Matrix Wallpaper, #403

A representative of China Film Group today called Keanu Reeves’ upcoming Man Of Tai Chi “the most important co-production” for the company this year. Reeves makes his directorial debut with the kung-fu film that is a co-production from CFG, Wanda Media, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and Universal Pictures. At a gathering to introduce clips from the film, Reeves said he shot for more than 105 days in Beijing and Hong Kong, where the crew was at one point locked on a set because of a severe typhoon. He chose this movie to make his helming debut because it was “the story I felt I could tell and wanted to tell and didn’t want anybody else to tell.” Man Of Tai Chi focuses on a young, innocent martial artist who struggles to maintain his values amid the pressures of contemporary society. Tiger Chen plays the man who is lured into the underground boxing world where Reeves plays the man out to manipulate him. Reeves and Chen worked together on the Matrix movies where Chen taught Reeves about “wires and kicks and punches.” The pair became friends and over five years developed the story. Reeves says it was just about ... Read More »

Commercials can allow filmmakers to keep their muscles toned and play with a decent budget, and they can make some pretty decent money for themselves in the process. It's an attractive offer for those who might be waiting for their next feature to line up, or just looking to keep the skills honed between gigs. The ad circuit has been attracting high-caliber talent for a long time; the likes of Joe Wright for Chanel, Wes Anderson for Hyundai and Nicolas Winding Refn for Yves Saint Laurent. Now a couple more filmmakers familiar with the promo world have some new material to show off. First up, David Gordon Green -- who has "Prince Avalanche" on the way to theaters -- has dropped two quick spots for ESPN. Not much to say about them, except that he delivers what viewers want from those kind of things. Remember a few weeks about when that GE commercial was going around because it featured Agent Smith from "The Matrix"? Guess who directed that? Yep, that was David Gordon Green...