Peggy shares her story of being an extra on "Spy Next Door" and meeting Jackie, but this is not all this story is about. Please read her story
Showing posts with label spy next door. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spy next door. Show all posts
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Well sadly USA residents only but good luck and may the best person win if you are eligible to enter.
COMPETITION LINK TO ENTER
Spy Next Door DVD Competition
Well sadly USA residents only but good luck and may the best person win if you are eligible to enter.
COMPETITION LINK TO ENTER
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The Spy Next Door - Review
So I finally got to see "Spy Next Door" which has eventually worked it's way around to my local theater.
I must admit to being slightly at a loss for what to say about the movie and I have been trying to write this review for 2 days already. I did not go with the highest expectations of the film and I guess in that regard I was not disappointed but it is hard to say the movie was BAD but it is equally hard to say that it was good.
I went with the expectation that it was intended to be a kid's movie and I watched it with that expectation in mind. However the problem is that in the words of Shakespeare - this movie is 'neither fish nor fowl'. It is not a 'Jackie Chan' movie. It is not a movie that will particularly appeal to kids and it is not clever enough to be an adult movie either.
I was asked if I disliked the movie and the truth is no I didn't DISLIKE it - but I can't truthfully say I liked it either. It is a strange movie in that nothing in it is truly awful but nothing is truly good either. There is no 'magic'! And as a result it fails even to disappoint. I can't generate strong emotion about it because there is simply nothing to feel strongly about either good or bad.
So let's take a closer look at different aspects of the movie:
Casting: I have a problem with how this movie was cast. George Lopez as a comedian is very adult and not a casting choice that would appeal to kids nor encourage their parents to take their kids to see the movie.
Billy Ray Cyrus and Lucas Till may have been cast because of their cachet with the Hannah Montana crowd but I highly doubt that Billy Ray without Miley is much of an attraction for the tween audience and Lucas Till simply is not in the movie enough to generate ongoing word-of-mouth interest. He was however just about the best thing in the movie. He got the biggest laugh from me the entire film and he really stood out on-screen (Hint from me - watch that kid - if he doesn't mess up he has a long career ahead of him).
I have serious issues with casting the heroes of kindergarten television as villains and casting Magnus Scheving as the villain in this movie, with his anger management issues and extremely poor impulse control with a gun is akin to casting Barney the Dinosaur in a remake of 'Gremlins' as the gremlin. Kids of that age are developmentally unable to distinguish fantasy from reality and if you are going to create yourself as a hero to that age group you have to be prepared to maintain the image. Kids simply do not understand why their hero is suddenly 'bad' and the blow can be devastating. It also leaves parents with the next-to-impossible task of trying to explain to their crushed and inconsolable toddler why Spartacus is shooting stuff and why this is bad and why they shouldn't copy him. This in my opinion was an extremely poor casting choice.
All in all the casting was uninspired and did not gel together to create that on-screen magic we look for in a good movie. Not one of the characters had enough screen time for you to establish a rapport with. They came and went in this montage of small takes that felt like poorly executed skits that did not fit together in a coherent whole.
Title Sequence: I feel the same way about the title sequence for this movie as I did about the title sequence for "The Forbidden Kingdom" - it just did not fit. It set up an expectation of an entirely different movie and to go from a montage of clips of old Jackie movies - which quite frankly did not fit together very well either in terms of look, style, or content and making them sepia did not help much to pull them together either - into a scene of urban tract housing that was reminiscent of 'Leave it Beaver' type sit-coms was just unsettling and failed entirely to set the tone for the rest of the film. I have no idea why they didn't just film a short series of clips showing Jackie flip-flopping between boring alter-ego salesman/nice guy next door and 'super-spy!' (which has to be said in the same tone as 'super-star!' from the movie "Superstar!") which would have established the dual role he is playing much better than the documentary style series of clips. Now if those were the opening for a documentary of Jackie's movies I would be extremely interested to watch the rest - as the opening for this movie? Naaah - did not work!
Stunts: Well what can I say other than the 'safety police' as Jackie calls them were out in full force on this one. I do not blame audiences for thinking Jackie is 'past it' when he is practically not even allowed to blow his own nose. The stunts on this were dull, entirely lacked the 'WOW LOOK AT JACKIE!' factor - more than likely because they were almost entirely NOT actually Jackie doing them. The one 'big' stunt - the escalator slide was so random and so derivative of Police Story/Rush Hour/Shanghai Knights that it was actually boring.
In addition the use of wires in this movie was so painfully obvious. I have absolutely no objection to the clever use of wires not only for safety reasons but also as Jackie uses them to enhance the ability of the actors (or non-ability as the case may be). However may I please inform film-makers - PEOPLE DO NOT FLOAT! Bad wirework results in gravity defying floating people and when simulating reality it is important that the effect of gravity on falling bodies remains evident. Jackie 'floats' effortlessly far too often in this movie.
The only 'stunt' in which the inimitable Jackie Chan magic was evident was with the frying pans. It was quick, funny, and well no other way to say it other than 'Jackie'. Even the thing with the fridge was so "Rumble in the Bronx" (shopping cart) / "The Medallion" (containers) / "Rush Hour" (containers) / "Rob-B-Hood" (getting in the car from the back) / well you get the idea!
I know Jackie choreographed the stunts for the intended audience and that is not the problem here - the problem is not the 'toning' down of the stunts to a level suitable for kids but rather how they were filmed, and executed. And even Jackie can only choreograph within the parameters set by the Director.
Gadgets: We have Jackie playing a super cool 'super-spy!' (remember how to say it?) and he doesn't have super cool 'super-spy!' stuff! If there is one area this movie could have come out shining and been really amazing and that was with the gadgets. Even "Agent Cody Banks" had better spy gear than this. I mean come on guys - where is the super-cool-every-boy's-dream 'super-spy!' stuff! A ring with a mini-cutter on it? HELLO it wasn't even a laser cutter!!! Fire out the lighter? SO LAST CENTURY! *SIGH* I think the film-makers forgot to bring out their inner child.
Plot/Dialogue: Yes this is is kid's movie and we don't expect the plot to be hugely genius - but why was an oil-eating virus/bacteria/formula bad? Now if the bad guy had created such a virus/bacteria/formula and decided to make a fortune for himself but having the only solution to oil spill disasters and then deciding it would be even better to create a few disasters instead of waiting for them to happen and then charging the earth for his solution ... wow so much better than the Russian cliché - the film-makers did remember the Cold War is over? And while I am having a small moan - what did the film-makers have against Jimmy Choo? Implying his shoes are 'plastic' is somewhat more than just a small swipe at him. And let's not contemplate the huge illogical inconsistency in tracking the formula being 'downloaded'. One would assume the CIA to have slightly better firewalls / IP disguising software than that - not to mention the line to Jackie's home computer would have been a secure dedicated line and not on an open server leaving nothing to 'track'. These days kids are so computer savvy that I am sure they were groaning out loud in theaters at that one.
The dialogue in this movie was just bad. It wasn't however bad enough to go over that line where bad becomes funny. It wasn't clever or snappy or witty enough to entertain adults accompanying younger children. And as for the line about marriage delivered by Billy Ray Cyrus? Hmmm yes GOOD philosophy to espouse in a kid's film! Would you like some tea with your cynicism today?
Getting back to a more generalized discussion of the film, when I first heard the premise of this film I was really excited and said 'Yay Jackie is finally making "The Pacifier"!'. "The Pacifier" was written specifically for Jackie but due to time constraints he was unable to do the movie which is when Vin Diesel was cast. I can still very easily picture Jackie in that role and I looked forward to this movie as being Jackie's chance to create that part for himself. In fact many elements of this film loosely remind me of "The Pacifier" - single mom, several kids, weird pets, mom is called away, unsuitable babysitter out of his depth coping with the perils of watching kids, protecting them from evil villains turns him from zero to hero in the kids' eyes .... sound familiar? However unlike "The Pacifier" which I still watch periodically with enjoyment - this movie just fails to bring the same magic to the table.
I mean OK you have to be a serious Jackie Chan/movie buff to appreciate the finer points in "The Pacifier" but just one example the family name is Plummer and Captain Von Trapp in the film "Sound of Music" was played by Christopher Plummer. "The Sound of Music" is also one of Jackie's favourite movies. It is small things like this that make the movie enjoyable to watch. Sadly there are no such moments in "Spy Next Door".
I have no idea how they succeeded but even Jackie was bland - I guess that he succeeded in being the boring pen salesman but he succeeded a little too well because there was no pizazz when he wasn't being the boring guy next door.
