Parasite

[GeneChing]

And the winner is...


MAY 30, 2019 9:47PM PT
Cannes Palme d’Or Winner ‘Parasite’ Has $3.9 Million Opening Day in Korea (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/cannes-winner-parasite-has-3-9-million-opening-day-in-korea-1203229890/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/parasite-bong-joon-ho.jpg?w=1000&h=520&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF CJ ENTERTAINMENT

“Parasite,” the Palme d’Or-winning film from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, has enjoyed a winning start at its home box office. It earned $3.93 million on Thursday, according to data from Kobiz, the tracking service of the Korean Film Council.

That put it far ahead of holdover title “Aladdin,” which came in second place ($527,000), and the fourth-place start for “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” which opened a day earlier, on Wednesday, and earned only $212,000 on Thursday for a two-day cumulative of $768,000.

Since “Parasite’s” victory in Cannes last Saturday and Bong’s return home Monday, the film has enjoyed nonstop enthusiastic coverage in the South Korean media. It was screened for Korean media on Tuesday.

Plaudits were also heaped on actor Song Kang-ho, who has appeared in four of Bong’s films and who plays the father of a poor but resourceful family that works its way into the good graces of a richer family. “Parasite” also stars Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam.

The positive reactions helped exhibitors to expand the film’s opening to a massive 1,783 of the country’s 2,600 cinema screens. The film is distributed by CJ Entertainment.

In third place was “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil,” which played in a midnight screening slot in Cannes and had its commercial release in South Korea on May 15. It earned $261,000 on Thursday, for a cumulative $22.7 million after two weeks.

In North America, distributor Neon announced Thursday that “Parasite” would get an awards season release. It will start in Los Angeles and New York from Oct. 11.

Cool. I love Bong's work.

[GeneChing]

This deserves its own thread independent of the Cannes thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes). Maybe there will be some archery or something martial in it.


MAY 30, 2019 12:49PM PT
Cannes Winner ‘Parasite’ Gets Awards-Season Release (https://variety.com/2019/film/awards/parasite-release-date-cannes-bong-joon-ho-1203229315/)
By DAVE MCNARY
Film Reporter
@Variety_DMcNary

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/parasite.jpeg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Bong Joon-Ho’s dark comedy “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, has been scheduled by Neon for an awards season release of Oct. 11 in Los Angeles and New York.

Neon made the announcement Thursday, asserting that it has positioned the title as a prime awards season contender in the international film category and beyond. “Parasite” will receive a traditional arthouse platform release with a gradual expansion.

“Parasite” is a return to Korean-language film for Joon-Ho following “Okja” and “Snowpiercer.” It is also his fourth collaboration with Song Kang-Ho, who stars in the film, as well as his fifth collaboration with Neon CEO Tom Quinn.

The film also stars Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam. Jessica Kiang called the film “brilliant” in her review for Variety out of Cannes.

The story centers on the interactions between two families — one being the picture of aspirational wealth and the other rich in street smarts but not much else. The poorer family members provide “indispensable” luxury services while gaining a way out of their shabby circumstances. But this new ecosystem turns out to be fragile.

Kwak Sin Ae and Jang Young Hwan from Barunson E&A Corp produced, with CJ Entertainment handling international sales and distributing in Korea.

Neon bought North American rights to “Parasite” last October. At Cannes, Neon also acquired Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which won the best screenplay award at the festival.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLIIxDQmjyg

[GeneChing]

ASIADECEMBER 5, 2019 1:25AM PT
‘Parasite’ Leads Asian Charge in International Oscar Race (https://variety.com/2019/film/awards/parasite-leads-asia-in-international-oscar-race-1203425589/)
By NAMAN RAMACHANDRAN

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/parasite.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: NEON

For most awards observers, the Asian Oscars race narrative in the international feature category begins and ends with Bong Joon Ho’s South Korean contender “Parasite.” That said, there are other notable submissions from around the continent that might spring a surprise or two.

The deliciously surgical dissection of Korean society that is “Parasite” has rightly won acclaim and awards around the planet, beginning with its unanimous Palme d’Or victory at Cannes. Neon is distributing the film in the U.S. and its impressive box office will do the film’s prospects no harm. A nom seems certain.

Tiny Singapore has been punching well above its weight in recent years and this year’s submission from the country, Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined,” has been garlanded with awards since it exploded onto the global festival circuit with three trophies at Locarno, including the Golden Leopard, in 2018. The investigation of insomnia and identity at a construction site in the city-state has since won gongs at El Gouna, Pingyao, Rotterdam and Valladolid, among many others. The other Asian film to be lauded at a major European festival is Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s battered wife drama “Verdict,” which won the special jury prize at Venice’s Horizons strand, and is the Philippines entry.

Malaysia is taking a punt with political doc “M for Malaysia” in which Ineza Roussille, with Dian Lee, provides a personal and intimate look at the historic elections of 2018 when her 92-year-old grandfather, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, returned to power, overthrowing a long ruling government.

Politically, Hong Kong has been in the news the past several months for its political upheaval, and voters will have the territory in their minds front and center. However, political disruption is not the theme of Hong Kong’s entry Herman Yau’s “The White Storm 2 — Drug Lords,” which seems unlikely to be headed for Oscar glory, unless voters choose to reward a hugely entertaining high-octane action film. If action, of the martial-arts variety, is what voters are after, they need look no further than Vietnam’s entry, Le Van Kiet’s “Furie,” in which Veronica Ngo Thanh Van cuts a swathe across gangsters, after her daughter is kidnapped.

Indonesian vet Garin Nugroho has made a career of exploring diverse themes, and “Memories of My Body,” the country’s submission, conforms to that, following as it does a male dancer specializing in female appearances, juxtaposed against social and political upheaval.

From Australia, Rodd Rathjen’s powerful “Buoyancy,” which casts a harsh spotlight on modern slavery, has been wrenching hearts and winning awards since its debut in Berlin, where it picked up the Ecumenical Jury Prize.

China appears to have taken a break from submitting jingoistic films, and this year’s entry, Jiaozi’s “Ne Zha,” the country’s highest-grossing animated film of all time, could wow voters with its combination of cutting-edge Hollywood style animation and the lovable scamp that is the lead character. Also submitting animation is Japan, with Makoto Shinkai’s anime “Weathering With You,” in which a teenage boy runs away to Tokyo and befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather. The director previously helmed “Your Name,” one of the highest-grossing anime films of all time. It is worth noting the region’s previous win in the category formerly came from Japan a decade ago — Yojiro Takita’s “Departures.”

Mag Hsu and Hsu Chih-yen’s “Dear Ex,” in which a son’s relationship with his mother is strained after it emerges that his late father’s insurance payout is to go to his lover, is Taiwan’s submission. The film won big locally at the Golden Horse Awards and at the Taipei film kudos, and voter visibility will be via Netflix, where it is streaming. Sitisiri Mongkolsiri’s horror “Krasue: Inhuman Kiss,” Thailand’s entry, also was a local success and is also dependent on Netflix for voter eyeballs.

From South Asia, all the entries deal with characters from the fringes of society. Zoya Akhtar’s Indian entry “Gully Boy,” a smash hit at the Berlin festival, is the most likely contender if only because voters will be familiar with the theme of a rapper from the wrong side of the tracks, aiming to make it big. Amazon has U.S. distribution.

