Note: This blog expresses only the opinions of the blog owner, and does not represent the opinion of any organization or blog that is associated with Damn you, Kozo!.
Everybody loves CJ7. That is, except the people who didn’t like it. There are actually quite a few, judging from the film’s lukewarm-to-positive response both locally and on the web. Personally speaking, the movie isn’t great nor is it terrible; its worst offense is that it’s simply a bit of a let down, especially considering that it’s Stephen Chow’s first movie in 3 years and that he really isn’t in it very much.
Not sure why he should care though. The movie is making bank. And man, that CJ7 is one cute critter.
“I love you, my little cash cow.”
However, they could make about 40 extra bucks if they could stop something like this:
Two McDonald’s coupons can get you a copy of CJ7
What’s in this blurry photo that I took with my mobile phone? Why, it’s none other than a shoe box where you can deposit 20 Hong Kong dollars voluntarily. Afterwards you can take one of the paper-sleeved VCD copies of CJ7 the nice people who set up the box have left next to the shoe box. Whether or not it actually contains a copy of CJ7 is a good question. It could be just a trailer, or maybe a blank CD. Worst case scenario: it’s a copy of Wonder Women.
By the way, nobody is manning this little kiosk because, well, this is illegal. I suppose there might be somebody watching the stand from afar, but nobody came out of the shadows to kneecap me when I took this photo. So maybe nobody was nearby. Anyway, I hear they’re all in Canada looking for this guy:
No caption required
HK Customs, if you’re reading this: run now to the Kwai Hing MTR Station in the New Territories. You’ll be able to sieze about ten bootleg copies of CJ7, not to mention the 40 illegally-earned HK dollars that are sitting in the shoe box. I wish you all the luck in the world. Frankly, all bootlegged VCDs or DVDs should end up like this:
The deserved fate of all illegal media
Sadly, the above disc is genuine. It’s been stuffed in the dirt to ward off birds at a local community garden. One would think that using tinfoil or some other form of shiny, bird-repelling trash would work just as well, but nope, they’re using Hong Kong movies to keep birds from eating their flowers.
At least the movie they’ve tossed is Rules of the Game, a nineties triad movie that would never qualify for a classic genre retrospective. It could be worse. They could be misusing a good movie like, say, Benny Chan’s excellent nineties actioner Big Bullet.
Oh, sorry, they’re using that too:
This VCD is a metaphor for Jordan Chan’s career
What does all this show us? Probably what most of us already know: that people in Hong Kong don’t really value entertainment, much less the media its encoded onto. An old VCD is worth more as a makeshift scarecrow than it is as a form of entertainment. Sadly, the same garden also contained some discarded DVDs, including a little movie called The Fellowship of the Ring, so this poor respect for the creative work of others applies to movies from pretty much anywhere. It’s just disposable junk to a lot of people in Hong Kong, and is not worth more than 2 hours of braindead time. Apparently, over 10,000 wasted man-hours devoted to media hype and celebrity scandal are far more valuable and necessary.
Man, I’m depressed. Not even Louis Koo hawking watches can make me feel better.
Former softcore pin-up girl with current hardcore pin-up guy
Oh wait, the above photo has THAT GUY in it! You know, the one who’s at the center of Hong Kong’s bizarre media circus that needs its own Wong Jing parody film. Frankly, the “thing involving the pictures that resemble people who’ve worked with Charlene Choi” is all anyone can talk about over here. I would add to the constant buzzing in your ears, but it’s still not over and it seems that I change my mind about it every single day. Maybe I’ll say something afterwards.
A week or so ago, I said I wouldn’t make fun of it because it involved criminal activity and frankly, I was tired of the media coverage. I’m still tired of it, but now the whole thing has escalated to the point where I have to make fun of it simply because it’s the only way I can deal with the constant barrage of news and gossip related to He Who Shall Not Be Named.
No, not Voldemort. I’m talking about this guy again.
“I’m a good person!”
Um…no, you’re not.
At this point, everyone will come out of this debacle looking bad, including the participants, the victims, the media, the police, and the overexcited and frankly overjudgmental public. I’d give everyone a giant raspberry, but it’s so cold that I feel drained of the required energy to complete such an action. Instead, I’m providing this picture to illustrate how I see the entire mess:
I’m betting on the kangaroo.
Sudden subject change: some weeks ago, I blogged briefly about my Andy Lau concert experience. Basically, it consisted of me marveling at the man’s endless energy, willingness to put himself in danger, and his unparalleled pitchman abilities. The concert was fun, because Andy Lau was Andy Lau. Accept no substitutes.
“Thanks, Kozo!”
However, Andy Lau’s concert was only the second I’ve attended in my three years since moving to Hong Kong. The first one was Sammi Cheng’s back in May. Actually, I’ve seen her in concert twice before in the states, so basically this latest Sammi concert I attended was just like old home week. The fact that Sammi and I have both aged adds to the metaphor.
