BEIJING - Jackie Chan will play the wise kung-fu master in a Hollywood-Chinese remake of the 1984 hit "The Karate Kid" that kicked off filming in the Chinese capital at the weekend, a movie company publicist said Monday.
Chan's young disciple in "Kung Fu Kid" will be played by Jaden Smith, the son of Hollywood superstars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, China Film Group spokesman Weng Li told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
In "The Karate Kid," Pat Morita plays the iconic building handyman Mr. Miyagi who trains one of his young tenants, portrayed by Ralph Macchio, into an accomplished fighter.
The co-production between the state-run China Film Group and Columbia Pictures started shooting Saturday in Beijing, Weng said.
"Kung Fu Kid" is being directed by Harald Zwart, who also directed "One Night at McCool's" and "The Pink Panther 2," Solon So, the chief executive of Chan's company, JC Group, told the AP.
Chan and Smith, along with Smith's parents and sister Willow, attended a traditional Chinese ceremony to mark the start of the shoot Saturday. Photos on China Film Group's movie news Web site show the Smith family and Chan holding incense sticks.
Will Smith - one of the film's producers - Chan, Zwart and others symbolically removed a piece of red cloth covering a movie camera, after which Smith gave Chan a hug, according to video posted on Chinese news Web site Sina.com. His hair done in a huge Afro and wearing a bright red track jacket and blue pants, Jaden Smith stood and waved when he was introduced. His father ruffled his hair when he sat down.
Chan said on his Web site he also attended the younger Smith's 11th birthday party last Wednesday, where he and Will Smith posed for pictures with young performers wearing red and yellow costumes with dragon patterns.
Ken Stovitz, one of Will Smith's partners in the production company Overbrook Entertainment, said at the ceremony Saturday that "Kung Fu Kid" will be set in modern-day Beijing. China Film Group chairman Han Sanping said shooting will last three months.
Chan juggles careers in Hollywood and Chinese-language film. The veteran 55-year-old Hong Kong action star will be seen in the upcoming the Hollywood action comedy "The Spy Next Door," about an undercover Chinese spy whose cover is blown, and the Chinese production, "Big Soldier," about the friendship between two soldiers set in China's ancient Qin dynasty.
Jaden Smith costarred with his father in the 2006 movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" and appeared in the 2008 Keanu Reeves sci-fi movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
By MIN LEE AP Entertainment Writer
Monday, July 13
The Karate Kid Remake
Saturday, July 11
Friday, July 10
HP-Inspired "Invent" Video
Originally posted by Jody Earley
Invent: This video is a response set by Hewlett Packard to, ”Present an idea which promotes HP Workstations ability to bring to life anything the creative mind can conceive.”
Thursday, July 9
The New WOGCC.com
If you haven't seen or heard already, we recently launched our newly redesigned website for Word of Grace last week! I'm thrilled for it. It's a step up look-wise, even if we don't have as much control as before, and the big thing is... You've never seen anything that had to do with web be this easy to update and maintain. Absolutely incredible. I could take anyone who knows what a mouse and keyboard is and within 5-10 minutes show them pretty much how to run the site. No lies. The people at Clover have an ingenious service here for churches. Wow. Thank you!
Here are snapshots (just of what I could snap, not the whole pages) of the most recently updated Home and Media pages on the old site, to compare. Click 'em to see bigger versions.
Business Card + Sticker = Stickercard
Guy Kawasaki came up with a super innovative idea by creating stickercards! They look like a sticker, but when you peel it off, you're left with his contact info, aka his business card. Click the "You can see how it works here" link that he's got to actually see a video of his stickers.
Read it here
Wednesday, July 8
The Future Andersens
I'm not sure why I didn't post about this when it went live, but our "wedsite" (hehe) can be found by directing your non-archaic browser (Firefox and Safari snobs only) to TheFutureAndersens.com.
Movie Reviews (The Motherlode)
There's a lotta movies to review, so I'm gonna keep it short and sweet.
