I Am Bruce Lee

[GeneChing]

'I AM BRUCE LEE' OFFICIAL FILM TRAILER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQgjo9Wm0sg)

official website: www.iambruceleemovie.com (http://www.iambruceleemovie.com/)

[doug maverick]

do we really need another documentary about bruce lee? do we? what new insight is this going to offer to the lexicon? will they talk about his marijuana use, or relationship with betty ting pei or is it just another bruce lee is so great he is the best in the whole wide world...movie? if so skip!

[Lucas]

whats cool though (i only saw it without sound on work pc) is that they have professional fighters being interviewed it looks like. seems like a new persepective as far as bruce lee docs go. first time ive seen a compilations of well respected pro fighters put in one string of interviews giving their inspirational and motivational bruce lee start up stories and what not.

i think this might cater to the crowd of now grown developed martial artists that did get inspiration to begin from bruce lee. i could be totally wrong, but thats what it looks like.

[doug maverick]

yea...ill pass...sorry bruce.

[mickey]

Greetings,

If some fine looking chick said that "xyz" put b@lls on men of African ancestry, I would be deeply offended. I was offended seeing this chic say that about Chinese men. That alone, scratches this crap of a doc off of my list. That line was taken from the book "The Legend of Bruce Lee" by Alex Ben Block. It was not nice then. IT IS NOT NICE NOW!!

Here is a forty two second clip of Lo Wei, who directed Bruce Lee in the Big Boss (Fists of Fury). Things got hot between the two of them during filming. Yet, this clip shows a very deep sense of loss and sincere feeling on the part of Lo Wei about Bruce. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TID5vYclX4A


mickey

[doug maverick]

Greetings,

If some fine looking chick said that "xyz" put b@lls on men of African ancestry, I would be deeply offended. I was offended seeing this chic say that about Chinese men. That alone, scratches this crap of a doc off of my list. That line was taken from the book "The Legend of Bruce Lee" by Alex Ben Block. It was not nice then. IT IS NOT NICE NOW!!

Here is a forty two second clip of Lo Wei, who directed Bruce Lee in the Big Boss (Fists of Fury). Things got hot between the two of them during filming. Yet, this clip shows a very deep sense of loss and sincere feeling on the part of Lo Wei about Bruce. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TID5vYclX4A


mickey

well one thing ill say about that comment i think you interpreted it wrong...when it was said she meant how people viewed asians in america at the time especially in hollywood never the hero just the "hop sing" no ticky no washy character...wasnt till this suave ass mofo named bruce lee came on the screen kicking ass and taking names that peoples eyes opened up and people were like wow asians can be badasses too...thus the comment.

[mickey]

doug maverick,

She was not the first to make that comment. It was in that book I mentioned, verbatim. Better words could have been chosen. Even your words are better.

mickey

[doug maverick]

didnt take you for the sensitive type.if it makes you feel any better malcolm Xgave black guys balls.

[Jimbo]

I've also seen that comment more than once. Apparently, it's pretty popular to use. Whether it was referring to non-Asians' view of Asians (or more specifically, Chinese) or not, I always found it a bit offensive, and I'm not even Chinese. What other racial group besides east Asians would people not of that group still be able to freely and openly say that about nowadays without any repercussions?

I think I could give another BL doc a miss. Pretty much everything to be said about him has been said. There was even a bad Shaw Bros movie covering his relationship with Betty Ting Pei (starring Betty herself; weird person, BTW).

Lots of people assume everyone during that era and beyond took up MA because of BL. Not me; I'd been training a couple of years before I saw my first BL movie. My reasons for training were a lot more immediate; self-preservation.

[mickey]

doug maverick,

If you read my first post carefully, I wrote that I would find it deeply offensive to be talked about in that way.

mickey

[doug maverick]

doug maverick,

If you read my first post carefully, I wrote that I would find it deeply offensive to be talked about in that way.

mickey

wait youre not even asian?

[mickey]

wait, you're just finding out?

[Lucas]

still to my recollection this is the first documentary with current world class fighters/champs giving their take and telling their inspirational stories. i know a lot of people have butt hurt syndrome with bruce lee, but the guy really did do a lot for modern martial arts, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. im far from a bruce lee nut rider, but at the same time i dont hold anything agains the guy...there really is no reason to be a hater. :p

anyone show me how they impacted kungfu in america better ? i for one respect highly any guy who can put kungfu on the map like that. it deserves props whether people think so or not. i like kungfu. i dont let other peoples obsessions skew my own impression of a guy who really did do a lot. i'll definately watch this.

[Jimbo]

With BL, there doesn't seem to be any in-between; most people seem to either worship him or totally criticize/hate on him. I've always respected BL, more for his drive and intelligence than for his movies. What I got tired of is people who would tell me, 'If it wasn't for Bruce Lee, you would never have done martial arts." Which is utter BS. I give full credit where credit is due, but I will not give it where it is not...in my case, my motivations for studying MA.

