Hollywood International Filmmaker Magazine 2021-Winter

LEGEND OF CINEMA: ANGELINA JOLIE

Eternally AWESOME

MESMERIZING MOVIE STAR ANGELINA JOLIE CAN TRULY BE CALLED ONE OF THE GREATS.

As her latest blockbuster film, Eternals, blasts onto the screen, it’s worth reflecting on the huge impact she’s had on Hollywood.

Rising to fame with her Oscar winning role in Girl, Interrupted, Angelina went on to star as Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider franchise then scored more action hits with Mr & Mrs Smith, Wanted and Salt.

Mixed in with that were acclaimed dramas like Changeling, A Mighty Heart and The Good Shepherd before scoring her biggest hit with the title role in family film Maleficent.

Along the way she made time for humanitarian charity projects, including becoming a United Nations special envoy for refugees.

Often described as the most beautiful actress in movies, her private life has been tabloid fodder, especially her three broken marriages to Jonny Lee Miller, Billy Bob Thornton and Brad Pitt and being a mother to six children, three of whom were adopted from around the world.

A second-generation star, she’s the daughter of Oscar winning actor Jon Voight and actressproducer Marcheline Bertrand and one of the most admired women in the world.

New marvel film Eternals – in which she leads a race of immortal beings - will only add to the Angelina legend.

TRIBUTE TO A GREATLY MISSED MOVIEMAKER

All of us at Hollywood International Filmmaker were saddened by news of the recent passing of acclaimed Chinese moviemaker Quiankuan Li, who has previously featured on the cover of this magazine.

A director who filled his films with memorable images, he brought so much emotion, power and national pride to his work.

He was an important figure in the industry, becoming Honorary Chairman of the China Film Association, honorary art director of Fairfax Entertainment Group, and had a wonderful marriage to Guiyun Xiao, who was co-director on many of his movies.

Li leaves an incredible legacy with his many great films, including The Star and the Sea and The Birth of New China.

HOLLYWOODINTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER

好莱坞国际电影人

I CRIED HEARTILY FOR THE LOSS OF SUCH A GOOD A GOOD MAN AND MENTOR, WHO WAS LIKE AN ELDER BROTHER TO ME. I HOPE YOU WILL DO EVEN MORE BRILLIANT FILM WORK IN PARADISE!

I first got to know you many years ago through our mutual dear friend, Mr. Yang Buting. I already knew of your brilliant deeds from him and the media. You were a senior figure in the film industry and as a newcomer to that industry, I would look up at you in awe.

We met when you and your wonderful wife, Director Xiao Guiyun, came to the United States for the first time and as the two of you shared anecdotes from your careers with me, your magnanimity, kindness and wit shone through.

That day, we went to an antique flea market in Los Angeles to look for interesting pieces and you were constantly bargaining with street vendors with humor and jokes, just like a young old urchin. Immediately you felt like my naughty brother. We laughed all the way, forgetting our worries.

I Miss You, My Beloved Brother

In memory of Master Li Qiankuan, You were…

A great person who never lost his principles, A powerful man who retained his sense of humor and innovation, A talented person who didn’t stick to the trivial.

To your country you were selfless, fearless, outspoken, and open, To friends you were so sincere

In film you were always seeking truth, equality and improvement and never compromised your art.

The glory of your life will always linger in our hearts

Each time when we met again over the years, our friendship deepened. I remember one the way to the NAB show in Las Vegas, we stopped on the way at the historic gold rush town of Calico where we imagined the fascinating and tragic history of the place and you kept drawing sketches of potential scenes saying one day you would like to make an epic movie about a Chinese gold digger in the western United States.

I also remember well how at the invitation of you and Brother Yang, I participated in the 2019 Houston International Film Festival and we discussed how Chinese films can go abroad and let the world understand China, our culture, past, present and future and I said the promotion of Chinese films requires the support and understanding of the state. You immediately stated that on returning to China you would propose to the relevant authority the specific issues of our international promotion of Chinese films. I’ll never forget how you gave me a great deal of recognition and appreciation for my own efforts in the international promotion of Chinese films.

I had long hoped to visit you and Director Xioa in Beijing after the pandemic but then on the morning of August 12, 2021, the bad news came. Brother Yang and I both cried down the phone as we discussed this unthinkable loss with each other.

A good person is gone but your talent remains in the world. I miss you so much.

Your little brother Jimmy Jiang, kowtow!

Our publisher Jimmy Jiang, a friend and frequent colleague of the late, great director has written the following tribute to Quiankuan Li.