I actually wrote a Life with Kozo column about my Sammi Cheng Hong Kong concert experience back in May 2007, but it never saw print because I never got around to posting it. It’s buried somewhere on my hard drive along with some, uh, pictures I don’t want anyone to see.
These pants no longer contain any mysteries
Thankfully, I attended my third concert just recently. I lucked into a ticket to one of Jacky Cheung’s remaining concerts here in Hong Kong. Here are some shots from Yahoo HK:
“This one’s for you people in the crappy seats!”
Only Jacky is allowed to wear a jacket.
Jacky said during the concert that the dancers were all masked in order to make him look better. Personally speaking, I don’t think Jacky is all that bad looking, though someone I once knew had him classified in the “ugly guy, good singer” category, the implication being that there’s a category called “pretty guy, bad singer.” You can figure out who goes into that category yourself.
But I enjoyed Jacky’s concert a bit more than Andy Lau’s, to be honest. Andy is pure entertainment, but as a singer, Jacky clearly wins. Also, I sat in the cheap seats so I had no choice but to appreciate Jacky for his vocal range and ability to act effeminate without ever threatening his manhood. The man is multi-talented.
A sample of my perspective that evening:
The lightsabers were free
Sadly, Jacky did not have a guest performer - which really sucked because I was expecting something like this:
The number of people in this photo also attended Nick Cheung’s last concert
Now that I’ve seen Jacky Cheung, I’ve officially attended concerts for two of the Sky Kings. That’s two down, and two to go. Who are the remaining two? Well, there’s this guy:
He’s been at this all morning
And this guy:
Aaron Kwok and a, uh, Golden Horse
I’m actually betting that Mr. Golden Horse will be the next one I see. After all, Aaron Kwok does have a concert going on right now in Hong Kong. Maybe I’ll luck into some tickets, and hopefully he won’t wear something like this:
Insert your own caption here
By the way, we just had Valentine’s Day here in Hong Kong. Two years ago on Valentine’s Day, I went and hung out with a friend - who we’ll call Mr. G - in Lan Kwai Fong. We went to a party attended by other single people who had no Valentine’s Day dates. I actually didn’t want to go, but I went as his wingman. I still paid for my own drinks.
The highlight of the evening came when he introduced me to a pretty girl who worked in Central. Mr. G said to her, “This guy runs a famous website! It’s all about Hong Kong movies!”
“Really,” she said. “About Hong Kong movies?”
“Yep,” was my reply. My beer was warm.
She arched an eyebrow. “But Hong Kong movies are shit.”
Kenichi Matsuyama will tell you how I felt:
“You suck, Kozo.”
Being single is tough.
A final dating tip for all the guys. If you want to do well with the ladies, you need one of these:
Just learn how to repair it yourself.
Photo credits: Yahoo HK, Apple Daily, a borrowed digital camera, and my hard drive.
Hong Kong is so boring and cold. Nothing is happening at all right now.
Stephen, you’d better wash your right hand.
Actually, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you do know that something’s up, namely the ire of the populace and the local media thanks to the appropriately named Edison-Gillian-Bobo-Cecilia Scandal. I have been asked my opinion on this subject by about three people…so I’m going to post it on my blog!
To be honest, my response is a rather pedestrian one that really means nothing. Indeed, this whole fiasco really doesn’t bother me that much. I’m more bothered by the fact that it has delivered tons of useless traffic to my website, in the form of people desperately searching out photos of Edison and his conquests. I live in a small world.
But in the meantime, I’d like to say that this is an invasion of privacy and probably one of the stupidest things I’ve ever been witness to.
No, I’m not talking about the pictures themselves, which are someone’s private business and were taken by a bunch of consenting, but rather foolhardy individuals. Really, nothing is that shocking here, unless you’re so prudish that sex is a complete turnoff. So, young women have sex? Yes, they do. So, a dope kid like Edison takes pictures of his conquests and saves them on his hard drive? Hardly a surprise, considering the “I’m from the streetz” stereotype Ed seems determined to embody with every phrase or action that he’s party to. At least he never claimed to be a role model.
Basically, we’ve learned three things from this:
1. Edison Chen is someone who you would like to stay away from your sister.
2. Famous women can have bad taste in men, and can sometimes do stupid things just like regular women.
3. Hong Kong is full of people who should know better.
I say this last thing because some people seem to act like they have a right to own these photos. Currently, webmasters of forums that hosted the photos are being arrested, leading to outrage from the local citizenry. Results of a current Apple Daily poll are frightening. According to the poll, 76% of all respondents think the blame for this fiasco actually lies with the photographer, and not with the people who chose to illegally distribute the offending photos without said photographer’s permission. There’s even talk of some sort of protest or march in support of people who posted Edison’s private photos on their websites. Say what?
Sometimes I wish people would just learn to leave these things alone. Did we really have to see and share these photos? Artists are people, too. They don’t belong to us. We can make fun of them if they trip up publicly, but this is a case of criminals taking private property that belonged to someone and using it to damage them. The artists are the victims here. Even Edison.