However, there does seem to be a trend of BL-hating; i.e., "He sucked," "He wasn't actually a good MAist," "He sucked as an actor," etc. I've always said, if becoming a true icon is so easy, why can't everybody do it? And he did it at a time when doing so was a LOT harder than today. Whether BL was a great actor or not I can't say; but I will say beyond any doubt that what BL had was charisma. You can't learn that or buy it; you either have it or you don't.

[GeneChing]

I doubt I'll make it to one of those limited engagement theatrical showings listed on their website, but I'll see it eventually on DVD or streamed or somewhere.

It is noteworthy that this doc was even able to manage to get a limited theatrical release instead of just being distributed via disc and web. That makes it stand out from the recent cable docs.

[Lucas]

spot on jimbo.

[Lucas]

Well Gene and I will let you all know how it is :p

[GeneChing]

It may be a while...

[Lucas]

ya no i'll be waiting too, i dont doo theaters anymore...maybe i'll pirate it later idk. :eek:

[GeneChing]

Maybe I'll see it in the theaters. If I'm invited to a screener...

January 30, 2012, 12:00 PM ET
Why Bruce Lee Has More Kick Now Than Ever (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/01/30/tao-jones-re-enter-the-dragon-why-bruce-lee-is-more-relevant-than-ever/?mod=google_news_blog)
By Jeff Yang

“From my point of view, the 20th century gave us just two icons who rose above time, space and race: There was Muhammad Ali, and there was Bruce Lee,” says documentary filmmaker Pete McCormack, explaining the rationale behind his two most recent projects, the feature documentary “Facing Ali,” shortlisted for the Academy Award in 2010, and its new followup “I Am Bruce Lee,” which hits 160 theaters across the country for special screenings on February 9 and 11.

It’s an assertion that instantly prompts thoughts of obvious alternatives (was that a muffled cough from Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.?) — but the truth is, it can’t be dismissed as hyperbole either.

Ali and Lee were rare and similar figures: Exceptionally charismatic individuals who thrived in the spotlight, and who earned their permanent place in history by both embodying and overcoming the contradictions of their era. They were unifiers and provocateurs, paramount warriors who preached peace, racial role models whose impact reached far beyond their own communities.

Both were named to Time magazine’s 1999 list of the 100 most important individuals of the past hundred years. And yet, when the list was unveiled, there were those who groused about Lee’s inclusion. A martial arts movie star? Alongside the likes of Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and, uh, Gandhi and King?

Well…yes. “I Am Bruce Lee” is essentially a 94-minute-long argument that Lee was more than worthy of recognition among the century’s greats, and frankly, it’s a convincing one. The documentary is a cascading chain of reminiscences from friends and family (including wife Linda Lee Cadwell and daughter Shannon, inner-circle member Dan Inosanto and goddaughter Diana Lee Inosanto), tributes from students and fellow fighters of many styles and generations, and vivid celebrations of his legacy from an eclectic mix of celebrities who claim him as a personal inspiration: NBA superstar Kobe Bryant; filmmaker and former BET chief Reginald Hudlin; actors Ed O’Neill (“Modern Family”) and Mickey Rourke (“Iron Man 2″); skateboarder Paul Rodriguez, B-boy Jose Ruiz, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo.

Interspersed with the talking heads and moving bodies — the interviewees prove that it’s impossible to expound on Bruce Lee while standing still — are samples of his life and work, including personal clips and images that have never before been seen on screen.

Together, all of it makes the case that the biggest source of Lee’s impact wasn’t his onscreen performances, but the unique philosophy he formulated and preached, and that has made converts of individuals from an amazing range of backgrounds — what you might call a way of thinking that leads to a way of moving that leads to a way of life.

The belief system behind Lee’s art, Jeet Kune Do, was rooted in resourcefulness: “Use what works, and take it from any place you can find it”; in flexibility: “Don’t get set into one form, adapt, be like water”; in simplicity: “Express the utmost with the minimum”; in action: “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

But most of all, it’s one that was steeped in a defiant antiestablishmentarianism, a rebellion against the status quo that walks in startling lockstep with the sensibilities of today’s cultural and political moment.

Some of what he said sounds like it might appeal to the Tea Party right: “Not a daily increase, but a daily decrease: Hack away at the inessentials”; “To hell with circumstances — I create opportunities”; “A big organization is not necessary….all members will be conditioned according to the prescribed system; many will end up as a prisoner of a systematized drill.”

