movie landscape has changed a lot since then), he is a more than capable lead for action-packed B-movies. Viewer expectations for these sorts of movies aren’t exactly high; all we really want is to be entertained. Sad to say, Scott Adkins’ space movie Incoming does not meet even the lowest of expectations.
Incoming begins with the bombing of London’s Big Ben. A terrorist group known as the Wolf Pack claims responsibility. We’re told that the Wolf Pack is responsible for other terrorist attacks all across the globe. Many of the Wolf Pack terrorists have been captured alive and are questioned in relation to whereabouts of their leader, known only as Alpha. Instead of executing the captured terrorists, the nations of the world work together to lock them up in a top secret black site prison, the International Space Station codenamed Hammer. The Hammer orbits the Earth with a staff of only one man who tortures, questions, and tends to the needs of his dozen or so prisoners from an automated control room. We enter the story as an inspection is scheduled that will take the American agent (Scott Adkins), a doctor (Michelle Lahane), and a pilot (Aaron McCusker) to the space station in order to assess its progress in finding Alpha and also the condition of its prisoners.
There is something like political commentary in the movie about what is, essentially, Guantanamo in outer space. Michelle Lahane’s doctor has strong objections to the treatment of the prisoners. They are burned with hot steam, forced to endure death metal at ear-shattering decibels, never allowed to speak to anyone, barely fed, and so on. The doctor questions how any of this can be legal under the Geneva Convention, to which Adkins replies with what might be my favorite line in the movie, “The Geneva Convention doesn’t apply in space.” The film doesn’t seem to know where to go with the conversation about torture, though. It seems to suggest that torture is a necessary evil in fighting a war for humanity, while also making clear that torture doesn’t actually work.
Of course, things go wrong during the assessment of the facility. The doctor comes to the cell of one of the prisoners who she believes has evidence of torture, only to be taken hostage by that prisoner, thus resulting in a riot that frees all terrorists from their cells. From there it’s up to Adkins and co. to fight in order to retake the space station before the terrorists use it to crash into one of Earth’s metropolitan cities. That sounds like a pretty cool set up for a sci-fi actioner but Incoming drops the ball almost immediately.
The sci-fi is only setting. The movie doesn’t embrace the possibilities of the concept by any means. Some of this is due to a tight budget. Too many sets are just dark rooms with big LED monitors displaying snazzy technological whatever, hoping you ignore the fact that that’s all it is; a dark room with wobbly chairs and a bunch of TVs. And the prerequisite sci-fi doors that swish open horizontally to recycled sound effects. So many recycled sound effects. It’s cheap but that’s not the real problem. With exception to the final act, the rest of the movie could’ve been set in almost any isolated location. It’s strange that the movie’s genre hook – Scott Adkins in space! – begins to feel like an afterthought before long.
So, it’s not much of a science fiction movie. But sadly it’s not a very good action movie either. The fights are very choppy and the cramped corridors of the space station are not used to the film’s benefit. The action scenes—which are all different variations of ‘run at each other with makeshift weapons and try not to die’—have a few cool beats but the script betrays any momentum that the onscreen talent tries to create.
Incoming has zero flow. It sputters to life then stops itself whenever things start to get exciting. After every confrontation between the crew and the terrorists, the two groups retreat to their opposite corners of the Hammer to collect themselves and plan the next move. While the terrorists plot to destroy a city to make a point (their actual beliefs are never explored, they’re just very bad people), Adkins’ group talks about how to retake the station. “We need a plan,” says McCusker’s pilot. “There’s no time for a plan!” says Adkins. And so they clash with the terrorists and then retreat again. You can overlook a movie for being cheap and simple, but you can’t overlook boring.
I did kind of enjoy the film’s finale, though. Here Incoming commits to a cynical worldview as it invites us to question our heroes and our governments as things get bloody. It’s also the only part of the movie where Incoming isn’t just playing for time. At long last, it’s do or die, and there is no time to retreat. Plus, the heroes make bombs out of bottles filled with urine, so there’s that.
There’s a kernel of a good idea in Incoming, but the film didn’t explore its themes deep enough, didn’t have enough money to pull off its vision, and, worst of all, it forgot to have some fun.
