Pangs’ Remake Dangerous

The first film by the incomparable Pang Brothers was the gritty 1999 thriller Bangkok Dangerous. The film won an award at the Toronto International Film Festival and sent the Pangs on their way to bigger and better things including the horror hit The Eye.Recently, the Pangs decided to enter the re-make game by using the same storyline of the 1999 Dangerous to film a new version staring Nicholas Cage. I guess the Pangs figured that casting the balding, squinting Cage and putting him opposite a girl with more sex appeal than the one in the original film would be the way to Hollywood’s hearts and wallets.Here’s the trailer of the 1999 version of Bangkok Dangerous.Will the new film work? Honestly, the Pangs are long overdo to cash in on some of the success they have had in the past. Still, the original was so well done that it seems a shame. In the 1999 film, Pawalit Mongkolpisit played the lead character, a deaf hitman who starts to feel guilty for his past deeds. His chemistry with the Pang’s story and camera work was what made the film stand out. Can Danny and Oxide duplicate that chemistry with Cage. It seems unlikely, but I am pulling for them, or at least, pulling for a big box office showing that will open some doors in Hollywood.

A 3×5 Piece of Hong Kong’s Movie Heaven

Here is some proof that the world is not completely digitalized:Hong Kong, a city of a mere 6 million, is home to one of Asia’s biggest entertainment industries. It’s movie and pop starts are recognized throughout East Asia, and known, if not by name, by face in the west.In a small shop in Hong Kong, a man named Hung Chiu Chung offers fans and curiosity seekers a tangible piece of Hong Kong’s glitz. A story in Hong Kong’s BC Magazine illuminates a bit of the shop’s history and the massive amount of photos Hung still has:

It is no exaggeration to say Hung owns tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of photographic negatives and prints of a multitude of entertainment personalities, including Cantopop Sky King and TVB actor-turned-movie-star Andy Lau, the shop’s undisputed top seller over the years.

Despite a decline in business recently, Hung regularily welcomes Hong Kong film aficionados into his shop and hopes that, though his customers are fewer, the rapport that he has with them will keep him in the collectables business.However, that is easier said than done. Hong Kong’s soap operas now run up against soaps from Japan, South Korea, and even mainland China. Though they are dubbed, the bigger budgeted imports are extremely popular. Great film directors like John Woo, and Tsui Hark have long since immigrated to Hollywood. The man who defined Hong Kong’s new wave, Wong Kar Wei, also seems poised to make the jump across the Pacific. When his American studio films, My Blueberry Nights and The Lady From Shanghai, come out next year, it will all but signal the end of Hong Kong’s TV and film glory days.But perhaps not the end of Hung Chiu Chung’s business. He is convinced that Hong Kong’s movie industry has reached people regionally and internationally, and that these people still want a tangible reminder of Hong Kong’s star power.

“Although very small, Hong Kong has produced a lot of famous films and people. That’s why I have customers from so many parts of the world.”

I Am Legend

Richard Matheson’s book, I Am Legend, is not the vampire yarn it is often billed as. It is written with more skill than the average horror story. In fact, it is more of a story of survival than anything else.

Here’s to hoping that the film version of the book, set for release in mid-December, will not trade Matheson’s psychological thrills for a higher special effects scare factor. From the trailer, it seems like the celluloid Legend will stay true to the book.

This appears to be a good role for Will Smith. Since I was a teenager when he was doing sitcoms and releasing rap albums, I’ll always think of him as The Fresh Prince, but he has carried his stardom well. I almost trust that he wouldn’t have agreed to act in Legend if it wasn’t going to be a quality production of Matheson’s story. (Then I remember Bad Boys II, and I decide not to get my hopes up).

Still, it looks like it could be a big hit. Former music video director Francis Lawrence directs.

David Mamet Surprises Us Again

David Mamet does what he wants. That much is obvious. The writer has moved his work from the stage and the indie house to TV and, yes, now to the world of mixed martial arts.

Mamet was the creator of the TV series The Unit. The show is now entering its second season and seems to be doing well. It boasts the occasional Mamet inspired high context dialogue, and an interesting “current events” kind of feel. (Still, I keep wondering when the Allstate guy had time to become sucha highly trained and finely tuned killing machine).

Back to Redbelt. According to the The Internet Movie Database, the movie’s cast will include comedian Tim Allen. What? Yes, I heard myself right, Tim Allen of Home Improvement fame.
Ok, so Redbelt promises to be one of the more interesting things to cross the silver screen next year. At least Mamet will be writing the script. It seems that Mamet is trying to become, What? More relevant? A kind of artist-cum-journalist trying to capture the gritty aspects of modern culture and out current world?

If anyone can produce a film about Ultimate Fighting and make it interesting to those of us who aren’t rednecks, Mamet can.

Lady From Shanghai

I will stay with yesterday’s theme of remakes to highlight another upcoming film. Hong Kong indie film superstar Wong Kar Wei is at the helm of The Lady from Shanghai. The film will star Nicole Kidman and Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman. Orson Wells shot the original film in the 1940s. The difference between Lady from Shanghai and the remake of Bangkok Dangerous is that Wong Kar Wei has always proven himself to be outside of the usual commercial pressures put on directors by studios. His early projects were shot without scripts and were marked by their dark-yet-intimate feel. Wong fans will have to wait until next year to find out if the director can carry the magic of his earlier films (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love) with a studio breathing down his neck. Something tells me Wong would not have signed on to do Lady from Shanghai if he were not given a certain amount of control over the filming.

The Outspoken Kim Ki-duk

Art-house powerhouse Kim Ki-duk is known for his thought provoking, oddly plotted films. Dialogue is sparsely used, especially by the protagonists. This creates Kim’s trademark, atmospheric, sometime slow-paced stories.Kim’s most well known film is probably Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring… a tale which follows the life of a young apprentice monk as he learns life’s lessons the hard way. This film is typical, with actions used in lieu of dialogue. The entire film takes palce in and around a small floating monastery.Kim is much more successful abroad than in his home of South Korea. In fact, recent comments he made during an interview more or less criticized Korean film audiences for their lack of, well, brains. Perhaps he said the statements out of bitterness stemming from his lack fame in his native land. Perhaps he is partially right. South Korea is the land of candy-pop, soap operas, and bland flicks aimed more at box office success than anything else. Kim apologized, kind of, in an email to several media outlets.Kim will continue to make films. His latest, Time, will be opening soon in France, a country where he has enjoyed success. He has a dozen films already released on DVD in the US and Europe.

No Country for Old Men Trailer

When I saw this trailer, I was both excited and apprehensive.Excited because I had recently read Cormac MacCarthy’s novel on which the film is based. For once a worthwhile story is being filmed. McCarthy has had a long career, at times punctuated with bouts of poverty and obscurity. I’m sure he’s getting a decent-sized check for the rights to the story, as well as the notoriety that comes from having your book made into a film (McCarthy is known to be a private man, so perhaps the notoriety is something others want for him more than he wants for himself.However, I admit a little apprehension when it comes to the filmmakers. The Coen Brothers are known for offbeat film like the ultra-violent Fargo and riotous Oh Brother Where Art Thou? How will the treat the subtle insights into humanity that make McCarthy’s stories so excellent? I guess this is the problem people have whenever one of their favorite books gets translated to celluloid.To be fair, from the trailer it looks like the Coens have kept many of the books details. This is a chance for them to resuscitate careers that seem a bit lifeless since Oh Brother Where Art Thou?I like McCarthy’s books; I like the Coens’ films. I don’t see these two matching up very well, but I hope to be surprised.