I still wouldn’t want him to date my sister, though.
Let’s close this with a photo:
“I’ll beat up anyone who says anything bad about Ryosuke.”
Because I still can’t finish yet another edition of Kozo’s Shopping Cart of Crap - it keeps ballooning because I keep buying more DVDs - I’m going to start yet another feature on this blog. It’s a Movie News Roundup, affectionately called “Damn You, Movie News!” But since everything is in newsbite form, we can also call it News Bullets of LoveHKFilm. We even have a mascot for the occasion:
Run, Leon, Run!
Note that this new feature will not take the place of the movie news that you can find on such fun sites as The Golden Rock or Kaiju Shakedown. I have neither the time nor language ability to effectively deliver news like those other sites, and some is probably so late as to be bothersome. Hell, this may be the only time I attempt such a feature.
Also, most of this news here is second or third hand, i.e. people tell me about it in passing and whatever I recall gets typed up here. What that means is that it’s practically all hearsay and should not necessarily be considered accurate. In this way, I’m not unlike many other members of the media.
CJ7 premieres!
Who in this picture looks the most unhappy?
Stephen Chow’s CJ7 just had its premiere here in Hong Kong, and reporters are all abuzz about the supposed frosty relationship between Stephen Chow and his new find, Kitty Zhang Yuqi. She’s the most comely female in the picture above. To better understand why Stephen Chow cast her, there’s this photo:
Stephen Chow has an undeniable eye for, uh, talent
What they’re saying is that she’s misbehaving and that Chow is blocking her from further opportunities, including a supposed Hollywood role in that rumored Will Smith-produced remake of The Karate Kid. At the premiere, the two reportedly never spoke or even exchanged eye contact. She was also late to the premiere and completely skipped an earlier promotion because she wasn’t feeling well.
If people recall, Zhang made headlines a while back when she went and got eyelid surgery during the filming of CJ7, causing potential continuity problems for the film, and understandably pissing Stephen Chow off to no end. Previously, Chow has had publicized issues with two more of his “discoveries”, Eva Huang Shengyi and Cecilia Cheung, though the latter was handled somewhat amicably - which was why Cheung ended up having a cameo in Shaolin Soccer. What this has to do with the current rumored Chow-Zhang rift is something that one can only speculate on. Go ahead and give it a try.
Possibly more frustrating to the average “who cares about gossip” moviegoer is the fact that numerous Hong Kong dailies, including the Apple Daily, Oriental Daily, and Orisun, revealed spoilers or the end of the film in their online and print stories. In the case of the Apple Daily, the ending was revealed in the story headline. The others were kind and either put the spoilers in the body of the story, or the sub headlines. This occurred in periodicals dated January 25th, 2008. That’s a full six days before the film’s release.
As a result of the above, the Hong Kong Media wins our Supreme Bonehead Award, which is reserved for those who ruin it for EVERYONE. Nice job, Hong Kong media! It’s days like today when the inability to read Chinese is a blessing.
By the way, I did hear that Kitty Zhang gave away the ending much earlier in Mainland interviews. She rocks!
This guy rocks, too:
“One day, I will leave this boy everything I own.”
CJ7 merchandising blitz!
Yep, now for an extra $19 Hong Kong dollars at Kentucky Fried Chicken, you can own your very own CJ7 plush toy with attached Fai Chun, or a new year blessing or wish.
I own lots of crap.
This particular one has carries the wish, “Girlfriend won’t change to Yu Fa.”
In case you’re wondering, this is Yu Fa:
Tsui Hark announces new film, abandons a dozen others
It seems like Tsui Hark gets attached to a new movie every other week (Like The Eye 3 - will he ever make that?), but the other day, he held a press conference to talk about his new film, which may or may not be a retooling of his classic Peking Opera Blues. Here’s Tsui with his actresses at the event.
“We’ve just hit our third bar tonight!”
For the record, the actresses are - yes, it’s her again - Kitty Zhang (in the fab platinum wig) , Zhou Xun and Guey Lun-Mei from Jay Chou’s Secret. The combo is certainly attractive from a male heterosexual perspective, but the released images are bizarre-looking, to say the least:
My guess on the English language title is Tsui Hark’s Powerpuff Girls.
I think Guey Lun-Mei is playing Blossom.
Tsui Hark’s 21st century track record doesn’t really inspire confidence, so it’s understandable if this new film is greeted with a collective raised eyebrow. I actually enjoyed Time and Tide and even Seven Swords. However, Black Mask 2 and The Legend of Zu were under whelming, to say the least.
But, as is the case with everything, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. There are some people who swear that The Legend of Zu is a masterpiece. I got an email once from someone who said, “You sir, are an idiot,” because I said in my review that The Legend of Zu was confusing and “like swimming in cement.” It was only my opinion, but this person was bothered enough to write in to ask me what the hell was up. Obviously I was heartbroken and went and amended my review right away.
