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Watch This: Stunning Samurai Sci-Fi Trailer The Cup of Tears

by Alex Billington
October 26, 2009
Source: Vimeo

I don't exactly know what's going on in this, but I must thank Quiet Earth for finding this beautiful trailer and sending it my way. Tonight I'm featuring the trailer for Gary Shore's The Cup of Tears, a gorgeous CGI hybrid samurai sci-fi movie being made in Ireland. This was shot on the Red camera in Slovenia and is simply referred to as a "visually rich modern fairytale." That's all you really need to know before watching this, just let the visuals take you in from there. It looks kind of like a stunning combination of Sin City, an anime, and Speed Racer, in a way I suppose. Really, I don't know what else to say, so just check this out!

Watch the official trailer for Gary Shore's The Cup of Tears:

Follows a scorned geisha who creates a magical cup made of tears that causes any man who drinks from it to fall into a permanent sleep. One night the cup is stolen, setting off a chain of events that threatens civil war amongst the clans. Taro, a gifted samurai, sets out to find the cup and one who can break the spell.

The Cup of Tears is being directed by Irish filmmaker Gary Shore, of only a film called The Draft previously, but also of quite a few commercials and other work (visit his website: garyshore.com). This is being finished in Ireland and is not an Asian feature, despite being very heavily influenced by that style. As far as we know, this doesn't have a distributor yet, so stay tuned for updates. I'll be following this closely since it looks great!

Filed under Indies, To Watch, Trailers

From around the web:

PinkSushit

wow. very creative !!!
OCP

Sin City + Crouching Tiger + Matrix...Im in
psentes

.............Samurai Jack?
esophus

a bit confusing. I'm thinking with visuals like that they could have given us more of the story instead of being so enigmatic. Sin City meets Blade Runner meets every Zack Snyder film ever made.
Michael N.

One word: ULTRAVIOLET
dave13

hmmm. looks interesting. i like some of the shots, but am a bit put off by the video game cinematic type trailer... also, this is better than Ultraviolet if for no other reason than the soundtrack is not trying (and failing) to copy the genius of Danny Elfman.
borgiborg

This movie looks like someone to pull a George Lucas with cgi locations. Then used a little Sin City imagery to try and cover their shame To sum up it looks like crap
Hmmm...

wait, what? ninjas and spaceships, and a buncha what?
el

"One word: ULTRAVIOLET Michael N. on Oct 26, 2009" :O You take that word back you horrible person!!!
sean

no... just no
GR8

Looks like 300 turned Bushido style. I'm in...
Verno

unexpected
whomever

Too much white face.
http://vimeo.com/user1764245 Nick Sears

pretty badass
JP

Um . . . the cinematography is great and all . . . and I am curious enough to want to know more . . . but, uh, I feel like I just watched a long Gillette razor commercial? What's the story again?
arjones

I dunno....The trailer confuses me visually. Makes my brain go WTF is going on? I read the synopsis so that helped. I wish they'd make the american version of deathnote. Maybe they could get Michael Bay to do it..................Just kidding. I heard he's booked up to do transformers 3-15.
Kerad

yep i agree with #3 Samurai Jack???
Angry Chief

Jesus Christo...if this is what people are gonna want as the future of film, I should just quit film school now and kill myself. This looks like complete shit. Mix Grindhouse with the Spirit and then toss in every TV show bump that Spike TV has to offer and you pretty much got the style down.
teyhtr

1 word: GIMMICK
Major Kusanagi

i'm sold~ great visuals! i hope the story's not too bad.
jake the snake

looks pretty badass but is there no dialogue throughout the whole movie?
Frank Booth

300 the samurai version
Lazarus from Sparta!!!!

