Huh. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are both in The Mummy 3
Crap! They've actually found a way to make me go see that turkey in the theaters, despite having only recently washed away the last of the chunks that The Mummy Returns blew.
Willow: You know what they say. The bigger they are... Anya: The faster they stomp you into nothin'.
'The Killer In Me'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Matt the Bruins fan - May 18, 2007 9:32:06 am PDT #8604 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
DavidS - May 18, 2007 9:34:20 am PDT #8605 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Oooh, really gorgeous vid from the Swordsman/East is Red series on YouTube.
Bridget Lin is my hero. Asian the Invincible is right up there with Lord Fanny and Eddie Izzard in my pantheon of transgendered action heroes.
Nutty - May 18, 2007 10:25:36 am PDT #8606 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I like fight scenes where it really looks (to my decidedly amateur eye) like the people involved are really doing what I'm told they're doing.
The stuff in The Matrix -- aside from the flying around the room parts -- was good because it was full-body shots held for a long time, you know? The hand-to-hand wasn't sleight of hand. The swordfights in The Princess Bride, same deal. You could really tell who was a martial-arts/dance expert and who wasn't, in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by who got to move their feet (experts) and who didn't (Chow Yun-Fat).
§ ita § - May 18, 2007 10:31:28 am PDT #8607 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The fight scenes in The Matrix were among the weakest parts of it for me. They might have held the shots, but there's only so much you can ask of people who've only been training a few months, no matter how intensely.
By weak I don't mean very weak--I really enjoyed the movie. But I'd definitely grade the actor accomplishments in TPB much higher. Dude. Ambidextrous. Cool.
juliana - May 18, 2007 10:36:45 am PDT #8608 of 10001
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…
I went trawling for data on how long they trained for The Princess Bride vs. The Matrix. Didn't find it, but I found this sweet bit of trivia:
During the filming of some scenes, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright Penn. André the Giant helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.
§ ita § - May 18, 2007 10:39:26 am PDT #8609 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
They talk about the training on one of the commentary tracks, but I'd bollix something for sure if I tried to regurgitate it.
I think it's easier to train two people for one fight scene than it is a number of people for a number of scenes, but then again--ambidextrous. Cool.
DavidS - May 18, 2007 10:39:50 am PDT #8610 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Sean K - May 18, 2007 10:42:30 am PDT #8611 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Awww, Andre's so cute.
This one's for Sean, Chow Yun Fat's awesome Full Contact in a vid set to White Zombie.
Sweeet.
ETA: Works really well as a vid.
beekaytee - May 18, 2007 10:49:01 am PDT #8612 of 10001
Compassionately intolerant
I mist up over Andre whenever he is mentioned. What a precious spirit in such an incongruous package.
Kathy A - May 18, 2007 10:58:15 am PDT #8613 of 10001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
The Special Edition DVD of Princess Bride had that tidbit about Andre keeping her head warm. The doc on the disc has lots of good stuff like that--my favorite was Chris Sarandon telling about how his little boys came to visit the set, and the youngest was really into the idea of meeting Andre. "Do you really work with a giant, Daddy? Is he a real giant? How tall is he, Daddy? Can he pick you up?" And then, when they came around the corner of Andre's trailer and the little boy saw him stand up to greet them, he shrieked and went hiding behind his dad's legs. He did warm up to him quickly, though.
Cool Andre factoid--when he was a little boy, he couldn't ride in the school bus due to his size, so he got a ride from the man in town with the biggest car. The man's name was Samuel Beckett (yes, that Beckett!).