Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou has urged China to allow the release of hit film Cape No. 7, believing that it could help the Chinese understand the experience Taiwan had during Japanese occupation. Speaking with Radio Taiwan International on Wednesday, Ma expressed his hope that the Chinese would soon be able to see the film.
Critic and occasional extra features director Frederic Ambroisine has recently been on the set of forthcoming French zombie thriller Paris By Night Of The Living Dead, shooting behind-the-scenes footage indubitably intended for the DVD release. However, for those who are on the ball - as the folks over at Bloody Disgusting are - you can see the 14 minute featurette, English subs and all, over at Fred’s official site, excellent.
China has backtracked on its decision to allow hit Taiwanese film Cape No. 7 to be released on the Chinese mainland. The film, which focuses on Japan’s colonial rule of Taiwan, follows a Taiwanese musician who falls in love with a Japanese publicist organising a concert in his home town. Chinese officials are concerned that the film will affect nationalist views in the country. Yuan Wenqiang, general manager of China Film Group, the company which bought the rights to the film, are appealing to Government censors in order to try and resolve the situation and ultimately arrange a release.
Cape No. 7 is Taiwan’s second highest grossing film ever, lying just below Hollywood disaster epic Titanic.
Prolific and revered, Johnnie To is one of Hong Kong’s most internationally renowned directors, sporting a back catalogue which comprises some exciting titles including his 2005 tour de force, Election. But before Election had even been catapulted into the public eye came Breaking News, an action thriller with a snappy name and enough flying lead to kill an entire army.
After being embarrassingly out gunned by a group of heavily armed villains live on television, the Hong Kong police force embark on an attempt to use the media to their advantage and capture the bandits whilst putting on a show in order to regain the public’s confidence. Once the crooks are surrounded in one of the city’s apartment blocks a deadly game of cat and mouse begins.
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After years of domestic ostracism Kim Ki-Duk is finally managing to win over Korean audiences. His latest directorial effort, Dream, was a hit at the box office and now, Rough Cut which he wrote and produced is slated for a 24th December English DVD release. The low-budget flick follows a very ‘hands-on’ actor who, after years of playing violent gangsters, is accustomed to genuinely hitting his fellow cast members in order to create an air of total realism. Enter a real gangster who is taking his first steps into the movie business and say hello to a lot of very real fighting. I’ve not yet seen it but come its DVD release, I think I just might.
The lucky winners of the eleventh British Independent Film Awards were announced yesterday with Danny Boyle, his film Slumdog Millionaire and Steve McQueen’s Hunger leading the proceedings. Slumdog won Best British Independent Film, with Dev Patel winning Most Promising Newcomer and Danny Boyle picking up Best Director whilst Hunger also helped itself to three awards for Best Technical Achievement, Best Actor and The Douglas Hickox Award for the Best Debut Director. Amongst the other winners were Martin McDonagh for his excellent screenplay for In Bruges and Martin Sheen who picked up the Variety Award.
John Woodward, CEO of the UK Film Council said: “This year’s BIFA nominations and award winners really highlight the range of talent working in the UK with powerful, ground-breaking and imaginative films coming from filmmakers with diverse voices. Over the years these awards have developed a great knack for discovering exciting new talent and promoting them to a wider film world, consequently championing British independent film excellence and originality.”
The line-up for the English language voiceover of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, has just been unveiled and oh my, what a high profile cast. Empire reports that Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, former Golden Girl Betty White, Fankie Jonas, Noah Cyrys and Cloris Leachman will all be making appearances, which is pretty ridiculous if you think about it. Thankfully, this should be much better than the usual low grade dubs, although of course, subs are always the way to go.
Tokyo’s Anime International Company have teamed up with Singapore’s Cubix International in a partnership that will see the making of a big budget live action version of popular anime series Bubblegum Crisis. Slated for a US release in 2011 the companies will be working closely with original series creators Shinji Aramaki and Kenichi Sonoda in order to stay as faithful as possible to the original show.
Critically acclaimed Norwegian slasher Cold Prey is soon to hit North American shores thanks to Anchor Bay. Due for a DVD release on January 20 2009, the film was described by Ain’t It Cool News as “probably the most perfect slasher film ever made”. The range of extras on offer looks pretty good featuring a couple of short films, an alternate ending, a closer look at behind-the-scenes and the film’s effects as well as all the usual trailers and the like. Good news for horror fans.
The 11th Festival of German Films will commence in London tomorrow, with Caroline Link’s affecting drama of loss and grief, A Year Ago in Winter, starting proceedings. The event, which will see over 30 German films screened during its short stay, runs through until December 4, eventually closing with Andreas Dresden’s Cloud 9. For more information visit the official site.
