The Karate Kid

[GeneChing]

Search first, then post. Our members dismissed The Karate Kid title issue months ago.

The Vallejo winner was Gao Jie and Jasmine Magellenes. Gao Jie was featured in Hello Tiger - Wushu Champion Gao Jie By Melissa Leon-Guerrero Do in our 2005 November/December issue.

I'll merge this thread now. Better stay tuned to our Karate Kid thread. There's even more that the critics don't know and we'll be busting that out in our next issue.

[KungFuCulture]

Anyone go to the Karate Kid Challenge at Six Flags? Tiger Claw supplied some mats, but I haven't talked to our guy who delivered them yet today. He was pretty beat after CMAT and had to leave early to get to Six Flags early the next day.

We went to the Six Flags event in San Antonio after we left CMAT 18. There wasn't much of a turnout. Kung Fu Master Joseph Eagar and his student Dre Magnum got runner up. A Karate team won. We did have mats, but I didn't see any promotion of Tiger Claw there?

[KungFuCulture]

Search first, then post. Our members dismissed The Karate Kid title issue months ago.

The Vallejo winner was Gao Jie and Jasmine Magellenes. Gao Jie was featured in Hello Tiger - Wushu Champion Gao Jie By Melissa Leon-Guerrero Do in our 2005 November/December issue.

I'll merge this thread now. Better stay tuned to our Karate Kid thread. There's even more that the critics don't know and we'll be busting that out in our next issue.

My post was suppose to be more about the Karate Kid Challenge not necessarily the movie. We didn't even find out about the challenge until a week before! Why didn't they advertise it in KungFu Magazine? Send posters out to some Kung Fu schools? Why only Karate Magazines and schools? I'm just saying. Yeah, I whine a lot. Sorry.

[GeneChing]

The Karate Kid Challenge was an experimental promotion. I've never heard anything quite like it. You can see earlier up on this thread when we first got word. It wasn't until about two weeks prior to the event when we were asked to get involved. It fell under our charitable arm, the Tiger Claw Foundation, which arranged to have posters distributed posters to schools across the country through Tiger Claw and MartialArtsMart.com fulfillment, as well as emailblasts and promotion on our other viral platforms. All of those missives were completely non-discriminatory, as per request of the promoters. Everyone who looked at our sites or ordered from our companies received invite posters, including kung fu, taekwondo, even MMA.

Tiger Claw only provided mats for The Karate Kid Challenge at Vallejo. That was strictly a contracted job - Tiger Claw promotion was not involved there.

You'll have to read my upcoming story on The Karate Kid. There's a lot going on with this film that most people here are missing. I'll give you a hint.

The online polls go live tomorrow. I'll have more promotional info then.

[GeneChing]

We all remember Rain right? Ninja Assassin?

Rain collaborates with Jackie Chan for Hip Song MV
by GhostWriter on May 18, 2010 @ 6:14 AM (EDT) · 82 comments
393Share

It was revealed on the 18th that K-pop king, Rain will be collaborating with fellow global star, Jackie Chan for his Hip Song MV. And it will not be just any MV as it will also be used to promote Jackie Chan’s upcoming movie, Karate Kid.

J.Tunes Entertainment expressed, “Both Rain and Jackie Chan are close friends and the latter had suggested to create a MV for the movie.”

The MV will be released on the 20th and will be used in conjunction with movie promotions for the Karate Kid which opens on June 10th.

[GeneChing]

Here's the press release.

The Karate Kid Challenge Competitions

Talented Karate masters came out to Six Flags Parks during The Karate Kid Challenge to showcase their talent earlier this month. Only 10 were chosen as Finalists, and now it's time to vote for the ultimate champion.

Your vote counts! Make sure to visit http://www.YahooVoteForTheKarateKid.com beginning 5/18/2010 to cast your vote for the best performance. Remember you can only vote once a day! Voting ends on 5/25/10.

You can also take The Karate Kid with you on the go. Download The Karate Kid FREE game via wifi or PC from the App Store by clicking here http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...364298872&mt=8 . The application allows you to play five martial arts training exercises. As you play, you can earn experience points. The more you train, the faster you progress towards becoming a martial arts master.

The Karate Kid, starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith hits theaters June 11, you don’t want to miss it!

[GeneChing]

Sweep the Leg! Interview with the real Johnny, William Zabka by Lori Ann White, in commemoration of the release of THE KARATE KID on BLU-RAY DISC.

Enter to win THE KARATE KID on BLU-RAY DISC. Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 05/27/2010.

[Lucas]

LOL!

