A quick holiday note to let people know that MAD DETECTIVE has an official US release date from IFC First Take.

June 25, 2008.

Have a happy holiday!

(And a happy non-denominational holiday to the sharp-eyed reader who sent this in!)

Kaiju Shakedown is going to get its oil changed, its gears lubed and its pores cleansed. Also, all the discolorations and filth that have accumulated on its soul will be bleached out and chipped away. This process will take some time and so this blog will be on hiatus until January 3rd when it will burst out of its cocoon and leap onto your shoulders, screaming, "Boogita Boogita!"

Have a happy holiday everyone, drink a holiday-themed cocktail for Kaiju Shakedown and worship your winter gods of choice in a safe, non-denominational, non-offensive and non-threatening manner. And many, many thanks to all the commenters, sharp-eyed readers, translators, gossip-hounds and lurking readers who make this blog what it is. Without you *sniff* we're nothing.

Ten years ago, in 1997, the Western press caught handover fever. "Tanks will roll in the streets!" "The PLA will storm Hong Kong and kill everyone they see!" "There will be no more freedom!" Then the handover happened, nothing changed and everyone went away. Now, the Hong Kong film industry is going strong. There have been economic ups and downs, the production bubble has burst, and there are less films being made than ever but 2007 has presented a grab bag of good and bad movies from the HKSAR, exactly the way it should be. Also, as a bonus, the Hong Kong government has finally put together a plan that might actually pump some cash into the local film industry after years of stumbling around in the dark.

2007 was the first year since 1995 that two Category III movies broke the HK$10 million barrier at the box office: MAD DETECTIVE and LUST, CAUTION.

Johnnie To and Milkyway Image had a great year, releasing TRIANGLE, MAD DETECTIVE, EYE IN THE SKY and HOOKED ON YOU - all of them movies that are worth your time, even if HOOKED ON YOU and TRIANGLE are slightly uneven. Overseas, Johnnie To had a great year with the theatrical release of ELECTION and ELECTION 2 and EXILED, all receiving great critical acclaim if only so-so box office. Magnolia picked up TRIANGLE and IFC First Take picked up MAD DETECTIVE. And reports have it that a steady stream of Western A-list talent has been visiting To in Hong Kong regarding a major upcoming project. Add to that the director's promise that pickpocket movie THE SPARROW will finally be finished and the January release of his romance, LINGER, and it's been a great year to be Johnnie To.

Stephen Chow finally finished another movie. It's getting released in 2008, but let's be happy that 2007 was the year he birthed sci-fi comedy, CJ7. And along those same lines, 2007 was the year that Sylvia Chang finished her new movie, RUN PAPA RUN, that looks to come out in early 2008.

Pang Ho-cheung released two excellent movies in 2007. His dark, dark, dark men vs. women comedy EXODUS and in December the multi-part TRIVIAL MATTERS came out, which sports one of the best trailers of the year.

Hong Kong co-produced several well-regarded flicks including the Peter Chan-directed Jet Li/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Andy Lau martial epic, THE WARLORDS (which beat the well-nigh-unbeatable I AM LEGEND at the box office on opening weekend), Media Asia co-produced war flick THE ASSEMBLY and Emperor produced the intriguing and flummoxing THE SUN ALSO RISES featuring a great big meaty role for everyone's favorite actor, Anthony Wong.

And there was a slew of movies released that may not have been classics but all had something to recommend them. Herman Yau got all bloody again with GONG TAU, Soi Cheang turned in a very stylish SHAMO, newbie movies THE PYE DOG and MR. CINEMA were both worth watching, as was MAGIC BOY, even if none of them was a timeless masterpiece, Derek Yee directed a forgettable PROTEGE except for a riveting 20 minute set-piece that took place in a drug lab that was so adrenalized the rest of the movie felt like thin gruel, FLASHPOINT was a terrible film with some absolutely jaw-dropping action and even THE DRUMMER turned out to be not-all-bad with a terrific performance from Tony Leung Kar-fai.

And so, Hong Kong, for all these reasons and more, ten years after the handover, you're the Winner of the Year!

I love Thailand. I love Thai food. I love Bangkok. I love Thai directors like Wisit Sasanatieng. I love Thai action stars like Tony Jaa. I love Thai comedians like Mum Jokmok. But Thailand has spent 2007 screwing over its film industry, ravaging it from top to bottom.

