10 (fairly) fresh faces to watch

Though I cribbed this idea directly from Variety, anyone who's been here before (and, amazingly, there do seem to be a few of you who actually read my ramblings) knows these names are all from my own head and close to my heart.

So, without wasting any more time, here are 10 names of rising stars you probably know already but will hopefully hear a lot more about in the future, with, when I could find it, their most interesting upcoming movie project.

Amy Adams

While I'd hesitate to call it a "great" movie, "Junebug" is easily one of the most charming movies I've seen in many years, largely due to Ms. Adams' great performance as the very pregnant (and not terribly happy about it) Ashley Johnsten. Amazingly, according to the IMDB, she worked at a Hooters restaurant until she turned 18 and they tried to make her wear the customary cleavage-promoting attire. Look for her this December in Mike Nichols' "Charlie Wilson's War."

Paul Dano

In "Little Miss Sunshine," he managed to steal the show in a cast crowded with heavyweights even though he didn't have much to say at all until near the very end. His reward? He landed the lead role in Spike Jonze's sure-to-be-wild adaptation of Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," which we unfortunately won't get to see until at least October 2008.

Taraji P. Henson

This D.C. girl is, so far, best known as the lady who sang D.J.'s hook for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" in "Hustle & Flow." Since then, she's been the only good thing about "Smokin' Aces," playing off Alicia Keys, and David Fincher has apparently had the good sense to cast her in his next movie, so look out for her in his take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Jonah Hill

I've already pimped the upcoming "Superbad" to death, so instead I'll recommend another flick that proves Mr. Hill is just astoundingly funny. I rented "Accepted" from that $1 DVD machine at the supermarket, which was surprisingly good, and he was very funny in it. Though I'm not sure I can call this a good thing, he'll soon be contributing his voice to the thoroughly unnecessary update of "Horton Hears a Who."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The only good thing to come out of the rather excremental TV show "3rd Rock From the Sun" (and no, it wasn't French Stewart) was the very talented Mr. Gordon-Levitt. All the proof you need can be found in "The Lookout," which was probably seen by about 10 people when it came out earlier this year but deserves to garner a lot more fans on DVD.

Derek Luke

Of all the actors and actresses who can claim to have been snubbed at last year's Oscars, Mr. Luke gets my vote for his outstanding turn as a South African man driven to terrorism by torture in Phillip Noyce's "Catch a Fire." Look for him soon in Robert Redford's upcoming Oscar bait "Lions for Lambs."

Ellen Page

Though Ms. Page deserves the most recognition for her surprisingly hardened work in "Hard Candy," I'll always remember her for giving me just about the only reason to smile while watching Brett Ratner's simply awful "X-Men: The Last Stand." Next, she'll be the titular star of Jason Reitman's "Juno." This coming-of-age story about a young lady who finds herself pregnant also stars three of the world's funniest people, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and Rainn Wilson, so definitely keep your eyes out for it. (And, of course, it was written by Minneapolis City Pages blogger Diablo Cody.)

Keke Palmer

I usually have little time for sweet family films, having no rugrats of my own to tend to, but "Akeelah and the Bee" was a breed apart for its smarts and young Ms. Palmer's spunk. Since then, she's appeared in an episode of Tyler Perry's fairly awful TV show "House of Payne," and her only upcoming credit is for something from Renny Harlin called "The Cleaner," which also stars Samuel L. Jackson in what sounds like a fairly run-of=the-mill thriller.

Freddy Rodriguez

I've liked Freddy ever since his work on "Six Feet Under," and it was loads of fun watching him slay zombies (or whatever they were) in Robert Rodriguez's half of "Grindhouse." He currently resides in my Netflix queue opposite Christian Bale in "Harsh Times," and is apparently working on a flick called "Bottle Shock," to be about the birth of Napa Valley wine industry.

Anika Noni Rose

After holding her own with but ultimately getting overshadowed by divas Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles in "Dreamgirls," Ms. Rose is soon to get the ultimate last laugh. For what's being billed as Disney's first black princess, Ms. Rose will voice the lead role of Princess Tiana in its upcoming musical extravaganza "The Princess and the Frog," to which I can only offer a hearty huzzah!

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add the names of any young folk who just make you smile when they appear on the big screen, and have an entirely suckfree Wednesday.

P.S. A hearty congratulations to Robert Reichert, who scored a thoroughly impressive victory in the Macon mayoral race in Tuesday's Democratic primary, virtually assuring he will be my city's next mayor. Though the horse I backed, the Rev. Henry Ficklin, only got five percent, I only wish Mr. Reichert all the best in tackling all the serious problems we have to deal with. In his honor, here's a clip of the simply stunning "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke (audio only.) Enjoy!

Of tomatoes fresh, rotten and simply rancid

It's days like this that, even though I would still love to get paid to simply watch movies, I have to give thanks that that dream has yet to materialize.

As a service to movie-renters everywhere, Rotten Tomatoes has released a list of the 25 best-reviewed movies from the first half of 2007, and much more importantly, the 10 worst-reviewed.

It's little surprise to me that Brad Bird's simply sublime "Ratatouille" ends up at No. 1, but there were some others that caught me off guard. I had no idea that "Hot Fuzz," which seems to me an acquired taste at best (though definitely one for me), and David Fincher's fantastic "Zodiac," with all the griping about its length, both managed to work their way into the Top 10. As an aside, two movies I recently had the pleasure of watching on an airplane, "Breach" and the simply charming "Starter for 10," also made the Top 25.

As for the Bottom 10, I had three thoughts. First, thank God I haven't had the misfortune of seeing any of these! Second, how in the world does poor Lauren Graham end up starring in the worst-reviewed movie (so far) of the year? (and is it really that much worse than "Norbit"?) And third, that I guess we should be thankful that even the worst movie of the year (so far) still managed to get 17.7 percent good reviews.

Anyways, I just love lists, so here are the Top 25 and Worst 10, followed by their percentages of good reviews. Please feel free to sound off on any that you think got particularly dissed or received too much love.