Pakistan’s entry, Kamal Khan’s “Laal Kabootar,” is concerned with a petty criminal who aims to escape his circumstances, while from Nepal, Binod Paudel’s “Bulbul” follows the travails of a woman who drives a tempo truck in Kathmandu. Bangladesh’s submission, Nasiruddin Yousuff’s “Alpha,” centers on an impoverished painter who lives in the middle of a polluted lake on the outskirts of Dhaka. While these films are thematically remarkable, their campaigns will depend on the level of funds available.

THREADS
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Furie (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71438-Furie)
Nezha (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71408-Nezha)
The Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)

[GeneChing]

I've admired Bong Joon-ho's work for years. With Parasite, he has arrived. This won me over quickly with the first scene - the family searching for an unpassword-protected internet signal to coattail upon, something I can relate to way too much lately. It's a thriller with some very dark humor. There's no monster like in The Host or post-apocalypse train like in Snowpiercer, or friendly monster like in Okja. There are dogs but they don't suffer like in Barking Dogs Never Bite. This is like a modern-day Hitchcock, a twisted tale of schemes gone awry. There's a smattering of commentary on class, North Korea and climate change, but those are more observations that preaching. Good pacing, good storytelling, and some solid mcguffins.

The showing I went to last weekend was packed. The audience was pretty rocked on the way out, all stunned by the style and story. I was very amused being more familiar with Bong's work and pleased to see he succeeded in making a film that delivered his quirkiness in an even, digestible way. I still lean towards The Host being his strongest film, but maybe because that was the first film of his that I saw so it resonated more deeply. I should revisit that maybe. Parasite was a close second for sure. If not his best, it's certainly his most appealing. There isn't any martial arts in it except for somewhat of a sword bit, but I don't want to spoil it. The final dark humor twist got a good chuckle out of me.

[GeneChing]

'Parasite' Voted Best Picture by New York Film Critics Online (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/parasite-voted-best-picture-by-new-york-film-critics-online-1259537)
3:08 PM PST 12/7/2019 by Trilby Beresford

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2019/08/parasite._courtesy_of_neon__cj_entertainment.jpg
Telluride Film Festival
'Parasite'

In addition, Bong Joon Ho was tapped as best director for his work on the film.

Parasite has been named best picture of the year by New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO). The vote took place Saturday.

In addition, Bong Joon Ho was tapped as best director for his work on the film, which also garnered best screenplay honors.

Us' Lupita Nyong'o was named best actress and Joker star Joaquin Phoenix was chosen as best actor, while Laura Dern was hailed as best supporting actress for Marriage Story and Joe Pesci was recognized for his supporting role in The Irishman.

The NYFCO, founded by reviewer Harvey Karten in 2000, met in Lincoln Center's Furman Gallery inside the Walter Reade Theatre for its 20th annual convocation. Last year, the group selected Roma as best picture.

A full list of 2019 winners follows.

Picture: Parasite
Director: Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (Us)
Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
Screenplay: Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin-Won)
Cinematography: 1917 (Roger Deakins)
Documentary: Apollo 11 (Neon)
Foreign Language: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Neon)
Ensemble Cast: Knives Out (Casting director: Mary Vernieu)
Breakthrough Performer: Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves, Luce)
Debut as Director: Lila Aviles (The Chambermaid)
Use of Music: Rocketman (Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Giles Martin, Matthew Margeson)
Animated Feature: I Lost My Body (Netflix)

Top 10 Films:

1917 (Universal)
The Farewell (A24)
Hustlers (STXfilms)
The Irishman (Netflix)
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Joker (Warner Bros.)
Marriage Story (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony)
Parasite (Neon)
The Two Popes (Netflix)


TRILBY BERESFORD
Trilby.Beresford@THR.COM
trilbyberesford


THREADS
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71455-Joker)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

I only copied the films we've discussed here.



Winners & Nominees 2020 (https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees)

Best Motion Picture - Drama

NOMINEE
Joker

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

NOMINEE
Dolemite Is My Name

NOMINEE
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

NOMINEE
Joaquin Phoenix
Joker

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

NOMINEE
Awkwafina
Farewell, The

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

NOMINEE
Leonardo DiCaprio
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

NOMINEE
Eddie Murphy
Dolemite Is My Name

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

NOMINEE
Brad Pitt
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Best Director - Motion Picture

NOMINEE
Bong Joon Ho
Parasite

NOMINEE
Todd Phillips
Joker

NOMINEE
Quentin Tarantino
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

NOMINEE
Quentin Tarantino
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

NOMINEE
Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won
Parasite

Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language

NOMINEE
Farewell, The
USA, Lulu Wang

NOMINEE
Parasite
South Korea, Bong Joon Ho

THREADS
The Golden Globes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71111-The-Golden-Globes)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Dolemite is My Name (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70866-Dolemite-Is-My-Name)
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71455-Joker)
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)

[GeneChing]

92ND OSCARS SHORTLISTS (https://oscars.org/oscars/92nd-oscars-shortlists?fbclid=IwAR02mKCODlUz_9umBLqpLmg65OZodE pRLCB4zNtcp3b41qp9A6vsOSj4JZY)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced shortlists in consideration for the 92nd Academy Awards in nine categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Ten films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category (formerly known as Foreign Language Film) for the 92nd Academy Awards. Ninety-one films were eligible in the category.

Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round. They must have viewed the submitted films theatrically and met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. Their seven choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s International Feature Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt-in to participate and must view all 10 shortlisted films in order to cast a ballot.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Czech Republic, “The Painted Bird”
Estonia, “Truth and Justice”
France, “Les Misérables”
Hungary, “Those Who Remained”
North Macedonia, “Honeyland”
Poland, “Corpus Christi”
Russia, “Beanpole”
Senegal, “Atlantics”
South Korea, “Parasite”
Spain, “Pain and Glory”


MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Ten films will advance in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 92nd Academy Awards. All members of the Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will be invited to view seven-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Saturday, January 4, 2020. Members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

“Bombshell”
“Dolemite Is My Name”
“Downton Abbey”
“Joker”
“Judy”
“Little Women”
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
“1917”
“Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”
“Rocketman”


MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Fifteen scores will advance in the Original Score category for the 92nd Academy Awards. One hundred seventy scores were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:

“Avengers: Endgame”
“Bombshell”
“The Farewell”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Frozen II”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
“The King”
“Little Women”
“Marriage Story”
“Motherless Brooklyn”
“1917”
“Pain and Glory”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“Us”

DOWNLOAD

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Fifteen songs will advance in the Original Song category for the 92nd Academy Awards. Seventy-five songs were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title and song title:

“Speechless” from “Aladdin”
“Letter To My Godfather” from “The Black Godfather”
“I’m Standing With You” from “Breakthrough”
“Da Bronx” from “The Bronx USA”
“Into The Unknown” from “Frozen II”
“Stand Up” from “Harriet”
“Catchy Song” from “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part”
“Never Too Late” from “The Lion King”
“Spirit” from “The Lion King”
“Daily Battles” from “Motherless Brooklyn”
“A Glass of Soju” from “Parasite”
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman”
“High Above The Water” from “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4”
“Glasgow” from “Wild Rose”


VISUAL EFFECTS
Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 92nd Academy Awards. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films online or attend satellite bake-off screenings in January 2020. Following the screenings, members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

“Alita: Battle Angel”
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Captain Marvel”
“Cats”
“Gemini Man”
“The Irishman”
“The Lion King”
“1917”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“Terminator: Dark Fate”

Nominations voting begins on Thursday, January 2, 2020 and concludes on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.

Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, January 13, 2020.

The 92nd Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

THREADS
Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Dolemite is My Name (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70866-Dolemite-Is-My-Name)
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Alita (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70210-Alita-Battle-Angel)

[GeneChing]

Selected for films we've discussed here.


THE 92ND ACADEMY AWARDS | 2020 (https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2020)
Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Honoring movies released in 2019

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
LEONARDO DICAPRIO
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood
JOAQUIN PHOENIX
Joker

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
BRAD PITT
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood

CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES
JOKER
Lawrence Sher
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Robert Richardson

COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES
JOKER
Mark Bridges
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Arianne Phillips

DIRECTING
NOMINEES
JOKER
Todd Phillips
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE
Bong Joon Ho

FILM EDITING
NOMINEES
JOKER
Jeff Groth
PARASITE
Yang Jinmo

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
PARASITE
South Korea

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES
JOKER
Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
NOMINEES
JOKER
Hildur Guðnadóttir
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
John Williams

BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES
JOKER
Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
PARASITE
Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
PARASITE
Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

SOUND EDITING
NOMINEES
JOKER
Alan Robert Murray
1917
Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Wylie Stateman
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Matthew Wood and David Acord

SOUND MIXING
NOMINEES
JOKER
Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano

VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
JOKER
Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
Written by Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE
Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho

REVIEWS
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1511)
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1499)

THREADS
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71455-Joker)
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Skywalker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70466-Star-Wars-IX-The-Rise-of-Skywalker)
Endgame (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71016-Avengers-Endgame)

[GeneChing]

Parasite did well in the Oscar noms above, but a miniseries doesn't sound as good as the film itself. I found this author's take on it amusing.


COLUMNS JANUARY 12, 2020 11:06AM PT
Will ‘Parasite’ Work as an HBO Miniseries? (Column) (https://variety.com/2020/film/columns/will-parasite-work-as-an-hbo-miniseries-bong-joon-ho-1203464114/)
By OWEN GLEIBERMAN
Chief Film Critic
@OwenGleiberman

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/parasite-e1570109402492.jpeg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

There’s a time-honored tradition of turning celebrated movies into television series. A lot of them have ended up as sitcoms: “The Odd Couple,” “M*A*S*H,” “Alice” (spun out of Martin Scorsese’s 1974 landmark “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”). But not all of them. Did you know that “Casablanca” was turned into two different TV series, one in 1955 and one in 1983? (The latter starred David Soul as Rick Blaine!) In 1976, they tried it with “Serpico.” Sometimes, a series can seem a true extension of the movie it’s adapted from — that’s what happened with “Fargo” and “Dear White People.” Sometimes, the movie that spawned a series will come to seem a mere footnote to the show — that’s what happened with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Friday Night Lights.” And in the case of “Parenthood” (though it took two tries to get it right), a movie can be turned into an ideal show because it was always TV at heart.

But even given the vast history of movies-into-television, the announcement last week that “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho’s deliriously ambitious, wildly acclaimed, staggeringly popular South Korean sociological thriller, may now be converted into a limited series for HBO, with Bong and Adam McKay in talks to team up as executive producers, has to count as a total eyebrow-raiser. And part of what’s eyebrow-raising about it is that the news didn’t raise more eyebrows. It barely raised a shrug.

One of the headiest, most lavishly praised foreign-language films of its era remade, just like that, into a miniseries. (And we don’t even know yet how it will fare at the Oscars!) “Parasite,” as a movie, has only begun to carve out its place in the culture, yet the idea that its story, its substance, its themes, its metaphors, its very form is already an utterly malleable thing is a very 21st-century concept. There’s a refreshing lack of pretension to the idea. This isn’t about Bong Joon Ho sweating whether his film gets etched onto a monument of canonical reverence. It’s about Bong, even at the moment he’s being saluted around the world as a newly preeminent maestro, stepping off the pedestal and going with the media flow.

I say more power to him. But to ask a genuinely unprecedented question: What would the HBO version of a movie like “Parasite” look like? More to the point: What does it portend for the future?

Given the rarefied atmosphere of prestige that a film like “Parasite” occupies (the Palme d’Or at Cannes; the rave reviews, top spots on 10 Best lists, and bevy of year-end critics’-group awards; the Golden Globes kudo; the slew of Oscar nominations that will surely greet it tomorrow morning; the rising number of people who think that it has a genuine shot to win best picture), it’s hard to consider the potential HBO version of “Parasite” without cracking a few obligatory dislocating jokes.

As in…what’s next? A 12-chapter Netflix soap opera entitled “Roma: Another Year,” which traces the further adventures of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) and the Mexico City family she works for, though Cleo herself utters only three lines of dialogue per episode? “Life Is Beautiful…Everywhere,” in which Robert Benigni stars as a rotating series of international bumpkins, each one imprisoned by the forces of his homeland (Bosnia, Iran, Brazil, China), and by the end of each episode you’ll be smiling through your tears of political outrage? Or how about “Two Days, One Night: Marxist Apprentice,” in which the Dardenne brothers adapt their celebrated 2014 drama into a highly austere reality series, where contestants have just 36 hours to bring social justice to their workplaces?

Okay, I’ll stop. But the point is: How often has a film as singular and as deadly serious as “Parasite” been wedged into the small screen? All but never, if you consider that a sitcom like “M*A*S*H” didn’t pretend to be the subversive comic hand grenade that Robert Altman’s movie was (Altman, aghast at the idea, claimed to have never watched the show). That said, there’s a galaxy of difference between a network series and an HBO miniseries, which really can feel like a movie. I assume that an HBO version of “Parasite,” though the details of the series have yet to be released or even nailed down, would tell the same essential story the movie tells, probably now set in an American city (San Francisco? Boston? Portland?), and would expand and enrich the narrative.

If I shared the opinion of many of my critical colleagues that “Parasite” is, quite simply, the movie of the year, then I’d probably, on a basic level, object to this project. After all, why mess with perfection? But I’m personally attracted to the prospect of an HBO “Parasite” precisely because I thought the film was good rather than great. I had an issue with it, one that many viewers I’ve spoken to share. The first half, in which the members of the down-and-out Kim family in Seoul infiltrate the much wealthier home of the Park family, pretending to be tutors and servants, all so that they can revel in the luxury of living in that posh enclave, is devious Hitchcockian bliss. It’s a suspense tale that’s also a highly sensualized parable of vengeful class envy.

But as I watch “Parasite,” I’m disappointed, on some primal childlike level, when the ingenious deception the Kim family has orchestrated begins to fall apart. It happens too quickly; I want it to go on! As soon as the film moves into that basement bunker, where the Parks’ former housekeeper’s husband lives, I feel like the movie’s dirty joy starts to seep out of it. It becomes what it probably, in a sense, always was — a dark didactic illustration of the competing rage of the haves and the have-nots. In the HBO version, Bong, I suspect, will have greater freedom to revel in the sheer playacting fantasy that gives “Parasite” its charge. I could definitely use another hour or two of that.