Hummmmm....what a pleasant surprise...great style choice...nice set pieces...cool esthetics...if the music used for the trailer is a taste of things to come in the movie's soundtrack I'll be happy...what a nice little jewel of a film you found there Alex! Thanks!
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

How come it's always the white kid that survives the samurai armageddon? And somehow he manages to return with even greater skills than an army of lifelong trained masters of the arts? Visually I like the style, but pretty much American ninja movie I watched as a kid in the 80's had that storyline.
Sabes

I am confused and intrigued both at the same time.
Jay

So creator clearly liked 300...
Brandon

Must watch this film on the big screen!!!!
atg2040

I agree #24!!!!!
LuckyLoser

if they dont talk the whole film, thats pretty cool in a way! but it can play in any country too because they will not have to translate much except credits and title....
GP Productions

300 Knock-Off! White Samurai? Ehh.... Dont get me wrong. Im not racist its just doesnt fit. Its just like making a Black Jesus. Should never happen. Straight to DVD/BluRay imho.
Florian

looks like a good movie to see on drugs...
zeldaprimed

An Inuyasha Movie would soooooo be awesome with this style...or Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin...
JimD

Visually looks cool but then again...
ishteaque

straght 2 theatre, man thats the 1 i'm talking about, looks like everythings in there .
LINKFX

And then I gizzed in my pants!
nate

Looks good. Different. Enjoyable... Don't know why so many people are being negative... How many movies have you guys made? Hmmm... Thought so.
Davis

This film is like the prettiest girl in class, all looks and no substance.
Robbie

I gotta say, this looks pretty awesome.
coswell

Looks beatiful! Hope the storyline is interesting enough.
tazz

its Afro Samurai without the Afro LOL but this trailer looks interesting
d-man

#29 your a joke you say you not racist but you mention what race should play a certain character LOL. Black Jesus already happen Madonna had him in a music video plus we already seen God played by black man too. how you know the Samurai is white you cant even tell from the trailer
hater

i didn't like the trailer, it looks like a video game
Mattyc

I've been a lurker on this site for a while, and I'm starting to seriously question it when I see "watch this" or "must watch" - is film just becoming a huge copycat industry?
tazz

heres a interview with Gary Shore talking about "The Cup of Tears" check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoVUPeeF6y8
TheSaint

That was amazing. I also jizzed in my pants a little. It kinda looks like Samurai Jack mets Bladerunner with a little ghost in a shell. I will be going to see this movie when it comes out.
WO0t

well, it looks like they couldn't decide what kind of titles to use, what kind of cinematography to use, what kind of shots to use, what kind of 3D effects to use, no dialogue to use, and which movie they wanted to rip off more. If you have a trailer with no dialogue and complete visuals with music and SFX you don't have a good movie. There is something you are hiding. This looks like Japanese straight to DVD. This reminded me a lot of Casshern. Which isn't a good movie but the visuals keep you interested. These visuals however make me think that movies like this will soon be a dime a dozen.
arjones

I re-watched the trailer this morning and checked out the you tube interview (thankyou #44) and I have to say that i hope it's not like Crouching Tiger Hidden Cables. Which I did like the story but the tree top stuff? Not so much. I think they're getting a little out of hand with the whole "300" look and "matrix" moves in movies. I guess it's better than the whole bat on a string look from the 30's.
Frank

I liked it better when they called it 300.
Ty

@37 Yeah but you would still bang her =P
Cameron

Holy Crap!!!
Tom

It would work better as an anime.
Cineprog

I agree with Alex Billington it's a strange mix of Anime and 300/Sin City to give it that period touch, i just hope that there plenty of Hack and Slashing and agood mixture of Blood like a good chinese/jap martial Arts film should be.
shadow

They shot on there own look good, however there is no defining style or order to any of it. Looks pretty bad to me.
Fethalion

Wait wuuut, mindfuck over here.... First they show some great footage of a sorta combined asian art with real life action movie and everything seems to be set in like, Dark Age of China, ish. But then in the end there's modern buildings and then finally SPACE SHIPS?! Looks like a good movie though
Mero

