Film trailer: ‘1911,’ Jackie Chan’s 100th film
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'1911' will be released in China and the US simultaneously on October 11
(AFP)-The first trailer has been released for Jackie Chan’s 100th film, the historical drama 1911, about the founding of the Republic of China. The film is also titled Xinhai geming, meaning “Xinhai Revolution.”
In Cantonese, the trailer is an impressionistic teaser offering a glimpse into the battle fought by nationalist forces led by Sun Yat-sen to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
Sun is played by Winston Chao (The Wedding Banquet). Bingbing Li (The Forbidden Kingdom), and Joan Chen (The Last Emperor) also star. Chan, last seen in The Karate Kid, portrays Huang Xin Huang, a military general famous for his martial arts prowess.
Chan co-directs the movie with cinematographer Zhang Li (Red Cliff). He was also the stunt coordinator and choreographer. His company Jackie & JJ Productions produced the film.
The film started shooting last September. 1911 will be released in China and the US simultaneously on October 11.
What did Jackie Chan say?
September 6, 2010 Filed under Debate
Jackie Chan’s careless comments aroused hatred. Alex/CFP Photo
By Huang Daohen
Action star Jackie Chan’s name has translated into big bucks at the box office, but he’s not immune to controversy. Chan’s recent sympathetic message on Twitter to Filipinosout the hostage crisis in Manila aroused heavy criticism in Hong Kong.
The crisis on August 23 resulted in the deaths of nine Hong Kong residents. Chan expressed grief through his Twitter account: “I come back to HK & Ihear terrible news about what happened in the Philippines. A lot of things don’t happen to your own country you don’t pay attention to.Then he added in another tweet: “This kind of things always happen around the world … HK is a place built by a lot of dfferent people. Don’t worry! We do not hate!”Chan’s sentiments were lauded by Filipinos. Edwin Lacierda, spokesman fo Philippine President Benigno Aquino, was quoted by local media as saying he was grateful and regarded Chan’s behavior as “extending friendship” to FilipinoHowever, Chan incited hateful comments among those back home. Some formed an anti-Jackie Chan group on Facebook. “Shut up! You just dont understand the pain of Hong Kong people. You don’t represent Hong Kong,” one commenter wroteOn August 27, Chan clarified his comments and apologized to the people of Hong Kong. Chan said the confusion arose due to an incomplete translation by his American assistant, leading netizens to think his apology was insincere.
This wasn’t the first time Chan’somments have aroused controversy. Last year he complained about the chaotic situation in Hong Kong and Taiwan, saying people there have too much freedom and Chinese people need to be controlled more by the government.
Comment
No need to apologize
I don’t think Chan needs to apologize to us. We cannot criticize him. e’s an adult. As long as it’s not against the law, and as long as he accepts the consequences, nobody has the right to criticize him. It’s just that Chan said something during an inappropriate moment
–Lu Enhua, actress
Speak like a superstar
This is not the first time Chan has aroused hatred because of his careless comments. It seems like he’s trying to put some distance between himself [as a person] and his superstar status. He should probbly study [his past mistakes] so he stops making comments so unbefitting of someone of his stature.
–Simon Wang, government officer
Talk less about politics
As a celebrity, Chan has the right to give his opinion about public events, but he should be very careful when talking about political issues. If he really has to, maybe do some research first?
–Felix, engineer from Ireland
Jackie Chan wants kung fu as Olympic sport
August 23, 2010 Filed under Ahen
Hollywood martial arts star Jackie Chan srtikes a pose. AFP Photo
BEIJING — Hollywood martial arts star Jackie Chan has called for wushu, better known outside China as kung fu, to be recognised as an official Olympic sport, state media reported Sunday.
“I love wushu a lot and I would love to see it included in future Olympic Games,” Chan, who was in Beijing to record a theme song for an upcoming combat event, was quoted as saying by the official China Daily newspaper.
The International Olympic Committee recognises wushu as a sport but has not included it as an official event in the Games, unlike other Asian martial arts such as taekwondo and judo that are now part of the global sports gathering.
However, the IOC allowed China to organise an international wushu tournament at the same time as the 2008 Beijing Games to showcase the sport — an event that was attended by Jet Li, another Hollywood actor and kung fu star.
