Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Returning to Films Soon. Anyone Interested
Well, Woo, Hark, Ringo Lam, Kirk Wong, the Pang Brothers are all fairly obvious examples (0 for 5) but think a bit broader in terms of Asian directors who tried to go Hollywood/U.S. and include Ronny Yu, Stanley Tong (although Den might defend his Mr. Magoo), any number of Asian horror directors or even Wong Kar Wai and Takeshi Kitano and I think a pretty clear pattern emerges.
OK, but even if you’re expanding the field to Asian directors in Hollywood, with the exception of Woo, who had a total of eight consecutive projects in Hollywood (with someone mixed results, to my mind), nearly all of those were one-offs.
I’d also go out on a limb and say that, given the large number of those involving the dubious on-screen talents of Van Damme, JCVD is the most proximate cause of them being bad.
Heh. While I can’t disagree with that, I do think there is something to the idea of there being a system difference as well as a sort of difference in narrative expectation going on in Hollywood as opposed to many other filmmaking areas of the world. (I wouldn’t necessarily limit it to Asia.)
Yeah, absolutely (which I hope is what Ari was getting up rather than the abilities of the filmmakers mentioned per se).
Haven’t seen it myself, but wasn’t Ryuhei Kitamura’s Clive Barker adaptation pretty well regarded?
I know it’s pretty highly regarded in some circles but I thought Midnight Meat Train was awful. But then again I don’t like Kitamura’s Japanese films either. And I’m not sure I’d defend most of Hark or Ringo Lam’s Hong Kong films either but, yeah, Double Team is in a class of its own so maybe point granted on the dubiousness of JCVD – or, worse, Rodman!).
I think in addition to the difference in narrative expectation there’s also a difficulty in meshing their different approaches to genre sensibilities. I like Kim’s Korean films fine (especially The Foul King) but it’s hard for me to imagine his Kimchi western stylings meshing well with a borderland sheriff Ahhhhnold.
As for Woo, I guess Face/Off wasn’t terrible….
“I wouldn’t necessarily limit it to Asia.)”
Yeah, I think you can point to Tom Tykwer or Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Hollywood films but there seem to be more exceptions with European genre filmmakers…
“Double Team is in a class of its own so maybe point granted on the dubiousness of JCVD – or, worse, Rodman!).”
Yeah, that one’s a perfect storm of badness, with JCVD, Rodman, and a career-nadir Mickey Rourke. Ringo Lam I’ve never been much impressed with, and Hark is hardly a model of consistently, but I like Peking Opera Blues and Time and Tide. With Hark, starting from about the mid-’80s, his Hong Kong films have beem self-produced, which obviously was not true of his Hollywood film, and I have to think that level of control makes a difference.
I like Midnight Meat Train, but I’m something of a fan of Kitamura’s films overall, although I’d emphasize something in that sentence as my fandom isn’t of the most enthusiastic sort. Meat Train looked great and it fit well with the sorts of ideas Kitamura had been working with in his Japanese films so there wasn’t the same sort of disconnection between that film and those he had made previously as there seems to have been in the films of some of the others who’ve made the journey west. The Japanese film industry might not be quite as alien to Hollywood as Hong Kong’s is either, as a guess anyway, so that and the relatively low stature of Meat Train might have given him more of a chance to work in ways which he was already accustomed as well.
“I’d also go out on a limb and say that, given the large number of those involving the dubious on-screen talents of Van Damme, JCVD is the most proximate cause of them being bad.”
again, another conspiracy theory i read, that they teamed those directors up with Van Damme so they wouldn’t have any hope of a successful career over the long term ;-)
Double Team is a real guilty pleasure of mine.
“Double Team is a real guilty pleasure of mine.”
Yeah, ‘the perfect storm of badness’ as Matt calls it does lead Double Team to be so deliriously awful that it’s hard not to enjoy and gawk at.
You put Arnold and an Asian director together, you get stuff like this:
Worried? I think not.
I’ve never been much interested in DVD commentaries but this one is something special:
Sweeet.
I’m there dude.
cannot wait:
Arnold Schwarzenegger will join fellow muscle man Sylvester Stallone starring in Summit’s action thriller “The Tomb,” Summit said Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger will play Church, a prison inmate who fights to keep other prisoners from losing their humanity. Stallone plays Ray Breslin, the world’s foremost expert on security — who, framed for a murder he didn’t commit — has to escape from a prison he designed.
