I heard something profound today
About those who ride the lightning
That invariably they fear the thunder
Because it proclaims their day is done

Books on my to purchase/read pile:

Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos (Paperback) by Michio Kaku
Airing Dirty Laundry by Ishmael Reed
Violent Spring by Gary Phillips
Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some

African Rhapsody by Nadezda Obradovic
Joyce Ann Brown:Justice Denied by Joyce Ann Brown
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People by Jon Jeter
Deals With the Devil: And Other Reasons to Riot by Pearl Cleage
The Lord of Dark Things – Hal Bennett
Insanity Runs in the Family – Hal Bennett
Brother: Black Soldiers in the Nam

FBI War on Tupac Shakur & Black Leaders by John Potash

Sites of the day:
Afrikanworldbooks.com
Akpress.com
rentometer.com

When the law itself is lawless, what do you do?

DVDs of the Day:

TOO MANY WAYS TO BE NUMBER 1
ONCE A THIEF
DRAGON INN (1992- Donnie Yen)
LEGEND OF THE WOLF (1997- Donnie Yen)
BALLISTIC KISS (1998- Donnie Yen)
BIG BULLET
BEYOND HYPOTHERMIA
MY FATHER IS A HERO
BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING
DOWNTOWN TORPEDOES
CRYSTAL HUNT
BACK TO BACK FACE TO FACE

Directors of the Day:

Henri-Georges Clouzot 1907-1977 his masterpieces are WAGES OF FEAR and DIABOLIQUE
Jean Pierre Melville 1917-1973 his masterpieces are LE SAMOURAI, LE DOULOS, BOB LE FLAMBEUR

“There is no greater solitude than the samurai’s
unless it be that of the tiger in the jungle”– Le Samourai’s preface

tell me about summer
tell me about fall
i can’t make it
make any reason at all

Korean word of the day (spelt phonetically so you can pronounce them)-

Ahn young hah say oh: hello-peace-do peacefully
Kahm sah hahm nidah: Thank You
Chae Song Hahn Nidah: Pardon Me
Toe Wah Jew Say Oh: Please Help Me
Ahn Young Hee Gae Say Oh: Goodbye
Cheon Man Ne Yo: You are welcome

Quick Book Reviews:

GHOUL by Michael Slade: Excellent

WASP FACTORY by Ian Banks: Disturbing

CABAL by Clive Barker: So-So

INHUMAN CONDITION by Clive Barker: Not as great as the first three BOOKS OF BLOOD, but still recommended

HARVEST OF HORRORS by Eric Potter: Average

DARK VISIONS by Harlan Ellison: Very Good

MISERY by Stephen King: Very Disturbing

WHISPERS I by Stuart Schiff: Good

Edgar Allen Poe

James Baldwin

Today’s recommended audo drama/listen:

CHATTERBOX AUDIO THEATER HALLOWEEN SHOW 2009 PT 1 & 2- Finally listened to this today. Short review? It’s just great. A compilation of seven tales of terror. I mentioned this group previously, and they continue to just get more impressive. It’s really nice to see Audio Drama not only still being produced in the US, but productions of such an incredibly high quality. This is work to make the greats of radio’s heyday proud. Also I appreciate them using the American spelling of theater rather than the British spelling, like some American productions (perhaps to seem more “artsy”) are won’t to do.You can listen to THE HALLOWEEN shows here.

Also while there check out the shows SURFACING and THE YELLOW WALLPAPER. Both are highly recommended.

Okay well that’s all my rambling today. Enjoy!

Bodyguards and Assassins is set in Hong Kong in the year 1906 and tells of an assassination plot against Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary who led the opposition grounds that overthrew the Qing dynasty and founded the Republic of China.  The director takes his time to develop characters, position them carefully within a clear historical context and fully explore their relationship to each other and personal politics, before letting them off the leash to wreak bloody havoc.

