The president, Jay Chou, is making his way across the pond for another stab at the Hollywood market. This time with Now You See Me 2. Which is pretty cool due to Jay Chou very well known love for magic. You can see on youtube many clips of him showing off card skillz and so forth. If you see the trailers, the four horsemen make their way to Zhong Guo and bump into Daniel Radcliffe. The president doesn't show up in the trailer, but it's been surmised that he plays a significant part. Also, why not get more pub for it a growing film market that is becoming more and more important to US films making a return.
I am surprised that he's even showing up in the list of stars and that he got his own.
Big news in Mando-pop world this past weekend. The reigning king of Mando-pop Jay Chou has gotten married to Hannah Quinlivan. The two have been "linked" since 2010. But stories of their first meeting or how they met are the work of legend, as everything has been 2nd hand up to now.
Jay has been linked to other famous gals like Join Tsai and Patty Hou over the years, but got hitched to a relative unknown in the industry.
Jay's wedding news has dominated the entertainment out of Asia for the past couple of days.
Congrats and hope you both have an happy marriage. Now get to work on Now You Seen Me 2!
天台 (RooFToP) is being released in Taipei this weekend. The movie has Jay Chou not only staring in the movie, but behind the camera (sort of) as well. Jay also co-wrote the movie.
Here's the Fandango Synopsis, "When Gao meets his dream girl, a billboard beauty named Sian, fate takes him on a wild ride through romance, friendship, and gang rivalry, all told through enchanting melodies and stunning dance numbers".
This film is being touted as a new genre with its mix of action, dance, and "musical". Jay's also got buff for the film. If you search on images of his for this movie, he's not shy about showing his six pack.
The movie will be released by Well Go USA in a couple of weeks here in LA. I will do my darnest to make the showing.
The Viral Factor (逆戰) is an 2012 film out of China and Hong Kong. The movie stars Jay Chou, and Nicholas Tse. The supporting cast include Lin Peng, Bai Bing, Andy On, and Carl Ng. The majority of the movie takes place in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur. The movie starts in Jordan and ends in Beijing.
The Story
Jay Chou plays an special agent, Jon Man, of an international group called International Defense Commission (IDC). The are in Jordan to escort a biochemical scientist, along with his wife and daughter out of the battle zone and to safety. The scientist has been able to mutate an smallpox virus for mass destruction. During the escort, they group is attacked and later revealed to be an inside job. Jon's in love with another agent in the escort called ICE, played by Bai Bing. During the ambush, ICE is shot dead and the bullet travels through her to injure Jon. Jon is saved, but the bullet is too deep in to be removed. Jon is given 2+ weeks to live in his current condition. Jon travels home to his wheelchair stricken mother but keeps the injury a secret from her. The mother breaks down and reveals that she left a brother and father from a previous life of abuse. Jon was too young to remember them and the mother told Jon that his father died long ago. The mother wants to see them and to possibility reconcile. Jon sets out for Kula Lumpur to find the father and brother. On the way there, Jon has medical attack that leaves him zombie-fied. The doctor the on the plane is played by Lin Peng as Rachel Kan, whom is also an renowned scientist. When Jon comes to from the attack, he thanks Kan and they get off the plane together. Kan offers Jon a ride, but Jon declines and gets a taxi. While entering the taxi, Jon notices that Kan is a bit strange and tails her. When the kidnappers notice Jon tailing, they kidnap him too. Jon kicks it into high gear and tries to escape and save Kan. The kidnappers is lead by Nicholas Tse as Man Yeung. Yeung is able to defeat Jon, but sees a family picture fall out of Jon's wallet. The picture is of him with his father and mother and Jon. Yeung spares Jon and escapes. Jon is taken to the hospital and continues to track down Yeung and Kan. Kan is eventually captured and force to make the small pox virus antidote. Jon and Yeung are finally reunited, but they are worlds apart in lifestyle. One is a perpetual criminal and one is part of the law.
My Thoughts
The movie was all over the place. Don't watch the movie and expect the story to make complete sense. It has an brotherhood angle, family reunion angle, revenge angle, terminal illness angle, global treat angle, and fatherhood issues angle. And that's just from the main characters. The subplots of the movie drag it down even more. For me, I was really bothered by the switch between Cantonese and Mandarin in the film. I usually like the Taiwan or China dubbed Mandarin versions so I don't have to read subtitles. This one had English, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarian, and Arabic. The majority was Cantonese and Mandarin. When Jay spoke, it was either Mandarin or English. When Nicholas Tse spoke, it was Cantonese. Weirdness.
Is the movie worth watching? YES! This is one of the highest production value movies out of China and Hong Kong in some time. They were at international locations, had good special effects, and its a movie that can hit the international market via DVD and VOD. This was also the movie that Nicholas Tse was filming during the Cecilia Cheung and Edison plane encounter that eventually led to their separation.
The Green Hornet (青蜂俠) was released in Taiwan today. I hope that the people of Taiwan go out and support President Chou. However, it is a Hollywood movie and the slapstick aspect should fall flat on its face in Asia. But hey, its got Jay. And some really absurd action.