And obviously, Stephen Chow hasn’t blocked Kitty Zhang from making this film, so, uh, I have no idea what the real story is there.
Yumiko Cheng stars in movie that most people probably don’t care about
Here’s a movie that I bet the movie geek websites are not talking about. Walking wardrobe malfunction Yumiko Cheng is starring in Yet Another Youth Film (NOTE: not actual film title) with Yan Ng, some guy, singer Jason Chan, some other girl, and a few other people. I predict many film careers will start and end with this movie.
A minute after this photo was taken, Yumiko Cheng’s top fell off
Here’s Yumiko attending the start-of-shoot ceremony. Her reaction to the ceremonial cutting of the roast pork is odd, to say the least:
“Ooo, he’s cutting off the head! Yay!”
Ekin Cheng stars in new film, almost hits pedestrians with car
Ekin Cheng is making a new movie! This is so exciting that I’ve decided to extend the lifespan of LoveHKFilm.com so we can at least review it:
“Hey, you’re that guy from Anna in Kung-fu land! That sucked!”
Ekin stars with Karena Lam in this romance, which marks the directorial debut of Ivy Ho, better known as the screenwriter of Comrades, Almost a Love Story and July Rhapsody. Ho also wrote Divergence and Linger, but our memory is selective and we can’t quite recall what happened in those films. Or, we don’t wish to.
Anyway, when shooting the above scene, Cheng accidentally put the car in reverse, annoying the locals with his lousy driving skills. So, besides his acting and his Mandarin, Cheng’s driving is also below par. On the other hand, this is the fourth time he’s co-starred with Karena Lam, so he’s obviously way superior to anyone here.
Damn you, Ekin Cheng!
“Look Karena, it’s that silly Kozo person. Let’s laugh at him together.”
Sammi Cheng returns from Everlasting Regret exile to make new film
Also on the movie rebound is Sammi Cheng, who teams with Eason Chan for a comedy in which she plays a police inspector.
Cheng waiting in the van:
Sammi Cheng mistakes the window for a mirror
The good news is that Sammi Cheng has finally chosen to return to Hong Kong film, and is doing a commercially-viable audience film rather than an award-baiting arthouse picture. In even more good news, the film is being directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, who made the underrated Moonlight in Tokyo and had something to do with those Infernal Affairs movies.
I’m not sure what the bad news is, but I’m sure the HK media will come up with something.
Wong Jing casts TVB starlet Fala Chen in new film
Making her screen debut in a new film is Fala Chen, who will be working with Simon Yam and Wong Jing on some unknown motion picture that will probably be better than Beauty and the Seven Beasts and worse than Colour of the Truth.
Hopefully, this is also her last film with Wong Jing.
In a coincidence, Fala Chen will also be playing a police inspector, though she’s obviously much younger and has arguably greater marketing upside than Sammi Cheng does. Who is Fala Chen, you ask? She was once crowned Miss Asia America, and is one of TVB’s rising starlets.
She’s better known around Hong Kong for appearing in dramas like this:
Plus posing for photos like this:
We call this fan service.
Francis Ng suffers for art, sports bad hair in film
Finally, in our upcoming movie file there’s this new film, starring Francis Ng and Taiwan star Terri Kwan:
“I had electroshock therapy yesterday.”
Eric Tsang is producing this thriller, which is about a hitman and a prostitute. I’m sure everyone is excited now. What I’m most excited about is Francis Ng’s hair, which may be more entertaining than the film, and could go down in the pantheon of Crappy Hair Hong Kong movies. Ng is a veteran of crappy hair anyway. Who can forget him in The White Dragon:
Not the new Star Trek movie.
Producer Eric Tsang is also a Crappy Hair Veteran. Check him out in A Wondrous Bet:
“It’s not alive, so stop speaking to it.”
Not to mention The Pye Dog:
“It’s also a mop.”
While we’re discussing Crappy Hair, the stars of Tsui Hark’s new film look a little extreme:
Pop quiz: Stephen Chow is unhappy with which girl?
But can their bad hair really top this trio?
How can they fight without depth perception?
And hey, who can forget this spectacular ‘do?
“It’s me again!”
Andy Lau refuses to be left out!
“Rule #1: Nobody talks about Fight Club.”
However, to me the greatest Crappy Hair Movie of all time is none other than Future Cops:
I bought a DVD of this film just for these screen captures
Why I fixate on movie hair is unknown, but that’s the way it goes. Bad hair and bad outfits are always easy to pick on because, well, they’re bad. It’s the same reason that we can’t stop talking about Wong Jing movies or D-War. Besides, hairstyles are fun.
But we’re out of news. Here’s one more picture from the CJ7 premiere:
I love You Tube. It allows me to write next to nothing and still pretend that my blog posts are substantial. I may never write a full post again.