China’s film market is entering its annual peak season, which runs over the New Year and Spring Festival holidays. Dozens of movies will be competing in the next two months. I suppose that is why a big Donnie Yen blockbuster is being released right now. The problem with an ensemble piece like this is ensuring that enough screen time is given to each character. Donnie Yen as mercenary gambler was the main actor of the movie. His fight with Chung Le provided one of the major set action piece but somehow it was not as good as Ip Man. In short, this was no revolutionary piece of filmmaking.

I would categorize this film as a political drama. The movie was quite violent but educated. The bravo talk about the meaningful of Revolution and democracy to sweep away corruption and oppression which has change the history of China. Many of the emotional scenes are heavy-handed and come off as trying way too hard to wring tears from the audience. Fortunately, the first half of exposition introduces enough involving characters and situations that it’s more than effective in getting audience emotionally involved in the story.

If you haven’t seen this film and are anticipating it, make sure you don’t read any spoilers. As part of an ingenious promotional gimmick, the director has kept the Sun Yat-sen actor a secret. I thought this was a nice touch and for action fans, this has a lot to offer you as well. For action fans, you might like to know that this flick does have a move or two but it’s ultimately more drama and character buildup. The storyline was quite straight and direct, not much confusion and the connection between different characters were displayed nicely since the start of the movie where you could really focus on other things. In conclusion, though I said I thought it was clever to place emphasis on storytelling and character development in what is otherwise a purebred action flick, the film fails in its attempt to deliver genuine emotions. For me, this is unacceptable when pertaining to a drama piece.

I had to chance to watch Ip Man last week on the recommendation from a friend– had no idea Donnie Yen was this strong of a martial artist! This movie seriously gives “Fearless”, by Jet Li, a run for its money. Focusing around the martial art form of Wing Chun, who knew the backstory of Bruce Lee’s mentor and trainer, Ip Man, was so rich and incredible! They are currently working on a second part.

Hit it! I highly recommend watching this movie, especially if you want to see good ole Japanese vs. Chinese cultural significance. This movie succeeded in making me proud to be Chinese!

Donnie Yen

From BeyondHollywood.com

Donnie Yen kicking ass on film is always cause for celebration. Yen may have been mired in some really awful vanity projects in his early Hong Kong film career, but he’s on a major streak of box office success (both domestically and internationally) in recent years, putting out some really good action projects like “Sha Po Lang” (or “Killzone” as it’s known internationally) and “Flash Point”. His latest was the period actioner “Ip Man”, another movie about a Chinese man battling Japanese occupation in China. Following “Ip Man”, Yen is set to star in “Chen Zhen”, where he will once again tangle with those Imperialist bastards.

In “Chen Zhen”, Yen will play a local resistance fighter in 1920s Shanghai. His character is believed dead after a bloody skirmish, only to resurface seven years later, just in time to uncover a plot involving the Chinese triads and the Japanese. The film will be directed by Andrew Lau Wai-keung (”Infernal Affairs”), with Yen serving as star and action director.

Joining Yen will be the ubiquitous Anthony Wong and the lovely Shu Qi (below), who Western audiences may remember as the damsel in distress in the first “Transporter” movie. Gordon Chan wrote the script for Hong Kong’s Media Asia and China’s Shanghai Film Group.

Filming on the period action movie has begun, and will continue until February of 2010.

Shu Qi

Amazon Specials!

Novo filme do famoso diretor de Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau), produzido por Gordon Chan (Fist of Legend), será uma sequência do clássico de Bruce Lee, Fist of Fury.

O papel principal, como não podia deixar de ser, está nas mãos de Donnie Yen (Ip Man), que já interpretou o mesmo personagem em 95 na adaptação à televisão do filme de Lee. Junto com ele no elenco estão Shu Qi e Anthony Wong.

A ação está situada 7 anos depois da original onde Chen Zhen tentará acabar com a máfia de Xangai, no entanto não será fácil, já que estes têm um acordo e planos com os japoneses.

