The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Best of both worlds
- Hugh Jackman gets star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 'Hobbit' film sets December record in U.S., Canada debut
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 01:09 AM PST Indie filmmaker James Lee continues his mainstream winning streak with his latest action-comedy, The Collector. EVEN in Hollywood, not many directors get the privilege of straddling the two very different worlds of independent and mainstream filmmaking. Those who do graduate from making indie films to big-budget mainstream ones like Christopher Nolan (from Following to Memento to The Dark Knight trilogy) and David O. Russell (from Spanking The Monkey to Three Kings to The Fighter) usually never look back. The only example of a Hollywood director currently working that I can think of who actually does straddle these two worlds is Steven Soderbergh. For every Ocean's Eleven, Contagion or Magic Mike in his filmography, there's also a Schizopolis, Bubble or The Girlfriend Experience as living proof that his heart never left the indie film scene behind. So it is actually a real pleasure to see another living, breathing example right here in our own backyard in the form of James Lee, who made his name as part of the first wave of the whole New Malaysian Cinema movement of the early 2000s alongside names like Amir Muhammad and Ho Yuhang with his digital indie films Snipers, Ah Beng Returns and Room To Let. These days Lee is steadily becoming a household name and a much sought-after mainstream director with Malay hits like Histeria, Tolong! Awek Aku Pontianak and Sini Ada Hantu, and also last year's Chinese-language hit Petaling Street Warriors. After a quiet 2012 by his standards, as he sometimes comes out with three films a year, Lee is set to end the year with guns blazing. His latest indie film If It's Not Now, Then When? in October played at the Pusan and Vancouver International Film Festivals, and just a week ago won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cinemanila International Film Festival. Now comes his latest mainstream film, set to open in Malaysian cinemas on Dec 20 – another action-comedy entitled The Collector, starring Singaporean actor Sunny Pang, Malaysian wushu Olympian Michael Chin (who starred in Kinta 1881) and Petaling Street Warriors heroine Yeo Yann Yan, with familiar faces like Patrick Teoh and former long-time HVD actor Daniel Wong. It tells the story of Sunny (Pang) a kindhearted debt collector who comes to a crossroads in his life and career as a gangster after an encounter with a fortune teller who predicts bad luck if he does not change his ways and do good. Aided by his assistant, the Chinese-speaking Mohan (played by Ramanamohan), Sunny truly takes the words of the fortune teller to heart when he encounters a young boy named Yuen (a charming Nigel Kok Yi Jun), whose father Aniu is missing and wanted by both Sunny's gang and a rival mob for his debts. What transpires later on is possibly one of the sweetest father-son bonding adventures yet seen in a Malaysian film, peppered with lots of bawdy humour that makes fun of so many things that even films released by producers Astro like Woo Hoo and Great Day, and even Lee's own award-winning Asian breakthrough The Beautiful Washing Machine, do not escape the film's naughtiness. Sunny in particular is very winningly played by Pang, showing off not only his fighting skills (he performs all of the fights and stunts himself, reportedly sustaining numerous injuries during filming), but an impressive charm and ease at emoting, especially in his many tender scenes with his girlfriend Eva (Yeo) and of course Yuen. Come to think of it, The Collector does seem to combine the intimacy of indie films with the slam-bang adrenaline rush (and silly jokes) of mainstream action-comedies. Asked why he made the shift to also direct mainstream films and what he's trying to achieve, Lee replies: "There is of course the bigger budget, but I also see it as a challenge to make something that people would be interested to see. But most of all, I want to make a movie that crashes the racial barrier, that both the Malay and Chinese audience would want to see." Noting that there are two separate and quite similarly sized markets for Malay and Chinese films, Lee believes that if a film is good enough Malaysians would definitely see it regardless of the language. Even though the local film industry is looking vibrant at the moment, things are already looking saturated with the Malay movie market as more and more new players and investors try to cash in with sub-par films, many of which bombed spectacularly at the box-office this year. On the other hand, the Chinese movie scene seems to only be targeting one Chinese New Year film every year, which is understandable since it is a lucrative period. But as Lee says: "We can't afford to just keep on making Chinese New Year films as sooner or later that market will be saturated as well." Lee said making The Collector was a fun experience as it's his first action film. Even though personally he'd love to make films like The Chaser, Old Boy or even The Raid, the comedy factor is still needed at this stage in Malaysian films for the sake of balancing his own interests and the investors' as Malaysians really love their comedy. On his future projects, Lee is visibly excited talking about an English-language science fiction film he's been developing, which he hopes to be a co-production between Malaysian and American companies, starring American actors but with production, CGI and post-production all done in Malaysia just to showcase what we can do. Noting that his mainstream films so far are too geared towards local audiences to play outside the country (the local flavour and humour would be lost on foreign audiences), he hopes to make his first step into the international mainstream scene with the sci-fi film, which he hopes to make next year once he's able to raise the budget. With Lee already making respectable strides in the international arthouse film scene, we should bet on his dream of doing the same with his mainstream films as he continues to make the best of both worlds. |