But though Lee was a firm believer in the power of the individual, he was if anything the inverse of the Ayn Randian self-interested superman, contemptuous of the lesser beings around him. He told his disciples that “the successful warrior is just an average man with laser-like focus”; he stressed to them that he wasn’t their master, but a “student-master,” still constantly learning from them and from the world — “you can consider someone a master when you’re closing their casket”; he reminded them that “real living is living for others.”

Lee abhorred the elitism of the martial arts world, refusing to issue belts or to imbue his lessons with quasi-mystical ritual. He was relentlessly egalitarian, teaching anyone and everyone who wanted to learn and was willing to work, regardless of size, shape, background — or race: Early in his career in the U.S., he came into violent conflict with the incensed heads of other Chinese martial arts schools, who demanded he stop initiating non-Asians into their secrets. Lee thrashed the representative they sent to challenge him, and continued instructing whomever he wanted.

To Lee, boundaries and divisions, whether between styles or between peoples, were nothing more than a tool of oppression — and as Lee’s wife Linda says, “Bruce hated the oppression of the little people, which he saw everywhere: The Japanese occupation, the Boxer Rebellion, the foreign powers going into China. He just thought all of that was wrong.”
continued next post

[GeneChing]

In the film, an animated Reggie Hudlin adds that Lee emerged at a time when the angry underclass was seeking out leaders and symbols, “counterculture figures to fight the establishment” — figures like Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Muhammad Ali — and Bruce Lee: “When he fought Chuck Norris [in "Way of the Dragon"], Bruce Lee represented the entire Third World, all people of color, fighting the Western oppressor.”

In short, it’s fair to say that Lee was a badass of the 99 Percent.

Today, Norris has become a kind of conservative kingmaker, anointing right wing candidates he decides are worthy of his badge of toughness (he’s the one who famously called Arizona Governor Jan Brewer a woman who eats “scorpions for breakfast,” which she promptly used as the title of her now-famous memoir). If Lee had lived to today, might he be replaying their famous battle at the Coliseum in the political arena — giving progressive politicians the benefit of his personal magic to counter Norris’s fists of approval? Or would he, as Kobe Bryant jokes in the doc, be competing on “Dancing With the Stars” — and winning?

Maybe both.

“My dad didn’t see limitations, in himself or in other people,” says Shannon Lee, who served as the film’s executive producer. “He did what he did his way, and left behind an extremely unique footprint.”

Unique enough to last 40 years without fading, as trainer and expert Jeet Kune Do practitioner Teri Tom says in the film: “You’d think people would have forgotten him by now, but no — I think a lot of cultures have actually picked him up as their hero.”

In 2005, a grassroots youth organization in Mostar in Bosnia spearheaded a successful drive to commission and erect a statue of Lee in one of the city’s main squares, calling him a symbol of “the fight against divisions, and the struggle to bridge cultures — one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.” (There’s also a street named after Lee in the city of Drvengrad in Bosnia’s bitter rival Serbia, suggesting a broad-based Balkan fascination with Lee.) That same year, Lee fans raised over $100,000 to get Hong Kong, the city of Lee’s childhood, to erect a statue of him in a choice location by the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on the Hong Kong Walk of Stars. A thriving theme park dedicated to Lee, “Bruce Lee Paradise,” opened in his ancestral town of Shunde on the China mainland in 2006.

But this year could see the way open for the biggest Bruce Lee memorial yet — a $50 million Bruce Lee Action Museum targeted for Seattle, Washington’s International District, which is currently under review by the city’s council. According to Shannon Lee, the museum would have a permanent exhibit of Lee’s life and memorabilia, galleries for visiting shows on themes related to his ideas, a store, theater, meditation space, outdoor training area, research library and café.

And what better year to announce the museum than this one? Lee’s family and fans await the council’s announcement with bated breath. In the meantime, there’s “I Am Bruce Lee,” which is as good a reason to Occupy movie theaters on February 9 and 11 as any. Happy Year of the Dragon.

***

The truly amazing thing about Bruce is how much he accomplished in such a short span of time. He died in 1973 at the age of 32, with just five feature films to his name — one of which, “Game of Death,” was assembled posthumously around 11 minutes of footage shot before his demise. Despite this fact, Lee may be the only Asian American with household name status nearly everywhere in the world — he’s certainly the only Asian American on the Time 100 list of the century’s most influential individuals.

It really does make you wonder what he’d have become if he hadn’t died. Given his amazing drive, ambition and intellect, it’s hard not to imagine that his career wouldn’t have continued on its upward trajectory, to paraphrase one of Lee’s most famous lines, like a finger pointing at the moon in all its heavenly glory.

Lee’s legacy is something that’s already tough to live up to: “I’ve studied martial arts, but of course I’m not anywhere near the level of my father,” laughs Shannon Lee. “Still, people assume I’m a lethal weapon anyway! Sometimes people come up to me and I have to correct the impression — look, I’m a mom and a businessperson, and no, I can’t kill you with two fingers and an evil look.”