Best-Reviewed Movies

1. "Ratatouille" - 85.9
2. "Away From Her" - 84
3. "Once" - 83.2
4. "Knocked Up" - 83
5. "Hot Fuzz" 82.1
6. "Sicko" - 81.7
7. "The Host" - 81.6
8. "Zodiac" - 80.8
9. "Waitress" - 79.1
10. "The Lookout" - 78.5
11. "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" - 77
12. "The Italian" - 76.7
13. "The Hoax" - 76.4
14. "Red Road" - 76.3
15. "Breach" - 75.9
16. "Bridge to Terabithia" - 75.7
17. "The Namesake" - 75.7
18. "After the Wedding" - 75.2
19. "Grindhouse" - 75.2
20. "An Unreasonable Man" - 75.1
21. "God Grew Tired of Us" - 74.9
22. "Starter for 10" - 73.9
23. "Into Great Silence" - 73.7
24. "Live Free or Die Hard" - 73.4
25. "Paris Je T'aime" - 73.4

Worst-Reviewed Movies

1. "Because I Said So" - 17.7
2. "The Number 23" - 18.6
3. "Premonition" - 19.9
4. "The Reaping" - 21
5. "Norbit" - 22.9
6. "Perfect Stranger" - 23.1
7. "Happily N'Ever After" - 25.1
8. "Are We Done Yet? " - 25.2
9. "Code Name: The Cleaner" - 25.8
10. "Hannibal Rising" - 27

Maybe you can quit that day job after all ...

If it weren't for Rotten Tomatoes, this almost certainly would have been my lead item of the day.

Sadly, it seems that even seemingly bionic Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba is susceptible to aging, and at 68 has announced his retirement from action films. On the upside, if you've ever wanted to learn how to kick royal ass, here's your golden opportunity.

It seems the great Mr. Chiba, unwilling to let his tremendous talents just follow him to the grave, will open his own action-acting school in Japan.

So, what drove the seemingly inexhaustible Mr. Chiba to his limit? He said it came while filming a period drama for pubcaster NHK in July. Required to wear a heavy suit of armor for his role of warlord Itagaki Nobukata, Chiba suffered an asthma attack. "Itagaki died (in the drama) -- now I want to bury 'Shinichi Chiba' as well," he told reporters.

Next month he will start taking applications for a Japanese branch of his LA-based acting school, Thousand Leaves Hollywood. He also plans to join with Hong Kong action legend Jackie Chan to launch schools for future action stars in Beijing and Shanghai.

Sounds like they're launching their own little army, which, given the state our world is in today, can only be a good thing. In my overactive mind at least, sign me up!

Welcome back, Ms. Polley

Even if she directs and stars in movies that are simply too good to ever play in my little corner of the world, I'm always happy when I hear that my favorite Canuck, Sarah Polley, is getting back to acting.

For her latest return, she's set to star with Jared Leto in "Mr. Nobody," a romantic drama from writer-director Jaco Van Dormael that sounds like quite the mind trip.

Set in the not-so-distant future, the story follows Nemo Nobody (Leto) who, at 120 years old, is the last mortal surrounded by happy immortals as he relives his real and imaginary years of marriage.

This sounds like it will straddle that fine line between interesting and awful, and for Sarah's, sake I'm pulling for the latter.

Two nuggets of YouTube goodness

This first clip has been making the rounds for a few days now, but I still couldn't pass it up. Not only do you get a glimpse of Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' upcoming "I'm Not There," but you also get David Cross (huzzah!) as Allen Ginsberg. This flick is just gonna be incredible.



Next comes a trailer which, if it weren't for the rather remarkable cast, I'd be inclined to simply ignore. Called "The Good Night," it features the great Martin Freeman of the UK "Office," extremely funny man Simon Pegg and simply irresistible Penelope Cruz. The awfully hokey premise: Freeman is a very unhappy man who starts to have dreams about Ms. Cruz (as I've been known to do from time to time myself.) This being a movie, of course, she turns out to be an actual woman, they meet, and shazaam. Like I said, this could be truly awful, but I just couldn't pass up a cast this good. And now, I simply have to go vote, drop off my car to get its window fixed and then go to work. Peace out.

Harry Potter and the broken car window

I had high hopes for Saturday morning. I woke up with plans to make some 8X10 prints of my South Africa photos, which you can view in a Flickr set here, and then see the new "Harry Potter" movie. Alas, none of that was to be.

As I emerged from my rather small domicile, pictured at right, I found that some jackass had busted out my driver's side window. I can only assume that he left in frustration after finding the car stereo embedded in the dashboard, because he left behind everything else, including a copy of the new CD "T.I. Vs. T.I.P."

After a quick call to the world's greatest mechanic, who wouldn't appreciate it if I revealed his identity here, I was assured that if I brought my car to him Monday morning he would call around to all the salvage yards and get me a nused window as cheaply as possible. Even so, I was in a foul enough mood that Saturday was out as far as moviegoing went.

When Sunday morning came, I was stir-crazy enough that I decided to uncover the hole that formerly was my window and do my weekly grocery shopping. And, after making a roasted red pepper soup, an orzo pesto salad and skillet curried vegetables and couscous with almonds to eat in the week ahead, I finally decided to venture out to see the latest "Harry Potter" flick.

Given the circumstances, I really needed this one to be good, and it didn't disappoint in the least.

Before I say anything about "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," I should confess that I am almost a 100 percent Muggle. I read the first "Harry Potter" book but none after that, not because I didn't enjoy it, but simply because there's so much more out there to read and, of course, to watch.

And, viewed from that outsider's perspective, I must say this is the finest "Harry Potter" movie to date, by a fairly long stretch. The first, "Sorcerer's Stone," was almost pure hokum, albeit entertaining hokum at that. Since then, they've been visually solid, but always left me with questions about exactly what I had just seen (again, not really a fault of formerly permanent "Harry Potter" screenwriter Steven Kloves or the many directors he has worked with on this series, just a personal complaint about my own "Potter" shortcomings.)

"Order of the Phoenix," however, written for the big screen by Michael Goldenberg, was the first "Harry Potter" since "Sorcerer's Stone" that both made perfect sense to me and was just solidly entertaining. All you really had to know going in was that You-Know-Who had killed Cedric Diggory, and was clearly on the rise once again. From there on out, in this tightly constructed tale from director David Yates, it's a dark but still thrilling ride.