Overall the movie comes across as 'small'. I have the entire time been trying to pin down just exactly why this movie fails so spectacularly to be anything at all including being bad, and I think I have finally pinned it down - from beginning to end - it feels like no great effort was expended. It feels the entire time that 'good enough' was 'good enough'. Script - not great but 'good enough', stunts - not great but 'good enough', acting - not great but 'good enough' and there are just enough 'good enough's' to have resulted in a bland movie that never quite excites, never quite disappoints, and is just barely 'good enough'.
I must admit to being slightly at a loss for what to say about the movie and I have been trying to write this review for 2 days already. I did not go with the highest expectations of the film and I guess in that regard I was not disappointed but it is hard to say the movie was BAD but it is equally hard to say that it was good.
I went with the expectation that it was intended to be a kid's movie and I watched it with that expectation in mind. However the problem is that in the words of Shakespeare - this movie is 'neither fish nor fowl'. It is not a 'Jackie Chan' movie. It is not a movie that will particularly appeal to kids and it is not clever enough to be an adult movie either.
I was asked if I disliked the movie and the truth is no I didn't DISLIKE it - but I can't truthfully say I liked it either. It is a strange movie in that nothing in it is truly awful but nothing is truly good either. There is no 'magic'! And as a result it fails even to disappoint. I can't generate strong emotion about it because there is simply nothing to feel strongly about either good or bad.
So let's take a closer look at different aspects of the movie:
Casting: I have a problem with how this movie was cast. George Lopez as a comedian is very adult and not a casting choice that would appeal to kids nor encourage their parents to take their kids to see the movie.
Billy Ray Cyrus and Lucas Till may have been cast because of their cachet with the Hannah Montana crowd but I highly doubt that Billy Ray without Miley is much of an attraction for the tween audience and Lucas Till simply is not in the movie enough to generate ongoing word-of-mouth interest. He was however just about the best thing in the movie. He got the biggest laugh from me the entire film and he really stood out on-screen (Hint from me - watch that kid - if he doesn't mess up he has a long career ahead of him).
I have serious issues with casting the heroes of kindergarten television as villains and casting Magnus Scheving as the villain in this movie, with his anger management issues and extremely poor impulse control with a gun is akin to casting Barney the Dinosaur in a remake of 'Gremlins' as the gremlin. Kids of that age are developmentally unable to distinguish fantasy from reality and if you are going to create yourself as a hero to that age group you have to be prepared to maintain the image. Kids simply do not understand why their hero is suddenly 'bad' and the blow can be devastating. It also leaves parents with the next-to-impossible task of trying to explain to their crushed and inconsolable toddler why Spartacus is shooting stuff and why this is bad and why they shouldn't copy him. This in my opinion was an extremely poor casting choice.
All in all the casting was uninspired and did not gel together to create that on-screen magic we look for in a good movie. Not one of the characters had enough screen time for you to establish a rapport with. They came and went in this montage of small takes that felt like poorly executed skits that did not fit together in a coherent whole.
Title Sequence: I feel the same way about the title sequence for this movie as I did about the title sequence for "The Forbidden Kingdom" - it just did not fit. It set up an expectation of an entirely different movie and to go from a montage of clips of old Jackie movies - which quite frankly did not fit together very well either in terms of look, style, or content and making them sepia did not help much to pull them together either - into a scene of urban tract housing that was reminiscent of 'Leave it Beaver' type sit-coms was just unsettling and failed entirely to set the tone for the rest of the film. I have no idea why they didn't just film a short series of clips showing Jackie flip-flopping between boring alter-ego salesman/nice guy next door and 'super-spy!' (which has to be said in the same tone as 'super-star!' from the movie "Superstar!") which would have established the dual role he is playing much better than the documentary style series of clips. Now if those were the opening for a documentary of Jackie's movies I would be extremely interested to watch the rest - as the opening for this movie? Naaah - did not work!
Stunts: Well what can I say other than the 'safety police' as Jackie calls them were out in full force on this one. I do not blame audiences for thinking Jackie is 'past it' when he is practically not even allowed to blow his own nose. The stunts on this were dull, entirely lacked the 'WOW LOOK AT JACKIE!' factor - more than likely because they were almost entirely NOT actually Jackie doing them. The one 'big' stunt - the escalator slide was so random and so derivative of Police Story/Rush Hour/Shanghai Knights that it was actually boring.
In addition the use of wires in this movie was so painfully obvious. I have absolutely no objection to the clever use of wires not only for safety reasons but also as Jackie uses them to enhance the ability of the actors (or non-ability as the case may be). However may I please inform film-makers - PEOPLE DO NOT FLOAT! Bad wirework results in gravity defying floating people and when simulating reality it is important that the effect of gravity on falling bodies remains evident. Jackie 'floats' effortlessly far too often in this movie.
The only 'stunt' in which the inimitable Jackie Chan magic was evident was with the frying pans. It was quick, funny, and well no other way to say it other than 'Jackie'. Even the thing with the fridge was so "Rumble in the Bronx" (shopping cart) / "The Medallion" (containers) / "Rush Hour" (containers) / "Rob-B-Hood" (getting in the car from the back) / well you get the idea!
I know Jackie choreographed the stunts for the intended audience and that is not the problem here - the problem is not the 'toning' down of the stunts to a level suitable for kids but rather how they were filmed, and executed. And even Jackie can only choreograph within the parameters set by the Director.
Gadgets: We have Jackie playing a super cool 'super-spy!' (remember how to say it?) and he doesn't have super cool 'super-spy!' stuff! If there is one area this movie could have come out shining and been really amazing and that was with the gadgets. Even "Agent Cody Banks" had better spy gear than this. I mean come on guys - where is the super-cool-every-boy's-dream 'super-spy!' stuff! A ring with a mini-cutter on it? HELLO it wasn't even a laser cutter!!! Fire out the lighter? SO LAST CENTURY! *SIGH* I think the film-makers forgot to bring out their inner child.
Plot/Dialogue: Yes this is is kid's movie and we don't expect the plot to be hugely genius - but why was an oil-eating virus/bacteria/formula bad? Now if the bad guy had created such a virus/bacteria/formula and decided to make a fortune for himself but having the only solution to oil spill disasters and then deciding it would be even better to create a few disasters instead of waiting for them to happen and then charging the earth for his solution ... wow so much better than the Russian cliché - the film-makers did remember the Cold War is over? And while I am having a small moan - what did the film-makers have against Jimmy Choo? Implying his shoes are 'plastic' is somewhat more than just a small swipe at him. And let's not contemplate the huge illogical inconsistency in tracking the formula being 'downloaded'. One would assume the CIA to have slightly better firewalls / IP disguising software than that - not to mention the line to Jackie's home computer would have been a secure dedicated line and not on an open server leaving nothing to 'track'. These days kids are so computer savvy that I am sure they were groaning out loud in theaters at that one.
The dialogue in this movie was just bad. It wasn't however bad enough to go over that line where bad becomes funny. It wasn't clever or snappy or witty enough to entertain adults accompanying younger children. And as for the line about marriage delivered by Billy Ray Cyrus? Hmmm yes GOOD philosophy to espouse in a kid's film! Would you like some tea with your cynicism today?
Getting back to a more generalized discussion of the film, when I first heard the premise of this film I was really excited and said 'Yay Jackie is finally making "The Pacifier"!'. "The Pacifier" was written specifically for Jackie but due to time constraints he was unable to do the movie which is when Vin Diesel was cast. I can still very easily picture Jackie in that role and I looked forward to this movie as being Jackie's chance to create that part for himself. In fact many elements of this film loosely remind me of "The Pacifier" - single mom, several kids, weird pets, mom is called away, unsuitable babysitter out of his depth coping with the perils of watching kids, protecting them from evil villains turns him from zero to hero in the kids' eyes .... sound familiar? However unlike "The Pacifier" which I still watch periodically with enjoyment - this movie just fails to bring the same magic to the table.
I mean OK you have to be a serious Jackie Chan/movie buff to appreciate the finer points in "The Pacifier" but just one example the family name is Plummer and Captain Von Trapp in the film "Sound of Music" was played by Christopher Plummer. "The Sound of Music" is also one of Jackie's favourite movies. It is small things like this that make the movie enjoyable to watch. Sadly there are no such moments in "Spy Next Door".
I have no idea how they succeeded but even Jackie was bland - I guess that he succeeded in being the boring pen salesman but he succeeded a little too well because there was no pizazz when he wasn't being the boring guy next door.
Overall the movie comes across as 'small'. I have the entire time been trying to pin down just exactly why this movie fails so spectacularly to be anything at all including being bad, and I think I have finally pinned it down - from beginning to end - it feels like no great effort was expended. It feels the entire time that 'good enough' was 'good enough'. Script - not great but 'good enough', stunts - not great but 'good enough', acting - not great but 'good enough' and there are just enough 'good enough's' to have resulted in a bland movie that never quite excites, never quite disappoints, and is just barely 'good enough'.