I get that all the time myself, Shannon. Maybe it doesn’t help that I’ve written a book called “I Am Jackie Chan.” I am Jackie Chan was a good read.

[Lucas]

i agree. a very good read. thanks for posting this though. puts a new light as to what this doc really is.

[GeneChing]

WTF? Macaulay Culkin! No f-ing way.

New documentary explores the stylish paradoxes of Bruce Lee (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/new-canadian-film-explores-the-stylish-paradoxes-of-bruce-lee/article2329514/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2329514)
marsha lederman
VANCOUVER— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Feb. 07, 2012 5:40PM EST
Last updated Tuesday, Feb. 07, 2012 5:42PM EST

“Every piece of film fight choreography has been influenced by Bruce Lee, whether the people involved know it or not.”

So muses author Paul Bowman in a new film about the martial-arts phenomenon that explores Lee’s great influence on the culture – and his own, sometimes surprising, influences.

In I Am Bruce Lee, which has its world premiere in Vancouver on Wednesday, local documentary maker Pete McCormack (Facing Ali) lines up a star-studded list of acolytes to reflect on how Lee’s influence – whether in acting (Mickey Rourke, Ed O’Neill), basketball (Kobe Bryant), dance (Jose Ruiz) or, not surprisingly, mixed martial arts (UFC world champion Jon Jones).

“Always bring it says Black Eyed Peas rapper Taboo. “That’s the vibe that Bruce Lee taught me.”

Even for those who have never seen one of his films, Lee is a familiar name, synonymous with the martial-arts movie. But his personal influences were wide – and sometimes contradictory.

Lee was born in 1940, in San Francisco to a Chinese father and a half-Chinese/half-Caucasian mother. He was still very young when his family moved to Japan-occupied Hong Kong. There, he was exposed to war and conflict, and, later, British control. The overriding result was a feeling that others were dictating his future. He learned early the importance of self-defence and independence.

He also got an early start on screen. Beginning as a baby – and long before he discovered martial arts – Lee appeared in Hong Kong-produced films became a prolific child star (in the documentary, historian David Tadman compares him to Macaulay Culkin).

Another surprise influence? Dance: Lee was the 1957 Hong Kong cha-cha champion. “People don’t know that about him,” says Bryant, in the film. “His footwork was impeccable.”

He has said that it was insecurity that drew him to martial arts. But Lee was also a fighter on the streets of Hong Kong and got into some trouble – with both police and gangs. Those conflicts ultimately led to his return, at age 18, to the United States. And there, beginning in Seattle, he found a new influence – a country in an era of liberation.

“He’s sort of a product of the sixties in a way ... of civil rights, of women’s lib coming into its own, even gay rights,” McCormack said recently. “He’s a product of that, but also a pioneer inside of that.”

In the U.S., Lee eventually landed a role as Kato on TV’s The Green Hornet in 1966. And although he tells Pierre Berton he “did a terrible job,” he later graduated to film.

Work in Hollywood was drying up, however, so Lee went back to Hong Kong. There, he found the film projects that would make him a star – Fists of Fury and Way of the Dragon. Eventually it was Hollywood who came calling with Enter The Dragon.

What’s remarkable is how influential Lee remains, almost 40 years after his sudden and mysterious death in Hong Kong, shortly before the world premiere of his seminal Enter the Dragon.

“Bruce really brought kung fu to film. And now you can’t really watch a movie without the guy spinning and kicking and that kind of stuff, whether it’s The Bourne Identity or The Matrix,” says McCormack, who – along with Vancouver-based Network Productions – won the co-operation of Lee’s wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, and daughter, Shannon Lee (who serves as executive producer), largely on the strength of their previous joint venture, Facing Ali, which was in the running for an Academy Award in 2010.

“Bruce Lee completely changed the way action scenes look today in cinema,” author and martial artist Daniele Bolelli says in the documentary. “It’s about making violence look beautiful.”

Lee’s influence goes beyond film. He pioneered the belief that the martial arts should not be practised in silos, but combined for maximum impact. All these years later, that philosophy helps guide what has become a huge movement.

“Bruce Lee is 100 per cent the father of mixed martial arts,” Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, says in the film.

Lee was a stylish paradox: a mix of two cultures who called both America and Hong Kong home. He explored Zen Buddhism but fought for a living. He hated the idea of superstardom, but embraced what it brought: the ability to make films. He practised and taught martial arts at university with a deep-thinking passion, but always ran home to catch General Hospital.

He is many things to many people: a fighter, a charmer, a rare Asian Hollywood leading man. And this is where McCormack found his title, I Am Bruce Lee.