But, of course, a word or two about the plot might help the perhaps three people who haven't seen this yet. It opens, as usual, with Harry on break from Hogwarts. After an attack by the dreaded dementors, our hero is forced to use magic in front of his rather thick cousin, and is therefore brought before a tribunal of wizards. He beats the charges, but begins the year with You-Know-Who looming large and a new defense against the dark arts instructor, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), in place to torment her new charges. The award for the best line about the dark arts instructors, by the way, goes to Yahoo's Movie Mom, a k a Nell Minow: "As Potterites know, at Hogwarts, Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers are like drummers in Spinal Tap; they constantly have to be replaced."

From there, it's a rather predictable chapter in the battle of Harry vs. You-Know-Who, but with several touches that set it apart from its predecessors. First, while there are several rather breathtaking visual sequences, including two flights between London and Hogwarts, but none of them seem - as they have in the past - as simply showing off. Until the Weasley brothers disrupt the O.W.L.'s with a fun burst of fireworks, it all contributes to moving the story along.

And the three main kids, though no longer kids at all, are aging gracefully. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has made the transition to moody adolescent, and even gets a much-longer-than-expected smooch with the bewitching Cho Chang (Katie Leung.) Hermione has finally developed the wit to go with her sass, but poor Ron (Rupert Grint) has simply aged very quickly into a grumpy Gus. This couldn't possibly be a spoiler, since as I've said I've read exactly one "Harry Potter" book, but I have a strong suspicion that Ms. Rowling is setting up Ron to be a very heroic, and possibly very tragic, figure in the final chapter, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which of course comes out very soon.

Of the newcomers in this installment, Staunton is perfectly cast as the Stepfordesque Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter goes all Bride of Frankenstein to play Bellatrix Lestrange. My favorite, however would have to be Evanna Lynch as the perfectly loopy Luna (a k a Loony) Lovegood.

I've read complaints that this flick is simply table-setting for the next movie chapter, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which will come from director Yates and feature the return of screenwriter Kloves, but so what? "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" was too, and this was a for more satisfying flick than that one. It certainly left me wanting more, and you just can't ask for much more than that.

Can Bill Maher be the next Borat? God help us!

Although it pains me to admit it, I've never much cared for Bill Maher.

Now, don't get me wrong. It was a high crime when "Politically Incorrect" was pulled off the air by ABC (as Lorelai Gilmore put it so well, "the show's called 'Politically Incorrect,' what did they expect?")

If memory serves me right, he was fired from that gig for saying the very evil men who flew those planes into the World Trade Center weren't "cowards." Well, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to say, but in an extremely limited way he was probably right, and he paid the price for it.

But my beef was never with Maher's alleged lack of patriotism. I've just never liked the guy because he always thinks he's right about everything and seeks to prove it by being as big a wiseass as possible, and usually shouting to make his point (it's the same reason I can't listen to most talk radio for more than five minutes at a time.)

And that's a shame, because he usually is right. Maher essentially follows a libertarian path, and I would follow him just about anywhere if it wouldn't make me go deaf along the way.

Which, in an admittedly roundabout way, finally brings us to the point of this post. Larry Charles, perhaps seeking his next "Borat"-style hit, has made a documentary in which he follows Maher around the world as he talks to people about God and religion. The film will be distributed by Lionsgate next Spring.

Maher said: "Comedically, the topic of religion is hitting the side of a barn; it's literally hard to miss. This movie will make you laugh so hard you'll pray for it to stop."

Maybe. And for the record, I'm hoping so. Maher's name alone should get this one a wide enough release to reach my little corner of the world.

There is, however, one key difference between Bill Maher and Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat. When "Borat" worked, and it very often did, Cohen just set people up and let them roll to make asses of themselves. I can't imagine Maher will be able to shut up long enough to let anyone he interviews do that.

But, I've been wrong at least once before, and hopefully I will be here too. One thing I'm fairly certain of, though: At least we won't have to watch Maher bed-wrestling with the extremely hairy Ken Davitian.

Sorkin and Spielberg? Yes, please

One man who is clearly more than a little obsessed with God (or more accurately religion) is Aaron Sorkin. His clear hatred of the religious right, and his inability to get through an episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" without putting it on clear display, was one big reason that show was such a nobel failure.

When he's able to focus, however, Sorkin is able to write topical dialogue better than just about anyone in the game. I've just started watching "West Wing" again from the beginning, and for a long time it was at least as good as all the hype made it out to be. And before that, his "Sports Night" was a criminally underappreciated comedic gem.

Now, after being burned by NBC with "Studio 60," Sorkin's getting the last laugh. He's just signed with DreamWorks to write three films, the first of which will be "The Trial of the Chicago 7," probably for Steven Spielberg to direct. The saga of the protestors who tried to take down the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago should be a perfect fit for both of them.

And in case you still had doubts that Sorkin leads a charmed (and well-deserved) life, he recently adapted the George Crile book "Charlie Wilson's War" into a serving of December Oscar bait directed by Mike Nichols and starring a certain man you may have heard of named Tom Hanks.

What will Michael Moore do now?

After "Sicko" finishes its run, Michael Moore has hinted to The Advocate that he might just be ready to take on another hot topic: Homophobia in America. Here, courtesy of the always reliable (and very funny) Iwatchstuff.com, is what he had to say:

"I am not sure what I am going to do for my next film, but I certainly believe that I have no right to tell another couple whether they can or cannot be married. There is nowhere in the four Gospels where Jesus uses the word homosexual, nor the word abortion. The right wing has appropriated this guy. It makes you think, what someone can do in your name a thousand years from now. [Laughs] And they have used him to attack gays and lesbians, when he never said a single word against people who are homosexual."

I'm not gonna touch that last point because, well, I simply don't want to open that can of worms. That's what we have Michael Moore for, and I can only say thank God for that. And he's clearly been concerned about this subject for a long time. At the end of this post is a YouTube clip I uncovered from his often funny "Awful Truth" TV show in which he takes on the idiot Fred Phelps (be warned, this clip is very long and it contains, gasp!, footage of men kissing men and women kissing women; if any of that offends you, please don't watch it.)

And now I'll simply leave you with the very funny (and, of course, snarky) sentiments of whoever it is that does the writing at Iwatchstuff:

Personally, I always thought homophobia was despicable. But I have to admit, the Hairspray posters give me second thoughts.

