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2009 | 2008

1-20 of 24 articles from 2009   « Prev | Next »

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Quentin Tarantino Picks His Top 8 Films of 2009

14 December 2009 4:30 PM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

Quentin Tarantino recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and he told them his favorite films of 2009.  But he did his list with an asterisk, as he admitted to not having seen Avatar, Invictus, or The Lovely Bones.  As of right now, his top eight films are:

1. Star Trek (Jj Abrams)

2. Drag Me To Hell (Sam Raimi)

3. Funny People (Judd Apatow)

4. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)

5. Chocolate (Prachya Pinkaew)

6. Observe and Report (Jody Hill)

7. Precious (Lee Daniels)

8. An Education (Lone Scherfig)

If you’d like to watch him say his list and explain how things might change, hit the jump:

Of course when anyone makes a best of the year list, you will always wonder why certain great films never made the cut.  Quickly looking over his top eight, you immediately wonder where is Pixar’s Up.  But, at the same time, how many are going to say »

- Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub

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Quentin Tarantino’s Top 8 Movies of 2009

14 December 2009 3:34 PM, PST | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

The Hollywood Reporter had a chance to ask Quentin Tarantino about his favorite films of 2009, and the filmmaker responded with the following eight movies... 1. Jj Abrams' Star Trek 2. Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell 3. Judd Apatow's Funny People 4. Jason Reitman's Up in the Air 5. Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate 6. Jody Hill's Observe and Report 7. Lee Daniels' Precious 8. Lone Scherfig's An Education Tarantino admitted that he has yet to see James Cameron's Avatar, Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones or Clint Eastwood's Invictus, and that he needs to revisit films like Bright Star and District 9, as they might have the power to rise into his top 8. He also agreed that his film could not qualify for his list. Watch the video embedded below: I'm surprised at some of the movies that Tarantino left off of his list, including Pixar's Up, 500 Days of Summer, »

- Peter Sciretta

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Crump and Jija to star in new film from Ong Bak team

9 November 2009 9:28 AM, PST | 24framespersecond.net | See recent 24FramesPerSecond news »

Just got word via press release that martial artist Marrese Crump has signed on to star opposite Jeeja Yanin (Chocolate, Raging Phoenix) in a new movie from Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak, Chocolate). Not much in the way of details yet, but I do wonder what this means for City Of Angels, the english language film Pinkaew and co. were reportedly beginning pre-production on with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Robin Shou. The press release mentions that production on this new movie with Crump and Jija is slated to take place in Thailand early next year. »

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Raging Phoenix (2009) Movie Review

5 November 2009 8:32 AM, PST | Beyond Hollywood | See recent Beyond Hollywood news »

You can’t blame the Thais for continuing to produce action movies like “Raging Phoenix”. There are basically only two genres coming out of Thailand that sells nowadays – martial arts movies and horror films. Everything else just doesn’t translate very well. One of the industry’s newest import is female ass kicking wonder Jeeja Yanin, who burst onto the scene last year with “Chocolate”, directed by “Ong Bak” head honcho Prachya Pinkaew. The film benefited greatly from Yanin’s unassuming features. For “Raging Phoenix”, we already know the deal, so director Rashane Limtrakul and action choreographer Panna Rittikrai (another “Ong Bak” vet) had to throw us a twist – a new form of martial arts that combines Muay Thai with breakdancing. Or at least, that’s the idea. The plot for “Raging Phoenix” is as superfluous as they come – neglected rich girl Deu (Yanin) spends her time playing (badly, I »

- Nix

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Ong-bak team preparing english language City Of Angels

17 October 2009 4:29 AM, PDT | 24framespersecond.net | See recent 24FramesPerSecond news »

Not much in the way of details yet, but The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Prachya Pinkaew and Panna Rittikrai, the director and action choreographer team behind Ong Bak, Chocolate, and The Protector, are beginning pre-production on their first English language film, City Of Angels. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Hk actor Robin Shou are the only known cast members at this time. »

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Shou among Angels

12 October 2009 7:53 PM, PDT | JoBlo.com | See recent JoBlo news »

The guys behind Ong Bak are tired of having to dub their movies for international release, so they're gonna make one in English with another martial-arts butt kicker, Robin Shou. Where have you been since Mortal Kombat? Oh wait, that question kind of answers itself... Director Prachya Pinkaew joins forces again with stunt coordinator Panna Rittikrai for City Of Angels, which really should get itself another title; I can think of two other films using it that I wish to hell I hadn't seen. »

- Tony Lang

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PiFan Award Winners Announced!