As for Seth in Taiwan. I hope he gets out and about to the old parts of Taipei like Jiufen (九份). Maybe hit up the night market like Shilin Night Market. Hit up Ximending!
I will be making it out to the theaters to watch the madness that is Jay Chou next week or the week after. I am no longer a fan of hitting up the theaters on opening weekend.
The most current commercials are on pretty regularly when I watch the Lakers and Clippers, so I know its being marketed here in LA. Will the rest of the US and Asia follow suit? I sure hope so! And I am hoping that the movie is good too.
The Green Hornet (青蜂俠) commercials are starting and one recent one features the dynamic duo trying to order at a Carl's Jr. The funny thing about the commercial is that the gears labels are in Traditional Chinese. I thought it was well made and makes me want to see the movie more.
Jay has one word! "Sure". Makes it easy not to have a fobby accent.
Sony Pictures released another full trailer of the upcoming The Green Hornet (青蜂俠) movie. The trailer is a little longer and goes more in depth. The plot points are hopefully revealed in the movie and not the trailer. This trailer is quite good and hopefully it'll be a great movie.
Jay Chou's English isn't nature and it sounds super stiff. Not much different than his Mandarin in his Asian movies. So, biz as usual for Jay.
周杰倫/跨時代 (Jay Chou/The Era) was released a few months back. AMAX had a full display of this during my weekly trip there. I picked it up and it's a doozy.
The first song is classic Jay Chou with his R&B inspired beats and his rap-singing. Something that's hard to reproduce since no one else in the industry has come close. The rest go into all directions of musical styles. Again, classic Jay Chou. Or similar to his the blueprint from his last 2 albums.
In all, I was quite impressed and had it on repeat for a week. I do listen to it on and off nowadays.
Since Jay's debut in 2000, he's had a studio album every year until 2009 came around. Something about making a Hollywood movie got in the way of his schedule. As most of his albums have come in the fall, but this came right before summer.
True Legend (蘇乞兒) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, and Jay Chou. The supporting cast include Cung Le, Michelle Yeoh, Andy On, Guo Xiaodong, and David Carradine. The movie was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping.
The movie starts with a rescue mission of a prince of the Qing Dynasty. Vincent Zhao as Su Qi Er is the head of the mission and seemingly sacrifices himself so the others can take the prince to safety. Back at the camp now, the prince is confident the Su is still alive. Andy On plays Yuan, Su's adapted brother. Su is also married to Yuan's younger sister, Ying, played by Zhou Xun. However, Su's father killed Yuan and Ying's father 15 years earlier and adapted them into his household. Yuan still holds a grudge. Ying has moved on and is now a devoted wife and mother. Yuan is given a governor position in the Hubei region and goes back to Su's hometown for revenge. Yuan gets his revenge and kills Su's father and succeeds in eliminating Su's household. Su and Yuan fight for an extended period of time. But Yuan's five vemon technique is too much for Su. Su is thrown into a running river and Ying follows to save him. Yuan captures Su's son, Feng. Ying rescue's Su and takes him to Beido mountain, where they meet Yu, played by Michelle Yeoh. Yu is a expert doctor and cures Su of his wounds from the five venoms. Su's right arm is severely injured, but nurses it back to health. Su also starts to go a little mad and practices with a Wushun, a God of martial arts. After 3 years, he is fully recovered and goes back to save Feng from Yuan. But due to his madness, Ying goes ahead to save Feng. Yuan buries Ying when Su arrives. Su and Yuan battle again. This time, Su wins, but Ying suffocates from being buried. Su goes mad again and becomes a beggar. Feng and Su now travel from town to town looking for food as beggars. Su is drawn into a fight with the foreigners and wins.
Yuen Woo-ping directs his first film in more than 10 years. And its a doozy. The film has 3 main story arcs that cover Su's life. The calm, the suffering, and how he became a legend. In each arc, it feels very familiar. LIke comfort food. But it also throws in very modern elements. Like the drunken fist being half break dancing.
Jay Chou was blamed for this movie not doing well at the box office. Jay's character is barely in the movie and is part of Su's imagination.
If you're a fan of old skool and like the new skool martial art movies, True Legend gives you both and the fighting is quite entertaining. The movie is long due to the 3 storyarcs.
刺陵 (The Treasure Hunter) is a 2009 film out of Taiwan. The movie stars Jay Chou and Lin Chi-ling.
The movie is about a city lost in the dessert. The city is suppose to contain a treasure. It is protected by a desert eagle. Jay Chou has come upon some relics that help him locate the area. In a sense, a treasure map. Lin Chi-ling's father helped Jay get the map, so she wants to see what this thing is that killed her father.
Off they go, looking for the lost city in the middle of the desert. Enter sub plots that get in their way.
The movie wasn't as bad as some others made it out to me. You must not have watched any of the mahjung movies from last year. I think the hype killed it as it made it seem like the next indy film, but for the Chinese audience.
Don't expect it. You should expect a lot of fighting, CGI, and Lin Chi-ling looking very sultry. What more do you want?
I liked the film but don't think I'll ever watch it a second time.