QIANKUAN LI & GUIYUN XIAO China's Filmmaking Couple

CHINA V. HOLLYWOOD WHO'S THE BEST JAMES BOND? DISNEY THEME PARK EXPANSION

GODDESSES OF THE GALAXY TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGHS

TOP TEN CHRISTMAS MOVIES 3

Hi FEX

WHERE NO OLD MAN HAS GONE BEFORE

Star Trek icon William Shatner has blasted into the record books as the oldest person ever to go into space. The 90-year-old Captain Kirk star made the out of this world achievement as part of the latest Blue Origin crew.

“This experience is something unbelievable,” he said on his return to Earth. “It was so moving to me. I’m so filled with emotion, it’s extraordinary.”

MISSION POSSIBLE FOR CRUISE’S RUSSIAN RIVALS

It’s never the safest plan to announce your movie ideas far in advance – as Tom Cruise recently found out.

Eighteen months after the Mission Impossible star announced he would film the first movie in space, a Russian crew beat him to it.

Scenes for their upcoming film The Challenge – about a cosmonaut needing medical attention - were shot aboard the International Space Station.

JOHN WOO IS BACK

Legendary action director John Woo is getting back behind the camera for Silent Night, a hotly-anticipated action epic suited to his spectacular visual style.

The movie will star Joel Kinnaman as a grieving father avenging his son’s murder and the actor is excited to be working with the filmmaking maestro, saying: “He’s the godfather of the action genre.”

Woo became a major figure in Hong Kong cinema making stylish action films like Hard Boiled and The Killer before taking his talents to Hollywood to helm hits such as Face/Off, Broken Arrow and Mission: Impossible 2.

In recent years he has been back in China making more personal projects but the emotional story of Silent Night drew him back to Hollywood.

“This is the best script I ever had in my life,” he said. “It’s about an ordinary person finding the courage to go up against the biggest crime organization. If you love my old movies, you’ll love this one.”

Sandro Monetti

Movie Market

At the world’s most glamorous and significant movie market, the recent Cannes Film Festival, a batch of exciting new films were unveiled to international buyers.

HERE’S A LOOK AT THE TOP TITLES FROM HITMAKING FILM COMPANIES CAPSTONE AND MILLENNIUM.

CAPSTONE PICTURES

UNHAPPY FAMILIES

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke will be behind the camera on Capstone’s star-studded new family drama, Prisoner’s Daughter.

Brian Cox (Succession) plays a tough ex-con trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter only for his violent past to catch up with him.

Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) portrays the title character who is reluctant to let him back into her life.

“I’m excited to see Brian Cox bring his layers of toughness, vulnerability and warmth to this broken man. Who has one last chance to reconnect with his family,” said Hardwicke. “I want to fully immerse the viewer in Kate’s character’s intense world as they try to find a new way forward.”

THE ESCAPIST

LOGLINE: In Rikers Island prison, former safecracker and notorious heist man, Frank Perry, is nearing his release thanks to his lawyer and close friend, Kayla.

CAST: Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”, Spotlight, Salt, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Manchurian Candidate).

HAIR OF THE DOG

LOGLINE: An executive caught up in a blackmail plot discovers he's just a pawn in a larger, darker scheme.

CAST: Gerard Butler (London has Fallen, Geostorm) in the role of “CALVIN and MR. P”.

SPINNING GOLD

LOGLINE: A biopic of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart, co-founder of Casablanca Records, whose acts included KISS, Donna Summer, George Clinton & Parliament, and The Village People.

CAST: Jeremy Jordan (”Supergirl,” “Smash”), Jason Isaacs (Fury, Green Zone, Harry Potter saga), Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible saga, Due Date, Source Code).

BOY GEORGE BIOPIC

After the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, the next music biopic hoping to hit it big at the box office is Karma Chameleon.

It’s the life story of flamboyant Culture Club frontman Boy George, who laughs: “I just hope they get someone extremely handsome and skinny to play me.”

While no casting has yet been announce, the film is being written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, who is no stranger to true life stories having previously made the films Hitchcock and My Dinner With Herve.

Set to start shooting early in 2022, it’s one of several exciting new projects from Millennium Media, including these on the facing page.

MILLENNIUM MEDIA

After pausing their acclaimed live events for 18 months and going all digital during the pandemic, BAFTA have resumed in-person screenings for vaccinated members.

Pre-release private showings of Dune on the Warner Bros studio lot and No Time to Die at the Directors Guild of America were among the comeback treats.

