Tag: John Woo

SILENT NIGHT – Review

Joel Kinnaman as Godlock in Silent Night. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

For years, film buffs have enjoyed arguing about whether DIE HARD is a Christmas movie. The “yeas” emphasize when it’s happening and what’s going on there besides the mayhem between Bruce and the baddies. The “nays” say it’s the polar opposite of the decades of seasonal feelgood spirit exemplified by everything from IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE to what the Hallmark Channel cranks out annually for the holidays. For them, if it ain’t gooey, it ain’t Yuley. Well, whichever camp you’re in, you’ll vote the same way for this gift from A-list action writer, producer and director John Woo, SILENT NIGHT.

SILENT NIGHT serves as a two-edged title. Besides the main events occurring on consecutive Christmases (for which that title ranks among the most popular carols), the entire film plays out without a single spoken word. Whatever they saved on dialog they spent on bullets, squibs, chase vehicles and sound effects. The film opens with Joel Kinnaman’s character, wearing a butt-ugly Christmas sweater, running after a couple of cars full of gang bangers blasting away at each other. Though he’s shot in the throat and chest, he miraculously survives. But one of the wounds rendered him unable to speak without a trachea tube, which he bitterly shuns. About 20 minutes in, we learn why he was so recklessly pursuing them – his young son had just been killed by one of their stray bullets.

Then we get a pretty slow 30 minutes with a lot of brooding and Kinnaman training and prepping for his revenge. He lives for nothing else, eventually driving his wife (Catalina Sandino Moreno) away to handle her grief in her own way. Between the stretches of almost catatonic mourning sprinkled with seething anger, the rigorous conditioning and self-teaching on weaponry, hand-to-hand and a FAST & FURIOUS level of driving are faithful to what we see whenever an Everyman heroically decides to go full Bronson on whoever done him wrong.

Once we get to the second Christmas, Woo gives us all the splatter and superb stunt work that has defined his long and oft-lauded career. On the adrenaline scale, the last 40 minutes comes in well above Charles Bronson’s vigilante outings (Paul Kersey’s multiple DEATH WISH flicks, MR.MAJESTYK, etc.), yet well shy of the JOHN WICK franchise in quantity; a bit closer in intensity. The big final assault puts Kinnaman and the stunt cast through a grueling, bloody ordeal with a few really stellar demises. Fights are gritty and excellently choreographed – like watching a less-athletic Tony Jaa, or many among the recent wave of crime flicks coming from Korea. And unlike many recent slugfests, this one is adequately lit and edited smoothly enough to follow the action and see the consequences. Not intended for the squeamish.

Besides the action that’s really the motivation for buying a ticket, the cast does quite well at conveying their states of mind without uttering a word. Moreno’s expressive face is particularly eloquent while making up for losing an actor’s most obvious tool for establishing a sympathetic character and emotional arc. Kinnaman is sufficiently convincing in his transformation from blue-collar dad to Rambo. After nearly 50 years, Woo is still going strong. Happy holidays!

SILENT NIGHT opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 1.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

REIGN OF ASSASSINS and THE LOST BLADESMAN Debut on Digital and DVD November 1st

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Two exciting, action-packed Martial Arts movie debut on DVD this week from Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company: REIGN OF ASSASSINS and THE LOST BLADESMAN.

“‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ relocate to ancient China in the dazzling martial-arts epic “REIGN OF ASSASSINS”
–The Hollywood Reporter

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REIGN OF ASSASSINS is an epic MMA Battle Produced by John Woo & Directed by Su Chao-Pin and Starring Michelle Yeoh. It arrives on DVD, Digital HD & On Demand November 1

Michelle Yeoh (Babylon A.D., Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend), Jung Woo-Sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird; A Moment to Remember, The Warrior) and Xueqi Wang (Iron Man 3, Bodyguards and Assassins, Warriors of Heaven and Earth) star in Reign of Assassins, the exciting martial arts thriller produced by the legendary John Woo (Mission Impossible: II, Face/Off, The Killer), arriving on Digital HD & On Demand and on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment November 1.

