The boys head back in time to do a little Axe-Kicking with Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle”. After watching the town defend themselves by beating up on some bad guys, it was time to head to the theater to see Zoe Saldana do some of her own ass-kicking as a killer for hire in “Colombiana”. In the end, they check out the trailer for Guy Ritchie’s 2nd offering from his series, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”. In news, they chat about “Source Code” becoming a CBS series, what it may be like not to have Ash in Evil Dead, follow-up on some recent Facebook posts, and chat about Time Out London’s Top 100 Comedies of All Time! In intermission, it’s time to really talk about the impact Netflix’s decision to hike up prices may have had on the company. It’s the 70th, yup…70th Reel of COL Movies where “You may know Kung Fu, but you’re still a fairy!”
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News:
The Past: Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% Fresh 86% Audience
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Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen and Qiu Yuen
Trivia:
- Surpassed Siu lam juk kau (Shaolin Soccer) in February 2005 to become the highest-grossing Hong Kong-made movie in Hong Kong.
- As of 2005, this film had the widest cinematic release in the USA of a foreign language film.
- Three scenes are not directed by Stephen Chow. One, the fight that reveals the three Pig Stye Masters, is directed by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo. The “Burly Brawl” parody where the One fights the thousand men in black suits, and the fight in the night, where the three masters face the two musicians were directed by Woo-ping Yuen.
- Most of the names of the superpowers in the film are taken from the pulp novels of Louis Cha, a household name in Hong Kong often compared to Alexandre Dumas père and credited with the invention of modern martial arts swashbucklers.
- The name “Pig Sty Alley” (Zhu Long Cheng Zhai) is a play on the Chinese name for the Walled City of Kowloon (Jiu Long Cheng Zhai), a Chinese ex-clave in Hong Kong for much of the 20th Century, and well-known as a breeding ground of crime, slums and disorder. It was torn down in 1993.
- The literal translation of the name of “The Beast” is in fact “Dark God of the Fire Clouds”. The name was first used by the writer ‘Liu Canyang’ in his novels in the 50s and 60s, where his character was originally his protagonist’s mentor. Comparatively lax copyright laws in Hong Kong and the menacing sound of the name have since however, caused the name to be appropriated in many other films, novels and comics.
- Bruce Lee Tribute: When the Landlady is seated between the Boss and his assistant, she faces the boss, and mimics the gestures Bruce Lee used while also facing a crime boss in Return of the Dragon. She wags her finger at him, then closes both fists, then just the right (while knuckles cracking can be heard), she jerks her head up, and the boss nods he understands, then she thumbs her nose, exactly like Bruce Lee.
- The names of the Landlord and Landlady that they announce to the Beast are “Yang Guo” and “The Little Dragon Maiden” in the original Chinese, which is a joke nod to Louis Cha’s famous novel “Return of the Condor Heroes” that has been adapted many times for television and film. Part of the joke is that unlike the Landlord, the original Yang Guo was a handsome youth, and unlike the Landlady, the original “Little Dragon Maiden” was a beautiful, rarefied young woman.
Talking Points:
- Kung Fu movie style…does this count?
- Was it supposed to be funny?
What We’ve Learned:
- The lion’s roar kinda rocks.
- The “fat lady” isn’t really that fat in American culture.
- Where can I get me one of those Bhuddist Palm manuals?
Trailer:
Recommendations:
Jeff: A comedy of martial arts awesomeness. If you haven’t seen this, you’re missing out.
Ray: The humor is lost on me. I don’t really get it. It makes me smile, but I don’t find much of it funny. I can’t personally recommend it.
Steve: Enjoyable…if you like the genre, it’s fun. Don’t expect it to be a serious kung fu movie – more of a spoof by the people who know how to make kung fu movies well.
Intermission:
Higher Netflix prices equals fewer subscribers
Horror show: Netflix losing more customers than expected on price hike, stock plunges 19 pct
The Present: Colombiana
Rotten Tomatoes: 28% Rotten 59% Audience
Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan and Callum Blue
Trivia:
- The film has been criticized for stereotyping the Colombian culture, the president of the non-profit group PorColombia, Carlos Macias, depicting it as a proof of a “total lack of creativity” of “Hollywood”.
- Several groups have rejected the film on the basis of the hypothesis that it was of a defamatory nature, changing the film’s slogan from “Vengeance is beautiful” to “Colombia is Beautiful”.
- Filming began around August 20, 2010 in locations including Chicago, New Orleans, and Mexico.
- The film was produced by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp company and the script was written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen.
- Colombiana debuted in second place in its first week at the U.S. box office with $10,408,176 behind The Help. It stayed #2 until August 31, 2011, when it went down to #3 behind The Help and The Debt.
- The film itself was not screened to most critics in advance of its release until the day before its release, preventing opening day print reviews, but nevertheless, some critics reviewed the film.
Talking Points:
- Controversy.
- Did Zoe do well as an action star?
What We Learned:
- Smart Girls always get what they want
- Chicago’s not just down the street
- Always make sure your shark tank is secure.
Trailer:
Recommendations:
Jeff: Kind of a fun movie but didn’t feel theater worthy to me. Wait for the DVD.
Ray: I had high hopes for it, but it just sort of fell flat. I would recommend waiting for Netflix or Redbox.
Steve: It was a decent movie. Nothing truly original about it – mostly just rehashings of other similar movies. However, Zoe did well and it was enjoyable to watch.
The Future: Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Jared Harris
Summary:
Sherlock Holmes and his longtime trusted associate, Dr. John Watson, take on Professor Moriarty, with the help of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft Holmes and a Romani woman named Sim.
Trivia:
- Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn and Javier Bardem were considered to play Moriarty.
- Both Robert Downey Jr. (Holmes) and Jared Harris (Moriarty) had acted in the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers.
- Robert Morley and Stephen Fry have both played Oscar Wilde and Mycroft Holmes. In the Gyles Brandreth books where Oscar is a detective, his friend Conan Doyle states that Oscar was the inspiration for Mycroft.
- Sophie Marceau, Audrey Tautou, Penélope Cruz, Juliette Binoche, Virginie Ledoyen, Eva Green, Marion Cotillard and Cécile De France were considered to play Sim before Noomi Rapace was cast.
- Leslie S. Klinger, author of “The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes” and a consultant on this film, said in an interview that he suggested “Sherlock Holmes: The Grand Game” as a title.
- Stephen Fry (Mycroft) and Jared Harris (Moriarty) share the same birthday.
Talking Points:
- Bullet time? really?
- The actors didn’t seem to fit in the first movie. Will it be any better in #2?
Trailer:
Excitement:
Jeff: SOLD!
Ray: I can’t say I’m excited for it. The first one put me to sleep, literally.
Steve: Eh. Still haven’t seen the original. This doesn’t make me want to see it or this one, in particular. Rather spend my money on something else.
Coming Attractions:
The Past
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The Present
The Future
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