On September 18, 2018, Arrow Video will be releasing the Blu-ray for 1969’s pre, from Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman’s Curse). Read on for the official release details below:
Cult director Teruo Ishii (Shogun’s Joy of Torture) presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the fevered imagination of Japan’s celebrated pioneer ofero-guro (“erotic grotesque”) literature, Edogawa Rampo.
Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman’s household and his dead double’s marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.
A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo’s tales, Horrors of Malformed Men boasts astonishing carnivalesque art design and haunting performances. Withdrawn from cinemas by its own studio after its original scandalous release nearly fifty years ago, the film is among the very best screen interpretations of the author’s macabre brand of horror-fantasy fiction, and a unique oddity of Japanese cult cinema.
Special Edition Contents:
BRAND NEW 2K RESTORATION of the film from the original negative
Uncompressed mono 1.0 PCM audio
Newly translated optional English subtitles
Two audio commentaries by Japanese cinema experts Tom Mes and Mark Schilling
Malformed Movies: a new video interview with Toei exploitation movie screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda
Malformed Memories: Filmmakers Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo the Iron Man) and Minoru Kawasaki (The Calamari Wrestler) on the career of director Teruo Ishii
Ishii in Italia: Ishii and Mark Schilling visit the Far East Film Festival
Image Gallery
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
First pressing only: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp, Tom Mes and Grady Hendrix
Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Die Fighting (read our review), starring Fabien Garcia (Merantau), Laurent Buson (Silver Hawk), Didier Buson and Jess Allen.
When a team of Shaolin-trained kung fu actors is about to get their break in Hollywood, a mysterious and sadistic director forces them to run a gauntlet through Los Angeles. The director films their every move as they prove their prowess by provoking a rogues’ gallery of underworld thugs and martial artists.
The premise is similar to the Thai movie BKO, in which highly trained fighters wake up after being drugged and are forced to fight each other for the whims of madman.
It’s been 3 years since fifth generation alumni Chen Kaige made his ill-advised wuxia caper Monk Comes Down the Mountain, however far from looking like a director licking his wounds, Kaige’s latest storms out the gates as his most commercially ambitious production yet. Legend of the Demon Cat is a rare co-production between China, Hong Kong, and Japan, with all three well represented either in-front or behind the camera. Considering the elements that make a movie marketable in each territory vary significantly, it’s fair to say Kaige had a lot on his plate to bring LOTDC (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) to the screen, but then it’s good to be remember that this has been a personal project of his for a number of years already.
Set in the capital of the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century, it was reported that Kaige and a team of designers spent over 6 years constructing a replica set of the city, eschewing the CGI cityscapes that period pieces in recent times tend to resort to. As an interesting aside, the set is so large and elaborate, that even before filming began it was negotiated that once production wrapped, it would be maintained and developed into a theme park. In China, they don’t make movies based on theme parks, they make theme parks based on movies. Pirates of the Caribbean take note.
LOTDC is an adaptation of a four volume Japanese novel, written by Baku Yumemakura, who notably stated he was “moved to tears” when he came to visit the spotlight stealing sets. A prolific sci-fi and historical fantasy writer, Yumemakura’s tale playfully reimagines two revered characters in Asian history – the Japanese monk Kukai, who founded the Shingonshu school of Buddhism, and Bai Juyi, a Chinese poet held in the same regard as Shakespeare. In LOTDC, Kukai visits China to exorcise a mysterious curse that’s kept the emperor from sleeping for over 2 weeks, and while there he meets the palace scribe, in the form of Bai Juyi. Forming a mutually respectful bond, when they discover the presence of cat hair in the palace grounds, the pair become a sort of Tang Dynasty version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and begin to investigate the origins of this apparent ‘demon cat’.
The combination of Japanese supernatural mystery meets Chinese blockbuster certainly makes for an interesting tone, and could almost be argued to come across as a kind of Kwaidan meets the Detective Dee series. The Japanese investment seems to have allowed for several supernatural elements, and even a little gore, to bypass the dreaded Mainland censorship restrictions, allowing for a lavish tale of palace intrigue the type of which we haven’t seen for quite some time. Proceedings are suitably anchored by the pairing of Shota Sometani and Huang Xuan, as monk and poet respectively, in an equally rare case of a Japanese actor sharing co-lead status in a predominantly Mainland influenced production.