 Directed by Su Chao-Pin, Reign of Assassins is the winner of two Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards including Best Director & Film of Merit, and also received 11 Hong Kong Film Award nominations, including a Best Picture nomination. Reign of Assassins will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

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Produced by John Woo and Terence Chang, this epic martial arts action thriller promises to be FACE/OFF meets MR. AND MRS. SMITH. Set in ancient China, the film stars Michelle Yeoh as a skilled assassin who is on a mission to return the remains of a mystical Buddhist monk to their resting place. The remains are believed to hold a powerful secret. Along the way, she falls in love with a man named Jiang, whose father was killed by her gang. Unaware that he also is a trained martial artist, their love blossoms but tensions arise as the truth of her past unravels. Soon, a lethal triangle surfaces between her, Jiang and the team of assassins that are after the monk’s remains.

THE LOST BLADESMAN, The Golden Lotus Award Winner for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor also arrives on DVD, Digital HD & On Demand November 1, 2016

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“Glorious martial-arts mastery”
– Variety

International superstar Donnie Yen (Ip Man series, Hero, 14 Blades, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend) leads an epic cast in The Lost Bladesman, loosely based on Luo Guanzhong’s historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, arriving on Digital HD & On Demand and on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment November 1. Also starring in the action-packed, gorgeously shot film are Wen Jiang (Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Let the Bullets Fly, The Sun Also Rises), Sun Li (Empresses of the Palace, Painted Skin) and Andy On (Mad Detective, True Legend, Blackhat).

Written and directed by critically acclaimed filmmakers Alan Mak and Felix Chong – creators of the successful Infernal Affairs trilogy, The Lost Bladesman won several Golden Lotus awards at the 2011 Macau International Movie Festival including Best Film, Best Director for Mak and Chong, and Best Actor for Donnie Yen. Wen Jiang also won the Best Actor award from the Shanghai Film Critics for his performance in the film. The Lost Bladesman will be available on DVD November 1 for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

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Synopsis:

During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country, General Cao Cao (Wen Jiang), the real power behind the emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land Guan Yu (Donnie Yen). However, Guan Yu is a loyal friend of Cao Cao’s enemy Liu Bei (Alex Fong). To persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao Cao takes his beloved Qi Lan (Betty Sun) hostage.

After leading Cao Cao’s forces to victory, Guan Yu sets out with Qi Lan to rejoin Liu Bei. But now Cao Cao has deemed him too great a threat to live, and on the journey he must face all the forces at the emperor’s command sent to destroy him.

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John Woo’s WWII FLYING TIGERS To Be 2-Pt Feature And Six-Hr Television Miniseries

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Terence Chang, John Woo, Charlie Coker, Frank Botman, Han Sanping, Zhao Haicheng, Miao Xiaotian and Deng Meng (Director of contracts & cooperation China Film Co.)

Dutch-based strategic investment boutique Cyrte Investments and China Film Co., Ltd.  are teaming with legendary action director John Woo (Face Off, Red Cliff, Mission Impossible II) on Flying Tigers, a feature film and six-hour television drama miniseries about a group of American pilots who volunteered to fight under the Chinese flag alongside their Chinese counterparts during WWII.

The project will be a two-part feature film released theatrically in greater China, and additionally crafted into a six-hour television drama miniseries for distribution in the rest of the world.  The announcement was made today during the Beijing International Film Festival at a signing ceremony attended by Cyrte CEO Frank Botman, CFG Chairman Han Sanping and John Woo.

The epic action drama tells the legendary story of the Flying Tigers, a heroic band of American pilots who volunteered to join the Chinese Air Force and fight Japanese aggression at the onset of World War II.  Known as the “Flying Tigers” due to the iconic shark’s teeth painted on their fighter planes, the team played an integral role in holding the line against imperial Japan in the early days of the war.  Although outnumbered and often ill-equipped, the Flying Tigers valiantly staved off numerous Japanese attacks in China and Southeast Asia. Flying Tigers is a compelling story of international friendship and heroism between American and Chinese servicemen who perilously fought side-by-side in a time of need.

Woo is expected to begin principal photography for Flying Tigers in early 2014.

Woo and his producing partner, Terence Chang, will produce the films and TV miniseries under their Lion Rock Productions banner.  Woo said “Flying Tigers is a project that I have always wanted to do, because this is a story that expresses the courage, resourcefulness, friendship, and spirit of both the Chinese and American people and pilots.  It promotes friendship between the two nations.  I am extremely grateful to China Film Co., Ltd. and Cyrte Investments for giving me this opportunity, and I will definitely put forth my greatest efforts.”