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The Disclaimer
Just because I've watched a movie or enjoyed it doesn't mean that it's for everyone. I don't like raunchy content in a movie and I use the websites, ScreenIt and Kids In Mind, frequently to find out what kind of content is in a movie before I watch it. BUT. Everyone's tolerance level of how much content you'll put up with if the movie's worth watching varies. With that in mind, when I say a movie is good, I'm saying that in an overall sense, and I'm saying that from my perspective. I'm not endorsing it, nor am I saying that the content that is in it is appropriate for all ages. I'd prefer the movie to be clean, but if it's overall worth watching and isn't overly raunchy, I'm able to look past a lot of it.
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Sunshine Cleaning
This was a well-done and enjoyable indie film.
4 of 5.
Henry Poole Was Here
Starring Luke Wilson, this was a great movie. I really liked it and thought he played the role great.
4 of 5.
Wolverine
It was a really good movie, but not quite as good as I was hoping. It started off killer and I was hoping the whole movie would be like that, but it just kinda petered out. There are some sick action scenes and it's more emotionally active than a lot of other action movies, but overall I could only give it...
3.5 of 5.
Bolt
I don't watch many animated movies besides what Pixar does, but this is the first I've seen, maybe ever, that left me feeling like how I do after I watch a Pixar! There are some hilarious part and lines and stinkin' Rhino was an awesome character.
5 of 5.
UP
Man, this is a tough review to write. I always am thrilled out of my mind for a new Pixar movie and this was no different. But it didn't quite do it for me like other ones have. Maybe I just need to see it again or maybe for once my expectations were too high. Generally they get blown out of the water, though. I saw it in 3D which was really cool. Overall it was a great movie, but just not quite Pixar quality in my mind. Pixar, I'm still madly in love with you, but this didn't make any favorites list of mine, but you still deserve...
4 of 5.
Yes Man
Now this was kind of a surprise. I mean, I was hoping it'd be good and the trailer looked funny and all, but you never know with some of these movies nowadays, ya know... I thoroughly got into this one from start to finish and was out and out laughing quite a bit. Jim Carrey's always good, Zooey's super ace, and the band manager from The Flight of the Conchords cracked my funny bone.
4 of 5.
Star Trek
FREAKING AMAZING. GO SEE IT! LONG LIVE J.J. ABRAMS! The end.
10 of 5.
Last Chance Harvey
Ehh. Not bad, but forgettable.
3.5 of 5.
The Son of Rambow
A fun little flick. "I'm alright, Lee Cart-tuh!"
4 of 5.
Love & Death
Woody Allen greatly satisfied me again with this film from 1975. It had some laugh out loud funny parts, especially in the first few minutes, and had very Monty Python-esque humor inspirations throughout.
4 of 5.
Sleeper
Thus ends Woody's streak for me so far. I know he's got tons of movies that I have yet to see, but this one just wasn't very good and it smacked of others I've seen of his.
2 of 5.
The Machinist
Stinkin' trippy. And if you have a weak stomach, don't gaze upon one of the gauntest bodies I've ever seen (Christian Bale). Especially considering Batman Begins was his next movie, his frailty is crazy and hard to watch!
4 of 5.
Revolutionary Road
One of the emotionally heavy movies I've seen in a while, and even more so than I thought it was going to be. BUT... Even if it was a downer and left you worn out after watching, I really did like it and can appreciate the quality filmmaking acting. DiCaprio + Winslet? That's an equation I can be a part of. Oh, and I totally dig Michael Shannon, the guy with the psychologic problems. He was in The Devil Knows You're Dead as well as Shotgun Stories, both of which I loved. He's got a great persona about him and played this quirky role very well.
4 of 5.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Really well done. But really long. REALLY long. And emotionally draining. This is one of those movies where the rating seems to say I really enjoyed it, but it's more so for props of acting and filmmaking, not the movie as a whole.
3.5 of 5.
The Lives of Others
Excellent movie! Watch it! Yeah!
5 of 5.
Valkyrie
RottenTomatoes says it best. To paraphrase, it had a lot of potential, especially historically. It didn't take advantage of that and turn this story into a masterpiece of a film.
3 of 5.
