I ripped this from a forum post I made... because I'm actually saddened by some words I heard today.
I'm actually in Hong Kong right now for I am still young enough to have a summer vacation. Most of my relatives are here so I hang out with them a lot. I made sure long before I came here that I would accomplish two additional tasks: support local cinema and go to band shows. Of course this is about the former.
I have watched several HK films in theaters in the past two years and I've noticed something... generally, when HK people watch an HK movie, they [b]deliberately[/b] try to find spots that needs some level of improvement and just laugh out loud, as if to prove their superior intelligence. The attitude is always, "I'm too smart for thsi shit..." and so a lot of the people aren't even really watching the movie.
Second part is a little more personal, but it seems to represent the general new-generation attitude. I try to encourage my cousins (slightly older than me) to support local media in order to help HK production in multiple fields. I felt so hurt today when I saw a commercial for Invisible Target on TV, and tried to convince two of them to see it with me in theaters next week. The response? "It looks pretty cool... but I don't want to waste money on a [i]Hong Kong production[/i]". What??? Playfully I replied "Fine... I'll get someone who appreciates HK cinema to watch it with me". "Haha... you won't find anyone like that". Major attitude problem and it is NOT uncommon, as you can see from sources such as the fan commentary in Dog Bite Dog.
Finally, I asked them what they [i]wanted[/i] to see, which was Harry Potter, and why. The answer was special effects. But I clearly remember, last year when we saw Re-Cycle in theaters, they came out saying the visuals were great but the movie was shiiite. What?
The only glimmer of hope I have is one of my cousins is graduating from a local college under media, and actually appreciates Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai. He knows Kim Ki Duk, etc. etc. Someone who is open minded. Even then, when I asked him about his classes, he said that the courses focused on Japanese and Korean cinema. Why not HK cinema? He had no clue.
How can you expect Hk to come out with quality film when the current generation thinks it's shit before it even comes out?
Sorry, I just had to rant. I don't know why people can be so defensive about being "HK people" yet absolutely refuse to spend even $10 on a real DVD for a good movie.