cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Chocolate | aka Fury (2008) Review
- JCVD co-stars in Da Peng’s Chinese film ‘Jian Bing Man’
- ‘Legend of Conan’ to keep the tradition of the 1982 Milius film!
- The White Storm | DVD (Lionsgate)
- Hulk Hogan to play the main villain in ‘Expendables 4′?
| Chocolate | aka Fury (2008) Review Posted: 26 May 2015 12:01 AM PDT  "Chocolate" Japanese DVD Cover AKA: Zen, Warrior Within By HKFanatic I thoroughly enjoyed the Thai action movie Chocolate when it first came out in 2008, but revisiting it a few weeks ago on blu-ray – with the sound cranked – I think I loved it even more. This is a Thai action movie I feel will stand the test of time for fans of females who kick butt. Star Jeeja Yanin literally came out of nowhere and debuted with a film that has fight scenes and stunts that nearly rival Jackie Chan in his heyday. Reportedly director Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak) saw Jeeja Yanin performing Taekwondo and was impressed enough to cast her in her own movie. This was a gamble that paid off remarkably. Jeeja engaged in rigorous Muay Thai and stunt training before cameras started rolling on Chocolate. Whether you love or hate Pinkaew’s style of filmmaking, all you need to do is watch the outtakes to know that Yanin is willing to bleed for her art. The story has the potential to be offensive – I’ve heard it half-seriously labeled “special needs’ploitation” since Yanin’s character has autism. Yanin plays the result of a star-crossed romance between a Thai female gangster and a member of the Yakuza. Her parents split when she is a baby in order to prevent an all-out gang war and the mom ends up raising Yanin on her own. Yanin is indeed a special child, one who lacks social skills but has an uncanny sense of hearing and the ability to mimic whatever she sees performed in front of her – including martial arts moves. She studies the films of Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee, as well as the fighters in the gym that just so happens to be outside her window. In a few years’ time she becomes a prime ass-kicker. Yanin ends up needing to raise money for her mother’s medical bills. Along with her childhood friend, she goes around to collect the money that various corrupt businesses owe her mom from her days in the Thai mafia. What follows are several set-pieces where shady managers order their employees to beat up Yanin and she lays waste to them in spectacular fashion. After a bit of a slow start, this movie is almost non-stop martial arts action. What I love about the fights is that Yanin doesn’t just be a the crap out of everybody; the filmmakers went out of their way to feature the kind of obstacle-maneuvering stuff that Jackie Chan would do in his heyday. Yanin slides under glass tables, slips through spaces that the bad guys can’t fit in, swings through guard rails, etc. She’s really a marvel to watch. The ending provides what might be a homage to the House of Blue Leaves sequence from Kill Bill: Volume 1, with Yanin taking on about 80 guys in black suits in a Japanese restaurant. She’s also finally provided with a fellow martial arts master to truly test her mettle. To say that the finale brings the house down would be an understatement; it features a death-defying sequence high above the ground that put at least one Thai stuntman in a neckbrace. If you don’t enjoy the bone-breaking simplicity of most Thai action movies like Ong Bak, then Chocolate probably isn’t going to change your mind. But for people who love this kind of stuff or get a drug-like high from it (heh), then Chocolate is the ultimate fix. JeeJa Yanin is cute as a button and kicks ass like nobody’s business. Her character is a likable protagonist and you actually care about her quest to help her mom, which does strengthen the movie. I’m certain JeeJa Yanin has an excellent career ahead of her, but if debut film goes down as her finest moment I might not be surprised. Chocolate features the kind of electrifying action sequences that ensure it will be watched and re-watched by martial arts fans for years to come. HKFanatic’s Rating: 10/10 |
| JCVD co-stars in Da Peng’s Chinese film ‘Jian Bing Man’ Posted: 26 May 2015 12:00 AM PDT  "Jian Bing Man" Teaser Poster There are currently 3 reasons why 2015 will be an exciting year for Jean-Claude Van Damme fans: 1) Pound of Flesh, 2) The Kickboxer reboot, and 3) The long awaited and constantly delayed, The Eagle Path – if anything, at least two of these films will be released this year. To our surprise, there’s another project Van Damme is lending his name to called Jian Bing Man, a Chinese production starring Da Peng (who is also directing), Ada Liu (Badges of Fury) and Yuan Shanshan (One Day). According to TB, Jian Bing Man is the story of a young man from a poor family earns his living selling jianbing (or Chinese pancake) and suddenly becomes a hero, presumably because he sells the best Chinese crepes in town. So who does Van Damme play? We have no idea. But who knows, maybe he has a beefy role as the film’s bad guy, a la Enemies Closer! Updates: 1st trailer for Jian Bing Man (no English subtitles), which, unfortunately, does not feature Van Damme. The film has a domestic release date in China set for July 17, 2015. More trailers should be popping up soon, so stay tuned! BREAKING NEWS: Watch the latest trailer, featuring Van Damme towards the end (via FCS). |