“When someone is so charismatic and crosses so many boundaries, we start to project ourselves onto those people and we become them. We are Bruce Lee. Whatever Bruce Lee has offers you such strength that we tend to take it on,” McCormack says.

“I like Bruce Lee for the philosophy. Kids at school getting bullied like Bruce Lee ’cause he beat up people in those movies, which they dream of doing. People in martial arts like him because he’s so fluid and beautiful to watch. Other people like him because he’s sexy. More than most icons, we take him on for different reasons.”

Still.

[luismtzr]

i watched this film yesterday and it was freaking awsome; one of the best documentaries of Bruce; i think that there's going to be a replay on SpikeTV next Sunday night; so if you have the chance see it; it's inspiring.

See ya

[GeneChing]

‘I Am Bruce Lee’ doesn’t pull punches in portrayal of martial arts superstar’s career (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/i-bruce-lee-pull-punches-portrayal-martial-arts-superstar-career-article-1.1035388)
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, March 8, 2012, 11:49 AM
Network / Air Date: Spike. Wed. at 9 p.m.

Two kinds of people should not miss this film about the most famous martial arts actor and practitioner of modern times: those who worship Bruce Lee and those who don't.

Even if you think his best career move was to die young, "I Am Bruce Lee" is a fast-moving, well-produced and altogether engrossing biographical documentary.

Born in China in 1940, just as the Japanese occupiers were moving in, Lee developed an early obsession with physical discipline and fighting skills.

He was groomed as an actor, but preferred street fighting, and when he was 18 his parents sent him to the U.S. to keep him from being arrested or killed.

He became a martial arts instructor, and while he built a reputation as one of the best fighters in the world, that reputation was limited to modest circles until he landed a role as Kato on the 1966 TV series "The Green Hornet."

That role led to his five movies, including "Enter the Dragon."

By the the early 1970s, he was approaching Muhammad Ali status - not just the best at what he did, but a near-mythic leader who helped show others a way to live.

Then, on July 20, 1973, he had an apparent allergic reaction to routine medication and died.

As his widow Linda points out here, he enjoyed fame and fortune for only a short time at the very end of his life. But he packed a lot of legacy into 32 years.

Linda and others also note that he did not live one of those calm-and-peaceful lives we often see with martial arts masters.

As Lee says himself in several archival interviews, he had a violent temper. Fighting to him was not a day job.

He also battled with directors and others who didn't understand his vision of how traditional martial arts could be blended with other fighting styles and integrated into a vision of life and justice - without sacrificing any of the fun of an old-fashioned action flick.

Against extreme odds, he ultimately did what he set out to do: unite people of all races, cultures and martial arts styles.

There are discussions here about how he made Asian males masculine and tough, about whether he was the father of mixed martial arts, about how he jotted down Confucious-like observations on life.

Not all the interviewees agree on every point. But they are all in awe of his skill, his discipline, his determination, his focus.

From Kobe Bryant to Mickey Rourke and a half-dozen of his fellow martial artists, everyone here agrees he's one of those rare icons who deserves every superlative, and whose influence four decades after his death only gets stronger.

One of the few missing witnesses here is Chuck Norris, whom Lee defeated in one of the most famous movie fights ever, and it would have been nice to hear Norris's perspective.

But after we hear about how Lee used to watch Ali's fights backwards to analyze his moves from a left-hander's perspective, we don't need everyone to believe we've heard about the best.
I don't have Spike, so I wound up watching an old Jackie Chan flick on netflix. :o

[Jimbo]

They got some stuff wrong in there.

BL was born in San Francisco, not China. And while I respect BL a lot, I don't see how he gained a reputation as one of the world's best fighters.

I also don't see how he made Asian males tough. Like any other group, there have always been the tough and not-tough. If you want to see a real outstanding example, in fairly recent history, of true Asian male toughness, study up on the Japanese-American 442 regiment in WWII. Also known as the Purple Heart Brigade.

[Lucas]

jimbo have you read the book 'sun and steel' ?

[Jimbo]

Not yet, Lucas.

IMO, there should have been a major movie about the 442, but there hasn't. Other than the early-'50s movie Go For Broke, which, although progressive at that time, wasn't a very good portrayal. But there's been books out there, and an outstanding documentary, called 442.

My uncle and mom were very close friends with Sadao Munemori, who is always mentioned in conjunction with the 442 for his valor. He singlehandedly took out an entire nest of Nazis, then threw himself on a grenade to save his comrades.

[sanjuro_ronin]

They got some stuff wrong in there.

BL was born in San Francisco, not China. And while I respect BL a lot, I don't see how he gained a reputation as one of the world's best fighters.

I also don't see how he made Asian males tough. Like any other group, there have always been the tough and not-tough. If you want to see a real outstanding example, in fairly recent history, of true Asian male toughness, study up on the Japanese-American 442 regiment in WWII. Also known as the Purple Heart Brigade.