For some odd reason, I feel like sharing this commercial with everyone:
Every time I turn on the television in Hong Kong, I see this ad. I’m not exactly sure why it happens, but it happens. I think it’s following me. Anyway, as a result of Daniel Wu’s convincing concern for my skin, I’ve just bought a case of that product.
Also, repeated viewings of the commercial have given me the opportunity to perfect my Daniel Wu impression, most especially his inimitable way of mixing Cantonese with English phrases. I demonstrated it at work the other day and people went insane. Of course, it could have been because I was wearing this outfit:
Jay Chou’s washer/dryer combo fails him again
Yes, I used this photo last week. The above photo was from a Secret promotion in Korea. Afterwards, Jay Chou was voted as the worst-dressed celebrity in the country, an honor bestowed upon him by the netizens at sportsseoul.com. Really. I didn’t make that part up, unlike practically everything else that goes on this blog.
Oh, and this is my favorite commercial. It totally makes up for Chow Yun-Fat dropping out of Red Cliff.
By the way, Chow isn’t the only guy that pushes casinos:
I have no desire to stay at a hotel that lets its guests wear shoes in the pool.
In the interest of equal time, here’s a clip of Stephy Tang.
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.
Today I’m going to start another feature on this blog, called Kozo’s Mailbag. It is what it sounds like: answers to actual e-mails that I receive. For something to qualify for Kozo’s Mailbag it has to ask a question that A) I think may be interesting to more than one individual, B) be something that can’t be easily researched via Google, and C) not have anything to do with contacting a celebrity. If you have a question that qualifies, go ahead and send it in here.
Also, as is a non-tradition around here, I’ll try to keep my answers short. However, this very first edition of Kozo’s Mailbag is very appropriate for the site because it’s one question composed of six separate ones. So, unlike the site’s reviews, keeping it short is pretty much impossible. I apologize in advance. If you’d like, you can simply not read it. Also, the question critiques my review of Peter Chan’s Warlords, and was sent in by a reader who has also seen it. As such, it may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution.
“Takeshi, hold out your hand and close your eyes.”
Anyway, Mei San of Malaysia asks:
Referring to your review of The Warlords, there are some questions that I hope to raise.
1. Why doesn’t the review elaborate on the actors’ showmanship? Personally, that is the most crucial element of this movie considering the fact that Peter Chan primarily wants to portray details on the three very different characters of Pang, Zhao and Jiang.
About the acting in the film, I didn’t elaborate on it because I was not exceptionally impressed by it. More than anything, I felt it was overwrought. Andy Lau played his character charismatically, but it wasn’t much of a stretch for him, and his character was easily the least complex of the three. In Takeshi Kaneshiro’s case, he seemed to be more insane than conflicted, which really reduced my sympathy for him. I felt the part could have been handled better, though I’m not sure if the fault is Kaneshiro’s, Peter Chan’s, or perhaps that of the eight(!) screenwriters.
Only Jet Li really impressed me, because I felt he was able to carry the film without leaning on martial arts sequences. In most Jet Li films previous to Hero or Fearless, a lot of the time between ass-kicking sequences could be considered filler. It’s not like anyone went to see those movies to check out the burgeoning relationship between Jet and Chingmy Yau or Bridget Fonda. But in Warlords, we follow him with no promise of any real action sequences, and he keeps us with him throughout. I think this role is career-changing for Jet Li, because now he may be able to take on roles that don’t require heavy action. Jackie Chan, however, still hasn’t solved his similar problem.
Another reason I didn’t elaborate on the acting was that the review was already getting pretty long, and rather than comment further, I chose to encapsulate it in a few sentences in the beginning and the end, and then put this one to bed. Usually I try to comment on the acting, but I have to admit, with time being what it was, and the review starting to drag on, I thought I could skip it with Warlords. But I should realize that people do want to hear about the acting when the stars are as big as Andy Lau or Takeshi Kaneshiro. I’ll make note of that for next time.
2. The review points out an interesting point that Peter Chan did not manage to exploit the historical Taiping Rebellion to enhance his movie. But is there really a need to harp on the Taiping Rebellion? Perhaps all Peter Chan wanted the Taiping Rebellion was just as a setting and nothing more. After all, this is a movie on brotherhood rather than a movie on the history. Moreover, won’t a heavily historical movie be parochial in terms of plots and character descriptions, resulting in a movie like, perhaps, The Soong Dynasty?
I don’t feel there was really a particular need for Peter Chan to harp on the Taiping Rebellion. I just felt that given certain details presented in the film (Xu Jinglei’s crucifix, the messianic enemy general), some extra info could have been effective to explain those details to non-Chinese audiences. Providing some explanation could have made the film richer for history-impaired audiences.
This is purely my opinion, however, and not something that should be considered a flaw. It’s not like I disliked the movie because of this point. On the other hand, I do think there was a missed opportunity there to at least bring more in. Other than brotherhood, the concerns of the characters are largely human ones, and the contrast between the religious dogma of the Taiping and the bandits’ material needs would have been interesting. But was it be necessary? Probably not. Could it have made the film better? I think so, but again, that’s just my opinion.
