Among other publications, I read the following magazines every week/month : Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Inside Kung Fu, Shambhala Sun and... Empire. This last is a British-based movie magazine (you can find it in Hong Kong at HMV). I was happy and surprised when I opened the September 2008 issue to find myself listed in Empire's Top Ten Heroes of DVD, wedged between Oliver Stone and Robert Rodriguez. (I'd rather be wedged between Jessica Alba and Monica Belucci, but at my age I'll take what I can get...)

This honour is primarily in recognition of my work as commentarian-in-residence for first the UK-based Hong Kong Legends label, and now for TWC's own Dragon Dynasty. I don't think I deserve to be in the august company Empire put me in, but its still better than a smack on the head with a three-sectioned staff.

For those who keep track of these kind of things, here's my own top ten of my own DVD commentaries (and why!) :

Hong Kong 1941 (Hong Kong Legends) : Its a period drama starring Chow Yun-fat, with no action to speak of, and the commentary was always going to be the main bonus feature. I researched the hell out of it, and I delivered enough facts on both the film and war-time Hong Kong to get a job on History Channel.

Red Wolf (Hong Kong Legends) : Not the greatest actioner of all time, but I think the comedic commentary between Christy Chung and myself made it a classic! (Check out her four kinds of orgasm story, if you can track down this disc...)

Beast Cops (Hong Kong Legends) : Director Gordon Chan and I recorded the commentary for this in U2's studios in Dublin during the 'Medallion' shoot. Gordon is the best co-commentarian I've had, delivering so many insights that I learned as much as the audience did.

Naked Weapon (Hong Kong Legends) : Me and Maggie Q trading quips as we screen this hugely popular Ching Siu-tung-directed slice of exotic and erotic kung fu-ery. Worth tracking down the double disc, with our Day In The Life Of Maggie Q featurette (which was particularly enjoyed by Oliver Stone!)

The Protector (Hong Kong Legends) : This was our first Dragon Dynasty theatrical release, and one of my earliest commentaries for the label. I'm not nearly as knowledgable on Thai cinema as I am on Hong Kong movies, but the director, Prachya Pinkaew, gave me a ton of inside information, and we sold a million units. (Cool....)

Seven Swords (Dragon Dynasty) : A huge seller for us, and a film where I think we can claim the DVD release rescued its reputation. Tsui Hark was great on the commentary with me, and also gave us full access to the deleted scenes etc. They should do a sequel!

Flashpoint (Dragon Dynasty) : Its always a blast working with my long-time partner in crime Donnie Yen. This film brought MMA to the screen, and we gave it a limited theatrical release in North America. Donnie's insights were fascinating, and people seem to like our audio chemistry. Maybe we should have our own radio show...

Heroes Of The East (Dragon Dynasty) : Much to my chagrin, I didn't get to record commentaries for our first batch of Shaw Bros titles, but hit the ground running for this one. As a Hung Kuen kung fu practitioner, its especially gratifying to celebrate the work of my elders and betters, Lau Kar-leung and Gordon Liu.

Fist Of Legend (Dragon Dynasty) : I recorded this at Kantana studios in Thailand, on a day off from the 'Shanghai' shoot. Its a great film, and I think being in Bangkok gave me a fresh bolt of enthusiasm for it. My only regret is that I couldn't get director Gordon Chan in there with me (he was doing post on his film Painted Skin).

The Rebel (Dragon Dynasty) : We just released this kick-ass Vietnamese period actioner in North America, and I flew to Saigon to record a group commentary with the cast (see earlier blogs about the trip). This film marks a new era for Vietnam's cinema, and it was a blast to have its cast (and myself!) in one room.