23 July 2009 6:08 PM, PDT | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »

Though festival screenings will continue for a couple more days last night marked the last film to premiere at the 2009 edition of PiFan and, along with that, the official awards selection and distribution of awards.  And it’s pretty safe to say that closing night belonged to Indonesia with both Indonesian films playing in competition picking up awards while the festival’s third and final film from Indonesia - Merantau - closed things off to a hugely positive audience response.  I’ll start with the short film winners, since that was the jury I was on.

Richard Gale’s The Horribly Slow Murderer With The Extremely Inefficient Weapon was the big winner in the shorts competition, taking both the Citizen’s Choice Award and the jury-awarded Best Short prize. And he accepted both wins with passably good Korean, too.  Taking home Best Korean Short was Jung Yu Mi’s stellar animated short film Dust Kid, »

- Todd Brown

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No More Chocolate! Teaser Trailer for Raging Phoenix

10 July 2009 10:37 AM, PDT | Affenheimtheater | See recent Affenheimtheater news »

After her role as the autistic wunderkind in Prachya Pinkaew’s Chocolate, Thailand’s female Muay Thai talent Jeeja (Jija) Yanin is ready to kick some more (male) ass in Raging Phoenix (Du Suay Doo). According to several reports Jeeja will not only have to fight but will show us her more romantic side as well.

The first teaser trailer for the Rashane Limtrakul directed action film was released today. Check out DekNang for dozens of photos and behind-the-scene shots. Raging Phoenix will open on August 12th in Thailand, but after the international success of Chocolate I guess it shouldn’t take long until it arrives at our shores as well.

[See post to watch Flash video] [via Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal & Popcorn Magazine] »

- Ulrik

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Ong Bak 2 Movie Trailer: Tony Jaa vs a Real Alligator

3 July 2009 3:07 PM, PDT | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

One of the first things that caught my eye this morning was Twitch's posting of a new French trailer for Ong Bak 2, starring master of knees and elbows Tony Jaa. They're excited about this one because it shows, briefly, some of the scene where Jaa has a watery encounter with a real, live alligator. Peter has already done a Votd for today, so I'll just implore you to watch this trailer, after the jump. Ong Bak 2, which is unrelated to the first film in any story sense, had a famously difficult road to completion. Tony Jaa directed, against the advice of former director Prachya Pinkaew. But in the middle of the shoot he had a massive breakdown, fled into the forest and stayed there for two months (supposedly practicing black magic) before making a tearful return to civilization on live TV. Then he presented the film's financier with »

- Russ Fischer

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Chocolate Star Jeeja Yanin Unveils Her Latest Movie

13 March 2009 6:59 AM, PDT | FilmJunk | See recent FilmJunk news »

Fans of bone-crunching action have been turning their gaze to Thailand in recent years, with the rise of Tony Jaa and Prachya Pinkaew, respectively the star and director of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong. My second favourite theatrical experience of last year was a midnight screening of the most recent Pinkaew release Chocolate, starring his latest protégé Jeeja Yanin, which you can catch Reed's review of right here. I've been waiting to hear about a follow-up for this petite Muay Thai cyclone, and it's finally arrived in the announcement for her second movie, Du Suay Doo. One thing that I appreciate about the rise of the Thai action industry is the patience they've shown in making their movies. »

- Wintle

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The Power Kids Give Evil A Knee To The Face!