Bing: ‘Expendables 2’ trailer
Swedish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom, who directed New Line’s 2011 “The Rite” and The Weinstein Company’s 2010 “Shanghai,” is directing.
Also read: 6 New Schwarzenegger Films We’d Like to See (Slideshow)
Miles Chapman wrote the script, which was rewritten by Jason Keller. Brenner originally set up “The Tomb” as a spec script at Summit. The movie is scheduled to begin filming in Louisiana this spring.
The movie is an Emmett-Furla Films/Mark Canton production. Mark Canton, Randall Emmett, George Furla, Robbie Brenner and Kevin King-Templeton are producing. Emmett/Furla Films is financing.
Summit has worldwide distribution rights.
Schwarzenegger and Stallone’s next movie, “The Expendables 2,” is now in post-production and will be released this summer by Lionsgate.
Schwarzenegger, the movie star-turned California governor-turned movie actor, just wrapped “The Last Stand,” produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
News of a Twins sequel called Triplets reuniting Arnie and Danny Devito and adding a new brother – Eddie Murphy. Apparently not a joke.
would never work, Devito has not aged since Twins (helps to look old when you are young), Arnold looks about 30 years older then he did on Twins and Murphy looks younger than both of em.
Dennis, do you think that can stop them? Certainly not. And perhaps you haven’t seen Sunny in Philadelphia. Devito looks old as hell and quite decrepit. Also, if Murphy is good at anything, it must be convincingly looking like someone else. It’s perhaps his only talent. He looks quite old in Life. This isn’t to say this is a good idea. It sounds terrible. And I support it 100% (How have you been by the way?)
been very well thanks and yourself?
I dont know that Devito looks old (he placed romantic lead convincingly in Oh in Ohio.)
Murphy I love and you are right about him playing characters so he probably could pull it off.
I would be much more interested in another Conan or even a Pumping Iron reunion
That’s what, five new Arnold projects I’ve heard of by just skimming this thread? Motherfucker’s back and with a bang. Looking forward to what he does next, even if it’s Triplets.
Haha, no doubt. There’s a dozen other movies I’d like to see him in. But it seems like we’re gonna get an eyeful.
I’m doing alright. Don’t find much time for watching movies these days. I think fondly back on the summer when I had Netflix. Watching randoms and cruising Mubi all night.
Haha, no doubt. There’s a dozen other movies I’d like to see him in. But it seems like we’re gonna get an eyeful.
I’m doing alright. Don’t find much time for watching movies these days. I think fondly back on the summer when I had Netflix. Watching randoms and cruising Mubi all night.
…oops…
from variety:
Arnold Schwarzenegger will star in action thriller “Ten,” to be directed by David Ayer and financed by QED International.
Open Road Films has acquired all U.S.distribution rights.
Schwarzenegger is currently filming “The Tomb” will appear in “The Expendables 2,” due out in August. He stars in “The Last Stand,” which will be released in January.
Screenplay for Ten is by Skip Woods (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “A Good Day To Die Hard”). Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Joe Roth, Palak Patel and Al Ruddy will serve as producers. Alex Ott of Ayer’s Crave Films is executive producer.
Story in “Ten” centers on an elite DEA task force deals with the world’s deadliest drug cartels. What looks to be a typical raid turns out to be an elaborate theft operation, pre-planned by the DEA squad. After hiding millions in stolen cash, the team believes their secret is safe – until someone begins assassinating them one by one.
“I am really excited about this project and the team that’s come together,” said Schwarzenegger. “David Ayer is incredibly talented and exactly what I want for a story this compelling.”
Ayer directed “End of Watch,” which Open Road releases in September. Writing credits include “Training Day,” “The Fast And The Furious,” “S.W.A.T” . and “U-571.”
The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by Tom Ortenberg, Elliott Kleinberg, and Ben Cotner. Bill Block, along with Paul Hanson and Chris Corabi, negotiated the deal on behalf of QED International. Patrick Knapp at Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal negotiated on behalf of Schwarzenegger, along with CAA who negotiated on behalf of both Schwarzenegger
here is his look for The Tomb, pretty cool
Great action star. True Lies is one of my favorite action movies. Looking forward to seeing these new films!
Sweet. I like it.
This looks pretty damn cool:
Yeah, it sure does. That’s going to be sweet.
Matt Parks
“the pairing of Asian cult film directors with Hollywood action stars doesn’t work out very well.”
Not a very big sample size to generalize from.