Archive for June, 2008
He’s The ’sex’ In Sex And The City
SINGAPORE : If you’ve watched “Sex and the City The Movie” (SATC), then you’re probably very well-acquainted with Samantha’s gorgeous, sex-mad neighbour and his very big … muscles.
Housewife Ying Garman sure is. “I came out of the movie thinking: ‘Oh my, who is that man?’,” giggled the 31-year-old mother of two. “He’s so good-looking and has such a great body. If I were Samantha, I definitely wouldn’t say no.”
His name is Gilles Marini, a 32-year-old French model-actor and, no, there was no prosthetic appendage involved - he says its all real.
In the M18 film, Marini plays Dante, Samantha’s (Kim Cattrall) eye-candy neighbour who is constantly seen engaging in passionate love-making in practically every scene he is in. It all culminates in a very repressed Samantha chancing upon his wet, naked body - complete with a slow-motion full-frontal shot.
The man, who many say put the much needed sex in the unexpectedly sexless SATC, spoke exclusively to TODAY over the phone from Los Angeles. “Filming sex scenes can be very tricky but thank god for (the film’s director) Michael Patrick King who knew exactly how he wanted the scene to be. And so I let myself trust him 100 per cent,” said Marini, who had bit parts in television’s “Ugly Betty”, “Criminal Minds” and “Dirty Sexy Money” before his career-alterating SATC role.
“But at the first drop of the towel, I was like, ‘Oh, my god!’”
The former baker, who worked in his father’s Cannes bakery before moving to the United States a decade ago to model and learn English, insisted that having a great body is the closest thing he shares with his character.
“My friends who know me very well inside out can tell you that,” shared the married father of two children. “They were apparently quite shocked and didn’t even speak during the dinner after watching the movie!”
His wife, he told us, is proud of his breakout performance - even though he cheekily neglected to inform her of his character’s lack of wardrobe. “She told me: ‘I really didn’t see you in Dante’, and that made me very happy. It meant that I did a good job acting the character.”
And it’s this supportive wife who has to deal most with his sudden newfound sex-symbol fame, putting to test their 10-year marriage. “Yes, ten years in Hollywood is impressive but it was without any fame,” he said, thoughtfully. “We’ll see how it goes for the next ten years. The most important thing is to stay away from the crazy stuff.”
When asked if he’d been to our side of the world, Marini admitted he hadn’t. “Asian women are famously known to be beautiful and men all over the world all have something for them. Maybe that’s why I never have - my wife is too afraid to let me come over here alone,” he quipped.
Unfortunately for women everywhere, the man is surprisingly unwilling to capitalise on his new-found notoriety. “As much as it was fun to play the role and train like crazy to get and maintain the body, I think I am going to stay away from similar roles like Dante for the time being.
“It’s like Brad Pitt who first appeared in “Thelma and Louise”. People remembered him for his great body in the movie but look at all the other characters he did after that,” said Marini, who has a Greek mother and Italian father. “Hopefully I’ll be able announce my future plans in the next two weeks.”
Well, SATC’s whopping S$1.54-million payday at our local box-office seems to be a positive signal for Marini and his thespian ambitions - just as long as he keeps his shirt off. -
Channel News Asia
Spy Farce “Get Smart” Tops US, Canada Box Office
LOS ANGELES: “Get Smart,” a big-screen remake of a 1960’s television series about the misadventures of a bumbling US secret agent, topped North American box office sales this weekend, according to preliminary figures Sunday.
The Cold War era farce about Agent Maxwell Smart and his female sidekick Agent 99 earned some 39 million US dollars at the box office since Friday, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
For a second consecutive week, “Kung Fu Panda,” the animated adventures of a kindly panda forced to become a martial-arts master to save his jungle from leopard villains, took second place. The film had a weekend take of 21.7 million US dollars.
Third place went to “The Incredible Hulk,” last week’s box office champion, which earned 21.5 million US dollars for the weekend just ended.
“The Love Guru,” a gag-laden comedy starring Mike Myers as a bearded self-help Indian swami, claimed fourth place with 14 million US dollars in receipts.
Fifth place went to “The Happening,” the latest offering from acclaimed mystery-horror director M. Night Shyamalan, which grossed 10 million US dollars.
Next were “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” with 8.4 million US dollars for sixth place; The Adam Sandler comedy “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” which earned 7.2 million US dollars for seventh; and the big-screen version of television hit “Sex and the City,” with weekend takings of 6.4 million US dollars, for eighth place.
Rounding out the top ten were “Iron Man,” which earned four million US dollars, and fright flick “The Strangers,” with not quite two million US dollars in ticket sales. - AFP/ac
Channel News Asia
Shaolin Soccer It Most Certainly Isn’t
SINGAPORE : Here’s a fool-proof formula to film-making: All you have to do is combine some of the most lucrative properties of Asian cinema (also known as gongfu comedy), base your story on a hugely-successful smash hit of similar name (Shaolin Soccer, in this case), throw in some kawaii Japanese girls, and there you go - instant hit!
Unless your movie is Shaolin Girl.
Stephen Chow’s gongfu comedy Shaolin Soccer was an immense success back in 2001, but he famously resisted any direct sequels, choosing to join forces with Japanese producer Chihiro Kameyama (Bayside Shakedown) to make this Japanese spin-off instead.
The set-up is almost the same; the result, unfortunately, vastly different.
Like the original, the story revolves around cutesy Shaolin prodigy Rin, who gets to show off her skills when she joins the university lacrosse team.
Like all other martial arts flicks, the lone warrior with superpower abilities must learn to become a team player.
Thus, the film turns into a strange videogame-esque action film in which our misunderstood heroine must fight through a pagoda of henchmen to save her friend (CJ7’s Kitty Zhang) from the evil university president, whose main hobby seems to be working out topless.
Yes, it is all true, we kid you not.
The film starts off with a couple of easy first laughs at the fun, almost cartoony visuals of super-sonic speeding balls that glow with fire, and the male audience will be satiated by scenes of uniform-clad girls acting all adorable in typical Japanese fashion.
However, not even the inclusion of two of the Shaolin brothers from the original can hide the fact that this convoluted groan-inducing film lacks the punch, or the focus, to do any justice to its Chinese predecessor. -
Channel News Asia