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Answering Google Search Questions
Q. Which Suburb does Bob Ho live in in America
A. Spy Next Door was filmed in Albuquerque New Mexico. The suburb in which they filmed a lot of the scenes is new (at the time) residential housing complex. Other scenes were filmed in the Uptown Mall and at holiday resort on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
Q. Which song/lullaby/Chinese song does Jackie sing in Spy Next Door?
A. He sings the theme song from his 2006 movie Rob-B-Hood called Ba Ma de Hua or Parent Song - Lyrics to the song can be found HERE.
Q.Jackie Chan loves to drive and stare at the rain?
A. Yes he does love to drive.
Q. Jackie Chan's regular exercise?
A. Yes he does exercise regularly. See today's picture on Twitter for his 'usual' workout these days.
Q.Little Big Soldier premier?
A. Depends on which one you are asking about. Jackie had a premier concert - details HERE, HERE and HERE, a preview premier at his new movie theater complex - details HERE, HERE and HERE but otherwise it will premier ie start showing nationwide in China on the 14th February 2010.
Q. Little Big Soldier Trailer
A. HERE
Q. Various questions about lyrics
A. You can find links to the lyrics I have found in the sidebar. I will find specific songs if asked ... IF I am not flooded with 1001 requests.
Q. Little Big Soldier Characters
A. Ok this is an interesting one and perhaps worthy of a post all on it's own which I have just decided I am going to do
A. Spy Next Door was filmed in Albuquerque New Mexico. The suburb in which they filmed a lot of the scenes is new (at the time) residential housing complex. Other scenes were filmed in the Uptown Mall and at holiday resort on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
Q. Which song/lullaby/Chinese song does Jackie sing in Spy Next Door?
A. He sings the theme song from his 2006 movie Rob-B-Hood called Ba Ma de Hua or Parent Song - Lyrics to the song can be found HERE.
Q.Jackie Chan loves to drive and stare at the rain?
A. Yes he does love to drive.
Q. Jackie Chan's regular exercise?
A. Yes he does exercise regularly. See today's picture on Twitter for his 'usual' workout these days.
Q.Little Big Soldier premier?
A. Depends on which one you are asking about. Jackie had a premier concert - details HERE, HERE and HERE, a preview premier at his new movie theater complex - details HERE, HERE and HERE but otherwise it will premier ie start showing nationwide in China on the 14th February 2010.
Q. Little Big Soldier Trailer
A. HERE
Q. Various questions about lyrics
A. You can find links to the lyrics I have found in the sidebar. I will find specific songs if asked ... IF I am not flooded with 1001 requests.
Q. Little Big Soldier Characters
A. Ok this is an interesting one and perhaps worthy of a post all on it's own which I have just decided I am going to do
0
Interesting Comments from Amber Valleta
This is an audio report so you have to follow the link and listen but Amber Valleta talks about her impressions of Jackie - really interesting what she says.
LINK HERE
LINK HERE
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The Song Jackie sang in Spy Next Door
Actually I already answered this question HERE but as lots of people search for the answer and don't seem to find it I am doing a whole separate post on it.
The song is from Jackie's movie 'Rob-B-Hood' (2006). Some people call it 'Bao Bei' song.
The lyrics are:
Source: JackieChanKids.Com
The Music Video of the song:
Postscript:
There is a list of quick links to all the songs I have lyrics for in the sidebar under LYRICS
The song is from Jackie's movie 'Rob-B-Hood' (2006). Some people call it 'Bao Bei' song.
The lyrics are:
Ba Ma De Hua
dào tiān míng bù gǎn qù shuì
dān xīn nǐ hàn liú jiá bèi
kàn zhù nǐ kě ài dào liú lèi
wàng jì le zì jǐ pí bèi
bǎo bèi bǎo bèi ài nǐ yī bèi
bù qiú nǐ yǒu shěn me zuò wèi
jiàn kāng kuài lè gěi nǐ zāi péi
zhǐ quí nǐ wèn xīn wú kuì
jiāng jiāo ér bào zài huái xīn suān nán le
wèi niáng wǒ yǒu huà duì nǐ yún
bǎo bèi bǎo bèi zǒu chū bǎo lěi
nǐ yào zì jǐ xiǎo xīn fáng bèi
zhuàn de qián gěi nǐ huā fèi
dān xīn nǐ niàn shū tài lèi
dào yī tiān nǐ zǒu chū shè huì
dān xīn nǐ yǒu fǒu jī huì
bǎo bèi bǎo bèi ài nǐ yī bèi
bù qiú nǐ yǒu shěn me zuò wèi
jiàn kāng kuài lè gěi nǐ zāi péi
zhǐ quí nǐ wèn xīn wú kuì
jiāng jiāo ér bào zài huái xīn suān nán le
wèi niáng wǒ yǒu huà duì nǐ yún
zhè shì jiè rú cǐ diān pèi
qián wàn bié bàn tú ér fèi
qián xīn wàn kǔ bǎ nǐ zāi péi
bà mā de kǔ zhī dào méi
Parent Song
Even as the dawn breaks, I can not sleep
Because I worry that you will become ill as you sleep.
When I look at you, I see how lovely you are and tears come into my eyes
I forget my own fatigue.
My darling, my treasure, I love you forever
I only hope that you are healthy and happy and that I can nurture you
and you will have no regrets.
I hold you in my arms and I feel happiness but I also feel worried
As though I were your mother, I have something to tell you
My darling, my treasure, one day you will leave home
Please take care of yourself.
We earn money so you can spend it
We worry that you’ll be too tired for studying
One day you will go out into society
We worry about whether you will have a good chance in life
My darling, my treasure, I love you forever
I only hope that you are healthy and happy and that I can nurture you
and you will have no regrets.
I hold you in my arms and I feel happiness but I also feel worried
As though I were your mother, I have something to tell you
My darling, my treasure, one day you will leave home
Please take care of yourself.
This world is so chaotic
Don’t give up too easily
Because we tried our best to nurture you
Can you understand what we’ve done for you?
Source: JackieChanKids.Com
The Music Video of the song:
Postscript:
There is a list of quick links to all the songs I have lyrics for in the sidebar under LYRICS
3
Closing lines to a review of Spy Next Door
These closing lines to a review of Spy Next Door made me smile:
Source: 163.COM or TRANSLATED
I have always been impressed that the Jackie Chan film made in Hollywood always have Chinese elements. This film has Jackie singing songs to coax a little girl to sleep in Chinese, and goes with three children to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Although he spoke the English, wearing a suit, but he never forgets that he is Chinese, and shoulders the obligation to promote the Chinese culture. Whenever I see these things, I always look on Jackie Chan with special favor
Source: 163.COM or TRANSLATED
0
Interesting interview from Thailand
JACKIE'S BUILDING A BETTER WORLD
By VEENARAT LAOHAPAKAKUL
THE NATION
Published on January 20, 2010
The martial-arts movie star kicks down borders to build schools, cultural harmony and bridges to peace
Action hero Jackie Chan, best known by Thais for his martial-arts comedies and by his Chinese name Chen Long, is wearing many hats nowadays, including those of a philanthropist and Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.
The Hong Kong superstar recently embarked on a mission to promote peace in Thailand and Cambodia as part of the third session of "Bridges - Dialogues Toward a Culture of Peace", hosted by the International Peace Foundation.
Here are excerpts from his interview on Modernine's "Cheepajorn Loke" ("World Pulse"), a show produced by Nation Multimedia.
What films are you are working on?
I just finished "The Kung Fu Kid" with the son of Will Smith, Jaden Smith. Basically, it's a remake of "The Karate Kid", but a totally different story: A young kid from America comes to China and I take care of him. I teach him kung fu, attitude and discipline. It's a very interesting story.
You've been doing your stunts and action comedy since the '70s. Do they still sell today?
It's my dilemma: I like action but I hate violence. The only thing I like is comedy with action. I still like action things, maybe because I've been training for so many years, and also, I like to make people smile. I like to get the audience excited.
You think they still smile at your action comedy?
I don't think the audience likes watching Jackie Chan running around Krabi beach, kissing and singing a song - "Do you love me and I love you and bye-bye and my girlfriend has cancer …"
The audience always goes to see a Jackie Chan movie because it's very funny and has good stunts. Nobody says, "Go and see it and have a good cry."
How has the Asian audience changed over the years?
It's become more Westernised, thanks to American movies, the Internet, TV dramas and rap music. On the street the young people have headphones and it's always American songs.
On TV shows all the young people go, "Yo yo!" But you never see people in America wai other people.
So is it a good or bad thing?
It's good, but it shouldn't be only one side, it should be many sides. I promote my own culture. Even my jeans are Chinese. Everybody should love your own country and promote your own culture.