Oh jeez mama. No matter how many wuxia movies I’ve seen, the trailer of one never fails to get the old heart pumping again. And aww crap, don’t tell me Vicki Zhao is playing a vase (pretty but useless) role again, not when we know she can play a character like Mulan. Everyone else looks awesome, even Wu Zun, whom I never expected to pull off strutting and dreads without it being laugh-inducing. The film is set to release in the beginning of 2010.

Saludos cosmonautas,

Sabemos que muchos os estaréis preguntando qué ha pasado con Urías todo este tiempo, y tenemos muchas ganas de responder a ese misterio, pero parece que no tenemos aún una respuesta clara por su parte. Hoy ha vuelto a la Arcadia y ha confesado que se ha pasado todo el fin de semana en la decimoquinta edición del Saló del Manga de Barcelona preparando un reportaje que veremos muy pronto. A lo que no ha podido resistirse es a enseñarnos todo lo que ha comprado, que en realidad no es demasiado y tampoco muy original, pero nos ha dicho que ha estado bastante ocupado con otras cosas.

Por el momento no nos ha querido decir exactamente qué ha estado haciendo durante los días previos al salón, pero dice que tarde o temprano nos enteraremos. Por ahora, vamos a ver esas adquisiciones…

Y aquí tenemos los manga que ha comprado Urías (sí, en el salón, aunque parezca mentira, también se pueden comprar manga). En esta caso han sido el número 2 y 3 de “Pluto” y también el 11 y el 12 de “20th Century Boys”, dos obras de Naoki Urasawa, autor al cual nos hemos enganchado recientemente. También podéis ver dos tomos de “Shin-chan”, el 1 y el 2, y aunque ya teníamos la edición de 1996 de Shin-chan, hemos querido agenciarnos la obra en su formato más propio del original, y también leer historias inéditas para nosotros. Después tenemos el número 5 de “Detroit Metal City”, esa locura de manga que consigue que nos partamos de risa. Y también el segundo númeor de “Ebichu, el hámster ama de casa”, una obra muy raruna, con un humor muy peculiar, muy guarro, muy bestial, y que tanto nos hace reír a carcajadas como dejarnos atónitos (por no entender de la misa la mitad). Finalmente, tenemos “Nijigahara Holograph”, un regalo de Ponent Món al comprar Ebichu y que ha resultado ser una gran sorpresa, nos hemos enganchado mucho con otro de esos mangas geniales que en España van a pasar totalmente desapercibidos.

No solo de manga vive el hombre (y tampoco la mujer), y si ya tenemos cierta afición por coleccionar cómics en general, lo de los DVDs ya es una obsesión enfermiza. No pudimos resitirnos a comprar 4 DVD’s de Hong Kong Digital Classics por solo 10 euros, y además con pelis clásicas como son “The Young Master” de Jackie Chan o “Ultraforce” de Michelle Yeoh, y también “El Camino del Dragón” de Donnie Yen y “Crime Story” también de Jackie Chan, de las cuales hemos oído muchas cosas buenas. Además, también nos hemos hecho con un muy buen pack, a 16,95 euros, formado por “Crows II” de Miike Takashi y “Cure” de Kurosawa Kiyoshi. La primera es la segunda parte de la adaptación cinematográfica del manga, cuya primera parte vimos en Sitges el año pasado y nos encantó la energía y lo cool de la propuesta. Por otro lado, “Cure” del “otro maestro Kurosawa”, es ya un clásico de la nueva ola de cine de terror japonés.

EDIT: Con eso de ir tres días al salón nos olvidamos de mostraros algunas de las compras primerizas, que iremos actualizando en breve.

Sí, finalmente ya podemos lucir una camiseta de X Japan, quién iba a decir que la acabaría comprando en Barcelona, después de haber buscado en Japón en tres ocasiones sin obtener resultados… esta camiseta forma parte de TODO LO QUE MOLA.