“We are honored to be working with John Woo, one of the preeminent Chinese directors of our time, and the fabulous team at China Film Co., Ltd., led by Mr. Han Sanping,” said Mr. Botman of Cyrte, who added “This is Woo’s passion project and we could not conceive of anyone more perfect to tell the story of the Flying Tigers.  Like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, this heroic story of Chinese and American cooperation and their struggles in WWII needs to be retold to a new generation.”

Mr. Han of CFG added:  “China Film Co., Ltd., as the biggest film development, production and distribution company in China, was fully engaged in the cooperation with John Woo and Terence Chang at the initial stage of the development of Flying Tigers.  We have high hopes for Flying Tigers, which is no doubt one of the most important films for CFG in recent years.  We believe that the collaboration between CFG, John Woo, Terence Chang, and Cyrte Investments allows us to showcase the charm of Chinese made films in a more diversified and appealing way to the global audience.”

Cyrte will work with its portfolio company Exclusive Media, the leading production company for independent Hollywood films, to assist with the project.

Lion Rock Productions was formed in 1998 by director John Woo and his producing partner Terence Chang. Their partnership dates back to Hong Kong where they produced such films as Hard Boiled and The Killer.  Feature film credits include Hard Target for Universal, Broken Arrow for Twentieth Century Fox, Mission: Impossible II andFace/Off for Paramount Pictures. Credits under the Lion Rock banner include Paycheck, Windtalkers, Bulletproof Monk, The Big Hit, Blood Brothers, My Fair Gentleman, Reign of Assassins, and the blockbuster hit Red Cliff. Television credits include Red Skies,The Robinsons: Lost in Space and the animated project Appleseed: Ex Machina.

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Standing:Terence Chang (Lion Rock Productions), John Woo, Charlie Coker (Cyrte Investments), Han Sanping (head of China Film Group), Miao Xiaotian (VP of China Film Co., Ltd.) 
Seated: Frank Botman (CEO of Cyrte Investments) and Zhao Haicheng (Director & VP of China Film Co.)

Dougray Scott Joins Indie/Romantic/Fantasy, Plots Death of John Woo

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This article isn’t so much about THE VEIL OF MAYA, the new independent romantic fantasy Variety is reporting actor Dougray Scott has signed on to star in.   This is more about a man who could have been an A-lister and slipped through the cracks.   The premise of THE VEIL OF MAYA involves a woman traveling through time to undo a love that ends in tragedy.

Now, let’s travel back in time to early 2000 when Scott was hand-picked by Tom Cruise to play the role of the lead villain, Sean Ambrose, in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II.   Sounds like a pretty cush gig, right?   Yeah, you might think that, unless the role you have lined up right after this gig is to play Wolverine in the first X-MEN film.   Dougray Scott was cast as Logan.   It was a done deal.   He was months away from growing the mutton chops and sliding on the adamantium claws.   Then, John Woo let MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II get behind, and the film ran two months over schedule.   Scott, already contracted and having nearly completed his work on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II, had to drop out of X-MEN.   A very little known Australian actor by the name of Hugh Jackman stepped in for 20th Century Fox, and the rest is history.

Now, nearly ten years later, Hugh Jackman is hosting the Oscars, prepping for his fifth outing as Wolverine, and loving every minute of it.   Dougray Scott just signed to be in a film directed by a woman whose last filme was a virginal high school comedy starring Rumer Willis.   I picture Scott every night in his room with a Voodoo doll that looks like John Woo, just waiting for the right moment to push the pin in.   But, hey, he’ll always have MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II on DVD to keep him company.

‘Red Cliff’ Poster

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Here’s the new badass U.S. poster for ‘Red Cliff.’ A Must-See for every Movie Geek, this 5 hour, epic Chinese film from director John Woo (“Face/Off,’ ‘Mission: Impossible 2’), based on the historical events of the dramatic battle and ending of the Han Dynasty, was originally shown in 2 parts in Asia. The western release of  ‘Red Cliff’  went from a running time of 280 minutes to 150 minutes in June 2009.

From Variety:

One of the most ballyhooed Asian productions in recent history, and the most expensive Chinese-language picture ever, John Woo’s costume actioner “Red Cliff” scales the heights. First seg of the two-part, $80 million historical epic balances character, grit, spectacle and visceral action in a meaty, dramatically satisfying pie that delivers on the hype.

