Back in the 90s there was a persistent (and very silly) rumor that Jet Li secretly had a ton of triad tattoos on his arms and chest, which is why he never took off his shirt on camera. Dumb, yes, but stuff like that made the Hong Kong movie biz seem so much more dangerous than ours. Now Jackie Chan has done his part by claiming in an interview with a Chinese publication that he once carried a huge arsenal for protection from organized criminals.
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Jackie Chan is back for one last hurrah in Chinese Zodiac, an action adventure starring the martial arts legend in a story about saving ancient Chinese artifacts and stuff. More importantly, Chinese Zodiac (AKA CZ12) is what future audiences will come to know as "The Jackie Chan Roller Blade Suit Movie" thanks to scenes like those in the film's teaser in which the 58-year-old hurtles headfirst down highways and through glass windows and zooms through high speed chases with motorcycles and men with guns while wearing a suit outfitted with roller blade wheels. It looks like Jackie Chan mutated with a seal and a Wheeler from Return to Oz. In other words: WATCH THIS TEASER NOW.
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With September's box office duelers on their way out, it's time we clear space for two new contenders to duke it out for the moviegoing public's vote. But try as he might, does George Clooney have what it takes to unseat Hugh Jackman's crowd-pleasing sci-fi actioner, the probable weekend victor? He does have Ryan Gosling on his ticket. Not too shabby. Onward, to the polls! It's your Weekend Forecast.
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1911 may be filled with lavish battle sequences and scenes involving masses of extras in picture perfect period garb, but the most breathtaking thing about Jackie Chan's 100th film is how indifferent it is to international audiences. The Chinese blockbuster hasn't needed or necessarily even sought out multinational success of late -- if homegrown hits from the last few years like earthquake disaster drama Aftershock and romantic comedy If You Are The One and its sequel (all three of which happen to share the same director, Feng Xiaogang) don't sound familiar, that's because they've gotten nominal American releases or none at all. For U.S. markets, foreign still equals arthouse, and films that fall outside of that equation often confound studios and audiences who aren't sure which niche subtitled mainstream fare should fall into.
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Who wants to be saved by one-time bodybuilding champ, action star, and former state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? (Not the people of California, amirite?) EW breaks the news that Ahnold is jumping back into showbiz with the help of Stan Lee, who will help him launch a TV cartoon and comic book called The Governator. Yes, seriously. But wait, there's more!
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It's a good week to be an animation fan, what with Rango garnering rave reviews and a new trailer for the Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots hitting the web. (Unless, like me, you caught the Puss in Boots teaser in theaters at midnight in front of the aptly-named Beastly. Not a smart life choice, in retrospect.) But what mystical, family-friendly, Eastern-influenced laughs await us in the new trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2?
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