It was a blast of time yesterday with team@movieXclusive as I tagged along Overider and dgital, and it's also some sorta relief that I'm not officially covering the event as I was still in a dazed comatose state from the previous night's Night Watch premiere. massb can vouch for the state I was in :-)
Our first stop was the Botanical Gardens, where there's gonna be a hybrid named after International Superstar Jackie Chan (that's what's on the plague by the way). While waiting for JC, we were mesmerized by (someone who told us) a group of Ms Hong Kong pageant contestants. Could be true though, they were posing and filmed (by TVB cameras) a clip which probably will be edited into those exotic location shots. No pictures of them though, but *drool lol*
Anyway, security was tight (as expected) and only those with press passes were allowed to enter the 2nd floor where the ceremony was. When JC arrived, he took the media by surprise by touring the surrounding Botanical Gardens instead, taking his time admiring the flowers. Visitors to the Gardens naturally were in a treat (hey, when was the last time you visited some place and bumped into an international superstar??), and a small boy managed to get up close and personal with the star.
Didn't expect Mallika Sherawat to come along, but she did! So did Stanley Tong. The view from above was beautiful *lol*
You can read more about the proceedings from the movieXclusive site, as well as enjoy some pictures I took
We adjourned from the Botanical Gardens to the National Library, where the press conference was held earlier at The Pod (link to the movieXclusive coverage will be up again soon). That evening, JC and Stanley Tong will be having a forum discussion on Asian Cinema.
Again, I love the press pass as it allowed us to waltz pass the queue. Also, being early birds, we managed front row center seats, which provided good opportunity for unobstructed photographs, and allowed eye contact with both JC and Stanley Tong (who was all smiles that night, knowing that cameras were always on them)
Just after the picture above was taken, JC poured out and flattened the empty plastic water bottle with his foot. Not sure why though, probably to get it out of the way.
I bet many in the audience would love to allow JC and Stanley Tong to ramble on, but because of the time constraint, we only had about less than an hour.
JC touched upon many topics, some which included
1. Movie Piracy and the challenges to the movie industry
2. Nationalism with regards to support for movies
3. The demise of HK cinema
4. Erosion of Chinese culture (hilarious observation on hip-hop youths)
5. His childhood and early success
6. How he realized the potential reach and influence of his movies
7. Which changed him to be a better person
8. His foray into Hollywood and various interesting anecdotes with Stallone and Spielberg
9. "Coopetition" in the movie industry
Stanley Tong touched upon
1. How they made films in the past (the guerilla way)
2. The need to bridge the industry to budding talents
3. The potential for Asia to combine their movie industries to challenge Hollywood
4. The challenges faced and how he came about the idea for The Myth
Comparing the two, it is obvious who had more to discuss :-)
movieXclusive gotten it all professionally covered, but for now, enjoy the photographs!
One heck of a night!
You can check out massb's take on the events by clicking here!
And this is dgital's take.
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