I think the rep came from the respect he got from the best fighters of his time.
Outside of Joe Lewis ( who doesn't think ANYONE is better than Joe Lewis, LOL) all thought very highly of his fighting skill.

[GeneChing]

I also don't see how he made Asian males tough. Like any other group, there have always been the tough and not-tough. If you want to see a real outstanding example, in fairly recent history, of true Asian male toughness, study up on the Japanese-American 442 regiment in WWII. Also known as the Purple Heart Brigade. Before you get too enthralled with the 442nd, read up on the 100th Battalion. My grandfather was a colonel with the 100th. I have his Purple Heart medal.

That being said, you can't find 442nd T-shirts at the mall. Few people know the 100th or the 442nd. But everyone knows Bruce Lee.


jimbo have you read the book 'sun and steel' ? One of Mishima's greatest. ;)

[shaolin_allan]

two comments I want to make about the documentary

#1 Jon Jones comment (I beat the weakness out of my opponents) was moronic.

#2 did Gene Labell in the movie remind anyone else of Rocky Balboa's coach Mickey? lol

[goju]

I enjoyed it. lold hard at whoever called chuck norris the greatest kicker in that doc:D

[doug maverick]

bill wallace and benny the jet are the best kickers imo.

[JamesC]

I agree with Allan that Jon Jones sounded like an idiot. Like he was attempting to sound profound.

Also, I like the fact that Gene Lebell kept it real. It made the documentary feel like something more than the normal Bruce Lee Worship stuff you typically see.

[GeneChing]

I still haven't seen this doc yet...:o

Bruce Lee Honored in D.C. (http://rafu.com/news/2012/05/bruce-lee-honored-in-d-c/)
Wed, May 23 2012
http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/brucelee-550x412.jpg
From left: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Shannon Lee of the Bruce Lee Foundation, Rep. Mike Honda and Ernest Beynard of Meridian Hill Strategies. (JACL photo)

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose), other members of Congress, congressional staff, leaders from the media and entertainment industries, and members of the Asian American/Pacific Islander community came together May 16 to honor the life of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee at a reception and screening of a new documentary, “I Am Bruce Lee.”

The reception took place at the Motion Picture Association of America’s theater in downtown Washington, D.C. as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and is co-hosted by Comcast, Viacom, Spike TV, the Bruce Lee Foundation, and Meridian Hill Strategies, which represents the Bruce Lee Foundation.

“It is my privilege to introduce legislation honoring the life and contributions of Bruce Lee and the Bruce Lee Foundation and to be with such a diverse group of leaders to celebrate Bruce’s legacy as part of APA Heritage Month,” said Honda, immediate past chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “Bruce Lee’s legacy and the Bruce Lee Foundation continue to be a global force that bring people together, break down barriers and create opportunities for young people – in keeping with the values of excellence, leadership and inclusion that we celebrate this month.”

The resolution is co-sponsored by Reps. Judy Chu (D-El Monte), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), Gloria Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) and Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands). Chu is the current chair of CAPAC.

Jackson said he was very pleased about the resolution because he considered Lee to be one of the most influential people of the 20th century and one of the most significant figures in Jackson’s own life. The Chicago congressman is a practitioner of kung fu and tae kwon do.

“Being great is one thing, but being remembered is another thing,” said Jon Jones, current UFC light heavyweight world champion. “To be great, magnificent and remembered, you have to stand for something and change the world in a way. People love Bruce Lee all over the world, and I want to have that same impact.”

At the reception, Honda presented Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee and Linda Lee Cadwell and president of the foundation, with a copy of the congressional resolution.

“We are deeply honored by the strong support we have received from Rep. Honda and the members of Congress, the entertainment industry, and leading stakeholders from AAPI community who are joining us tonight for the screening and reception to celebrate what my father stood for,” said Lee. “We are also very grateful for the congressional resolution that honors my father’s legacy and the work of our foundation, which puts his values into action every day in the form of education, scholarships and community enrichment.”

http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/brucelee2-550x412.jpg
Posing with Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter, are Yuko Shimada, a student at Georgetown University; Hillary Nakano, JACL Norman Y. Mineta Fellow; and Stephanie Otani-Sunamoto, JACL Daniel K. Inouye Fellow. (JACL photo)

“As a powerful national voice for inclusion and reconciliation, it is very fitting that Congressman Honda joins with the Bruce Lee Foundation to bring a diverse group of lawmakers and stakeholders together to keep the torch of Bruce’s legacy burning brightly,” said Ernest Baynard, president of Meridian Hill Strategies. “Bruce Lee’s legacy is a living thing — we are incredibly grateful to Rep. Honda and all the members of Congress and stakeholders who are standing with us to keep that legacy alive and pay it forward for future generations.”

