Jung Ji Hoon * 정지훈 * 鄭智薰 * (aka Rain/Bi / 비 / ピ) I [Upcoming Drama 2024] Red Swan

[willenette]

[11-27] Rain Bi in kress party

Credit//Rain USA / ratoka-rainlegend

[willenette]

*** Thanks cuckoo for sharing with us your stories. Actually, not all good things are saying about this movie. But I think the bad & the good are just balanced. Good & bad are still publicity for the movie. NA, fighting!

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[11-27] New York fan attended Hong Kong Ninja Assassin Premiere

Fan account credit: Cuckoo@New York

I enjoyed the movie very much. I arrived Ocean Terminal early yesterday, it was about 3:30pm although the premiere wouldn't start until 9:30pm. Per Hong Kong fans website, it had another promotional event outside the theatre at 9:00pm. Unfortunately, it needed special pass to enter the fans zone. I got to make up my mind if I wanted to attend premiere or this outdoor function. Because theatre staff said they wouldn't allow any admission after 9:00pm. Thus, I decided to give up outdoor event. At 7:45pm I lined up for premiere. Around 8:30pm we started to enter the auditorium. Fans were arranged to sit in the front section, some Hong Kong entertainers would sit in the 2nd level middle section (I don't know who they are). Everybody was so excited. Many fans brought the lightboards (so was I). About 10 minutes before Rain arrived, media arrived and told everybody got ready the light signs on. haha....I couldn't wait actually. It was so beautiful living under this sea of electricity light signs. Our prince, Ji Hoon, finaly arrived, he wore a cap, grey color 3 pieces suit, black high heel shoes. Fans screamed and he came out with lovely smile. He kept waving to fans. MC asked him "which scenes you liked most?" Ji Hoon said "I liked all of them". MC said "Anything you wanted to tell your fans?" Ji Hoon "Enjoy the movie". There were few more questions and mostly were standard questions as other events. Then, Rain left. Movie started...

Personally, I enjoyed all the scenes like Ji Hoon. I accepted bloody thing...haha...If you have ever watched Hong Kong style kung fu movies in before, you wouldn't surprise all those martial arts in Ninja Assassin. But, it surprised me that it happened in American movie like this. The way how Ninja cut or killed the people, the way how they used the swords, were so good and unique. I believed the scenes will shock most of American audiences very much. Although some fans said Rain didn't hold much dialogues in the movie, I think the portion was pretty fair. In Ninja Assassin, Rain called Razio, he was an orphan, he had unhappy childhood. His heart was full of anger. Thus, Razio spoke very slow and less because his personality was loneliness. Rain acted so good perhaps he had similar feeling as Razio. He got a lonely eyes.

I paid attention all his facial expression on each scene. Rain did very detail. Razio was a cool guy but he had a warm heart. He made a joke with the major actress, "the only lie you told me was your size" hahahaha...(I think this is typical Ji Hoon's joke). "You made me like you more" (when the actress tried to rescue Razio inside the jail).

Ninja Assassin will become a hot topic and Rain will be known in USA soon.

Wish Ninja Assassin Box Office Success!

[willenette]

Rain at the Ninja Assassin Hong Kong Press Con

CREDIT:pochaccochu@Youtube / scorpiola-rainlegend

[willenette]

November 27, 2009

Even Rain can’t save this dull tale of ninja killers

Movie Review

Rain’s role is to have rippling muscles and look angry in “Ninja Assassin.” [MovieWeb]

Real ninjas were nothing more than thugs and spies who did the dirty work of Japan’s feudal lords during the chaotic civil war of the 15th to 17th centuries. They could not disappear, they did not steal orphans and train them in secret, and they did not have Wolverine-like healing powers.

Real ninjas are boring. So instead, “Ninja Assassin” goes with the “real ultimate power” philosophy of ninjahood: that - ahem - ninjas are totally sweet, ninjas fight all the time, and the purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people.