The best description I’ve read of “Parasite” comes from the director Paul Schrader, who in a Facebook post said that the movie starts off as Buñuel and ends up as Tarantino (weapons, blood, life gone gonzo). Maybe that’s the trend this year. (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” starts as Tarantino and ends as Herschell Gordon Lewis.) And maybe an HBO “Parasite” would just be a more padded, less essential cover version of the same thing. In our binge-watching era, when too many people glibly sanctify the “superiority” of series television, I always say: There isn’t a single great movie of the last 100 years that needed to be a minute longer. So why make “Parasite” several hours longer? Because, just maybe, it’s an experiment that can poke at the possibilities of the new synergy of movies and television. And can do something gripping with them. And can demonstrate that what we once thought of as a “foreign film” may not be a foreign film at all. The tagline for the new “Parasite” could almost be: It’s not cinema. It’s HBO.

[GeneChing]

This article preceded the Oscar nom announcement.


An American Adaptation Of 'Parasite' Is An Offensive Way To Treat The Brilliant Original (https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/tv/a30465722/parasite-netflix-hbo/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=socialflowFBesquk&utm_medium=social-media&fbclid=IwAR0STUOXyZWvG0gm1QcKOGbAcOBuXCCLKkYvs8Zt8 4ZGqGFTrGrEm9QSt9I&fbclid=IwAR0MF_1W5PW5RzGVXbut5QHZe6hJfsk_Hx5g9vrsj Px9s1AlVWA9iJHUZhw)
Remaking foreign-language films in English just panders to audiences that are too lazy to do a bit of reading
BY OLIVIA OVENDEN
10/01/2020

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/parasite-cannes-8-1578651138.jpg
CJ ENTERTAINMENT

At the 76th Golden Globe awards, Parasite director Bong Joon Ho collected the award for best foreign-language film. His translator addressed the audience on his behalf, telling them: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” The sarcasm was palpable, even through a translator.

Bong's comment is hardly unwarranted. His biting social satire won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year, but at the Globes it's unable to compete for the top award. That, they say, in a piece of nativism of which the Trump administration would be proud, is "exclusively for English-language motion pictures."

In Parasite, the poor Kim family infiltrate the lives and family of the wealthy Park family, conning their way into jobs as their tutors, driver and housekeeper. As their greed grows, Bong's darkly hilarious film holds a mirror up to the horrors that are already around us, as it dissects inequality and the class warfare it breeds.

Next week, the Oscar nominations announcement gives the Academy a chance to show up the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs by recognising the acting, directing and writing talent of Bong and his cast. However, news that it will be adapted into a series casts doubt on the possibility of a big moment for foreign cinema at the Oscars.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that HBO beat out Netflix in a bidding war for the rights to an adaptation of Parasite. The limited series would see a team-up between Bong and Adam McKay, director of The Big Short and Succession (and, prior to his pivot to ‘Important Issues Cinema’, Anchorman). It hasn't been confirmed yet whether this is a remake of the movie in English, or a continuation, but the latter seems sadly more likely given the names involved. I'd be willing to bet the Park's roomy mansion that Adam McKay is not making a Korean-language TV series.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/d17a1588-7c4a-11e9-8126-9d0e63452fe9-image-hires-174143-0-1578659268.jpeg
The Kim family assembling pizza boxes in one scene in Parasite
Cj Entertainment

That isn't to say that HBO isn't merely thinking of the potential money to be made from re-spinning a story that has resonated so well (and won lots of lovely awards). But the fact the studio thinks that there's an audience for a remake of something that's not even globally released yet shows how embarrassingly small-minded audiences are about foreign-language cinema.

Having made 2017’s Okja and 2013’s Snowpiercer, both in English, Bong returned to his native Korean for Parasite. The director is based in Seoul and wanted to tell the stories of the neighbourhood, and the people around him, in the language that they speak. Naturally.

Bong managed to find comedy in poverty in Parasite: the Kim family jostling for the one spot the WiFi reaches in their tiny house, or the daughter unfazed while smoking on top of an exploding toilet. The true horror comes from the world of the rich: the blithe indifference of Mrs Park shopping for shellfish and wine, while much of the rest of the city huddles in a disaster relief shelter.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/5da892c6045a310cc3353de6-1578659428.jpeg
So-dam Park and Woo-sik Choi who play the Kim siblings Ki-woo and Ki-jung
CJ Entertainment

It's entirely possible to tell these stories in English, or about an American family, but doing so begs the question of: why? Foreign cinema can transport us to worlds we might not otherwise see and encourages empathy for people who don't look like us at a time when it's dearly needed. The setting and the language might not be familiar, but the experiences and the humanity are. Transplanting them to somewhere more recognisable just dilutes the idea that, deep down, we're all pretty much the same.

With Parasite not even released in UK cinemas yet, the promise of an English adaptation that you can stream at home is yet another reason for viewers to be less adventurous and seek it out at the cinema. If done poorly it could erode the reputation of the original – see the wooden Captain Philips compared to the lesser-known, but far superior, Danish original A Hijacking.

If people thought the Oscars might help broaden people's minds, then last year was disappointing. The foreign-language film nominations in 2019 (Never Look Away, Cold War, Capernaum, Roma and Shoplifters) were arguably stronger than the nominees for 'Best Picture' (middling features such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Vice and Green Book) yet only Roma was in the running for both.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/768650081-1578659659.jpg
Mr and Mrs Park in Parasite, the wealthy family tricked by the Kims
CJ Entertainment

Many predicted Alfonso Cuaron's black and white film would swoop the top prize after its nominations in the big acting, directing and writing categories. Instead it took – you guessed it – the foreign-language prize. Did it ever really have a chance to walk away with best picture, or was Netflix's heavily funded publicity campaign masking the reality that the film was always seen as 'foreign'?

Parasite hasn't been able to compete with the same marketing budget as Netflix, so it's unlikely to fare as well. A shame given that Bong's masterpiece doesn't just deserve to be included in the Best Picture category, for my money, it should be a credible threat for the trophy.

A one-inch barrier doesn't seem much to overcome in exchange for a entire world of challenging and transporting cinema.

[GeneChing]

Hmm, no thread on the SAG Awards? Well, that's easily remedied.

Winners selected for those we've discusses as always.



CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
RECIPIENT
PARASITE

Outstanding Performance by a
MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
RECIPIENT
JOAQUIN PHOENIX
Joker

Outstanding Performance by a
MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
RECIPIENT
BRAD PITT
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Outstanding Performance by a
MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
RECIPIENT
PETER DINKLAGE
Game of Thrones

STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
RECIPIENT
AVENGERS: ENDGAME



THREADS
Screen Actors Guild Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71681-Screen-Actors-Guild-Awards)
Asian Film Festivals and Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48392-Asian-Film-Festivals-and-Awards)
GOT (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?60090-Game-of-Thrones)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71455)
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Endgame (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71016-Avengers-Endgame)

[GeneChing]

Why Doesn't the Academy Nominate Asians for Best Actor? (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxed7y/why-doesnt-the-academy-awards-oscars-nominate-asians-for-best-actor-bong-joon-ho-parasite?utm_source=vicefbus&fbclid=IwAR1gMXMu64WtqsH7hZ7LGwFjRxoXYHZjQEzze0IDS 1msuvrcZ34f1nXSveM)
Even when predominantly Asian movies earn Oscar nominations, the actors in them don't receive nods for their acting.
By Bettina Makalintal
Jan 17 2020, 4:00am

https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5e20e3e31beb140094a565be/lede/1579214114476-Keon-kyo-Yeo-jeong-Jo-in-Parasite-Courtesy-of-NEON-CJ-Entertainment.jpeg
PHOTO COURTESY NEON ENTERTAINMENT

On Monday, Bong Joon Ho's Parasite became the first South Korean movie to be nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Picture and Best International Feature Film. Rounding out Parasite's six total nominations were nods for Directing, Film Editing, and Production Design. Despite the film's memorable performances—from Song Kang Ho's palpable tension as he sweats and hides beneath a coffee table to Park So Dam's quick, sharp wit—acknowledgments in acting categories were pointedly missing.