13 February 2009 9:10 PM, PST | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »

It was just a couple days ago that I was writing about the promo reel for the Prachya Pinkaew-produced kids action film Power Kids at the European Film Market and commenting on how it was sad that there was no trailer for the film available yet.  And then today Mack posted up a couple of new posters for the picture.  And now, hey looky, Wolf just pointed me to a grainy but serviceable version of the Thai theatrical trailer.  And, yes, the double knee to the head is in there.  Plot?  Johnny Nguyen is the head of a gang of gun-toting bad guys who can only be stopped by a quintet of muay thai fighting kids.  The film is to Ong Bak what The Goonies was to Raiders of the Lost Ark, basically.

You can find the trailer below the break, hopefully we’ll be able to replace it with a higher-res version soon. »

- Todd Brown

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'Taken' and 'Chocolate' and the state of the art of the action film in 2009

13 February 2009 9:00 PM, PST | Hitfix | See recent Hitfix news »

Luc Besson's got a nice little business going for himself in France.  And Prachya Pinkaew's got a fairly sweet deal going in Thailand, too.  Both of them have set up these action-movie factories that crank out a dependable stream of similar product, and both of them have strong signatures on all of their films.  Right now, I'd say there's no one out there who is consistently better at making pure action movies than these two guys. But why? And what do their latest movies, "Taken" and "Chocolate," have to say about the state of action movies in 2009? [more after the »

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Bak Once Again

10 February 2009 11:29 PM, PST | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »

Stateside fans of authentic, cuts-and-bruises kickboxing will be rejoicing, with news that Ong-Bak 2 has picked up a Us distribution deal, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.The sequel to Ong-Bak, in which Tony Jaa defends a village's Buddhist icon, beating up half of Thailand in the process, was an underground hit in the Us back in 2003. Jaa hasn't made as big an impact in Hollywood as expected since then, but gets another chance to impress with his no-holds-barred Muay Thai stylings Magnolia Pictures, who also released the original, have high hopes for Jaa. Eamonn Bowles, president of the distributor, said: "We're beyond thrilled to be able to carry the franchise forward and continue our relationship with Tony."Magnolia is shortly to release Chocolate, more martial arts mentalism from Ong-Bak director Prachya Pinkaew. Ong-Bak 3 is currently in production and slated for release at the end of the year.   »

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Movie Review: Chocolate (2009)

5 February 2009 11:28 PM, PST | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

"Jiji" Yanin Vismitananda in Chocolate

Photo: Magnet Releasing For anyone that has seen Tony Jaa in Ong Bak and The Protector you already have an idea of what you are expecting from a film in which an autistic girl who has the power to mimic and learn from what she sees will turn into after watching a couple of Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee features. However, don't get your hopes too high as this film does manage to deliver some healthy blows from its 100 pound protagonist, but it is not at all like the bone crunching brutality of a Jaa feature even though the sound effects artists are working just as hard to make it seem like it is. Directed by Ong Bak and Protector helmer Prachya Pinkaew we watch as he takes 24-year-old "Jiji" Yanin Vismitananda under his wing as something of a female Jaa successor. Despite a reported »

- Brad Brevet

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Chocolate (review)

4 February 2009 2:00 PM, PST | www.flickfilosopher.com | See recent FlickFilosopher news »

Alas that the most intriguing thing about this martial-arts kickfest is its wave-of-the-future release schedule. It opens in limited release in U.S. theaters on Friday, February 6 -- it will play at New York City’s hip arthouse Landmark Sunshine at midnight shows only, for one -- then arrives on DVD and HDNet Ultra VOD just days later, on Tuesday, February 10. (It’s already available on DVD in the U.K.) We’re going to see a lot more of this kind of thing, I have no doubt -- I only hope it’s for better films. I quite liked Thai director Prachya Pinkaew’s Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, which appeared to herald a new era in martial-arts flicks, but this followup is nothing but mindless bone-crunching pretending to hang on the slimmest frame of a story. Zen is an autistic teenager, a “special child” whose parents hail from »