George Clooney was one of the first live Q&A guests of the new era, discussing his latest directorial project, The Tender Bar, at LA’s Pacific Design Center.

With awards season on the horizon, hopefully it won’t be too long before the famous and star-studded BAFTA parties are also back.

There’s also a new look to the US side of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as BAFTA LA and BAFTA New York have now merged into one entity, BAFTA North America.

THE STARS COME OUT THIS AWARDS SEASON

Hollywood awards season is underway with screenings of the year’s best movies all hoping to catch the eyes and hearts of voters.

As a BAFTA Academy Circle member, I have been lucky enough to attend private screenings of many of the BAFTA contenders - but one film stands out for me as the best of the lot.

Don’t Look Up – a star studded black comedy which is educational as it is entertaining as well as being hugely funny - deserves to reverse the long trend of comedy films being overlooked for the top prizes.

Meryl Streep plays an unhinged President of the United States who ignores the warnings of scientists played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence about a destructive comet hurtling towards the Earth. All three took part in a Q&A at a BAFTA screening of the film in Los Angeles.

Another talented trio did the same at the British Academy’s L.A. screening of House of Gucci, which is also featuring in the awards conversation.

Lady Gaga was joined by Al Pacino and Jared Leto to discuss the movie in which they play members of the iconic fashion family battling for greater control of the business.

– Jimmy Jiang

IT’S BACK! THE GOLDEN FILM AWARDS (GFA) CEREMONY IS RETURNING AS A LIVE EVENT.

GOLDEN MOMENTS RETURN

Last year’s celebration of international movies went virtual due to the pandemic but now an in-person comeback is set for December 18 2021 in Los Angeles. Online screenings of the competing films will take place at flixge.com in the week following the ceremony. Once again, hundreds of entries from around the world have been drawn to the event which builds bridges and celebrates cinematic excellence on a global scale.

WHERE STYLE IS ALWAYS IN FASHION

NOW A HIGHLIGHT OF THE HOLLYWOOD EVENTS CALENDAR, THE ANNUAL IFSM FASHION GALA SERVES TO LAUNCH TOP NEW MODELS ONTO THE SCENE.

With catwalk contests in various categories, including one for kids, the December gathering is always a super showcase for emerging talent.

But it also shows off the latest creations of the international textile industry and serves to connect the fashion community of America with that of the Asia Pacific region.

After 14 years, the International Fashion Super Model event is now firmly established

Raiders of the Los Ark –hailed as “the Rolls Royce of adventure films – just turned 40-years-old. The movie which introduced the world to Indiana Jones still holds up today as fantastic entertainment. But Raiders might have looked very different as these behind the scenes snippets reveal…

• The lead character was originally called Indiana Smith at the suggestion of producer George Lucas but director Steven Spielberg insisted Indiana Jones sounded better.

• The original choice for that part was Tom Selleck but when he couldn’t get time off from his contract with TV series Magnum PI to film the movie, the role went instead to Harrison Ford.

• Similarly, Danny DeVito was unable to break his TV contract for the sitcom Taxi, so the role of Egyptian fixer Sallah went to John Rhys Davies.

• Harrison Ford nearly didn’t make it to the end of filming in one piece as his decision to do several of his own stunts proved hazardous to the star’s health. He bruised several ribs when being dragged behind the speeding truck and tore a ligament in his leg when the runaway plane ran over his left knee.

• The movie was nearly banned from most cinemas and slapped with an X certificate when censors saw the scene of melting faces near the end. A reedit in which a flames covered most of the nastier

th

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

A fifth Indiana Jones film is now in production – but recreating the magic of that first one will be a nearly impossible task.

SELL-OUT CROWDS

FLOCK

THEME PARK

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HAS OPENED ITS LARGEST THEME PARK IN THE WORLD IN BEIJING - AT A COST OF $3.3 BILLION.

But it’s already looking like money well spent following a hugely successful start.

All 10,000 available tickets for the first day in September sold out in just three minutes and admission numbers have remained high ever since.

Universal Studios Beijing features primarily Universal owned movies and TV shows but also licensed properties from other companies.

It has sections devoted to Kung Fu Panda, Transformers, Jurassic World and Harry Potter, all hugely popular franchises in China.

Almost 20 years in the planning, the theme park covers 130 acres of land on the Chinese capital’s eastern outskirts.

A joint partnership between Universal and stateowned Beijing Tourism Group, the attraction is Beijing’s first foreign branded amusement park.

But it’s not all Hollywood – one third of the attractions are themed around Chinese culture.