 Selina Lo and Sir David Tang at the 'Shanghai' studios

In an earlier blog, I described how rising Hong Kong star (and fellow Alive Not Dead-er) Andy On came to be cast in ‘Shanghai’, a period epic shot in London and Bangkok by The Weinstein Company. As TWC’s V-P for Asia, I got the usual unlikely line-up of challenges relating to a film of this scale, several of them cast related. In Andy’s case, there was an existing role looking for the right actor, in this story, there was the right actress looking to create a role…

I first met Selina Lo through an old friend from England, Dean Alexandrou. (Actually, unlike me, Dean is still young; it’s just that I’ve known him a long time!) Dean is an incredibly talented martial arts actor, who has appeared in feature roles in a number of lower budget films, and deserves something bigger and better. He and Selina had both relocated to Bangkok, reasoning that there was probably more work for kung fu fighters in the east. I guess it is true that, in sleepy London town, there ain’t no place for a street fighting man (or woman)…

Selina is an unlikely mix: she has FHM/Maxim model looks, can wu her shu like a Shaolin monkette and has proper acting chops, being a graduate of Paul McCartney’s arts academy in Liverpool. She’s ethnically Chinese, speaks perfect English, Mandarin and (get this) Creole… However, the great thing about being involved with a film like ‘Shanghai’ is that you can sometimes provide a fresh opportunity for a rising star (as we did with Andy). The frustration is that often, with the lead roles already cast, there aren’t many other opportunities to showcase new talent. Despite Selina’s entreaties, it didn’t seem that there would be anything beyond walk-on for her in ‘Shanghai’.

Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong train station has a special place in my heart. It’s where Sammo Hung shot the opening scenes of his action comedy classic Shanghai Express (AKA Millionaire’s Express) (available now on our Dragon Dynasty DVD label, with audio commentary by myself, end of free plug...) When we were prepping to shoot the opening scenes of the film Twins Effect, on which I was a producer, action director Donnie Yen wanted to stage a scene at a European style railway station, and I suggested the one from Shanghai Express. ‘Oh, do update yourself, Logan…,’ everyone cried, but that didn’t stop us from filming there. Then, when we decided to shoot ‘Shanghai’ in Bangkok, we needed a railway station to match the one in the eponymous Chinese city, and I mentioned the one in ‘Shanghai Express’ and ‘Twins Effect’, and everyone went ‘Oh, that was years ago, Bey, get serious, its probably been torn down by now…’. So there we ended up, sitting with action unit director Vic Armstrong, at Hua Lamphong, shooting this epic David Lean-scale scene (and next time someone asks me about a railway station, they can bloody well find it themselves!).

The legendary Vic (whom I discussed in an earlier blog) was setting up a major action sequence set during a fashion show. He mentioned that he already had one stunt girl who would perform a fall into a fountain, and was wondering if any of the other models were physical enough to be thrown around during the scene. I told him I might just be able to come up with someone…

In the scene concerned, a fashion show is disrupted by an assassination, with bombs and gunfire forcing our bevy of beautiful models to run, dive and scramble for cover. Selina gamely gets thrown into the midst of a brawl between star John Cusack and a brawny Chinese assassin. The role was particularly demanding because you needed someone who could look good in a skirt and heels, get thrown across the room and be actress enough to deliver the fear and confusion necessary as Cusack’s character protects her. The divine Ms. Lo did a great job, and the denouement of the scene evolved into a beautiful moment of spontaneous cinematic symmetry (which I shan’t spoil here, go see the movie this December…).

Selina did such a good job that Vic brought her back for a further dramatic action beat in an even bigger scene, the fall of Shanghai sequence that ends the picture. She plays one of the luckless evacuees trying to escape the ‘Paris of the East’ as the Japanese invade. In yet another moment of symmetry, the actor who plays her ill-fated husband is Dean Alexandrou.

Selina impressed us all with her energy and work ethic, and I was happy to play my small part in getting her involved with a film of this scale. You can find out more about her at http://www.selinalo.com/, the password is (naturally enough) ‘enterthedragon’. (And not to forget her partner in crime, Dean, whose news and views are located at http://www.stuntpower.com/new/index.php).

Like most fans of martial arts action cinema, I first became aware of Ken Lo (AKA Lo Wai-kong) due to his final reel duel with Jackie Chan in Drunken Master 2. In this fight, Lo displays his legendary 180 degree kick amid a display of boot work that harks back to the glory days of Korean bad guys Wong Jang Lee and Hwang In-shik. I actually met him on the set of that film. Back in the day, you could pretty much walk onto the Golden Harvest back lot unhindered and watch them shoot, and I used to do just that.