I definitely couldn't put it better myself. Peace out.

Wanna watch Michael Moore bitchslap Wolf Blitzer? Trust me, you do

I was going through my regular workday earlier this week and trying in vain to ignore what was on TV when Michael Moore came on and it became simply impossible to resist.

The afternoon airspace on CNN is usually a pretty peaceful place. There's an understanding, I guess: People get to come on and plug their movies, TV shows, etc., and in exchange they have to answer a series of truly sycophantic queries.

But when you have Michael Moore on, of course, the normal rules simply don't apply. I'm not sure how many times he's been on this week, but yesterday's installment was just a doozy. He was apparently set off by "Dr." Sanjay Gupta's (I'm sure he really is a doctor, but once you play one on TV I just can't take you too seriously) revealing that the average American spends only just over $6,000 a year on health care instead of the $7,000 Moore claims in his new movie, "Sicko." Way to go there with the hard-hitting reporting, Sanjay.

What I like about Michael Moore (and it certainly can't be that he always sticks to the facts) is that he's a lethal combo: A genuinely angry guy who also just loves to be in the spotlight. And this week, he took full advantage of that spotlight to say what we all already know: CNN and just about every other TV news outlet present a very skewed version of reality, especially when it comes to what's happening in Iraq.

Now, I don't much like getting into politics here, but I do like to see Wolf Blitzer turn several shades of red as he's called a liar over and over on live TV. I found the best of their long exchange on YouTube, and have posted it below for everyone to enjoy.

It shows exactly what's great and at the same time rotten about Michael Moore. He's a bomb-thrower who has more weapons in his arsenal than he has targets, so he occasionally misfires badly. I've enjoyed all his movies so far, but he really crossed the line badly in "Bowling for Columbine" when he went to Charlton Heston's house to torment the poor old guy. It was just painful to watch and thoroughly inappropriate.

But, at least as often, he makes the points that everyone else ignores, and for that I can only say thanks. I have yet to see "Sicko," but since it's hanging tough in the top 10, I'm still holding out hope it will come to my little corner of the world sometime in August. If you have seen it, please feel free to let me know if it's any good or not.



Pixar, say it ain't so

If it seems like I write about Pixar a lot here, well, I do, because I love animation and noone else out there simultaneously takes the chances and delivers quality pics at a rate like these guys.

"Ratatouille" is easily the best movie I've seen this summer, and the next two years should bring more really fun stuff. After that, however, the studio may be heading into dangerous territory: Sequel-land.

The next three years are set: for 2008, "Wall-E," Andrew Stanton's tale about a robot who's sent down to clean up our defiled planet and then goes on an interplanetary adventure; for 2009 it's "Up," about a geriatric superhero who, like me, surely likes to eat his dinner before 5 p.m.; and for 2010, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back for a surefire hit with "Toy Story 3." From there, however, it might just be going downhill fast.

According to another, even more pixar-obsessed blogger, 2011 will bring, God forbid, a "Cars 2."

Now, I've loved almost all the Pixar movies, but "Cars" was, while beautiful to look at, more than a little lame. It was boring for long stretches, and never as funny or magical as Pixar's best work.

So I can't say I'm looking forward to any kind of "Cars" sequel. "Toy Story 3"? To that I can say yes, but I'm hoping this other rumor just isn't true. But I'm more than a little afraid we'll find out in the next few days that it will be. Peace out.

Remake madness hits fever pitch

I had originally intended to list the 100 or so things I'd rather do with Elisha Cuthbert than torture and abuse her (like perhaps take her to a nice movie that's not about torture porn), but I'm afraid I'm just not feeling that ambitious. All I can do is once again say please, please, please don't go see "Captivity" this weekend!

Or I could bemoan the fact that Kevin Spacey is set to return as Lex Luthor in "Superman: Man of Steel." Really the only bad thing about Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" was that he was more than a tad too worshipful (is that even a word?) of Richard Donner's work, with Lex being a big part of that. Even in this bad news, however, there's a silver lining: Singer will be doing both "Valkyrie" and "The Mayor of Castro Street," his Harvey Milk biopic, before getting to work on another Superman flick.

No, what really grated my cheese this morning is the news that they're actually gonna try and remake "Footloose." I'll give you all a second to ingest this madness before we proceed ...

This sickening project will star Zac Efron of "High School Musical" in the Kevin Bacon role, taking the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game to a whole new generation. The only thing that makes this even a little palatable, and I can't stress enough the word little, is that they're at least gonna transform it into a full-blown musical, like it was on Broadway.

What's it gonna take to end this madness? I think I've found the Earth-shattering, soul-dissolving event that just might bring us to the brink: Michael Bay's "The Birds." It's just a rumor at this point, but I'm sure Bay would love to see himself as Hitchcock (as another director who will be mentioned here shortly already did.) If he actually decided to try this, with the birds transformed into gigantic CGI critters, we finally might have the nerve to stand up and say enough is enough.

In the meantime, there is of course no end in sight. In honor of Mr. Efron and his co-conspirators, here are the five worst movie remakes I've ever seen. Please take into consideration that there are so many worthless remakes out there that it was hard to make the cut, and that I make it a rule to almost never see anything that has gone from a TV show to a movie. And please feel free to sound off with any that just make you vomit in your own mouth in the comments.

1. "Cape Fear"

Martin Scorsese has made very few bad movies, but this is certainly one of them (the only other ones I can think of off the top of my head were "Bringing Out the Dead" and "Gangs of New York," but neither of those are anywhere near as bad as "Cape Fear.") Robert De Niro following in the footsteps of Robert Mitchum? No thanks. He simply isn't scary at all, and so neither is this thoroughly craptastic flick.

2. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Planet of the Apes"

OK, I'm gonna break the rules from the start by making this list have six titles, but Tim Burton deserves the double shot for these two felonies. The worst thing about his "Charlie" is that the first 20 minutes or so, before they enter the factory, are pure magic. Then Johnny Depp appears as some kind of vaguely menacing pedophile and the whole operation goes right into the toilet. As for "Planet of the Apes," he knew he couldn't top Charlton Heston's big moment on the beach, so what did he do? Just drop it completely. Pathetic.