Sometani, a Sono Sion (Himizu, Tokyo Tribe) and Takashi Miike (Lesson of the Evil, As the Gods Will) regular, is almost unrecognizable with a completely shaved head, and makes for an appealing lead as the monk hoping to find enlightenment during his time in China. Xuan similarly makes for a likeable lead, having come hot on the heels of his stellar turn in Extraordinary Mission, as a poet who finds himself questioning the truth behind the events that influenced his character Juyi’s masterpiece, ‘Song of Everlasting Regret’. While historical revisionism is often frowned upon, when done correctly it can also be a lot of fun, and here the integration of historical facts blended with fantastical fiction work well. While it’s certainly not a prerequisite to know the characters that Sometani and Xuan are playing to enjoy LOTDC, knowing the context of who they are makes the experience that little bit more rewarding.
The cat itself of course is also a central player, and any questions of its demonic nature are addressed almost immediately in the opening scene, when it appears armed with a fluent Mandarin vocabulary, and an affinity for eating fish (and later human) eyeballs. A mix of both real cat and CGI, thankfully we’ve come a long way since the kung fu fighting animatronic feline found in Lam Nai-Choi’s The 1000 Years Cat, which came as a huge relief. In fact all the CGI work in LOTDC is of a high level, perhaps indicative of Kaige looking to redeem himself after the ropiness of 2005’s The Promise, but also of the quality that the various Japanese FX houses tasked with creating the effects have produced.
Ultimately the appearance of the titular cat leads Sometani and Xuan deeper into the past, as they look to reassess the death of a beautiful consort (played by French Taiwanese actress Sandrine Pinna), who was believed to have sacrificed herself for the greater good 30 years ago on the emperor’s orders. However the deeper they dig, it becomes increasingly clear that there was more at play than how history has remembered her, and LOTDC begins to become increasingly populated with a variety of characters, each with their own motivations and interests. Indeed the latter half of the 125 minutes runtime largely consists of an extended flashback to 30 years prior, during which both Pinna is introduced for the first time, along with a Japanese courtier, played by Abe Hiroshi (Chocolate).
While the flashback allows for various moments when Kaige can go all in on the visual splendour, particularly at a lush birthday celebration, which almost tilts into sensory overload with its displays of decadence, it also feels somewhat disconnected from the first half. It’s a bold move by Kaige, as essentially we go from following Sometani and Xuan as a third-party spectator, to seeing things from their perspective, learning the truth at the same time as it unfolds for them. On a first time viewing the introduction of new characters at the half way point may seem a little jarring, but it’s easy to see how LOTDC would make for a more rewarding watch on subsequent viewings. The most interesting element of the narrative structure though is how it’s not only a whodunnit murder mystery, but also places equal emphasis on how Xuan can reconcile the poem he considers to be his masterpiece, with the actual truth of what’s behind it.
Kaige and his co-writer Wang Hui-Ling (a regular collaborator with Ang Lee and John Woo) have crafted an interesting script, one which I struggle to think of another production as a comparison point, at least from the perspective of the period LOTDC takes place in. The way Xuan is forced to face the reality, that the facts the work he’s most proud of are based on may all be a lie, is conveyed as a relatable dilemma onscreen. It would be easier to go by the motto that ignorance is bliss, and while the plot naturally dictates that he’ll eventually decide to uncover the truth, it’s still effectively realised thanks to Xuan’s nuanced performance. Plus of course, when you have a demon cat in your corner, there’s always that extra little bit of motivation.
LOTDC is a confident return to form for Kaige, and while it may not be the return that the fans of his 80’s and 90’s masterpieces want, it’s reflective of a director that’s proven capable of adapting to the times. It’s likely to be a tricky movie to market overseas, since it’s neither an outright action movie in the vein of League of Gods, or a spectacle driven mystery like Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, however LOTDC certainly deserves an audience. Proving that spectacle doesn’t need to always be created by CGI (Crystal Zhang’s Uighur dance is a highlight), nor require the presence of screen filling fantastical beasts or demons, LOTDC shows that sometimes all you need is a well told story. Well, that, and a talking feline.
