'The Drunken Master' threatens to film "Shinjuku Story" 2007

[Taro Toporific]

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Jackie Chan apologizes for drunken disruption
(AP) 2006-07-18 09:30
Jackie Chan apologized Sunday for his drunken disruption at Taiwan singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee's concert last week after the actor unexpectedly climbed on stage and verbally sparred with annoyed audience members ....
Chan said he ... will make a movie called "Shinjuku Story" next year.

[Kuang_Grade]

Well, good thing it's not Shibuya Story or it might be about his short lived resturant, humbly called "Jackie's Kitchen", that was in Shibuya in 2000 to 2002.

http://www.wakin-web.com/Jackie/New%20Files/ritenow/ritenow.html

[Mulboyne]

Well, good thing it's not Shibuya Story or it might be about his short lived resturant, humbly called "Jackie's Kitchen", that was in Shibuya in 2000 to 2002.

http://www.wakin-web.com/Jackie/New%20Files/ritenow/ritenow.html

I remember the Shibuya place. I didn't eat there but it just looked like a ramen joint with pretensions. It wasn't particularly full of Jackie Chan ephemera which I would have expected and the prices looked higher than average. It was about 2/3 of the way up Center Gai which is not a great restaurant location because people there tend to hang out rather than spend any money.

[Iraira]

Well, good thing it's not Shibuya Story or it might be about his short lived resturant, humbly called "Jackie's Kitchen", that was in Shibuya in 2000 to 2002.

Ate there once. That's my only memory of the place....ate there once.

[Socratesabroad]

Even the old-timers like me remember JC's place...

I'm all for ethnic eateries (same street, pricey but decent Jamaican bar/resto on the right), but Chan's cha-han was pretty average.

Assuming the place closed, I'm sad to see JC lose money, but he wasn't offering anything new...

[Buraku]

There's been something weird going on with the HongKong star Jackie verus Tapei's government

The Hollywood execs in the USA and the mainland Chinese are happy to see Jackie doing his wacky stunts, making action movies, appearing on talk shows, singing songs and will even allow him to dabble in politics every now and then

but in recent years Taiwan and Jackie don't see eye to eye no more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3649089.stm

[Hanakuso]

Here's the youtube link if anyone wanted to see drunken Jackie...(with subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s58Z-44oaBk

[Iraira]

Here's the youtube link if anyone wanted to see drunken Jackie...(with subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s58Z-44oaBk

Now that was actually useful. I now know how to say "F yer momma!" in Chinese. We CAN learn things from the inebriated.

[Greji]

We CAN learn things from the inebriated.

Certainly and as a result, I attempt to hold classes as often as possible!

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[ythq]qXTIGZbXFYk[/ythq]

News24: Chan to star as hit man

Jackie Chan is known for playing the lovable, comical action hero, but the Rush Hour star takes on an unusually dark role as a desperate Chinese immigrant who becomes a hit man for a Japanese gangster in his return to Chinese-language film. The 54-year-old Hong Kong native said on Wednesday he's trying to prove with Shinjuku Incident that he's a genuine actor with a broad repertoire. "I hope to play good guys, bad guys, minor roles, major roles, ghosts and gods - I want to play everything," Chan told The Associated Press in an interview. "I hope to become Asia's Al Pacino or Robert De Niro." In the movie, his first Chinese film since the 2006 comedy Rob-B-Hood, Chan plays a Chinese tractor repairman who smuggles himself to Tokyo to look for his girlfriend and ends up working for the Japanese yakuza, or gangsters. Chan said it was tough shedding his flashy kung fu moves and cheeky grins for his new movie.

"The director would tell me, 'your laugh is too cute,' or in a fight scene, 'you can't move too dramatically," Chan said. The director asked him to move as if he didn't know kung fu: "Wow, it was so difficult." Shinjuku Incident is also a risky choice for the veteran actor, who, according to director Derek Yee, paid for about half of the movie's $25m budget. Chan's role as an illegal Chinese immigrant who works for Japanese mobsters could offend nationalistic Chinese still upset with Japan over atrocities committed by its soldiers during World War II. Yee said earlier he has decided not to release the movie in China because he didn't want to tone down its graphic violence. China doesn't have a ratings system, so every movie has to be edited for audiences of all ages. Violence aside, it is unclear if the movie could have passed Chinese censors given the sensitivity of the question of a Chinese man working for Japanese crime lords. Chinese censors asked Oscar winner Ang Lee to edit his 2006 spy thriller Lust, Caution, so it was more ambiguous on the question of whether a student activist gave away the plot to assassinate a Chinese spy chief allied with the Japanese.