Genre fans may associate the title with the English-dubbed “Shogun Assassin,” the bizarre and violent classic of samurai exploitation from 1980 that was hacked together from two different Japanese films. Perhaps that’s the feel writer Matthew Sand and director James McTeigue were going for, because the plot holes here are wide enough for 30 ninjas to hide in while having a really rad fight.

A gleefully violent opening sequence introduces us to Raizo, a ninja in the Ozunu clan played by the Korean pop star Rain in his first starring Hollywood role. The scene is like a checklist of genre staples - the ominous envelope of black sand, the arrogant young buck who gets what’s coming to him despite the warning of the wise old yakuza, the gory decapitations. Striking from the shadows, Raizo seems a little like Batman, except he bisects people’s shins.

Then, all of a sudden, the action stops, and the first third of the movie dives into an utterly uninteresting series of flashbacks to Raizo’s ninja upbringing at a mountain temple by Lord Ozunu (Sho Kosugi), broken up by footage of Rain twirling around in a Berlin apartment, his ample musculature dripping with grease. This was when Ninja Assassin lost me. I can handle a threadbare plot in the service of awesome action. But why spend 25 minutes developing characters who really are nothing more than excuses to show more flying organs? The stilted romance between various younger Raizos (none of whom look anything like Rain, by the way) and a ninja girl only makes the plot deficiencies more obvious and unbearable.

Back in the present, Raizo is on the run from his clan and has to enlist sexy Europol agent Mika (Naomie Harris) and her boss (Ben Miles) to help him get revenge against Lord Ozunu. The cops have just begun to crack the case of the ninja clans when their superiors (presumably influenced by Ozunu) betray them and capture Raizo. Then Ozunu sends wave after wave of minions into the prison to kill the traitor. This raises two issues: An organization does not stay totally secret for 1,000 years by indiscriminately killing cops and causing car crashes. And if Ozunu is pulling the strings at Europol, why bother sending the ninjas at all? Couldn’t he use his connections to make it look like an accident? Not even the fairly cool climactic fight in a burning ninja village could rid my mind of these questions (and the Jedi twaddle Ozunu murmurs every few minutes didn’t help).

Of course, none of this matters. Because Rain is in it, Ninja Assassin will do good business here, and the filmmakers know it, inserting a little reference to the assassination of Queen

Myeongseong by Japanese agents and setting a battle in a Korean laundromat in Berlin.

There’s also a clever and surely intentional nationalistic undercurrent. Though Rain’s character is Japanese, he is a Korean celebrity, and watching him cut up yakuza and ninjas for 90 minutes has to increase the movie’s appeal here while not hurting its chances elsewhere.

But I’m grasping at poison dart blowers for something interesting to say about this movie, which manages to use the same premise as “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and still be dull. It’s a sad day when even a film called Ninja Assassin fails to get one totally pumped.

Ninja Assassin

Martial arts, action / English

99 min.

Now playing

By Ben Applegate [bapplegate@gmail.com]

Credit : JoongAng Daily

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2913111

[Bambiina]

Tyty, Very funny huh, why some reviews are so bad example

The above piece of sheet. I read some of comments in the movie

forum and almost everyone think the reviews didn't do justice to NA.

Most of the comments in the forum were from guy point of view.

The critics keep on comparing NA with other kungfu flick. Comparing NA

to the 70s and 80s???????

NA is simple, fun and AWESOME, btw mostly the box office movies were

rated between C- to C+.

Will, you are bad or good it's still publicity. Better than no news

At all. Look like NA had lotsa reviews.... Trillion review hehe. Publicity

For Rain. I wonder if his album sale will increase after this.

Btw - Looks like NA not just doing good in central KL (capital of M'sia)

It's also doing good outside KL. So Rain prove them wrong.

[willenette]

Rain's "Ninja" tops debutantes on U.S. box office

Blockbuster action movie "Ninja Assassin", starring Korean megastar Rain, was the best debutant amongst all Hollywood films on the U.S. box office yesterday, according to the film's distributor on Friday.

Warner Brothers said in a press release that "Ninja" had the biggest opening out of a total six movies that were released on November 25 and ranked fourth overall on the daily box office.

