No one, including Warner Bros, was prepared for how successful “The Matrix” would be when it hit theaters on March 31, 1999. Only the second film by the Wachowski siblings (their first being the low-budget indie “Bound”), it would go on the be the fourth highest grossing film of the year, and a cultural phenomenon that became part of our lexicon.
The movie’s success would also mark a number of shifts happening in the industry. The diverse approach to casting by the Wachowskis, and their casting directors Mali Finn and Shauna Wolifson, took in building their ensemble helped redefine who could be an American action star, as Hollywood was desperate to move away from its already stale reliance on brawny white males, whose bulging muscles justified their physical prowess. The Wachowskis’ philosophy-inspired script helped usher in an era of narrative gravity and complexity in how studios approached the world-building storytelling of studio IP.
The movie’s success would also mark a number of shifts happening in the industry. The diverse approach to casting by the Wachowskis, and their casting directors Mali Finn and Shauna Wolifson, took in building their ensemble helped redefine who could be an American action star, as Hollywood was desperate to move away from its already stale reliance on brawny white males, whose bulging muscles justified their physical prowess. The Wachowskis’ philosophy-inspired script helped usher in an era of narrative gravity and complexity in how studios approached the world-building storytelling of studio IP.
- 3/31/2024
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
After several years in television and the release of three romantic comedies including “Seven Years Itch” (1987), Johnnie To comes up with his first Action Movie “The Big Heat”. The extremely rare movie, famously known for its DVD release that falls short in terms of synchronization and subtitling, holds the blueprint of many later films of the director.
“The Big Heat” centers around the policemen John, played by Waise Lee also known as the bad guy from “A Better Tomorrow” (1986) and “Bullet in the Head” (1990), who has to solve the murder of his former partner before he can retire. Like many other of To’s heroes John has a disability. Due to a nerve damage, his hand is temporarily paralyzed.
Speaking of Johnnie To, one cannot dismiss the aspect of the auteur. Johnnie To is a prime example of a director that changed the nature of a genre...
“The Big Heat” centers around the policemen John, played by Waise Lee also known as the bad guy from “A Better Tomorrow” (1986) and “Bullet in the Head” (1990), who has to solve the murder of his former partner before he can retire. Like many other of To’s heroes John has a disability. Due to a nerve damage, his hand is temporarily paralyzed.
Speaking of Johnnie To, one cannot dismiss the aspect of the auteur. Johnnie To is a prime example of a director that changed the nature of a genre...
- 2/6/2020
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
“I Am Not Your Negro” (Magnolia), Raoul Peck’s acclaimed documentary on author James Baldwin, opened extremely well this weekend to achieve an elevated position among this year’s Oscar Documentary Features. It also defied the usual strategy for specialized releases, documentary or otherwise, with a wider that usual first week opening.
It joins the Iranian “The Salesman” as a perfectly timed late-stage release. Asghar Faradi’s film expanded in its second weekend to about the same number of theaters showing “Negro.” They stand out as fresh blood in a period when multiple longer running Oscar nominees are still thriving, including a rare trifecta of three Best Picture nominees in the Top Ten: “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land” and “Lion.”
The first two Sundance 2017 films debuted theatrically, both with near-term home viewing prospects. Barbara Kopple’s “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” (on YouTube Red this Wednesday) and “Oklahoma City” (on...
It joins the Iranian “The Salesman” as a perfectly timed late-stage release. Asghar Faradi’s film expanded in its second weekend to about the same number of theaters showing “Negro.” They stand out as fresh blood in a period when multiple longer running Oscar nominees are still thriving, including a rare trifecta of three Best Picture nominees in the Top Ten: “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land” and “Lion.”
The first two Sundance 2017 films debuted theatrically, both with near-term home viewing prospects. Barbara Kopple’s “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” (on YouTube Red this Wednesday) and “Oklahoma City” (on...
- 2/5/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
It’s not every day a director comes on stage in Buddhist monk’s garb and slippers, but such was Patrick Lung Kong’s refreshingly idiosyncratic appearance Saturday night at Queens’ Museum of the Moving Image, two days into a two weekend retro of his work. To his right was Tsui Hark, who himself reshaped the Hong Kong film industry multiple times: with 1986′s Peking Opera Blues, a breakthrough moment for international recognition of Hk martial arts fare, 1992′s Once Upon a Time in China, and as producer on John Woo’s 1986 A Better Tomorrow, among many other instances. 1967′s The Story of […]...
