Mononoke aftermath

[Lang Thompson]

>> Which ones?  I thought New Line had rights to all/most of the recent ones
>> (& have supposedly been refusing to release "Drunken Master II"--which is
>> much better than many that have received a US release--because
>> it's not set
>> in modern times).
>
>really? I was assuming it had more to do with the anti-western feeling
>inherent in the movie (the fact its probably his best film notwithstanding)
>


Well just a rumor though the explanation has been that the target audience
in the US has been that infamous male 18-30 group and even more
specifically black viewers which accounts for the rap music (even if rap
lite) and sometimes metal/hard rock that's been added to many of the
Americanized Chan films as well as the trimming of things like "excess"
comedy.  And supposedly the exec thinking about this is that this
audience(s) would have a harder time identifying with a "period" film.
(Though of course these are the same viewers that have sparked the release
of older martial arts films in the wake of Wu Tang.)  Again all rumors but
it does seem to match the way the Chan films have been released in the US
(recent ones tampered with and put into theatres, older ones tampered with
and dropped onto video) as well as the odd choice of the weak "Black Mask"
as an attempt to capitalize on Jet Li's "Lethal Weapon 4" notoriety (&
after three years of renting from Chinese video stores and seeing only one
other non-Chinese customer, right after LW4 I saw three in a row all asking
for Jet Li films, which of course is not the name the clerks know him by).
And yes this is getting off-topic but I think it has something to do with
the way Asian films are marketed in the US.  And wouldn't Chan or Jet Li or
Chow Yun-Fat make a great Batman if that wasn't so unthinkable to an
American studio?

LT
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