3. The review elaborates a lot on commercialism. I thought Peter Chan did quite a good job in balancing between commercial (great cast) and cinematic values (a rather creative way of portraying brotherhood instead of just swords and blood) of the movie. Well, a movie, to a certain extent, still needs some commercial values, right? Although too much will definitely spoil it.
Actually, I think we’re in agreement on this point. I think Peter Chan did do a good job balancing the commercialism with his story and stars. The main reason I rambled on about commercialism is because I believe Peter Chan is much more concerned with the commercial appeal of his films than, say, Johnnie To or Pang Ho-Cheung. I think that’s always been the case since he got back from Hollywood, and he seems to say as much in his interviews. This isn’t a negative; actually, it’s quite smart, and I think Chan’s approach is helping Hong Kong and Asian film survive and even thrive on an international level. In the review, I describe the commercialism as a debit and a credit. It’s a debit because I do think that commercialism can make a film simpler and perhaps predictable. It’s a credit because it made for an accessible, entertaining film that should appeal to global audiences. The extra money in the bank isn’t a bad thing either.
4. Brotherhood theme is perfunctory? But till the end of each of Pang, Zhao and Jiang’s lives, they are, in one way or the other, still holding on to their oath. For e.g. Pang wants Jiang to kill him according to their oath; Zhao, being ignorant to the fact that Pang wants to kill him, rushes to save Pang from a rumoured coup against Pang; Jiang hopes to die with his two elder brothers and admits to be the assassin of Pang.
I think this next question is based on a misunderstanding of what I wrote. The brotherhood theme isn’t perfunctory; after all, that’s what the whole film was about. I just think that the actual brotherhood, as portrayed in the film, felt very perfunctory, in that it was presented as strong and powerful, but wasn’t given enough support to really show that strength to the audience.
The plot certainly contained all the requisite conflicts and themes, and I understood the importance of brotherhood to the story. But did I, as a captive audience member for 2+ hours, feel the brotherhood between the three? No, I didn’t. This is why I called it perfunctory, because it seemed to exist nominally, and not because the actors, director, or eight screenwriters made it work. I never really got a good sense of the three as brothers, such that when their relationship started to fall apart, it wasn’t that compelling to me. To me, this is the film’s largest flaw, and the reason I probably won’t put it in my Top 5 for 2007. It could make the Top 10, but that’s because only 50 films are made in Hong Kong per year.
5. The anti-war message? Peter Chan approaches war in a very realistic manner. No nationalistic purpose, but is rather to make ends meet, for self-seeking purposes.
The “anti-war” mention in the review was rather vague, and I regret using that word. Basically, the film demonstrates that war gives way to a certain pragmatism that can dehumanize or destroy. This isn’t “anti-war” per se, at least not in the tree-hugging, “give peace a chance” sort of way, though it does cast war in a negative light. I probably chose the wrong word to use there because “anti-war” carries connotations that the film does not demonstrate. I’ll edit my review shortly.
Hold on.
Okay, done.
6. What about Peter Kam’s music to enhance the war scenes? That’s definitely a point worth talking about, right? I mean, so far, I have never seen a movie which the soundtrack is so immensely effective in enhancing the war scenes.
Peter Kam’s music was good, but truthfully not something that I really felt I had to mention. To me, it was a rather obvious score, and not up to the level of, say, Chris Babida’s work in C’est La Vie, Mon Cheri, Alexandre Desplat’s work in Lust, Caution, or numerous film scores by James Wong (Green Snake is, to me, still the best Hong Kong movie soundtrack ever). I probably could have mentioned it, but I don’t think it would have taken up more than a sentence. This is kind of like the first question, about the actors. I just ran out of time/space/energy to push it to a 1600 word review. Not that it wasn’t long enough already.
Thanks for reading this lengthy mail. The above questions are just personal opinions, because I feel that The Warlords is a rather great movie and can be called a breakthrough in Peter Chan’s career. I have been expecting quite a good review from LoveHKfilm, but it’s a little disappointing that the review goes mainly about commercialism. No offense, just a 17 year old Hong Kong cinema fan trying to get some opinions from more senior fans. Thanks again.
No offense taken. I didn’t see the phrase, “you sir, are an idiot” in your email, so I’m perfectly fine with your comments. Hopefully my answers at least explained where I was coming from. Unfortunately, some of my answers were probably not the preferred ones, as they sometimes came with the admission that I was running out of time. Probably not the most professional thing to say, but at least it’s the truth.
Generally, two things occur when I review films. One, sometimes when I review a film I get carried away and write way more than I should. Unfortunately, if the review is 1300-2000 words long at the end of the process, then we’re kind of in No Man’s Land. All I can do then is look it over at a couple of times, see if I can cut some words here or there, try to keep the flow consistent, and then let it go. I wish I had an editor to look at the review before it gets published, or I could attempt multiple drafts of what I write, but this isn’t my full-time job. It’s just a hobby, and time is limited. If I finish, then I just throw the review up there and hope that I managed to cover everything I needed to - or, more important, that what I wrote made sense. Judging by some of the feedback I get, I’m not always successful.