Sequel to ‘Hard Boiled’ in Development

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I’ve always been an advocate for sequel before remake.   If you are going to cash in on the name brand of a successful film, I would much rather see a sequel to that film than a reboot.   And so it goes with John Woo’s 1992 film ‘Hard Boiled’.   Woo’s production company Lion Rock Entertainment is in development on a sequel to the action classic.

The screenplay, being written by Jeremy Passmore (‘Special’) and Andre Fabrizio (the upcoming John Carpenter film ‘The Prince’), will actually be an adaptation of the video game Stranglehold, which served as a sequel to sorts to ‘Hard Boiled’.   Chow Yun-Fat appeared in the game as the same character he portrayed in Woo’s film.   Chances are, with the screenwriters involved, this will be a film geared towards American audiences.

If you haven’t seen ‘Hard Boiled’, or any pre-‘Hard Target’ John Woo films, you are really missing out on some of the absolute best action films ever put to film.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

New Poster for ‘Red Cliff’

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There is a new poster for John Woo’s ‘Red Cliff’ and it looks pretty effing fantastic!

For those of you not in the know, ‘Red Cliff’ is a is a Chinese epic film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. The film is expected to be released in two versions. Within Asia, Red Cliff is to be released in two parts totaling over four hours in length. The first part was released in July 2008 and the second in January 2009. Outside of Asia, a single 2Â ½ hour film will be released in 2009.

Thanks to Alex for pointing this out, and IMP Awards for posting it.

John Woo involved with ‘High Noon’ …

So, I’m REALLY pumped about this news, even though there’s not a great deal of beef to it. As some of you may have concluded, I have a slightly out-dated but strong appreciation for a “good” western film and find it rather sad that the genre’s nearly dead. So, anytime I find out a new western is in the works, it gets me, shall we say, a little randy… Anyway, it gets better.

Apparently, and I apologize if my sources go unconfirmed, but this “news” as I said is a bit hear-say at this point in time… apparently, John Woo is attached (perhaps, unofficially) to at least produce. Now word on whether he’ll direct, but that would be awesome. I mean, come on… Mr. Woo of Hard Boiled and The Killers doing a western! Granted, it may sound like a remake, but in reality it would be only vaguely such if you consider comparing the 1952 original starring Gary Cooper to anything modern from John Woo.

Sources suggest the following are included amongst the cast of this film which is reportedly already in the set-production phase… Rutger Hauer! OK, we can stop right there… that’s all I need to hear. Yes, I LOVE Rutger Hauer. But, it gets better… the cast allegedly also includes Sean Bean, Jordan Bayne and Cillian Murphy, of whom I am also a big fan.

Go to Horror-Movies.ca to read the full “scoop”…

John Woo aims his sights on ‘Caliber’ …

Wowzers! This is some pretty cool news … John Woo (Hard-Boiled) has signed on to direct a film adaptation of the comic book ‘Caliber’ … and, it appears as though Johnny Depp will be co-producing the film. Unofficial word on the Internet streets is that Depp’s a big fan of the comic book, perhaps even itching to play the starring role? Ohh-ha-ha … If so, it’ll probably be a while. Woo’s currently working on the second part of ‘Red Cliff’. Basically, the story takes King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and retells the story in the 19th century in the Pacific Northwest of America with the King and his knights as gunslingers.

Here’s the plot as written on the Johnny Depp Reads Message Board:

[The Arthurian legend as retold in the American Old West, with all of its great symbolism, magic and spirit of adventure. The Knights of the Round Table are all gunslingers bound by a code of honor to protect the weak and defend the innocent until they are undone from within by their own moral corruption. In this tale, Caliber itself is a tattooed six-gun, given to Arthur by the Indians and imbued with supernatural power. The secret of the gun is that it is never loaded with bullets, but when a man with Justice on his side is holding it, it can fire. When it does, it fires Thunder itself and never misses.]

9 Minutes of John Woo’s ‘Red Cliff’

All I can say is “superb!” Take a gander at this 9-minute reel from John Woo’s new film ‘The Battle of Red Cliff’ … courtesy of twitchfilm.net [Sorry, no subtitles … but, big deal. This movie looks great.] I predict a certain Oscar nod for Best Foreign Film … perhaps some cinematography and costume nods as well.