Warlords

[GeneChing]

But I watched the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno show. Does that count?

Are there any green swords or gay cowboys in Lust Caution?

[doug maverick]

whats up with all the ang hate gene. lust has a great story and its a very original spy drama, about a women who joins an acting troupe, who are really a group of revoulationaries and hatch a plot to kill a japanese supporter during world war 2

official synopsis:

Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII underway, Wong has been left behind by her father, who has escaped to England. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism. As the theater troupes new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yees trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen) and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario proceeds as scripted until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in sight for the occupation, Wong having emigrated from Hong Kong goes through the motions of her existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit...

[GeneChing]

...I just think any discussion of Ang needs to include the Hulk. I was really hoping he would succeed with that film. It would have demonstrated an amazing virtuosity on his behalf.

Anyway, back OT...

Politics stall China and Taiwan's Oscar
Written by Patrick Frater & Clifford Coonan
Sunday, 07 October 2007

Selecting which film to submit for the foreign-language Oscar category has become part of the political quagmire engulfing China and Taiwan.

If indeed "The Knot" (for China) and "Lust, Caution" (Taiwan) emerge as the respective candidates, it won’t have been without plenty of twists.

At one stage it seemed as if China might have named Ang Lee’s "Lust, Caution" in a move to frustrate Taiwan — a territory that China regards as a rebel province, not a sovereign nation.

But, according to sources at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Taiwan's Government Information Office submitted "Lust" in time to meet the Oct. 1 deadline.

The same sources were unclear whether China had submitted a picture in time, but told Variety that they like to be "as flexible as possible."

Given the total shutdown of China for the Golden Week holiday, repeated phone calls to the Film Bureau seeking clarification have gone unanswered. Strong rumors now have it that "The Knot" (Yun shui yao), a period melodrama by Yi Lin, is China's choice.

The situation once again underlines the t***** problems of assigning nationality to movies — especially co-productions and especially in Asia.

Taiwan’s claim to “Lust” already has proved controversial. During the recent Venice Film Festival, where “Lust” premiered, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council made an official complaint about the festival’s website, which listed the film as originating from “Taiwan, China.” The council said that looked too much like “Denver, Colorado,” and gave the impression that Taiwan is part of China. Venice caved in and amended the site.

Apart from being the place of Lee’s birth, Taiwan had little to do with the film. Its story is set in Shanghai and Hong Kong and filmed in China and Malaysia. It was made with coin from China, Hong Kong and Focus Features of the U.S. Lead actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai is from Hong Kong, while Tang Wei and Joan Chen are both from China. Highest ranking cast member with a Taiwan connection is Wang Lee Hom, a New Yorker who now has a decent Mandarin pop music career.

While China’s claim to “Lust” may be considerably stronger, pic did not play commercially there before the submission deadline. Its sex scenes were partially trimmed and were nevertheless deemed too provocative to screen before this month’s upcoming Communist Party Congress. The film opened in Taiwan on Sept. 24, giving it exactly the minimum required seven days of commercial release necessary to qualify for the Oscars.

China’s film industry honchos may have felt the red carpet being pulled from under their feet. Not only did “Lust” not screen in China, Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises” was both too arty and too public a box office flop to enjoy a decent Oscar run. Peter Chan Ho-sun’s “The Warlords,” which the local press talked about as the strongest candidate, will not emerge from post-production until mid-November ahead of its Dec. 13 commercial release.

Industry gossip says that there might have been another political dimension, too. Some say that China backed down over “Lust” and appeased Taiwan in the hope that Taiwan may reverse its objection to next year’s Olympic torch relay traveling through the territory.

That leaves China with “The Knot,” an undistinguished period melodrama. The irony is that the pic was very carefully constructed to have a multi-territory Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese production pedigree and a heartwarming pan-Chinese, cross-strait theme.

[doug maverick]

also johnnie to's exiled is going to be te selection for hong kong. i saw tis film recentl not bad but certainy not to's best.

[jethro]

I heard Chin KAr Lok has a nice little part in Lust Caution. It sounds interesting, though I heard the sex scenes are really weird.

[doug maverick]

read my review ofthe film lust caution

[jethro]

Now it sounds even more interesting to me. Good review. Is there just one action scene in the movie? I heard Chin Kar Lok has a small part. And does it star Tony Leung Chiu Wai or Tony Leugn Ka Fai?

I just looked at IMDB. It is Tony Leung Chiu Wai.

[GeneChing]

This should ad to the box of Warlords.

Andy Lau Crowned Most Bankable Actor
2007-11-07 20:56:49

Who has contributed the most to Hong Kong's box office in the past decade? It's not Jackie Chan, nor is Tony Leung or Chow Yun-Fat. It's got to be Andy Lau, says a film magazine.

Since 1997, prolific Lau has helped generate a total of 570 million Hong Kong dollars (US$73.39 million) in box office, making him the most bankable local actor, China News Service quoted statistics from an unnamed magazine.