Plot details are currently non-existent, but with the popularity of military-type actioners (i.e. Wolf Warrior 2, Operation Red Sea, Operation Mekong), expect Hark to give Dante Lam a run for his money.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. Until then, here’s a look at its preliminary poster, courtesy of AFS.
Jailbreakbreakout star Jean-Paul Ly will soon be showing more of his amazing martial arts skills in 14 Fists, which starts filming later this year from director Bart Ruspoli (Clash of the Dead).
Ly recently took to FB with the following message regarding 14 Fists: “I am finally able to bring international team members for this one. Let’s make an insane action party!” Word on the street (via FCS) is that 14 Fists will be a “full blown martial arts action film,” which is what we’d expect from its striking title.
14 Fists also stars John Hannah (Spartacus), and actress Bai Ling (Maximum Impact).
We’ll keep you updated on 14 Fists as more news arrives. Until then, be on the lookout for Ly in the soon-to-be-released Nightshootersand The Division.
Later this month, director Han Yan (Dream Breaker) will unleash Animal World, a new film loosely adapted from Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s manga, Ultimate Survivor, which was previously adapted into two successful films in Tokyo.
Animal World stars Li Yifeng (The Founding of an Army), Zhou Dongyu (The Thousand Faces of Dunjia) and the one, the only, Michael Douglas (Black Rain, Romancing the Stone).
Animal World stars Yifeng as an imaginative teenager who gets lured into a dangerous game of wits overseen by an icy arch-villain played by Douglas.
Animal World is getting a domestic release on June 29, 2018.
Updates: Netflix has acquired global digital rights to the title for all territories outside of China, according to industry sources with knowledge of the deal (via THR).
Director: Ding Sheng Cast: Wang Kai, Ma Tian-Yu, Darren Wang Ta-Lu, Yu Ai-Lei, Lam Suet, Wu Yue, Vivien Li Meng, Zhang Yi-Shang, Jiang Pei-Yao, Mario Li Mincheng, Ning Hao Running Time: 140 min.
By Paul Bramhall
If you ask any fan of Hong Kong cinema what their opinion is on remaking the 1986 John Woo classic, A Better Tomorrow, then the likely answer will be that it’s a bad idea. Woo’s seminal classic, popularly considered to be the title that kicked off the Heroic Bloodshed genre, was itself a remake of the 1967 melodrama Story of a Discharged Prisoner. However more so than the plot, what most remember A Better Tomorrow for is how Woo’s trademark style and balletic violence came to the fore for the first time. That didn’t stop Korea from trying though, and in 2010 director Song Hae-seong had a stab at a remake, which was met with a justifiably lacklustre reception.
In a logical world, Hae-seong’s misfire should have been enough to scare off anyone else attempting to remake A Better Tomorrow, but as Wu Jing has been telling us in his Wolf Warrior franchise, nobody tells China what to do. So it is, 2018 brings us a Mainland remake. The announcement was greeted by understandable scepticism from most, after all, making a Heroic Bloodshed movie under Mainland restrictions is a bit like expecting a steak in a vegan restaurant. For myself at least, when the announcement came that the remake was going to be helmed by Ding Sheng, I actually felt a glimmer of hope.
Sheng is an interesting director, with his 2015 crime thriller Saving Mr. Wu, being a stellar example of the genre. He’s also one of the few directors giving Jackie Chan a platform to act his age, with Little Big Soldier, Police Story 2013 (an early indicator of his penchant for adding the year of production to his titles), and Railroad Tigers being some of the best work the aging star has put out in the last 10 years. So in short, if any Mainland director could make a A Better Tomorrow remake work, my money would be on Sheng.
A Better Tomorrow 2018 takes a leaf out of Hae-seong’s remake (which took place in Busan) and also transfers proceedings to a bustling port city, this time to the wind battered shipyards of Sheng’s hometown Qingdao, in Shandong Province. It’s an aesthetically pleasing decision, with the Old Town area and its German architecture giving the latest incarnation a unique feel, complimented by frequent visits to the bright lights of Tokyo (which, much like Woo’s own recent Manhunt, allows for the Japanese to be the drug kingpins). Beyond the new setting though, A Better Tomorrow 2018 is an unfortunate train wreck, not only realising the worst fears of those who felt concerned about a Mainland remake, but frequently surpassing them.
