Jordan Nagai’s Up movie has grossed $264 million in the US since its release five weeks ago. Well, it’s a Pixar movie so that’s not much of a surprise. Then I was thinking, that’s a pretty high number for an Asian lead and if it was possible that Jordan Nagai, an 8-year-old kid and first time actor could be the top grossing Asian actor in the United States!! More »

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Hollywood has been getting remake rights to almost every hit Asian fare for some time now and have finally realized the potential of hiring Asian stars to promote their movies to global dominance (cha ching) at international box office. It has been happening for a while, ever since Bruce Lee made Asians cool round the globe, Hollywood has been trying to blend Asian stars into Hollywood fare. They tried a few times to make Jackie Chan a name with some crappy B-grade Hollywood crap like “The Protector” and “Canon Ball Run” which did horrible at the Box office. Finally, they just decided to release a Hong Kong film dubbed into English “Rumble in the Bronx,” which turned out to be a huge hit paving the way once again for acceptance of all Asian filmmakers and stars from Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li to John Woo. More »

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Jackie Chan is back in the news this week without the explosive social commentary. This time it’s all entertainment. (Tho I personally found the responses to his social commentary to be great entertainment.) Jackie is signed on to star in and co-direct his 100th film — “Chinese Zodiac”. More »

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Last Friday, Rain announced he would join Jackie Chan’s Good Friend Concert in Beijing on Friday, May 1. Sounded like a great combo two days ago, but what about today? Let’s see… today the China Law Blog says “Jackie Chan Is A Know-Nothing Self-Loathing Racist”. Sing Tao News Network writes “Jackie Chan Deeply Disappointed Me”. And Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party said “Jackie Chan is unwelcome in Taiwan”. Ouch. Is this all because of booking Rain for the concert? More »

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Negotiations are in process for Jackie Chan to play as Mr. Miyagi in the upcoming The Karate Kid film or so says this article. That’s fine and all, but the only thing question I have floating in my exhausted brain is: why must there be a freaking remake? Really, I don’t understand it. Why can’t we just leave the classics alone, and try not to fix what’s not broken?!

On the flipside, though, I think Chan would be a pretty good actor to play as Mr. Miyagi. I can see him be a great mentor to Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son who is playing the main dude who learns karate. Not only would Chan play a good mentor, but he’d be a hilarious one. Somehow, though, I can see his comedic acts being overbearing, and he won’t display that same level of seriousness the original Mr. Miyagi had.

Then again, I don’t think anyone can really replace Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi. So going back to my original question: why must there be a freaking remake?

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I’ve rounded up ten of my favorite Asian films for 2008. They’re in no particular order and each is unique. Some are comedies. Some are dramas. Some are for the whole family. And some might have you scratching your head asking “What did I just watch?”

Anyone posting spoilers will be dealt with severely. More »

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Residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico, please take heed. Clear the way for Jackie Chan as he chops and kicks his way to your city soon. The Hong Kong action superstar will film his new flick “The Spy Next Door” in your ‘hood in November and December. He is expected to bring an entourage of 150 local crew members and more than 600 actors, including principals and extras. I believe this will be the most exciting event that has happened in Albuquerque ever since the first travelers on Route 66 appeared in the city in 1926.

In the movie, Jackie plays a man who is asked to baby-sit for his neighbor’s children and winds up having to protect them from secret agents after one of them accidentally downloads a code. I am sure there will be many funny fight scenes — one in which Jackie accidentally hits an object instead of a person and writhes in pain — a trademark of Jackie Chan’s flicks.

If I were Jackie, I would load up on the microwaveable Asian food and vodka. I heard Albuquerque is freaking boring and has a shitty selection of Asian restaurants. But fear not, the “gourmet” Chinese food purveyor Panda Express is there, and its Orange Chicken is simply to die for. I gagged a bit when I wrote that.

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Don’t forget, friends, Forbidden Kingdom comes out on DVD today. Jet Li, Jackie Chan, et al. Didn’t make it to the theaters for that one, but it’s in my Netlix queue. Check it out!

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