My blog
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31-3-09: 100 YEARS AND COUNTING, continued
Tuesday, Apr 7, 2009 11:47AM / Standard Entry
Day 2 of the Hong Kong Film Market
The second day of Filmart showed no major decline in the floor traffic and buzz of projects pitched, pondered and passed upon.
I was happy to meet my friend Ryu Seung-woon, the Korean director (and star!) of ‘City of
I also got to meet the remarkable Gareth Evans, British director of the upcoming Indonesian actioner Merantau. He was in town with his Indonesian producer and with Todd Brown, the creative genius behind Twitchfilm.net, who is helping promote the film. Merantau focuses on the martial art of Silat, and specifically Harimau Silat. One of my old friends from my martial arts magazine days, Richard De Bords, is a ‘guru’ of this style, so it’s great to see it move centre stage for what looks to be an impressive low-budget actioner. (Coincidentally, I just shot an interview for a Silat documentary where I shared my memories of Richard.)
Mid-afternoon, my associate Nick Eriksson was dispatched to pick up my son Ryan from school and deliver him to the Filmart. It was a real surprise for Ryan, getting to come and check out a slice of the local movie world, and on a school night! (I had first cleared it with his Mom, of course, who has given in to the fact that her eldest son is fascinated by the industry, and may not, in fact, covet a proper job.)
Ryan and I encountered my friend, and his idol, Jack Neo, the Singaporean actor/director. The first movie that Ryan discovered as his own personal favourite film was Jack’s ‘I Am Not Stupid, Too’, and he was delighted to get the chance to pepper its director with questions, and to demand a role in ‘I Am Not Stupid, Still’ (if such a film is ever made!).
I was happily surprised to encounter ‘Mortal Kombat’ star Robin Shou, in town to develop a low-budget actioner he’s going to shoot in the region. I worked with Robin on my very first film, Guns and Roses, which was shot in
After the market had closed for the day, it was time for the traditional TWC HK beer and pizza bash at Pepperoni’s in
Attending the bash was David Huey, director/producer from Cine Excel, who I’ve known forever. Here’s a funny story about David: When I first met him, at Milan Film Market, I only knew him as a film-maker, and I said “You know, there’s a book on kung fu spear play published by Unique Publications, and the guy demonstrating is also called David Huey, and, believe it or not, he even looks a bit like you!” David regarded me blandly. “That’s because it is me…”
Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi held an event at Elements to celebrate 25 years of their Film Workshop.
A ‘who’s who’ of industry legends was at hand to witness, among other things, the reunion between former cohorts John Woo and Tsui. Tsui produced Woo’s first two A Better Tomorrow films and The Killer, but apparently relations between the two cooled, largely, rumour has it, due to a clash over the remake rights to The Killer. (And the film still hasn’t been remade!) All of us who love and respect John and Tsui were happy to see the two men share the stage.
I was also delighted to encounter Ringo Lam, with his movie star handsome son Royce. I remember Royce when he came up to my knee… It’s a true sign of your age when your friend’s sons are getting taller than you are (or, in the case of Roy Horan’s daughter Celina Jade, who I saw earlier in the day at Filmart, smarter.)
To round things out, Nick Eriksson met one of his all-time idols, the great Eric Tsang. Nick may well be the world’s great Infernal Affairs fan, and was thrilled to pay his respects to one of our finest multi hyphenate character actors.
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30-3-09: 100 YEARS AND COUNTING…
Monday, Mar 30, 2009 11:44AM / Standard Entry
Calvin Logan takes aim at HK cinemaHong Kong Filmart and festival still pulls a crowd.