The second thing that occurs when I review a film is that it gets filtered through my perspective, which is called “my” because that’s what it is: mine. It’s not necessarily better or more perceptive than anyone else’s. The only difference between the guy who sits behind you in the theater and me is that I choose to spend lots of time putting my opinion online. Sometimes when I write, the review goes in directions that I didn’t necessarily plan, meaning I sometimes leave out details that some people want to hear about. The Warlords review is one instance. I’ve also read complaints on some forums that I waste time talking about story or content or expectations, and don’t acknowledge the acting improvement of the Twins or Edison Chen. I can’t please everyone all of the time.
Anyway, the bottom line to this is a review is just an opinion, and I fully expect and even hope that people disagree with me. Watching film is subjective, and much of a person’s film experience is dictated by what they personally bring to it. I think a good film reviewer is not someone that people always agree with, but someone who is knowledgeable and can communicate well enough such that the person reading the review can make up their own mind. I keep this in mind whenever I write about a film, which is why I’m not incredibly effusive when I write. You won’t usually catch me saying, “This is one of the greatest Hong Kong films ever made!” because after seeing the number of movies I have, it’s hard to be so declarative. I’m not a person who’s into hype. All I do is watch movies, assemble my immediate opinions, and hope that what I write makes enough sense that people will be able to agree or disagree, and not simply say, “This person is an idiot.”
Though people say that, too. I know, because I save all their emails.
Happy New Year! At least, that’s what my parents taught me to say around this time of year. My version would be: it’s time for our customary New Year post, where I recap my 2007 and look forward to my 2008. I’m sure everyone is really excited.
Normally, I would drone on and on, but I’ll try to keep it short, because that’s how people like it. Especially Anthony Wong.
I will never grow tired of this photo
So here’s my 2007 in bullet points: - LoveHKFilm.com finished 5 years online, but I did nothing to celebrate.
- The site had an official meeting with Hong Kong entertainment personality Andrew Lin.
- I stopped bi-weekly updates, and yet ended up updating even more. Nobody noticed.
- LoveHKFilm.com published 160 reviews. I think that’s a lot.
- The site passed the 1500 review mark. I also think that’s a lot.
- Added 3 blogs: The Golden Rock, The House Where Words Gather, and this one. So far, nobody has complained.
- Life with Kozo died. Amazingly, some people did notice.
- The site’s Alexa ranking improved. Whoop-de-damn-do.
- The site’s Google Page rankings dropped. Which leads to…
- The site’s traffic fell in November and December. I blame the drop on IMDB and Wikipedia, the two sites that leapfrogged LoveHKFilm.com in virtually every Google ranking. There were also others, but listing them would take too much time.
- I updated the polls less frequently. Nobody noticed.
- I got a new computer that doesn’t overheat. This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to this site.
- I saw Wong Jing in a shopping mall. He ran.
- I renewed the LoveHKFilm.com domain name for 9 more years. That means when it finally expires, I’ll be in the midst of a serious mid-life crisis.
- I continued to write way too much about subjects that don’t require it.
Here’s what I’d like to do in 2008:
- Publish at least 150 film reviews. Attempt to write at least 50 of those.
- Figure out what to do with this blog. If I can’t figure it out, mothball it and come up with something else.
- Find a way to shorten my reviews, if only to satisfy the silent majority who only read the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and look at the pictures.
- Actually work on improving my writing, if only to satisfy myself. I’m guessing nobody will notice.
- Maybe meet a second Hong Kong Entertainment personality. I’m guessing another member of Alive. I’m also guessing probably not Daniel Wu.
- To throw something at Wong Jing if I see him this year. I bought multiple copies of Cop Shop Babes for this reason only.
- To bring back the April Fool’s Edition. Maybe Ekin will run again for President.
- Be less concerned over the site’s Alexa ranking. Really, does Alexa actually mean anything?
- Get back to work on that LoveHKFilm.com revamp. I’m predicting it’ll be done by 2012.
- Sleep more.
Plus, I’d like to make an earnest attempt at reviewing this film:
To make this film, they placed the rim seven feet off the ground.
More than anything, I’d like to somehow find the determination to keep the whole machine running - and by that, I’m talking about everything, including my job, my social life, my minor hobbies, this blog, LoveHKFilm.com, and the Democratic party. Already things seem to be stacking up. Lots of movies are coming out, my job responsibilities won’t be changing much, I have a zillion ideas for blog entries, and there’s going to be an election. I’m hoping to get 2 hours of sleep per night.
Still, I’ll do my best. I will draw strength from from the determined expression of Baby Matthew:
When I face challenges, I make this face too.
On another note, I spent my New Year checking out Andy Lau in concert. Here are some pictures from my seat. They’re small.