Here the iconic gangster duo of Ti Lung and Chow Yun Fat are replaced by Railroad Tiger co-stars Wang Kai and Darren Wang, with Ma Tian-Yu barely registering in Leslie Cheung’s role as Kai’s cop brother. The plot is transferred largely intact, with Kai and Tian-Yu on opposite sides of the law while still sharing a mutual respect, until Kai’s actions lead to their dementia ridden father being murdered. Kai ends up in prison, while Wang seeks to get revenge on those responsible, and ends up a cripple. Upon his release, Tian-Yu wants nothing more to do with Kai, despite his insistence that he’s going straight. However when the gangster (Yu Ai-Lei, in the role Waise Lee originally played) who double crossed them re-enters the scene, now a celebrated mob boss, all three of our protagonists find themselves on a collision course with the past.
It could be argued that by sticking so closely to John Woo’s original, Sheng’s remake sticks out even more as a watered-down version of its source material (at least the Korean take put its own spin on the plot), but this is the least of its problems. Sheng ruthlessly insists on hammering our ears with A Better Tomorrow nostalgia at every opportunity, with Leslie Cheung’s famous theme song being overplayed to the point of absurdity. Depending on the scene, we get an electric guitar rendition of it, in another an acoustic version, then a lounge version, did I mention there’s also an orchestral version? When characters turn on the radio its playing, a scene on the street has buskers singing it, and the vinyl LP of it even makes an appearance. I was half expecting a scene to open with a beatbox version.
The self-referential winks reach a crescendo when, in the same bar that the LP shows up, Wang asks a customer why he’s chewing on a toothpick, to which the customer points at a framed picture of Chow Yun Fat from the original. It’s a face palm moment (and means Ti Lung is the only one of the original trio whose image doesn’t show up in the remake), although I admit it has some stiff competition from Masaharu Fukuyama’s line in Manhunt, when he declares “It’s almost time for a better tomorrow”. At least in Woo’s latest though his themes remain intact, whereas in A Better Tomorrow 2018 the constant references to brotherhood and loyalty seem forced and awkward, as if they’ve been shoehorned in out of obligation rather than being a natural part of the script.
In fact everything about A Better Tomorrow 2018 feels oddly tensionless. Characters suddenly point guns at each other seemingly to match a musical cue, and a scene which has Kai dare a yakuza to stick a toothpick in his eye was so overdramatically done it drew a laugh. When we’re not listening to a Leslie Cheung-variation, moments of supposed tension are introduced via inappropriately bass heavy electric guitar strumming, which became increasingly comical the more it happened. However the biggest crime that Sheng commits is the complete lack of commitment on display in the action scenes. They’re not only pedestrian, but put bluntly are plain bad in their lack of competent execution and excitement.
Like in Saving Mr. Wu, handheld cameras are utilized for the action, however unlike the documentary style approach of his best work, here the technique betrays the bombast of the story, and instead of adding to the realism such shots only serve to look cheap and digital. In particular, a boat chase early on involving the Chinese coast guard is so amateurish in its execution it feels embarrassing (where are the guys from Operation Red Sea when you need them?). The iconic revenge shootout doesn’t fare much better, which is surprisingly bloodless, and stupidly interrupted by an earthquake. The restrictions on screen violence hurt the worst here (no pun intended), as the constant cutaways, which only allow us to see the aftermath of a gunshot, almost make it feel like a montage rather than a chronologically flowing action scene.
I don’t like including spoilers in my reviews, so I’ll resist any mention of the finale, other than to say it contains a car chase through a CGI warehouse (it has to be seen to be believed), and Tian-Yu calling the police in the middle of the “shoot-out”. I wish I had something better to say about A Better Tomorrow 2018, but the whole thing feels so poorly judged that it’s difficult to do so. I do respect the fact that instead of trying to recreate Chow Yun Fat’s suave gangster, we get a character completely the opposite in Wang’s Taiwanese street punk, but his constant singing in every scene quickly overrode any goodwill. That summarises A Better Tomorrow 2018 quite well, in that whenever it threatens to become enjoyable, another annoyance will come along and quickly put paid to any glimmer of hope.