Global meltdown notwithstanding, the 2009
Things kicked off with the opening night gala premiere, a double bill of Derek Yee’s Shinjuku Incident and Ann Hui’s Night and Fog. This was not an evening for the faint hearted. Shinjuku is, by a huge margin, the darkest Jackie Chan film to date (unless you count The Medallion, and that may just be my personal perception…). My old friend Simon Yam proves, yet again, that he is one of the finest screen actors in the world (let alone
Far lighter fare was on display the following day, when my friend Nishi Fuyuhiko premiered his new film High Kick Girl. Nishi-san was previously trainer to Japanese star Kou Shibasaki when she made Shaolin Girl. That film was fun, but my biggest complaint was that, for a film with that title, they didn’t deliver enough ‘Shaolin’. Nishi-san’s new project lives up to its title, and its leading lady kicks high, fast and frequently. A few years back, I met Nishi in his
I went backstage before the press conference for Teddy Chen’s Bodyguards and Assassins, the film formerly known as Dark October. (The title change occurred because, as we all know, the workers’ paradise that is the PRC was inaugurated in October, so that month is sacrosanct, and ‘Bright October’ doesn’t have the same ring.) This project has been around forever. I once worked with Teddy on the English version of the original script. He was all set to shoot when, the day before filming, his producer committed suicide. Finally, his persistence is rewarded, and he’s put an A list local cast together (Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam, Tony Leung Kar-fai…) all of whom were on-hand.
Later that afternoon, kung fu idol Wu Jing rolled in to attend the press call for his new film Kung Fu Cyborg. Now there’s a title to conjure with. I always like a movie to be named so that you know what you’re getting. Unbearable Lightness of Being, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind… Who needs that? Kung Fu Cyborg tells you right off what to expect: cyborgs… and kung fu!
That evening saw the third year of the Asian Film Awards. These are to the Hong Kong Film Awards what the Golden Globes are the Oscars. They’re conducted largely in English, and, as someone frequently forced to conduct meetings in my second language, my respect goes out to those Asian presenters gamely tackling theirs, live on stage. As ever, the event produced some eyebrow raising moments. Jung Woo-sung gamely accepted an award for Best Supporting actor for The Good, The Bad and The Weird, observing wryly (and accurately) that he’d been under the impression that (as The Good) he was one of the leads! My friend Max Mannix co-wrote Best Picture winner Tokyo Sonata, but wasn’t on-hand to received his prize for best script. Apparently, no-one invited him! For shame…
The after party was located at the pool bat of the Hyatt. Having an expanse of water and alcohol just feet apart is never a good idea, but, at least up until I left, no-one had fallen in. Not even Cinematographer Chris Doyle, who was back in town and in great form.
After a quick pit stop there, I headed off to a late night meet and greet at the Emperor Hotel in
Given that we're celebrating a hundred years of Hong Kong film-making, it was great to see that the industry's energy seemed, today, anyway, not the least diminished. (Or maybe that's just the Grey Goose talking...)
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9-3-09: Pieces and bits
Monday, Mar 9, 2009 2:47PM / Standard Entry
News and views from Planet Loganville
Shooting from the lip: The ISHK Panel
For anyone out there with no better way to spend their Wednesday evening, there's a film-making panel with Wu Shu director Anthony Szeto, Lorna Tee and myself at 8.30pm in California (the bar, not the gym!), Lan Kwai Fong.
My thanks to the indefatigable Craig Leeson for shepherding this thing through twelve changes of date and five alternative venues! Now its all systems go for what's sure to be a fun rap session about the challenges of Hong Kong movie-making.
Its going to be particularly entertaining, seeing as Lorna, a last-minute replacement for Shaw Studios boss Lloyd Chao, very vocally didn't want to sit next to The Great Bey at the Media Asia Spring Dinner. (I get that a lot, and, yes, usually from women...)
The presentations will be followed by a Q-and-A, and then the cinematic equivalent of S-and-M, with each participant presenting clips from the celluloid skeleton in their closet. For Anthony, its American Samurai, for me, Its A Mad, Mad, Mad Kung Fu World and, for Lorna, Lady Garfield Goes To Guangdong (don't ask...) Anyway, 8.30pm at California, please feel free to come and hurl views, abuse and (fresh) produce.
Taing my Chi with Ocean
Big thanks to Alive Not Dead for connecting me with Shenzhen-based actor/choreographer/Tai Chi maestro Ocean Hou.
After we started communicating through the site, Ocean came down to visit TWC HQ in Hong Kong, and joined us at the usual 12 midday kung fu session at pier 7, Hong Kong docks (all are welcome!). He demonstrated his mastery of Chen Tai Chi, and I was blown away by his skills.
Luckily for me, Ocean has been coming down from Shenzen to teach me his version of the Chen Tai 13 movement form. I'm a slow learner, but he's a patient teacher. Ocean's now up for a role in a major action film that's currently in the the final stages fo prep, so good luck to him for that.
