Pardon the title, I didn’t really put much effort into it. I’ve been busy doing nothing recently, so pardon the lack of daily updates. However, I do hope to get at least a few things done before I go back to school and this site runs out of visitors. Anyway, I’d like to go over a few upcoming film releases, whether they be Chinese cinema or Uwe Boll-like attempts at video game live-action.

First off, I have come across a trailer for an upcoming film called Kung Fu Dunk. This strikes me as interesting because it is a film about a martial artist who becomes a Basketball star. For those of you who are buffs in the realm of Chinese cinema, you may be aware of a similar film by Stephen Chow, called Shaolin Soccer, which was quite good.

Kung Fu Dunk, also known as Slam Dunk, is loosely based on the manga by the same name. One possible criticism of it is that it could be an half-assed attempt to cash in on Stephen Chow’s success with a sports/kung fu mix. As for the cast, it appears that Jay Chou is starring, who some may recognize from Curse of the Golden Flower, where he plays the older Prince Jai alongside Yun-Fat Chow and Li Gong. The director, while I’ve never heard of him or any of his films, has a fairly decent filmography, so they may be set there. All in all, it looks like it has potential, but see for yourself, view the trailer below:

Speaking of Stephen Chow, it looks like the master himself is coming out with a new film this coming year entitled CJ7, or Long River 7 for ‘Mericans. Sadly, it appears to lack any sort of kung-fu, and is instead a sci-fi comedy about a poor laborer who has a few interesting experiences after getting his son a new toy.

Lana Lang => Chun Li

Personally, a genre of filmography that has not been explored nearly enough is of fighting game live-action. Sure, there have been plenty of video game films, such as Resident Evil, Doom, and everything that Uwe Boll does, but I’m talking about films of an entirely different calibre. A film like the fighting game classic, Mortal Kombat. The greatest fighting game film ever made, even better than its abomination of a sequel, and the original Street Fighter with Van Damme. It’s also one of the last films I’ve seen Robin Shou in other than Beverly Hills Ninja. It makes me wonder why he doesn’t get any more work.

So far, there are two candidates that could possibly fill this gap: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, and Tekken.

Regrettably, both are still early in the production phase, and little is known about either of them. As for Tekken, all that is known is a 2009 release, which will be directed by Dwight H. Little, who’s resume includes among other things, such blockbusters as Halloween 4 and Free Willy 2.

Only a little more is known about the also 2009 release film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. With action director and cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak at the helm, this film packs a lot of ass-kicking potential. Which it needs, with Chun-Li’s transvestite-like thighs.

Until recently, the real debate was on who was going to be Chun-Li? Well that was recently revealed to be Kristin Kreuk from Smallville. I think the real question is, who should play Cammy? Of course, I’m only assuming that Cammy will even be in the film, but you can bet your bottom doll hair that I will be disappointed if I can’t see some blue British leotard action. I even slaved for like five hours over this picture:

I picked two possible candidates, Christina Ricci and Jessica Simpson. I think that either of them would be an ideal choice. Christina Ricci, though not normally blonde, could fairly easily portray Cammy, as seen from her performance in Black Snake Moan. However, Jessica Simpson would also be a good choice, for obvious reasons (not to mention she said she was going to possibly do a nude scene to “gain respect”). We can only pray that this movie will be R-rated. Also, hearing her attempt at a British accent would be Oscar worthy, in my opinion.