Thursday, October 13, 2005
Attacking The Creek
If you're an Australian reader, particularly if you live in the Northern Territory, you may be somewhat saddened to hear that it could be months before the wonderful 'Wolf Creek' reaches your locale. The Northern Territories' director of public prosecutions has asked for a delayed release so that the film, which is extremely loosely based on the disappearance of Peter Falconio, won't prejudice the upcoming trial of Bradley Murdoch.
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Of far more interest is the confirmation of director Greg McLean's next project, a crocodile-based film. Gosh. It's working title is 'Rogue', and as I understand the situation, it'll be about a crocodile gone somewhat more wild than usual.
Hmmmmm. This is a well-mined theme, and I'm really not sure how well it will work. Still, let's wait and see.
One thing I would like to take issue with in the link provided, however, is the assertion that 'more good news, though, is that the film is being funded by the Weinstein brothers, formally of Miramax, who a) generally know movies, and b) generally stay out of the way of filmmakers as long as they are not screwing the pooch.'
Has he forgotten 'Shaolin Soccer?'
This is one of my biggest beefs with film studios and distributors. Shaolin Soccer is a Hong-Kong nonsense comedy written and directed by rising star Stephen Chow. Upon its succesful release in Asia in 2001, Miramax quickly snapped it up, before leaving it on the shelf for two years. Finally, they released a mauled version of it. They cut the running time from 102 minutes to just over 80 minutes (!), they removed several important subplots, a vomit scene, presumably out of squeamishness, and then decided, in stead of subtitles, that they'd go the whole hog and completely ruin the film by dubbing it.
It was a disaster. Shaolin Soccer became the 10th most frequently illegally downloaded film in August 2003. Chow must be the only director in the world giving thanks for file sharing, because without it, the chance would not have been there to spend as much as he did on the superb 'Kung Fu Hustle.'
A wholly typical scene from Stephen Chow's bizarre, but definitely still wonderful, Hong Kong nonsense comedy 'Shaolin Soccer.'
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I may not be around until Sunday or Monday owing to prior commitments. However, I would recommend all the places in my sidebar.
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Of far more interest is the confirmation of director Greg McLean's next project, a crocodile-based film. Gosh. It's working title is 'Rogue', and as I understand the situation, it'll be about a crocodile gone somewhat more wild than usual.
Hmmmmm. This is a well-mined theme, and I'm really not sure how well it will work. Still, let's wait and see.
One thing I would like to take issue with in the link provided, however, is the assertion that 'more good news, though, is that the film is being funded by the Weinstein brothers, formally of Miramax, who a) generally know movies, and b) generally stay out of the way of filmmakers as long as they are not screwing the pooch.'
Has he forgotten 'Shaolin Soccer?'
This is one of my biggest beefs with film studios and distributors. Shaolin Soccer is a Hong-Kong nonsense comedy written and directed by rising star Stephen Chow. Upon its succesful release in Asia in 2001, Miramax quickly snapped it up, before leaving it on the shelf for two years. Finally, they released a mauled version of it. They cut the running time from 102 minutes to just over 80 minutes (!), they removed several important subplots, a vomit scene, presumably out of squeamishness, and then decided, in stead of subtitles, that they'd go the whole hog and completely ruin the film by dubbing it.
It was a disaster. Shaolin Soccer became the 10th most frequently illegally downloaded film in August 2003. Chow must be the only director in the world giving thanks for file sharing, because without it, the chance would not have been there to spend as much as he did on the superb 'Kung Fu Hustle.'
A wholly typical scene from Stephen Chow's bizarre, but definitely still wonderful, Hong Kong nonsense comedy 'Shaolin Soccer.'
****************************************
I may not be around until Sunday or Monday owing to prior commitments. However, I would recommend all the places in my sidebar.
Comments:
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Well, there only isn't in the US. If you have a multi-region DVD player, you can import it from abroad and get the full version. Subtitled and all.
I love it when its Subtitled and All. Especially when I don't speak the original language, but in a loub pub I appreciate it even then.
I got lucky with Shaolin Soccer - it was released in Holland a year before the US/UK release, and with subtitles. My Dutch ain't great, but it's good enough to follow a film like this one.
# posted by 
: 4:11 pm
: 4:11 pm
Wolf Creek is a pile of shite anyway. Its gruesome and overly violent with next to no plot. A waste of celloid is my verdict.
xxB
xxB
I've just discovered you've linked to the Joke Mail site. If you'd let me know, I would have linked back sooner. Hope you're enjoying it!
SafeT - One of my pet hates is being in a pub, loud or otherwise, when a film is on the television, because almost invariably the sound is turned off. This spoils almost any film, since you see the action, but miss out on a crucial part of the experience.
Paul - I would have to agree. I love 'Shaolin Soccer', but the dialogue is hardly Shakesperian.
Boudica - Ah, how can you say such things? A great horror film is a beautiful, beautiful, life-affirming experience, and 'Wolf Creek' was such. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
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Paul - I would have to agree. I love 'Shaolin Soccer', but the dialogue is hardly Shakesperian.
Boudica - Ah, how can you say such things? A great horror film is a beautiful, beautiful, life-affirming experience, and 'Wolf Creek' was such. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
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