by Dan Persons

Come to scenic, Mars-based Neo-Venezia, where beautiful, female gondoliers paddle… gondolas and… look beautiful. That’s essentially the gist of the trailer you’ll find here, promoting Rightstuf’s upcoming release of ARIA THE ANIMATION (click the tabs at the left to start the video). Sure looks pretty, in any case.

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 It was a good weekend for cinefantastique at the box office. If you are only a bit liberal with the definitions of fantasy and science fiction, nine of the Top Ten films fell into the genres. If not for KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL at #8 (which pushed INCREDIBLE HULK down to #11), genre films could have gone ten for ten.

HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY climbed out of the pit and scaled its way to box office paradise. The superhero fantasy from writer-director Guillermo Del Toro opened in 3,204 North American theatres, wehre it earned an estimated$35.89-million. That was considerably higher than the first HELLBOY managed on its opening weekend in April of 2004 ($23.17-million), indicating that the franchise has expanded its appeal, thanks to people who saw the first film on television and/or home video.

Last week’s first place winner HANCOCK fell - but not by much - in its second weekend, landing at #2. The superhero comedy starring Will Smith added $33.00-million to its two-week total of $165.03-million.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH dug its way into third place. The 3D version fantasy-adventure remake of Jules Verne’s novel opened in 2,8111 hteatres, earning a so-so $20.58-million. Expect a sharp decline next weekend, followed by a slide into the depths of home video.

WALL-E, the cute little robot, showed more legs at the box office than he did on screen, rolling into fourth place on its third week of release - down from second place. With $18.51-million in ticket sales, the film raised its total to $162.77-million.

WANTED also remained reasonably strong with a $11.59-million weekend, blasting its way from #3 to #5. After three weeks the total stands at $112.05-million.

GET SMART also stayed near the top of the class, seating itself in sixth place (down two from the previous session). The $7.11-million weekend raised the four-week total to $111.47-million.

MEET DAVE was not warmly welcomed by the public. The alleged sci-fi comedy starring Eddie Murphy made its debut in 3,011 theatres, earning only $5.3-million - landing in seventh place. Don’t expect word-of-mouth to save this one.

KUNG FU PANDA dropped three slots into eight position, kicking its way to $4.3-million. After six weeks, the total earnings are $202.04-million.

Rounding out the Top Ten was INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, which went from #7 to #10 with $2.25-million. The eight-week total of $310.48-million is still a shade behind the $311.71-million of IRON MAN.

Dropping out of the Top Ten was THE INCREDIBLE HULK, which smashed its way from #6 to #11. The fifth weekend in theatres netted $2.23-million, for a total of $129.82-million. At this rate, the sequel should just about match the U.S. total of its predecessor, HULK, which earned $132.12-million in American theatres.

Read the complete Top Ten here.

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Director Yimou Zhang’s follow-up to HERO (2002) is another high-class, artsy interpretation of the martial arts genre. Like its predecessor (and like CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS takes ideas and elements seen in dozens of Hong Kong, Cantonese-language movies and synthesizes them into an elegant, beautiful piece of film-making. The studied, artistic affectations may prevent this Mandarin-language art house effort from being as kinetically potent as the films it emulates, but it more than compensates by offering up deeply felt emotions played out on a grand scale more than adequate to match the flashy visuals.

Near the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the Chinese Emperor weak and corrupt, a secret society known as the House of Flying Daggers gains popular support Continue Reading »

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HERO is one of the best films of its kind and one of the most beautiful films ever made. A martial arts costume epic, the film’s storyline edges closer to legend than history, and its displays of impossible fighting skill (swordsmen running on water, bouncing off treetops, floating through the air) pushes it into outright fantasy territory. The closest point of comparison for most American audiences will, of course, be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but HERO may be an even finer achievement. Its plot may not have the same broad appeal (although it too includes a love story), but HERO director Zhang Yimou stages every scene with a grandeur and beauty beyond the relatively mild approach of Ang Lee. Continue Reading »

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In Part I of this chat with George Takei at the 2007 San Diego Asian Film, the actor talked with SDAFF founder and executive director Lee Ann Kim about his experience on STAR TREK and his relationship with Gene Roddenberry.  In Part II, he discussed lobbying for Captaincy in the STAR TREK movies, his memories of being forced to live in a Japanese internment camp during World War 2, why he came out of the closet, and his disdain toward Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush.  In Part III he reveals his satisfaction doing the William Shatner Roast on Comedy Central, how he got involved in THE HOWARD STERN SHOW and HEROES, and how he met Bruce Lee. As with the first two parts, rather than write this as an article, I felt that it would be more respectful to share Takei’s words using Q&A format so his nothing is taken out of context. Continue Reading »

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In Part I of an intimate interview with George Takei at the 2007 San Diego Asian Film Festival, SDAFF founder and executive director Lee Ann Kim asked George Takei about his experience on the original STAR TREK television show and his relationship with Gene Roddenberry.  In Part II, the actor discusses his ascension to captaincy in the movie series, his reasons for telling the media he is gay, and his political views on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush.

As previously mentioned, because of the touchy nature of the topics he chose to discuss, rather than write his quotes into an article, I felt that it would be more respectful to share Takei’s comments in Q&A format, so that his words are not taken out of context.

LEE ANN KIM:  Did you have to do any lobbying in order to try go up the ranks on the Enterprise over the years?