Chan explained that wushu’s many styles of fighting and different schools could have hindered its inclusion as an official Olympic sport, the report said.
“This makes it difficult for wushu to make a unified impression to international audiences,” he said.
Chan, who has put his martial arts skills to use in several blockbuster films, began practising wushu as a child and says he still works on his moves daily, the report said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jBHY6j-8FhCNwDbn_0Y1WPPIWm7A
Why No Political Commentary in ‘The Karate Kid’?
June 8, 2010 Filed under Yu Shanshan
Sometimes people set up bloggers with easy, softball opportunities that just write themselves. I love it, particularly on the weekend when my attention is not focused 100% on the blog.
Case in point: Patrick Goldstein’s movie review of “The Karate Kid” in the LA Times. I don’t know anything about the movie and don’t plan on seeing it, but the review got my attention.
After discussing why a movie ostensibly about karate is all about kung fu (good point), Goldstein goes off on a rant about China’s control over the movie’s content:
[T]he brand that gets the best treatment in the movie is the brand of China. For Sony, the idea of having the film set in China was a huge inducement to make the film, since it gave the studio the opportunity to bolster the film’s enormous global appeal. Finding a way to have your summer movie play in China is a rare opportunity indeed, since the country is so restrictive that it only allows roughly 20 non-Chinese movies into its theaters each year. By cutting China’s state film arm into the action — China Film put up $5 million, roughly 1/8 of the movie’s budget — Sony was allowed to actually film in China, even in such normally inaccessible locations as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
This is sort of true. Sony certainly wants to cash in on the popularity of China — no surprise there. And yes, China has quotas on imported films, so it behooves foreign studios to find creative ways to ensure that the movie will be played there. China Film Group is a huge, State-owned player, so having it involved makes sense. All of this is just part of the business.
However, if CFG put up actual money, then the film should be an official Sino-foreign joint production and be eligible for screening as a domestic film. Probably more going on here than I’ve seen in the press, but at least on its face, the whole issue of import quotas may not even be important here.
Here’s where Goldstein starts to get a little preachy and weird, though:
Of course, in return, China clearly had veto power over any issues involving the film’s portrayal of the country. I know that “Karate Kid” is intended as pure entertainment, but it operates as a wonderfully organic propaganda tool for China, presenting a largely sanitized version of the country.
Let me stop there. First, let’s acknowledge that China already had veto power over the content of the film via import quotas (if applicable) and censorship review (mandatory for domestic or foreign films), which are two separate things (and two separate bites at the content apple). Having China Film Group involved in the production may have had an effect on content, but we don’t know that, and CFG, while a State-owned company, is not an arm of the Communist Party.
One of the reasons a company like CFG is brought into a production is that they have a good idea at the outset what will/will not be likely to pass censorship. You get them involved at the outset, and you run into fewer speed bumps later on, which saves you money.
Goldstein seems to think that this control had a direct effect on content:
There are no political dissidents, no shots of environmental disasters, no one trying in vain to reach thousands of restricted Internet sites.
Are we still talking about The Karate Kid?
But yeah, I understand where Goldstein is coming from. When I saw Rocky IV, I remember thinking that the movie totally whitewashed the issue of racism in the inner cities, not to mention wetlands pollution.
And shit, for that matter, what about Iron Man II? Where is the discussion about Net Neutrality or the Arizona Immigration Law? Jon Favreau is obviously an industry shill and an Obama lackey.
Although there is a plot wrinkle involving a pack of teenage bullies who prey on Jaden’s character, the rest of the populace is portrayed as happy, contented and well-fed, without any complaints, even about the unbearable air and the hideous traffic. The parks are full of people exercising and playing sports, the schools are full of well-mannered, upwardly-mobile kids.
Well, yes, the movie is clearly misleading us on these issues, isn’t it? Everyone knows that the vast majority of Chinese nationals are starving, pissed off, and miserable. Moreover, speaking as a law school professor, I can tell you that my students are anything but well-mannered — what a transparent lie! — I go into class with a bullwhip and a chair (and my Powerpoint slides).
Are you kidding me? Goldstein is taking issue with showing people that are happy and well fed? Students who behave in class? Not only are these things true, but I think there is a bit of projection going on here. The American schools are the battle zones where teachers get assaulted, not Chinese schools. Holy crap, is this guy misinformed or what?