I like Thai, Japanese and Korean cultures, I like Muslims, I like everybody, though I have to promote my culture. Everybody should know everybody else's culture because, in the world there's actually no boundary. The world belongs to us. Bangkok belongs to me, not only to you.
Korean movies are everywhere now.
That's because the government really supports them. Hong Kong movies were really strong when I went to Korea looking for locations, but the Korean government was building a whole studio.
The producers were running the studio at the time, so the studio and equipment were cheap. A few years later, boom!
When Hong Kong was under the British, the British government didn't support our movies. We had to hide when we filmed. We took our cameras on the street and the gun - bang bang - and the police said stop, we ran away.
Now the Chinese government supports the industry, but it's too late. We don't have a Hong Kong movie industry anymore - we have China movies. Piracy in Hong Kong was so strong that the investors didn't get back what they wanted.
But China is too big. The government is against piracy, but you clamp down here, they start over there. I think one day when I have nothing to do, I might become a pirate businessman. Today I'm Jackie Chan and I'm against this.
It's a big problem for everybody. They have fake Gucci bags, fake Cartier watches, fake everything. At least fake movies don't kill people - make fake aeroplane accessories and the plane will crash. Fake medicine - that kind of thing hurts people.
People say that when an actor is funny onscreen, he's serious off-screen. Is that you?
Yes, because I do have responsibilities. I work with charities, not only in Hong Kong but around the world. Because when I was young, I saw so many people from around the world coming to Hong Kong to help us. The Red Cross helped me.
So today I have the responsibility, not to represent my country, but at least represent myself, to give back to society.
What does the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation do?
Twenty-something years ago it was just a small foundation helping a few people in Hong Kong, but later on, with more money, they spread out to China. The government is doing the big things, and let us do the small things. I help out old people and the crippled, and build schools. I've built 24 schools already.
I come to Bangkok, I go to Cambodia and find out the problems, and then I go back. I plan to do peace concert next year in Bangkok. I don't know if it will work.
What about the Dragon's Heart Foundation?
It also helps build schools and helps children, all over the world. I try - I'm not big enough to help all over the world, but I try. I'm not like Bill Gates - he has billions, but I don't.
Do you only spend your own money?
Some is my own and the rest comes from auctions, my fan clubs - even the club in Bangkok, they send me money. They send me a dollar and I put up $2. Every penny I get, I have to write down all the details.
Twelve years after Hong Kong was returned to China, how has it changed?
Everyone is happy. Before I wasn't Chinese, I was British, but when I went to England I needed a visa.
We used to call ourselves Hong Kong-nese, but now everyone says, "Yes, we're Chinese," especially in last two years, thanks to the Olympics. Everyone can see China growing up. We're proud to be Chinese.
You seem to stand behind China in every way, and you've been criticised for it, for comments about Taiwan, for example, and how Chinese people should be controlled.
Whatever I say, I want Hong Kong good, I want Taiwan good, I want China good.
When I see things I don't like, I'll say something, because I want everything good. But somebody will do something - they have a purpose, like they want to sell newspapers or books.
Not everybody is against me, just a few people. They won't kill me, but what about freedom? Why can they say something and I can't? They just use me to become famous. You say something, they think, "Ah, Jackie Chan said something that could make me famous."
I know. It doesn't matter. Today Jackie Chan, I don't care. You go to the street and ask people.
0
To answer the question posed with this clip: LOOK HERE
If by some long shot you are unfamiliar with the song:
Anyway back to clips from 'Spy Next Door'
Jackie STILL GOT IT!!!!
More clips from 'Spy Next Door'
To answer the question posed with this clip: LOOK HERE
If by some long shot you are unfamiliar with the song:
Anyway back to clips from 'Spy Next Door'
Jackie STILL GOT IT!!!!
0
Jackie Talks Spy Next Door
Because these interviews all come from the same press day and have a lot of similar elements I am just going to post them altogether.
MOVIES.ABOUT.COM
MMAIL.COM
AZCENTRAL
NY TIMES
Jackie Chan Discusses 'The Spy Next Door'
Jackie Chan Plays Babysitter While Kicking Some Bad Guy Butt
By Rebecca Murray,
Jan 13, 2010 - Jackie Chan is a spy on the verge of retirement in the family action comedy The Spy Next Door co-starring Amber Valletta, George Lopez, and Billy Ray Cyrus. Chan plays Bob Ho, a spy on loan to the CIA from the Chinese government who wants to leave the wild life behind and live peacefully in a nice, quiet suburban neighborhood. And he's got the hots for his pretty next door neighbor, Gillian (Valletta), but her three kids aren't so keen on having Bob be a part of their lives.
Gillian's kids think Bob's a mild-mannered pen salesman and a real wimpy guy. The kids have no idea he's one of the best spies in the business, but that changes when Gillian has to go out of town and Bob volunteers to babysit.
At the LA press day for the Lionsgate Films comedy, Jackie Chan said it wasn't the action or the acting that proved to be the most difficult part of filming The Spy Next Door. "English," declared Chan, "English is very difficult, especially when all the children don’t follow the dialogue. They just speak so fast, and also the dialogue coach and director wanted me to speak all the S's, D's. Sometimes in conversation it’s okay. You don’t care. But in a movie with the children, 'No, no, no, wiTH, wiTH. You missed an S.' The more your emphasize, the more it drives me crazy. Suppose I’m very natural, 'Ba ba ba ba with.' 'No, WITH,' the more nervous I get. Stunt choreography is easy. I’ve been doing it so many years."
Chan's resume is loaded with action films, and The Spy Next Door provided him with plenty of opportunities to show off his skills. "Now there’s more safety," explained Chan, comparing his current films to working on movies such as Police Story. "They make sure inside I have a wire and it’s stronger, then it goes away [in post-production]. There are so many things. I’m just so confident to just jump. Yes, you’re scared but it’s safe. Police Story, you die. You’re going to die. At the end, I’m yelling, 'Agh!!' That’s dying. I go, 'Okay, it’s suicide. I’m just going to [commit] suicide. When I get up, get down, 'Waaaa!' Wow, you survived. It’s just stupid. It’s really stupid."
Separating Action and Violence
Chan's approach to choosing films has changed over the years. He's become fully aware of how his movies affect audiences, particularly kids who try to imitate his moves. Chan still loves action scenes, but tries to show that being into action doesn't mean you can't make films that put out positive messages to their audiences.
"There was a long time when I realized, when I went to Africa, Egypt, still now the children do these kinds of things. They learn from me. Then I said, 'Wow, I have to be careful. There’s so many children who learn from me, I have to do something.' Whatever I do, whatever I make, I think about the children. Before I might do some dirty movement, but now I don’t do this," said Chan. "Maybe I’d say a bad word. Okay, no more F word. Slowly all those years changed to today. Okay, make an action comedy, humor, movement, use all kinds of things, make comedy. Even sometimes I use a gun like in a serious police story. 'Boom! Cut.' You don’t have to show boom, a guy pow, psh, pfsh. Making a movie, there are so many ways to introduce [action]. In the old days, I did the same thing, learn from American movies. That’s cool. But slowly, slowly, you know it’s wrong."
"Slowly, bit by bit, I hope the audience can recognize what I’m doing. If they don’t, okay, it’s still entertainment. If they do, I’m really happy. If some people say, 'Oh, I like that movie. My son really [loves it].' That makes me happy. Yes, I help children. I don’t only give you action, comedy, humor. I give the children education. In every movie I do have a dialogue. Not in American movies - I don’t have the right to change the lines - but when I’m making a Chinese movie, you can tell there’s so much philosophy inside. I believe that’s my responsibility. I have to do it. So that’s why I’m happy with what I’m doing right now."
In fact, one of Chan's latest Hong Kong movies even had a baby in it as his co-star. "See, there’s a lot of message inside. The funny thing is when I made Rob-B-Hood, the Chinese government refused. 'No, you cannot do this. Jackie Chan cannot be a thief.' I said, 'Please, look at the script.' After they slowly looked at the script, [they realized], 'Okay, good education.' Sometimes I want to do something and I can not. Even the government won’t let me do it because you have the image of, not 1.3 billion people, but at least 500 million children that watch you. You can not do this. Then after they look, 'Okay, they let me do it.'"
