I know this is going to make me sound like a complete knob, but I'm much more likely to watch a "foreign film" than pretty much of what comes out of Hollywood. Sure, I loved the Dark Knight and so on, but after another lacklustre year of Hollywood damp squibs, I've got my eyes on other parts of the world when it comes to getting my action thrills. Amazingly enough, Thailand seems to be producing stylish action block-busters at quite a rate. A few years ago Tony Jaa burst onto the action scene with his bare-bones, no SFX, no wire-work, breakout film, Ong Bak. Well he's back now with Ong Bak 2, during the filming of which Tony apparently went a bit David Chappelle and disappeared off for a while:
Did you see that?!? THEY'RE FIGHTING ON TOP OF FUCKING ELEPHANTS!!!! No confirmed release date for Ong Bak 2 yet in the US and Europe. Anyway, the guy who was behind a lot of the fight scenes from the original Ong Bak is Prachya Pinkaew, who has gone and directed the seemingly great Chocolate, whose central character is anautistic girl who's learnt martial arts from watching the local kick boxers and martial arts films:
Chocolate is out now on Region 2 DVD. Last up from Thailand is Fireball, which basically ticks all the boxes for me; parkour + basketball + kickboxing + sword-fighting. It's like someone took some of my favourite things and shoved them into a blender and came up with this awesome trailer. Not much else known about this so far (no IMDB entry or release dates):
Frankly, I can't wait to see these flicks. I know they're going to be light on story and character development, but hey I can disengage my brain and watch people beating the crap out of each other.
(I'd also like to point out the "This has breasts" cblob topic that's available. Will have to work on a suitable entry).
I know this is going to make me sound like a complete knob, but I'm much more likely to watch a "foreign film" than pretty much of what comes out of Hollywood.
This tells me that you are a true movie fan. I am the same.
I own Chocolate and it's awesome. Haven't seen Ong Bak yet nor Fireball, the latter looks real good to me but they will eventually end up in my collection of martial art & foreign films.
Ong Bak 2 looks silly. Maybe a good thing? Since you know it won't have a story whether it's silly or not. Hopefully there are plenty of crazy acrobatics still. And hopefully Tony Jaa still has a career. I loved Ong Bak and The Protector. I'd forgotten about Chocolate. I'd also like to see that one. Thanks for sharing these!
@Y0JIMB0: dude, I was out in Sydney with The GHost and we found a record shop that sells Criterion DVDs, which is friggin' sweet. I got Le Samourai, the Jean-Pierre Mellville flick from the 60's. Gonna watch it this weekend.
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This tells me that you are a true movie fan. I am the same.
I own Chocolate and it's awesome. Haven't seen Ong Bak yet nor Fireball, the latter looks real good to me but they will eventually end up in my collection of martial art & foreign films.
Good recommends Ali.