"Ninja" outdid No. 3 movie "2012" in terms of profitability (dollars earned per theater) by raking in 300,000 dollars more than John Cusack's disaster flick. The movie even outsold and placed higher than the family comedy movie "Old Dog", which stars Hollywood heavyweights Robin Williams and John Travolta.

"Ninja", which opened in 2,503 theaters across the country, is the only movie in ranking within the top seven that is showing at less than 3,000 screens and has an R-rating.

The 27-year-old star is currently in Harbour City, Hong Kong, wrapping up a world promotion tour for the film. He attended a star-studded VIP premiere party for the movie at the prestigious Grand Ocean Cinema.

Rain is scheduled to perform at Hong Kong's Asia-World Expo over the weekend of November 28-29 as part of the "Legend of Rainism" tour.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr

Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr

<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?sec=e...112710251900749

_____________________________________________

Allure magazine reveals Rain's ninja-perfect body

Korean entertainer Rain talked about his body and new film "Ninja Assassin" in an exclusive interview and photoshoot with fashion magazine Allure Korea while in Hollywood, according to a press release on Friday.

The actor shows off his muscular body in the photos, which were shot in a studio in Hollywood when he was in tip-top shape right after the filming of "Ninja", which opened in theaters worldwide yesterday.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, had undergone rigorous martial arts training and workout sessions for months to prepare for his role as a ninja who plots revenge on his former crime organization. He was said to have had zero percent body fat while in shoot.

The martial arts director for "Ninja" highly praised the star, saying, "In martial arts movies, the body of the main character is just as important as the action. Rain endured the tough training and went through amazing changes."

Rain's interview and photoshoot will be featured in the December issue of Allure Korea and also available on the website (www.allurekorea.com).

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr

Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr

<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?sec=e...112709464015374

[Guest tyty6_7]

Bam, hehhee..the reviews of NA are kept posting and forwarding every minute...hehehe...

But there are some critics that I just want to give some ninja punches on their faces...because they are such kind racist and anti fan...can you imagine that a critic made the bottom line of his review for NA something like this:" Do you know? Rain's first film " cyborg" was a flop after the first opening week and was not pulled out of the thetheater very soon after that..."......when I read it, I was like WHAT? you reviewed the movie or you want to do the anti action here?

I guess that damn critic has Korean origin, that's why he knew exactly what happened to cyborg....

and also i guess there are some Japanese American critics who are still bitter with the main cast not being a Japan for a ninja movie...those will not give any damn good reviews...

But I am happy that the general audience like the movie as I do....heheh...

Cant not wait to see the Box office result for today shows....

[Guest Aiko26]

Rain is one heck of an actor in Ninja Assassin. Best movie i seen all year long. He bulked up so nicely too. The fight scenes were awesome. His accent was very charming. Im gonna go see it again.

[jinijung]

'Ninja Assassin': Korea's Rain storms Hollywood

- G. Allen Johnson, ajohnson@sfchronicle.com

Thursday, November 26, 2009

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...s#ixzz0Y2FNfY67

He was born Jeong Ji-hoon 27 years ago, but his stage name, Rain, is perfect: He's like a force of nature as he bustles into a suite at the Ritz-Carlton earlier this week, winding up a North American press tour for his new movie, "Ninja Assassin," and on his way to perform a concert in Hong Kong.

"I (first came) to San Francisco four years ago for a commercial shoot at Golden Gate Bridge," Rain said. "The last time? Just rest. Vacation. With girl!"

Dressed in a stylishly patterned black T-shirt underneath a gray sport coat, his gelled-up hair colored an orangish brown, Rain looks like a college kid hanging out at an after-hours club. His penchant for self-promotion ("I have good talent"; "I think my character is very sexy"; "I love sexy or cute girl") is never offensive, as he delivers his lines with effortless charm.

But this is no lightweight. Rain has risen from the son of a baker to the brink of international acting stardom because of talent, yes, but also a relentless work ethic. In the past seven years, he has recorded five albums in Korean and one in Japanese and is in the planning stages of his English-language debut.

