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E D I T O R I A L
Jet Li's 30 Babies
Wednesday, June 27 — Readers living outside of the U.S. may not be familiar with The Tonight Show and Jay Leno. Allow me to introduce you . . .The Tonight Show has been a fixture in late-night American television for 40 years or so. Leno is a stand-up comedian who has been hosting the show for the last eight or nine years. Yet during those all those years he has yet to learn that it is a talk show. In other words, it is polite (and offers a livelier dynamic) to allow your guests to speak without trying to squeeze in a few more jokes. Therefore, I rarely watch the show, despite some potentially interesting guests.
Thus we come to Jet Li's (at least second) appearance last night (June 26). (Evidently he appeared previously to promote Romeo Must Die). Actually, it wasn't too bad. The seven or eight minutes were fairly painless.
The conversation began with Leno asking Li if sex were taught in Chinese schools (no, but his schoolmates told him that if you kiss a girl, you get a baby), about his family (two older brothers, two older sisters), about drinking Coca-Cola (at the age of 13, while in London - with his pronunciation it sounded more like "Lindon," and Leno interjected "London" - a friend offered him beer, but instead Li drank Coca-Cola; he ended up drinking eight bottles and feeling very bloated), about trying French food while filming in Paris 'because that's considered the finest place on Earth for food'; when Li said China was also a great place for food, Leno said, 'Yeah, but you get tired of just eating Chinese food, don't you?' (*groan*) (Li then related a story about constantly working late and asking his assistant to pick up pizza and chicken wings; one night, Parisian teenagers on bicycles stole the chicken wings from the assistant).
Leno asked Li about Kiss of the Dragon. Li mentioned that the fans on his website (The Official Jet Li Website) told him that they didn't like the fight scenes in Romeo Must Die - they were too choppy. That was one reason why he made the movie. The second reason was that he believed in the importance of promises that men make to women. As an example, he said that he promised his girlfriend in the early '90's that if they were still together in 10 years, he would marry her, they would have a baby, and he would stop working until the baby was a little older. He explained that was why he turned down Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He felt it was more important to fulfill his promise than to make the movie. Leno wisecracked, "But it's more fun making babies than making movies!" Li answered that you can only make a few babies, but you can make 30 movies; you can't make 30 babies.
A brief clip of the movie was shown, featuring a fight scene between Li and a European villain. It looked good, although the camera was gyrating within the frame a bit more than I would have liked. Brief wire work was evident, but only on the part of the villain.
Leno showed the audience a photograph from the July 2001 issue of "Movieline" (a U.S. movie magazine) depicting Li unzipping the back of Bridget Fonda's dress. He asked Li if he had been a sex symbol in China. Li appeared embarrassed by this line of questioning (he said no, he was known for fighting), but said that his wife okayed the photos. (By the way, there are five photographs of Li and Fonda in the magazine; the captions include statements such as Li "has starred in dozens of highly successful Chinese martial arts action films" — numerically correct (25 titles are listed in the HKMDB), but not all have been 'martial arts action films' — and refers to his decision to turn down CTHD as a "mistake." Ah, well. The photos look glamorous —two show him smiling — and are a sign that the studio and/or his agents and publicity people are working to promote him as a star.) Li came across well.
I may have missed some points, or mixed up the order. If so, please feel free to e-mail your corrections to me.
In last week's editorial, I forgot to mention the American movies I had seen during my trip to Los Angeles. The reason is that none of the films were particularly memorable. That points up another difference between HK and American movies: when HK movies are bad, they are truly terrible, and leave an indelible impression on your mind; when American movies are bad, they usually just retreat into a small, dark mental corner.
So here is the list: What Women Want (made me laugh at times, but too smug about its own shallow and stereotypical insights), Conspiracy Theory (fairly interesting but too long and sprawling, and ultimately too much of a star vehicle for Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts), Coyote Ugly (always interesting to see a Cat III premise clothed in PG-13 (Cat IIA equivalent) clothing) (ahem), some other DVD that has already been wiped from my limited memory banks, and, in a surprisingly comfortable small local cinema with stadium seating, Evolution (funny in spots but not nearly as funny as it could have been, lacking a central comedic personality, and slackly paced). As to that last choice, I must say (for the record) that I wanted to see Moulin Rouge, but my sister wanted to see The Animal. We compromised on Evolution. Of course, compromise is why most American movies suck.
Thank you for allowing me to unburden myself.
