Volleyball Fu flicks

[GeneChing]

Beach Spike

Shaolin Soccer (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46486)? Kung Fu Dunk (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49939)? Now beach volleyball? Well, no.

This really has little to do with martial arts beyond that it's produced by Bey Logan and features Philip Ng. I just couldn't resist posting it because it's so post-Beijing Olympics (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39275) and trailer 3 reminded me of those women-in-bikini-shooting-full-auto-guns videos. Actually, that's the only one to watch. I posted the others just to be complete.

Beach Spike Trailer 2011 (熱浪球愛戰) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ov7Spt8XuY&feature=related)
熱浪球愛戰 (2011) Trailer 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOZnFUm8lf0&feature=related)
热浪球爱战 (2011) Trailer 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4xwzZNpxx0&feature=player_embedded)

[TaichiMantis]

Ahhh great memories... I spent much of the 80's playing the beach volleyball circuit up and down the Lake MI coast. Won the Ottawa Beach open once and got my butt kicked by Patti Dodd and Jacqui Silva (brazilian olympic gold medalist).:cool:

[BakShaolinEC]

i just googled the trailer for this. :eek:

[GeneChing]

It was 'Beach Spike', but I just changed it to 'Volleyball Fu flicks' in the twisted hopes that Volleyball Fu becomes a sub-genre of Chinese film. It could happen. Look, here's another, and it stars Wu Jing no less.

開心魔法 (全新原裝預告) Magic To Win (New Original Trailer) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=u_EjirvoqBE)
Magic to Win (开心魔法) - Teaser Trailer 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz6ixRL90Ug) (worth it for the subtitles)


Magic to Win 開心魔法 (http://www.filmbiz.asia/reviews/magic-to-win)
Hong Kong/China
Contemporary fantasy
2011, colour, 2.35:1, 100 mins
Directed by Wilson Yip (葉偉信)
By Derek Elley
Mon, 26 December 2011, 20:00 PM (HKT)

http://www.filmbiz.asia/media/BAhbB1sHOgZmSSItMjAxMS8xMi8yNi8wMy81OS81OC8zMzUvbW FnaWNfdG9fd2luLmpwZwY6BkVUWwg6BnA6CnRodW1iSSINNTAw eDEwMDAGOwZU?suffix=.jpg&sha=20e157e2
Lame college fantasy involving a girls' volleyball team and battling "magicians". Asian events.
Story

Hong Kong, the present day. At Pegasus University, Ching Mei-si (Karena Ng) is the leader of the hopeless girls' volleyball team. After being trounced in a match against Dong Shan University, college head Ko warns trainer Lau (Yan Ni), who is up for the job of deputy head, that the girls must not lose again. Meanwhile, a Fire Magician called Bi Yewu (Wu Jing) is attempting to harness the powers of the four other elements for his own purposes, and first celestially imprisons Wood Magician Ku San-yut (Louis Koo), an alcoholic novelist, followed by Ling Fung (Wu Chun), a young Earth Magician. When Macy accidentally bumps into college professor Hong (Raymond Wong), who is also a Water Magician, she inherits his magical powers and leads her team to victory in a subsequent match against Dong Shan. She is also the only one who can still see Ling Fung, who's been rendered invisible. Meanwhile, Bi Yewu continues his quest for the power of the other two elements, water and metal.

Review

Trailed as a re-tread of the Happy Ghost 開心鬼 (1984) series that Hong Kong comedian Raymond WONG 黃百鳴 produced and starred in during 1984-91, Magic to Win 開心魔法 actually has little in common with them, apart from its school setting, the mixture of the everyday and supernatural (but here magician-sorcerors, not ghosts) and one sequence in which an invisible magician keeps sabotaging a fat athlete's attempts to win. Lazily directed by Wilson YIP 葉偉信 (Ip Man 葉問 (2008), A Chinese Ghost Story 倩女幽魂) as if he was chained to the camera and had better things to do with his weekend, it's a lame shot at a youth comedy attempting to appeal to both the China and Hong Kong markets with its mixed cast, and seems a strangely local title for China Lion Film Distribution Inc to push into international distribution.

