DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 165

“I had very little knowledge of Charlie Chan, because I didn’t even know itwas on television. I just thought it was a movie. It was actually a seriesthat was on television, and I started reading about it and realized that itwas based on this real person, Chong Apana, this detective in Hawaii, and hewas a complete badass.”

“First of all, he didn’t look anything like the Charlie Chan theyrepresented, and he actually was Asian. Secondly, he was incredibly sinewy.At the time, there was a lot of opium trading, which is obviously illegal,and he was the only person who was allowed to carry a whip on the force,like a real whip. He retired and a year later, he died.”

“This is somebody whose entire life is his work, but he was just like abadass! But he was represented differently, like he spoke with fortunecookie like language, and was very affable and friendly, and it was just avery different way of doing it. I like having the idea of the history behindit and also knowing where it went. Because for the entertainment, I thinkthey felt that it had to be represented in a certain way.”

FARCE OF THE PENGUINS’HINKFilm’ has set a late-summer release for Farce Of The Penguins, a parodyof the successful documentary March Of The Penguins – to be narrated bySamuel L. Jackson.

The spoof will depict penguin survival and mating rituals against the storyof one bird’s search for love while on a 70-mile trek with hedonisticbuddies obsessed with getting laid.

Bob Saget will voice the lovestruck penguin protag, with Lewis Black,Mo’Nique and Tracy Morgan as the other leads. Supporting penguins will bevoiced by Jason Alexander, James Belushi, Jason Biggs, Dane Cook, HarveyFierstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Norm Macdonald, CarlosMencia, Alyson Hannigan, Jamie Kennedy, Jon Lovitz, Adam Duritz, John Stamosand Dave Coulier, among others.

WATCHMENWell, despite Alan Moore distancing himself from the adaptation, V ForVendetta appears to be the first Moore-penned movie adaptation that hasn’tbeen a crushing disappointment. Still not perfect, but it kept the spiritand visuals pretty intact. So, how about a decent Watchmen adaptation -finally?

‘Aint’t It Cool News’ recently revealed that Zack Snyder (Dawn Of The Dead)has thrown his name into the arena with the studio, which could be takenseriously if his upcoming adaptation of another comic-book property, FrankMiller’s 300, goes well.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. The Inside Man ($29.0m)
• 2. V for Vendetta ($12.3m)
• 3. Stay Alive ($10.7m)
• 4. Failure To Launch ($10.5m)
• 5. The Shaggy Dog ($9.04m)
• 6. She’s the Man ($7.3m)
• 7. Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector ($6.92m)
• 8. The Hills Have Eyes (2006) ($4.39m)
• 9. Eight Below ($2.72m)
• 10. 16 Blocks ($2.16m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. The Inside Man (£1.80m)
• 2. Hostel (£1.2159m)
• 3. The Pink Panther (2006) (£1.2153m)
• 4. V for Vendetta (£0.61m)
• 5. The Ringer (£0.56m)
• 6. The Hills Have Eyes (2006) (£0.29m)
• 7. Syriana (£0.24m)
• 8. Walk the Line (£0.23m)
• 9. Date Movie (£0.179m)
• 10. Chicken Little (£0.172m)

All the following are U.K. release dates, and are subject to change.

• 31st March 2006: Slither, Shooting Dogs, Firewall, Yours Mine & Ours, Lemming, The White Countess, Imagine Me & You, Basic Instinct 2
• 7th April 2006: Ice Age 2: Meltdown, Three, Take the Lead, The Squid and the Whale, Rent, Wah-Wah, An American Haunting
• 14th April 2006: Lemming, Alien Autopsy, American Dreamz, Junebug, Just My Luck, Scary Movie 4
• 21st April 2006: The Moguls, Harsh Times, Hoot, Hostel, Confetti, CRAZY, L’Enfer (2005), Mistress of Spices
• 28th April 2006: Eight Below, Lucky You, Love & Hate, Flight 93

Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2006.