Month: October 2007

This Yahoo! article caught my eye: Jackie Chan isn’t a fan of ‘Rush Hour’.

“When we finished filming, I felt very disappointed because it was a movie I didn’t appreciate and I did not like the action scenes involved. I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didn’t understand the American humor,” Chan said in a blog entry on his Web site seen Sunday.

The reason the blog entry was “seen” on Sunday is because Jackiechan.com apparently just added a slew of older “JC Messages”. In the entry, Jackie goes on:

But to my surprise, this movie was exceptionally successful in the box office and results were very pleasing. Because this movie was so popular, I was offered an irresistible amount of money to film the sequel and I could not say no.

Um, does Jackie Chan have financial problems I don’t know about? Cuz I think he could say no. Also, Jackie made $15 million against 15% of gross on Rush Hour 3, as well as gaining China/HK distribution rights. Yknow, I think by the third movie he could’ve been asking for executive producer rights as well and more creative control – not to mention asking someone to explain the jokes to him. There were 9 years between Rush Hour 1 and 3 to figure that one out.

But the worst part is not Jackie blatantly admitting he cashed in not once, but twice after deciding he didn’t like the product. No, it’s this bit of wrongheadedness:

To me, it was about making another sequel for the audience around the world because in each country I travel to, someone would always ask me, “When will you film another Rush Hour?” But when I‘m in Asia, a lot of people would ask me, “When will you film another Drunken Master?” Or “When will you film another Police Story?” No one asks me about filming another Rush Hour. From what I have observed, I now understand the difference in movie tastes between the American/European audience and the Asian audience.

The reason, Jackie, that nobody in America asks about when you’re gonna make another Drunken Master or Police Story is because they’ve never seen them. Why is that? It’s not because of cultural differences – it’s because the American companies buying distribution rights to Asian films bury them or release them with as little marketing as possible (“Hero”, “Shaolin Soccer”, “Spirited Away”), rename them (“Drunken Master II” is called “The Legend of Drunken Master” in the USA, “Police Story 5” is “Supercop 2”), re-edit them (Such as “Tom Yum Goong”, aka The Protector, aka “Honour of the Dragon”, aka “Warrior King”, for which the Miramax US DVD release murdered the main character’s father who originally lived) and release them with the shittiest DVD covers of all time:

That chick on the cover? Not in the goddamn movie. And of course there’s all that goddamn dubbing. It’s not cute anymore. Stop it. There are online petitions against Disney and their ilk for all this butchery, but y’know who might really be able to stop these villains from killing Asian film in the US and Europe? Jackie Chan. Unfortunately, he’s too busy swimming in his pools of cash and complaining about cultural barriers.

Oh and Jackie? Alot of China seems to think “The Myth” sucked, even though they endlessly love (to my chagrin) Endless Love (无尽的爱). Maybe there isn’t so much disagreement between cultures on what makes a crappy movie.

Bonus Jackie Chan insanity:

I also admire the local government and the regional police force for their full support towards the film industry. They make the whole of Hollywood aware of the industry.

Yes, because no one in Hollywood would be aware of the Hollywood industry if it weren’t for the valiant efforts of the local government and regional police force. The mind reels.

Tim Johnson points out a series of designs illustrating the differences between German and Chinese cultures. The illustrations are by Chinese-born German designer Liu Yang, whose website can be found here. The series was on exhibition at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs this past May-June. The clearest versions of the images I can find, complete with Chinese descriptions and background, is here.

Some pictures might illicit from both sides a “Haha, it’s funny cuz it’s true” reaction, such as the innocuous “beverages” – Germans are blue, Chinese are red:

But then there are other images like “Problem Solving”:

It occurs to me that some Chinese people may perceive this image as illustrating a failing in Chinese society, whereas Germans (or Westerners in general) are less likely to look at their side as problematic behavior. I think a Westerner would be far more likely to say “Of course we approach problems directly, there is no better way to do it!” than a Chinese person is likely to say “Of course we avoid confronting problems directly, there is no better way to do it!” The designs themselves provide an apt, glib comparison of East and West, but far more interesting would be to examine reactions to them.