3. "Point of No Return"

This one probably wouldn't make the list if Luc Besson's "Nikita" wasn't easily one of my favorite movies. The problem here, as with "Cape Fear," starts with the leading player, Bridget Fonda. In Besson's movie, Anne Parillaud was, as TLC put it best, crazysexycool. Fonda was sexy at least, but in this case one out of three definitely is bad.

4. "Psycho"

I (and the rest of the world) have piled so much abuse on poor Gus Van Sant for this one that it's just getting sad, so I'll keep it short: How can you have any suspense in a shot-for-shot remake of this masterpiece from the master of suspense? 'Nuff said.

5. "Poseidon"

Every time I think this summer at the movies kinda sucks (with a few very bright exceptions, of course), I just have to think back to last summer and how rotten I felt after watching this Wolfgang Petersen turd. Andre Braugher already had a firm grasp on the title of most criminally under- and misused actor in Hollywood, but Petersen really upped the stakes here by casting him as the ship's captain, giving him maybe two lines and then killing him in about five minutes. I'm sorry if that spoils anything for you, but if that somehow keeps you from seeing this disaster you should only be thanking me.

And, just in case you thought the end of all this madness just might be in sight, here's a little video proof you're wrong. The first clip of is of Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart in the upcoming "Get Smart" remake. From the trailer alone you can tell that the very funny Mr. Carell has already crossed the line into just parodying himself, and that's just sad.



Next up comes the trailer for "Hairspray." I'd be easier on this one if John Waters' original movie weren't one of my favorites. I've seen the Broadway musical too, and it is, in its own way, almost as good. So, why make a third version? Beats me. Christopher Walken should just be a delight to watch in this, but I smell a big fat Razzie in John Travolta's not-too-distant future. Enjoy, and have an entirely suck-free Wednesday.



P.S.: I'm beginning to get the strong suspicion that this post is itself a remake in that I rail against this subject quite a bit, but there is no bigger problem in the movie industry today, so please forgive me if I repeat myself.

Getting by with a little help from your friend ... Judd Apatow

If I didn't know Judd Apatow was married to the rather radiant Leslie Mann, I'd swear he just had a thing for fat guys. As it is, it just seems he's just one really loyal dude, which I can surely respect.

After turning Seth Rogen into a bona fide star (I had to check that, indeed, "Knocked Up" is still playing at my local multiplexes - it is), he's now gonna do the same for the very funny Jonah Hill.

First, of course, he's put Mr. Hill and Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth) together in the upcoming "Superbad," which I've plugged here countless times before and will definitely be the second-funniest movie of this summer (after only "Knocked Up.") It's a coming-of-age tale about the two most noble goals any high school dude can have: To score beer and chicks.

After that, Apatow, in his role as producer of the moment, has given his heft to two movies that Hill has written himself. First comes "The Middle Child," which IMDB refuses to tell me anything about unless I pay for it, and then "Pure Imagination," which as Hill describes it just sounds like a lot of fun.

As he said on the MTV movies blog, “It’s called ‘Pure Imagination.’ Basically, I go through a bunch of traumatic stuff, and I develop an imaginary friend. Then what happens is I meet a girl, and we start dating…but the problem is I don’t know whether she [actually] exists [or] whether she’s a figment of my imagination.”

The flick promises to be a bit more ambitious than Apatow’s usual fare, and might even employ CGI, but like the other films, it will aim to keep human bonds at its core. “It’s basically a relationship movie, but the whole time I’m trying to avoid finding out whether she’s real or not,” Hill explained. “I don’t want to know, basically. And then, my best friend who I go to for advice, is an imaginary person that I’ve made up in my mind.”

Sounds like a trip to me, and Jonah Hill is a genuinely funny dude. So, for that matter, is Michael Cera. If you doubt it (and if you've seen "Arrested Development," how could you possibly?), check out this. As far as I can tell, it's a Web-only show he and buddy Clark Duke developed for CBS about their incredibly inept attempts to pitch a TV show. It's definitely better than I make it sound here, and well wasting a bit of your time with.

And, because the world (or at least my world) can never have too much funny, is the trailer for "Superbad." Enjoy!



"Tales from Earthsea" English Cast

Any news from Studio Ghibli is good news to me, even when it's about a movie that's being delayed in the U.S. until at least 2009.

The great fan site Nausicaa.net has released the primary voice cast for the English dub of "Tales from Earthsea" ("Gedo Senki"), based on the novel by Ursula K. LeGuin and directed by Goro Miyazaki, offspring of Hayao. Here goes:

Sparrowhawk (aka Ged) - Timothy Dalton
Cob - Willem Dafoe
Arren - Matt Levin
Hare - Cheech Marin
Tenar - Mariska Hargitay
Therru - Blaire Restaneo

As far as I can tell, the story is about dragons and all kinds of other fun stuff. Those of you lucky enough to live in the UK will get to see this in limited release starting Aug. 3. Because of some kind of legal battle with the Sci Fi Channel, however, we Yanks will have to wait until at least 2009 and perhaps beyond. Sheesh.

Pixar's shorts? Bring 'em on

Pixar's short movies, which always precede their features, are hit-or-miss at best to me. The latest one, "Lifted," which opens "Ratatouille," is pure brilliance, but that "Boundin'," with that annoying critter bouncing around, was just annoying as all get out.

Either way, the beauty is they're all over in about five minutes. And now, even better, they're apparently being compiled for a DVD release to be titled "Pixar: The Short Films Collection." I couldn't find out anything about a possible release date, but here, apparently, is the cover. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.

And in even better DVD news from Disney, the always reliable Jim Hill has revealed that, in an effort to promote its upcoming "The Princess and the Frog," Disney will finally get around to releasing "Song of the South" on DVD in late 2008 or early 2009. A hearty if belated huzzah!

I've already revealed on this site that I apparently danced in the movie theater aisle to the songs of "Song of the South" as a very small critter, and thanks to my co-worker Liz Fabian, co-author of the Middle Georgia Moms blog, I recently got to watch it again on some kind of Japanese bootleg VHS tape. It was surreal to see the songs (but none of the dialogue) with Japanese subtitles, but the movie was just as magical as I remember, and I'm just thrilled that a new generation of kids will soon get to discover it for themselves.