Lo cierto es que la imagen habitual del Salón del Manga son los pasillos abarrotados de gente, el tener que desplazarse a través de la marea humana, e intentos infructuosos para llegar a ver bien un stand, así que hemos querido ser algo originales, y en lugar mostraros esa imagen típica del Saló, os mostramos el aspecto que tenía el domingo a primerísima hora, justo cuando abrían puertas, casi desértico, ideal para comprar.

Pero a los pocos minutos, el salón empezaba a llenarse poco a poco de visitantes…

¡Ponyo, coño!

¡Y aquí un detalle de la camiseta que ha dado que hablar en el salón! ¡La camiseta de TODO LO QUE MOLA!

Y aquí tenemos una foto que puede ser algo reveladora… ¿Estará Beus Senshi de los Kamen Sentai Bloggerman implicada en la misteriosa desaparición de Urías?

Det finns en massa wuxia-filmer från Hongkong och de flesta är riktigt dåliga, men så finns det även vissa speciella filmer. En av dessa är definitivt Iron Monkey. Det är en film från början av nittiotalet med ett tema som påminner om en viss brittisk hjälte som gömde i en skog och tog från de rika och gav till de fattiga. Ni kanske kan gissa vem?

Iron Monkey handlar om en doktor som har en alternativ identitet som “Iron Monkey”. Som Iron Monkey tar han från de rika och ger till de fattiga och på frågan om det här känns som en kinesisk Robin Hood är svaret “Självklart!”. Det här är nämligen en kinesisk Robin Hood-rulle, men istället för att gömma sig i skogen är han maskerad och kan därför ha en sjukmottagning utan några som helst problem. Varför tänkte inte Robin på det?

Iron Monkey blir med tiden ett stort problem för provinsherren och han vill därför fånga in Iron Monkey. Genom en rad incidenter ska Wong Kei-Ying (som spelas av Donnie Yen) fånga in honom. Wong Kei-Ying är en kinesisk historisk person som var kung fu-mästare. Han ingick i en grupp som kallas för “de tio tigrarna från Canton” och de sägs ha varit helt fantastiskt duktiga slagsmålskämpar. Wong Kei-Ying får ett barn med en kvinna som enligt legenden dog i barnafödseln av “Tigern efter de tio tigrarna från Canton”, nämligen Wong Fei-Hung.

Ett av alla slagsmål ... Riktigt snyggt!

Wong Fei-Hung porträtteras hur ofta som helst i Kina och det finns ett oändligt antal filmer om honom. Inget av det som berättas i de filmerna brukar vara sant och lika så är det i det här fallet, men det bryr man sig inte om som tittare. Tyvärr är manuset alltså sunkigt, om man ska vara helt ärlig. Det gör dock inget för en wuxia-film ser man bara p.g.a. häftiga scener när de slåss på ett övernaturligt sätt.

Filmen tog flertal månader att spela in, vilket varken är eller var standard i Hongkong, men regissören Yuen Woo-ping brukar alltid kunna få till en budget som låter honom få hålla på längre. Han behöver även den extra tiden, eftersom han kräver så enormt mycket av skådespelarna under actionscenerna. Yuen Woo-ping har en fantastisk karriär och det går att nämna massor av filmer som han varit med och gjort. Han har dock specialiserat sig på främst actionsekvenser och ligger bakom slagsmål i filmer som Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon och The Matrix. Det som gör honom så populär är dels att han lyckats kapitalisera på kvalité samt att han han älskar att filma är detaljer som att någon sparkar en pall och så snurrar pallen flera varv och landar elegant.

Det finns ett barn i filmen som spelar Wong Fei-Hung. Det brukar aldrig vara något positivt, men den här filmen spelas barnet av Tsang Sze-Man som är enormt duktig och Yuen Woo-ping har regisserat henne grymt bra. Det blir aldrig så det känns överdrivet när en tolvårig, spinkig kinesiska klipper till en fullvuxen människa. Att hon dessutom spelar en lillkille märker man inte heller av. Hon ser faktiskt manlig ut.

Välspelad skurk!