The five Happy Ghost films, very much of their time and very Hong Kong in their humour, were mostly notable for launching Clifton KO 高志森's career as a hit comedy director — with him directing three and Johnnie TO 杜琪峰 one of the remainder — as well as introducing a series of scantily clad cuties (like Loletta LEE 李麗珍 and Fennie YUEN 袁潔瑩) in each movie. On the cutie side, Magic to Win has a bevy of young models/starlets in supporting roles, girl group i Me as their foxier sports opponents, and 17-year-old newcomer Karena NG 吳千語 as the female lead who gets caught up in a battle between magicians representing the Five Elements.

Anchoring the movie between the girls' teasy volleyball matches, there's Louis KOO 古天樂 coasting in a guest role as an alcoholic magician-cum-novelist, Mainland martial artist WU Jing 吳京 okay as a low-key villain, his compatriot YAN Ni 閆妮 clocking in as the girls' trainer, Brunei-born Taiwanese boybander WU Chun 吳尊 looking lost as the putative romantic lead, and Wong himself in a weird wig and glasses as a professor-cum-magician. With no comic rhythm to the direction, Magic strolls episodically along, with one after another sequence of power-palming and a so-what final plot revelation. Ng shows some signs of a distinctive personality that could lead to a career. For the rest, it's a wonder anyone thought the film was worth making.

[GeneChing]

The Iron Ladies Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1RrfImNslT4)


Iron Ladies (http://www.sportsinmovies.com/movie.asp?mov=453)
Rating: NR Length: 104 mins. Year: 2000
Cast: Jesdaporn Pholdee, Sahaphap Tor and Ekachai Buranapanit

Please note: This is a gay and lesbian film.

Based on a true story, the 2000 film, Iron Ladies is a feel-good story about a volleyball team which consists of transvestites, transsexuals and gay men.

Set in Thailand in the late 1990s, Iron Ladies, despite the "less-than-standard" subject matter, is relatively straight-forward in its' approach, with a minimum of hackneyed cliches and stereotypes, although it does utilize the unorthodox scenario at times for humorous effect.

Iron Ladies' volleyball scenes leave much to be desired, with the ending especially obviously contrived for maximum drama and impact. Still, the film is generally entertaining, if predictable. The attitude displayed towards alternative lifestyles in Thailand is striking when compared to Western productions.

Iron Ladies was a sensation in Thailand, winding up as the second-biggest box office film in Thai history.


Iron Ladies 2 (http://www.sportsinmovies.com/movie.asp?mov=455)
Rating: NR Length: 100 mins. Year: 2003
Cast: Sujira Arunpipat, Kokkorn Benjathikoon and Anucha Chatkaew

Please note: This is a gay and lesbian film.

The sequel to the 2000 film, Iron Ladies, Iron Ladies 2, continues the saga of the male Thai volleyball team which is made up of gays, transvestites and transsexuals. Unlike the original, Iron Ladies 2 frequently and inexplicably goes "over the top" with its' depiction of the (to say the least) unusual assemblage of athletes.

The original had moments of humanity and dealing with differences, but the producers apparently decided that utilizing more "shock factor" was the way to go in the follow-up. Not surprisingly, this approach only makes what could have been decent entertainment into a farce.

The tried-and-true "we are family" storyline quite often succeeds in these type of films; unfortunately the undisciplined performances and narcissistic stereotypes in Iron Ladies 2 isn't one of those success stories.

Thai film...:rolleyes:

[Hebrew Hammer]

I'm so glad you did Gene! I love me some Pandora's box....oh uh I was expecting some hot ***** action...scratch that so to speak.

[GeneChing]

I hyperlinked the bikini gallery, but it's disappointingly tame.

HK bikini babe to star in beach volleyball film (http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/hk-bikini-babe-star-beach-volleyball-drama-094737158.html)
By debchoo | Singapore Showbiz – Thu, Feb 2, 2012 5:47 PM SGT

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/276KZab2vIlpYdrGb9c2nQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-SG/blogs/singaporeshowbiz/chrissie.jpg
(Photo Courtesy of SPRG)Chrissie Chau, Hong Kong's "Million Dollar Babe" stars in upcoming beach volleyball drama, Beach Spikes.

Chrissie Chau, one of Hong Kong's most famous pseudo-models, is set to star in the upcoming film Beach Spikes.

