The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: The award-winning actor is set to produce an adaptation of a novel ... that is not even released yet. Leonardo DiCaprio plans to produce and possibly star in an adaptation of a forthcoming novel by Jo Nesbo, the bestselling Norwegian crime author behind the The Snowman. Currently in the process of acquiring the film rights to Blood On Snow, Warner Bros will enlist the help of DiCaprio and his production company Appian Way to adapt the novel to the screen. The two-part Jo Nesbo novel, slated to arrive in bookstores in 2014 and 2015, focuses on a hit man hired to murder his boss's wife. DiCaprio is considering playing the protagonist, who ends up falling in love with the woman he has been instructed to assassinate. Blood On Snow is the latest in a long list of projects in the pipeline for Appian Way. Among several dozen others, the production company is working on a Woodrow Wilson biopic, an adaptation of the anime comic Akira and a feature on Henry Howard Holmes, one of the first documented serial killers in the United States. DiCaprio will be eligible for an Oscar nomination in 2014 for his role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street. Currently in post-production, this film on Wall Street traders' glory days will be released in the US before the end of 2013. — AFP Relaxnews |
| Get some <i>Tom Yum Goong 2</i> action Posted: Lots of mind-boggling action in the Thai flick. Touted as Thailand's first 3D action movie, Tom Yum Goong 2 took two whole years to make and has since become the biggest budget Thai movie ever made – twice as much as the original actioner Tom Yum Goong (2005). The storyline for this hard-hitting sequel centres on its protagonist Kham, the last in the long line of guards for the King of Thailand's war elephants, who returns to his village to live in peace after a harrowing quest to retrieve the elephants. But for a martial arts expert like Kham, played by 37-year-old Thai action maestro Tony Jaa, peace is wishful thinking. Making the sequel into a 3D movie was also a personal preference for Prachya Pinkaew (who also directed Tom Yun Goong) who professed a liking for 3D action. "The movie is an action film, so this is a good opportunity to do it. Action films and 3D go well together, I think," he said in an e-mail interview. Tom Yum Goong 2 is also much hyped as it is the first time two top action stars from Thailand – Jeeja Yanin and Jaa – work in a film together. "I believe a lot of people are looking forward to the fight scenes between Tony Jaa and Jeeja. In this movie, Jeeja plays Ping-Ping, the daughter of a powerful Chinese businessman involved in the elephant industry. She has studied in China and has a twin sister named Sue-Sue. Ping-Ping is an acupuncturist, whose expertise is bare-handed boxing mixed with acupuncture needles," said Prachya. In a separate e-mail interview, the 29-year-old Jeeja shared that Tom Yum Goong 2 features more than just Muay Thai. "The martial arts in this movie will have more universal elements, more variety. And Ping-Ping's weapon will be needles, which is totally different than in any other movie. The needles are used for acupuncture treatment for her little sister's epilepsy, as well as flying poison needles, like a secret weapon. Her little sister also has her own weapons, such as a whip and a poison needle ring," said Jeeja. One of the challenges for Jeeja was synchronising with her co-star in the fight sequences. "There are many varieties of action scenes in this movie, from two-on-two fighting to group fights. Like in the twins' action scenes, we needed to find our rhythm. We had to run, jump, and move together." As for the plot for the sequel, Prachya revealed that the story picks up where the first movie left off. "Ekkasit Thairat, the screenwriter of 13: Game Of Death, wrote the screenplay for this movie. We have established that the main character Kham is the successor of the King's guard. The sequel begins after he saved the elephant." In Tom Yum Goong, there was a breathtaking four-minute-long take of a fight scene with stuntmen atop a four-storey building. To create a new sensation for the sequel, Prachya filmed another non-stop action sequence. "The fighting scene is between Tony Jaa and the motorcycle gang, which lasts for 14.50 minutes. It took us eight months to film this scene. "Unlike the previous movie, we didn't shoot any scenes abroad. We used Bangkok as the backdrop as we wanted to present a side of Bangkok that a lot of people have never seen before. "Sometimes it's very difficult, like shooting from a helicopter. Helicopter shoots may be normal for other countries, but it's very difficult in Thailand. Not only that, we filmed the action scene with 300 moving motorbikes." >>Tom Yum Goong 2 will be kicking its way into cinemas nationwide on Thursday. Grab a copy of The Star today to find out how you can win tickets to watch the movie. |
| Danny Trejo is grateful to be alive Posted: The Machete Kills actor shares stories from his colourful past. If Danny Trejo's aim had been just a little bit better, he would be dead and not starring in Machete Kills, the latest B-grade action movie from director Robert Rodriguez. In 1968, during one of his incarcerations during the early years of his life, Trejo found himself in the middle of a prison riot at San Quentin Prison, California. He threw a rock that struck one of the prison guards. Had the stone killed the guard, Trejo would have been given the death penalty. "In Lt Givens' report, he wrote one of the prisoners threw the rock. He didn't name me. So, by the grace of God, I didn't die. That's when I dedicated my life to helping other people," Trejo says. "Since then, every good that's happened to me has come as a direct result of helping someone else." After leaving prison, Trejo began to counsel others and has continued to share his message that how you start in life isn't how you have to end your life. One of the perks of becoming such a recognisable actor is that he can go to a juvenile hall or school campus and grab the attention of those who recognise him from films like Con Air and Spy Kids. "When I go to youth authorities, you already see 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids with no hope. They already know they are going to spend the rest of their life going in and out of prison," Trejo says. "So when I show up, and I've been where they are sitting, you immediately see the light of hope go on in their eyes. "I tell them that education is the key to anything you want to do and any problem you have is going to get worse with drugs and alcohol." Trejo's life took a major swing when he was 40 years old. The Los Angeles native was offered a job as an extra and boxing instructor (a skill he picked up in prison) on the feature film Runaway Train. He's been a working actor ever since. For a decade, Trejo appeared in a variety of TV shows and films, often playing one of the bad guys or an anti-hero. It was the 1995 movie Desperado that started his transformation from a tough-looking supporting player into an action film star. Desperado director Robert Rodriguez knew then he wanted to make a movie with Trejo as the star, but the right vehicle took years to find. Trejo played Uncle Machete in the Spy Kids movies from Rodriguez and then created the knife-wielding character for a fake movie trailer in the 2007 release Grindhouse. Rodriguez and Trejo were told after Grindhouse that they should make a full feature on Machete, which resulted in the 2010 film and now the sequel. He's 69 years old, but Trejo shows no signs of slowing down. Along with Machete Kills, Trejo has 17 movies ready to be released, two more filming and four others getting ready to start. Because Rodriguez shoots at such a quick pace – Machete Kills was filmed in 29 days – there was little time to rest. That's the way Trejo likes to work. "I don't want to go back to my trailer to sit and wait. To me, a trailer is like a cell," Trejo says. "If you are a prima donna, you don't want to be in a Robert Rodriguez movie because he'll eat you up. His attitude is 'Let's get this done'. Robert loves what he's doing and his love just filters down." Whether he's the star or a supporting player, it's easy to spot Trejo's distinctive face in films. Although he's a man of great faith, deeply committed to his family and possesses a great sense of humour, his etched features and long hair can give come people the wrong impression. "I was shopping in Albertson's one day and I saw these two little old ladies looking at me like I was on America's Most Wanted. When I left the store, the police were waiting for me. The women had called them. The cops just laughed when they saw it was me," Trejo says. "The little old ladies were scared to death of me. It was so cute." — The Fresno Bee/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Related stories: |
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