I learned that, besides being an actor, Ken was also a key member of Jackie Chan’s team, serving as the Chan man’s personal trainer and bodyguard. He’s a constant presence in Jackie’s films, including Police Story 3 AKA Supercop, which is being prepared, as we speak, for a re-release on my Dragon Dynasty label. It was a great pleasure to catch up with Ken to record his reminiscences about this film, and about his work on a another forthcoming DD title, the Jet Li action classic My Father Is A Hero.

After our initial meeting on the Drunken Master 2 set, I got to work with Ken on my first kung fu movie (as an actor!). In this lost classic, Circus Kids, I play a vicious drug dealing white guy (is there any other kind in Hong Kong actioners?) and Lo is my bodyguard. In the final reel, I go fist to toe with Donnie Yen and Ken goes foot to face with Yuen Biao. The shoot entailed us being marooned in the Chinese coastal town of Shanwei for weeks at a time. You get to know your co-workers pretty well on a film like Circus Kids, and I came away from the experience knowing that Ken was as sweet a guy in reality as he was a bad ass on-screen.

On evening, I was relaxing in my hotel room when I got what sounded like an urgent call from Ken. Fearing the worst, I rushed to his room. Had he 180 degreed an overzealous fan and needed help hiding the body? As it turned out, he was on the ‘phone (kind of) with an American girlfriend. She spoke no Chinese and he spoke very little English, so I guess his body language must have been very convincing... I ended up doing my best Cyrano for them, “he says you’re so cute, she says she misses you etc…” During this shoot, by the way, I endeavored to learn more Cantonese and Ken to learn more English. I’m not saying which one of us came out ahead…

Ken was a constant and welcome presence when we were making the documentaries Jackie Chan: My Story and Jackie Chan: My Stunts. I’m especially proud of the latter; a lot of American stuntmen have told me that this docu became a bible for them, in terms of offering insight into the Jackie Chan method of screen action. I got to observe the bond between Jackie and Ken. They are genuinely like brothers (with Jackie, of course, being ‘dai gor’!).

I remember running into Ken in Hung Hom, when my eldest son, Ryan, was about three. He painstakingly gave my then-wife and I directions to a near-by kid’s playground we would otherwise never have found. Ryan, who has somehow mysteriously become eleven years old, came along for our video interview, and badgered the good-natured Ken with questions. ‘Who is the tallest man you ever kicked in the head?’ On-camera, Ken offered some great insights into the respective challenges of shooting Supercop and My Father Is A Hero, and provided a unique perspective on the contrast between the two great kung fu heroes Jackie Chan and Jet Li. 

 
Given his varied and memorable contribution to the industry, I was happy we got to record Ken’s experiences for the Supercop and My Father Is A Hero DVDs. It’s one more unsung hero we get to give his due!

For everyone who wants to get their 'fu' on, the redoubtable Mak Sifu is teaching the Hung Kuen style every week at Central pier (opposite IFC). Hung Kuen (also known as Hung Gar) is the syle of southern Chinese martial art made famous by the legendary Wong Fei-hung. Its focusses on developing deep stances, powerful hand strikes and effective kicking techniques. Classes include basic drills, empty hand forms and weapons. We already have a great group of die hards, but always welcome new students.

We train under cover at Pier 7. Its a fun workout and also very useful training for local actors. The sessions are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 12 midday. There's a Sunday session at 6pm in Kowloon Park. 

Mak Sifu can be reached on 91833379, or by email at lck486001@yahoo.com.hk.

In my last couple of blogs, I wrote about the experience of working with the Asian superstars Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li on our epic TWC period film ‘Shanghai’.  For the next couple, I want to share some comments on the performers who illuminated a couple of key supporting roles. Stanislavski famously said that there are no small parts, just small actors, and this was certainly borne out when we cast Chinese-American actor (and Alivenotdead regular!) Andy On.

I was closely involved with casting the role of Yuan, a young Chinese rebel who serves as bodyguard to Gong Li’s character. As Yuan has little dialogue and relatively few scenes in the film, we needed to find someone who could convey the long history between Gong Li’s character and his own. We genuinely needed an actor who was larger than the role itself. There was some pressure to cast ‘up’, to persuade a major Asian name to accept a smaller part in a bigger film. I felt that we needed to catch a star on the rise, to give a (relatively) new face a chance to shine on the international stage.

