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2009 | 2007
1-20 of 54 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
John Woo to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Festival
22 December 2009 10:19 AM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »
Red Cliff by John Woo (Magnet Releasing) John Woo will be the recipient of the 2010 Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. As per the Venice festival’s website, Woo was chosen by the Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, "at the recommendation of the Director of the Festival, Marco Müller. "The acknowledgment recognizes a filmmaker who in recent decades, with his revolutionary conception of staging and editing, has renewed action movies to the core, introducing an extreme stylization (close to visual art), both in Asia (in films such as A Better Tomorrow, 1987; The Killer, 1989; Bullet in the Head, 1990; Hard Boiled, 1991; the recent colossal film Red Cliff), and in Hollywood (Broken Arrow, [...] »
- Irene Young
Woo to Receive Golden Lion
21 December 2009 2:41 PM, PST | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
By Brent Lang
John Woo, the director behind such stylish action hits as "Face/Off" and "Hard Boiled," has been awarded the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement, organizers announced on Monday.
In tapping Woo for the honor, the festival cited his influence on contemporary filmmakers and his highly stylized action sequences.
"In his war and gangster film masterpieces, Woo has been capable of transfiguring hyperbolic motion (defying gravity) and exasperated violence with a highly original poetic and romantic infusion, sustai »
- Brent Lang
Harry Knowles’ ‘Butt Numb-a-Thon’ A Success
14 December 2009 3:00 PM, PST | The Flickcast | See recent The Flickcast news »
With it’s common threads of obsession and neckwear, the Harry Knowles-hosted birthday bash was also host to a number of movie premieres and rare to find films this year. First was the coup of getting Avatar screened in 3-D, which garnered praise from most of the audience of guests and film critics. Knowles was also able to get a copy of Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s latest which has been pushed back until next year.
About this film, according to Anne Thompson’s blog, a viewer said: “It’s a version of Angel Heart without The Devil…I figured it out a third of the way through.” I still hold out that it’ll blow me away, much like it seemed to “Head Geek” Knowles, who called it a “brilliant movie.”
But apparently, the movie that overshadowed them all was Matthew Vaughn’s comic book adaptation Kick-Ass, which »
- John Muth
Posters, Clip, and Early Reviews for ‘Kick-Ass’
14 December 2009 1:31 PM, PST | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »
Audiences in attendance for the Comic-Con presentation of Kick-Ass were raucously supportive of Matthew Vaughn’s independent superhero comedy in July. It was the sleeper hit of the convention without a doubt, sparking a studio bidding war for distribution rights and since gaining a certain geek credibility in time for its release on April 16, 2010.
There’s no better place for this type of movie than “Head Geek” Harry Knowles’ festival Butt-Numb-a-Thon, a 26-hour movie watching marathon here in Austin where Kick-Ass celebrated a premiere this past weekend. Vaughn and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were in attendance for the “legendary” screening and Q&A.
The reactions from Bnt ranged from laudatory to blowing “the audience the f*ck away.” Most seemed floored by it and many even said it was better than Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Cameron’s Avatar, which both played that day. Harry called it the most badass film since John Woo’s Hard Boiled. »
- Jeff Leins
Interview: John Woo
6 December 2009 6:02 PM, PST | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
When I was in college in the 90s in Austin, Texas, I used to frequent a video store called "I Luv VIdeo." The locals all called it "I Heart Video," though, because of their distinctive sign. They had an amazing array of video tapes from all over the world, including a huge section of Asian cult hits. This is where I was introduced to John Woo and his movies like Hard Boiled, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head. The man is an amazing director, but since moving to Hollywood his work has been erratic. For every Mission: Impossible 2, there's a Windtalkers. For every Face/Off, there's a Paycheck.