If anyone else wants to train with Ocean, or cast him!, you can reach the maestro at youshengclub@hotmail.com. (He also has a bunch of clips on his AnD page and on Youtube, if you want to check his form.
The Comet Strikes (out)
Oh, the deceptiveness of memory... One of my first jobs at Media Asia was cataloguing the full back catalogue of Golden Harvest films for the US Library of Congress.
Naturally, this was a labour of love, as it allowed me to screen all these obscure classic 70s Hong Kong actioners, and get paid for it! I remember watching, and being impressed by, a VHS of The Comet Stikes, an obscure horror/kung fu hybrid from director Lo Wei.
Lo is best-known for directing two Bruce Lee movies, and he shot both the first of these, The Big Boss, and Comet Strikes in 1971. The latter features several cast members from both Boss and Fist of Fury (including Tony Liu and Lee Kwan). Most memorable of all is Nora Miao, Lee's on-screen paramour in Fist and Way of the Dragon, who lays down some double sword smackdowns in Comet like she's Golden Harvest's answer to Cheng Pei Pei. (Nicholas Tse's father, Tse Yin, also performs some of his own impressive stuntwork in the film.)
However, the film as a whole has more cheese than a quattro formaggio. Its out now on DVD, and I was amazed how much slower and creakier it was than I remembered.
The One eyed Boxer
On the more serious side of the news, my son Calvin was (play) fighting with his two brothers and my associate Nick Eriksson and he manage to sustain a blow to the left eye.
He was soon sporting a fine shiner, and so decided to put on this blue eye mask he found in back of the freezer. (No-one is quite sure how it got there, but I'm sure there are many similar strange objects to be found deep in the recesses of even the cleanest freezer.)
Before wearing the mask, he decided to wrap a towel around his head, so he looked like the world's first Saudi superhero. Lets see what the other kids made of this new look in school today...
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4-3-09: ME AND WONG FEI-HUNG, part two
Wednesday, Mar 4, 2009 9:04PM / Standard Entry
Memories of Kwan Tak-hing (continued)
Unique among kung fu movie icons, Master Kwan was actually listed in the
The apothecary was located in a rundown tenement building. When I reached Kwan Tak-hing’s clinic, a woman stared at me through the metal security grill that graces most
Though an elderly man (he had always seemed somehow patrician; always older than his years), he was upright and very focused. Whenever he sat, his back was always ramrod straight. In Magnificent Butcher, the villain, Lee Hon-san, tries to embarrass Wong Fei-hung by kicking away the chair on which he is sitting. The tactic fails because Wong just remains standing in his horse stance. Not that I would ever consider kicking his chair away, but it did seem that, had I done so, Kwan Tak-hing would have remained in place, bemused but immobile.
He showed me various photographs of himself in his heyday, and the woman, who described herself as his student, translated for him, explaining who was who, and where and when. I told him how much I’d enjoyed The Skyhawk, and he said it was amazing how good the film had turned out. The director, Cheng Chang-ho, was given a very low budget to work with, but had still made such a great movie.
There was a metal pole on the floor, and he gestured for me to try and pick it up. I crouched down and did my best. It was incredibly heavy, and, using just my muscle power (ha!), I could barely move it. Kwan indicated for me to step aside, then, taking a breath that seemed to go down from his chest through his feet and down into the apartment on the floor below, he bent, picked up the heavy iron weapon and moved it through the air as through it was made of balsa wood. Exhaling, he replaced it. He pointed to his abdomen, then to his bicep. Real strength is here, not here, he seemed to be saying. It took me until now to actually understand and (try to!) apply this concept.
I also had Kwan’s disciples take some great photos of me matching claws with the great master, and… none of them came out! Either she pressed the wrong button, or his chi was too strong for the film to handle.
As I prepared to take my leave, Kwan Sifu produced some calligraphy paper and a pen and began to write. I was kind of hoping that he’d put ‘The Man of Virtue is Invincible’, like he did in Magnificent Butcher, but instead he wrote a poetic dedication saying that he was happy to have met me and wished me well.