GEORGE TAKEI:  We had seven regular actors and two battling for supremacy. Bill Shatner was the ostensible star of the series, but once the series was on the air, Leonard Nimoy had more fan letters than any of us, including Bill Shatner.  And Bill got very insecure.  So there was a battle royale going on and they were lobbying for their characters and when you have the two leads in a series trying to get as much time as possible, it was difficult for the rest of us to get to say more than just, “Aye aye, sir,” and, “Warp 3.” Continue Reading »

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It’s been a while since the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF, which I wrote about here and here) and it’s given me time to digest all that was wild, woolly, cool, creepy, sad, mad, angry and far out.  At the end of the day, George Takei’s appearance was the one event that encompassed all these emotions as he revealed more about his life and career from the aspect of being a Japanese-American actor living and working in Hollywood than with his run-of-the-mill appearances at STAR TREK conventions.  When was the last time he spoke about being gay and the angst that goes with that to Trekie fans?  Never. 

Lee Ann Kim (LAK), an anchor for KGTV (San Diego’s ABC TV affiliate) and the executive director of the San Diego Film Foundation invited me to be the SDAFF’s official blogger and arranged for me to be present during Takie’s interview.  Armed with a tape recorder and camera, I had front row seat furor and witnessed this event first-hand, which was simulcast over the Internet to millions of Takei fans worldwide.  The buzz had the electrified fans whirring all over the world, watching Kim ask the actor about his newly named cosmic namesake, whichprompted him to blurt, “Oh, my - I am now a heavenly body.” I am of course referring to the asteroid formerly known as “1994 GT9” that has been renamed “7307 Takei” in honor of the actor.  All of us that were squeezed into Theater 6, sat around like little children with wide-eyed wonder hanging on every word that Takei was willing to share…and share he did. Continue Reading »

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THE EYE (based on the 2002 film by the Pang Brothers) is the lastest in a series of remakes inspired by horror films from Japan, Korea, and China. American audiences first became aware of this trend in 2002, when THE RING (a remake of Japan’s 1998 gem RING) was released to blockbuster success - nearly $130-million at the U.S. box office alone. This led to THE GRUDGE two years later (based on JU-ON: THE GRUDGE), which was almost as big a success as THE RING, earning in excess of $110-million on American screens. Of course, this kind of success inspires repetition, and it seems as if American cinema has been drowning in remakes of Asian horror films ever since (a fact spoofed in the tagline for HATCHET, which proclaimed, “It’s not a sequel, it’s not a remake, and it’s not based on a Japanese one”).

As one might expect from a trend based entirely on mercenary motives, the critical reaction has been mostly negative. After all, few of these films cry out to be remade; most of the originals are superior; and the main stumbling block to U.S. distribution is the language barrier (American audiences do not like to read subtitles, and dubbing often sounds silly). American filmmakers look to Asia less for inspiration than for ready-made templates that can be used to punch out duplicates; besides language and loctation, the major “improvements” usually consist of pumping up the pacing with a few more jump-scares and enhancing the special effects with computer-generated imagery.

What is perhaps a little more surprising in the face of the on-going trend is that, since THE GRUDGE, none of these films has become a blockbuster. In 2005, THE RING 2 topped out at $76-million; a year later, THE GRUDGE 2 fared even worse, falling shy of the $40-million mark. At this point, an Asian-inspired horror film that could crack $30-million would be an anamoly, yet Hollywood keeps churning them out ( apparently the rational is that the film can still be profitable because they can be made cheaply).

This is a sad statement about the lack of originality in the American horror genre. One can hardly blame filmmakers for chasing after the big bucks, but when it becomes an accounting game (”After  tallying in DVD sales and ancillary markets, we’re out of the red”), one has to wonder how the mercenary motivation can be strong enough to justify the continuing artistic hackery.

With this preamble in mind, below the fold we offer a rundown of remakes and spin-offs inspired by great Asian horror films. We had originally considered calling this a “Best of” list, until the absurdity of using “best” in this context reduced us to gales of derisive laughter. Read on, if you dare… Continue Reading »

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Finally, after a freaky week of fires, evacuations and bright red skies at night, things are settling down in San Diego, and so it is with great joy that my mind has settled and I can fill everybody in on what turned out to be the first film festival that I have ever attended. How appropriate is it for me (an Asian film fan, gladly boasting a video collection of over 3300 Chinese martial arts films - almost half of them on betamax) that my first festival was the 2007 SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL. It was also an honor to have the festival ask me to be an official blogger, providing me with a press pass, and of course now that I live in San Diego, I was there 8 days out of the week and took in about 24 films.  As they say in mandarin Chinese, “Hao” (good).  Continue Reading »

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If you are a major fan of Asian films like me, then perhaps that buzz you hear behind you is not a swarm of bees filled with the rage of alarm pheromone fury chasing you, but the electric, eclectic fizzing sibilation of the fast approaching 2007, San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF), which will be held in San Diego, October 11th - 18th.

Although Asia’s most successful genre is martial arts, over the past 10 years, one could argue that macabre Japanese, Korean and even Thai horror movies have now slithered, oozed and floated into the American consciousness. Then of course there is a consistent hypnotized fan base in the U.S. that have been sucked into the freaky world of Japanese anime, something tht (you may not have realized) subliminally began when you were a kid watching KIMBA THE WHITE LION or ASTROBOY. Continue Reading »

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