Asked about his opinion of martial arts (including Mixed Martial Arts) in America, Chan replied, "I sometimes just don’t like to see the Ultimate Fighting. I just find it, as a martial artist, I just find it too violent. They’re put in the cage. At the end, it’s not a fight anymore. It’s like this [rolling on the ground]. That’s not martial arts. Martial arts is about respect. If somebody’s knocked down, stop. So that’s why I really respect someone like Sugar Ray Leonard and boxers. Look at Sugar Ray Leonard - 'Ba ba ba ba ba, boom! Come on, stop. Come on, stop. Yeah, don’t fight. That’s the spirit.' It’s not like, 'Boom! You’re down, ba ba, ba ba.' No, you knock somebody down, 'Come on, get up. I’ll grab you up. You okay? You want to continue?' Make sure [then], 'Okay, come on.' That’s the martial arts spirit. That’s what I want. Boxing, yes. Mixed martial arts, okay if it’s just competition. I just don’t like those kinds of things."
Chan added, "We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people. Respect, we learn these kinds of things. It’s not somebody gets in two more kicks. No, when you look at Gorgeous, when I fight with the guy, I go down and the bad guy has a lot of bodyguards. 'Oh, Jackie’s down. Let’s go get him.' 'No, stop.' Every movie I have my philosophy. I say, 'This is not the hero. That’s a coward, just yelling at the bodyguards.' You see inside what I’m doing. My students give me the glove, then I tell them, 'Come on, wait. Come on, wait. Okay, come on. Come on, again.' We’re talking about the martial arts spirit."
Jackie Chan on His Career
Burn-out can definitely set in after 40 years of making films, but Jackie Chan tries to keep things fun when he tackles an acting job. And, stresses Chan, he wants everyone to realize there's more to him than just an action star.
"The last movie before, Shinjuku Incident, I know it’s too heavy. I make Spy Next Door and then I go back to China to make my own movie. It’s called Little Big Soldier. I hope you can see it because I have so many choices when I’m making a Chinese movie, but very few chances I can change an American movie because they choose me. In China, I want to make this, I want to make that. So in America, they will never let me make Shinjuku story. They will let Robert DeNiro do this kind of character, not me, but I can do it. So that’s why I’m so happy to make the movie Karate Kid, Kung Fu [Panda]. Mustache, white hair, old man like this [raspy voice.] I want the audience to know I’m not the action star. I’m the actor. I can act, but I can fight. I can do my own stunts."
"That’s why every movie is a different location, different character, different people. That makes it fun. The most fun job in the world is making a movie, really," admitted Chan. "For [me], today America, tomorrow Beijing. You see different people, then you see different movies, different costumes. Then every day is a different challenge. It’s fun, really, really fun and people pay you a lot."
MOVIES.ABOUT.COM
The stuntman next door
Amir Hafizi
With the tagline "Part spy. Part babysitter. All hero" and "spying is easy, babysitting is hard", you can't really expect anything new from Jackie Chan's latest offering — The Spy Next Door.
Even the title is reminiscent of Codename: Kids Next Door and Spy Kids — two popular kids' shows.
The story tells of Bob Ho (Chan), an undercover spy for the CIA who wants to live a normal life. "My character is a Chinese spy working for the CIA, and the only thing he wants to do is to retire," said Chan in an interview with an online media portal.
"He falls in love with his next door neighbour who has three children, who hate him initially."
The neighbour, Gillian (Amber Valetta), has to leave town for something so Ho has to babysit her three kids and perhaps win them over.
When one of the kids mistakenly downloads a top-secret formula from his computer, Ho's archenemy, a Russian terrorist, moves in for the attack, forcing Ho to juggle the roles of a spy and prospective stepfather in the most challenging mission of his career.
Cue Jackie Chan fighting wackiness and Home Alone-esque action sequences. "So she leaves for some reason, and bad guys come. He starts to fight the bad guys and the kids love him because he's, well, he's a spy," said Chan.
Not giving away the ending there, is he?
The Spy Next Door is quite predictable, just as how it is in most of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's and Vin Diesel's movies — a tough man, has to do domestic, even effeminate chores. Kick some butts while shopping for groceries or changing diapers.
Classic fish-out-of-water 101. We have seen this in The Pacifier, The Tooth Fairy and several other movies aimed at families. The only difference is that this movie has Chan in it.
Just like his other movie The Tuxedo, where a civilian wears a crime-fighting, super-spy tuxedo and gains crazy fighting abilities. To his credit, Chan does not deny this and in fact, embraces it. "It's a children's movie," he admitted.
"I want it to be 100 per cent safe for children to go and see it."
Chan also had to work his mesmerising action around children, ensuring that it is harder to do his regular acrobatics.
"Stunts are easy. Stunts are very simple for me," he said.
"But for this movie, I have to do stunts with children, and I have to be very, very careful with their safety. I have to ask the director constantly, is it okay, is it safe?"
Despite making it sound as if the movie has a child-safety cap on, Chan promises to showcase his trademark crazy stuntwork which has made him an international star in over 100 movies.
He said, "It's the typical Jackie Chan style (of stunts). Everything a human being can do. You know, (using) the common things around you.Refrigerator, ashtray, microwave, pump gun."
Pump gun? Well, maybe in the Chan household that's considered normal. "It's not Superman, pshew-pshew-pshew," he elaborated.
This perhaps means the shift, even in Hong Kong or Chinese cinema from heavy focus on wirework, to more realistic action.
After Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero, Hong Kong stunt-people have been moving towards the kind of action seen in Ip Man. No flying, more butt-kicking.
With several notable exceptions such as Storm Warriors, traditional kung fu movies are now more, well, traditional.
Jackie Chan, however, dishes out the same formula he has used since the 70s — kung fu comedy. You can't really argue with the guy. It is a formula that works and continues to work.
He has made hundreds of millions, if not billions with his movies.
Say what you want, but who has the money? It also seems like Chan, one of Asia's nicest guys, unlike his character in The Spy Next Door, is not keen on retiring just yet.
"I love to see children laughing. I love to see them happy," he said.
"When I go anywhere, the children go, 'oh, it's Jackie Chan! Hiiii!' That makes me feel good. And the parents come up to me and say, ‘my kids love you!'. I love that, because it means that (I'm still relevant and) I can keep doing action movies for at least another 10 years. The kids (who) are now three or five years old (will still know me then)."
This also means that his movies today will introduce him to a new breed of fans, a new generation who will continue to go and watch his amazing movies.
Malaysians seem to love Jackie Chan movies. Police Story III (released in 1992) was one of the highest-grossing movies in Malaysia at one point, grossing over a then-unheard of RM10 million at cinemas nationwide.
In comparison, to this date, no Malaysian movie has ever reached the fabled RM10 million mark. The Spy Next Door is not just a Jackie Chan movie.
There are other people in it. For example, Billy Ray Cyrus, who plays Colton James. "Billy, I know he is a big country star. First I know of him is from his songs. When he first came on set, I bought a CD and got his autograph," said Chan. "He has a very funny accent. He doesn't have much action scenes with me. I'm the one who fights and he's the one who talks."
Controversial comedian and TV host George Lopez, meanwhile, plays Glaze. "George Lopez has a few stunt scenes with me.
He is a very, very funny guy and always contributes ideas for every scene," said Chan. Chan seems to have The Spy Next Door pat down as another hit. It might not gross over US$1 billion (RM3.3 billion) like Avatar or Batman: The Dark Knight, but it will entertain a lot of people. Don't expect too much.
Just sit back, relax, and enjoy another Jackie Chan movie.
He's an action genius, and we're lucky to have him. The Spy Next Door opens tomorrow at cinemas nationwide.
MMAIL.COM
Martial arts star goes 'Next Door'
HOLLYWOOD - After more than three decades of making movies, martial arts star Jackie Chan finally gets the girl in "The Spy Next Door." The girl in question is model-turned-actress Amber Valletta, who plays his girlfriend in the family friendly action comedy.
"It's just a kiss, not a love scene," Chan assures. "No one wants to see Jackie Chan naked or making love."
Chan, 55, plays Bob Ho, a bumbling pen salesman who appears to be as nerdy and boring as his job. He's actually a CIA super spy who secretly saves the world on a daily basis. Ho lives next door to Gillian (Valletta), a beautiful single mom he's been quietly dating for some time. He wants to marry her but before she'll accept his proposal, he must first win over her three troublesome children.
Gillian is suddenly called out of town on a family emergency, and Bob offers to baby-sit the kids in her absence and hopefully win them over. When one of the kids mistakenly downloads a top-secret formula from Bob's computer, Bob's enemies show up at his doorstep and the secret agent's real occupation comes to light. It's up to Bob to save his future family from the bad guys and keep the formula from falling into the wrong hands.
The Hong Kong-born action star appreciated the opportunity to try his hand at a family comedy that focuses on his relationship with kids.
"I wanted to make a PG movie," he explains.
Working with kids while incorporating his signature action moves into the comedy was a little tricky, though.
"I had to protect them on the set with all the action sequences," he says. "I made sure everyone was safe, especially the children."
