Come Drink with Me, QT.

Reader Comments

1. J-Dogg 04/30/2007 @ 1:14pm

   Seriously, any martial arts fans who haven’t seen this, you are missing out not just on an important piece of martial arts cinematic history, but a seriously butt-kicking good time! Cheng Pei-pei is (arguably) the first female action film star, as she owns just about everyone who crosses her path while looking good to boot. King Hu’s cinematography and editing were light years ahead of the genre, and the choreography, while not as lightning-fast and intense as what we are used to nowadays, is both intricate and fluid. If you own a region-free DVD player (and really, what card-carrying fanboy or fangirl doesn’t?), hook up the Celestial pictures region 3 disc. It includes great extras, including a highly informative commentary track from Bey Logan, Cheng Pei-pei, and her daughter, up-and-comer Marsha Yuan! (And give yourself bonus geek points if you can spot a young Mars in one of the scenes in the inn.)

2. Caterpillar 04/30/2007 @ 2:25pm

   QT attaches himself to so many possible projects, I really can’t see this one happening. And I’m rather surprised that the Weinsteins wound go so far as to back this with a press release. Didn’t QT just lose them a whole lot of money with GRINDHOUSE? Somehow I can’t see some kung fu remake being a huge mainstream success and that’s exactly what he (and the Weinsteins) desperately need right now.

3. glenn 04/30/2007 @ 2:37pm

   So the Weinsteins—the same guys that kept Asian films on their shelf for 4 years (Legend of Zu and Shaolin Soccer) and 6 years (Tears of the Black Tiger)—OR who recut and redub them (any old Jet Li and Jackie Chan films)—are now remaking a bonafide classic?

   Seriously, enough!

   They have nothing but contempt for an actual Asian cinema classic like Come Drink with Me.

   This news is akin to Vin Diesel doing On the Waterfront.  I mean, really, couple this with Scorsese remaking (badly) Infernal Affairs, and I have almost no respect anymore for these Weinstein-affiliated pariahs.

   How about an original idea people?

   Tarantion, Mr. Shaw Brothers?  HA HA HA.  Until 2007 the only active promotion and lip-service he gave Shaw Brothers was rereleasing Mighty Peking Man and putting Gordon Liu into thankless parts in Kill Bill 1 and 2.

   The very idea that he would remake this tells me how little he cares about Shaw Brothers and their legacy.

   This is the same guy who wanted to make a kung fu film and have it be badly dubbed—like that’s some kind of tribute?

   He is Kung Pow! Enter the Fist masquerading as a fan.

   Real fans have seen through his act a long time ago.

   I remember people telling me years ago how much he ripped off City on Fire for Resevoir Dogs and I laughed it off.

   His track record post-Jackie Brown is laughable; the Weinsteins would have to rerelease 100 Shaw Brothers untampered with for me to even begin to think they’d changed their ways.

   The 3 of them are just shameless in ways that even Lucas is not shameless in.

   This is perhaps the worst idea since the Seven Samurai remake rumour.

4. anon 04/30/2007 @ 3:18pm

   this news makes me nauseous. seriously. i have been pissed off for 3 days. you can’t even get a copy of the original movie on dvd here. region 3 was the only way to see this.
   please, tarantino, just leave this alone and go make your ‘big red one’. oh, sorry, i mean ‘inglorious bastards.’

5. Steven Millan 05/01/2007 @ 12:58am

   We’re all still eagerly waiting for Quentin Tarntino to make those highly discussed,longly awaited projects of his that he endearingly promised several years ago,such as “The Man From U.N.C.L.E."(the movie),"The Vega Brothers”,that “Airport"-inspired feature,that new “Friday The 13th.” film,that American giallo film,the above mentioned Mandarian martial arts film(that’s dubbed into English),"Inglorious Bastards"(at three to four to six to eight hours[!!!!]),that “Cowgirls In Sweden” trailer(for “Grindhouse”,that ended up being not filmed),and so on....

6. Steven Millan 05/01/2007 @ 1:01am

   ....and(I almost forgot):"Kill The Bride("Kill Bill:Volume 3")".

7. X Fukasaku 05/01/2007 @ 8:05am

   Has the Weinstein’s only hit (since the new company) been Clerks 2? Like seriously, they’d be better off whoring Kevin Smith and possibly Robert Rodriguez (on his own without Quentin especially) than they will be whoring Tarantino. Scary Movie 4, I don’t think, didn’t do what they thought it would. Clerks 2 actually became a surprising hit for them and it seems like they haven’t put anything in theaters since, except for Grindhouse which we all know flopped because of Tarantino. Never heard bad shit about Rodriguez’s part, just Quentin’s.

8. ed 05/01/2007 @ 10:00pm

   quentin, why not take a page from king hu, and read up on some great american novel, visualize its mythic grandeur nobody else has ever done before, reference some famous american painterly style, and then come up with your own take on violence/spirituality/gender equation to influence all future generations of american filmmakers? wait, that takes too much time. just remake.

9. glenn 05/02/2007 @ 12:12pm

   ed, you are too true and too funny.

   Lucas was shameless in his Star Wars marketing and retinkering BUT he took about a hundred different things and made the first Star Wars in 1977 which was unique and original and it stood on its own.

   QT, on the other hand, has probably 2 nearly great films to his credit: Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, with Jackie being based on a novel.

   So that leaves one unique, original, fresh film: Pulp Fiction.

   As much as I liked Kill Bill 1, I never could enjoy it beyond being a kind of “Greatest Hits” tribute reel.  It works on that level.

   However, for me at least, it never came close to transcending what it was copying to be something fresh and original a la Star Wars or something.

   Everything else QT touches gives us fanboys a bad name—all the HK and genre fans I know are INFINITELY smarter and sharper than the QT/Harry Knowles-kind-of-stereotype of us.

   “Quentin, I get it.  I get your references.  I saw those flicks too and they rocked.  Now what?  What have *you* got to say as a filmmaker?”

10. Joe Sandrisky 05/23/2007 @ 9:30am

    Tarantino is a breath of fresh air in a barren motion picture landscape of prepackaged formulaic time-killers.

    Grindhouse flopped, yes, but I saw it and wow… what a great idea.  It was a fun and unique experience at the movies that night!  Zombies don’t only exist in Planet Terror.  The American movie-going public is filled with brain-washed droids content to watch the same movie (except with new actors and titles) over and over again.

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