cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Red Pier | aka Red Quay (1958) Review
- Li Bingbing does the ‘Tomb Raider’ thing in ‘Nest 3D’
- Go behind-the-scenes with Sammo Hung’s ‘The Bodyguard’
- This new trailer definitely has an ‘Elephant in the Room’
- Jackie Chan and Ding Sheng reunite for ‘Railroad Tigers’
- New trailer for the POV actioner ‘Hardcore Henry’
| Red Pier | aka Red Quay (1958) Review Posted: 11 Feb 2016 01:06 AM PST  "Red Pier" Japanese Theatrical Poster AKA: Red Quay By Kyle Warner Dock worker Sugitaya steps off a boat to meet a man at the harbor. A crane swings low, crushes Sugitaya. Yujiro Ishihara's gangster Jiro watches on, unimpressed. "Nasty way to go," Jiro says. "Why can't they be cool?" And with that, we can assume two things: 1) Sugitaya's death probably wasn't an accident and 2) Jiro's a cynical bastard that's obsessed with being cool. From here on, Red Pier does its best to make it clear just how cool Jiro really is. Girls love him, guys fear him, and friends and enemies alike have great respect for him. He dresses suave, he has marksman skills with a gun and throws a blade like a pro dart throwing champion (there is such a thing! I did research). Jiro sings, he romances, he drives flashy cars… there's almost nothing about Jiro that's NOT cool. So, why don't I give a damn? The film built around the character of Jiro has some good ideas but it rarely commits to following through on them. Not long after Sugitaya's untimely death, Jiro strikes up a relationship with the dead man's sister (Mie Kitahara). She falls in love with Jiro but she also begins to suspect him. It's probably the most dramatically compelling subplot of the film but it's largely forgotten by the time we reach the final act. Much of the action takes place in the coastal city of Kobe, where Jiro is hiding out while things calm down in Tokyo. However, it soon becomes clear that the sins of Tokyo have followed him to Kobe, as hitmen come gunning for Jiro. Red Pier's three acts all have their own major points of emphasis. There's very little organic flow to the story as it progresses. The beginning is about the death of Sugitaya and romancing the dead man's sister. The middle is about the Jiro vs. the hitmen. The end is about watching out for the law. The lack of cohesion makes for an episodic storyline, and because I didn't take to the main character, I found the movie rather dull as a result. Character development for the ultimate bad boy antihero always requires great writing and perfect casting to avoid being boring or goofy. The mistake that's made in Red Pier is that too much time is spent explaining that Jiro's cool while not giving him enough of a chance to prove it with his actions. Considering the dialogue that introduces the character, one expects Jiro to be coldblooded and mean. Prepare to be disappointed: he often acts like a petulant child instead of a hard-nosed gangster. One scene even features Jiro hiding beneath a blanket so that he may avoid making a difficult decision. Too much of the film relies on the star power of leading man Yujiro Ishihara (Crazed Fruit). Yujiro Ishihara was a very cool actor. Though not handsome in any traditional way, Ishihara still became a major heartthrob back in the day, playing action heroes and also making an impact as a recording artist. If you went to movies in Japan in the 50s and 60s, you understood that Yujiro Ishihara was a big deal. Red Pier knew that and I think they coasted on his star power, giving Ishihara a chance to do his thing but never providing enough material to make the film ever truly come together. An audience member of today with no understanding of who Ishihara was may be very confused as to why Jiro, a well-dressed brat with a gun, is so loved and respected by all. Ishihara was cool. Jiro? Not so much. While I didn't like Ishihara's Jiro, I appreciated the work put in by supporting players Mie Kitahara and Shiro Osaka. Kitahara (Crazed Fruit) plays Sugitaya's sister and Jiro’s primary love interest in the film. The film denies her a chance to become much more than one side of a conflicted romance, but Kitahara brings unexpected humanity to the part. Shiro Osaka (Pigs and Battleships) plays the detective whose job it is to prove Jiro's guilt, but he'd rather see Jiro change his ways so that he won't have to. Detective Noro is Red Pier's most likable and complete character. It's kind of a shame there wasn't more of him in the film. Red Pier is an early film for director Toshio Masuda, who'd spent the first few years in the film business as a screenwriter and an assistant director. In Red Pier, Masuda shows a few visual flourishes (I quite liked the slanted camerawork) but the storytelling is messy. Released that same year, Masuda's Rusty Knife (also starring Ishihara and Kitahara) is a more polished effort by the director. He would continue to hone his skills from there. In time, Masuda would rise to become one of Japan's most popular directors, with such films as Like a Shooting Star, the popular anime Space Battleship Yamato, and the rarely seen/often spoke of Prophecies of Nostradamus. I found Red Pier to be rather disappointing but I enjoyed getting another look back at classic Japanese cinema. Red Pier is the second film included in Arrow Video's Diamond Guys Vol. 1 DVD/Blu-ray release (read my review for Voice Without A Shadow). It's not so bad that I consider its inclusion on the set a dealbreaker—not at all—I just wouldn't recommend watching it first, personally. Kyle Warner’s Rating: 5/10 |