First there was the flap over SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's artfilm commissioned for the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. It's not my particular cup of tea, being very slow and full of artistic value, but it was a labor of love and was very well received by audiences and critics around the world. But it wasn't shown in Thailand because the Thai Censorship Board wanted cuts made of objectionable scenes: two doctors kissing, some Buddhist monks playing with a UFO toy and playing the guitar. Apichatpong refused to make the cuts and the movie was withheld. In an interview, he said:

"I, as a filmmaker, treat my works as I do my own sons or daughters. I don't care if people are fond of them or despise them, as long as I created them with my best intentions and efforts. If these offspring of mine cannot live in their own country for whatever reason, let them be free. There is no reason to mutilate them in fear of the system. Otherwise there is no reason for one to continue making art."

Then came the Film and Video Act. While it does give Thailand a ratings system, which is a good thing, it also allows the government to ban films that it doesn't like, it forces filmmakers to get government permission before sending their films to foreign film festivals and it creates a ratings category that prohibits anyone under the age of 24 from seeing certain movies. Thai filmmakers and artists protested, but to no avail. The Act is all set to become law.

Finally, in December, the Bangkok International Film Festival exploded like a cash-stuffed pinata when the FBI arrested its two heads, Gerald and Patricia Green, for bribing the Tourism Authority of Thailand to the tune of $1.7 million in order to receive contracts worth over $10 million from the Thai government. You can read the list of charges and the affadavit from the FBI agent who made the case here, and it is disgusting. People have questioned the relevancy of the Bangkok International Film Festival, they've campaigned for films in the fest to be presented with Thai subtitles, they've been forced to treat the BIFF as a legit international film festival and all along the joke has been on them.

Why is this so appalling? Because the history of Thai film is disappearing but the National Film Archive of Thailand has an annual budget of roughly $70,000 to save it. Because the average Thai movie has a budget of $1 - $2 million and assembling financing is so tough that Thailand's most talented directors spend more time securing investments than making movies. Because 20 million Thai people, a third of the population, lives on just under $2 a day. And in the face of all this, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, some corrupt officials, and a company in Los Angeles set up a film festival that served no other purpose than to steal $10 million from Thailand's public coffers. As a film fan and, frankly, as a human being, I feel pretty comfortable saying that if they're found guilty I hope the Greens, the confidential witnesses who participated in the scam for years before suddenly deciding to testify against their bosses (and anyone who knows the festival can pretty much figure out who they are) and the TAT officials who participated in this theft are forced to watch YEN PE LE SEMAKUT on a loop until their brains turn to jelly.

Because of all this, and because the government won't stop the hundreds of bad horror movies the production companies turn out every year, Thailand is the loser of 2007.

(More on the SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY)

(More on the Film and Video Act)

(More on the Bangkok International Film Festival scandal)

EastSouthWestNorth has translated and posted "The Top 'Jokes' in China 2007 " originally posted on Tianya by a user named Laome2018. They're not really jokes, but...well, maybe it's better if ESWN explains, "These jokes are not funny at all; in fact, they are solemn and dismal. But these are extraordinary times in China. If you can't laugh at them, then life is really grim." Or, as another poster says, "If there is something that you don't understand, just remember that this is China and you will understand!"

The full list, with helpful links to the original stories, can be found over on EastSouthWestNorth, but here're some of the highlights:

#17. The tea has an 'infection'

Actors: Reporter, doctors

Story: A Hangzhou reporter used tea as his urine sample and asked 10 hospitals to analyze it. Six of the hospitals determined that he had an infection, and five of them prescribed medicine worth about 1,300 yuan in total. The Sanjia Hospital later determined that 90% of the tests on tea should be false positive and this supposedly showed that the problem was not with the hospitals. Ministry of Health spokesperson Mao Junan criticized the media for violating the professional code of conduct in journalism.

#10. "Do not wash that hand!"

Actor: Huang Jinlian, principal of the Special Education School in Sanming city, Fujian province

Story: "If you get the chance to shake the hand of the Central Government leader, please do not wash it. When you get back and shake hands with the students, it would be as if they were shaking the hand of the Central Government leader." On October 17, 2007, while attending the 17th Party Congress, principal Huang said that such was the request from his students.

#7. Greening by paint job

Actor: Fumin county, Kunming city, Yunnan province

Story: On February 13, 2007, the media reported that "Fumin county painted a barren hill with paint as a greening project." There was an abandoned stone quarry in Fumin county for which the locals have petitioned the relevant department to re-plant. The Forestry Department planted some pine trees but the results were undistinguished. In July 2006, a private entrepreneur in Fumin county filed a report with the Forestry Department and then painted the rocks in green.