熊貓人 (Pandamen) is a drama where Jay Chou was the producer, director, and actor. The series is set to premiere on January 17. But I don't think it'll happen due to some legal stuff.
However, a 8 minute trailer was released into the wild last week. In the trailer, it's a who's who of Chinese entertainment. You see Jay Chou, Eric Tseng, Jerry Yan, Shawn Yue, Tang Yan, and Will Pan in the trailer.
Looks exciting because the production value looks pretty high. But its splattered with some crazy cheezy dialog.
If this is the "Chinese" attempt to create a Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Batman mytho, I think they'll gravely miss the mark if it goes international. I personally think Chinese mythos are more interesting to explore than to repackage comic book heroes for the Chinese market.
刺陵 (The Treasure Hunter) is an upcoming movie starring Jay Chou and Lin Chi-Ling. The movie poster and some production photos were released this week.
From the looks of it, it looks pretty intense. I hope they go for an Indy feel but with a totally Chinese twist and flavor. Treasure capers are awesome due the suspense, triller, mystery, and chase elements.
We'll have to wait until December or 2010 to see this.
2 days ago, it was announced that Jay Chou (周杰倫), Taiwanese music and movie superstar, was cast to play Kato in the upcoming Green Hornet movie starring Seth Rogen.
I am actually pretty shocked by this announcement. But also a little excited as its Jay Chou. Jay Chou continues to make great music out of Taiwan and land roles in interesting movies out of Asia.
If you didn't follow the rumor mill for the Green Hornet, the first star attached to play Kato was Stephen Chow of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle fame. When Stephen Chou drop out of the project completely, the casting call for any "Asian" was broadcast. Korean hunk Kwon Sang Woo was than rumored for a week or so, before Kwon denied the rumors.
So, my initial thoughts are that he's got very little time to prep his English. The movie is set for release on July 9th, 2010. I don't know where Jay's English is now, but in the past, there's a strong FOB accent to it. Second is that we're not going to see the normal Jay Chou output for the next 12 months. Jay seems to work like a madman to release a CD every year with crazy videos. Jay has also been attached to several movies.
Being on the Hollywood schedule means he's going to have only 1 thing a year. And if the Kato role rumors are true, this will be the only thing he does in 2010.
Best of luck to Jay. I've included Jay's Double Blade MV as it seems to be filmed in the US and has a little of his English on display.
And for those of you that do not know who Kato or what the Green Hornet are. Kato was the sidekick to the Green Hornet made famous in the 60s by the late Bruce Lee. The Green Hornet was only able to last 1 season.
不能說的秘密 (Secret) is a 2007 film out of Taiwan from Jay Chou.
The movie is a romance between Jay Chou as Jay and Kwai Lun-mei as Rain. The movie also features Anthony Wong as Jay's father and as the school master. Alice Tzeng makes her debut in this film as Sky. Alice was in many many things in 2008.
The movie is based on the senior year of high school for Jay. During the year, Jay bumps into Rain over and over again and they eventually fall for each other. Little does he know that there's something special about Rain.
Rain however disappears for awhile and Jay starts searching for her. A mystery starts and the movie's pace picks up.
The movie is very entertaining. It wasn't until the movie was over that the many plot holes started to introduce itself. But it didn't matter as the entertainment value of the movie was overwhelming.
Jay's movie star was rising in 2007 and Secret was Jay at his peak.
Alice Tzeng was both cute and sweet in this movie. Alice was quite busy in 2008 and hopefully makes more stuff in 2009.
Kwai Lun-mei has been on my radar since Blue Gate Crossing. At first, before I watched the movie, I wasn't sure she was right for the role. After watching the movie, I couldn't think of anyone else that would have been better. Lun-mei was also quite busy in 2007 and 2008.
Curse of the Golden Flower (滿城盡帶黃金甲) is 2006 film starring Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, and Jay Chau (周潤發, 鞏俐, 周杰倫) and directed by Zhang Yimou.
The story is based on the imperial family of which Chow, Gong Li, and Jay belong to. The politics of being trapped to your confines. The family dynamics and the little secrets everyone has.
The wuxia elements were much more limited in this production than with other Zhang Yimou productions.
It was quite strange to see Chow Yun-Fat in a this role. Chow is the gambler and an assassin. Not a emperor.
Over all, I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie and it was underwhelming.
I happened on 南拳媽媽 recently because of 南拳媽媽's Lara's collaboration with Jay Chau on his snake song.
From the looks of it, they've been around for a few years with 5 albums. I'll have to look into getting some in the future. But I was able to check out their videos on YouTube and Lara's collab with Jay. Very strong group.
I am finding more and more that I like in the Taiwan pop music scene. I've sorta given up on the American music scene. I buy 3 taiwan CDs vs 1 american nowadays. To bad my chinese will never good enough to get in on the Karaoke stuff.
Here's a recent song from 南拳媽媽, 下雨天 (rainy day) and Lara in Jay's snake song.
Jay Chou appeared on a popular Taiwan variety show, 康熙来了, a couple of days ago and did quite a few magic tricks. I was impressed at the passion he had for it. It was refreshing to see this 天王 in such childish a manor.
Here's all 5 parts of the show put together for 50 minutes of fun watching.