He's a CEO; two years ago, he started his own company, J. Tune Entertainment, when his previous management company encountered some legal trouble.

In films, he started as the love interest in Park Chan-wook's odd romance "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" and made his Hollywood debut in a supporting role in Andy and Larry Wachowski's "Speed Racer." The Wachowski brothers, famous for their "Matrix" trilogy, saw something in Rain and cast him in "Ninja Assassin," which they produced for director James McTeigue.

"I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee," said Rain, who was determined to conduct the interview in English and rarely turned to his translator. "I trained for eight months, five days a week, eight hours a day. I only ate chicken breast and vegetables. No sugar, no salt, no chocolate.

"You know what? I really love chocolate. I'm a chocoholic. ... It was horrible!"

As a boy, Rain was captivated by Al Pacino's performance in "Scarface" and Michael Jackson's songs and videos - clearly influences in his own work. As a man, he said his guiding influence is his mother, who died when he was 18 of health issues.

"We were so poor," Rain said. "She's my hero. She's my angel. I always miss her."

That might account in part for his maturity, a trait that seems missing from many pop idol/actors of his age.

"I had a dream," Rain said. "I wanted to be a singer and actor since I was 10. My dream's come true.

But "I want to challenge myself to see where my limit is."

"Ninja Assassin" is now playing in Bay Area theaters.

This article appeared on page H - 22 of the San Francisco Chronicle

[jinijung]

‘Ninja Assassin’ lets Rain shine

By Stephen Schaefer

Friday, November 27, 2009

Will “Ninja Assassin” make Asian star Rain a celebrity in the United States?

South Korea’s pop idol drops the love songs to star in this R-rated made-in-Berlin bloodbath.

“Ninja Assassin” presents Rain as Raizo, an orphan raised in a remote monastery-style compound who under a sadistic grandmaster learns the art of killing and to endure intense physical punishment.

As the movie begins, Raizo has become a revenge-seeking rogue while protecting a Europol agent (Naomie Harris).

Rain was personally selected for the role by producers the Wachowski brothers when he was filming their “Speed Racer.”

“Larry and Andy offered it to me, and how could I say no?” he explained inaccented English as he sat with a translator in Manhattan’s London NYC hotel.

Rain, 27, was trained in dancing, not martial arts. “I wanted to challenge myself, to find where my limit is,” he said.

“I had all the stunts,” he added. “There’s no wire, no camera tricks. No green screen. We had classic filming. It was real.”

All those stunts?

“Well, 90 percent of them. I had to make my body fit, like Bruce Lee. I trained for eight months for five days a week, five hours a day. Only chicken breast and vegetables.”

He made a face. Chicken is no longer on his menu. “When I finished my movie I said, ‘No more vegetables, no chicken breast, no more almonds.’ ”

Rain “learned lots of martial arts, tae kwon do, sword, double sword, chain, a lot.”

Born Jeong Ji-hoon, Rain said his moniker was given to him when he was 10 and just started his whirling-dervish dance moves. “My friends would say, ‘Hey Rain.’ ‘Why call me Rain?’ ‘When you’re dancing it looks like Rain.’ That’s my name.”

As for the future - and a possible sequel - Rain cracked a smile. “Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie (Chan) are my heroes but I’m so powerful, so handsome and so young, I’m a new action star,” he said, then laughed.

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/...&position=7

[willenette]

*** Hi jini, thanks for sharing the above 2-articles. I’ve yet to see his movie. I’ve read several reviews here about it & I know that RAIN is so talented as an artist. He rocks on this movie!

[jinijung]

Ninja Assassin finally trending on twitter

[willenette]

HanCinema's Interview with Rain and James McTeigue

On Nov, 20, HanCinema met Rain and James McTeigue for the release of "Ninja Assassin".

The interview was short and James McTeigue a little more chatty than Rain, so we couldn't ask everything we intended to, but we got a nice greeting from Rain to you, HanCinema viewers.