| ‘Legend of Conan’ to keep the tradition of the 1982 Milius film! Posted: 25 May 2015 12:03 AM PDT  "Conan the Barbarian" Japanese Theatrical Poster THE MOVIE: As soon as Arnold Schwarzenegger reached the end of his governorship and announced a return to movies, fans began speculating about the possibility of King Conan – the proposed ‘true’ sequel to Conan the Barbarian, which would pick up where the first movie tantalizing left off. That is, with an aged and wise Conan seated on his throne of power. Well, 20 years after the original Conan, fans are going to get exactly what they want. ComingSoon reports that Universal is developing The Legend of Conan, a new sequel that ignores both 1984′s Conan the Destroyer and the recent Conan reboot starring Jason Momoa. The story begins exactly where John Milius’ movie ended, focusing on an older Conan who has survived countless wars and bedded even more women as he searches for his life’s final battle. Expect a 2016 release. Updates: LA Times reports: Legend of Conan producer and screenwriter Chris Morgan, whose credits include Wanted and Fast Five, says: "We think this is a worthy successor to the original film. Think of this as Conan's Unforgiven” – referring to Clint Eastwood’s 1992 return to the genre which made him famous. If you’re not pumped up for Legend of Conan, watch this. | LA Times has interviewed screenwriter-producer Chris Morgan, who had met with Arnold Schwarzenegger to pitch him a proposed sequel to Conan the Barbarian. Total Film reports that during a Q&A screening of The Last Stand, Arnie explained that Universal admitted ‘the previous regime has missed the boat’ and they wanted to produce a serious action movie with a top director and top writers: “[Universal] finally came forward and said, ‘You’re absolutely right. The previous regime has missed the boat here. We want to pick it up. We’re going to buy the rights and we’re going to be serious about it and make a quality film with an A-director and with A-writers and so on. And we want you to participate in this. We want you to star and you to play Conan. We’re going to take a story where Conan is at that age so it’s totally believable and you’re not looking like a 30-year old action guy.” Collider reports (via Arnold Fans) that Paradox Entertainment President and CEO Frederik Malmberg recently spoke about Legend of Conan. Malmberg says that Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the title role and the movie is “100% happening.” | According to Latino Review, Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall) is interested in directing. | Deadline reports that Andrea Berloff is scribing The Legend of Conan (World Trade Center). IGN has a great interview with Chris Morgan, one of Legend of Conan’s producers. In this interesting interview, Morgan speaks highly of the pre-production work. Definitely a must-read if you’ve been following this highly anticipated project. – Thanks to expendablespremiere.com Paul Verhoeven has expressed his love for 1982's Conan and he has openly stated that he’s interested in directing the upcoming sequel if given the chance. According to the film's imdb.com page, Verhoeven is rumored as the director. In our opinion, he would be the next best thing, after John Milius himself. Our fingers are crossed! According to EP.com, Legend of Conan could film in Spring 2015. Here’s what producer Fredrik Malmberg also had this to say: “We want to polish up the script, specifically about the characters… we’ll probably have this turned in around September… then we’ll take it to the studio and if they’re happy, we can hopefully start (production) in the Spring (2015).” Malmberg adds: “A lot of directors have come fourth and expressed interest… we have been in touch with old great names and new fresh faces. We’re excited about finding the right guy for that.” According to First Post, Schwarzenegger has invited Shankar (Anniyan, I) to direct Legend of Conan. Shankar is known for directing high budget Tamil films (he’s considered the pioneer of vigilante movies in Tamil). BREAKING NEWS: Thanks to TAF (via FCS) – who interviewed Chris Morgan, the film's producer/co-writer, and producer, Fredrik Malmberg – we have a few interesting tidbits regarding Legend of Conan: Morgan – ”We plan nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the world Milius envisioned from Robert E. Howard's unforgettable stories and Frank Frazetta's stunning artwork. I can't give specifics (nobody likes a spoiler!), but know we are honoring the locales, the religions and the traditions of the '82 film.” Also, three characters are returning from the first Conan movie. Stay tuned! |