Något som självklart är häftigt och gör den här filmen sevärd är alla slagsmålssekvenser. Den är faktiskt packad med en hel uppsjö av dem och det är mycket flygande, olika kung fu-stilar (ormen och tranan osv) så variationen är god. Det är aldrig samma typer av rörelser (utom vissa coola och utmärkande) och det levereras i ett högt tempo. Något jag lade märke till efter tredje gången jag såg filmen (är uppe i fem, sex gånger nu) var hur man hela tiden trappar upp slagsmålen och ser till att tempot är högt. Först slåss de sämsta, sedan kommer något bättre och därefter någon ännu bättre. Det leder till att man hela tiden undrar vad som kommer härnäst.

När vi ändå är inne på slagsmålen kan vi behandla alla specialeffekter och alla trådar som används. Dessa har aldrig retuscherats bort för man lyckas hålla belysningen på ett sådant sätt att de inte syns. Man förstår ibland att det sitter en lina, men den syns inte. Nu har de en enorm erfarenhet av det här i Hongkong, men jag imponeras av det varje gång. Nu på senare tid, så som i Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon har man dock tagit bort dem digitalt. Kanske därför de nu gör filmer där de kan springa på vatten?

Bild från slutfighten!

Budgeten för filmen var på 20 miljoner USD, vilket var högt för en slagsmålsfilm. Det syns, genom att man har byggt upp en hel liten stad på riktigt som troligtvis hade kunnat fungera som boende och man har en fantastisk slutscen. Just den scenen är något som jag faktiskt inte sett i någon av de andra 100 filmerna från Hongkong jag sett.

Om man summerar det hela, bör jag säga är det en vacker film. Det är häftiga färger, vackra kameravinklar och bra skådespeleri. Sedan blir Robin Hood-liknande manus sällan djupa, men det duger och presenterar slagsmålen väl. Jag rekommenderar er att se Hong Kong Legends-utgåvan av filmen (skippa platinum-utgåvan om den kostar mer) och för guds skull, se den inte dubbad för det är ingen behaglig upplevelse.

An excellent trailer for what looks like a great film starring Starring Donnie Yen, Zhao Wei, Chun Wu and Sammo Hung.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor of China possessed one weapon greater than all others, the Jinyiwei, an elite force of assassins recruited from street orphans. Trained in clandestine combat from childhood, the Jinyiwei were masters of the 14 Blades, eight being for torture, five for killing, and the last blade being reserved for suicide when a mission failed. Above the law, with a license to kill, the Jinyiwei devoted their lives and lethal prowess to the service of the Emperor alone. When the Imperial Court is taken over by evil eunuch JIA, the best of the Jinyiwei, QINGLONG and XUANWU, are assigned to steal a list identifying those still loyal to the Emperor. However unbeknownst to Qinglong, the Jinyiwei have fallen under the control of Jia, and during the mission Qinglong is betrayed by Xuanwu and barely escapes with his life. Now as the most wanted man in the land Qinglong must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise against Jia and restore the Emperor to power. In his way are the deadliest assassins in the land, his former brethren, the Jinyiwei.

Donnie Yen, el eterno secundario de los noventa que hacía que todo el mundo se preguntara como podía ser tan bueno de secundario y como sus películas como protagonista podían ser tan malas, al fin ha encontrado su oportunidad.

Something for the ladies…

En la época en que los grandes del cine de Hong Kong de los 90 se retiran o se van a Estados Unidos a hacer películas de poco interés, los directores han encontrado una mina de oro en Donnie Yen.  Su papel en Painted Skin le trajo de vuelta a la memoria de muchos, y con Ip Man ha recibido el reconocimiento que siempre se merece.

