Newspaper blows
In my free copy of AM New York, the weather said Wednesday would hit a low of 240! And it was accompanied by a picture of someone breathing fire from his mouth. I just thought it was really funny. The sun today was great by the way. In fact, on my way home, I sat on the steps of the Columbia University library basking in the sun for the first time since coming here and read a book and even wrote a song for the music composition class that I’m taking.
Other exciting things in the newspaper, this time around the Village Voice, included a feature of Singaporean filmaker Royston Tan’s "15". It didn’t exactly get a great review but hey, it was mentioned! Congrats Royston! Also in this week’s edition of the New Yorker, they had a four page spread on Singapore. It made me think about all the things I missed about Singapore. I guess the advertorial worked, even on me!
But back to "15"; That was released way before I got here. Also, "The House of Flying Daggers" and "2046" have only just been out or is coming out. And while I’m getting US films much earlier than I used to get them in Singapore, I’m getting the Asian films later. And all this time, I hadn’t realised I really wasn’t getting the rotten end of the deal back in Singapore.
April 13th, 2005 at 7:16 pm
15 got a very good review in the Post today - 3 stars. They did talk about 20 cuts being made by the censors, but didn’t mention how the American film was edited.
Asian films are often edited differently for European and American audiences.
House of Flying Daggers had 3 cases of real animal cruelty removed from the UK version. Unfortunatley, it wasn’t cut from the American version, and I didn’t know about it until I saw the film and was quite shocked and angered. Otherwise, I loved the movie.
Ong Bak:Thai Warrior had an entire sub-plot removed. I guess they figured that we Americans would only go for the action. They did rack up some new Tony Jaa fans, though, including myself.
I didn’t realize that 2046 had already been released anywhere. I will always jump on a chance to see Zhang Ziyi, she is amazing.
She’s also been cast as the lead in Memoirs of a Geisha, although I think there will be some flak about a Chinese actress playing a Japanese character.
One thing that does bug me about American films is the casting of “generic Asians”, including Filipino Dante Basco in Chinese roles. He’s good but doesn’t look Chinese for a second. He seems to dominate all the Asian roles of your type. Sometimes it can’t be helped, but you should be able to get some work here, too! (My friend Rodney (also Filipino) has gone against him more than once!) Hey, at least he’s good.
With so few opportunities for Asians in American entertainment, you’d think the talent pool would be large enough for more to work.
And it is.
BD Wong has been quite a leader for Asian entertainers. After Johnathon Pryce, a caucasian actor, played the engineer, an Asian role, in Miss Saigon on Broadway, all subsequent replacements were Asian.
That success is attributed to Mr. Wong’s activism and advocacy.
This weekend, I’ll be seeing Kung Fu Hustle with a group of friends. We are all very excited to see it. (you’re free to join us if you’d like.)
Anyway, I’m glad you’re enjoying the weather! I get the weekend to do so, but it usually rains when I get a day off! Ha!
April 25th, 2005 at 7:21 pm
Hey, can keep that copy of New Yorker for me?!? I do collect whenever I can … Thanks.
April 25th, 2005 at 9:46 pm
Alas, I don’t have a copy anymore. That’s why I took a picture of it. So I didn’t have to keep it but still be able to share it. I don’t collect things as much here in NY because I realise how temporary everything is and how mobile I have to be.