Red Cliff is his first film since Paycheck, and it's a triumphant change for Woo as he moves into epic storytelling with a film so large it had to be split into two parts. Unfortunately, American audiences only received a cut-down version of both films, »
- Kevin Kelly
Johnny Depp: Revolutionary
4 December 2009 4:28 PM, PST | Atomic Popcorn | See recent Atomic Popcorn news »
Johnny Depp has made a name for himself as an actor largely due to his ability to fully take on the character he’s playing, which adds a dimension of believability to his portrayal 0f the role. This talent should serve Depp beautifully in his next potential role, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.
While Depp hasn’t officially signed on to play the hero, he is in advanced talks to join director Emir Kusturica on the biopic Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman With Six Fingers. This isn’t the first time the two have worked together, having joined forces on 1993’s Arizona Dream. Salma Hayek is also in talks for the film.
The script for Seven Friends is based off of a biographical novel about Pancho Villa, which tells how Villa and his friends were known for their fighting and robbing the rich also spent time dancing, partying and making love. »
- Carly
Clip Premiere: Arrows Fly in John Woo’s Red Cliff
1 December 2009 7:59 AM, PST | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »
Magnet Releasing has provided us with a brand new clip from John Woo's action epic Red Cliff, which has not yet been seen on the web. The film is currently in limited release, and seems to be getting solid reviews. Just the other day, I was seeing some venomous John Woo hate on The Twitter, and it reminded me that I may be one of the few folks in the blogosphere who has enjoyed Woo's films. No matter what the result -- or in many cases, the problems -- I've mostly found his stuff to be exciting. And that's the sort of buzz that we're hearing for Red Cliff, that it has some cool action. As well, you will see below that it also delivers some humor. Anyway, check out the clip for Red Cliff below, followed by the film's official synopsis. To find out if the film is playing in your neighborhood, head »
- Neil Miller
John Woo's Return to Asia: They Have Confidence in Me, Unlike Hollywood
25 November 2009 4:38 PM, PST | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »
"I'd never get used to the meetings. I hate talk. I don't know how to talk."
John Woo was describing the difference between working in Asia and in Hollywood when he made a point to laugh at his own inability to adapt. It's not an alien trait in creative types, who are typically more adept at invention than negotiation. Though he seemed reluctant to criticize the American film industry, Woo had nothing good to say about it, either. One only had to look at the dip in quality in the director's filmography to suspect that he never fully adjusted.
Now having taken a productive six-year respite, he returns to America with a film called Red Cliff, brought back from his Chinese sojourn. It shouldn't surprise any of his fans that it shows a long-awaited return to form.
Seventeen years ago, John Woo was king of his genre. After a string »
- Arya Ponto
Review: Red Cliff
25 November 2009 10:23 AM, PST | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »
[Our thanks to Peter Galvin for offering his review to the Twitch readership.]
Everyone loves an underdog story. From The Bad News Bears to perhaps a more suitable comparison, Braveheart, people love seeing the little guy pull through against all odds. At its heart, John Woo's Red Cliff is an underdog story set in the war theatre of ancient China, and it delivers all the fist-pumping you would hope for a film of the genre. For Woo--a director known for delivering action experiences like Hard Boiled and The Killer--Red Cliff is a delightful change of pace, and it is made perfectly clear Woo is very much at home trading guns for swords.
Loosely based on the 600 year-old text Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Red Cliff is set in 208 Ad China. Cunning prime minister Cao Cao has convinced malleable Emperor Han that the best approach to uniting China is to ferret out those in the south who would oppose his rule, »
Movie Review: Red Cliff
25 November 2009 4:48 AM, PST | MovieRetriever | See recent MovieRetriever news »
Nov 25, 2009
With Red Cliff, John Woo returns with his first film in six years and his first non-English film since the landmark Hard Boiled (1992). Can the man who was once so clearly at the top of the action game with masterpieces like The Killer and A Bullet in the Head find his cultural importance yet again? The film has garnered a sizable amount of buzz on its way overseas, in no small part due to the unusual decision to take a two-part, four-hour experience and cram into one theatrical experience ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com »
'Red Cliff' is John Woo's Best Action Epic in Over a Decade
24 November 2009 9:05 PM, PST | CinemaSpy | See recent CinemaSpy news »
Film geeks still slaver over the early output of John Woo such as Hard Boiled and The Killer for their devotion to style and fantastic action sequences. However, the mid-90s and early aughts brought disappointment in the director for his less-than-stellar fare including Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Hard Target, the shockingly bad Mission: Impossible II, and the forgettable Philip K. Dick adaptation Paycheck. But with exhilarating, epic action reminiscent of both Braveheart and Hero, the ancient Chinese war film Red Cliff restores Woo to the hall of the hallowed. It has the director's trademark style in spades, but it never skimps on story or character development.