It wasn't just the Academy Awards; the Parasite cast was shut out of acting nods at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, too. But as Erik Anderson of prediction site Awards Watch pointed out in a now-viral tweet, that's part of a more jarring pattern by the Academy: Even when movies with predominantly Asian casts are nominated for over five Academy Awards, the actors in them aren't acknowledged for their acting.

That's been the case from 1987's Last Emperor (9 nominations) to 2000's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (10) to 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha (six) to 2008's Slumdog Millionaire (10) and 2012's Life of Pi (11), Anderson wrote, and it's happened now with Parasite. So, what gives?

With consideration in so many awards categories, it's clearly not the case that these films are good save for their acting. "They get nods for Best Picture, but they're not getting acting nods," Sylvia Chong, associate professor and director of the University of Virginia's American Studies Program, told VICE in a phone call. "So how did they get to be so wonderful if they're so poorly acted?"

Media studies scholars told VICE that the reasons behind this lack of recognition are multi-layered. With pop culture reflecting society at large, Asian actors face more than just industry issues. Beyond the general lack of distribution of Asian films, the difficulty Asian actors face in breaking into Hollywood's mainstream, and the Academy's mostly-white demographics, Asians in Hollywood must also go up against the racial stereotypes and biases of American society, which inform the way viewers perceive their performances. When it comes to judging the work of Asian actors, the white American mainstream has historically been clouded by bias.

As the Los Angeles Times found in a 2012 report, Oscar voters were 94 percent white and 77 percent male, with Black voters eking out only two percent and Latinx voters making up even less. The Academy's current breakdown isn't clear, but ABC reported last year that based on the most recent numbers provided, it was making steps toward change, with women making up 49 percent of the members added in 2018 and people of color accounting for 38 percent. Despite these efforts, the fact remains that in 2018, people of color still made up only 16 percent of the Academy's overall voting body.

"I think there's a sort of cultural and racial myopia about what emotion might look like in other cultural and racial contexts," Chong said. Calling out performance's from two of this year's Best Actress nominees, Renee Zellwegger in Judy and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story, she explained that Americans are used to a specific style of dramatic performance to convey that emotions are deep or legitimate. Combine that with the faulty stereotype that Asians are "inscrutable" and "that they lack emotion," Chong suggested, and Awkwafina's snubbed performance in The Farewell, for example, "might come across as a lack of feeling, being tired" to viewers less versed in the work of Asian actors. Meanwhile, she said, the "emotion on Scarlett Johansson, which we're more accustomed to, becomes the beleaguered wife."

With the continued lack of Asian actors in Hollywood's leading roles, Asian characters aren't afforded the same complexity as those of other races, and viewers might be more hesitant to recognize the technical chops of Asian actors even when they don't realize it.

"When you hire someone to be an Asian in a supporting role, you don't see the work that goes into performing that: You see that as them being themselves," Chong said. "In the earlier part of the century, people preferred blackface or yellowface actors over people from the actual race because what they were doing was seen as requiring actual craft."

It's an extension of the broader perception of Asian people, Chong explained. "It's not just the portrayal of Asian people, but the denigration of Asian people in the social and political sphere. If you're used to seeing Asians as your servants, as coolies, as domestics, you're never going to need to [ascribe] to them real emotion," she said.

A similar perspective was shared by Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociologist and author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism. "If the stereotype is that Asians are not expressive and the entire enterprise of acting and the reward of the Oscars is about being expressive, those stereotypes work against Asian actors," Yuen told VICE. "There's variation in expression, just as there is variation of expression in Western cultures, but there's racism against Asians: the idea that all Asians look alike, the inability to distinguish between Asians and [different] Asian cultures. Those old racist ideas that Asians have to face in the general culture definitely impact how they fare in popular culture."

While differences in language are often suggested as the barrier to the mainstreaming of foreign film in the United States, Yuen pointed to the fact European actors have been nominated and won in the Academy Awards' acting categories for non-English performances.

"If you think about the European actors who have won, those languages are more similar to English than Asian languages. The nice word is familiarity, but the reality is that it's biased," she said. Further disproving the language debate is the fact that movies like Slumdog Millionaire and Memoirs of a Geisha are either mostly or entirely in English, yet those films' acting nods remain absent.

To Yuen, the Academy's failure to recognize the work of Asian actors is further proof of its need to diversify. "I think the Academy needs to be more aware of its biases and work on inviting people who are not just Americans into the Academy, inviting international filmmakers and artists into the Academy so there can be a more global viewpoint when it comes to awareness of film and also taste," she said.

Yuen speculated, however, that Parasite's specific problem—and the issues affecting the movies Anderson called out—may be even more specific than the Academy as a whole. As she pointed out, each award category is nominated by members of the corresponding branch, with actors nominating actors, directors nominating directors, and so on. The exception is Best Picture, for which all voting members have a say.

"If it's peer-nominated, maybe there's less peer awareness, and it's the actors' fault that they're not nominating their Asian peers," Yuen speculated. "There's a lack of awareness of Asian talent in general, and a lack of opportunities for Asian actors to cross over, and because of the peer nomination, there's a lack of interaction between Asian actors and Hollywood actors—and all of that, I would say, comes down to biases."

It's easy for outsiders to call awards like the Oscars irrelevant or to suggest that we ignore them entirely, but as it stands, they still validate and create new opportunities for creatives, especially those who haven't yet become household names.

"I wish that the Academy Awards were more irrelevant, but the rewards system does open doors for distribution as well as green lighting projects for Asian Americans. It's not irrelevant in that way," Yuen said.

It's not just a conclusion limited to pop culture: If society has to operate through problematic institutions, we can at the very least ask for those systems to get better. While it's too late now for the casts of Parasite or the unfortunately ignored Farewell to receive acting considerations, who knows what films and successes next year might bring?


THREADS
Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)

[GeneChing]

‘Asian-American actors are ugly & your films make us look backward’: Hollywood sets movies in China, locals don’t want to watch (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/478793-hollywood-china-farewell-failure/)
Michael McCaffrey
Michael McCaffrey lives in Los Angeles where he works as an acting coach, screenwriter and consultant. He is also a freelance film and cultural critic whose work can be read at RT, Counterpunch and at his website mpmacting.com.
21 Jan, 2020 14:04 / Updated 3 days ago

https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.01/article/5e26f71f85f54055a4771648.jpg
The Farewell (2019) Dir: Lulu Wang © А24 studio

Hollywood thinks that by telling Chinese stories they will woo its massive market they so crave…they couldn’t be more wrong, as the failure of the Farewell amply illustrates.
The critically adored American film, which tells the story of a Chinese-American woman who returns to her ancestral homeland to visit her dying grandmother, opened in China at the weekend.

As The Farewell was written and directed by a Chinese American woman, Lulu Wang, and stars Chinese-American, Golden Globe winning actress Awkwafina, while the film’s dialogue is mostly spoken in Mandarin, Hollywood’s expectations were that the movie would be well received in China.

