The Warrior's Way

Wow! Looks great!

Asian director and lead! Debut director too, never heard of him!
How did he get such a budget!

Rain says No Thanks to Megan Fox

Source: Yahoo!

Hollywood Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen actress Megan Fox recently openly expressed her interest in Korean star Rain and also a desire to date the latter, who replied plainly to her invite, "I'm not interested."

According to media reports, Fox has spoke numerously about her admiration for Rain while on the movie promotional tour.

And that was not just a comment made by Fox; she has indeed extended a dinner date to Rain through her manager but was rejected by the Korean star who was "not interested".

Yet, the rejection did not wound her pride and ironically, it has built up stronger interest of Rain in Fox who recently criticized the comparison of herself to Angelina Jolie.

According to reports, Fox loves such challenges and has no plans to give up. She would continue extending her invite to Rain, hoping that he would agree to meet up someday.

Sounds a bit fishy. I believe the part where Rain is not interested. But the part where Fox loves a challenge and won't give up? I think she's got other things to worry about right now.

But Megan Fox is so stupid to fall for a Rain quote. Asian male artists say this all the time. "Oh I think Song Hye Kyo is my ideal wife" or "I think Charlene Choi is so cute and my dream girl". Doesn't mean the girls go running to him cause they will look like fools. And it makes their fans jealous and want them more.

That's the subtle Asian way :)

Megan Fox Wows Tokyo at Transformers Premiere

ME! ME! ME! Over Here! A picture please!!

Source: The Daily Mail

The Japanese love American celebrities and movie premieres. It was no surprise that that came to see Megan Fox at the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Tokyo

When sharing a red carpet with a 16ft robot, Megan Fox knew she'd have to go the extra mile to get attention.

The actress guaranteed she made a maximum impact at the world premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Tokyo with a striking figure-hugging purple gown.

Taking a style tip from seasoned red carpet veteran Liz Hurley, Megan showed off her fabulous legs in a slashed-to-the-thigh satin Donna Karan gown.

The 23-year-old beauty joined co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Isabel Lucas, Josh Duhamel, Ramon Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson at the Toho cinema in Roppongi Hills for the first screening of the sequel to the 2007 blockbuster.

Hundred of Japanese fans queued for hours to see their idols, while only a lucky few managed to see the eagerly-anticipated film.

.....more

First Ninja Assassin Poster

Source: Movieweb

Raizo (Rain) is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them...and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive...and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

Looks very cool! I'll have to check it out when the movie comes out in November.

ABC gives Zhang Ziyi the creeps

It's -35C behind these bars!

Source: Yahoo

Improvements have been observed in the English standard of Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi since she started dating Israeli boyfriend Vivi Nevo. However, an entire page of English script brings her nightmares.

The Horsemen, which will be opening in Hong Kong cinemas soon, is Zhang's third Hollywood film after Rush Hour 2 and Geisha. As opposed to the previous two films in which she acted as Chinese ladies adopted by American families and was not required to speak lengthy English, it is a great challenge for her this time round.

She said, "After all, English is not my mother tongue and I had many lines in this film. I had nightmares almost every night when I practiced with my teacher daily for three months. I suffered from psychasthenia (a psychological disorder characterized by fear, obsession, compulsions and anxiety)."

The Horsemen was shot in Winnipeg, Canada, during the coldest time of the year in the country when temperature was at -35 degrees Celsius.

"It felt like working in a freezer. We had to wear several layers of clothes to keep warm. In the scene where Dennis Quaid (the male lead) was chatting with me in the park, we were so cold that we couldn't even speak our lines properly. It was also hard to have any facial expressions. When I cried, the teardrops immediately froze to become ice."

Oh come on. Teardrops immediately froze to become ice? It's not THAT cold. I'm sure if a guy in Winnipeg goes out in -40C and pees, his urine won't freeze before it hits the ground. That's how we get yellow snow!

Here's the trailer for The Horsemen


Youtube Link

Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled

Source: Yahoo!

Action star Jackie Chan said Saturday he's not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he's starting to think "we Chinese need to be controlled."

Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China's southern island province of Hainan.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said. "I'm really confused now. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic."

Chan added: "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

The kung fu star has not been a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement in his hometown of Hong Kong. Since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, voters have not been allowed to directly elect their leader. Several massive street protests have been held to demand full democracy, but Beijing has repeatedly said Hong Kong isn't ready for it.

