Dear Mr. Albert Pyun,

Thank you for trying to answer my riddle. You say you were very lucky, but I think there was more to it than that. I wrote a thesis paper trying to unravel that mystery and I think I left you a voicemail once about it (there was no voice confirming it was your phone, merely a robotic voice asking to leave a message after the beep). At the end of that 12 page odyssey, I think I was as mystified as you are now. I will continue to search for an answer so you won't have to; you can just worry about continuing to make movies for Nu Image.

Anyway, whether you are the real Albert Pyun or not, I don't think it matters. Any lover of film has an Albert Pyun in their heart.

Best regards,
~ Tebor

Valdronius wrote:

Well, the IP address is coming out of Herndon, VA. So if that's where the movie is being shot, then I guess it could really be him.

I believe he was filming in Hollywood, CA. But I'd say if it was him and in VA, he's on vacation.

I've been found by much more obscure industry professionals through Google search. A writer on "Supernatural" actually commented on an old blog I had that I had written about one of his co-workers. If SydLexia is coming up on a top Google search, I'd call that a job well done.

Before I talk about the clip:

Albert, I'm going to be honest and admit that I flat out hated "Left for Dead". I thought it was a good idea before it came out, I had just 're-discovered' you, you were giving interviews to sites like Ain't It Cool News which led me to believe you were evolving into the next phase in your career, so I was looking forward to it quite a bit. But the film ended up being a mess in my opinion. I thought it was dull, the digital photography hurt the picture, the script lacked any semblance of logic, and the action sequences just weren't that exciting. Others can say what they will, but I know when I think Pyun, I think action that's usually pretty impressive - Not the case with "Dead". Cowgirls vs. a ghost more or less is that logline and the film just didn't feel like it took advantage of the material. I don't mean to sound like a prick, but that's what I thought when I rented that movie.

Since then I've been following "Tales of an Ancient Empire" pretty closely. Why? "Sword and the Sorcerer", not a great movie, but it was pure in the genre that it was in. That genre doesn't exist today and, even more fanboy-ish, the end of "Sword" promised a sequel... I've been waiting for that.

Then the cast for the film was assembled and it's extremely impressive. No matter what I'm seeing "Ancient Empire", it has everything going for it.

Off the actual clip:

The excerpt is a strange choice to highlight. It's a scene of two characters talking. Right away the digital photography captured my attention; this is not going to look like the first one.

Kevin Sorbo is an incredibly gifted actor for what he does, because I absolutely buy him in the role. His says each line believably and with a certain playfulness to it that makes it sound natural and not like lines. The actress doesn't have the same handle (or rather experience) with it.

Now, I watched the clip twice. The first time I was distracted by the above and came away thinking: That's a really dull clip to highlight what could be Pyun's best film to date. So I had to watch it again.

My new impressions is that the tone is actually dead on. This feels like a historical fantasy film. I cannot express how much I've been dying to see a halfway decent sword and sorcery movie lately. The second thing I noticed is how much talking there is. Someone really cared about this script, which I think is a real strength for the film. There's a lot of playful banter that has the right tone. As long as the actors can do their job, this could be a lot of fun.

The set looks good, the costumes are too clean in my opinion (but that's a nitpick), the music I hope is temp because it isn't quite doing it for me.

Those were my impressions from the 2 minute clip. Of course I want to see more... But for what it is, I am very relieved that this will not be like "Left For Dead".




And, I do have to ask, I actually wrote a screenplay for you last year which was my kind of Kill Bill-esque homage to Pyun; how would I go about getting that to you? I know, I know, no one likes being solicited, but I do have to ask.

Albert Pyun wrote:

Tebor - is your thesis online? Love to read it.

It is not online although I had planned to upload it with pictures and clips. As far as I'm concerned, it is your right to read it. As I mentioned, I even tried to call you using a number I stumbled upon in my research in an off chance I could get an interview with you. At that time of course, I would've spent most of the interview talking about "Nemesis III: Time Lapse" and "Nemesis 4: Death Angel".

SoldierHawk wrote:

Just in time for Jeebus to ban you for double posting, of course, but it was nice while it lasted.

D'oh!

In my defense, I thought someone else would've posted in between posts considering how many I missed while typing the above.

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Tebor, did you just out yourself as Albert Pyun, cause that's who she was talking to regarding the double posting. In fact, you hadn't double posted until the post where you commented on her comment that took place BEFORE your double post.

I am not Albert Pyun. I am not sophisticated enough to clone my IP browser to another state... yet.

However, I will admit I am Akiva Goldsman on Twitter.