Sweep the leg Johnny!

[GeneChing]

[Rain (Bi) MV] Hip Song (2010 Rain Special Album)_The Karate Kid (2010) Official Korean OST

Plus a new interview with director Harold Zwart

New Interview: The Karate Kid Remake Director Harald Zwart
May 24, 2010
by Alex Billington

A month ago, I went to the Sony lot in Culver City, CA for an interview with director Harald Zwart, who was working on their sound stages to finish the score for the upcoming remake of The Karate Kid. Now, Zwart's previous credits are Agent Cody Banks and The Pink Panther 2, but I was asked to interview him after seeing The Karate Kid (which I honestly really enjoyed). I think Karate Kid is a huge step forward for Zwart, showing that he's more than just a director of cheesy comedies, and I wanted to talk about all that he had to go to through shooting this movie with Jaden and Will Smith and Jackie Chan on location in China.

Watch my full interview with The Karate Kid director Harald Zwart:

For anyone interested, I've included a full transcript of the complete interview below, in case you'd like to read the interview instead of watching the video. This interview was shot using my Flip Mino camera on the actual scoring stages that James Horner was currently using to record the score for Karate Kid (they were all out to lunch). Although I know there is considerable animosity towards this remake, I hope that everyone will give the movie (and Harald Zwart) a chance to impress and entertain you, as it's actually a great remake and wonderful homage to the original. The Karate Kid hits theaters everywhere on June 11th this summer.

I'd love to start at the top and ask how you got onto this project and how your career has progressed to this point?

Harald Zwart: Well, I had already done a movie for Sony so they knew me. And so it was kind of easy for me to get in the mix. But then once I was in the mix, there was a bunch of other people who were really wanting to do this project. And I got further and further up the food chain, meeting after meeting after meeting. And I felt that I knew exactly how I wanted to do the movie - I kind of wanted to treat it a little like an independent movie. I wanted to give the movie the flavor that independent European movies have. I'm from Europe and so I tried to really emphasize on what the emotional side was going to be in my version. I also tried to bring in the Shadow Theater and elements of China that you don't normally see. And I got further and further up and then eventually it was me and one other guy and I could not kick him out of the competition. So what I did was I - my wife and I just said - what do we do now, because he was a guy who had done a lot of these movies. He's a very talented director. And we decided to build a scale model of Jackie Chan's house [in the movie]. I could send you pictures if you want.

Sure.

Zwart: And we went into this model train store and bought sheets of roof tiles and then we spent three days after the kids had gone to bed and built his whole courtyard. It's about this big. We put little dummies and she came up with that utility pole in the middle, and then I started playing with the flashlight and I discovered that oh, they can actually become the Shadow Theater, with the lights from the car, and we lit it with little lamps. And that's how I walked into - Amy Pascal['s office], who is the head of Sony - a really smart woman and she responds to… I mean she just likes it when you show stuff like that. The passion and she understands the texture of things. And so once that thing was on the table, I think I won the competition [right] then. I don't know [if it was] that thing alone, but it was just something extra. At least that's how it looked from my point of view

Right, I know what you're saying. I have so much to ask, so the next topic… From the beginning, was it always the idea to move it to China? To set it there?

Zwart: Yeah, when I came on board, that was already [in] the script, the idea. Jackie was attached and Jaden was attached and Will was producing it with his company. So that was already done.

Did you have any involvement in the writing process once you got attached and on-board?

Zwart: Yeah, I mean, as is natural for a filmmaker, we started with - we were a group with Will and Ken Stovitz, who's a great producer, and the writer, Chris Murphy and then there was a script guru, Michael Hague, who we all have read his book. And we went off to this place up in the mountains, just working for days and days. But when you do a movie with Will Smith, he doesn't bring the book. He brings the guy who wrote the book. So that was amazing for me to sit there… We just sat around in a circle, day and night, just talking through everything, the story. We did a lot of research on the depth and the secrets of kung fu, a lot of research on bullying, inspired by Oprah Winfrey's show. We spoke to some of the people that she had on her show. I love the mythology behind just going into such depth of every character, because then once we - and we had tons of rehearsals. And then so once we went to China, it was just really painting it and making it as beautiful as we could.

It seems interesting that you were attached after Jaden and Jackie Chan were on-board. Because normally, at least from my perspective, I see directors get on-board and then it's them who are choosing the actors for the film. So what was it like coming on with them? I think the end result, obviously, they're perfect for the roles. But it must have been interesting with that dynamic coming on with them on-board and working with them moving forward.

