January 16th, 2008
OMG! Bey Logan on Attack of the Show! Some other guy appears too.
I had even money on being cut, but apparently Attack of the Show left me in their Hong Kong travelogue. You can find me between shots of awesome Kung Fu movies and Bey Logan:
I probably have stories to tell about the experience and the resulting clip, but I’ll leave that for another time, if ever. Now that this whole thing is finally over, I hope we can leave it in the past - like our memory of that movie Himalaya Singh. We now return to our normal semi-unnecessary blogging.
Stephen Chow thanks you for your time:
“Thank you for putting up with this.”
January 16th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Congrats Kozo! You look great on camera
I didn’t know Peking Opera Blues is your all time fave kung fu film (I’m sort of emberrassed to say that my all time fave kung fu film would be same with BL’s)
January 17th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Thanks for posting that — now I don’t have to watch that channel!
And you mentioned Peking Opera Blues and for that I tip my hat to you sir!
You know, there’s something funny about watching Bey Logan talking about the retitling of King Boxer when Dragon Dynasty have just announced their release of The Banquet as Legend of the Black Scorpian — no kidding.
And he mentioned Fist of Legend — I’m guessing here — because a true version of it has not been available in the West for years, the DD people are sitting on it, and about to release it soon so he was plugging it to the US fanboy audience.
See, that’s why I love this site: you are a fan and you are doing this out of love (I think; why else would anyone sit through Wesley’s Mysterious File or Avenging Fist?) and Bey Logan, whatever his talents and smarts, usually *seems* to me to be trying to sell product.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:22 am
Good (and amusing) to see you get some camera-time.
Keep up the good work!
January 17th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Actually, the question that was asked of me was, “What’s your favorite Hong Kong movie?” So, I first answered Chungking Express, followed by Peking Opera Blues. My final answer was actually Police Story, in order to give them a real action movie. Not sure why Peking Opera Blues was the answer that was used.
Anyway, I just did this for fun. The G4 guys were cool, and I’m just glad that I didn’t come off looking like a complete yokel. At least, this is my opinion. I’m sure some people saw it and thought, “What a tool.”
About Bey Logan, I’ve only met him briefly, but it’s clear that he has passion for and extensive knowledge of Hong Kong cinema. He’s also “in the business”, so in the end, he still has to represent his job and company. I, too, agree that Curse of the Black Scorpion is a terrible title, but these are the compromises that unavoidably do happen in the industry. The alternative is that it probably wouldn’t be getting a US release.
January 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
i think ppl should take note in the part, when they are asked their favourite hk film, bey logan specifically said action film - which is really his main forte, critically and professionally, whilst kozo just simply said peking opera blues (meaning of not any specific genre..).
the clip was ok, it’s what you expect really from an ‘outsider’s’ p.o.v, direct and on the surface i.e concentrating on the chop socky aspect of hk cinema.
as for bey logan, i’m a bit mixed really. when i first got into hk cinema, naturally it was through action films and the uk hong kong legends dvd label. bey’s audio commentaries were really entertaining and insightful. what impressed me most was that he didn’t talk down to the listener with dumbed down notes etc; he was subtle with explaining certain things and pretty tactful. without sounding clice, he did seem to mix the east with the west(ern audiences) pretty well. basically i really respected the guy.
then of late with his more commercial sensibilities you get a feeling of ‘is he selling out’? working for eeg group and shock horror the weinstein company etc (!). yet you have to look at it in economics and demographics. think of it as fans getting a kick out of introducing hk cinema to friends etc. spread the interest/passion you have to as many ppl..
so in that respect i guess he’s just ‘working it’ on the commercial side and inevitably overlooks/do things which may seem to them ‘a tactical move’ (e.g changing film titles to something more sensationalist)..
January 17th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
ha-ha! i just literally pressed the submit comment button now and read your comment (posted before mine)!
we pretty much say the same thing, though i’m a bit more long winded.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Supercool, Kozo! I must say, your voice sounds different than how I imagined it would sound.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
>>>>>I first answered Chungking Express>>>>
I don’t particularly care for Bey Logan but I respect his knowledge. As for Fist of Legend I really think that it has the best martial art scenes in film (for me), I like the story too, and even though Bruce Lee version is also very good, I like this one better since it has better pacing and visuals (I liked Bruce Lee better as the angry lead though)
January 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Well I guess the good things about Dragon Dynasty so far are that they are just retitling things — I’ve not heard any horror stories yet of them recutting or rescoring films;
And they are not interfering with online retailers who are selling legitimate HK products in other regions — unlike when they leaned on monkeypeaches for linking to legit sellers of the Chinese dvd of Hero even while they were sitting on the film for another year (I really need to read that book about the Weinsteins as it supposedly covers all that kind of stuff).
AND..after that ramble…Yes, Kozo, your voice is totally higher than what I expected. Maybe it was just the TV sound. That’s not a bad thing but a bit jarring for a split-second.
But, on the whole, you seemed like the expert you are. And you were NOT a loud fanboy like that network probably expected to go with their “chopsocky” montage.
And Eliza, I see you on all the same blog boards as me but you don’t have a blog? (Not that I update mine very much)
January 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Oh I love to be able to write a blog of my own but I’m simply too lazy. I actually tried twice to keep a blog about Turkish films but as I said I’m too lazy and I don’t have much talent. I highly admire people who can write well (like our Kozo) and have the guts to put their thoughts out for everyone to read.
January 18th, 2008 at 6:40 am
How much did they pay you to do this? HK movies isn’t just chopsocky! I would love Bey Logan to keep quiet.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I only watched it up to your “segment.” You are so camera-friendly! haha. ;D
January 18th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Haha, my reputation has not yet grown to the point where I can charge for public appearances. It probably never will either. I still struggle to get my emails answered.
I realized before I agreed to appear that their demographic would skew towards the “chopsocky” image. G4 is a channel for geek culture - games, movies, comics, etc. - and Chungking Express is tough to sell to that crowd. If I had used this as an attempted opportunity to evangelize the crowd, I just would have been cut.
My appearance on G4 may not have changed that perception, but hopefully it’ll send a couple of people to the site - which I think does present a less stereotyped view of Hong Kong Cinema. I really only did this for fun. Besides, my parents like to see me on TV.
And about Bey Logan again, I sometimes wonder what would happen if I ever had a job like his, acquiring Asian films for western distribution. I’m sure it would be impossible to maintain my own personal beliefs on subtitles, localization, etc., if I intended to keep my job. Jobs, like life, require compromise, and I think you can quadruple that for the film business. This is why I gave up film production in the first place. That, and I have no talent.
And yeah, my voice is rather disappointing. I would love to have that deep Takeshi Kaneshiro voice, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I’m sure it has cost me dates.
January 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This is great! You look good on camera
I like how you acknowledged Peking Opera Blues, but was a bit surprised because the question was to name your favorite HK movie. Now, after reading the comments, I see that Chungking Express is still 1st on your list 
Perhaps it’s a good thing that G4 used the Peking Opera Blues part of your answer, because that will spike interest in viewers who haven’t seen the movie.
I wish the segment was longer though. Is there going to be a Part 2? Now that they’ve covered the essential genre of martial arts, may be G4 could do a bit on Hong Kong crime movies.
January 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Awesome … so good to see you on camera talking about all your HK film knowledge. Keep up the great work! The host seemed a bit of a tool though, like in other segments about HK.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:49 am
Congrats! It is awesome to see you on TV! Anyway you seems handling well about camera interviews… look foward to your further updates. It would be nice if you can put some subtitles on the video clip. Keep up the good work! =)