Back in June, I posted a “proof of concept” video showing a newfangled camera rig that Keanu Reeves was using to shoot his directorial debut, A Man of Tai Chi, and today we have a trailer. It’s actually right above these words, and you can watch it by clicking the little sideways triangly thingy.

Lots of action has been promised, Tiger Hu Chen (one of the stuntmen on “The Matrix” films) and Iko Uwais of “The Raid” are among the folks throwing fists and feet in the flick, and Reeves seems to certainly have been pushing himself. [ThePlaylist]

It looks like your basic kumite plot, and it appears that it’s even borrowed the octagonal ring like the UFC uses (who may have gotten their idea from Chuck Norris’s 1980 movie The Octagon). Keanu plays the man running the tournament, and his performance may go down in history as the most understated martial arts kingpin ever. “I know kung fu?” Of course, a martial arts movie like this is more about the quality of fight choreography than anything else, and the trailer is less intriguing than the dolly video in that regard. But no matter how it turns out, it’s just nice to see that directing makes Keanu so happy.

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Intrepid MMA reporter and my best Twitter pal Ariel Helwani had the chance to interview Steven Seagal yesterday, and as always, the old poonani-loving, Nobel Prize-deserving, sleeveless kimono-wearing, front-kicking, chicken killer did not disappoint (I meant Seagal there, in case that was unclear). First, he made sure to point out that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is good, but not great, which I’m sure has nothing to do with the fact that GSP’s action movie star to humor du jour is Van Damme, while Seagal himself has long been humored by middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who may fight GSP at some point in the nearish future, in the MMA equivalent of Pacquiao-Mayweather. (With Van Damme and Seagal in their respective corners to help stretch their groins and execute proper karate kicks, I’m sure).

“I think [GSP] is a really nice guy,” said Seagal. “I think he is a good fighter and a good martial artist. Would I call him great? No.
“One of the things that a master looks at when they look at a fighter is the history of the fighter. When you look at the history of the fighter, you look at their very best fights, their best work, and their worst. If you look at Anderson’s worst fights, they’re not bad. He still looks pretty good.”
“If you look at GSP’s worst fight, you look at the thing he did with Shields in Canada, that was atrocious. I think that is very telling. I just didn’t think the technique and the fighting skill was there in that instance. I also saw him after the fight and he wasn’t looking or feeling very well either, which does have some meaning. I think he got hurt in that fight and whether he dominated him or not, I just didn’t think he looked good.”

Silva had two atrocious fights against Thales Leites and Demian Maia, and almost got wrestle-f*cked to a decision against Sonnen, so that’s just stupid. But as crappy as Seagal’s logic is, I wouldn’t argue that GSP is on the same level as Silva either. Also, I’ve buried the lede: Seagal also says he’s willing to fight retired former light-heavy and heavyweight champ (and budding action star) Randy Couture “any time, any place.” Oh pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, Dana White make this happen, this would be the best Christmas present EVER:

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^{It’s just like my prom!}

I love me a good martial arts movie, and while a Crouching Tiger wire-fu fest bores me to tears, I could watch Tony Jaa destroy the bastards who stole his elephant for days at a time (preferably as one long tracking shot). This trailer is for Indonesian martial arts film Merantau, starring Silat practitioner Iko Uwais.  Based on the trailer below, it looks like it combines the basic brutality of Tony Jaa with some of the creative prop-use and acrobatics of old-school Jackie Chan.

In Minangkabau, West Sumatra, Yuda a skilled practitioner of Silat Harimau is in the final preparations to begin his “Merantau” a century’s old rites-of-passage to be carried out by the community’s young men that will see him leave the comforts of his idyllic farming village and make a name for himself in the bustling city of Jakarta.  After a series of setbacks leave Yuda homeless and uncertain about his new future, a chance encounter results in him defending the orphaned Astri from becoming the latest victim of a European human trafficking ring led by the wildly psychotic, Ratger and his right-hand man Luc. [Twitch]

“European human trafficking”?  Whoa, is that like reverse white-slavery?  In any case, “color” me excited.  Xenophobia and fistfights go together like loneliness and kitties. Weeee, the fur allows me to momentarily forget my mortality!

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Since I know how much all you FilmDrunkards love watching a shirtless, muscular Asian guy with flowing feminine locks work out, check out this training video.  It comes from 87 Eleven, the stunt coordinating team behind Ninja Assassin, the Wachowski siblings-produced, James McTeigue (V for Vendetta)-directed action film coming out later this year.

During the training, Rain [star of Ninja Assassin and a Korean pop star] has lived on the restricted diet of only chicken breast and vegetables for 8 months, trained for 10 hr a day and achieved the incredible body with 0% body fat.

I’m not a doctor (I just play one with kids from the neighborhood), but I’m pretty sure only mummies have 0% body fat.  Maybe the synopsis was written in North Korea.  Anyway, the video reminds me of the guys I see at the gym who train sword and stick fighting and pitch it like it’s some kind of self-defense.  Ahh, I see you’re practicing the ancient martial art of carrying a giant f-cking weapon around with you all the time. I think I read about that in Sun Tzu.
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