In one scene Kai and Tian-Yu’s father is talking to them from his hospital bed, but because of his dementia he mistakes them for his doctors rather than his sons, and begins to mumble about how he only wishes he could meet them to say sorry for the past. Instead of getting a lump in my throat though, it made me wish there was a way I could mistake A Better Tomorrow 2018 for a good movie, but by that point even a beatbox version of Leslie Cheung’s theme wouldn’t have helped. Featuring an abundance of seagull footage, a cameo by Eric Tsang even more worthless than his one in Kung Fu Yoga, and a bizarre closing scene dedication, if anything, sometimes its best if tomorrow never comes.
On November 21, 2018, audiences will be entering the stadium for Creed II, the upcoming sequel to Ryan Coogler’s 2015 Rocky spinoff, Creed. For Round 2, Steven Caple Jr. (The Land) takes over as director.
In the first film, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan of Fruitvale Station), the grandson of Apollo Creed (portrayed by Carl Weathers in the Rocky films) is mentored by Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) – now a retired fighter-turned-trainer who takes him under his wing.
In Creed II, newly crowned light-heavyweight champion Adonis faces off against Viktor Drago (played by Romanian boxer Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. Stallone and Dolph Lundgren (Female Fight Squad) return as Rocky and Ivan, respectively.
Daniel Pinder has joined the cast of the independent supernatural movie Sarah with shooting starting in Los Angeles in late summer.
The film centers on a teen harboring a dark secret as she visits her relatives for the summer. The Sarah cast includes Academy Award nominee Virginia Madsen, The Florida Project star Valeria Cotto, D.B. Sweeney, Ava Allan, Spencer List, Youtube star Andy Schrock and Tallulah Evans. Pinder will portray the character Brett.
The Screenplay was written by Alexander Garcia, who will also be directing and producing under Multi-Valence productions alongside his producing partner Anne Stimac and Stuart Arbury.
Pinder’s credits include NBC’s Chicago PD, We Are Your Friends, and his upcoming films, Paved New World, Garrison 7: The Fallen and Skate God.
Pinder is repped by The Michael Abrams Group and Central Artists Agency.
“Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” Japanese Theatrical Poster
Chinese superstar Stephen Chow is developing an animated version of The Monkey King for the Shanghai-based animation company Pearl Studio. It will feature a script penned by Ron Friedman and Steve Bencich, who cowrote Brother Bear and Chicken Little.
Monkey King is described by the Studio as “one of China’s most mythical, mystical and mischievous superheroes.”
“It’s one of China’s most enduringly popular heroes of all time. Every child in China grows up knowing the epic tale,” said studio chief creative officer Peilin Chou. “Stephen is the perfect creative partner to bring the character to the world. We know that he will bring all the comedy and scope that makes this adventure legend so special and translate The Monkey King into an enchanting and exciting global animated event.”
The story of the Monkey King from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West is of course not new to Chow. He previously played the character in A Chinese Odyssey 1 and 2, directed Journey to the West and produced the Tsui Hark-directed Journey to the West 2: The Demons Strike Back.
In Michio Yamamoto’s Bloodthirsty Trilogy, The Vampire Doll was like a fever dream of a vampire movie and Lake of Dracula was a social anxiety thriller disguised as a vampire movie, so where could the director go for the final film? Well, back to school of course! Evil of Dracula, the third and final Bloodthirsty film, replaces the spooky house with a spooky girl’s college and unleashes vampires on a staff of teachers and a bunch of young women with poorly buttoned blouses. If this sounds a tad campier than the first two films, that’s because it definitely is.
Professor Shiraki (Lady Snowblood’s Toshio Kurosawa) takes a train to the countryside for his new gig as a teacher of psychology at an all girl’s school. He’s young, he’s handsome, he has a shaggy Sonny Chiba hairstyle, and all the girls basically start falling in love with him the moment he steps through the door. His first night there, Shiraki is drawn from his room by the sound of singing, and is subsequently attacked by a vampire lady. He wakes up the next day, certain that it was only a dream. But a dream is never really just a dream in these movies. Shiraki’s in for another surprise when the school principal (Shin Kishida) announces that he plans for Shiraki to take over as principal of the school. Something’s just not right about this place. And when most the girls—with the exception of three who stay behind—go home on school break, Professor Shiraki makes it his mission to get to the bottom of things.