Zwart: Yeah, I mean that happens quite a bit that you get sent a project that some star is already attached to. What that does is, it gives you the - that the likelihood of this actually becoming a movie or getting a greenlit is much greater.

Yeah, of course.

Zwart: So it's a much faster - I just realized today that it's less than a year since we started the process… So it's gone really quick. Whereas if you get a script like you say and you have to find the stars, sometimes it can [take] forever. Besides, I think, both of those guys were absolutely the perfect choice for the movie. That's also partially why I got really excited about it because I [could] just [see] the movie right away.

Was it always the intention from the beginning to pay homage to the original in the sense of its story structure? Because when I saw it, it felt very similar in the sense of the progression and the story. But the characters are different and the location is different. And I could see any number of other possibilities of saying okay, we'll take the Karate Kid's original story just go off with some other idea. But was it always that goal to stay very similar to the original, to pay homage to it as much as you could? Was that always the goal from the beginning and what you tried to do while shooting?

Zwart: Yeah, we all loved the original movie and we know that the original is very close to perfect. It's touched so many hearts. There is nothing wrong with the structure of it. It's just actually really, really good. So we just wanted to really maintain the beats and the points in the movie. But we wanted to do them different. And I think when you see the movie, most people that I hear from, they say they forget after ten minutes that they're watching a remake, even though it is actually very much point to point the same beats. The biggest challenge was obviously those amazing iconic moments, the wax on, wax off, the crane. All those things - how do we top that or at least make it as good? I remember sitting down with Will one breakfast and we were talking you about that fly thing and I thought how would I do this in a commercial? I thought we just need a button to that thing and then we all came up with, what if you think it's gonna be that, that he's going to catch it, and then the fly swatter comes out of nowhere. And that's like signing a contract with the audience saying, we know that you're waiting for these moments and you'll get them. We'll just do them a little differently. Jackie does wax the car in the movie. You can see the crane in the shadow on the wall. So they're all there, every single one of them. We just did them differently.

[GeneChing]

continued from previous

Are you concerned about the comparisons that are going to be made between the two films in the end when it comes out? Do you feel a lot of that stress?

Zwart: Yeah, it's funny. Like I said, I'm from Europe and the movie was a big hit back there. But it wasn't as enormous as it was here. When I went on the project, I didn't know that this was like messing with a national treasure. I didn't know that. And I might have been more nervous going into it then. So I was like okay, let's just make the best movie possible. And then after a while, when people came surfacing saying, what are they doing messing with this, to me it would have been the same thing as somebody trying to make a remake of Star Wars - I'd be like oh, come on. But I think we've succeeded very well in making it different enough that - because we're retelling a story. We're not necessarily remaking a movie. And it's an epic story about a kid who really needs to stand up for himself and he gets helped by a mentor. I always compared - it's as if Spielberg came to me and said, okay I will spend three months teaching only you how to make movies. I think what works in our favor is Jackie Chan, the idea of having Jackie Chan teach you and only you for months after months, is more than what Mr. Miyagi kind of achieved back then, I think. Because everybody knows him as - oh how cool would that be?

Obviously this comes from China being the location, but kung fu being the new form of martial arts that is the focus of the film. Is that something that from the beginning was the plan and was there ever a possibility that it would have just been karate like previously?

Zwart: No, in going to China, it had to be kung fu. And we just had to figure out how to make people understand that we know China is kung fu and karate is Japan. And we decided to keep the title because when you see the movie, you'll understand that it is a stigma. They are teasing him by calling him the karate kid. That's why it made total sense to us. In the movie, also the mom who doesn't really know the difference, she says, 'didn't you like that karate class?' And he goes, 'it's not karate mom.' So we all know it's kung fu. For me the big difference physically, was that in karate, there is a lot of the mechanical, this and that and you can just rehearse things over an over again. Kung fu is a lot more of a ballet. So when we came up with the jacket on, jacket off thing, there are like twelve moves buried in one single swooping move. And that's what I loved about the whole idea, that you can learn one thing and what you discover is that you've actually learned twelve different kung fu moves within that one little thing.

Who did you work with in China for all the kung fu training?

Zwart: We worked with Wu Gang. He's the master, as they call them, and he is one of Jackie Chan's guys and he himself was a champion in kung fu and wushu, as they call it over there. And he was fantastic. I mean the choreography on the end fights are just amazing.

Yeah - that was one of my favorite parts, just watching him learning kung fu, especially for me. Since I don't know it, instead of just seeing a movie where they're just perfect at it, watching the progression of learning how to do it up to that point and then seeing Jackie Chan's skills and everyone else just coming into it. I thought it was just, as you said, beautiful, and the choreography was great in the end.