As I left, Kwan followed me to the corridor outside, and stood waving good-bye as the old style elevator descended. What a wonderful example of old school grace and patience. He was like a Chinese Henry Fonda or Jimmy Stewart.
At the time I first met him, in terms of his film career, Kwan was slipping into a graceful retirement. He had made his swansong in the Wong Fei-hung role earlier in that decade when he shot the masterful Dreadnaught for Golden Harvest. Director John Woo, a long-time fan of Kwan’s work, was shooting his film Laughing Times on the back lot. (John was then being billed as Golden Harvest’s ‘New King of Comedy’!) Woo took the opportunity to meet his idol. It’s a shame that they never got to work together.
Kwan did play a modern day Wong-by-any-other-name in a comedic caper oddity called The Family Strikes Back, directed by Dean Shek (AKA that goofy guy with the mole from Drunken Master), choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping and his Clan. He plays a (slightly) exaggerated version of himself.
That same year, he and his old sparring partner from the black-and-white Wong Fei-hung series, Shek Kin, turned up as the coaches of rival ice hockey(!) teams in Aces Go Places IV.
Kwan made his final film appearance in 1994’s It’s a Wonderful Life, shot just before I relocated to Hong Kong. Though I never got to see him on set, I did have the good fortune of meeting the reel life Wong fei-hung again, and of bidding my idol a fitting good-bye.
(Next: Farewell to a hero.)
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27-2-09: TRANSPORTED BY COREY YUEN
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2009 12:30AM / Standard Entry
Meeting a bona fide martial arts movie maestro.
When I first became a fan of Asian action cinema, there was a vast amount of disinformation written about the genre. One enterprising journalist seized on the prevalence of ‘Yuens’ in the Hong Kong movie industry to craft a magazine article stating that everyone bearing that name was a son (or daughter!) of the late Yuen Siu-tien (the eponymous ‘Drunken Master’ in the Jackie Chan classic.) Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Tak, Ng See-yuen… That ol’ fella sure got around! In fact, Yuen Siu-tien did have nine children, including director Yuen Woo-ping, but most of the others in the misguided writers list were former Opera players who had adopted the stage name ‘Yuen’, in honour of their teacher, Yu Jim-yuen. These alumni include the man I was reunited with today, Yuen Kuei AKA Yuen Foy AKA Corey Yuen…
Like Jackie Chan (AKA Yuen Lo) and Sammo Hung (AKA Yuen Lung), Corey began his stage career at Master Yu’s Opera school, and was part of the Seven Little Fortunes performance troupe. Like his cohorts, he graduated from the school to find the Opera was being superseded as popular entertainment by kung fu movies, and so began applying his acrobatic skills as a lung fu mo see, a martial arts stuntman. Corey plays one of the Japanese karateka that Bruce Lee beats up when he storms the dojo in Fist of Fury. He graduated to featured roles, most memorably in Yuen Woo-ping’s official sequel to Drunken Master, Dance of the Drunken Mantis. That film’s producer, Ng See-Yuen, gave Yuen (Kuei) his first chance to direct with 1982’s Ninja In The Dragon’s Den. The pair later brought
I’d been trying to track Corey down to shoot a video interview with him for our forthcoming Dragon Dynasty re-releases of the Jet Li classics Fong Sai-yuk 1 & 2, and Bodyguard from Beijing. (When we were preparing our re-issue of The Enforcer, Yuen was at his second home in
I first met Corey many moons ago, on the set of the film King Of The Kickboxers, which was shot in
By this stage in the series, a lesser-known helmer, Lucas Lo, was directing, and Corey was just choreographing specific action sequences. It was my honour to be at hand when Yuen and his team crafted an amazing introductory scene for Keith’s character.
Since then, I’d met Yuen at the press con for Bodyguard from
Though, in person, low-key and self-deprecating, director Yuen did not disappoint in the least. He offered some fascinating insights on the casting and production challenges of the films. Hong Kong film-makers can seem less willing than their
All these years on, its still a thrill to meet the idols I used to read about in
(Finally, my thanks to
Stats
- British-born Bey Logan began his professional career as a magazine writer and editor, editing the martial arts magazine Combat for five years before launching the action film publication Impact...
- Occupation: Film/TV Producer , Screenwriter , Martial arts
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 111,203