That did not work out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RofpAjqwMa8

The Farewell has been largely ignored by Chinese audiences as evidenced by its embarrassingly dismal take at the Chinese box office of just $580,000, and scathing audience reviews from viewers who largely thought that the story was dull, patronizing, and had nothing to say to them.

The film’s failure is reminiscent of the poor showing in China by another Asian themed Hollywood movie, Crazy Rich Asians, which was a breakout smash hit in America in 2018, bringing in $174 million at the US box office. American audiences cheered Crazy Rich Asians largely due to its Asian cast, which was deemed a great success for representation and diversity for Hollywood. In contrast, China, which has plenty of its own movies with all-Asian casts, had no such love for the film as proven by its tepid box office receipts.

Crossing the cultural divide and tapping into the Chinese market has long been the Holy Grail of Hollywood, as every studio executive in town is constantly trying to crack the Chinese code in order to fill their coffers.

Of course, studio executives are not always the most ambitious creative thinkers, so the only plan they’ve been able to come up with thus far is to pander. Not surprisingly, Hollywood’s ham-handed attempts to cater to Chinese audiences have consistently backfired.

Disney thought Asian representation would attract Chinese audiences when they cast Asian-American actress Kelly Marie Tran in a major role in the most recent Star Wars trilogy. The problem was that Ms. Tran (who is of Vietnamese descent anyway, which is like appealing to the English by casting an Italian) did not conform to classical Chinese standards of beauty and thus Chinese audiences never warmed to her.

Chinese audiences have voiced similar complaints regarding Awkwafina, with some Chinese people on social media going so far as to call her “very ugly,” which may be one of the reasons why The Farewell is doing so poorly. And this is before we get to her Mandarin, which was widely considered laughable for a first-generation immigrant, even a one who left China early, according to the plot (the actress herself did not speak Chinese fluently before the film).

Another example of this cultural divide is Simu Liu, a Canadian-Chinese actor who was recently cast in the lead of the upcoming Marvel movie Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Liu is considered handsome by Western standards but some Chinese people say he is “not handsome by Chinese standards” – at least when compared to many of the local action stars – which means Shang-chi might face an uphill battle at the Chinese box office when it comes out.

https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.01/original/5e26f78120302745a57f6423.jpg
Simu Liu of Marvel Studios' 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' © Getty Images for Disney / Alberto E. Rodriguez

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Hollywood has had significant success in China, the world’s second largest film market by revenue.

For instance, of the top 15 highest grossing films in Chinese box office history, four are Hollywood productions. They are Avengers: Endgame, The Fate of the Furious, Furious 7 and Avengers: Infinity War.

It seems Hollywood has not learned the lesson of their Chinese successes though because unlike Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell and even to a certain extent the poorly received latest Star Wars trilogy, the Hollywood films that have found success in China are gigantic franchises telling American stories filled to the brim with spectacle and movie stars…and none of those stars are Chinese.

In 2020 Disney is once again making a major attempt to court the Chinese market by releasing Mulan, a live action adaptation of the 1998 animated film of the same name. While Mulan is based on the Chinese folk story ‘The Ballad of Mulan’ and will boast a very attractive cast of Asian actors, including star Liu Yifei, that is no guarantee of box office success. The 1998 animated Mulan financially flopped in China – though this was before its current cinema-building boom – and one wonders if the live action version is just another culturally tone deaf attempt by Hollywood to try to tell and sell a Chinese story back to the Chinese.

Hollywood’s belief that Chinese audiences want to see Hollywood make Chinese themed-movies with Chinese stars seems to be staggeringly obtuse and based on its own identity politics than how people around the world actually consume entertainment.

China has a thriving film industry all of its own and Chinese audiences don’t clamor to see Chinese stories told from Hollywood’s perspective (even if they’re made by Chinese-American artists) any more than Americans yearn to see American stories told by foreign artists, however, flattering it might be that someone is interested enough in your culture (and pockets) to do that.

Chinese audiences want to see American movies from America and can get over the fact that none of their countrymen look like Chris Hemsworth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXfv87Wpk

At its best, the art form of cinema is a universal language that speaks eloquently across cultural boundaries. For example, American audiences this year have embraced the South Korean film Parasite.

Parasite didn’t try to tell an American story with American actors in an attempt to cash in with US audiences; instead it tells a dramatic and artistically profound Korean story about family and class that connects to people of all cultures and looks fresh to foreign audiences.

Hollywood would be wise to emulate that approach, particularly since it already knows how to dominate the global box office.

And if it does want to make what it thinks are “Asian” stories, it should be culturally humble enough to know that it’s making them primarily for the art house cinemas in Brooklyn, rather than the multiplexes in Beijing.

THREADS
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71109-Shang-Chi-and-the-Legend-of-the-Ten-Rings)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

Oscars Box Office: 'Parasite' Feasts on Younger Moviegoers (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-box-office-younger-moviegoers-feast-parasite-1272951)
6:40 AM PST 2/4/2020 by Pamela McClintock

The best picture contender is already one of the top-grossing foreign-language films of all time in advance of the Feb. 9 Academy Awards ceremony.

Bong Joon Ho's Oscar contender Parasite continues to feed on impressive numbers as it widens its reach at the U.S. box office in advance of the Feb. 9 Academy Awards ceremony, where it will compete for the best picture prize.

Through Feb. 2, the genre-bending thriller's domestic gross rested at $33.2 million, one of the best showings of all time for a foreign-language film. When Parasite first opened in select theaters in October, it scored a massive per-location average of $131,000 — the best showing of 2019. Still, even the most seasoned box office analysts said that the South Korean film would top out at no more than $20 million in the U.S.

One of the secrets to the specialty pic's ongoing, surprise success is its appeal to younger consumers (Gen Z and millennials).

When Parasite finally expanded nationwide late last month after scoring numerous accolades, almost 60 percent of ticket buyers over the Jan. 24-26 weekend were between ages 18 and 34, according to those with access to PostTrak's exit surveys.

Often, movies competing in the Oscar race draw their box office strength from older, "adult" moviegoers, but Parasite is skewing younger than most. In its second weekend in wide release (1,060 cinemas), Parasite's 18 to 34 audience was again at 61 percent.

That compares with 40 and 47 percent, respectively, for fellow best picture contenders 1917 and Little Women in their second weekends, according to PostTrak.

"Parasite is a hit with younger audiences for whom the movie likely represents the epitome of cool international cinema. The film has become a conversation piece with layers of plot that unravel like an onion and this has fueled massive social media buzz and of course with multiple Oscar nominations, a solid increase in box office for a film that might have otherwise stalled out short of $30 million in North America," says Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.

In a second milestone, Parasite has passed up 2017's I, Tonya ($30 million) to become the top-grossing release in the three-year history of U.S. indie distributor Neon, run by Tom Quinn, not adjusted for inflation.

Parasite — about an impoverished family who con their rich bosses — is nominated for six Oscars, including best picture, best director and best original screenplay.

Among other awards wins so far, Parasite is the first foreign-language film ever to receive top honors from the Screen Actors Guild.

Globally, Parasite's gross currently rests at more than $163 million, led by South Korea with more than $73 million in ticket sales.

Parasite isn't the only best-picture contender enjoying a major awards boost at the box office — 1917 has grossed a stellar $250 million to date globally, followed by Little Women with $164 million and Jojo Rabbit with $65 million.



PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
THRnews@thr.com
PamelaDayM



THREADS
Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

Many congratulations to Parasite! What a history-making win.