*** view video clip here : http://www.hancinema.net/hancinema-s-inter...igue-21431.html

Source : Hancinema

[jinijung]

[Nov-27-2009] Ninja Assassin is topped the box office in Korea, and climbs to number four in America, on its opening day.

Singer and actor Rain's first hollywood leading movie Ninja Assassin is receiving attention by movie theaters in America and in Korea, getting a tremendous popularity and continuing to draw popular & critical acclaim.

According to America's box office web sites on the movie's opening day (the 25th), Ninja Assassin climbed to number 4 at the box office, collecting 3,300,000 dollars and raking first among the movies released on the same day.

Because Ninja Assassin is rated R and is playing at 2,503 theaters nationwide, and the figure is relatively small compared to the other movies, it has nearly made a good start at the box office.

Also, this movie took the first raking in Korea on the day even if it is rated R with relatively small number of theaters, receiving a lot of praise from the critics and the public.

Meanwhile, Rain who visited Hong Kong last 26th and did his final promotion for Ninja Assassin, is to hold his Asia Tour 'Legend of Rainism' in Asia-World Expo from Hong Kong's largest stadium on the 28th and the 29th.

credit to Yonhap news http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=L...;aid=0002996796

Brief translation by rain bird.@rain-eu

[Guest angelordevil]

wow, thanks all for good news

very happy to read that.

Hope we can hear more good news in the future.

@Bam: now you from Vampire turn into Ninja haha, so interested

more pics in HK

credit: as tagged

from:dada@rainhk

[willenette]

[Nov-27-2009] Ninja Assassin is topped the box office in Korea, and climbs to number four in America, on its opening day.

Singer and actor Rain's first hollywood leading movie Ninja Assassin is receiving attention by movie theaters in America and in Korea, getting a tremendous popularity and continuing to draw popular & critical acclaim.

According to America's box office web sites on the movie's opening day (the 25th), Ninja Assassin climbed to number 4 at the box office, collecting 3,300,000 dollars and raking first among the movies released on the same day.

Because Ninja Assassin is rated R and is playing at 2,503 theaters nationwide, and the figure is relatively small compared to the other movies, it has nearly made a good start at the box office.

Also, this movie took the first raking in Korea on the day even if it is rated R with relatively small number of theaters, receiving a lot of praise from the critics and the public.

credit to Yonhap news http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=L...;aid=0002996796

Brief translation by rain bird.@rain-eu

jini, thanks again for sharing this great news. Wow, the best among the newcomers. What it earned on the 1st day wasn’t bad. This time Koreans have supported him all the way.

[Bambiina]

Angel, read what ppl posted in twitter ... mostly good stuff.. I am so happy.

Ydp I was in team Edward (Twillight) but i don't why I think he overdid the Vampire thingy in Nmoon and he

is so stiif, I can't jump to team Jacob coz that's betraying Edward.. ahaks.. So Now I'm in Team Raizo, Team Ninja..

BTW - I am so crazy, I kept going to the cinema to check on the time on the monitor.. is it blinking or not.. if it blink

than it is almost full house.. and it blink for most of the time (screening schedule). Heheh.. I am that crazy...

[willenette]

more pics NA premiere in HK

http://fs1.cyworld.vn/data4/2009/11/27/175...003905_file.jpg

http://fs1.cyworld.vn/data4/2009/11/27/177...626461_file.jpg

http://fs1.cyworld.vn/data4/2009/11/27/179...894528_file.jpg

credit: as tagged

*** You see, wherever he is, he loves shopping. And what he loves most is shoes, he mentioned this in one of his interviews during NA US promo, right? Thanks Thu for posting them.

[Guest angelordevil]

Ninja Asssassin top 1

from:rainhk

[Guest pssrby2005]

Thank for the great photos, everyone. I don't visit this thread often but have been his music fan since his first album. I just watched Ninja Assassin yesterday in the US and wrote a review against the American reviewers. Feel free to read it here. I think he did a superb job and is moving in the right direction. His choice of fims are varied but with good solid progression. He did what no other Koreans did so far, to be the main lead in an American movie totally about him and not a cast of all other 6 characters! Kudos to him!!!