Kunming Forestry Department cadre: "We only care about unauthorized tree-cutting within our monitored areas. We have no comment about the 'greening' incident."

 

I never met anyone who took the Bangkok International Film Festival seriously. It was an excuse for the well-connected industry folks to get flown to Bangkok, eat great food, do some shopping and go out with other people on the film festival circuit all on the Thai government's tab. (I was never invited. Can you tell I'm a little bitter about it?)

From beginning to end it was something of a joke, with few foreign films being subtitled in Thai for local viewers and a line-up usually consisting of leftovers from other fests. It was run by a company in Los Angeles called Festival Management who seemed only to exist to run the Bangkok International Film Festival and they never seemed to do a particularly good job of it. And yet, every year, the Thai government sunk millions of dollars into the fest.

Why?

Oh, right. Festival Management was allegedly paying them millions of dollars in bribes. (Read all about it here) And their two owners just got arrested for it.

(This isn't going to go away without a nice, big juicy trial.)

So who is Festival Management? What better way to learn about them than to let their own website do the talking.

“The success of your film festival begins with your strategy. At Festival Management, we excel in creating and executing strategies for film festivals.”

Strategy number one: According to the FBI affidavit that includes paying bribes. And  $1.7 million doesn't just fit in a small briefcase like you see in the movies. So, already it's clear that you need our team just to help figure out how to fit all that money into a set of bags and cases. Already we're creating and executing strategies for you!

“We specialize in the art of positioning your festival. We begin with a careful survey of the landscape and then create a strategy for success, whether it's a genre niche, marketing niche or new filmmakers from India.”

Genre niche? Marketing niche? New filmmakers from India niche? Got it. Okay, what else?

“Programming is an art not a science.”

Arts: underwater basket weaving, window treatments, programming a film festival.
Sciences: physics, math, other hard stuff.

Got it. Then what?

"When your festival needs complete programming or assistance in one area like finding new filmmakers in India, please contact Jennifer Stark."

Again with the new filmmakers from India?

"Festival Management supports film festivals with Special Events."

"The excitement of celebrities is the high-octane fuel of special events. Our access to Hollywood ensures that you can have the ideal celebrities at your special event."

Here's some of that high-octane fuel from past Bangkok International Film Festivals:

"Festival Management can lead your team, out front, or we can be behind the scenes to make certain your team gets all the attention. It's your choice."

Look at us! We're in front of your team!

 

Thanks, Festival Management! This week would have been so much more boring without you.

(For more coverage, go here)

(Or any of these links because everyone is covering it)

Twentieth Century Fox has reportedly just added Chow Yun-fat to the cast for their upcoming DRAGONBALL Z live action movie which is being produced by Stephen Chow (who says, "I only direct original movies composed by myself. This is my principle.") Directed by James Wong (FINAL DESTINATION 3, THE ONE) DRAGONBALL Z will see Chow Yun-fat take on the role of Goku's mentor, Master Roshi. Remember when Chow Yun-fat used to do this neat thing called acting? I imagine he's preparing for his role much in DRAGONBALL Z in much the same way Sir Ian McKellen prepared for his job playing Gandalf in THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

 
The resemblance is uncanny! 

In other casting news, the big budget GI JOE movie slated for 2009 and directed by Stephen Sommers (DEEP RISING - yay! VAN HELSING - boo!) has been slowly adding cast members, many of whom are in grades 1 - 5 assuming that they'll be the just about the right ages for their roles by the time this movie finally goes into production. The latest bit of casting tittle tattle is that Lee Byung-Hun (A BITTERSWEET LIFE - still unreleased in America; THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD - still in production) will be coming on board as the misunderstood, somewhat evil ninja, Storm Shadow.

 

Sylvia Chang is right up there with Josephine Siao Fong-fong in terms of Great Motion Picture Superheroines, and it's about time she had a new movie come out. RUN PAPA RUN stars Louis Koo as a triad boss who has a kid with a lawyer and decides that he's going to settle down and make it work. While some filmmakers would play this solely for laughs, Chang is going for a bigger and better lump-in-your-throat experience. She follows Koo's life, from young thug to old geezer, tracking his changing relationships with his mother, his wife and his daughter over the years. 

Produced by Jackie Chan, and directed by Chang, you can see a full-length, English-subtitled trailer here, or read more about the movie here. This is definitely worth getting excited about. And if you don't know who Sylvia Chang is then you should be ashamed of yourself. She's truly one of the world's great female filmmakers and you can read more about her over here (scroll down for her bio and photos).