- MaryAnn Johanson

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Chocolate - Exclusive Clip

3 February 2009 3:14 PM, PST | MovieBlog.Ugo.com | See recent Ugo MovieBlog news »

Sports Editor Michael Hess tells me that what we’re seeing in this clip isn’t really Thai Boxing, just plain old Kung Fu.  But it’s a Thai movie, I say!  Therefore, let’s eschew the labels and just call it Aak - Asian Ass Kicking. Chocolate, directed by Prachya Pinkaew of Ong-Bak fame, was a big hit in overseas and is coming to select cities this February 6th.  If you live in New York, Boulder, Denver, Austin, Dallas or Seattle (odd collection of places, I know) you’ll be able to catch this tale of nonstop action that is launching the career of Yanin ‘Jeeja’ Wismitanant. The above clip, one could say, is just a small chocolate kiss. »

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Asian Cinema Scene: All-Star Ghost Story for Kids -- with Martial Arts!

28 January 2009 4:32 PM, PST | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

Are you sick and tired of Asian ghost stories? Me, too! Actually, not so much the true originals -- the Japanese Ringu scared the daylights out of me -- as the boring, sanitized American remakes, which have made the iconic "girl with long black hair" something to be yawned at rather than feared. But people still love ghost stories, so why not have fun with them? Something like a "CGI kiddie-horror movie from the guys who made Ong Bak"?

Nak just screened at the Rotterdam film fest, and Ard Vijn of Twitch says it's "more inspired by Miyazaki than by Dragonball Z." Produced by Prachya Pinkaew, who directed the high-flying, high-kicking Tony Jaa in Ong Bak, the animated flick features the title character, "inarguably Thailand's most famous ghost," as well as our friend Sadako from The Ring and the closet-dwelling little boy from The Grudge.

The trailer features everything you'd want: kids, »

- Peter Martin

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Iffr 2009: Nak Review

27 January 2009 3:26 PM, PST | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »

When this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam announced that it would dedicate a whole section to Asian ghost stories, I groaned. The infamous “J-horror” was new, fun and scary ten years ago, but the vast wave of “Ringu”-imitations have soured this particular sub-genre to the point where I thought I’d never want to see another long-haired ghost again.

 

But I got to hand it to the programmers: they’ve concocted a hell of a selection, providing a surprisingly diverse range of titles. A prime example of this is the Thai movie “Nak”, a computer animated children’s movie produced by Prachya Pinkaew.

 

Huh?

 

A cgi kiddie-horror movie from the guys who made Ong Bak?

Does this mean there is no story, just a lot of cool fights? Thankfully, no. Warring ghosts or not, “Nak” has a lot more heart in it than you would expect, and is »

- Ard Vijn

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Chocolate’s Jeeja Yanin Returning To The Big Screen in 2009!

21 January 2009 10:02 AM, PST | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »

Now, while I am of the opinion that Prachya Pinkaew’s most recent martial arts film Chocolate is a deeply flawed piece of work, there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s star - Jeeja Yanin - is a huge talent, one who can go as far as she wants to with her martial arts skills.  But can she act?  We’re about to find out ...

Word is out in Thailand that Yanin has been quietly working on her sophomore feature.  Already in production, very little is known about this one so far - not even the proper title - but the film is apparently deep enough into the process that a mid-2009 release date is being projected.  All that is being said so far is that the film - referred to for the time being as the Jeeja Project - is an action romance featuring a mixed-race male star (a rarity in Thailand, »

- Todd Brown

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Chocolate trailer

19 January 2009 5:29 AM, PST | JoBlo.com | See recent JoBlo news »

Thai director Prachya Pinkaew, who brought us Tony Jaa's incredible and brutal close combat fighting in Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, is back bringing us a similar Muay Thai extravaganza with the upcoming Chocolate, only this time around it's an autistic girl with an amazing ability to kick some ass. Really, the trailer that IGN recently posted says so. And boy can this chick kick some ass. And she does it without wires or special effects. Why is she kicking so much ass? Something about settling »

- Omar Aviles

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2009 | 2008

1-20 of 24 articles from 2009   « Prev | Next »

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