Escape to the Movies: Man of Tai Chi

[SnakeoilSage]

You know Keanu was just chomping at the bit for the chance to say "Finish him!" on film. And you know what? Kudos to him for making an entertaining movie on his first directorial gig. People mock his quasi-robotic acting method, possibly the result of him trying to cast off the Ted persona from his early years and frankly I don't blame him, but I actually enjoy a lot of his films. Yeah, the Matrix is the Matrix but Johnny Mnemonic is a lot of fun too in an over-the-top kind of way, and for all the complaints die-hard comic fans had I really liked Constantine (yes, even Shiah Labeouf, who's cocky-teenager personality make more sense in the movie because he's playing a cocky-teenager).

Now if 47 Samurai could just get released already, because I'm honestly interested.

 

[Ken_J]

MOVIEBOB?

INTERESTED IN SOMETHING THAT ISN'T NINTENDO?

This is a sign of the end times.

Or, you know. Tuesday.

 

[Ken_J]

OT: Well I'll be damned. Just judging by the clips that were shown during the review that actually does look like...a pretty damn good "kung fu movie". That it's Keanu's debut as a director and looks/sounds that good is really surprising. That said, I never saw why Keanu always got so much hate. Sure, he's got that California surfer-dude voice that made him perfect for Bill & Ted but "less suited" for more serious roles, but I never thought his acting in The Matrix was as horrible as a lot of people tended to think it was.

Here's to hoping that Keanu turns out like Ben Affleck and becomes a surprisingly good director.

A lot of peoples problem with Keanu is that when trying to be serious he comes across as somewhat wooden or robotic. Also he has a habit of being the lower point in otherwise great movies.

 

[NinjaDC]

Fun fact, Keanu Reeves also produced the documentary Side By Side (on Netflix if curious) that covered the rise of digital cinema & the death of film(35mm variety).

Has allot of Hollywood celebrities chime in on the issue.

 

[EmilShmiengura]

wait ! He actually says "FINISH HIM!" ?! Can't wait to get my hands on this one!

 

[Steve the Pocket]

No matter how respectable of a fighting style it may be, whenever I hear about tai chi being used in combat, all I can think about is this old Arj Barker joke [http://arjandpoopy.com/ep4.html].

All I see with these two Bob is oogling over is film buffs who think they can do video games because they can do film. Not to say they can't do video games, but just assuming they'll be right for the job is going somewhat far.

Plus, the last time we heard about something like this (Steven Spielberg), nothing ever came of it.

 

[Elijah Newton]

I really liked Constantine (yes, even Shiah Labeouf, who's cocky-teenager personality make more sense in the movie because he's playing a cocky-teenager).

Labeouf was in that? Astonishing, I've completely blocked that out of my memory. FWIW, I have a number of compliants with the movie, but none of them are about Shia.


Regarding Noah, I have a really cheap shot which I've got to get out of my system. What possible explanation can they have for doing the title in brushed steel? ( http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/noah/ ) I mean, maybe - maaaaybe - it's supposed to be rain, seen through the letters? But it looks like steel to me.


Liked that today's review was for Man of Tai Chi - I was curious to hear how Keanu's directorial debut went and am pleased it wasn't a fiasco.

 

[Ancientgamer]

I really liked man of tai chi, it was way better than an underground kung fu tournament movie deserved to be

 

[Crimsonmonkeywar]

Plus, the last time we heard about something like this (Steven Spielberg), nothing ever came of it.

What?! He did Boom Blocks and MoH.

 

[drthmik]

Seriously, Movie Bob
try READING the bible before claiming you know what's in it 'cause over half that BULLSHIT you talked about being there...

isn't

 

[Paradoxrifts]

Seriously, Movie Bob
try READING the bible before claiming you know what's in it 'cause over half that BULLSHIT you talked about being there...

isn't

Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days?and also afterward?when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Numbers 13:33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.?

You might want to go and actually read the entire Bible from front to back before accusing other people of being ignorant of your own religion. And that's without even so much as dipping my toes in the truly weird waters of the Apocrypha.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Huh. I was expecting Bob to tear into Catching Fire today, but maybe that's next week. But this looks good, so I'm gonna look out for a theater near me playing it.
Also, if you want to read more about Reeves' off-screen awesomeness, look at this:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20413_5-heartwarming-stories-to-restore-your-faith-in-celebrities.html

 

[MB202]

So... wait, where did MovieBob that Megan Ellison and Spike Jonze wanted to be part of the video game biz? Because that sounds awesome!

 

[hermes]

...goes to google Megan Ellison and Spike Jonze... Why would I get excited? Got it, they are kind of big names in the movie business and one of them is an heir of a CEO fortune, but there is no reason for me to believe they are even competent at video games.

Remember when they announced Gaghan was hired to write a script for a game? Call of Duty: Ghost was the end result. How about the Wachowsky writing Enter the Matrix? That was a good one, right? The composer of Pi and Black Swan doing videogames music? Mass Effect 3. Modern Warfare 3 is the result of the writer of Crash and Million Dollar Baby wanting to get into video games, and the creative mind of Steven Spielberg gave us Boom Blox.

So, no thank you. Having talent on movies means absolutely nothing when talking about games, because of the same reason MovieBob mentioned in this week intermission. 90% of the people that try to make that jump thinks of movies like high art, and video games like odd jobs that can open them doors. Most of them don't understand the medium, don't really care about it and believe its simple.

Every time I hear someone wanting "to get into games", like it was so easy you would master it simply by applying (after all, how hard can it be once you have mastered movies? right?), I just know the end result will be forgettable, at best.

 

[Draconalis]

I googled them...


Why should I get excited?

I can only assume I'm missing something.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

NOAH!

What?

I WANT YOU TO BUILD....AN ARK!

Riiiiight. What's an ark?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Seriously, Movie Bob
try READING the bible before claiming you know what's in it 'cause over half that BULLSHIT you talked about being there...

isn't

uh, which version? Thing is there are a LOT of different versions of the Bible and the Nephilim aren't in SOME of them, but are in others. Those elements of the Bible tended to be edited out for PR reasons due to how weird they were.

Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that Reeves took a more Hong Kong bent. His most action-oriented role in Neo took cues from Asian cinema rather than Western sensibilities. Definitely not bad for a debut.

As for Jonze and Ellison, the latter would be amusing, but I have a feeling he's gonna take one look at stuff like Suda 51's catalog and realize that abstraction and weirdness is nothing new to the medium. As for Ellison, she's a producer so I don't really know what sort of games she'd latch onto.

 

[AdagioBoognish]

Keanu Reeves saying "Finish him!" in Mortal Kombat style? Okay.....

That's actually what sold the movie for me.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Seriously, Movie Bob
try READING the bible before claiming you know what's in it 'cause over half that BULLSHIT you talked about being there...

isn't

uh, which version? Thing is there are a LOT of different versions of the Bible and the Nephilim aren't in SOME of them, but are in others. Those elements of the Bible tended to be edited out for PR reasons due to how weird they were.

~SNIP~

And on top of that, some of the apocryphal texts are canon in different sects of the same base religion.

 

[K.ur]

Saw it, it is an surprisingly calm movie for one with martial art as focus.