List below cherry-picked for films discussed here.

OSCAR WINNERS (https://oscar.go.com/winners)

BEST PICTURE
Parasite
Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Joaquin Phoenix
Joker

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING…
Brad Pitt
Once upon a Time... in Hollywood

DIRECTING
Parasite
Bong Joon Ho

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE…
Parasite
South Korea

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Joker
Hildur Guðnadóttir

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood
Production Design: Barbara Ling,…

WRITING (ORIGINAL…
Parasite
Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han…

REVIEWS
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1511)
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1499)

THREADS
Joker (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71455-Joker)
Once upon a Time...in Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

FEBRUARY 10, 2020 4:31am PT by Scott Feinberg
Oscars: Making Sense of the Historic 'Parasite' Win and the Rest of the Night (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-2020-analysis-making-sense-historic-parasite-win-1278344)

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/768x433/2020/02/parasite_best_picture_oscars_2.jpg
Arturo Holmes/ABC

The 'Parasite' team onstage after winning the best picture Oscar

The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist dissects Sunday's results.

On Sunday night — one year after Green Book was awarded the best picture Oscar, and one month after only a single person of color was among the 20 people nominated for an acting Oscar and no female filmmakers were among the five finalists for the best director Oscar — the best picture Oscar was awarded to a film not in the English language for the first time in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards.

What the aforementioned information should remind you of is that the Academy is not a monolith. It is an organization comprising 8,469 individuals. Most of them are still older white men. An increasing number are not. Many of them are brilliant. Quite a few are not. Sometimes their choices surprise and delight us. And other times they do not.

At the end of Sunday's 2020 Oscars, I couldn't help but feel that this was one of those times that the Academy — and really all of us in Hollywood — should feel good about it. Indeed, in 1949, when the British film Hamlet became the first non-American best picture Oscar winner, gasps and boos were audible in the room. But in 2020, when the Korean film Parasite became the first non-English-language best picture Oscar winner, Hollywood's elite stood on their feet and enthusiastically applauded.

How did Parasite — a film with subtitles, without stars familiar to Americans and backed by Neon, a tiny distributor with limited means — manage to sustain its mojo all the way from May's Cannes Film Festival through February's Oscars and ultimately vanquish, among others, Universal's 1917 (the heavy favorite going into the night), Sony's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (which was tailor-made for the hometown crowd) and Warners' Joker (the most-nominated film of the year and biggest blockbuster up for best pic), an outcome predicted by virtually none of the top-tier pundits?

No one can say for sure, but one can make educated guesses...

1. Parasite is a funny, haunting, bold film that most filmmakers regard as extremely well made and immensely entertaining. And even if its third act genre-switch jars some, its exploration of tensions between the wealthy and the poor is, sadly, timely and internationally relevant. In other words, it captured the zeitgeist.

2. The film's understated and wryly funny writer-director Bong Joon Ho, under the guidance of veteran publicist Mara Buxbaum, made the rounds and became something of a folk hero (#BongHive), and its ensemble cast was equally easy to root for. (It was a bigger deal than we realized when the cast got a standing ovation just for taking the stage at the SAG Awards, and also when they eventually won the best ensemble SAG Award, which was chosen by a far larger and more populist voting body than the Academy.) The best ensemble SAG Award certainly doesn't always predict the best picture Oscar, but it predicts virtually all best picture Oscar shockers, from Shakespeare in Love to Crash to Spotlight and now Parasite.

3. More Academy members are probably willing to watch a non-English-language film in 2020 than ever before, in part because such films have been normalized by regular best pic noms in recent years (Amour, Roma, etc.), and in part because the Academy's recent membership drive — while primarily focused on bringing in more women and people of color — also brought in a ton of people based outside of America, who are used to watching films with subtitles.

In the end, Parasite, in the 100th year of Korean cinema, took home a field-leading four Oscars: picture (a prize previously won by only one other film that had already won Cannes' Palme d'Or, 1955's Marty), director, original screenplay and international feature. And, at the post-show Governors Ball, rival campaigners told me that even they were happy for the film and those associated with it, including and especially Neon chief Tom Quinn. Quinn is a genuinely good guy who has championed Bong for years — he handled 2006's The Host and 2009's Mother while at Magnolia and 2013's Snowpiercer while at TWC-Radius — and presided over a clean and classy campaign for Parasite. (Credit must also go to ID's Buxbaum and the Perception PR team, who never stopped believing that this outcome was possible.)

Besides, most others left with at least something to phone home about: Warners had Joker's lead actor Joaquin Phoenix and original score; Roadside had Judy's lead actress Renée Zellweger; Sony had Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's supporting actor Brad Pitt and production design and Little Women's costume design; Netflix had Marriage Story's supporting actress Laura Dern and documentary feature American Factory (though The Irishman went 0-for-10, the second-worst shutout in Oscars history); Searchlight had Jojo Rabbit's adapted screenplay; Paramount had Rocketman's original song; 20th Century Studios had Ford v Ferrari's film editing and sound editing; Pixar had animated feature Toy Story 4; and Lionsgate had Bombshell's makeup/hairstyling.

Universal, meanwhile, finished in second place with three wins, all for 1917 — cinematography, sound mixing and visual effects — which is nothing to shrug at. But I'm sure that the first-rate folks behind that film's campaign are disappointed, if only because so many signs — including top prizes from the directors and producers guilds and the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes and BAFTA awards — had suggested a bigger showing was in store. Nevertheless, considering how late they received their first print of the film to begin screening, and that they, too, had to sell a film starring nobody that most Academy members had ever heard of, they gave it a great ride.

To me, the main takeaway from Sunday night is a reminder that the present-day Academy is truly unlike any other awards-dispensing body, and therefore Oscar winners — especially in the best picture category in the era of the preferential ballot — cannot be predicted with the same sort of confidence that used to be possible. That new reality is nerve-racking for us pundits (although I can live with my 20 for 24 showing this year), but it ought to be exciting for film lovers who like surprises.

THREADS
The Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

Entertainment 2/10/20 6:35am Read time: 1 minute 141 comments
'These People Are The Destruction Of America': BlazeTV Host Slammed After South Koreans Win Oscar (https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/these-people-are-destruction-america-blaze?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_content=26926&fbclid=IwAR3dZ2K8jMtBA1K2_PH5NXX8V_VHbmWheG1sIQQ3X a2XFhLl3WKYj191uKw)
Jon Miller played to the Trump xenophobes after South Korea's 'Parasite' historic Oscar win for Best Picture.
By Ed Scarce

https://crooksandliars.com/files/images/20/02/capture.jpg

Fairly predictable from the far-right loons, when easily the Best Picture of the year won the Oscar last night. That it just happened to be made in a foreign language and setting proved to be to much to bear for this BlazeTV host.

Source: New Civil Rights Movement

A host of Glenn Beck’s BlazeTV is under fire after posting what some are calling a racist attack on the director of the Oscar-winning film “Parasite.”

“These people are the destruction of America,” Jon Miller said in his tweet about Bong Joon-ho, the director of the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. “Parasite” won a total of four Oscars Sunday night, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Picture.

“A man named Bong Joon Ho wins #Oscar for best original screenplay over Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917,” Miller, who hosts BlazeTV’s “White House Brief,” wrote.

Miller tried walking that back a little with some mansplaining, but Twitter soon let him have it, with both barrels.