| The White Storm | DVD (Lionsgate) Posted: 25 May 2015 12:01 AM PDT  "The White Storm" Chinese Theatrical Poster RELEASE DATE: August 4, 2015 Lionsgate presents the DVD for The White Storm, directed by Benny Chan (Who Am I?, New Police Story). The White Storm (aka The Cartel War) boasts an impress cast including Louis Koo (Flash Point), Lau Ching Wan (A Hero Never Dies), and Nick Cheung (The Beast Stalker). Louis Koo stars as a narcotics detective hot on the trail of a new drug kingpin (played by Cheung), who may or may not be a former cop that everyone believes is dead. Watch the trailer! Pre-order The White Storm from Amazon.com today! |
| Hulk Hogan to play the main villain in ‘Expendables 4′? Posted: 25 May 2015 12:00 AM PDT  "Expendables 4" Japanese Theatrical Poster Despite Expendables 3′s box office belly flop – due to the film’s online leakage, according to Lionsgate – Sylvester Stallone remains optimistic about the future of his popular action series. In fact, he’s already laying out plans for the 4th installment. Here’s what Stallone told CCTV: “As we go on, we will continue to add more stars, more personalities, more athletes, more individuals around the world, not just Americans… hopefully, we’ll be able to film in Asia very soon.” Stallone also mentions the possible addition of Jackie Chan, who has been linked to the franchise since the original Expendables: “We’ve always wanted to use Jackie Chan. The only reason we didn’t is because there really wasn’t a part big enough for him, because we had so many actors. But in the next one, we are going to reduce the actors, and let’s just say, expand the screen time of each star.” In addition to Chan, other names – such as Dwayne Johnson, Christopher Lambert, Jean Reno, Pierce Brosnan and Steven Seagal – have been considered for the franchise (see our updates regarding Expendables casting here). Stay tuned with more developments regarding Expendables 4. Updates: Thanks to Expendables Premier, we have a video where Stallone talks about the possibility of an Expendables 4. When asked if he’s going to do another one, he replies: “I don’t know. We got so ripped off. If I do another one it’s going to be a lot bloodier though…hardcore R.” When asked if future installments of the franchise will be Rated R, this is what Stallone had to say: "Absolutely unequivocally yes. I believe it was a horrible miscalculation on everyone's part in trying to reach a wider audience, but in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I'm quite certain it won't happen again." Stallone also hints that one of the main characters may actually be killed in a future installment. - Thanks to Crave (via Collider) According to Youth Health (via EP.com), Manny Pacquiao may have a role in The Expendables 4: “During Pacquiao’s match against Chris Algieri, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger went to Manny Pacquiao’s locker room to wish him good luck. But someone from Manny Pacquiao’s camp affirmed that something more came up, Stallone and Schwarzenegger recruited the Filipino boxer to join the cast of The Expendables 4! The Filipino champ allegedly accepted the offer and the two legends left the room with smiles on their faces.” Of course, nothing is official until it’s on paper, but only time will tell. In an interview with Graham Walker (via EP.com) Stallone revealed that he wants Jack Nicholson to play a villain in Expendables 4: “Is it gonna happen? Most likely not. Is it possible? Slightly.” He also mentions Clint Eastwood, but says the possibility of his involvement would be a “long shot.” No news on Expendables 4, but Deadline reports that Expendables is getting the TV series treatment. Whereas the movie version united big screen action stars, the Expendables TV series will unite small screen action stars. Avi Lerner and Sylvester Stallone will serve as producer and executive producer, respectively. No cast members have been announced, but we'll keep you updated as we hear more. In an interview with USAT, Schwarzenegger, who starred in all 3 Expendables films, had this to say: "I just think it's a terrific franchise. I told Sly to write another one or have someone else write another one. A really terrific story. Because I think it's a great idea to have an ensemble piece with that many action heroes in a movie. Especially if the comedy is really done well. It could be a great story. There's definitely room for another one." BREAKING NEWS: According to EP.com: During the Power Expo at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England last weekend, Hulk Hogan mentioned in was in talks with Stallone to play the main villain in Expendables 4. |
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