Armour of God - 88 Films

[Markgway]

Tsui Hark hides under the bed whenever Jackie Chan rings the doorbell.

[alexrinse]

Is there anyone left who isn't on the shill, apart from Anthony Wong?

[Markgway]

I believe Chow Yun-Fat and Chapman To have also been critical of China, but I think Anthony Wong is the most vocal detractor, and has left Hong Kong for good.

Sad that Tsui Hark has sold out, but not too surprising, maybe. After all, hypocrites are far more common than heroes.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I believe Chow Yun-Fat and Chapman To have also been critical of China, but I think Anthony Wong is the most vocal detractor, and has left Hong Kong for good.

Sad that Tsui Hark has sold out, but not too surprising, maybe. After all, hypocrites are far more common than heroes.

Chapman To is quite critical. I haven't seen him in much of anything for the past few years now. He seems to be much more focused on his Late Show and its spinoffs (some stuff which includes working with Anthony Wong (it was like a Masterclass with him and a bunch of amateur actors)).

Shame that Anthony Wong is off in Taiwan, but I guess he can be as vocal as he wants over there.

As for musicians, there are a few more that are heavily critical. Denise Ho is probably the most vocal, as she has basically left her music behind (she still does some stuff here and there, but it is usually politically motivated) in favor of being a fulltime activist (I enjoy her YouTube show/podcast on the Goomusic page (Canto only, no subs))

[alexrinse]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I believe Chow Yun-Fat and Chapman To have also been critical of China, but I think Anthony Wong is the most vocal detractor, and has left Hong Kong for good.

Sad that Tsui Hark has sold out, but not too surprising, maybe. After all, hypocrites are far more common than heroes.

I don't do social media so not sure of the significance of this but Chow Yun-fat might have given up the ghost as well: http://webs-of-significance.blogspot...hat-i.html?m=1

You're right though, no-one of this is shocking, especially as you get older and understand history and human motivations.

Still, childhood heroes and all that...

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

Shame that Anthony Wong is off in Taiwan, but I guess he can be as vocal as he wants over there.

For now... until China invades.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by alexrinse

I don't do social media so not sure of the significance of this but Chow Yun-fat might have given up the ghost as well: http://webs-of-significance.blogspot...hat-i.html?m=1

You're right though, no-one of this is shocking, especially as you get older and understand history and human motivations.

Still, childhood heroes and all that...

I can understand the mainlanders being supportive, as that's what they've always known, and they're afraid of losing their careers (and liberty too), but the big H.K. stars are a disgrace, and whilst I'll always love their performances, as human beings they've diminished in my eyes. Jackie Chan has gone Full Mao. There's nothing more that can be said. But guys like Andy Lau, Chow Yun-Fat, and (especially) Donnie Yen could easily move their careers to Hollywood and suffer no loss of fortune or identity. So are they afraid of retribution? Are they genuinely communists? Have they forgotten that being British is the only reason why Hong Kong had a thriving entertainment industry in the first place?

[beamish13]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I can understand the mainlanders being supportive, as that's what they've always known, and they're afraid of losing their careers (and liberty too), but the big H.K. stars are a disgrace, and whilst I'll always love their performances, as human beings they've diminished in my eyes. Jackie Chan has gone Full Mao. There's nothing more that can be said. But guys like Andy Lau, Chow Yun-Fat, and (especially) Donnie Yen could easily move their careers to Hollywood and suffer no loss of fortune or identity. So are they afraid of retribution? Are they genuinely communists? Have they forgotten that being British is the only reason why Hong Kong had a thriving entertainment industry in the first place?

Chan seemed to really change after his son got incarcerated, but yes, he’s been a total embarrassment for a long time

I saw a recent interview with Stanley Kwan discussing Center Stage, and he really seemed heartbroken over the dismal state of filmmaking in Hong Kong

[Shingster]

I think it pays to never put artists up on a pedestal as beacons of morality, as they will inevitably let you down. I'm only interested in CYF and Jackie in terms of their film work and try not to expect them to be super human beings away from that. Acting is an intrinsically egotistical profession and what it takes to make it to the top is probably not the same stuff that you or I are made of.

As much as we British can lay claim to helping to facilitate an open artistic industry in which HK cinema could thrive, we sure ****ed over the HK people in the long term by lording over and them for decades and then completely abandoning them to their fate, and it seems like our gutless government are doing very little to help the situation of the HK people that we once ruled over. It's all just sad and inevitable, and as film fans it's sad to see the industry start to become compromised, but I guess that's small potatoes compared to the rest of the shit that's going on.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by alexrinse

I don't do social media so not sure of the significance of this but Chow Yun-fat might have given up the ghost as well: http://webs-of-significance.blogspot...hat-i.html?m=1

Really nice blog site to keep up on things. I'm very intrigued by the HK documentary that premiered at Cannes this weekend (plus the HK short "All the Crows in the World" that won the Short Film Palme D'Or)

Originally Posted by Markgway

For now... until China invades.

Fat chance that happens anytime soon. When I'm not doing my day job, I spend a significant amount of time on Cross-Strait relations and also the goings on in HK. They can basically do whatever they want to HK with the NSL and all the EU, UK, or America will do is send a "disappointed" tweet. Encroachment on Taiwan is a different beast, entirely.

Originally Posted by Shingster

I think it pays to never put artists up on a pedastal as beacons of morality, as they will inevitably let you down. I'm only interested in CYF and Jackie in terms of their film work and try not to expect them to be super human beings away from that. Acting is an intrinsically egotistical profession and what it takes to make it to the top is probably not the same stuff that you or I are made of.