Jon Miller
✔
@MillerStream
Replying to @MillerStream
“These people” are obviously not Koreans but those in Hollywood awarding a foreign film that stokes flames of class warfare over 2 films I thought were more deserving simply to show how woke they are.That should be clear from the rest of what I tweeted about tonight’s production.

5,792
6:28 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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And the reaction poured in:


John Legend
✔
@johnlegend
Replying to @MillerStream
Do they pay you for these dumb takes or is this something you do for fun

270K
6:32 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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Martina Navratilova
✔
@Martina
Replying to @MillerStream
Does being a racist ass come naturally to you or did you have to work at it?

4,790
6:06 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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Yashar Ali ��
✔
@yashar
Replying to @MillerStream
You ok???? You gonna survive this? pic.twitter.com/mOXRvw8cQX

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8:04 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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Racism WatchDog
@RacismDog
BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK https://twitter.com/MillerStream/status/1226683232378380289 …


Jon Miller
✔
@MillerStream
A man named Bong Joon Ho wins #Oscar for best original screenplay over Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917.

Acceptance speech was: “GREAT HONOR. THANK YOU.”

Then he proceeds to give the rest of his speech in Korean.

These people are the destruction of America.

215K
8:48 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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CarmelaHuerta ✍️��
@musicaamazigh
Replying to @MillerStream
No, white racists are the destruction of America. I don't see any Koreans parading down our city streets Nazi -style, holding assault weapons, and threatening ethnic & racial groups

9,649
7:59 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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Nick Fane
@NickFaneMusic
Replying to @MillerStream
Imaging writing a film in Korean that was so good that the Academy gave you a nom for Best Picture, not just Best Foreign Language Film.

Your screenplay, in Korean, is nominated and you win. And you give your acceptance speech in Korean the language of your movie.

Unthinkable.

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6:10 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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Becca ������
@_Llamazing
Jesus **** blatantly racist **** like this gaining traction makes me so god**** mad. Shame on you, Jon Miller. You are the disease that's trying to strangle the humanity out of the USA, not a brilliant creative mind who deserves a win no matter what language they think in.

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Fiona Nova
@FionaNova
Jon Miller, not everyone has to ****ing learn english for your convenice you gaping ******* https://twitter.com/MillerStream/status/1226683232378380289 …


Jon Miller
✔
@MillerStream
A man named Bong Joon Ho wins #Oscar for best original screenplay over Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917.

Acceptance speech was: “GREAT HONOR. THANK YOU.”

Then he proceeds to give the rest of his speech in Korean.

These people are the destruction of America.

7,100
7:22 PM - Feb 9, 2020
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824 people are talking about this


I disdain giving someone like this the spotlight because the taunt is such an obvious grab for attention. But at the same time, we should look at it for what it is and not fail to respond.

THREADS
The Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

Box Office: 'Parasite' Heads for Huge $50M-Plus in U.S. After Historic Oscar Win (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-parasite-heads-huge-50m-us-oscar-win-1279671)
5:00 AM PST 2/18/2020 by Pamela McClintock

Globally, the South Korean film celebrated its best picture victory by crossing the $200 million mark.

Bong Joon Ho's Parasite continued to make headlines following its historic Oscar best picture victory.

Over the long Presidents Day holiday, the South Korean dark comedy-thriller made its biggest push yet in the U.S., expanding from 1,060 locations to 2,001. The move paid off as Parasite raced up the chart to No. 7 with $6.8 million — the film's top weekend gross to date (indie distributor Neon first opened the film in select art house cinemas in early October).

Globally, Parasite celebrated its Academy Award victory by zooming past the $200 million mark for CJ Entertainment despite the fact that it opened in many key markets — including South Korea — months ago. This past weekend, it earned another $12.8 million for a foreign tally, through Sunday, of $161.1 million.

Its worldwide gross of $205 million includes $44.49 million in ticket sales in the U.S., where it now ranks No. 4 on the list of the top-grossing foreign-language films of all time after passing up Instructions Not Included ($44.47 million), not adjusted for inflation.

Box office analysts put Parasite's final U.S. gross at $50 million or more, the top showing for a non-English-language film since Zhang Yimou's Hero 18 years ago. Overall, Hero ($53.7 million) ranks No. 3 behind Roberto Benigni's 1997 hit Life Is Beautiful ($57.6 million) and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from 2002 ($128.1 million).

Some think Parasite could even approach $60 million.

"It has become a must-see movie in a theater even though it is available on home video," notes Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian. "The only two movies people were talking about over Presidents Day were Sonic the Hedgehog and Parasite."

Parasite is the first non-English-language film to ever win the Academy Award for best picture. It also won for best director, best original screenplay and best international picture. Also among the film's glittering array of awards is the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or.

The pic's post-Oscar boost will be among the best in modern times, according to Comscore. A U.S. gross of $50 million would put the bump at 29 percent, on par with Slumdog Millionaire, which won the top Oscar prize in 2008. The only best-picture winner since 1998 to see a greater percentage gain was Million Dollar Baby 15 years ago (34 percent).

Parasite is the widest non-English language release in the U.S. since 2004's Kung Fu Hustle, which played in 2,503 theaters.

In yet another milestone, Parasite passed 2017's I, Tonya ($30 million) to become the top-grossing release in the three-year history of Neon, run by Tom Quinn, not adjusted for inflation.


PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
THRnews@thr.com
PamelaDayM

THREADS
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)
Hero (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?31961-Hero)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?5071-Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon)
The Academy Awards (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20798-The-Academy-Awards)

[GeneChing]

So is this Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite) TV series going to be whitewashed (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66153-yellow-face-white-washing)?


Mark Ruffalo Talks 'Parasite' TV Role & Disney+'s 'She-Hulk' (https://hypebeast.com/2020/3/mark-ruffalo-parasite-tv-role-she-hulk-disney-plus-martin-scorsese)
As well as addressing Martin Scorsese’s thoughts on the MCU.

https://image-cdn.hypb.st/https%3A%2F%2Fhypebeast.com%2Fimage%2F2020%2F03%2F mark-ruffalo-parasite-tv-role-she-hulk-disney-plus-martin-scorsese-1.jpg?q=90&w=1400&cbr=1&fit=max
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images For Disney
Entertainment
2 Hrs ago
By Eric Brain

Mark Ruffalo, who recently appeared at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo to answer a number of fan questions, has alluded that he may be taking a roll in the TV adaptation of Parasite.

Addressing the speculation that he would be joining the HBO series, Ruffalo said “We’ve met. I love him [Bong Joon-ho], I love that movie… I might be playing the father in Parasite on a television show. I would love to do it. We’re sort of waiting on the script and all that, but yeah, that’s pretty much true and in the works.”

Ruffalo also addressed rumors surrounding Disney+‘s She-Hulk, and although he was considerably quiet on the matter, he did say that “preliminary talks” were in place in reigniting his character, the Hulk, in the new series. Other notable moments from Ruffalo’s panel discussion include him discussing Martin Scorsese, who recently told Empire in an interview that the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are not “cinema.”

At the time, Scorsese said, “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

According to Comicbook and despite Scorsese’s thoughts, Ruffalo answered an audience member’s question about who he’d like to work with on an MCU movie. He said, “That hasn’t done any Marvel movies? Martin Scorsese? I have worked with him, but I think he would make an amazing Marvel movie. It would be so dark. It would look a lot like Joker. That’s a great question, I need to put more time into that.”