What Asian Films Should Be Looked Forward To?

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 28 Apr 2006, 04:53

I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Korean screen quota, but it's been in effect since the early 90s and dictates that Korean cinemas must screen domestic films for 40% of the year (that's 146 days). This is basically a legal way of protecting local industry against the foreign scourge (ie. Hollywood) which wants the screen quota reduced. Unfortunately you then have a trade-off situation as the Korean government want to protect local industry through screen quota, but Korean distribution companies also want foreign investment in their product. This is something that goes way back with films such as Phone which was financed by Buena Vista International and later blockbusters such as Silmido was entirely created by money from Columbia Tristar. Due to the recent Free Trade Agreement with Korea and US, the screen quota will reduce to only 73 days on July 1 this year.

What effect this'll have on the Korean film industry is mostly up to speculation but it'll certainly weaken the position of film producers/distributors. You might have noticed that Korea companies seem to be merging all over the place, the largest being the CJ Entertainment & Cinema Service merger last year. While there's no apparent direct connection, I think they're solidifying their financial position in light of the coming quota reduction (but that's just my opinion). The other speculative effect would be that Korean companies will be less likely to take financial risks on films, particularly ones with unestablished or first-time directors, meaning you'll probably see less Antarctic Journals and more Typhoons.

Some further reading:

Quota reduction
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200601/ ... 010440.htm

Korean distributors merge
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111792 ... id=19&cs=1

Screen Quota home page (click on link for "English" version):
http://www.screenquota.org/

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:43

OMG, Knetan didn't start his post with "hey"!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 28 Apr 2006, 13:50

You wish... I don't see any Knetan in this topic. Especially since there are no HK movies here either.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Apr 2006, 14:00

thelostdragon wrote:You wish... I don't see any Knetan in this topic. Especially since there are no HK movies here either.

LOL, whoops. Memetic's and Knetan's avatar looked similar at the time, so absent-minded mistake.

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 28 Apr 2006, 15:15

EvaUnit02 wrote:LOL, whoops. Memetic's and Knetan's avatar looked similar at the time, so absent-minded mistake.

Next time I'll begin with "Hey," to really throw you off.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Apr 2006, 16:33

memetic wrote:]
Next time I'll begin with "Hey," to really throw you off.

Hehe.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 28 Apr 2006, 18:54

... just saw this over at KFCCinema.com
it's a teaser for a remake of Mean Streets, by the guy that directed Once upon a time in High School.

http://www.joshuapettigrew.com/Other/Me ... Teaser.wmv

Looks awesome. Really great teaser, great editing.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 28 Apr 2006, 19:28

Yi-Long wrote:... just saw this over at KFCCinema.com
it's a teaser for a remake of Mean Streets, by the guy that directed Once upon a time in High School.

http://www.joshuapettigrew.com/Other/Me ... Teaser.wmv

Looks awesome. Really great teaser, great editing.

It's not a remake. There was an interview with the director somewhere (maybe twitch) and he said it doesn't have anything to do with the Scorsese film

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 29 Apr 2006, 00:04

Thanks Yi! This one looks really great. I wish it was subbed. Looking forward to it.

the68monkey · Post by **the68monkey** » 12 May 2006, 23:53

New poster for The Host:

Definitely the most anticipated Korean release for me.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 13 May 2006, 00:08

It's going to be a masterpiece, I can smell it.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 13 May 2006, 14:33

Man, I can't wait.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 May 2006, 14:37

Cool looking poster.
What sort of movie is "The Host"? Sounds (from the title) like a horror film like The Wig, Phone, The Ring etc

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 13 May 2006, 14:48

Its a big bad monster film Grim

and the effects have been sourced out to Hollywood, and most the budget has been spent on the CGI, if thats a good or bad thing is yet to be seen.

the68monkey · Post by **the68monkey** » 13 May 2006, 14:54

romerojpg wrote:Its a big bad monster film Grim and the effects have been sourced out to Hollywood, and most the budget has been spent on the CGI, if thats a good or bad thing is yet to be seen.

Yeah, with the acting talent involved here, it would be a real shame if they've skimped on the writing quality.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 13 May 2006, 15:23

I just hope that it can be as good as the talent behind the film

and more than anything I just hope its a good monster genre film.

I also dont not want to see the monster at all before I see the film, I hate it when I see a creature before I see the film, as it ruins the suprise totally. They have been working on the film for so long that it has to be something good surley?

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 13 May 2006, 16:29

Maybe

Spending a long time on a film could be a bad sign. Anyone remember "Wonderful Days"? I wish I had a dollar for every script re-write that film got. 8)

I'm hoping this one'll be good. Even the film title "The Host" makes me intrigued as to what kind of monster it'll be!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 22 Jul 2006, 02:14

Apparently, many Hollywood studios have shown interest in buying the remake rights for "The Host". Source is a relieable German movie/DVD website:
http://www.cinefacts.de/kino/archiv/new ... ewsid=8811

My usual comment: WTF???

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 22 Jul 2006, 02:20

Twitch reports about this as well:
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/006820.html

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 23 Jul 2006, 17:13

What Asian Films should be looked forward to?

Those productions, mostly HK-productions, do also sound interesting in my eyes:

- Dog Bite Dog (HK)

- The Banquet (China)

- Exiled (HK)

Sequal of "The Mission", directed by Johnnie To

- Re-cycle (HK)

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Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Jul 2006, 17:26

hey,

actually missed completely that Dog bite Dog was Soi Cheang's next film. If he could weave dark magic from working with the likes of Eason Chan, I'm willing to give him the chance to show what he could do with Edison.

Re-cycle got a good review at lovehkfilm.com, especially praising the re-teaming of the Pang brothers and Angelica Lee.

Loved The Mission, re-watched it recently and getting most of the cats together again should mean coolness in some shape or form for us Milkyway fans.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 Jul 2006, 20:46

Yeah, "Dog Bite Dog" looks very promising from the trailer. Saw it about 4 months ago or so. Will it be out soon then? Also, Edison Chen made a good impression on me in that trailer, which he never even did in any of his films tbh.

Also looking forward to the sequel of "The Mission".

What is "Re-Cycle" about?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Jul 2006, 20:54

hey,

not a plot synopsis but still...

Possessing ace visuals, decent scares, and some clever concepts, Re-cycle helps redeem the Pang Brothers after the underwhelming Eye 10. Angelica Lee's performance is more than a match for her work in The Eye.

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/recycle.htm

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 Jul 2006, 21:02

Horror? Won't bother with it then. Thanks Ken. It's just that I really dislike so-called horror films in general. I think I have recently pointed out in some other thread here, that the horror films I like are those that don't feature any fantasy stuff like girls crawling out of TVs, ghosts or parallel worlds or so. Horror films that rely on quick cuts and lousy sound effects. Bah! They never scared me one bit.

The horror film that scared me the most until today is "Audition", closely followed by "The Shining" and "Cape Fear". "A Tale of Two Sisters" is also very good.

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 24 Jul 2006, 00:41

RE-CYCLE certainly starts off like a horror with typical chills and even has a ghost in the elevator scene a la THE EYE. After that it's more akin to Lynchian weirdness than horror with touches of Oshii's AVALON.

It's an average film though I really dug the ending which was very cool.

Bullets 'n' Babes

What Asian Films Should Be Looked Forward To?

Mean Street Korean remake...

Re: Mean Street Korean remake...