Hong Kong Accelerate
Posted on February 7th, 2012
A stunning time-lapse video by Spot On Idea (a production company in Hong Kong). Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I actually live here.
A stunning time-lapse video by Spot On Idea (a production company in Hong Kong). Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I actually live here.
A friend of mine, Cai Qing, was recently in Chaoyang Park (Beijing) when she noticed a group was holding open auditions for a part in an upcoming Chinese movie. She’s not an actress by profession but thought it would be fun so recorded a couple of short introductory casting videos and went on her way. For most people the story would end here but things took an intriguing twist…
I’ve not done a film review in a long time and to be honest I’ve not managed to keep up with Asian Cinema as much as I used to but this said I saw a Korean film over the weekend which is worth mentioning: Thirst (박쥐 – literally translated as “bat”). From legendary director Park Chan-Wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, I’m a Cyborg…) the film premiered earlier this year but has only recently come out on DVD so I finally had a chance to get hold of a subtitled copy. Anyone who’s watched his previous works will know that you’re in for a brutally visual tour de force and although it’s not nearly as extreme as Old Boy it does not disappoint. From the outset…
Zhang Ziyi has a new film out next month (in China anyway) about the life of the late Peking opera master Mei Lanfang titled “Forever Enthralled“. It’s a slight departure from her former action roles (House of Flying Daggers etc.) but the trailer looks promising: The director, Chen Kaige, has had mixed succes in the past so it will be interesting if this film is a return to form after his pretty but shallow previous outing, The Promise. Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) is well known for having stood up to the Japanese occupiers in 1937, who liked his art but for whom he is said to have refused to perform, making him poor until the war finished in 1945. I personally find Chinese Opera pretty incomprehensible…
There have been some amazing advances in CG animation over the past few years with Pixar having a string of hits which seem almost unstoppable and meanwhile a new level of sophistication is emerging both in the visual style and story telling departments. What I find strange though is that the creative output of the Japanese animation (anime) industry is still largely ignored by the west (with a few exceptions) even though they produce more content than every other country put together. I would suspect this has something to do with the cultural gap which can be particularly evident if you are unfamiliar with that part of the world although for me makes it all the more interesting… Recently I’ve seen two anime films…
What exactly is the definition of human in a society where a mind can be copied and the body replaced with a fully synthetic body? Where is the boundary between human and machine when the differences between the two become more philosophical than physical? Ultimately how do we define what it is to be human? I’m not going to try and answer this today but these are the philosophical questions that form the basis of the futuristic manga and anime series ‘Ghost in the Shell‘ created by Masamune Shirow (first published in 1989). Whilst being nearly 30 years old the franchise is still alive and well with three movies, a TV series, game and trilogy of novels being spawned from it along with many…
We interrupt our usual coverage to bring you one of most unique short animated films I’ve seen in a long time from some very creative folks in Japan (all made without a single drop of CG): PiKAPiKA THE MOVIE Using stop-motion animation and time-lapse photography techniques the film was shot in Tokyo over a period of 10 nights, using 77 people, different coloured flashlights, and a digital camera with a long exposure to capture over 16,000 frames (behind the scenes). It’s no small feat for a semi-amateur production and the end result certainly has the wow factor. A group in Germany called Lichtfaktor do something similar for a living and have made some seriously cool tv ads which you can find on their website.…
Eurostar, the high speed train which runs under the English Channel (through the Channel Tunnel) between London and Paris, has recently relocated to St. Pancras International station in London (from Waterloo). It’s grand new home, celebrated for its Victorian architecture and often termed the ‘cathedral of the railways’, features heavily in a recent TV advert for the service which clearly draws heavy inspiration from another classic (in style, if not in substance at least): The Eurostar AD (2007): Koyaanisqatsi (1982): For an iconic film which so few people know of, but had such a deep impact on the way we viewed the world, it’s nice to see this little homage (complete with Philip Glass soundtrack). Even though purists may see this as denigrating the…
In the world of ultra-violent Japanese films they don’t come much more insane than this: NOTE: TRAILER NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART Yakuza, Ninjas, Sushi, Chainsaws, Flying Guillotines… it has it all! Where else in the world would you find a movie about a school girl seeking revenge on her brothers killers and the loss of her own arm (conveniently replaced with a gun)?! I’m not saying the film will be any good but it might just be crazy enough to become a cult classic. [via]