I will give him the air pollution, traffic, and Great Firewall, but these kinds of things are not always easy to work into the script, particularly since they are not quite so relevant to the plot, story, or character development.
Jaden’s romance with a local Chinese girl is as chaste as anything you’d see on the Disney Channel (though as Horn’s story points out, not chaste enough for the Chinese censors, who made the filmmaker cut out a teeny-tiny kiss between the kids for the Chinese version of the film).
This one confused me. Is Goldstein saying that the chastity is misleading because Chinese people have a tendency to get busy with one another? Or is he bemoaning the fact that the movie had to cut a scene because of a kiss? Either way, what’s the point? Chinese society is actually very sensitive about public displays of affection, and that act of censorship is very run of the mill.
I await with breathless anticipation Goldstein’s upcoming review of the new Shrek movie. I hear that it completely glosses over the problems with the American health care system.
‘The Karate Kid’ or ‘The Kung Fu Kid’?
April 5, 2010 Filed under Ahen
Chan and Smith practice in the rain.
“The Karate Kid” or “The Kung Fu Kid”?
That’s the debate among movie fans over the remake of the 1984 film, “The Karate Kid.”
Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith star in the new version, also called “The Karate Kid,” which opens in the U.S. on June 11 and other global markets this summer. The trouble, however, is that Chan is a master of kung fu, a Chinese martial art, not karate, which originates from Japan. That fact has spawned a cottage industry of sorts, with numerous Web sites devoted to online discussions over the movie’s title.
The original, which starred Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, tells the story of Mr. Miyagi, a Japanese handyman, who teaches teenager Daniel LaRusso karate in order to confront bullies. In the process, Miyagi becomes the boy’s mentor and father figure. Morita earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his performance, and the movie spawned three sequels.
The remake takes a 12-year-old kid and his mother from Detroit and transports them into a new life in China. There, too, the young Smith (son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, both of whom are among the movie’s producers) is teased and bullied by other kids before being taken under the wing of Chan’s Mr. Han character and taught kung fu.
The new movie’s detractors insist that the title of the remake should be “The Kung Fu Kid,” while fans eagerly awaiting the release don’t take issue with the name. Others just seem confused about the difference between Chinese kung fu and Japanese karate. (Kung fu and karate employ distinctly different movement techniques and each are steeped in their own cultural histories.)
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/04/05/the-karate-kid-or-the-kung-fu-kid/
Jackie Chan Premieres ‘Little Big Soldier’
February 23, 2010 Filed under Ahen
At the Hong Kong premier of “Little Big Soldier.” From left, actress Lin Peng, Emperor Group chairman Albert Yeung, Jackie Chan, actor Steve Yoo and director Ding Sheng
Jackie Chan is off to a lightning-fast start in 2010. With the year not even two months old yet, the kung fu star already has a second movie hitting cinemas: “Little Big Soldier,” his first film for the packed Chinese New Year season in nine years.
In what in all likelihood is the first Warring States Period comedy-action buddy road movie, Chan plays a soldier who captures a general (Wang Leehom of “Lust Caution”) from a rival state and intends to exchange his prisoner for a peaceful life as a farmer. The two develop a cautious friendship as they battle against common enemies.
Chan has been heavily promoting the Chinese-language movie — showing up at the premiere in Hong Kong on Friday night just a few days after presenting the movie at the Berlin International Film Festival. For Chan, it’s a fine display of his signature comedic-athletic style after his dramatic turn in last year’s “Shinjuku Incident.”
The 55-year-old actor had been kicking around the idea of “Little Big Soldier” for 20 years, and his mark on the project is conspicuously apparent: He’s credited with the original story as well as producer, executive producer, action director and, of course, star. His enthusiastic efforts appeared to have paid off: The movie has been getting generally favorable reviews.
“Little Big Soldier” follows the opening last month of the English-language action comedy “The Spy Next Door” in North America and some markets in Asia. That movie wasn’t as well-received, but fans can look forward to his next film this summer — a remake of the modern-American classic, “The Karate Kid.”
– Dean Napolitano
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/02/22/jackie-chan-premieres-little-big-soldier/