Red Cliff is the most expensive movie in Asian cinema history, and it's easy to see where the money went. Countless actors in period costumes, numerous special effects shots, and impeccable sound all contribute to a masterfully created film that matches Hollywood's high standards with its impressive visuals. »
Red Cliff Movie Clip 3 from John Woo
23 November 2009 11:27 PM, PST | ShockYa | See recent ShockYa news »
Magnet Releasing just released another brand new movie clip from the upcoming film “Red Cliff” directed by John Woo and starring Tony Leung. “Red Cliff” premiered on VOD, Xbox Live and Amazon Oct. 22nd and opens in theaters November 20th. Synopsis: Legendary action cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic Hard Boiled with this epic historical drama set based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. Red Cliff opens with power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeking permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to [...] »
- Brian Corder
Movie Review: Red Cliff (2009)
20 November 2009 12:36 PM, PST | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
Photo: Magnet Releasing In searching for a way to describe John Woo's Red Cliff the best I can come up with is to call it exactly what it is, a beautifully rendered 208 A.D. Chinese epic living in the world of a John Woo blockbuster popcorn feature. However, such a description seems almost contradictory, but nonetheless as accurate as I can get when referring to this equally playful, romantic and violent war story loosely based on the 14th-century Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
I wish I was more familiar with the early work of director John Woo, but other than his highly acclaimed Hard Boiled, I'm afraid my knowledge is limited to his mixed bag of Hollywood features with Face/Off being my favorite of the bunch. However, I guess I'm not entirely at a loss as Woo has commissioned one of his Hard Boiled stars in »
- Brad Brevet
The view: John Woo's departure from Hollywood is a loss to us all
20 November 2009 9:30 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Once hailed as the man to shake up Hollywood, the maestro of dizzying, exquisitely choreographed action movies has returned to the far east
Let's say from the start that the life of a major league film-maker, with a thriving career in several corners of the globe, is not one to be sniffed at. That said, it's hard not to feel some small twinge of fellow feeling for John Woo, Hong Kong's onetime bullet-spraying master of the action genre. You may not have heard his name for some time but he was, in the early years of this soon to be ex-decade, still being spoken of as the dominant force of the film industry's future. "The most influential director making movies today," The New York Times called him back in 2002, adding, "Woo embodies the globalising forces that have shaped motion pictures in the last two decades."
Which makes it all the »
- Danny Leigh
cinemadaily | Back in Action: John Woo’s “Red Cliff”
18 November 2009 10:49 AM, PST | IndieWIRE | See recent indieWIRE news »
From international action auteur (breakout hit “Hard Boiled”) to Hollywood hack (2003’s widely panned “Paycheck”), John Woo’s career has ridden a critical rollercoaster. “Now he’s back, in two senses: back making movies in Asia and back in theaters with ‘Red Cliff,’ a nearly two-and-a-half-hour historical epic set in the third century A.D. that reunites him with Tony Leung, one of the stars of ‘Hard Boiled,’” writes Mike Hale in the New … »
'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,' 'Broken Embraces,' 'Red Cliff' In This Week's unLimited
17 November 2009 1:00 PM, PST | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
Despite the record-breaking advance ticket sales for "New Moon," I think there may be one or two of you interested in seeing something other than the "Twilight" sequel this weekend. And if neither the sports drama "The Blind Side" nor the animated "Planet 51" is your cup of tea, either, there's also the indie hit "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," which expands wider this Friday. Or, if you live in a major city, there are a number of new films opening in limited release that also look appealing. As always with unLimited's picks, if you wan to see one of the following titles and it isn't scheduled for your neck of the woods, contact your local theater and request it be booked there.