Andy has actually been in the business a while, but, early on, he was unlucky to star in the least well received films of otherwise great directors. I first heard of him when my friend Scott Adkins, a formidably talented British martial arts actor, worked on the elaborate promo for Tsui Hark’s Black Mask 2, in which Andy was cast in the lead. (I remember being shocked that, unfamiliar with Hong Kong movie set protocol, Scott, who hails from Birmingham, addressed Yuen Kuei as ‘Corrrey’ and Tsui Hark as ‘Chhhewy’…). Black Mask 2 was shot in Bangkok. (Years later, we actually looked at a building used in that film as a possible exterior for ‘Shanghai’.) Black Mask 2 ended up being (like a number of Tsui’s less conventional efforts) 101 great ideas in search of a story, and the same could be said of Ringo Lam’s ‘Looking for Mr. Perfect’, in which Andy also starred.  Watching those films, and On’s other earlier appearances, it was clear to a number of people in the industry (including me) that this guy had something, we just didn’t know what to do with it!

It was director Daniel Lee who finally used Andy to good effect in his Star Runner, for which Andy won Best Newcomer at the Hong Kong Film Awards. I was first supposed to work with Andy on Lee’s follow-up, Dragon Squad (released on Dragon Dynasty as Dragon Heat). I was a producer on the film, and Andy was cast in the lead. Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, he could only shoot a cameo for the film, and his original role was played by Taiwanese pop idol Vanness Wu. Vanness is a lovely guy and did a decent job, but he didn’t have the ‘edge’ that Andy would have brought. You need that when you’re up against the guy that chased The Terminator and fought the Aliens! When Dragon Heat star Michael Biehn arrived in Hong Kong, he felt that, given his Hollywood experience, none of the kids cast in the film would challenge him, acting-wise. He happened to show up on the day of Andy’s cameo, and, suitably impressed, went ‘who’s that guy?’ A lot of people had the same response when they saw Dragon Heat. Like I said, it would have been a different film if it had been On VS Hicks!

Andy worked on a number of high-profile films released internationally. I was at Arclight Films when we sold New Police Story, in which he plays a member of Daniel Wu’s bad guy team. I released both Fatal Contact (in which he has a fighting cameo) and Invisible Target on our Dragon Dynasty DVD label. However, Andy started doing his best work over the last 18 months.

Our paths almost crossed when I went to visit Maggie Q on the Dunhuang locations of Three Kingdoms, in which they both starred. However, at that time, Andy was a slave to that demon Warcraft, an apparently addictive videogame that almost cost us a whole generation of Hong Kong performers. (He discusses it in our interview for the Invisible Target DVD.) He could not be lured from his hotel room unless he was shooting! Again, Daniel Lee brought the best out of Andy, and his performance in Three Kingdoms attracted a lot of attention (There’s actually a longer cut of the film, with more of his scenes, and I hope one day I can release Three Kingdoms on DVD with all the deleted footage.)

Johnnie To finally made good on his promise to find a worthy role for Andy when he cast him in Mad Detective opposite Lau Ching-wan. It’s always hard to play the sane partner character alongside a flashy performance like Lau’s, but On acquits himself very well. The film won a bunch of awards in Asia, and was nominated for a Golden Lion in Venice.

Which brings us to ‘Shanghai’, where Andy had to hold his own in scenes opposite Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, John Cusack and Rinko Kikuchi, world class actors all... Watching the assembly (a rough edit of scenes from the film), we were all impressed at the degree to which Andy’s face was an open book, reflecting his thoughts and feelings without needing pages of exposition. He’s also a sufficiently physical presence that audiences will believe Gong Li would put her life in his hands. Andy did a great job for us, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning of bigger things for him.

If there’s a lesson for all the young actors reading this, I guess it’s that, even if you don’t experience immediate success, you can still learn your craft and grow as an actor, film by film. If you have the stamina, work ethic and (of course!) a little luck, the day will come when even a small role can yield big rewards.