This past weekend, I watched the following movies (among others):
Aces Go Places IV (1986)
Videocassette; full-frame version. If you can happily check your brain at the door, this goofy film might be worthwhile viewing. The plot is: bad guys want a powerful prism, good guys don't let them. Mix in plenty of corny jokes, a few martial arts fight scenes, and several outrageous stunts (young boy dangled headfirst off a high-rise, car jumps between two buildings, plane/car collision, etc.) and you understand why the film was a success (it grossed HK $27 million dollars during its Chinese New Year's release). Ringo Lam Ling-Tung directed and showed a flair for visual storytelling — camera placement and movement, a brisk pace, and good use of music anticipate his breakthrough film the following year, City on Fire.The Bride With White Hair II (1993)
Television; English-dubbed version. Directed by composer/editor/writer/actor David Wu Dai-Wai, the sequel is undermined by unfocused storytelling. Clocking in at a rushed 81 minutes (it was released just four months after the first film), the romance, heroism, and tragedy of the original are stripped away, leaving a strange combination: lush and often haunting visuals (gorgeously photographed by Joe Chan Gong Hung), copious amounts of bloodshed, ceaseless men-bashing, simple-minded revenge, and too many briefly-sketched characters. Not terrible when taken on its own merits, but pales in comparison to the classic original.Supercop 2 (AKA Project S) (1993)
Television; English-dubbed, rescored, and full-frame version. Michelle Yeoh stars as a Mainland cop on loan to Hong Kong as the police try to nab a nasty gang of criminals. She centers this enjoyable circus of car chases, fights, stunts, and men in drag. Occasional moments of drama are provided by Yeoh as she wrestles with a relationship with the engaging Yu Ruonggang. Emil Chau Wah-Kin is the HK cop who tries to restrain her over-eager (but entirely justified) involvement. The direction and martial arts choreography by Stanley Tong Gwai Lai is fluid and graceful yet adds crunch in the right measure. Jackie Chan and Eric Tsang Chi-Wai play the men in drag in a mercifully brief and unnecessary cameo that nearly brings the entire film to a halt.
Upcoming reviews/Site news: The new site design adjustment, logo, artwork, and domain should be ready for unveiling within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I have completed reviews of two more films directed by Ringo Lam and am about halfway through The Hidden Fortress (which deserves to be watched in a single sitting, but exhaustion keeps interrupting). New reviews will be posted tomorrow and, hopefully, next Monday.
In the future, I will try to post at least one new review each Monday and Thursday, and a new editorial each Wednesday. Upcoming DVD release (and cinema release) news will be added as it happens and as I have time during the week.
Feel free to drop by anytime — we're always open!
As always, please feel free to e-mail me your comments, whether positive or negative.
peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
Current Editorial | Current Index
Alive and Kicking (6/21/01)
Remakes and Rip-Offs (6/6/01)
Real Life Vs. Cinemas (5/30/01)
Dreaming in Cantonese (5/16/01)
The Echo of Small Children (5/3/01)
Hong Kong Film Awards: Who Won? (4/26/01)
A Tale of Three Directors (4/19/01)
Supermodels of the HK Film World (4/12/01)
What are you prepared to do? (4/6/01)
Academy Awards Special (3/26/01)
The Price of Success (3/19/01)
Is Jackie Chan Still the Man? part 1 (3/12/01)
Great Expectations (3/7/01)
In the Mood for Change (2/26/01)
Bronchitis on the Brain (2/12/01)
Hong Kong Sequel Blues (2/5/01)
Better or Best? (1/29/01)
To Dub or Not to Dub (1/22/01)
Scenes From a Fractured Skull (1/15/01)
Year-End Round-Up (1/7/01)
Briefly noted (12/31/00)
Wuxia Fantasies and the Black-and-White Western (12/24/00)
Raiders of the lost heart (12/17/00)
The movie week in review (12/10/00)
Redesigning A Better Tomorrow (12/3/00)
The fantasy begins again (11/26/00)
A return and a shortened work week, hurrah! (11/20/00)
That blasted job! (11/12/00)
Hollywood, Jet, Jackie, Fred, and Gene (11/6/00)
Did you want blood with that? (10/30/00)
Do you like cold pizza? (10/24/00)
Preparing for the Legend (10/16/00)
The pauper must pay (10/10/00)
A visit to Five Star Laser (10/05/00)
A brief vacation (9/25/00)
The editor's plea (8/20/00)
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