What it is: Epic war film set in Ancient China, directed by legendary action auteur John Woo ("Face/Off") and starring Tony Leung ("Lust, »
- Christopher Campbell
Tuesday Morning Foreign Blu-ray disc Report: "Red Cliff" and "Red Cliff 2" (John Woo, 2008)
17 November 2009 8:07 AM, PST | The Auteurs | See recent The Auteurs news »
A critic and enthusiast as old as myself was feeling bad for director John Woo a few years back. The American-produced 2002 World War II epic Windtalkers, concerning Native American code-breakers, was both widely misunderstood and unfairly subject to Private Ryan fatigue. It threw one-time cinephile cult-favorite Woo's already tentative Hollywood career into a tailspin; or at least that's how it looked to both his American claque and the detractors who felt his highly personal style of action-movie direction created too much friction with Tinseltown convention. His next picture, the indifferent, star-driven P.K. Dick adaptation Paycheck, provided a ready-made punchline concerning its ambitions and executions with its very title.
So rather than force the issue, Woo and longtime producing partner Terence Chang headed East once more, to embark on the most ambitious project of their long on-hold Asian careers: a massive two-part historical epic budgeted at $80 million—the biggest Asian-movie budget in history, »
Exclusive Video: John Woo Visits Red Cliff
17 November 2009 6:54 AM, PST | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
From the acclaimed director of Mission: Impossible 2, Face/Off, Hard Boiled and The Killer, comes a dazzling, visionary epic based on the legendary Battle of Red Cliff, in which a force of fifty thousand defeated an army of nearly one million. Red Cliff, opening on November 18th, marks the director's return to Chinese language films and also re-teams him with his Hard Boiled star, Tony Leung. We recently had a chance to speak with the legendary Chinese director about his new film, the passion that brought it to the screen, the true-story of the battle of Red Cliff and his distinguished career. To watch our exclusive interview click on the video clip below.
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minister Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms »
Red Cliff Official Clip 2 from John Woo
17 November 2009 6:50 AM, PST | ShockYa | See recent ShockYa news »
Magnet Releasing released another official movie clip from the upcoming film “Red Cliff” directed by John Woo and starring Tony Leung. “Red Cliff” premiered on VOD, Xbox Live and Amazon Oct. 22nd and opens in theaters November 20th. Synopsis: Legendary action cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic Hard Boiled with this epic historical drama set based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. Red Cliff opens with power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeking permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush two [...] »
- Brian Corder
John Woo Unbound: The Red Cliff Interviews
12 November 2009 5:03 PM, PST | The Hollywood Interview | See recent The Hollywood Interview news »
(John Woo, above.)
By Terry Keefe
Director John Woo tells a story in the interview below about one major difference between his experience working on Hollywood blockbusters, and making Red Cliff (Chi Bi), his blockbuster-sized film which he shot in China with strong support from the Chinese government: he never had to sit through endless development meetings. He simply said he wanted to make the film, came up with a budget, received financing, and shot it. As someone who actually was a [very junior level] studio development executive at one time, I loved hearing this. The process by which films are created today at the studios, as it has been for a few decades now, is ridiculously time-consuming and both financially and creatively wasteful. Practically every script “fast“-tracked for production goes through a gauntlet of seemingly endless story notes in which not only the director, but also the studio, the producer, the stars, »
- The Hollywood Interview.com
2009 | 2007
1-20 of 54 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
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