(Thanks to the sharp-eyed reader who sent this in) 

Whatever happened to the American remake of Korea's hugely popular 2001 romantic comedy, MY SASSY GIRL? Originally announced in 2005 with director Gurinder Chadha attached, director Yann Samuell was officially attached to the project in May of 2006. The film started production in December of 2006 and on February 14, 2007 (awwww...) clips of the film being shot were televised but here we are in December of 2007 and there's still no release date. Star Elisha Cuthbert has done a full season of 24, two feature films, and signed on to a variety of other projects since MY SASSY GIRL was announced, but the official site still has the film listed as "In post-production" even though Cuthbert was telling the press back in June, 2007 that she was just then finishing up ADR (additional dialogue recording). So what happened to the movie? How much special effects work do you need in post-production for a romantic comedy with two main characters?

In the meantime, Japan has jumped on board (after years of fighting over the rights) with their own remake of MY SASSY GIRL. SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi is the male lead and Rena Tenaka is taking on Jeon Ji-Hyun's classic part. It's a television drama for TBS and it's set to air in April...probably long before the American remake hits theaters.

Malaysia and the Philippines have turned out their fair share of movies that drip with thick, delicious cheese. GAGAMBOY springs instantly to mind, as does its director's big budget fantasy film, EXODUS: TALES FROM THE ENCHANTED KINGDOM. Homemade costumes, Renaissance Faire combat, face paint, rubber monsters - it's all charming in an enthusiastically corny way. These films are cheese tributaries feeding into the great big river of processed dairy food running into an endless ocean of molten, melted cheese ruled from an undersea palace by Lordi.

Now, the wonderfully named Azizi Chunk is directing the campy Malaysian sci-fi/horror/fantasy film ANTOO FIGHTER. You can get a high quality trailer at their slow-loading site or watch it on the Youtube. Then read the plot description below and try to reconcile in your mind the Halloween-spook-house-quality foam rubber suits and bad CGI fun you saw in the trailer with this overloaded synopsis. The frission between the two is certain to produce weapons grade nonsense.

"A group of ghostly creatures from the past led by Drakulat Van Listerooy returns to the present time terrorizing and dominating the town after they had escaped from a group sworn to fight against evil spirits in the past. Drakulat and his sidekicks journey to Kuala Lumpur and conquered the KL Tower and made it their headquarters. There they began to destroy the city till it brought the whole nation to a dangerous state.

The main objective of Drakulat is actually to free Lord Sharon, satan's spawn, so they could conquer and destroy the whole world together. In order to make it all happen he needs to locate the chosen girl, Delyla, who carries the blood line of having extraordinary powers and becoming the perfect sacrificial victim to Lord Sharon and freeing him into the world. The presence of Drakulat's clan is felt by Pak Din (one of the last Antoo fighters in the late 50's). Antoo fighter is a top secret group consisting of 5 chosen people on earth to protect the world from evil spirits every 60 years."

Then let's paddle up the river of cheese to its source: the Philippines. A country whose film industry seems to have an entire sector devoted to extreme silliness is releasing RESIKLO or RECYCLE. You can go to their easy-to-use site and watch the trailer and then check out the plot synopsis:

”2021, the not too distant future. Global devastation has been brought about by an alien invasion has left the whole planet in chaos. In the Philippines, a rag-tag group of survivors strives to survive in a secret sanctuary called “Paraiso”. Crisval Sarmiento, an ex-military colonel, is the reluctant leader who defends the whole compound from two threats. That of the “Mutanos,” mutated humans serving the insect like alien race (aptly called “Balangs” by the humans) and the alien invaders themselves. Crisval, together with other human survivors soon discover the real reason that the “Balangs” have invaded the planet earth… the conversion of humans to serve their needs. In order to survive, they must go up against a technologically-advanced alien race using robots they have engineered from recycled parts of derelict everyday machines and military components."

Not only does the movie star Dingdong Dantes, but it also features Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. a Philippine Senator and movie star. This man has not only received a "Plaque of Recognition for Outstanding Achievements in the Anti-Drug Campaign" but he was voted "Mr. Philippine Movies" and "Most Popular Action Star" in 1988 by the readers of Extra Hot, Jingle Sensation, Jingle Songhits and TV Guide. The Philippines: can a country that's having this much fun be allowed to exist?

(Links via 24FramesperSecond)