matrix+300+samuraix+kilbill+mk..... and lol at 00:14 = 2012
Stacia

This trailer reminds me a lot of Goemon, the visual style at least. Goemon was visually fun to watch, but the plot and acting was horrible. So cliche typical Japanese shit tossed out there. And the 100% CGI visuals with real actors got REALLY tiring on the eyes after a while, especially cuz they were all the same locations over and over again. So hopefully this movie wont be JUST like that, but it sure does look a lot like Goemon...nice trailer, bad film. So I'll rent this if it ever gets that far along in life...maybe. Oh, and yes, I agree number 51, this would be better as an anime. It would look better for sure. Ok after actually finishing the trailer...it looks too much like Goemon for me to give it a chance. Goemon was seriously one of the worst 2 hr and 10 dollars I spent in Japan EVER! hahah
tobi,leader of the akatsuki

that looks fucking brill,can't fucking wait.
tms

I see some Casshern in there too - if it's visually as good, I'm in
leinergroove

damn, this is the future of cinema. some may lik it, some may not, but we WILL be seeing more and more films like this within the next 6 years or so. The next step? Well, I think filmmakers will be taking advantage of the new tools at their disposal, and they will try to do some aternative things. The level of reality and beauty of the new movies will challenge our capacity of wonder.
Jarno

I have absolutely nothing to contribute! and same goes for this movie.....what a waste!
ChrisUK

Looks great, i'm a fan of these crazy CGI movies in general. Casshern, Goemon, Storm Riders (sequel on the way!), A Man Called Hero, Zu: Legend of Zu etc etc I just hope it's better than The Spirit.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

@ #41: Aw C'mon D-man! Did you ever watch American Ninja movies? Very rarely was the lead actor Asian, obviously because an American audience (as a mass) wouldn't buy a movie with an Asian lead, the same way they won't watch a subtitled foreign film. I'm not racist you muppet, I'm a self loathing person of colour as someone once beautifully put it before, of course Jesus was a blackman, click on my name and see little baby Jesus in his full glory. Remember also this film seems to be produced in Ireland, not Japan, where I'm sure they would have a picked a western looking Asian dude anyway, but that's not their fault that's just a left over influence from having 2 atomic bombs dropped on your country and feeling completely powerless and weak. Pick a most manga/anime that deal with a post-apocalyptic world and the underlying theme is atomic destruction. I think in those films it always has to be a white guy because, the history and culture just isn't the same without a white face in it, it's like it's 'foreign' or something! You probably liked Last Samurai too.
Barry North

NOT EVERYBODY'S CUP OF TEA(RS) THEN? OUCH Apart from the over-exposures, looks nothing like any of the films everybody says it looks like. I mean Samurai's and Spaceships really does remind me of the Matrix and 300, NOT!!!!! , what are you guys banging on about?
Rachel Replicant

looks like jurassic park with ninjas!
DoomCanoe

i think it looks awesome. but it doesn't even come close to Goemon and #64...hahaha!!!
Godius333

it seems to me like samurai jack + 300 + hero + wtf! spaceships!!!!!!
http://www.toonfed.deviantart.com toonfed

yawn! next!
Phill

Thanks to Gary Shore for making this film. A fantastic looking film. Beautiful visuals. Great story. I hope this movie will be a success everywhere. I would love to see this type of film made with a story about Norse vikings.
d-man

@#62 Crapola i agree American Ninja etc they never cast a Asian person to play the lead its because Hollywood has a bad attitude towards Asians in general they like to take Asian culture and never cast a Asian males as the lead. i know the film is been produced in Ireland but in the UK and Ireland cast of race is not major issue cause they cast people of that race and culture to play that role i.e. "East is East" played by asian actors in london. American film sudios dont do that cause they dont find asian actors dont bring in the money but they like to cast asian females as some fetish on film and i found that wrong. i did like Last Samurai to extent when they tried to change the culture and etc to me the film easy for the American audience.
Ken

I thought Samurai Jack too ha! Woo Ireland! Finally something decent film-wise out of here!
Phill

Hey d-man, Movies from Japan have Japanese actors. Indian movies have indian actors. Films from Hong Kong have Chinese actors. Mexican films have Mexican actors. Iranian actors star in Iranian films. South Korean films have Korean actors. Films from the USA have had European-American leads because that has been the majority population. The director of The Cup of Tears is Irish, so that probably had an influence on the ethnic makeup of the boy. So what. Go tell the Bollywood directors that their lead actors should be Nigerian. See how that works out.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

I think it would be cool for a Bollywood Film to have Nigerian lead. Yep D-man, also the only thing I got from The Last Samurai was that becoming good at sword fighting and living your life by a strict set of rules doesn't matter, because any idiot with a gun can come and shoot you. A metaphor for modernisation really, just let the mechanics work for you.
wHiskey Tango...