Monday, July 6
Sunday, July 5
Jonsí and Alex
The lead singer of Sigur Rós, Jonsí, has a new project that's releasing an album on July 20 and they are offering a free download of one of their songs. I got it and it's pretty sweet ambient stuff. This specific track is pretty ethereal.
Musical goodness awaits you here
Jack White + The Dead Weather
Does this guy ever stop making music and starting new musical projects?!
Read about the band here
Watch 'em tear up Conan (chapter 6)
WE'RE MOVING!
Well, the latest news, if you haven't heard, is that Summer and I will be moving to Tulsa, OK at the end of September. My whole family is moving down, although all of our plans have been made independent of each other. My dad blogged about their plans as they will be making their move in mid-August. Big change is in the wind for Word of Grace, but I'll tell you what, God has got a great plan in store. His hand has been all over the transition so far and it's awesome to see what he's doing. It's going to be a busy few months! Wedding planning (which is killer so far), me moving into our apartment in Wisconsin already, the wedding and honeymoon, getting settled together, and packing up again after being in Wisconsin for 6 weeks... Whoo! It's going to be a fun time though. We are looking forward to being in Tulsa closer to family and being in Summer's hometown. I've interviewed for a job at Church on the Move and would love nothing more than to be a part of their incredible music department there. I was actually thrilled to be given the opportunity to play there a few weekends ago... Check out The Lamp - Part 2.
It's wild to think how life has changed in a little over a year. About 13 months ago, I was single and had just started to Facebook message with Summer, not knowing whether she would just be a friend or my wife. I'm glad it was the latter. :) Life with her has been amazing so far and I can't wait for all that God has in store for us in the future!
Saturday, July 4
Life After People
This is a super interesting documentary about how Earth would respond if there was no human life. It shows the progression of what would happen and how that it wouldn't take THAT long for all traces of our entire civilization to be completely erased and wiped out. Wild thought. Apparently there's an ongoing TV show or so the following link says. Redbox may still have this for rent, but if not, try to find it somewhere else. It's interesting!
Life After People
Q&A with Cut Copy
A cool read of an interview done by RELEVANT magazine with Cut Copy. Anyone heard the new album?
Read it here
Friday, July 3
Poking Fun At Social Media
Yep times have changed with Facebook and Twitter...
Click the image to see it bigger.
Thursday, July 2
Easter Opener Videos
This one was created by my future brother-in-law (in-law, if you want to get technical) for Church on the Move - POWERFUL!
And this one is from Elevation Church that's pretty cool too...
Wednesday, July 1
Top 20 Moneymaking Concerts
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS
1. (1) Elton John / Billy Joel; $2,143,539; $115.94.
2. (2) Britney Spears; $2,035,367; $99.29.
3. (3) Eagles; $1,813,875; $134.83.
4. (4) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $1,795,349; $91.39.
5. (5) The Dead; $1,553,713; $81.72.
6. (6) Fleetwood Mac; $1,100,696; $96.30.
7. (7) Kenny Chesney; $837,797; $62.20.
8. (8) Nickelback; $752,223; $55.17.
9. (9) Leonard Cohen; $520,871; $96.93.
10. (10) Il Divo; $501,598; $78.57.
11. (12) Neil Young; $481,471; $66.74.
12. (13) Lil' Wayne; $454,371; $62.84.
13. (14) Motley Crue; $394,250; $54.96.
14. (15) Jeff Dunham; $280,901; $41.91.
15. (New) Kings Of Leon; $261,701; $42.10.
16. (New) Yanni Voices: Live In Concert; $245,649; $67.23.
17. (17) Celtic Woman; $224,188; $55.52.
18. (16) Slipknot; $220,251; $37.77.
19. (18) New Kids On The Block; $215,557; $52.71.
20. (New) James Taylor; $207,370; $72.80.
For free upcoming tour information, go to http://www.pollstar.com
By The Associated Press
Black Cab Sessions
Very cool idea where a cool / popular band hops in a cab and busts out a song and gets video recorded. Check it!
It's all here
The Sounds + Crossing the Rubicon
This. Album. RULES. I can't get enough of it! Seriously, please download this. I'd like to think you'll greatly thank me.
iTunes link