| Li Bingbing does the ‘Tomb Raider’ thing in ‘Nest 3D’ Posted: 11 Feb 2016 01:03 AM PST  "Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal" Theatrical Poster Looks like Tomb Raider and The Mummy have some serious competition! Production is currently in full effect for Nest 3D, an upcoming Chinese-Australian co-production directed by Stef Dawson (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay). In Nest 3D, an innocent discovery of a well-preserved mummified Emperor from 200 BC China unearths a 2000 year old nightmare – a secret that should have remained buried. The film stars Li Bingbing (Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal), Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules), Kelsey Grammer (The Expendables 3), Wu Zhun (14 Blades) and Shane Jacobson (The Bourne Legacy). A release date is still pending, but you can check out new photo, featuring Chinese superstar Li Bingbing (via Variety). |
| Go behind-the-scenes with Sammo Hung’s ‘The Bodyguard’ Posted: 11 Feb 2016 12:05 AM PST  "The Bodyguard" Chinese Theatrical Poster It has been over 17 long years since Sammo Hung has directed a movie (since 1997′s Once Upon A Time in China and America), but now, the Hong Kong legend is back – both as star and as director – in The Bodyguard (aka Old Soldier). The film features a cast of well-known names that include Zhu Yuchen, Li Qinqin, Feng Jiayi, Jacqueline Chan, Andy Lau, Hu Jun, Feng Shaofeng, Eddie Peng, Song Jia, Tsui Hark, Karl Maka, Dean Shek, Yuen Biao, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, Yuen Ting and Yuen Po. The Bodyguard’s lead role was once linked to Jackie Chan, but due to scheduling conflicts, he declined and Lau stepped in. The Bodyguard would have been the first time Hung would be directing Chan since 1997′s Mr. Nice Guy. The Bodyguard is a film that follows a retired bodyguard (Hung) who has settled in the dark and unknown corner of the world where China, Russia and North Korea meet. Suffering from the beginnings of dementia, the bodyguard is befriended by a young girl whose life is threatened when her father (Lau) falls in with the local crime world. When the girl and her father disappear, the bodyguard must call upon his long forgotten skills to save the life of his young friend. The Bodyguard is getting a domestic release on April 1, 2016. Don’t miss the film’s trailer. |
| This new trailer definitely has an ‘Elephant in the Room’ Posted: 11 Feb 2016 12:01 AM PST  "Parallel Life" Korean Theatrical Poster Expect the unexpected in Elephant in the Room, an upcoming South Korean film that focuses on three separate stories, from three distinct genres, by three different directors – each tale is unsettling in its own unique way. The 1st story is a black comedy by Park Soo Young (Irreversible), about three people hanging off a seashore cliff in a car. They begin a game of chicken to survive; The 2nd is a drama by Kwon Chil In (Venus Talk), which revolves around a mysterious one night stand; The 3rd is a sci-fi action/thriller by Kwon Ho Young (Parallel Life), which follows a secret agent who enters the dreams of his clients to solve cases. Elephant in the Room releases domestically on April 3, 2016. Don’t miss the film’s trailer. |
| Jackie Chan and Ding Sheng reunite for ‘Railroad Tigers’ Posted: 10 Feb 2016 12:05 AM PST  "Railroad Tigers" Promotional Poster If Jackie Chan’s upcoming Skiptrace isn’t your cup of tea, then maybe Railroad Tigers – his other forthcoming movie – is something you can look forward to. Railroad Tigers will be hitting theaters in October 2016. The period actioner reunites the legend with director Ding Sheng (Little Big Soldier, Police Story 2013) for a 3rd time. The film also stars Xu Fan (A World Without Thieves), Edison Huang (Gentle Bullet) and Koji (Color War). According to THR, Railroad Tigers is set in wartime China in 1941 and features Chan as a railroad worker who leads a team of freedom fighters who use their knowledge of the train network to disrupt Japan's wartime engine and steal food for the starving Chinese population. Updates: Railroad Tigers has a new poster. We forecast that the film’s first trailer should be hitting soon. Stay tuned! |
| New trailer for the POV actioner ‘Hardcore Henry’ Posted: 10 Feb 2016 12:01 AM PST  "Hardcore Henry" Theatrical Poster Brace yourself for Hardcore Henry, a first-person action film from the eyes of Henry, a newly resurrected cyborg who must save his wife/creator Estelle (Haley Bennet) from the clutches of a psychotic tyrant with telekinetic powers, Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), and his army of mercenaries. Fighting alongside Henry is Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), who is Henry’s only hope to make it through the day. Ever since crafting his groundbreaking POV-style music video for Biting Elbows' "Bad Motherf-cker,” Russian filmmaker Ilya Naishuller has been busy applying the same concept to Hardcore Henry (aka previous known as Hardcore), which is dubbed the "The World’s First Action POV Film." (that’s if you don’t count this movie). Following Hardcore’s amazing, action-packed promotional footage from 2014, as well as last year’s trailer, the film is finally hitting theaters on April 8, 2016. Update: Watch the film’s newest trailer. |
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