Jackie Chan (成龍) and Jet Li (李連杰) say they had so much fun making their first movie together they are planning a second one, The Forbidden Kingdom. "The first day we started filming [the first movie], it felt like we had worked together for many years," Chan said, adding, "after filming this movie, we didn't have enough fun." "In four months (of filming), we went from friends to becoming brothers," Li said.
Chan said their fight sequences went so smoothly that cinematographer Peter Pau told them to slow down.
The Forbidden Kingdom follows an American teenager's fantasy journey to ancient China, where he meets several characters from Chinese mythology such as the Drunken Immortal, played by Chan, and the Silent Monk, played by Li.
PHOTO: AP
Chan, the older of the two at age 53, said the two stars seldom talk about kung fu in private. He said Li, 44, a devout Buddhist, often explains Buddhist scripture to him, leaving him "very confused." Director Rob Minkoff said bringing Chan and Li together was a difficult challenge that involved hiring a top-notch supporting crew, including famed kung fu choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, known for his work on The Matrix trilogy.
A Tokyo cinema has decided not to screen a controversial documentary by a Chinese director about Japan's Yasukuni war shrine, the movie's distributor said Tuesday.
Yasukuni, by filmmaker Li Ying, looks at the controversy surrounding the shrine, which was built in 1869 and now honors 2.5 million war dead - including notorious war criminals from World War II.
The site has become a rallying point for Japan's far right, while in much of Asia it is seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
Wald9 Cinema in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's major entertainment districts, was among four places in the Japanese capital that had planned to start showing the documentary on April 12.
But operator T-Joy Co informed distributor Argo Pictures that Wald9 Cinema had dropped the plan.
"T-Joy told us that it was due to a problem in its screening schedule," said an official of Argo Pictures. "But the other three theaters still plan to show the movie."
But Kyodo News quoted a T-Joy official as saying the film may cause "trouble."
"The film is talked about so much that it may create trouble and we don't want to cause inconvenience to building tenants," the official was quoted as saying.
The film looks at the shrine through the viewpoint of an ageing maker of swords that were traditionally used by Japanese military officers.
"What I am hoping to do with this film is look at history and help people to realize that there are different sides to every story," Li said last year at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea.
US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is moving the filming of his new movie Shanghai to Thailand and England after being blocked from shooting in China, a Hollywood trade publication reported Wednesday.
Variety's Asian news Web site reported that Weinstein, the co-chairman of The Weinstein Co, said filmmakers considered Hong Kong and other Asian countries but decided on Thailand.
Chinese film officials said last month that they were blocking Shanghai from shooting in China over concerns about its script. They have refused to elaborate on their concerns.
The movie is about an American who is investigating his friend's death in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during the World War II era.
Mark Burnett is returning as executive producer of the MTV Movie Awards.
Burnett will helm the anything-can-happen show for the second year in a row, MTV announced Tuesday. The 17th annual ceremony will air live June 1 from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.
Oscar-winning screen legend Clint Eastwood will star in his first film since 2004 later this year, it was reported on Wednesday.
Eastwood, 77, who has not acted in a film since his Oscar-nominated turn in the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, is to direct and star in Gran Torino, which is due to be released in December, the Daily Variety reported.
Details of the film are being kept tightly under wraps, Variety reported, with studio Warner Bros only confirming the title of the film and Eastwood's role in the movie.
Eastwood, who has won two best director Oscars for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, recently completed shooting the Angelina Jolie drama The Changeling, due for release in November.
James Bond will be back a little sooner than expected.
Sony Pictures said Wednesday the latest 007 adventure, Quantum of Solace, will be released in Britain on Oct. 31.
It had been due to open Nov. 7, which is still its scheduled release date in North America.
The film sees Daniel Craig return as the suave British spy, tracking down a shadowy international conspiracy whose leader is played by French actor Mathieu Almaric.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
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