The theme at Saturday's panel discussion was "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," and Chan had several opinions about innovation in China.

He said that early in his career, he lived in the shadow of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. He said that during his first foray into Hollywood, he struggled to establish his own identity, so he returned to Hong Kong. After spending 15 years building his reputation in Asia, Chan finally got rediscovered by Hollywood, he said.

Chan said the problem with Chinese youth is that "they like other people's things. They don't like their own things." Young people need to spend more time developing their own style, he added.

The action hero complained that Chinese goods still have too many quality problems. He became emotional when discussing contaminated milk powder that sickened tens of thousands of Chinese babies in the past year.

Speaking fast with his voice rising, Chan said, "If I need to buy a TV, I'll definitely buy a Japanese TV. A Chinese TV might explode."

Pretty disgraceful. For all that Hong Kong, Australia and Hollywood has done for him, he's totally gone for China and become a goverment pawn now.

For a person who's been all over the world, he should be bringing all the good of the world to China. But noooooooo, he continues the government rhetoric and fears that the chinese would be crazy and out of control.

Hollywood really shouldn't hire him for anymore crap movies.

Edit: There is now some backlash.

Hollywood Grabs Ninja Scroll & Full Metal Panic

Source: comicbookmovie.com

Two major anime titles, Ninja Scroll and Full Metal Panic, are set for live action adaptations and are nearing pre-production.

Ninja Scroll is to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio (and Warner Brothers) headed company Appian Ways, whilst Mandalay Pictures has acquired the rights to Full Metal Panic.

Reports suggest DiCaprio is considering casting famous male group SMAP as the leads in the live action Ninja Scroll. He is said to be intent to “cast with Japanese people” in the adaptation, which he acquired the rights to last year.

Appian Ways also holds the rights for another legendary anime movie, Akira, though no details on this were given.

DiCaprio, said to be a great fan of both movies, has stated that filming won’t start until everyone involved is satisfied with the script.

SMAP’s agency was not forthcoming in a recent statement to Nikkan Sports: “We have nothing to say yet, but if it does come true, we would certainly like to talk about it further.”

Additionally, news that Mandalay Pictures has successfully acquired the rights to a live action adaptation of the Full Metal Panic! series also surfaced.

In what could be the the news that makes or breaks the movie, actor Zac Efron is apparently set to play Japanese born (but Afghan raised) lead Sousuke Sagara.

It is not clear whether the character will be changed to fit the casting of a non-Japanese actor, but this seems far from improbable

All this anime turning into live action. Very difficult to be successful. One reason is because of trying to fit the story into a Hollywood script (basically you're trying to shrink hundreds of episodes into two hours). Another reason is that you have to spend time on intro for new viewers which will not make the diehards happy.

I always wondered why comic books can be successfully made into live-action movies but anime/manga cannot? It is because of the images? Are anime images not transferable to the big screen?

What do you guys think?

Hugh Jackman on Japanese TV

Wasn't Hugh Jackman just hosting the Oscars? How'd he get to Japan so fast?


Youtube Link

He really knows how to improvise and is always having such a good time!

Cowboy Bebop Live-Action Movie

Source: MTV

It’s no secret that Keanu Reeves loves anime – a main influence on the “Matrix” series. It’s also common knowledge that the actor holds a place in his heart for sci-fi, as evidenced by films like “A Scanner Darkly,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and the currently-tops-in-theaters “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” It’s no surprise, then, that Reeves’ latest passion project revolves around his desire to make a live-action “Cowboy Bebop.”

“Oh yeah, cool,” he said when I asked him about the flick recently. “We’re trying to do that.”

As fans of the Japanese classic TV series know, “Bebop” follows a crew of bounty hunters traveling around the universe in the year 2071. Reeves hopes to play Spike Spiegel, one of these futuristic cowboys forced to pick up the slack after a population crash and hyperspace gateways have left law-enforcement unable to capture many of the galaxy’s most ruthless criminals.

I'm not a big anime fan so I don't know much about Cowboy Bebop. I know it's extremely popular and considered one of the best series ever made. I'll have to defer to all the experts for an opinion of how good you think the live-action movie by Keanu will be.