Andy Lau misplaced his shirt before the concert.
Andy sits in support of the Writer’s Guild of America
Andy sings while piloting a Segway.
The event was important to me because I finally got to see a concert with one of the Heavenly Kings (Andy, Jacky, Aaron and Leon, and not those boys from Alive), meaning I now have only 3 more to go to complete the series. Sadly, I missed both Aaron’s and Jacky’s concerts. I haven’t missed Leon, but something tells me I would if it happened. It may never be.
Seeing Andy Lau is a trip. I don’t think there is a Hong Kong entertainment personality who works harder at pleasing his fans than Andy Lau. Not only does the guy perform for nearly 3 hours without a break (No guest singer!), but he performs from great heights, runs around like a madman, does all his own stunts, and even gives himself shock therapy during the concert!
Andy Lau uses Force Lightning on his back-up dancers.
Honestly, after seeing him in concert, I now have a deeper respect for the man, his tireless work ethic, and his amazingly sharp features. Way to go, Andy!
I still won’t buy a CYMA watch though.
“What about some bottled green tea?
My bare chest says you must buy some tea!”
No.
“Come on! Please?”
Well…
“Look, I’ll do some push-ups on this bar! Buy a green tea!”
Okay fine, Andy. You win. I’ll buy a case of your green tea, and I’ll also buy your new album, too! Happy now?
“Yes! Still got it!”
There’s just no refusing Andy Lau. From now on, we’re going to run his tea ads for free.
Buy some tea. It’ll make your whites whiter.
Note: Some photos of Andy Lau in concert taken from Yahoo.com.hk
In a likely horrific development to some, LoveHKFilm.com will be on television again.
“Shoot my good side.”
Only a few longtime readers may remember, but a few years ago, I managed a mini guest gig on The Screen Savers, an entertainment program on the G4 network that pushes geek culture to the world at large. My experience consisted of sitting in a make-up chair and running through the questions, which had to do with such movies as Kung Fu Hustle, Casshern, and 2046. After that, I went to the studio and answered those questions, LIVE on camera. Luckily there was no flop sweat involved, but I think I shaved at least two years off my life due to the stress.
As evidence for the above, you can find an archived interview stored here. I do have a video clip of the segment, but I have not yet figured out that new-fangled YouTube thing yet. So, it won’t be posted here anytime soon.
The same thing may or may not occur with my next TV appearance, which is scheduled to occur sometime in early January. I was recently contacted to appear in a segment of Attack of the Show, the followup program to The Screen Savers, only this time they’re in Hong Kong (where I am), and there was no make-up chair or live broadcast. On the downside, there was also no rehearsal so I had to pretty much make up my answers on the fly, which is not easy for a usually camera-shy individual like me.
More photos from the Hong Kong shoot:
“Attack of the Show” host Zach Selwyn and the guy who runs this website
A young John Woo (far right) makes a guest appearance.
The most important part of this development: that this happened on Sunday, December 16th, three days after the opening of The Warlords, and practically the only free day I had until the following weekend. I was only notified of this appearance on the previous Thursday, so that means that the day I had earmarked to write a Warlords review had just been booked. As a result, I wasn’t able to write Warlords until the following week, though there are other reasons, which you can read about in this rambling post.
Fortunately or not, this TV appearance is not the precursor to even more media attention, or the crowning of LoveHKFilm.com as some sort of major information source like a bunch of other sites. We’ve been online only five years, and are only featured in out-of-context blurbs on Australian DVDs (Reportedly, they managed to get a recommendation out of our Confession of Pain review. God bless them.). We haven’t even interviewed Bey Logan - which is, as everyone knows, the most important thing any Hong Kong Cinema site must do to gain entry into the online fraternity. All we do is watch movies and dish about them. Frequently people disagree. Sometimes they get upset. It’s the way of the world.
So, I am not convinced that this site has somehow arrived. What would convince me? If LoveHKFilm.com had its own Wikipedia entry, then I would believe we’ve made it. Until then, I’m just glad that we’re the 22,081st most-visited website in the world. In Australia, we’re the 4762nd most visited site - probably because of those Confession of Pain DVDs. Thanks a lot, Hopscotch Films!
Kozo signing an autograph…we mean, the release form.
UPDATE: In case people actually do want to see the Webmaster make a fool of himself on television, Attack of the Show airs on the G4 network in the United States, and G4/Tech TV in Canada. However, I’m really not sure when it’s airing. And who knows, I might be cut for more time with Bey Logan.
An abundance of text would only distract from the following sight:
Going platinum!
That’s right: Michael Wong sings. Actually, Wong has had his own band for awhile, but never before has he been allowed to bring his work to a wider, international audience. Joining Michael on a couple of tracks are Kelly Chen and Kenny Bee. One shudders to think of the possibilities.
BTW, my computer currently has no sound, so I still don’t know what this sounds like. However, watching him boogie during the rehearsals gives me the willies. If you check this out you may want to hide your kids first.