Aprovechando esto, no ha parado de trabajar, y después de anunciar Ip Man 2 (donde nos han confirmado fuentes tan fiables que me postaría la cabeza, que Donnie Yen y Sammo Hung se enfrentarán de nuevo en pantalla) tenemos el teaser de su nueva película, 14 Blades (錦衣衛) que no es un remake de la película de la Shaw del mismo título (en chino) de 1984. La 錦衣衛 (Jin yiwei) era una especie de CIA del siglo XIV que trabajaba para los Ming. La película la dirige Daniel Lee (Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, Black Mask), así que mala no puede ser.

Award-winning Hong Kong director Peter Chan was in Singapore on Monday to promote his upcoming blockbuster Bodyguards and Assassins (十月围城).

Costing more than US$23 million (S$32 million) to produce, Assassins and Bodyguards is a story based on a group of bodyguards protecting Sun Yat Sen from assassins in 1905 Hong Kong.

Produced by Chan and directed by Teddy Chan, Assassins and Bodyguards will feature more than 10 well-known stars across China and Hong Kong, making it one of the most eagerly anticipated Asian movies at the end of the year.

The stellar cast includes Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Nicholas Tse, Hu Jun, Leon Lai, Eric Tseng, Li Yuchun, Simon Yam, Fan Bingbing, Zhou Yun, Wang Po Cher, as well as a guest appearance from Michelle Reis.  While in Singapore for the first round of publicity, Chan said the reason for selecting a star-studded cast was mainly due to commercial viability.

“I could have replaced Leon Lai and Maggie Cheung in Comrades with Chinese actors since the characters were supposed to be from China,” explained Chan, using his award-winning Comrades, Almost a Love story as an example to illustrate the importance of featuring well-known celebrities.

When the press asked Chan whose performance among the fourteen big names left a deep impression on him, the 45-year-old director listed two names: Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse.  “The first one is Donnie Yen. In the past, I used to see him heavily involved in fighting scenes,” he said. “This time round, he has more emotional scenes as compared to the past and there were a few crying scenes where he was in his element.”

He then added that Yen is also a perfectionist: “(Yen) requested to include an action scene which eventually cost the team to exceed the filming duration for ten days.

“However, the effects turned out brilliantly and have never been seen before in an Asian film. Yen just went on with his role and did not ask for anything in return.”

Chan shifted his attention to Nicholas Tse next.

The 29-year-old actor plays an 18-year-old naive character, a drastic transformation from the usual cool and suave roles Tse usually undertakes.  “10 years ago, he had to act as a 30-year-old when he was 18,” said the producer. “Now, it’s the opposite. I was very surprised and pleased when he managed to bring out the innocence and naivety of his character. In the past, he just had to act cool. This is a refreshing change.”

Tse’s professionalism also etched a deep impression on Chan.  “There was a scene where (Tse) was beaten up by Hu Jun for protecting Sun Yat-San and he requested for a real fighting scene,” he said. “In the end, I got his close friend (a martial arts instructor) to punch him. The friend kept punching his face for more than 10 times till his face was swollen and I decided that was enough.”

While having a star-studded cast does have its perks, it is a big headache for the producers when the egos start kicking in. Did Chan encounter any particular problems?

“I faced more problems in Warlords (which feature Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Takeshi Kaneshiro). It doesn’t take 14 big names to create a problem, two is already more than enough to handle,” Chan laughed.

What about the rumoured disagreement between Donnie Yen and Leon Lai?

“There are absolutely no problems. Don’t believe the reports! The ones who are having problems are not reported instead,” said Chan, who has indirectly opened up another can of worms.

When pressed by the media to reveal which big names were giving him problems, the bespectacled director replied with laughter: “I would not tell you, of course.”

Trailer (English friendly):

bron: www.channelnewsasia.com, www.youtube

Recently, Raymond Wong has stepped down as the chairman of Mandarin Films to set up his own film studio which is teaming up with Mainland investors to produce a modern actioner at around HK$150m in mid 2010. The film will be directed by Ringo Lam. Donnie Yen (甄子丹) and Tony Jaa (thaiทัชชกร ยีรัมย์chin东尼嘉) are being invited to star in the film and they would have a series of fights.