- 8/19/2014
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It’s not every day a director comes on stage in Buddhist monk’s garb and slippers, but such was Patrick Lung Kong’s refreshingly idiosyncratic appearance Saturday night at Queens’ Museum of the Moving Image, two days into a two weekend retro of his work. To his right was Tsui Hark, who himself reshaped the Hong Kong film industry multiple times: with 1986′s Peking Opera Blues, a breakthrough moment for international recognition of Hk martial arts fare, 1992′s Once Upon a Time in China, and as producer on John Woo’s 1986 A Better Tomorrow, among many other instances. 1967′s The Story of […]...
- 8/19/2014
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Wu Ma is a legend when it comes to Kung Fu movies, starring in his first movie at the age of 14 in Lady General Hua Mulan and is still active till this day. Wu must be one of the most recognizable faces in the business, starring in movies such as Encounters Of The Spooky Kind, Dead And The Deadly, The Manchu Boxer, Iron Monkey and lots more. Wu Ma is still making movies to this day, this year he appeared in the movie Game Of Assassins, which also featured Leung Kar Yan and Chen Kuan Tai.
Selected Filmography
1977:Iron Monkey
1980:Encounters Of The Spooky Kind
1980:By Hook Or By Crook
1982:Dead And The Deadly
1986:Righting Wrongs
1987:Chinese Ghost Story
1990:Swordsman
1993:Kickboxer
2012:Game Of Assassins
Background
Wu was born Feng Hongyuan in Tianjin. At 16 he moved to Guangzhou and became a machinist before migrating to Hong Kong in 1960. In...
Selected Filmography
1977:Iron Monkey
1980:Encounters Of The Spooky Kind
1980:By Hook Or By Crook
1982:Dead And The Deadly
1986:Righting Wrongs
1987:Chinese Ghost Story
1990:Swordsman
1993:Kickboxer
2012:Game Of Assassins
Background
Wu was born Feng Hongyuan in Tianjin. At 16 he moved to Guangzhou and became a machinist before migrating to Hong Kong in 1960. In...
- 11/4/2012
- by kingofkungfu
- AsianMoviePulse
[Us readers are reminded that Detective Dee is in limited theatrical release in the Us Right Now and this is a film that greatly benefits from being seen in as large a format as possible. Watch Andy Lau punch a deer in the face on the big screen! Find the complete list of theaters screening the film here.]Much has been made about Detective Dee being Tsui Hark's return to form after a largely shaky 15 year run of mediocrity. I must say, he delivers the goods here in a way I was not expecting. Hark used to be the king of Hong Kong action, with films like The Blade and Peking Opera Blues in his satchel, it used to be that a film with his...
- 10/4/2011
- Screen Anarchy
Tonight, you can catch a special free screening of Amélie as part of the Whole Foods Sunset Supper Cinema; seating is limited, and starts around 6:30 pm. I'm seriously thinking of going to try some of the food specials, which include a crème brûlée shake.
Then get a triple-shot of filmmaker Ti West, who's been in town for Fantastic Fest. On Saturday he's doing a Moviemaker Dialogue over at the Afs screening room, on Sunday The Roost and The House of the Devil play Alamo Drafthouse Village, followed by an Afs Best of the Fest screening on Monday of The Innkeepers.
On Tuesday, check out the lastest Essential Cinema screening Peking Opera Blues over at Alamo South Lamar. And apparently Afs is kicking of a new "season pass" option -- Season Pass holders get into the Essential Cinema screenings for free.
Now on to the films opening in Austin today,...
Then get a triple-shot of filmmaker Ti West, who's been in town for Fantastic Fest. On Saturday he's doing a Moviemaker Dialogue over at the Afs screening room, on Sunday The Roost and The House of the Devil play Alamo Drafthouse Village, followed by an Afs Best of the Fest screening on Monday of The Innkeepers.
On Tuesday, check out the lastest Essential Cinema screening Peking Opera Blues over at Alamo South Lamar. And apparently Afs is kicking of a new "season pass" option -- Season Pass holders get into the Essential Cinema screenings for free.
Now on to the films opening in Austin today,...
- 9/30/2011
- by Jenn Brown
- Slackerwood
Detective Dee and Mystery of the Phantom Flame is yet another magical adventure from Hong Kong action maestro Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues, Seven Swords). The $20-million film was funded entirely in China--as opposed to his old friend John Woo's $80 million Red Cliff, which was backed by a pool of investors from several Asian countries. This entertaining big-scale epic is packed with action and visual effects, including a towering hollow statue that is central to the mystery in the movie. Tsui would like to see more movies like his cross over with American audiences, who seem oddly culturally constrained, he says. "It's always a problem, the culture barrier, which becomes a separating factor, categorizing audiences." He realizes that educating audiences in eastern traditions is ...