Also touted by the media as "Million Dollar Babe", the 26-year old model-turned-actress is infamous for her TV commercial advertisement for Slim Beauty which saw her stripping down to her skimpy bikini walking on the streets of Hong Kong. She first made her name after clinching the 1st runner-up title as the 2002 Comics Festival 'Game Girl'.

Beach Spike stars Theresa Fu, veteran actor Lo Mang and Jessica C, and will air starting this Sunday on Starhub Cable TV.

In this film, Chrissie plays a waitress Sharon at a local restaurant owned by their Kung Fu Master, Uncle Tao (Lo Mang). Set on Paradise Cove, the land is owned by the wealthy Bu family who plans to change the beach to a playground to get rid of the youths at the beach.

The Bu daughters challenge Sharon and Rachel (Theresa Fu), a fellow waitress, to compete in the upcoming All Hong Kong Women's Volleyball tournament. If they win, the Bu family will revise their plans for the beach. Sharon and Rachel underwent Kung Fu training with Uncle Tao on skills that can be applied to volleyball.

[SEE SLIDESHOW: Chrissie Chau's bikini shots (http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/photos/hk-s-model-actress-chrissie-chau-in-new-movie-1328174446-slideshow/)]

Having little prior experience in volleyball, Chrissie spent three months before the shoot training daily while juggling her night shoot on another production. She describes the overall filming experience as enjoyable with the crew.

"We were shooting on one of Hong Kong's most beautiful beaches and so it felt great. Learning volleyball was like returning back to my secondary school days. I think because of the exercise, everyone's stamina and body reflexes during that time were better too," she told reporters.

When queried on working with her co-star Lam Chung Him, Chrissie gave a refreshingly candid answer. "I've worked with him before and initially my first impression was that he's a little funny," she laughed, quickly adding that "After getting to know him better, I realised that he's quite a thoughtful and spirited person."

A secret that most ladies are dying to know perhaps will be how she maintains her slim figure despite her busy schedule. Chrissie attributes that to a careful diet comprising lighter foods and exercising whenever she has the time. Her favourite exercise, she said, is jogging. She switches her exercises from time to time; she also loves to swim in summer and ski in winter.

Most recently, Chrissie launched her own lingerie line called ShowNa Collection (秀娜系列).

In collaboration with lingerie brand La Miu which she used to model for, the series launched online two days ago mainly targets teenage girls in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore, Chrissie gushed excitedly about the launch of her new collection. "I am really happy about this venture because I've always wanted to do business."

Chrissie had worked with La Miu's in-house designers to produce her own lingerie series. "I know what girls want in an intimate wear because it's something we wear daily. To me, the design is still secondary. What are of utmost importance to me remain the two aspects of comfort and functionality," she said.

When this reporter asked if she has plans to cater to the Singapore market in the near future if the business takes off, she laughed. "I have low expectations at the moment since it's my first entrepreneurship venture. But if the business takes off, then of course it's worth expanding — and not just to Singapore but also to other countries," Chrissie said.

Gorgeous, ambitious and humble. It comes as no surprise that Chrissie Chau quickly captured the hearts of the public. But not everyone is an enthusiastic fan.

The topic of pseudo models remains a topic of controversy. Otherwise known in Cantonese as 'lang mo' which means young and immature, they are a new breed of models that in recent years rose to prominence in Hong Kong via the unconventional way of playing hostess to shows and exhibitions, particularly those promoting video games and electronic products. The most notable criticism came from veteran Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong has openly criticised and ridiculed such models, in particular Chrissie, calling them "brainless" and "bimbos".

Of course, it is her full 34D assets that first won her the title of a sex symbol. But the Guangzhou-born actress let on none of this during the phone interview. Keeping her poise, Chrissie readily fielded questions from local reporters throughout.

With her talent for modeling and acting, coupled with her knack for business, will she eventually leave the movie scene?

"For now, acting remains my primary focus," Chrissie quickly clarified. "It's something I love doing and I've only been in the movie industry for two years. I still have a lot of roles I want to try."

Beach Spike premiers 5 February, 9p.m. on Starhub's Cable TV Channel 868's Celestial Movies.