[L: Donnie Yen. R: Tony Jaa]

Raymond Wong hopes to unite the two international screen giants despite the high fee of US$3m (HK$23.4m) commanded by Tony Jaa, “I’ll talk about the new firm at a later date. It’d be great to have to the two appear in the same film, but I’ll only talk about it when things are finalised.”

Donnie Yen’s currently filming Wilson Yip’s Ip Man 2 with Sammo Hung, Fan Siu Wong and Huang Xiao Ming.  He recently fainted on the set due to fever and over-exhaustion. He has been discharged from hospital and would resume filming in a day or two.

Bron:www.wu-jing.org,www.newsgd.com, www.brucelee.fr, 21cn [16-09-2009]

The Founding of a Republic (Jian guo da ye)

The People’s Republic of China turns the big six oh this October 1st and to celebrate they’ve made a little movie titled, The Founding of a Republic. Opening last month (September 17th – at exactly 2pm) in China, the extravaganza was all set to go by the title of The Great Cause of China’s Foundation – which clearly wouldn’t have suited the subtle tone filmmakers were going for. Just look at that poster.

According to wiki, the film “features [a] large cast of 176 of China’s and Hong Kong’s most renowned actors”. Actors like these people:

Jackie Chan

Zhang Ziyi

Donnie Yen

Tony Leung

Chow Yun-Fat

Stephen Chow

Andy Lau

Jet Li

Leon Lai

It of course also features an appearance by Eva Huang (above right) as the most photogenic cadre you’ll ever see.

Hero is a great film, flat out. I enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but I personally found Hero to be much more engaging, both emotionally and intellectually. The film is centered around a lone swordsman who goes by the title of Nameless, played by Jet Li, whose mission is to stop three assassins who have vowed to kill emperor Qin. For all the history buffs out there, Between 230 and 221 BC, the Kingdom of Qin, led by Qin Shihuangdi, waged war and conquered the other six kingdoms, unifying the country into what would become the first dynasty of China which resulted in standardization of the written language, currency, and weights and measures. But in the midst of such great things, he also had a mean streak which garnered plenty of negative attention. Emporer Qin was ruthless in how he held onto the reigns of power, which included burning political writings and executing those who disagreed with his policies.

There is little background information given about the main characters and not a lot of context provided for each scene. However, Hero reminded me of what filmmaking and ought to be, which is a work of art. The cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking. And it’s a return to form for Jet Li, whose American efforts never reached the potential of his earlier Chinese films and who now finally has a project worthy of his talent. While there are no huge battle scenes, there are many individual matches between Jet Li and characters.

It is a fantastic film experience, filled with brilliant performances from end to end, including cinematography, acting and directing. Most of the story of Hero is told in flashback as Nameless tells his stories and the king questions him. Each scene is dominated by one primary color, from the opening desert white to the reds of the calligraphy school to the yellows of autumn leaves whose wind-swept swirls become weapons in themselves. One perspective is looking at this movie as if it were Chinese propaganda, since the movie tries to characterize the first King of China as a misunderstood protagonist being perceived as a tyrant. In reality, like I stated before, was that he worse than Hitler.

The message of this film was not written for American ears. It was made for a Chinese audience. It is often difficult to translate select elements and dialogues of an Asian film in a manner that Western audience would understand. This one gets a pass as it wasn’t a movie you had to pay extreme attention to in order to grasp its plot.  Hero deserves to be enjoyed but one also has to accept that it’s an ambitious movie. It is superb, well done, and well worth seeing.

SOURCE: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor

ShockTillYouDrop.com: How did you line up with director Christian Alvart?

Cung Le: My managers introduced me to Jeremy Bolt and he had me down to Universal, where their offices were at. I brought my world title belt, which I had won three months prior, I got a chance to meet Jeremy Bolt and he told me about the script which had an Asian guy in there. He thought I might be good for it. The character was Japanese, but I was willing to learn the language. The next thing you know, I’m auditioning and they said I could read in my native tongue, which is Vietnamese. Not longer after I got the part and next thing you know I’m on set amazed by the spaceship set and being directed by Alvart.