The youngest, 5-year-old Alina Foley, was the biggest challenge. "She'd start singing and I'd have to go, shh,' " he recalls with a chuckle. "Then she'd say, I want to go to the bathroom' and walk away. So I had to trick her."
The choreographed fights with the bad guys were nothing compared to his scenes with the unpredictable young actress. In a scene where he is trying to put her to bed, Chan accidentally was kicked a few times by the youngster. The two other child actors (who were older) were less troublesome but just as demanding on the action star's time.
"Sometimes I wanted to take a rest on the set for 20 minutes and it was like, Jackie, show me some karate moves,' or do some magic,' " he recalls, smiling.
Kissing Valletta was the biggest challenge, though, as Chan had never kissed a girl in a movie before.
"We did several takes," he admits.
"He was fine," says Valletta. "(The kiss) was very chaste."
In the future, says Chan, his romantic scenes will be comical. "I love to do comedy action sequences," he says.
Good thing, because that's what he has been doing for much of his movie career - especially over the past 12 years in Hollywood.
After 20 years as a box office star in Hong Kong, Chan co-starred with Chris Tucker in 1998's "Rush Hour." The buddy-cop action-comedy became a huge box office success, as did its two sequels. He subsequently starred in another successful franchise with Owen Wilson starting with "Shanghai Noon," a buddy action comedy set in the Old West. "Shanghai Knights" followed in 2003.
Other recent Hollywood credits include "The Tuxedo," "The Medallion" and a remake of "Around the World in 80 Days." He also was one of the voice characters in the animated hit "Kung Fu Panda."
Born in Hong Kong to working class parents, Chan trained at the Peking Opera School from ages 7 to 17, where he learned various skills such as acrobatics, gymnastics, martial arts, weaponry, dance, singing and drama. By the time he graduated, Chinese opera was declining in popularity and he gravitated toward film.
In the early 70s, Chan worked as a bit player and action director. Inspired by silent film greats Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, Chan developed a unique style, combining humor and death-defying stunts. In the montage of outtakes that typically ends his films, fans see the proof that Chan is still his own most amazing special effect.
Among his fans is director James Cameron, who invited Chan to the set of "Avatar" during production.
"I've been making movies for almost 40 years but after looking at his set, I was like a kid in kindergarten," says Chan modestly. "If you gave me all those cameras and technology, I wouldn't know how to use it. That's why I film the basic things. Two cameras. Simple."
At an age when other action stars move on to more sedentary movie roles, Chan is still kicking it in the action genre.
"Movies, stunts, fighting - it makes me young," he says. "It makes me continue to go."
His philosophy: "If you do anything today, you can do it tomorrow."
Chan works with a team of stunt people who help him come up with interesting new ways to entertain. In "The Spy Next Door," they conceived ways of using household items - a microwave, a refrigerator, a pool skimmer and more - as props in fighting the bad guys.
Director Brian Levant ("Snow Dogs," "Are We There Yet?") says he had to work quickly to accommodate Chan's limited availability. A 38-day shooting schedule in Albuquerque meant everyone had to show up prepared. No one arrived as prepared as Chan did, the filmmaker says.
"He's like Michael Jordan," says the veteran family comedy filmmaker. "As he gets older, he changes his process so he can do what he is capable of doing."
Since completing "The Spy Next Door," Chan has shot and produced two more films in China and is in pre-production on another one. He also stars in the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid," in which he will play a kung fu master to Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son).
"It is more for adults," he says of the drama. "I like to mix it up - comedy, drama, action, then for children again. I want audiences to know me as an actor that can fight, not a fighter who can act."
Having more than 100 films to his credit, Chan says one role has eluded him - firefighter. After seeing "Backdraft," he wanted to make a firefighting movie in Hong Kong, but fire officials there wouldn't allow it, fearing it would be too dangerous in the overcrowded city.
These days, Chan makes his home in Beijing.
"I have nothing to shoot in Hong Kong anymore," he says with a shrug. "All the locations I've already done. In China, I have a new location, new facilities. We have the biggest studio in Asia, which is really helpful."
AZCENTRAL
Jackie Chan Aims At Families With "Spy Next Door"
By REUTERS
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - There's an old saying in Hollywood: never work with kids or animals. Jackie Chan is okay with kids. Animals are another story.
"When a turtle bites you, it really hurts!" he told Reuters. "And the pig never listens. And the cat scratches."
Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan swaps all-out action for adventurous family fun in his new movie, "The Spy Next Door," following in the footsteps of other big-name Hollywood heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Kindergarten Cop") and Vin Diesel ("The Pacifier").
In The Spy Next Door, which opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, 55-year-old Chan plays Bob Ho, a man who secretly works as a spy and whose single-mom girlfriend (Amber Valletta) thinks is a pen salesman.
Her three children can't stand him, but when he is charged to take care of them for a few days, they end up learning his secret and help Chan fight the bad guys.
While Russian terrorists are his nemesis, off set, the kids' pets gave Chan the most trouble in making "Spy Next Door." Like the cat who just wouldn't stop pawing at his arm.
"I said to the animal trainer, 'I'm fine,' and he said, 'Look at your arm, it's not fine' and all this blood is coming down," said Chan.
Despite pesky cats and biting turtles, Chan said he enjoyed the switch from martial arts films to family action and adventure, and he thinks that sort of diversity has been a key to his longevity and success in Hollywood, which reached it's height with the box office smash "Rush Hour" movies.
"I don't want to be doing Rush Hour One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven," he said.
"That's tiring. I'd like to do a vampire movie, or something like 'Avatar.' I can do everything -- scary movies, police films. I really want to try and play a bad guy, a villain."
BOX OFFICE HEAVYWEIGHT
Chan has accomplished plenty already in Hollywood. He dabbled in movies in the 1960s before going full tilt in the '70s. He is known for his own stunt work and choreography, in addition to writing, directing and producing his own material.
Chan reached stardom in his native Hong Kong in the '80s and early '90s with the "Police Story" films and "Drunken Master II." among others.
He found success in the United States with "Rumble in the Bronx" and became a major star with the "Rush Hour" and "Shanghai Noon" franchises.
According to box office data website The Numbers, Chan's movies -- beginning with 1973's "Enter the Dragon" -- have had a worldwide gross of $2.1 billion.
But despite the action genre that made him famous, Chan said he has "been trying to do a children's movie a long time," because he has for years been passionate about educating and helping kids.
He founded Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988 to offer scholarships and medical aid to Hong Kong's youth. In 2005, he created The Dragon's Heart Foundation to help provide educational opportunities for needy children.
The actor also was the subject of his own animated kids' series, "The Jackie Chan Adventures", from 2000 to 2005.
"I just produced another cartoon, another Jackie Chan Adventure in Beijing," he said. "I've cared about children for a long time. They mean everything and they learn from us. (This new show) is about education, about protecting the Earth."
The desire to educate youngsters prompted Chan to sign on to Columbia Pictures' reboot of "The Karate Kid" franchise produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and starring their son, Jaden. The film is slated for a June release.
"It's a very serious movie because we're talking about philosophy, about the secret of the martial arts and about respect," said Chan.
"Right now, young children have no respect and I teach (Smith) how to respect his parents, how to respect the world."
NY TIMES
0
'Spy Next Door' gets favourable reviews in China
Interestingly 'Spy Next Door' is getting favourable reviews in China.
Source: ENT.IFENG.COM or TRANSLATED
SINA.COM or TRANSLATED
This one I am just going to give the LINK to because it reveals a great deal of the plot and 'secrets' of the movie. You can choose if you want to read it or not.
However not all the response is as good as the ones above. Some audience members felt the plot was 'nothing new' (which let's face it is definitely NOT new) and that the film lacked 'hi-tech gear' and felt the spy gadgets were out-dated. Some audience members were not impressed with the acting of the villains in the film saying it was 'stiff' (wooden) but even saying that they still felt the film was enjoyable.
Source: ENT.163.COM or TRANSLATED
In the meantime Lionsgate hope to capitalize on Jackie's fans -
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Capitalizing on Jackie's considerable fan-base is not a bad thing but taking advantage of them is. Even the loyalest of fans will eventually throw up their hands in disgust! Come on Hollywood - surely you can find a GOOD movie for Jackie that doesn't involve racial and sexist humour (Rush Hour series) or puerile kids movies that have been done to death.
Let's hope Karate Kid is all I am expecting it to be.
BEIJING, January 15 Xinhua today, the Hollywood film "Next Door operatives" premiere, this is the first time to play Jackie Chan starring Hollywood film. At the same time also "Affan up" exclusive screen, two weeks later, the first release of the Lunar New Year film. Premiere popular hot spot, according to Wanda, star feedback from the U.S. theaters, film premiere attendance in the nine games into the above, many parents take their kids along with viewing.
