Youtube has deleted my account for copyrights problems. So I am now reuploading to a self-hosted site and embedding the videos back on this site. So keep coming back to check out the videos as I will be now free to upload more of my favourite vids. Meanwhile, a word of apology to those who are fans of my old Youtube vids.

Vids done for

Fist of Legend

Ip Man

Painted Skin

Legendary Assassin

Flashpoint

The Works of Jet Li.

The Works of Vincent Zhao.

The Works of Andy Lau.

The Works of Takeshi Kaneshiro.

The Works of Jason Wujing.

The Works of Donnie Yen.

HONGKONG – Jackie Chan and Jet Li are gongfu-kicking the stuffing out of their new movie.

Chan was quoted in a report on Tuesday as saying the new Hollywood action movie he shot with Li “isn’t great”, while Li said in his blog that fans should not have overly high expectations.

The Forbidden Kingdom, which finished shooting in China last month, has been eagerly anticipated as it marks the first on-screen collaboration between gongfu cinema’s two biggest stars.

But the two actors played down the film’s potential appeal to Chinese viewers, saying it is targeted at an American audience.

A news report on the Xinhua News Agency website quoted Chan as saying at a press conference in Changchun on Sunday: “The movie I just shot with Jet Li, The Forbidden Kingdom, actually isn’t that great.

“The Forbidden Kingdom is a movie made for Americans. Chinese viewers may not like it. If I say it’s a good movie now, then many peopple will be filled with overly high expectations and be disappointed when they see the movie.”

Separately, Li made similar remarks on his website on Tuesday.

“I hope that everyone can watch The Forbidden Kingdom with open mind and that they don’t have high expectations for my fighting scenes with Jackie Chan,” he said.

“After all, this is an American production, created by an American screenwriter, about an American child’s dream of the Journey To The West story. It would be more interesting to approach this film from a different angle.”

The movie is about an American teenager’s fantasy journey to ancient China to rescue a mythological monkey king.

Chan has been known to be blase about his Hollywood work, like the successful Rush Hour stories. He said in an interview with Life! this year: “I would rather return to Asia to make my own Asian films.”

AP

Li upset over China bans

Hong Kong –
Jet Li is frustrated that his Hollywood made movies have not been able to clear Chinese censors.

The Chinese native said on his official website on Monday that his 2000 movie, Romeo Must Die, was not shown in China because it involved Chinese gangsters; his 2001 film Kiss of the Dragon was banned because it featured Chinese police killing on foreign soil.
He said film-makers were careful in handling his 2003 Cradle 2 the Grave. Wary of a Chinese backlash, they changed the character of a Chinese police officer, who steals nuclear material, to that of a Taiwanese police officer, but the movie still did not clear the censors.
Li said Chinese censors objected because Li, a Chinese martial arts champion, played a Taiwanese person. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still views the self-ruled island as its territory and has threatened to retake it by force.
With his 2005 movie, Danny The Dog, also known as Unleashed, Li said he tried to convey an anti-violence message but still could not win over Chinese censors who raised concerns about racism. He played an animal-like assassin who tries to break away from his criminal life.
“Many foreign film-makers wonder how you can make an action movie that can be shown in China,” the actor said.
China carefully controls media content and allows in only 20 foreign movies a year. The Chinese government often edits or bans foreign films it considers insulting to China’s reputation.

In a recent example, censors cut scenes of Chow Yun Fat depicted as a bald, scarred pirate in Pirates Of the Caribbean: At World’s End, saying the images insulted Chinese people, state media reported.
Li said he respects Chinese movie regulations, but added that “films don’t always have to be realistic. In films, there are many unrealistic things…It is my hope that audiences can mature and develop to see the difference between a movie and real life”.
The former national gongfu champion in China recently shot the Chinese historical epic The Warlords. He is currently shooting Hollywood movie The Forbidden Kingdom, which marks his first pairing with Jackie Chan

AP

Singapore’s Straits Times Saturday July 28 2007.

New Laws To Protect China’s Heritage

Clampdown on filming at sites and stiff fines for causing damage.

China is tightening protection of its cultural heritage sites and scenic spots with a ban on unauthorised filming in these areas and stiff fines for those who damage the environment.
The State Council late on Thursday released a draft law to protect such sites amid widespread fears of breakneck urbanisation and environmentally insensitive film shoots destroying China’s cultural and natural heritage.

In the most notorious of recent cases, Chinese director Chen Kaige was fined 90,000 yuan (S$18,000) last year for littering and destroying vegetation while filming his martial arts epic The Promise at a nature reserve in south-western Yunnan province.

The damage caused by Chen and his film crew to the once-pristine Bigu Lake in Shangri-La, known as one of China’s natural treasures, caused a public outcry.

Another favoured location for many martial arts films, the lush Jiuzhaigou valley in south-western Sichuan province, announced early this year it will no longer admit film or television crews after being despoiled by one too many times.

Under the new draft statute, companies and organisations can be fined up to 1 million yuan for defacing or despoiling heritage sites, while individuals may be fined up to 200,000 yuan said the official Xinhua news agency.

Movie production teams must now seek official approval before entering historical sites as well as demonstrate their ability to protect and clean up the area.

The 51-clause draft law, China’s most detailed statute on cultural heritage protection, calls on officials throughout the country to be sensitive to cultural heritage protection.

Governments at city and county level have been asked to conduct surveys of old buildings to determine their historical value before demolishing them.

In particular, new building projects in State Council approved “historical cities” will be subject to regulations on height, quantity and exterior facade so as to preserve the overall traditional feel of these cities.

Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou are among these “historical cities”, so called because they were capitals in ancient times or major historical events took place in them.

China has over 100 such cities as well as several historical sites, which include ancient remains and grave sites, caves, carved stones and historical treasures.

Economic affluence and growing cultural pride and consciousness have led the country to spend more on protecting its historical treasures.

Between 2001 and 2005, China set aside 189 million yuan for cultural heritage protection. Last year alone, this budget hit 149 million yuan.

Environmentally damaging film shoots

Film shoots criticised for damaging the environment:

*Chinese director Chen Kaige was fined 90,000 yuan last year for littering and destroying vegetation while filming his martial arts epic The Promise at the Bigu Lake in south-western Yunnan province.

*The battles scenes in Chinese director Zhang Ji Zhong’s drama serial Legend of the Condor Heroes (2004), partly shot at a waterfall in Jiuzhaigou, was said to have damaged the surrounding vegetation.

*Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan ’s film The Myth (2005) drew criticism for filming in Xian’s historical Museum of the Terracotta Warriors, a delicate archaeological site.

*Cement structures made for the Hong Kong film Tripitaka (2005), starring idol Nicholas Tse, allegedly caused damage to the land forms of Shennongjia nature reserve in central Hubei province, where it was shot.