Nevertheless, the film is likely to be seen by many mainland Chinese through pirated DVD copies, as Chan himself predicted. "I'm sure this movie will be widely available on the streets in China the day after it's released elsewhere," he said. Shinjuku Incident will have its world premiere on March 22 as one of the two opening movies of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and will be generally released in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia on April 2 and in Japan on May 1.

You can see the film's website here.

[Mulboyne]

A Variety review:

Ethnic Chinese gangs stumble as they cross swords with the Japanese mafia in Jackie Chan starrer "Shinjuku Incident," an over-ambitious, narratively untidy urban crimer. Though hyped as a rare straight dramatic outing by Chan, the pic still has him displaying his action skills, if less sensationally than usual. Some extreme violence and unsavory elements will provide a challenge for Chan's wholesome fan base, but overall Asian B.O. should be robust. Following its opening-night slot in the Hong Kong fest, the film goes out locally (and in Southeast Asia) April 2, followed by Japan a month later. The film's strong violence and Tokyo setting will play especially well with Japanese auds, with whom Chan is still popular. Business there may compensate for the loss of the China market, where the pic has been nixed by authorities due to its violence and depiction of malcontent mainlanders fleeing to Japan.

Story begins with Chinese refugees landing at Japan's Wakasa Bay and chaotically running for shelter before immigration authorities arrive. Among the illegals is Steelhead (Chan), who heads to Tokyo to find his long-lost love, Xiuxiu (mainland thesp Xu Jinglei). Hitting Tokyo's red-light Shinjuku district, Steelhead teams up with fellow refugees, including Jie (Daniel Wu, electric) and Old Ghost (portly Johnnie To regular Lam Suet, effectively displaying his tough-guy shtick). Living off petty crime and grueling work that Japanese workers won't touch, Jie and Old Ghost show Steelhead the ropes and warn him about crossing mobsters. Steelhead discovers Xiuxiu has adopted a Japanese name, Yuko, and is now married to rising Japanese gangster Eguchi (Masaya Kato). Meanwhile, Jie pays a steep price for inadvertently antagonizing Taiwanese mobster Gao (Jack Kao).

Plot strands featuring gang rivalries and clashes are more tangled than interwoven. However, the yarn belatedly builds momentum with an intense middle section, undercut by an extended denouement. Pic defiantly establishes a new dramatic frontier for Chan, who's clearly the star and acquits himself admirably. However, a scene in which Steelhead visits a hooker with a heart of gold (mainland actress Fan Bingbing) is likely to be more problematic for his fans than any grisly violence. Among several strong supporting players, Wu impresses with his ability to steer his character through major (and too sudden) transformations. On the Nipponese side, Naoto Takenaka is pitch-perfect as a cop who becomes indebted to Steelhead. Distaffers make much less impact: Fan's prostie role is so slight it should have been excised at the script stage.

Derek Yee's direction is strong within individual scenes but fails to mold the unwieldy script into a cohesive whole. As in Yee's previous "Protege," the depiction of gang life aims to explore the machinations of criminal orgs in depth. Drama and characterization both suffer as a result, leaving the pic far short of the "Election" or "Godfather"-like heights to which it aspires. Tech credits are solid, though Peter Kam's score is intrusive. Version caught at the Hong Kong fest was given a Category III rating by local censors, usually reserved for sex and extreme violence. Local-release version will be slightly edited for a milder Category IIb rating.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash

HONG KONG – Action movie star Jackie Chan questioned the need for freedom for Chinese people during a speech Saturday, prompting outrage from lawmakers in Taiwan and Hong Kong, who accused him of insulting his own race.

The 55-year-old star of "Rush Hour" said at a business forum in the southern Chinese island province Hainan on Saturday that a free society may not be beneficial for authoritarian mainland China.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said at the Boao Forum. "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic."

Chan added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." ...

[American Oyaji]

Comrade General Jackie Chan?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Spokesman: Jackie Chan comments out of context (AP)

... Solon So, the chief executive of Chan's company JC Group and his main spokesman, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry and not Chinese society at large.

Chan was speaking at a panel discussion about Asian entertainment industries and was asked to discuss movie censorship in China.

"Some people with ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he was saying," So said.

Meanwhile, the public backlash against Chan grew ...