The DEATH NOTE films centre on Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara – Battle Royale), a university student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the titular “Death Note”, dropped on Earth by a shinigami (death god) named Ryuk. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose face they have seen, by writing the victim’s name in the notebook. The story follows Light’s attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil using the notebook, and the complex conflict between him, his opponents and a mysterious detective known to the world only as L.

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A.      Requiem for a Dream

B.      Battle Royale

C.      Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

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The film score adapts the song ‘Carmen’ from the opera of the same name, sung by leading actress Shu Qi. Released on September 6, it reveals the subtle relationship between the characters played by Donnie Yen, Shu Qi and Anthony Wong.

The film will hit cinemas in Hong Kong and China on September 21st 2010.

Chan will play revolutionary pioneer Huang Xing, while Li will play his wife, Xu Zonghan.

It will be the second time Chan and Li have worked together following ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ in 2008.

Chan is also directing the new film as well as co-producing it with Li.

Shooting is expected to finish by September 2011, in time for the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution the following month.

The film is expected to feature a stellar cast of up to 70 star actors, several of whom are already confirmed, including Winston Chao, Sun Chun and Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee Chan.

‘Break Up Club’ tells a story about a young man who joins an online club called ‘Break Up Club’ in order to break up another couple so he could get his loved one back.

Jaycee Chan, son of action superstar Jackie Chan, has performed in such films as ‘2 Young”‘ (2005) co-starring Fiona Sit, and ‘Invisible Target’ (2007).

Fiona Sit is an actress and Cantopop singer.

Other Chinese films to be screened in Toronto include Feng Xiaogang’s ‘Aftershock’ and Tsui Hark’s ‘Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame’.

Starring: Donnie Yen, Wei Zhao, Chun Wu, Katie Tsui, Sammo Hung

Director: Daniel Lee

Genre: Martial Arts / Action / Romance

Run Time: 114 minutes

Language: Mandarin

Subtitles: English

Region Code: 2

Distributor: Icon Entertainment

Disc(s): 1

Cert: 15

Staff Reviewer: Mike Fury

FILM SYNOPSIS:

While carrying out an assignment for the Emperor, Qinglong (Donnie Yen), the head of the Emperor’s secret guards, is attacked by his former colleagues who, unbeknown to him, now operate under the rule of a rogue tyrant hell-bent on seizing the Emperor’s power. Barely escaping with his life and nursed back to health by a band of travellers, Qinglong sets out to pull together a new army made up of loyalists, thieves and bandits, to restore the Emperor’s control and exact revenge upon those who betrayed him. Little does he know the tyrant has aligned himself with a powerful exiled noble, Prince Qing (Sammo Hung), who has also enlisted the services of a deadly female assassin, Tuo Tuo (Katie Tsui).

DVD EXTRAS:

‘Making of’ featurette

Trailer

CONCLUSION:

On the surface, 14 Blades is simply a swordplay-styled romantic martial arts film, not unlike others in the genre. However, a short way into the action and the film begins defining itself as something quite different. This proves to be the film’s defining feature. For some Hong Kong action fans, Daniel Lee is unfortunately not a name that instils the greatest faith in the quality of a film. He directed the badly-shot Dragon Heat and then stepped up his game slightly with the cinematically stunning but muddled Three Kingdoms. After seeing 14 Blades, the good news is he’s getting a lot better! For the most part he handles his action sequences sharply and with slick finesse, without the tendency to slip into unnecessary and cheapish visuals. Donnie Yen does a great job as always, this time stepping into tortured badass mode and sporting a very cool look, complete with beefed up physique, tattoos, long hair and rockstar goatee. The majority of the cast does an excellent job; with particularly strong support from Wei Zhao as Qinglong’s love interest and Chun Wu as Judge, the edgy and violent leader of the gang who help Qinglong in his mission.

Hong Kong movie veteran, Wu Ma, also features in a small role and it’s great to see him still going strong. Sammo only features in what appears to be a cameo and doesn’t perform any action but it’s still good to see him here. In all, 14 Blades isn’t the strongest entry into its crowded genre archive but features some strong direction from Daniel Lee and proves he’s getting better with every film. The solid action scenes, which led to a nomination for Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards, will also provide quality entertainment for most martial arts movie fans, and cements the fact that Donnie is still the man!

The Lost Bladesman is co-directed by Felix Chong and Alan Mak. The movie tells the story of general Guan Yunchang who goes on a journey by horse and faces various obstacles along the way. Donnie Yen plays Guan Yunchang, with Jiang Wen as warlord Cao Cao. Sun Li and Alex Fong Chung-Sun also star in the film.

Release is set for 2011.

Capri was reportedly involved in a car accident on August 9th 2010, and succumbed to her injuries ten days later. Our heart goes out to her family and friends.

To celebrate the 10th year of the festival, organizers have planned the largest event in the festival’s history. This year also boasts the largest amount of films and events ever included. Even the stage for the opening ceremony is the largest one that the festival has ever used.

437 films are registered for the film festival. Of those registered, forty films are chosen to compete for the Golden Deer Award. This year’s top contenders include “The Founding of a Republic,” “Bodyguards and Assassins,” and “Ip Man 2″.

Part of the “Aftershock” cast, Xu Fan and Zhang Zifeng, attended the opening ceremony to show their support for the event. The film has made over 600 million yuan (US$88 million).

During the festival, the “Jin Mai Sui Jiang” (literally golden wheat ear award) for countryside theme films will be presented for the first time at the festival.

The number of judges for the awards has increased from 11 persons to 13 persons. Veteran actor Wang Xiaotang, former president of August First Film Studio, China’s top film studio which is owned by the People’s Liberation Army, chairs the judge’s committee.

The film festival will last for 6 days and over a hundred celebrities are expected to attend the events.

JADE SCREEN: The Ultimate Asian Film Magazine (VOL. 7, ISSUE 2)
Released October 15th, 2010

* Lau Ching-wan: Exclusive Hong Kong Interview!
* Yun-Hsien Lin: Taiwan’s Director Speaks Out…
* Korean Horror Examined!
* Philippine Cinema…
* The Life & Films of Wong Fei-hung!

PLUS: Dragon Tiger Days Column, Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson Interview, DVD Reviews, Industry News, Anime, Manga and much more…

SCREEN POWER: The Jackie Chan Magazine (VOL. 10, ISSUE 4)
Released October 18th, 2010

* Counting The Lucky Stars!
* JC Going Green: A Life in Charity…
* The Golden Years: Dragons Forever!
* Allen Keng: Former JC Stuntman (Part 5)

PLUS: JC Evolution, The Chan Files, Competition, Letters, Merchandise and much more…

Jackie Chan is the voice of the hero, Xu Rongcun, while the film’s director, David Liu, also worked on Star Trek, Transformer and Toy Story.
The Legend of Silk Boy is set amid China’s first attendance at the World Expo in 1851 in London.

Xu Rongcun, dubbed China’s First Businessman at the World Expo, won the gold and silver medals for the Chinese silk he sold in London.

The film is based on the book Adventure of the Silk Boy written by his 70-year old descendant Xu Xizeng.

The cast also includes Li Bingbing, Li Yang and comedian Zhou Libo, who speaks in a Shanghainese dialect for his character.