- 9/6/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
There's more than a whiff of Tsui Hark's Peking Opera Blues in Gao Xiaosong's My Kingdom, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Four years in the making, with action choreography from Sammo Hung and a role for the rarely seen Yuen Biao, this could end up being a lot of fun. The producers have assembled a young, attractive cast in the form of Wu Chun, Han Geng and Barbie Hsu and seem determined to underline that this is a film with modern sensibilities, even though it features old school cultural elements like traditional Chinese opera. A fan-subbed version of the film's trailer has popped up online and certainly boasts a colourful blend of operatics and martial arts. Whether it succeeds in being an entertaining...
- 8/17/2011
- Screen Anarchy
The lineup of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema's 2011 New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), which runs July 1 -14, includes 45 features and one short film each from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Among the world premieres are Takashi Miike's Ninja Kids!!! and Eiji Uchida's The Last Days of the World. American premieres include the fest opener, Yoshimasa Ishibashi’s Milocrorze: A Love Story. This year's Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award is going to Hong Kong auteur Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues); the Rising Star Award goes to Japanese actor Takayuki Yamadass. More highlights, details and the complete lineup is listed below: In addition, 2011 Nyaff will feature 12 films making their North ...
- 5/31/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
Updated through 9/21.
"Tsui Hark, who directed about half of the best films of Hong Kong's golden age (Peking Opera Blues, Once Upon a Time in China, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain) and produced most of the other half (A Better Tomorrow, A Chinese Ghost Story, Iron Monkey), returns in fabulous form with this gorgeous action picture about the intrigue attending the rise of history's first female emperor," writes Time's Richard Corliss. "Detective Dee is the first China-Hong Kong coproduction since Hero to make good on the grand promise of epic entertainment."...
"Tsui Hark, who directed about half of the best films of Hong Kong's golden age (Peking Opera Blues, Once Upon a Time in China, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain) and produced most of the other half (A Better Tomorrow, A Chinese Ghost Story, Iron Monkey), returns in fabulous form with this gorgeous action picture about the intrigue attending the rise of history's first female emperor," writes Time's Richard Corliss. "Detective Dee is the first China-Hong Kong coproduction since Hero to make good on the grand promise of epic entertainment."...
- 9/21/2010
- MUBI
(Finally getting around to a review of this masterpiece for the Twitch archives. With the recent announcement that his forthcoming Chinese Western Let the Bullets Fly will not be coming out any time soon, let's remind ourselves of the film that established Jiang Wen as one of the most accomplished directors working today in the first place.)
Jiang Wen's extraordinary 1994 debut In the Heat of the Sun (literally Days of Lush, Bright Sunshine) is the story of a child growing up in 1970s Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, but it's a dreamy abstract place perpetually awash in baking heat. The plot is a loosely connected series of offhand anecdotes built around the emotional cornerstones of adolescence - acting out, asserting one's identity, celebrating freedom, getting the girl. This is a film about memory, as in the way we remember something versus what actually happened. It's a man's memory of being a boy,...
Jiang Wen's extraordinary 1994 debut In the Heat of the Sun (literally Days of Lush, Bright Sunshine) is the story of a child growing up in 1970s Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, but it's a dreamy abstract place perpetually awash in baking heat. The plot is a loosely connected series of offhand anecdotes built around the emotional cornerstones of adolescence - acting out, asserting one's identity, celebrating freedom, getting the girl. This is a film about memory, as in the way we remember something versus what actually happened. It's a man's memory of being a boy,...
- 6/25/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Let's ease into the new year with a couple of news bites of interest for Asian film fans. First up: the Us distribution front: if you're like me, you'll have trouble naming more than two East Asian pictures that got any kind of theatrical release in the latter half of 2008; I'm remembering only the Japanese drama Love and Honor and Wong Kar Wai's meditative action remix, Ashes of Time Redux. Anything I'm forgetting?
This year, the release calendar looks pretty empty as well. Tokyo!, expected in March, compiles three short films set in the titular city, but only one from an Asian director, the very talented Bong Joon-ho (The Host). So it's welcome news to hear via indieWIRE that Regent Releasing has picked up the drama Departures (Okuribito) for Us release this summer. Directed by Yojiro Takita, the film focuses on a Japanese death custom, specifically, "a professional who cleanses and clothes a body,...
This year, the release calendar looks pretty empty as well. Tokyo!, expected in March, compiles three short films set in the titular city, but only one from an Asian director, the very talented Bong Joon-ho (The Host). So it's welcome news to hear via indieWIRE that Regent Releasing has picked up the drama Departures (Okuribito) for Us release this summer. Directed by Yojiro Takita, the film focuses on a Japanese death custom, specifically, "a professional who cleanses and clothes a body,...
- 1/7/2009
- by Peter Martin
- Cinematical
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