| Hugh Jackman gets star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:16 PM PST (LOS ANGELES-AFP) - Australian actor Hugh Jackman got a Hollywood double whammy Thursday as he was nominated for a Golden Globe and got his star on Tinseltown's famous Walk of Fame on the same day. Jackman, who is being tipped for possible Oscar glory for his role in upcoming musical adaptation Les Miserables, said he couldn't believe the good fortune that his career has given him. "This is quite a ride .. It's a surreal experience. I'm a kid from the suburb of Barunga, on the northern side of Sydney ... This is completely surreal," he said as he unveiled his sidewalk star. "Apart from Lassie, I'm the only one to get to play the same character in 15 movies," he quipped, flanked by Les Mis co-star Anne Hathaway, director Tom Hooper, DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg and Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Leno, due to interview him later, told Jackman: "I don't believe wealth and fame change anybody, it exaggerates who you already are. And I think all your wealth and success and fame have just made you a better person." "You have a wonderful family, you're a wonderful role model .. besides the obvious talent, is the fact that you are a regular person." Jackman thanked his fans, about 200 of whom turned out to see him get his Walk of Fame star on the sidewalk outside Madame Tussaud's next to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the tourist center of Tinseltown. "I have the greatest fans in the world. I don't take it lightly and or take it for granted and thank you so much for all you do. (...) The Boy from Oz was a hit because of the fans. His wife Deborra-Lee Furness and adopted children Oscar, 12, and Ava, 7, were also there. "None of this would have been possible, and certainly none of this would have been rewarding to me, if not for my family," said Jackman, nominated for best actor in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes earlier in the day. "And kids, you maybe don't understand it now, but you're gonna save a fortune in therapy by just coming here and spitting on it, jumping on it ... you can come and take it out here," he said of his star. "Sorry, city of Los Angeles," he added. (AFP/Relaxnews) |
| 'Hobbit' film sets December record in U.S., Canada debut Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:33 PM PST "The Hobbit" brought home a big box office treasure over the weekend, setting a December movie record with $84.77 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales as legions of fans turned out for the long-awaited big-screen return to Middle Earth. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" also rung up sales of $138.2 million in international markets. Global receipts for the prequel to the smash "Lord of the Rings" trilogy stood at $222.97 million through Sunday, distributor Warner Bros. said. The current projection for the total box office take in 2012 is $10.8 billion, according to an estimate from Hollywood.com, which would beat the $10.6 billion record in 2009. The 3D "Hobbit" directed by Oscar-winning "Rings" filmmaker Peter Jackson is the first of three films based on a 1937 classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Warner Bros. is aiming to build on the success of the "Rings" series, one of Hollywood's biggest franchises with $2.9 billion in global ticket sales. "The Hobbit" also set a record with its $15.1 million earnings from IMAX theaters worldwide, according to Warner Bros. It is also the largest opening for any film in the canon of "The Lord of the Rings." The "Lord of the Rings" movies debuted in theaters from 2001 to 2003. After that, production on "The Hobbit" ran into delays, leaving fans waiting a decade for another look at the fantasy story of dwarves, wizards and elves. The opening weekend "Hobbit" sales proved interest remained high. North American (U.S. and Canadian) receipts toppled the old record for December set by Will Smith sci-fi flick "I Am Legend," which pulled in $77.2 million when it debuted in 2007. "The best we were hoping for was to reach or exceed the $77 million set by that movie and we did it by quite a lot. It was all good and we're very happy about it," said Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros. "You have to assume that by the time this first week is over we are going to have around $110 million in the bank before the holiday even starts," he added. The new film follows the epic journey of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, as he travels through the treacherous Middle Earth with a band of dwarves to steal treasures from the dragon, Smaug. The movie also stars Richard Armitage and Benedict Cumberbatch, while Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood reprise their "Rings" roles. Opening-weekend audiences embraced "The Hobbit," awarding an "A" grade in polling by survey firm CinemaScore. Critics had a mixed response to the nearly three-hour film. Sixty-five percent of reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website recommended the movie, although some objected to Jackson's decision to shoot it using a 48-frames-per-second format rather than the usual 24. SOME VIEWERS NAUSEOUS The faster frame rate delivers clearer pictures, but some critics called the format cartoonish and jarring. Only a fraction of theaters showed the film in the new format. Some fans at early screenings in New Zealand complained it made them feel nauseous and dizzy, according to The New Zealand Herald. The next two "Hobbit" movies are scheduled to reach theaters in December 2013 and July 2014. The films were financed by MGM and Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema unit for an estimated $500 million. "The Hobbit" took a bumpy, years-long journey to the big screen that included two directors and a lawsuit. Jackson made the "Rings" trilogy when producers could not get "The Hobbit" rights that were held by MGM's United Artists unit. Guillermo del Toro was first hired to direct "The Hobbit" but he left the project when financial woes at MGM caused delays. The movie went into production only after Jackson settled a lawsuit against New Line in a dispute over profits from the "Rings" films. "The Hobbit" was the only new nationwide release over the weekend. The rest of the top five were films that have been playing for weeks. In second place was the animated family film "Rise of the Guardians" with $7.4 million, followed by historical drama "Lincoln" starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the revered U.S. president, which grabbed $7.2 million from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates. James Bond movie "Skyfall" landed in fourth place with $7 million. Next on the box office chart was "Life of Pi," which captured $5.4 million. Teen vampire tale "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" earned $5.17 million. Time Warner Inc's |
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