It has sections devoted to Kung Fu Panda, Transformers, Jurassic World and Harry Potter, all hugely popular franchises in China.”

DRIVING LICENSE TO THRILL

An action-packed ending to Daniel Craig’s five film run as James Bond was guaranteed thanks to the spectacular hi-tech vehicles used in No Time To Die.

First he gets behind the wheel of an upgraded version of 007’s classic 1962 Aston Martin DB5, escaping enemies in Italy thanks to its machine guns hidden in the headlights. The stylish sportscar also boasts bulletproof glass and smoke and oil dispensers.

Later he meets his successor at MI6, Nomi, who is driving the most modern Aston Martin, a DBS Superleggera, which speeds them off to an adventure together.

The two spies then break into villain Safin’s island lair undetected by flying an outlandish looking stealth plane, a folding glider which seems set to crash into the water only to glide beneath the surface and transform into a submarine.

Throughout the long history of the franchise, you can always bet on the Bond films to showcase the latest technology – especially in amazing vehicles.

This latest 007 film, which became the biggest international box office hit film of the pandemic era, honors the spy saga’s glorious past with these eyepopping creations.

MOVIE SET TRAGEDY PROMPTS SAFETY DEMANDS

CALLS FOR BETTER REGULATIONS ON FILM SET SAFETY HAVE REACHED FEVER PITCH SINCE THE DEATH OF A CINEMATOGRAPHER SHOT WITH A PROP GUN BY

MOVIE STAR ALEC BALDWIN.

The tragic shooting of Halyna Hutchins during the filming of western Rust served to highlight just how often cast and crew members are exposed to dangerous situations.

So too did an Associated Press investigation which revealed that at least 43 people have died in workplace accidents on American sets and 37 on international productions during approximately the last two decades.

Now the industry is seeking policies to redress the alarming safety violations occurring far too often.

Legislation banning live ammunition and real firearms from sets in California is already underway but it’s not just guns that pose safety risks.

Stuntwoman Joi “SJ” Harris died of head trauma while filming a motorcycle stunt in Deadpool 2 – an incident which saw the production company heavily fined after an investigation found they had failed to ensure the safety of Harris and others.

Stunt performer and actress Laura O’Donnell (pictured), whose many credits include Jason Bourne, said: “These tragedies on Rust and Deadpool 2 demonstrate the need for more stringent safety checks. Going forward, a quick once over can never be enough – we need everything double and triple checked.”

Truly International

HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER

MAGAZINE IS READ ALL OVER THE WORLD – AS THESE FUN PICTURES FROM OUR READERS SHOW.

Whether it’s in Moscow, at Red Square or Swan Lake, or in England under iconic Blackpool Tower, the mag makes essential reading.

Wherever you are in the world, please send us your pictures enjoying the latest issue there. Just email magazine.hifex@gmail.com and maybe we’ll print your picture too.

TINSEL TIME!

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN WHEN SCREENS ARE FULL OF FESTIVE MOVIE OFFERINGS IN WHICH FILMMAKERS TRY TO CAPTURE THAT MAGICAL MIX OF HOLIDAY SPIRIT AND HEARTWARMING ENTERTAINMENT.

One of the more fun entries in the 2021 seasonal battle for viewers is Netflix family comedy Father Christmas Is Back.

That’s largely thanks to a terrific performance from rising star Nathalie Cox as wonderfully-named control freak Caroline Christmas-Hope, who has been planning the perfect Christmas gathering for six months.

But the best laid plans turn to chaos with the arrival of her dysfunctional family including Elizabeth Hurley as snobby sister Joanna and Kelsey Grammer as her deadbeat dad, James Christmas. With the likes of John Cleese and Kris Marshall lending comedy support too, there’s plenty of laughs.

Another Christmas film worth seeking out is Hallmark’s seasonal time-travel tale which reunites two stars of Back to the Future.

Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson star in Next Stop Christmas about a train that travels into the past.

It’s both sentimental and comforting to see that duo back together and while the storyline about going back in time to save a couple’s marriage may sound familiar the movie has enough charm and original elements to put it high on your Christmas list.

WHERETHERE’S A

Will Smith has enjoyed the kind of career most performers can only dream about. A pop star, a TV star and ultimately a major movie star with a mix of blockbuster hits and acclaimed roles on his resume.

Now he is in the awards conversation for a career best performance in King Richard, as the driven and dedicated dad of tennis aces Venus and Serena Williams. But as the nostalgic pictures on these pages show, Will has been serving up winners for years.