Tablets, 56-year-old Jackie Chan is still taking action line. The entire film is a total of 9 times a fight, opening up to one and a half minutes of action performances, winning a round of applause. Film there are many breathtaking scenes exaggerated in the oil refining market, the Jackie Chan and chase terrorists staged a war, whether it is climbing stairs, or high-altitude jump, Jackie Chan has a perfect appearance. In this age of Jackie Chan, to have such a performance, indeed breathtakingly. The greater increase in Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy, this reporter has had to rough, premiere audience laughed seven times, Comedy three times, the longest up to 2 minutes of laughter, especially the small audience, pouring in laughter.
There is a strong narrative film in the Hollywood color, twists and turns, interlocking, and then a small place have also done a clever foreshadowing. Rhythm of the story clear, a young boy, through the emotional violence of wire line and two plot threads start at the same time. There is also Jackie Chan Hong Kong films, the audience accustomed to the fast-paced, reflecting the film lay out in front of an overly complex and excessively bureaucratic, it is better to go directly to the jolly story.
In addition, the cinema, comedy foreign portfolio team won most of the audience recognized. 3 U.S. imp different characters, there Funny talent show very interesting story. One four-year old Laura, received unanimous praise from the audience. Jackie Chan co-operate with the successful interpretation of a number of the audience for her pinch Khan lens, whether it's throwing up a high free-fall of the trousers, or have been top since Rocker was hooded fishing nets, they all gave viewers insight of this imp of mischief and bravery.
It is learned that the film in the domestic digital and film will also be issued, a total of more than 1000 copies, in the simultaneous release in all cities. This combines the warmth and movement Funny story, there is a strong family atmosphere, just entered winter break for the children presented a special gift.
Source: ENT.IFENG.COM or TRANSLATED
Although the film plot is not new, but as a Lunar New Year film, the main style is one of warmth and is suitable for all ages to watch.
If you are a fan of Jackie Chan, then hastened to attend the viewing of his new film
SINA.COM or TRANSLATED
This one I am just going to give the LINK to because it reveals a great deal of the plot and 'secrets' of the movie. You can choose if you want to read it or not.
However not all the response is as good as the ones above. Some audience members felt the plot was 'nothing new' (which let's face it is definitely NOT new) and that the film lacked 'hi-tech gear' and felt the spy gadgets were out-dated. Some audience members were not impressed with the acting of the villains in the film saying it was 'stiff' (wooden) but even saying that they still felt the film was enjoyable.
Source: ENT.163.COM or TRANSLATED
In the meantime Lionsgate hope to capitalize on Jackie's fans -
Helmed by Brian Levant ("Are We There Yet?"), "Spy" looks likely to register into the high-teen millions through Monday.
"Jackie Chan hasn't been in a PG film for a while, so we're going to be able to capitalize on his fan base," Lionsgate distribution topper David Spitz said.
"Spy" co-stars George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus, both good draws for family moviegoers.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Capitalizing on Jackie's considerable fan-base is not a bad thing but taking advantage of them is. Even the loyalest of fans will eventually throw up their hands in disgust! Come on Hollywood - surely you can find a GOOD movie for Jackie that doesn't involve racial and sexist humour (Rush Hour series) or puerile kids movies that have been done to death.
Let's hope Karate Kid is all I am expecting it to be.
0
A word on 'The Spy Next Door'
With a number of increasingly negative reviews (which I refuse to repeat) filling the internet I have something I wish to say.
The 'Spy Next Door' was never going to be the movie of the century. It is a low-budget quickly made (less than 3 months start to finish) kids movie. One could ask some really profound questions about why this is the best script Jackie's agent could get but that is a whole other discussion. Kids movies do not make huge amounts of money and therefore huge amounts of money are not spent on making them. The entire industry is just that - an industry and like any other business the goal is to make money.
It is Hollywood movie and like almost all Jackie's other Hollywood movies was not going to showcase his abilities. There are just too many rules and regulations restricting what he can and can't do stunt-wise. If you want to see Jackie showcase what he can do wait for 'Little Big Soldier' or even better 'Chinese Zodiac' which Jackie is directing next year. Aging issues aside Jackie's Hollywood films have never shown what he is really capable of.
Jackie also has said in interviews that he choreographed the stunts for children which undoubtedly also accounts for a lot when comparing this film to Jackie's earlier films.
Last but not least - Jackie is always watchable no matter what he does.
Don't mind the reviews - go watch the movie, enjoy it for what it is. Most of all enjoy watching Jackie. And if the action disappoints slightly or the bad Russian accents annoy you - heave a sigh and remember - it's just a movie!
The 'Spy Next Door' was never going to be the movie of the century. It is a low-budget quickly made (less than 3 months start to finish) kids movie. One could ask some really profound questions about why this is the best script Jackie's agent could get but that is a whole other discussion. Kids movies do not make huge amounts of money and therefore huge amounts of money are not spent on making them. The entire industry is just that - an industry and like any other business the goal is to make money.
It is Hollywood movie and like almost all Jackie's other Hollywood movies was not going to showcase his abilities. There are just too many rules and regulations restricting what he can and can't do stunt-wise. If you want to see Jackie showcase what he can do wait for 'Little Big Soldier' or even better 'Chinese Zodiac' which Jackie is directing next year. Aging issues aside Jackie's Hollywood films have never shown what he is really capable of.
Jackie also has said in interviews that he choreographed the stunts for children which undoubtedly also accounts for a lot when comparing this film to Jackie's earlier films.
Last but not least - Jackie is always watchable no matter what he does.
Don't mind the reviews - go watch the movie, enjoy it for what it is. Most of all enjoy watching Jackie. And if the action disappoints slightly or the bad Russian accents annoy you - heave a sigh and remember - it's just a movie!
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Source: PARADE.COM
Jackie talks Spy Next Door, Stunts, Etc...
Jackie Chan: 'I Forget How Old I Am'
by Jeanne Wolf
Jackie Chan joins the ranks of action stars who've gone PG in the family comedy The Spy Next Door. He plays a Chinese intelligence agent who gets stuck babysitting his girlfriend's three kids. But, of course, he also takes on a bunch of bad guys with some acrobatic kicks and punches.
His big makeover.
"For the last couple of years, I've done something different in every movie, and being with the kids was another way to surprise my fans. The audience still wants action and comedy, but slowly I want to change my image."
This time, it wasn't easy.
"You have three challenges. First, acting in English. Speaking English is like tongue-twist for me. I can speak each word perfect, but then you have to string them together like, 'Blah, blah, blah.' That's when I get crazy. Second, animals and the children. You know, is not easy. The kids never listen to you, especially the youngest ones. I'm in a scene with one little actress and she suddenly started singing. I was like, 'What are you doing? Am I that boring?' And she just walked away. Then we had a turtle and cat who were even more difficult than the kids."
But kids won't leave him alone.
"In the real world, children love me. On the set, I would teach them the tricks, the martial arts moves. But they wouldn't let me take a rest between takes on the set. When I'd rest, then they come and say, 'How do you do this kick?' And they want me to play hacky sack and all kind of things from 6 o'clock in the morning until I leave the set at night."
As for his own son...
"I never see him. He knows who I am and he's so proud of me, but he's 27 now and he never calls me. I think he's the luckiest boy, but maybe he's not. I know there's a lot of pressure because you are the son of Jackie Chan. He never wanted to be an action star. He wanted to be a composer and performer. So he released an album and then was in a movie. Unfortunately, they didn't do too well."
"My driver says, 'Jackie, there are paparazzi in that car parked behind us.' I turn around and the windows are tinted, they're all black so you can't see anything. So I go over and knock on the window and say, 'Don't hide there. Just come out. Ask me what I'm doing. It's OK to take my picture.' I was with these two girls who are my assistants. We had just finished a session in a recording studio. So I explain that and the next day I read, 'Jackie Chan out for a night on the town with two girls.' So, no matter what you tell them, they just write whatever they want to write. That's bad and I've given up."
Who cares what it cost him to be a part of the Olympics in Beijing.
"I skipped one movie and two commercials. I would have made about $20 million, but I was willing to take the loss. Money for me today does not really matter. It's about doing something for myself, for my country, that's most important. So whatever they need from me, I'm there."
The stunts aren't getting any easier.
"I just forget how old I am and sometimes I just try to do it when maybe I shouldn't. I'm not like I used to be. I tried to jump up the wall and I was going, 'Wow.' It's not easy anymore.' But I don't worry. I will take care of myself. And all my stunt team takes care of me too."
Retirement isn't in his vocabulary.
"I'm on my way to being 60. I should have stopped, but I have so many scripts, so many projects right now! It's just crazy. Now, I'm talking about an ice cream business, restaurant business, theater business, a clothing line, watches and even a school."