“We are proud to support this event to celebrate the work of the Bruce Lee Foundation as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month,” said Johnnie Giles, Comcast’s executive director for external affairs. “Along with … Mike Honda (and) other members of Congress, we honor the legacy of Bruce Lee. As part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Comcast is making over 350 entertainment choices highlighting Asian American Pacific Islander culture and contributions, including several of Bruce Lee’s films. Comcast is committed to bringing our customers diverse programming, and has continued to expand our Asian Pacific American programming across our viewing platforms.”

Lee is remembered for such films as “Enter the Dragon” (1973), “The Chinese Connection” (1972), and “Fists of Fury” (1971) as well as the TV show “The Green Hornet.”

“Spike TV is proud to partner with the Bruce Lee Foundation and Congressman Honda to celebrate this inspiring film that delivered critical acclaim and record ratings for the network,” said Kevin Kay, president of Spike TV.

For more information about the foundation, go to www.bruceleefoundation.com.


continued next post

[GeneChing]

Text of Resolution

Recognizing the immense impact that Bruce Jun Fan Lee had on American and global popular culture and the important role he played in creating a bridge between cultures, championing values of self-respect, self-discipline, and tolerance in our Nation, and pioneering and cultivating the genres of martial arts, martial arts films, fitness and philosophy in the United States and the world.

Whereas Bruce Jun Fan Lee was born in the Hour of the Dragon, between 6 and 8 a.m., in the Year of the Dragon on Nov. 27, 1940, at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco, Calif.’s Chinatown;

Whereas Bruce Lee returned to his family’s homeland at a young age and experienced first-hand the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese during the World War II years of 1941-1945, and the subsequent hostility and war that shook the continent;

Whereas Bruce Lee was motivated to learn and master the martial art style of Wing Chun gung fu in order to gain self confidence and overcome repeated instances of taunting, racism, and gang activity during his youth;

Whereas Bruce Lee’s athletic prowess, and his traits of self-discipline and determination, yielded him success in many other competitions, including the 1958 Crown Colony Cha Cha Championship in Hong Kong and the 1958 Hong Kong Inter-School Boxing Championship;

Whereas, in April of 1959, with only $100 to his name, Bruce boarded a steamship in the American Presidents Line and began his voyage back to San Francisco in the lower decks of the ship, demonstrating unbelievable courage and belief in America’s ability to prosper through hard work;

Whereas Bruce Lee understood the value of education and returned to the United States to fulfill the requirements for the equivalent of high school graduation at Edison Technical School in Seattle, Wash., in 1960 while bussing tables and washing dishes to support himself, subsequently enrolling at the University of Washington;

Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon."

Whereas Bruce Lee respected and honored the culture of America, and undertook learning colloquial English with the same dedication as he had his martial arts training. With a goal of absolute mastery, he applied himself to learning the idiosyncrasies of speech, becoming proficient and fluent to the point of helping American students with their English papers;

Whereas, at the University of Washington Bruce majored in philosophy, his passion for gung fu having inspired a desire to delve into the philosophical underpinnings of the arts, and he subsequently lectured on Eastern philosophy at local high schools and wrote many essays during those years that relate philosophical principles to martial arts techniques;

Whereas Bruce taught the art of gung fu to support and pay for his education and he established the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in a friend’s basement before expanding to a bigger location in 1963;

Whereas Bruce looked beyond race and background by engaging in an interracial marriage with a Seattle local, Linda Emery, in 1964 and later fathered two biracial children in a family he supported and cared for until his death;

Whereas, in 1965, Bruce’s willingness to teach martial arts to non-Chinese individuals as a way to bridge the cultures angered many in the field, and forced him to defend himself and his freedom to teach, but victory in this contest paved the way for a spectacular and revolutionary discovery of blending physical fitness, gung fu and street combat into what is now called Jeet Kune Do;

Whereas the artistry and beauty of Jeet Kune Do led Bruce to Hollywood, where he became an authentic face for Chinese Americans and an inspiration to youth across the world, but despite rampant racism, Bruce’s strong, intelligent, and powerful persona was a means for optimism and hope for immigrants and fans alike;

Whereas, during the years of 1967-1971, Bruce read and wrote extensively his thoughts about physical combat, the psychology of fighting, the philosophical roots of martial arts, and about motivation, self-actualization and liberation of the individual, teachings that are the foundation of Jeet Kune Do, and of his legacy that is studied internationally to this day;

Whereas after suffering a back injury in 1970 and being told he would never do martial arts again, Bruce worked himself back into peak physical and mental condition using his own program of self motivation and physical therapy to recuperate;