So.... Samurai jack, meets ultra violet, meets afro samurai, meets Aeon Flux, meets photos shop..... ALL filmed like sin city.
Nethanel DeCarmo

This makes me want to see Goemon so much more.
http://woodge.com Woodge

Looks great! I'm there! And from what I understand, can't possibly be as bad as The Spirit.
d-man

#71 Phill first before you attacking me read what me and Crapola been talking about right above the page. i never attacked The Cup of Tears Phill i gave the trailer some praise. i know there is loads of European-American in film but me and Crapola talking about having white actor playing asian on film seems crazy. i agree with Crapola it would be cool for a Bollywood Film to have Nigerian lead. in Japan they have Jero aka Jerome Charles White Jr is a Japanese singer who is American born of African-American and Japanese descent. his a black man been casted in a Japanese film called "Donju".
replicant

ANY movie set in the future needs to have a large blend of ethnicity throughout to where its no longer a point. This movie looks like a movie that uses computers to show its imagination, that would be the only similarity I see with ANY OF THE MOVIES MENTIONED ABOVE!!!
Hemipowered

I would have prefered an asian lead, but this film does look good. This is something more like Afro Samurai. Everyone dreams about being a samurai, no matter their race.
GP Productions

@ d-man Go back to grammar school buddy. Your grammar fucking sucks ass.
d-man

#78 your right Hemipowered everyone dreams about being a samurai. #79 here comes the grammar police
Clover

Good for you # 36.....IRELAND!!!
leinergroove

Zack Snyder meets Akira Kurosawa meets Robert Rodriguez, they go and have a beer, while some scientist/filmmaker take samples of their hair and skin, he goes, combine the genetic information of the three and in the process, some radioactive spider sneezes over the sample. This is the result.
GP Productions

@ d-man And rightfully so. I wouldn't have said anything if it was just a simple mistake, but I saw it all over your post. I'm actually doing you a favor and keeping you in check buddy. As for the film, a blend of most recent sci-fi/fantasy films. Only time will tell if this boat will float.
zibo fricka

Coming from Ireland. Looks like a martial arts film with a touch of science fiction, very nifty. This looks very imaginative and visually stunning. Of course the noob haters love to say stupid crap like: Matrix + 300 + Zack Snyder. Noob haters are like eunuchs and sportswriters: they know how a movie is made...they just can't do it themselves.
http://www.aguyinhisbasement.com Dan J

Looks awesome! No dialog though?
http://www.firstshowing.net me

From swords and old things to... spaceships? And this is a video game or what? It started well, but... it turned up really bad. Awful!
sjc

it looks like that sky captain and the world of tommorow, just its with ninjas.
wiese

Did Alex not say at the beginning of this post that the film still hasn't got a distributor and the film still has to be finished- this is clearly a trailer that’s been made to show case the talent and potential of the director, ITS NOT THE ACTUAL THEATRE FILM TRAILER! Negative idiots! It looks amazing and I personally can’t wait to see what the film has to offer if a 2 min trailer is so visually delightful.
Deekam

ninja assassin looks better than this. but they are typical though.. i'll see it on blu-ray.
neonblue120

looks like shit
Joe

Yeah, looks bad to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there were some glimmers of really horrible martial arts. Hard to tell under all the CGI though.
sam

looks different thats good reminds me of 300 or the spirit
Jay

Wah wah wah Im bitching. Wah wah wah
geneguru

Intereresting, really really interesting! hope i does good so maybe more similair films can be made again in Ireland in the future.
Pøh

Looks very pretty, but like with most of these Asian-themed movies I have no idea what the hell is going on. They're always so crazy-random.
http://yahoo.com drct66

umm win it come out bro
lordcanyon

looks like blade runner with a touch of low budget syfy channel movie. i'll pass