I don't necessarily expect them to be the epitome of excellent human beings, either, but my bigger issue is turning your back on the people who made you famous in the first place. JC wouldn't have the Mainland to rake in the cash (or what he did in the USA) if it weren't for the rabid fans of HK.

As much as we British can lay claim to helping to facilitate an open artistic industry in which HK cinema could thrive, we sure ****ed over the HK people in the long term by lording over and them for decades and then completely abandoning them to their fate, and it seems like our gutless government are doing very little to help the situation of the HK people that we once ruled over. It's all just sad and inevitable, and as film fans it's sad to see the industry start to become compromised, but I guess that's small potatoes compared to the rest of the shit that's going on.

The only part here I can comment on is that it truly is sad to see this industry fade away. I look at groups like Mirror, and they remind me too much of a Kpop style of music (although I do like what Error has done and find some of their shows kind of funny). Regardless, it lacks a lot of HK culture and feels very generic.

I dunno. This is why I enjoy reading this forum every day. Have to do our best to help bring near perfect releases of HK cinema for all to enjoy. The heyday won't return, so you have to preserve the memories you had, and make new ones in the years to come. (/soapbox)

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

Fat chance that happens anytime soon. When I'm not doing my day job, I spend a significant amount of time on Cross-Strait relations and also the goings on in HK. They can basically do whatever they want to HK with the NSL and all the EU, UK, or America will do is send a "disappointed" tweet. Encroachment on Taiwan is a different beast, entirely.

I hope you're right.

I don't necessarily expect them to be the epitome of excellent human beings, either, but my bigger issue is turning your back on the people who made you famous in the first place. JC wouldn't have the Mainland to rake in the cash (or what he did in the USA) if it weren't for the rabid fans of HK.

Remember when the only way people in the Mainland saw HK movies was thru pirate VCDs that cost a fraction of their worth? If these HK entertainers had to rely on China in the past they'd all be in the proverbial poor house.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

I don't necessarily expect them to be the epitome of excellent human beings, either, but my bigger issue is turning your back on the people who made you famous in the first place. JC wouldn't have the Mainland to rake in the cash (or what he did in the USA) if it weren't for the rabid fans of HK.

Oh yeah, it's a betrayal of their fanbase if you look at it a certain way (although I would argue that us fans don't necessarily make people famous in some sort of altruistic fashion that makes actors indebted to us, we make them famous because they entertain us, it's a transaction), but being two faced in that regard is kinda what celebrities do isn't it? How many times has an actor got on the soap box over here to rally the plebs behind a cause that these multi-millionaire performers could easily fund with just a fraction of their wealth?

[reason108]

Well, Chan has made his money and continues to do so! I have no clue what or if he would have to give up to join the party. Heartfelt or otherwise? He can certainly see the direction that things appear to be going in and may want to get ahead of it and align himself in the best possible way! Only Jackie really knows why!

[Markgway]

I was going to say he'd have to give up on his kids, but then he's already done that.

[Killer Meteor]

Zing!

[Ken81]

Just to change topic a little back to AoG related stuff Check this picture I took of our only physical movie shop left here in Oslo, 88 Films and Eureka sure got their dedicated shelf space for display, how cool

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

Fat chance that happens anytime soon. When I'm not doing my day job, I spend a significant amount of time on Cross-Strait relations and also the goings on in HK. They can basically do whatever they want to HK with the NSL and all the EU, UK, or America will do is send a "disappointed" tweet. Encroachment on Taiwan is a different beast, entirely.

One hopes so, but the US no longer have a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and under pressure its often hard to get the American public in it for the longterm if war between the US and China starts over Taiwan or least that's my fear as an American.. One would hope given Taiwan's importance strategically and the fact that HK's current hell would be Taiwan's future given Xi and the CCP's destruction of the one country, two systems policy. One hopes we do not have to worry about Taiwan's cinema being censored or even erased if it were ever occupied by Beijing. Whats happen in Hong Kong has been depressing as one outside HK feels so helpless as there little we can do to reverse the situation there and I would hate to see that in Taiwan. Sorry to get so off-topic.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

One hopes so, but the US no longer have a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and under pressure its often hard to get the American public in it for the longterm if war between the US and China starts over Taiwan or least that's my fear as an American.. One would hope given Taiwan's importance strategically and the fact that HK's current hell would be Taiwan's future given Xi and the CCP's destruction of the one country, two systems policy. One hopes we do not have to worry about Taiwan's cinema being censored or even erased if it were ever occupied by Beijing. Whats happen in Hong Kong has been depressing as one outside HK feels so helpless as there little we can do to reverse the situation there and I would hate to see that in Taiwan. Sorry to get so off-topic.

Not to derail this further, but there are so many things that hinder an amphibious assault on Taiwan, most notably the fact that Kinmen is so close to Xiamen so the defenses there would likely go before anything else. Both Japan and South Korea have significant skin in the game when it comes to these talks, and further deteriorating relations are occurring with many in the ASEAN, particularly with that dreaded 9-dash line and other goings on. Point is, while we all freak out overseas that it's next on the list, politically it truly is suicide and if GDP numbers are even remotely inflated (like is being speculated) on the Mainland front, they have serious domestic concerns to deal with, first.

And now...for something completely different

I'm ready for them to go all out on this release.

[cinefan24]

Going back to Armour of God this is the only release I know of that definitely includes the open matte version. There's a newer DVD by the same company but that appears to be in it's regular widescreen format.

[LAPrice]

Originally Posted by Ken81

Just to change topic a little back to AoG related stuff Check this picture I took of our only physical movie shop left here in Oslo, 88 Films and Eureka sure got their dedicated shelf space for display, how cool

Great! What’s the name of the shop?