And now I simply have to get ready for work. Peace out.

The best movie nobody in the world ever saw

A comment from frequent-and-always-welcome visitor Divinity about (sort of) meeting Joss Whedon got me to thinking about the only time I ever managed to meet a movie director, and what in the world ever happened to her.

Has anyone but me (and, of course, the 20 or so people in attendance at the screening at the 1998 Rehoboth Film Festival) ever seen Susan Skoog's movie "Whatever"? Probably not, which is a real shame.

Millions more have seen "Garden State," another (and admittedly superior) New Jersey flick, and of course the movies of Kevin Smith, but those movies don't come to close to invoking the sense of time and place that Skoog managed to pull off with '80s New Jersey in "Whatever."

The plot, in a nutshell, focuses on two very close high school girls who are headed in different directions. Liza Weil, who would go on just after this flick came out to play Paris Geller on "Gilmore Girls," plays Anna Stockard, who is content to just party her way through high school until an art teacher inspires her to want more from life (sounds cheesy, I concede.) Chad Morgan, who has most recently been working on episodes of "Robot Chicken," plays her friend who, well, likes the boys and the booze just a bit too much.

It doesn't get much deeper than that, and yet Skoog's movie turned out to be, in my opinion, one of the truly great and honest movies about teenage angst, thanks mostly to a remarkable performance by Ms. Weil. You want to reach onto the screen and just choke her as her character just continues to make all the wrong choices. She wears her scars on the surface here, and they all ring true.

Has anyone else but me seen this somewhat-great movie? According to the IMDB, it was apparently the end of Susan Skoog. She has exactly no credits after 1998. How is this even possible? You can't even get "Whatever" on DVD, but if anyone is curious I'd be happy to mail them my copy on VHS (as long as you promise to return it, of course.)

I tried to even find a YouTube clip, but the best I could find is one posted by some kind of smoking fetishist called "luvstasmoke" which simply strings together the many times Liza Weil lights up, legal and otherwise, in the flick. I couldn't in good conscience post that here, so instead enjoy this rather gratuitous clip of Liza Weil and Alexis Bledel kissing on the great spring break episode of "Gilmore Girls." Now, if that doesn't brighten up your Monday it was probably just doomed from the start.

Transformers: I just have three questions

The following is an actual transcript from the Telegraph newsroom:

Travis Fain (author of the often-insane Lucid Idiocy blog): So, I saw "Transformers."
Me: What did you think?
T-Fain: "F***in awesome."

Now, we do sometimes have conservations with more heft and less profanity, but I really don't think there's any other way to sum up quite what Michael Bay has accomplished here. It might just be the loudest movie I've ever seen, and quite possibly the perfect summer blockbuster.

I was beginning to think that that was a dead art. Look at what we've been subjected to so far this summer; Spidey 3: boring and, much worse, wussy; Pirates 3: boring, boring and more boring until the final hour of battling pirates; Shrek 3: Meh. Bay, however, has managed to craft a movie that was surprisingly funny, never boring and just a whole lot of mindless fun.

Even if I wanted to criticize him, which I don't, he's pretty much rendered all such efforts moot by having a character in his movie declare: "This is a hundred times cooler than Armageddon." Now that's chutzpah.

But, even if I can't bring myself to critique this work of high art, I did have three questions that maybe the few people who bother to read this can help me out with.

1. Does it make me either sexist or racist if I can't bring myself to believe that the future of the Earth depends on the computer-hacking skills of Rachel Taylor and Anthony Anderson?

I might be more willing to believe that Taylor's blond bombshell was indeed a scientist of this caliber if they didn't take the time to so perfectly moisten her lips before each scene (and don't even try to tell me I'm the only person who noticed that!) As for Anthony Anderson, I love the guy. Ever since "Hustle and Flow" I've just smiled every time he's appeared on screen, and he's very funny here. But Mr. Anderson has made his trademark being a big goof, not exactly the kind of guy you'd call when the world was about to end.

2. (OK, from here on out I have to concede that I know next to nothing about Transformers, the toys or the TV series. I'm certainly not mocking anyone who did or still does; it just wasn't my thing.)

Did anyone else think, when John Turturro first appeared, that he was going to turn into a giant Decepticon? There was just this look in his eyes that made me think, even though he was clearly having fun, that he was more than a little robotic.

3. And finally, only one question of logic, which should really have no place in a movie like this and will probably just manage to make me look stupid. But bear with me anyway.

If both the Autobots and the Decepticons are from space, how is it that the Decepticons all seem to speak in something that vaguely resembles Chinese? There's surely an answer to this in all the Transformers lore I have somehow managed to miss out on.

But really, does it matter anyway? Michael Bay has crafted a nearly perfect ball of popcorn, and for that I can really only say thanks.

Friday fun with trailers

I would start by revealing that there's gonna be a movie about "Sex and the City," but that kind of just makes me say meh. I did watch some of the show, and maybe it's just a chick thing that I simply didn't get, but those four women weren't ever nearly as funny or shocking as they thought they were.

Now, if the HBO news were that David Chase was immediately gonna turn his limbo ending of "The Sopranos" into a movie, than you'd really set me off. As it is, what I'm really excited about is that the first three seasons of "Deadwood" are coming to the Telegraph's "treadmill cinema" populated by myself and Rodney Manley (who in my absence pitched in with a review of that "Fantastic Four" flick.)

In the meantime, it's Friday and I'm running late, so I'm gonna take the very lazy route and simply embed two sensational-looking trailers I found on YouTube today.

The first is for Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution," which I predict will be easily one of the coolest movies to come out this year. As best as I can tell, it's a spy movie set in occupied Shanghai, and young Wei Tang is simply one of the most beauiful Asian women to hit the big screen in a long time. Look for it in the U.S. beginning Sept. 28. Enjoy!



The next, and to me even more exciting, is an extended one for David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises." He, Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen are joining forces for a tale that seems to be about the Russian mafia and some kind of white slavery ring in London, or other really seedy business. The ladies will want to note that, in the trailer alone, Viggo shows off his bare, tattooed chest three times or so, and everyone else will be happy to know that Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl both have pretty big roles in this one too (and the script comes from "Dirty Pretty Things" scribe Steven Knight.) Look for it in the U.S. beginning Sept. 14.



Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

If this is old news to everyone in the world but me, please forgive me, but it certainly sounds cool (if entirely inevitable.)

It seems that, on November 6, we'll finally get to see Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" as one movie on DVD. A 247-minute movie, of course, but one movie nonetheless.

I can think of very few ways I'd rather spend a Saturday afternoon than by giving four more hours of my life to watching Uma Thurman kick ass for QT, so to this I can only say bring it on.

Ratatouille: A weird, wonderful feast

"Ratatouille," the story of Remy, the rat who just wants to cook, is much more "Babe: Pig in the City" than "Babe" in tenor and tone. And that's just fine by me.

The opening sequence, in fact, is downright terrifying. When I was a kid, and I probably shouldn't admit it, I was thoroughly frightened by two animated movies. My mother tells me I had to leave the theater when the Orcs first appeared in that rather lame Ralph Bashki take on "Lord of the Rings." And, for a much more rational reason, I was horrified by the far superior "Watership Down."

Remy and his rat pals aren't subjected to quite the level of animal violence that so freaked me out in that classic tale, but they're still put in more genuine peril after he rats out (I couldn't resist) the location of their colony in an old French farmhouse than has existed in an animated movie in many, many years.

What made it so at once both hard and thoroughly intriguing to watch was that it all looks so real. Even John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton must have been squirming when they watched this unfold.

But then, and in wonderfully abrupt fashion, director Brad Bird injects "Ratatouille" with another element we've been missing in animated flicks for a long time: Magic. I had seen the best nine minutes of "Ratatouille" beforehand on YouTube, but that still didn't take away from the thrill of discovery when Remy first scampers up the rooftop to find Paris in front of him. It's a vista that would make Hayao Miyazaki smile broadly.

And next, from when he's looking down on the kitchen at Gustave's with his guardian angel, the late Gustave (Brad Garrett), to when he falls through the window and lands in the chaotic kitchen's sink, it's as exhilirating as any animated sequence since "Fantasia." And no, I'm not exaggerating here; it's just that good.

At this point, Pixar movies, at least for me, tend to drag. For long stretches of both "Cars" and especially "Finding Nemo," I was just bored as our heroes had to learn their lessons. "Ratatouille" largely avoids this by having Remy and the human would-be chef he guides like a marionette (Lou Romano) learn by doing rather than talking about doing.

Watching Remy and his friends - who, let's not forget, are rats - take over the kitchen is more than a little unsettling, but Bird manages to inject it all with so much charm that it still goes down well (the music, a lilting, French-sounding accordion tune in almost all the restaurant sequences, helps a lot.) If kids can get past the logical (and sanitary, of course) leap of kitchen rats, and I'd imagine it would be easier than it was even for me, still very much just a big kid, what can they learn? Two things that every person should learn early in life: Paris is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and cooking is just tons of fun. Hopefully, for parents everywhere, they don't take away the idea that having a rat for a pet would be anything close to a good idea.

A quick word about the voices: I'm happy that I somehow didn't know going in that British heavyweights Ian Holm, as Skinner, the diminutive but domineering head chef at Gustave's, and Peter O'Toole, as the delightfully dour food critic Anton Ego, were on board. They're both great, and the moment when O'Toole's Ego gets his first taste of ratatouille is as close to a moment of grace since the first "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

So, in the end, how good is "Ratatouille"? Well, Brad Bird directed my single favorite animated flick in "The Iron Giant," and I have a strong feeling that, once I see "Ratatouille" a few more times, it will hold almost as lofty a place in my heart. If you haven't seen it, do so right away.

P.S. I had planned to see "Transformers" too, but with the big smile on my face at the end of this one, I didn't want to disturb the vibe by watching giant robots battle to save the Earth. That will have to wait until Saturday.

Monkey business and other things I couldn't possibly make up

On my recent visit to South Africa, I encountered many signs in the Kruger National Park warning about a "monkey problem."

Every rest camp for humanoids had advisories about not feeding the baboons (a thought which, I must say, never would have crossed my mind.) They can apparently be quite vicious creatures when provoked (as we can all be, I suppose.)

I always knew, however, that most monkeys, including the cute little fellow I managed to shoot a picture of at left, were at heart noble creatures, and now I've got the proof.

According to PETA, so definitely to be devoured with a huge grain of salt, one poor chimp on the set of the Wachowski Bros. "Speed Racer," reportedly subjected to beatings and other abuse, finally snapped and bit one of the younger cast members. While I wish this youth nothing but great health, I can only say bite on, monkey.

"We are in receipt of information that may upset you," PETA wrote to the producer Joel Silver, the man behind such megahits as the "Matrix" and "Die Hard" series. "We've received several troubling complaints from people who have been on the 'Speed Racer' set and report that the main chimpanzee 'actor' has been beaten and has bitten one of the human actors."

So, not content with simply creating what has the makings of possibly the worst movie ever made, the Wachowskis feel the need to torture a few animals along the way. Sheesh.

Now, like I said, I simply adore monkeys, but if that's what it takes to stop this abomination, I'd be willing to contribute to the funding of an army of monkeys, winged or not, to wreak havoc on the set until they just have to shut it down.

May the force be with her, I guess

Though it would be easy to mock this rather enterprising young lady, I just can't bring myself to do it. If I was able to bring this much fun into what I do at work every day, it sure would be a lot more enjoyable.

It seems that a burlesque performer who simply goes by the name Kitty has taken to performing her act in a version of the metal bikini worn by Princess Leia when she was a slave. Please take a second to ponder that and take in this picture of her, printed here, of course, simply as a public service.

Now, as someone who used to work in a "gentleman's club" (not as a dancer, of course, but as a blackjack dealer in the mini-casino in the back - if there's a seedier job to have for a short while, I guess it would have to pimp), I can attest that the women rarely have as much fun as she seems to be having. And, just in case you still think I'm making all this up, here's a quote from an interview with her you can read here:

"I'm a Texan, born and raised. I have been a film and stage actress for many years and I recently joined a burlesque dance group, The Lollie Bombs. I'm extremely busy these days acting, dancing and also teaching theatre to kids. I also play the piano and I'm a passionate vegetarian. I have been a Star Wars fan all my life. Star Wars is not just a movie to me, it is a beautiful saga built on ancient myths and stories. I like that it is not just entertainment, it has meaning."