Sammi Cheng tops the actress list with HK$360 million, while Johnnie To is the most bankable director with HK$350 million.

Versatile Lau is currently touring the mainland promoting his new album, "Miracle World." He said he was thrilled to hear the ratings, and that he would continue to work for another profitable decade.

Lau's crime thriller, "Brothers," which was invested by his own company, hit theaters in mid-October and has so far won rave reviews from both critics and fans.

Another touted epic, "The Warlords," featuring Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro, will open around the Christmas holidays.

[doug maverick]

andy lau is the man, he is an amazing actor and i guess he is the matt damon of asia in terms of bankabillity since matt is the most bankable actor here. can't wait to check out warlords even thou the trailers are un inspiring. he but the trialer for forbidden kingdom look awesome

[GeneChing]

... after you make your final martial arts epic.

Jet Li breaks record with $13 mln paycheck
Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:51am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese action star Jet Li is set to rake in 100 million yuan ($13 million) for his latest movie, a record for an actor in a Chinese-language film, state media reported on Sunday.

Nearly half of the $40 million budget for "The Warlords" went to the cast, among whom were Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Beijing-based actress and director Xu Jinglei, in addition to Li.

"Without Jet Li, we would not dare to invest $40 million in a Chinese-language film," Xinhua news agency quoted director Peter Chan as saying. Li was a "guarantee" for global sales, Chan said.

Chinese-language movies have registered a string of hits in the past few years, from Ang Lee's martial arts tale "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", to Zhang Yimou's ancient history epic "Hero".

The earlier salary record was held by Li himself for his role in "Hero", for which he earned 70 million yuan.

Li, 44, a childhood martial arts champion, has also broken into English-language films, featuring in action pictures such as "Romeo Must Die" and "Lethal Weapon 4".

"The Warlords", a war epic based on a Qing Dynasty story, is slated for release in Asia in mid-December and in North America from next March.

(Reporting by Lindsay Beck; editing by Jerry Norton)

[doug maverick]

**** thats more then what he makes in american films. thats alot of money for a fading wushu star. and they should know that the west generally doesn;t like to be lied too. and lets face it everyone thinks or thought he lied no matter what he said or what he meant. it was advertised as his last film. so he has a moral obligation to either state he was lying or retire. if this film comes out here i think its gonna flop. better take it straight to dvd. where it has a better chance.

[GeneChing]

...why do you think we have the government we do? We love lies. Sweet, sweet lies.

I think the whole 'final martial arts epic' was something Jet learned from working with hip hop stars during his Romeo/Cradle period. It's not at all uncommon for musicians to claim a 'farewell tour'. Jet just tried to use it for action films - sort of a crossover marketing strategy. Depending on the success of Warlords/Mummy 3/Forbidden Kingdom, it might have worked. Fearless didn't do too badly for a subtitled film in a major theatrical release. It was no CTHD, but it still enjoyed some success.

Here's another article, more of the same really, but I get all these news feeds and love to share them.

Jet Li 李连杰

Actor Jet Li has hit the headlines this week because he has broken the record for the highest salary earned by a Chinese film star. China’s highest-earning star will receive 100m yuan (£6.5 million) for his latest movie, 'The Warlords (投名状)'.

The film, directed by Peter Chan is a martial arts drama, telling the story of three brothers) who turn against one another over a beautiful woman. It is set in the 1860s, during the Taiping Rebellion. The other two brothers are played by Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

As a teenager, Jet Li was a Wushu champion, and won many medals for his martial arts. His fame from martial arts led to his film debut in 1982 in 'Shaolin Temple', having acquired the screen name Jet Li as a change from his real name Li Lianjie.

He has an extensive filmography of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, including the famous series of films 'Once upon a time in China', about the legendary hero Wong Fei Hung.

However, Jet Li has also in the last 10 years become a Hollywood star, in films such as 'Lethal Weapon 4', 'The Kiss of the dragon', 'Romeo must die', 'The One' and 'Hero'.

Next year his film catalogue will increase again, with his next two films both coming out in 2008. One is the second sequel to The Mummy – 'The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'. The other, 'The Forbidden Kingdom' will see Jet Li teaming up with the renowned kung-fu and film star Jackie Chan.

'The Warlords' will be released across Asia on 13th December, and hopefully we’ll see it in Britain next year. Although Jet Li has now sworn off doing any more Wushu epics, I'm sure we'll continue to see his work in Chinese and Hollywood films in years to come.

[doug maverick]

now here is my gripe for forbidden kingdom, jet and jackie said don;t expect much from the fights. i wonder if their down playing it trying to be humble because from what i saw in the trailer the fights look pretty **** good.

[GeneChing]

I have it in my calendar as premiering on Dec 13, 2007. That's the same that I see on IMDB. Anyone know for sure? If so, it's next week.

[doug maverick]

That looks like the date from what i'm hearing. a friend of mine who lives in hong kong told me theres a dvd screener floating around, he doesn't know if he wants to get it what with all the piracy going on in hong kong.