Whereas, in the summer of 1971, due to hardships in overcoming stereotypes in Hollywood, Bruce decided to continue to pursue his dream of being an actor and supporting his family by going back to Hong Kong, where he had gained immense fame from his previous work on shows like “The Green Hornet” and became a hero in Hong Kong and a representative of a success story for the Chinese community in America and of the honor of both cultures;

Whereas, in 1972, Bruce created his own production company, Concord Films, using the Hollywood studio model for the first time in Hong Kong and began writing, directing, producing, acting in, and choreographing his own films;

Whereas, in 1973, due entirely to his relationships and successes in both nations, Bruce became a household name through the making of “Enter the Dragon,” the first film ever to bridge the Hong Kong and United States film industries, while overcoming language problems and production difficulties, but providing a viable and hugely successful link between the two countries;

Whereas, on July 20, 1973, Bruce fell into a coma as a result of taking pain medication to combat a minor headache. Unfortunately, Bruce would not live to see the opening of his film “Enter the Dragon,” nor would he experience the accumulated success of almost 40 years of all his films’ popularity;

Whereas the popularity of Bruce’s films sparked a national and international interest in the study of the martial arts and the genre of the martial arts action film, creating a proliferation of films and schools, and inspiring many youths to become more physically fit and philosophically minded in their daily lives;

Whereas Bruce Lee has been remembered today in many ways, having been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most important people of the 20th century, given a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, and honored on postage stamps in eight countries around the world;

Whereas even after Bruce Lee’s death, the Bruce Lee Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization formed by his wife and daughter, enriches lives, open minds, and breaks down barriers through the active proliferation of Bruce Lee’s legacy of undaunted optimism in the face of adversity, unwavering humanism, mental and physical perseverance, and inspirational presence of mind toward the betterment of our global community; and

Whereas the Bruce Lee Foundation also applies the legacy of Bruce Lee to the present day global community, showing how relevant Bruce Lee, his teachings, his thoughts, and his example still are today through their scholarship program, educational programs and their goal of building the Bruce Lee Action Museum (BLAM), an educational facility geared toward looking at how actions can change and mold our lives for the better: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that the House of Representatives —

(1) Honors the life and impact of Bruce Jun Fan Lee, an American success story whose legacy of persistence and honor resonates and inspires millions of citizens today; and

(2) Recognizes the profound importance of Bruce Lee’s teachings as a catalyst for popular culture and Chinese American history in the United States.
A lot of 'whereas'

[Lucas]

gene do you ever check out shannons bruce lee facebook page? lots of cool stuff get posted on there. most recently a shot of one of his day planners. for instance that doc was posted on FB on the 17th ;P not accompanied by the cool write up of course, but still get some cool tidbits from time to time.

[Lucas]

check it out.

[GeneChing]

I still haven't seen this doc. It went to DVD/BRD recently.

Documentary Producer Claims Spike TV Stole Film Footage for 'I Am Bruce Lee' (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/documentary-producer-claims-spike-tv-405895)
12:40 PM PST 12/20/2012 by Eriq Gardner

Chris Tavlarides, the producer of a TV documentary entitled The Good Son: The Life of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini has filed an unusual lawsuit against Spike Cable Networks over its film, I Am Bruce Lee.

According to a complaint filed this week in California federal court, he made a deal in 2010 with Network Entertainment Inc. to film a documentary based on a book by Mark Kriegel about the career of a boxing legend. The following summer, after the conclusion of principal photography, nearly all of the film's production personnel was pulled off of The Good Son and moved over to another Network production, I Am Bruce Lee.

Read the Complaint Here (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/SpikeTV.pdf)

The two films not only shared the same director, line producer and post-production houses, but allegedly some of the same on-camera talent including Mickey Rourke, Ed O'Neil and Ray Mancini.

"Two very different subjects (Mancini v. Lee), two ostensibly different films, yet one suspiciously universal source for many of the two films' principal elements," says the lawsuit.

Tavlarides says he saw I Am Bruce Lee on Spike in February, 2012, after being referred by a friend who told him it had the exact same feel, tone, scenes and actors.

The plaintiff says he realized that the "exact film footage" he owned from The Good Son "somehow appeared in I Am Bruce Lee, to wit, a sequence where Ray Mancini is hitting the 'heavy bag' in a boxer's training gym in Santa Monica, California.

He says he never granted permission and believes that Network "diverted" funds from his film to help complete I Am Bruce Lee for Spike.

Tavlarides, represented by attorney David Berke, is suing for copyright infringement and asking that Spike be enjoined from re-broadcasting I Am Bruce Lee and hand over all gains, profits and advantages from its acts of alleged infringement.

Viacom, the parent of Spike TV, hasn't yet responded to a request for comment.

E-mail: eriq.gardner@thr.com; Twitter: @eriqgardner