Fair enough, I guess. And, just in case you've ever wanted to dress like Jabba the Hutt's slave (and why you might want to do that is certainly none of my business), you can buy your very own metal bikini at the link above too.

Fun with pictures

Though it turned into a routine long ago, I still thoroughly enjoy the hour or so each day I spend trolling the Web for movie tidbits, especially when it turns up stuff as cool as this.

First, courtesy of the simply fantastic Froggy film site Cinempire.com, come a slew of photos from the upcoming "Golden Compass" flick. These folks do a lot of great things, but the best might just be that they take the entire disc of almost every movie promo they get and simply post all the photos on the Web for the world to enjoy. Here's a great shot of Sam Neill, and to see many more simply click here and enjoy.


Next up, courtesy of MTV.com, obviously, is the first shot I've ever seen from Spike Jonze's upcoming take on "Where the Wild Things Are." I normally get a sense of impending doom when a director takes on one of my favorite childhood books, but I'm fairly confident Mr. Jonze knows what he's doing here and will turn out something simply magical.


And, finally, there's this photoshopped image of what Joe Carnahan is doing with James Ellroy's "White Jazz." The photo, his vision of Hollywood and Vine, is from his almost always very entertaining blog. If you click and read it here, you can see this photo in a ridiculously high resolution, and perhaps even spy none other than George Clooney behind the wheel of the center car. And now, I simply have to stop this and go to work. Peace out.

Out of (South) Africa: A visual journey

Greetings to all. Though I have to return to work this morning (for a rather hectic two days before yet another day off - God bless America), I still very much have South Africa on the brain.

So, while I was glad to see that Pixar's pudgy rat kicked Bruce Willis' rear, I'm not gonna talk about that. Instead, I'd like to share some of my best pics from this incredible journey, easily one of the most special I've ever had the pleasure to make. Enjoy!

1. Soweto

We landed in Johannesburg (or Jozi, or Joburg, or Gauteng, or probably many other names, depending on who you ask), and never managed to get much of a grasp on it, to be honest. It's just a big, crazy city, and I would love to spend more time there and get to know it (and maybe I will in 2010 for the next World Cup.)

The most rewarding thing we did there this time was make a visit to Soweto with our excellent tour guide Henry Lebea. This township just outside Joburg, famous as an iconic image of apartheid, is easily one of the most interesting places on earth. Within a five-mile-or-so stretch, you can see all the progress made since the ANC came to power in 1994 and, on the next block, poverty that will just make your heart ache.

Here are two shots that I like, one on the way in and one of the kids who greeted us inside (conveniently enough, they were out of school because of a massive teacher/hospital worker strike.)



2. On to Kruger

Kruger National Park, the second stop on our tour that my brother rather facetiously (but accurately, I guess) called "how white people see South Africa," is a true wonder to behold. Essentially a wide open stretch of land with a few rest camps put in for the humanoids to inhabit, it's home to almost all the creatures I had until now only been able to see in the zoo.

Though we did take one night drive led by a Kruger ranger who was able to hunt down the animals like, well, the hunter he probably used to be, it was more fun to just ride around by ourselves and see what we could encounter. The thrill of discovery was never better than when I was looking out the window to see what I thought was a tree trunk slowly start to move. Rather than something from "The Wizard of Oz," it was actually the leg of one member of a small herd of elephants, and watching them emerge from the brush was exhilirating. Here are three shots I really like:

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3. Capetown

Capetown, South Africa, is simply one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Look at it from afar and you see a coastal resort city to rival anything on the French riviera. Upon closer inspection, it's also a very lively place with as much to offer tourists as any of the world's great destinations. Here are some visual highlights.


These extremely cute critters, who exist along the Cape at a sanctuary called the Borders, once had the unfortunate name of "Jackass Penguins" because they indeed have a tendency to bray like a donkey. Luckily, someone had the sense to change their name to African Penguins somewhere along the way.


Table mountain, along with towering over and beautifully framing Cape Town, is also the longest/highest combo I've hiked in some time. Above is my brother and I about half way up the 3,500-foot-high peak (luckily I'm in the back so you can't see just how much I'm sweating.) Though we probably started from about 1,000 feet up, it was still quite a climb (see the evidence below, with the cable car route for the wusses who didn't want to take the journey on foot.


The voyage to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and many other political prisoners were locked away in isolation, proved to be a bit of a disappointment, but the boat ride to get there did provide the chance to shoot this vision of beautiful Cape Town from the sea. Though you can't see her in the picture, my brother assures me that the mother of Chris "Ludacris" Bridges was on the boat with us.


And, finally, what better way would there be to close out the perfect two-week vacation than with a trip to what must be the premiere wine region on Earth? Just outside Cape Town is the town of Stellenbosch, home to no less than 120 beautiful wineries. We visited four of them, and I brought home choice libations from the last two. Pictured below are the Rustenberg, where I purchased a nice wine made from the viognier grape, and the very rustic Muratie, where I probably spent too much on a 2005 bottle of port (but there are few pleasures in life that rival a great glass of port, so could you really pay too much?)

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I could share many more (in my first excursion with a digital camera, I managed to shoot 189 pictures of wildly varying quality), but unfortunately I now have to return to work. Peace out.

P.S.: R.I.P Edward Yang

A quick word of respect for Taiwanese director Edward Yang, who died last weekend at the age of 59 after battling colon cancer.

I had to look back at my list of 10 favorite directors to see if the great Mr. Yang made the cut, and I'm ashamed to say he didn't, if only because he simply chose not to work very often.

In this case, however, it was definitely a triumph of quantity over quality. His masterpiece, "Yi Yi," is a sublime meditation on the nature of modern city life disguised as a rather mundane soap opera (and if you've seen Sofia Coppola's "Lost In Translation," she cribbed most of the style of that flick from one fantastic Tokyo-set scene in this one.) It's easily among my favorite movies. I also managed to see Yang's previous "Mahjong," also worth checking out if you can find it on DVD.

After a seven-year break post-"Yi Yi," he had recently started working on an animated movie with Jackie Chan to be called "The Wind," but they never got to finish it.

Rest in peace, Mr. Yang.