Shock: The trailer is elusive, it doesn’t give anything away, especially with your character – so who do you play?

Le: His name is Manh. He’s an agriculture specialist and he’s been awake for a while. The storyline is two crew members wake up and don’t know where they are at. Or what they’re mission is. I’ve been awake and I know what’s going on and I’ve been surviving on this ship. Over time he’s battle-hardened. He knows what to do.

Shock: I bet. Now, is there a language barrier between your character and the other crew members?

Le: Yeah, and I had to make sure I looked like I didn’t understand what they were saying. Three times a day I would train, put myself on tape a couple of times. And in the afternoon I would read over the lines to memorize them and at night I would just deliver it on tape to be prepared. I did that for a month before I filmed the movie. I would translate all of the English dialogue to Vietnamese which I speak fluently but there were some words I didn’t know like “pilot” or “crew member.” I had to really familiarize myself with that. I think a lot of people who say, “He’s a fighter, can he act?” will be impressed.

Shock: Well, what separates this from some of the similar genre fare we’ve seen set in space, on a ship and with scary shit going down?

Le: The actors in this movie are seasoned, from Dennis Quaid to Ben Foster. Christian is an amazing director with awesome producers. Without giving too much away, you’re going to get a little bit of everything here. You think you’re going to figure something out and you’re going to be wrong. You think you know what’s going to happen next and you’re going to be wrong. I guarantee there are going to be so many twists and turns. And the ending is going to make you think. It’s a mindf**k. For the horror fans who feel scary movies have been lacking, this is it. This is something that is going to appeal to action fans, sci-fi fans and horror fans. Take your girl to it, she’ll be jumping in your lap.

Shock: Since the trailer hit, I’ve been slowing scenes down. If you do that you get to see the threat which comes from…humanoids or creatures?

Le: When I saw those creatures, I was like wow. There are a couple of chase scenes and they’re really coming at you. When you pass the camera, you turn around and you see them coming full steam ahead. It was just really spooky being on the set with them. The mood and the lighting made you just feel you were in that scene. You didn’t need to act anything out. You got immediately into character and you can feel them inching closer to you. The actors in the makeup were amazing. They brought these creatures to life and that was definitely worth it for me. I was blown away.

Shock: What was the ratio of practical to green screen set work?

Le: I’d say about 80% of the sets were practical. There was some green screen stuff. The sets were amazing. I did a full sprint down this long hallway, or ship corridor, jumping over pipes and that was amazing. We’d film different pieces of the ship, it’s pretty elaborate.

Shock: Aside from the language challenges, physically this film must have pushed you as well.

Le: Oh yeah. I’ve been in the ring and in the cage. Lots of amateur fights and wrestling matches. I’ve got a lot of respect for the stunt men. I did 90% of my own stunts and there were a few times I woke up the next day feeling like I was in a MMA fight. Just banged up take after a take. Hitting the walls. Slamming into things. There’s going to be kicking and shin bones flying around. I think the hardest thing for me, when I got on set I was about 193 or 195 pounds. Jeremy Bolt came over and said, “You’re looking great, man, but there’s not much food on this ship so I think you need to cut some weight.” He needed me to cut about 15 pounds. I said I’d get it off in two weeks. It’s not just cutting water weight. I got to cut it and keep it off. Usually for a fight I cut it and put it right back on. Sure enough, it wasn’t that hard, and I got it off quick, but keeping it off for two months was tough. Once the food came out…I had a strict diet. I had to work out in the morning and night. I was just exhausted and always hungry. When the German chocolate came out…that is my greatest weakness.

Cung Le will be venturing down to the San Diego Comic-Con this year for the first time, not just to promote Pandorum but to pimp out his action figure which is the best-selling one in its line. You’ll also see him in the upcoming video game adaptation Tekken and Bodyguards and Assassins with Donnie Yen.