Learning to play the Hollywood game.
"They called me for the first Rush Hour and I said, 'No, I don't like to do this kind of movie.' I say, 'Policeman from Hong Kong with a black American cop...what's that about?' But, I do the film anyway, and when I see it, I hate it. The action's bad. The dialogue I don't understand. Then they call and say, 'Wow, big success ... $32 million the first week.' I go, 'Oh, now I like it!'"
Source: PARADE.COM
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KELOWNA.COM
LOL is this like 'the first time Jackie Chan dies' in 'Shinjuku Incident'? because right off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 movies in which Jackie kissed and/or 'got the girl' ....
1. The Medallion - kisses Claire Forlani.
2. Twin Dragons - Jackie x 2 kisses and gets MARRIED x 2
3. Twins Effect - Jackie gets married.
4. Heart of Dragon - kisses his girlfriend at the park.
5. Rumble in the Bronx - kisses the girl at the docks.
6. Dragon's Forever - kisses the girl on the beach.
7. Rush Hour 2 - quick kiss at the end.
8. Spiritual Kungfu - steals a quick kiss.
9. Police Story - kisses Maggie Cheung goodbye.
10 Miracles - kisses Anita Mui.
And how on earth could I almost forget Gorgeous!
Interview 'Spy Next Door'
I spy: Jackie Chan still kicking
Monday, January 11th, 2010 | 12:00 pm
Canwest News Service
LOS ANGELES – There’s a moment in The Spy Next Door when Jackie Chan performs one of his age-defying acts: leaping nimbly onto a roof to rescue a stranded kitten.
Ask Jackie about the challenge of bringing off the scene, and he responds with a disarming grin.
“The roof was nothing,” he shrugs. “But the cat was not easy. He grabbed me a few times.”
Actually, Chan was badly scratched. However, that sort of injury he can still handle. There’s no way he’ll make a big deal out of it. But there was another, far worse mishap during the filming of the family adventure opening Friday – and it shouldn’t have happened.
“I tore a hamstring – doing nothing,” he sighs. Basically, he was careless. There’s no way anymore that he can skip essential warm-up exercises before starting a strenuous day before the cameras.
“So these days, I have to tell myself, `Warm up! Warm up! Warm up!’ But on location, you forget some days to do it.”
At 55, the world’s most likable action star can no longer afford that kind of negligence. There was a time when he could be breezily casual about the nose that has been broken three times, or the 1986 misjudgment that led to a collision with a rock, emergency brain surgery and a permanent hole in his skull.
When he broke his right ankle 14 years ago in the Vancouver-filmed Rumble In The Bronx, he was jumping from a bridge onto a hovercraft – and miscalculated. He was back on the job 48 hours later with his leg in a cast, and, off-camera, was on crutches for the rest of the shooting. But when he had to go before the cameras to perform another awesome feat, cast and crutches were nowhere in sight. He coped without them.
In a 1995 interview, Chan joked that he had broken “everything from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.” It’s less easy to joke about such things now. Chan is still an exuberant, outgoing personality, but beneath the bonhomie, there’s a realistic acknowledgment of the passage of time.
Still, there remains this readiness to try new things and break new ground – even to have his first onscreen kiss in The Spy Next Door.
He’s lost count of the number of movies he’s made – both in China and in North America – but he’s firm on the fact that this is his first Hollywood family movie. And yes, it’s different from anything he’s tried before.
He plays Bob Ho, a nerdy pen salesman in his public persona, hopelessly in love with his next-door neighbour Gillian, played by Amber Valletta, and actively disliked by her three children, who see him as a threat to their own home life.
If Bob is ever to marry Gillian, he’s going to have to win over three hostile kids, played by Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley and Canada’s Alina Foley. Adding to his problem is that he hasn’t told her about his real profession of undercover super-spy for the CIA. On the very weekend when Bob is babysitting the children while their mother is away, he’s forced into a confrontation with a Russian terrorist gang – a confrontation that reveals his true identity to the kids, and places the whole family in jeopardy.
Chan ended up feeling like a babysitter throughout the entire shoot; he constantly worried about his young co-stars during the action sequences.
“It’s not easy being a babysitter. You have to protect people on the set, make sure everybody’s safe, especially the children.”
He had never worked with youngsters to this extent. And they were worshipful. “Oh, they asked so many questions. They want to see this. They want to see that. They want to hold my hand. They want me to do magic. They just loved me. And I liked them, but it was my first time with kids – and difficult.” Then there were the household animals: a pet pig, a turtle who plays a key role in an action sequence, and that formidable feline.
Jackie manages to sound cheerful about the whole thing because, after all, he hopes to reunite with this brood in a sequel. “We get married, adopt all these extra children. I don’t know if it will happen, but everybody hopes for that.”
As for kissing Valletta: “It’s my first, ever. I finally get the girl!” But this doesn’t mean romance will become a fixture of future movies: The Spy Next Door is an exception to the rule. “In my movies, we don’t have kissing or love scenes. I don’t want to see Jackie Chan naked. Also, so many children watch my movies, but a small kissing scene is OK.”
After all these years in the business, Chan seems to have a firm idea of what his international audience expects of him. But he’s also clear-eyed about the fact that he’s now middle-aged. There’s no denial, but rather, an honest pragmatism, leavened by his own personal Jackie Chan brand of humour.
Talking to Canwest News Service, he insists that his 55th birthday passed almost unnoticed, because he doesn’t worry about such anniversaries.
“I don’t want to have a birthday until I’m 60. For the Chinese, every five or 10 years is the big birthday. Other birthdays, I don’t care.”
But fans do observe every one of his birthdays, and that is a problem. “Every time I have a birthday, all these flowers and letters from all over the world remind me that I’m getting older, while I say – no, forget the birthdays.
“So I try hiding every birthday right away. I’ll go on location or I go somewhere else – hiding. But I still get a lot of messages on the telephone. Yeah, I don’t like birthdays anymore.”
But that doesn’t mean he ignores the signs of advancing age. He can still do a splendidly choreographed fight scene – witness a dazzling Eiffel Tower sequence two years ago in Rush Hour 3 – but now he constantly monitors himself.
“Every morning, the back, the knees, the ankle can hurt a little bit. Sometimes my mind doesn’t trust my body. Every day, I want to go and do something, and my mind says: `Stop! Can you do it? Let’s try, first.’ The mind is telling my body, the body is telling my mind. It’s not what it used to be, to do whatever you’d like to do.”
Yet he keeps constantly busy, and will be on view later this year in his own personal spin on The Karate Kid. With this one, he will take on a serious role as an aging martial arts teacher. “I have a moustache, white hair, an unhappy life.” And there’s also the musical he’s writing about his life and career.
Retirement is not in the books. Chan, whose cinematic action style is modelled on the physical comedy of silent-movie great Buster Keaton, abhors the very thought.
“As soon as I retire, I might just …” He breaks the sentence off, and slumps into his chair, deflating before your very eyes into a mere fragment of the real Jackie Chan. ” … just not care any more,” he says finishing the sentence. “I just might not want to do anything. The work makes me young.”
Which reminds him – he does have a problem with his shoulder.
“I have to go to hospital to put two screws into it,” he says matter-of- factly. The problem is finding time. “I haven’t gone for two years, and my shoulder hurts.”
KELOWNA.COM
LOL is this like 'the first time Jackie Chan dies' in 'Shinjuku Incident'? because right off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 movies in which Jackie kissed and/or 'got the girl' ....
1. The Medallion - kisses Claire Forlani.
2. Twin Dragons - Jackie x 2 kisses and gets MARRIED x 2
3. Twins Effect - Jackie gets married.
4. Heart of Dragon - kisses his girlfriend at the park.
5. Rumble in the Bronx - kisses the girl at the docks.
6. Dragon's Forever - kisses the girl on the beach.
7. Rush Hour 2 - quick kiss at the end.
8. Spiritual Kungfu - steals a quick kiss.
9. Police Story - kisses Maggie Cheung goodbye.
10 Miracles - kisses Anita Mui.
And how on earth could I almost forget Gorgeous!
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Another clip from 'Spy Next Door'
Bedtime chase. LOL having done this myself more than a few times I sympathise although I didn't do the toss into the air creative 'Jackie Chan' style of getting child into PJ's! Wish I had thought of that!
This one is titled 'Retirement'. 'How tough can 3 kids be?' uhhhhh RIGHT let's count the ways .....
This one is titled 'Retirement'. 'How tough can 3 kids be?' uhhhhh RIGHT let's count the ways .....
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Jackie on Conan O'Brien Full
Finally found a copy of this that will play internationally.
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 1
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 2
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 3
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 1
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 2
JACKIE CHAN, CONAN O'BRIEN PART 3
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