While most movies with this setup would have the kids learn of vampires and try to tell their disbelieving (and potentially evil) teachers, Evil of Dracula flips that on its head. Here it’s the adults who are quick to believe the notion of vampires hidden among us, whereas the students generally see a vampire bite victim as someone with a bad case of the flu. The school’s doctor (Cops vs Thugs’ Kunie Tanaka) takes Shiraki on a mystery tour around town, telling him the story of the principal’s dead wife and also about the Christian missionary who became a vampire before being buried here 200 years ago. Strangely, the town doesn’t pick up its trash and nobody seems at all bothered by this. The car wreck that claimed the principal’s wife still sits on the side of the road and the coffin which previously held the vampire Christian is left unburied in the old cemetery. When Shiraki opens the coffin and expresses surprise that it’s empty it’s like well no shit it’s empty, it’s been left rotting in the grass for 200 years and Kunie Tanaka probably takes every out-of-towner he meets to come look at it, dude.
Shin Kishida is back playing the vampire in a white scarf previously seen in Lake of Dracula. There appears to be no connection between the two movies beyond him playing a similar vampire, though, and no mention is made of the events of the previous film. Though the vampires have more of a villainous plot this time around, they come across as less threatening than before. Yamamoto doesn’t set up the scenes with slow reveals of fangs and danger. From the first act onward, the vampires are an accepted presence in the film’s world and when they multiply it’s no real surprise. Perhaps it’s also about the way they attack their victims. Yes, there’s biting, but more often the vampires just push people around in a back-and-forth shoving match while rolling around in leaves and set furniture. Also, regarding the biting, the vampires curiously miss the throats of their female victims and accidentally bite them on the bosoms instead. There is considerably more nipple action in the third film of the trilogy.
Compared to the first two Bloodthirsty films, Evil of Dracula seems to have spent more getting a cast of recognizable faces in front of the cameras. Toshio Kurosawa makes for a likable intellectual hero and I enjoyed Kunie Tanaka’s supporting role. The relatively unknown actresses playing the students are fine but their parts are so interchangeable and unmemorable that it’s difficult to keep the characters straight, let alone care about them. Shin Kishida gives another spirited performance as the vampire principal. Toho regulars Yunosuke Ito (Sanjuro) and Katsuhiko Sasaki (Terror of Mechagodzilla) provide strong work in supporting roles.
There’s something halfhearted about the final film of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy compared to the genre creativity seen in the first two movies. All the same, it is a fun, campy time. There is one shocking scene towards the end – these films tend to keep their most extreme stuff for the final act – that is super surreal and disturbing, involving some very bloody surgery. One wishes the entire movie had been so willing to shock and disturb.
The Bloodthirsty Trilogy is a trio of films that, as a longtime fan of Toho’s science fiction and fantasy movies, I have always wanted to see. And now after watching them all, I can say I don’t consider any one of the movies to be a disappointment. In fact, for as much as they are touted as Hammer-inspired horror, I really think they manage to escape the Hammer shadow and stand on their own as a trio of interesting, weird movies. One wishes that Michio Yamamoto had directed more films in his life, if these three are any indication of his talents. For Toho and Japanese cinema at large, the trilogy exists more as an oddity today, but it is definitely an entertaining oddity. The new Blu-rays from Arrow present the films with more care than I frankly ever expected to see in the West. Included on the disc is a new appreciation from author Kim Newman. Also included is a roughly 25-page booklet with writing by Jasper Sharp. Evil of Dracula is easily my least favorite of the trilogy, but I still enjoyed it and would definitely recommend the trilogy to curious viewers.
Disclaimer: cityonfire.com does not own any of the photos contained in the blog. cityonfire.com was made merely to pay homage to these films, directors, talent, etc. and not for any profit or commercial reasons. No copyright infringement intended. The photos are copyrighted and courtesy by their respective owners.
cityonfire.com is a non-profit website for the private use and entertainment and/or parody purposes.
"Copyright Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statue that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, education or personal use tops the balance in favor of fair use."
Be the 1st to Comment