Zwart: Well, thank you.

What was it like shooting in China? I imagine that was very interesting.

Zwart: Yeah, I mean, having had a commercial career, I pretty much shot all over the world already. I thought I had never come across any challenges that I wasn't going to - I thought I knew most things, very pretentiously of course. But then in China, it was a whole different aspect, because of the language barrier obviously, which we overcame with translators. And there is also a massive amount - the crew was a 550 man crew.

Wow.

Zwart: I wanted to make this a bit like Slumdog Millionaire, where I went into the streets and the corners of Beijing and shot authentic stuff. So I had to just talk to Jackie and Will and say - because they come with… Jackie - it's Beatlemania when Jackie walks up the street in China. So I had to say, let's jump in a van and you guys put on baseball caps and sunglasses and we'll get ready. When the cameras are rolling, you jump out, and Will was standing behind with me on a small monitor. That was the only way we could actually do it, because as soon as Jackie walked through the shot and they saw that he was there, it was pandemonium. And the same thing when we went to the mountains and those temples. To get there, you have to drive for hours into the mountains and then take a bus and then take a gondola that just takes two people and it goes almost vertical. And I said, I'm dependent on the light. If I'm going to wait up there for a 550 man crew… So we just all - let's do this like an indie movie and Will and Jaden jumped on with lens cases on their lap and Jackie schlepped equipment up. And we just shot it all off the shoulder and that's how it got that whole vibe all the way through the movie, which I'm very happy with.

How has the post-production process been? How has it been coming together for you watching it here and scoring and everything you're doing?

Zwart: I mean, that's always my favorite part. We cut the movie together pretty quickly and had an amazing test screening, which just convinced everybody this movie was maybe bigger than we first thought. And then we were so fortunate to get James Horner who came straight off of Avatar and nobody thought we would get him. But we showed him the movie and he loved it. So the last few days we've been in here, in the old Son scoring stages, and we just added the last touch of James Horner which gives the movie an enormous scope.

I'm looking forward to seeing how well it does and just reception. From what I saw watching it, I think it will be received very well. I think it's got potential to live up to the original and really surprise fans with everything you said in that it's a very different story, but with the same beats and different locations. I think it's a really great feel.

Zwart: Thank you.

With your career so far, you've done mainly family films.

Zwart: Yeah.

And is that sort of your forte? Is that what you love doing? Would you love to branch off in different genres and do other kind of films?

Zwart: Yeah. I think that's always a tough question. You always have these discussions with your team, the agents, and what's a good career move. And like I said, I've never really considered myself as very specific genre this or genre that. And commercials have taken me all over the gamut in terms of genres. So if you put the career thinking hat on, you go, oh family movies. That would make a lot of money. But you know, as a filmmaker, I think I've shown, at least with Karate Kid, that the visual side and that there's a much more - I think that goes for any director - that there's a lot more in every filmmaker than what you pigeonholed him to [initially]. But I would definitely love to get into more - I love science fiction. If I could make like a really serious Alien type movie, I would love that.

I also like the Indiana Jones franchise, with adventure but still serious and scary for kids. I wish I could just give you a clear answer, but frankly I really don't know.

Well, I mean it's essentially a hypothetical question, as in like what would you love to do?

Zwart: It's like I said, if the story intrigues you, the genre comes second, I think.

Yeah, interesting. That reminded me about shooting in China on locations and obviously the result in this is so visceral, so unique. But we see so often nowadays the trend of shooting in studio, shooting with green screens. Moving forward in your career, are you going to strive to shoot on location as much as you can? I mean, you said before that you've shot around the world. It seems like you really like doing that?

Zwart: Yeah. I think the authenticity of things… We decided on this movie also - no green screen, no effects, nothing. We want to go there and be on those locations. And it does give the movie a different breath, I think. There are still limitations, I think, in what you can achieve on green screen and the suspension of disbelief is always limited when people smell that they've been manipulated. It, again, depends on the story. But I always try to do as much in camera as I possibly can.

Is there anything else that you are currently attached to or working on besides The Karate Kid?

Zwart: Yeah, I have a few things. They're not announced yet, so I don't think I can speak about them. You'll be the first to know. Yeah, I'm reading a bunch of stuff and the buzz is getting around town. I think people see, oh, is that the same guy who did these movies? So that I'm very happy about.

Yeah, like I said, I'm looking forward to seeing it come out and the progression of your career and whatever you do next, I'm already looking forward to it.

Zwart: Oh, thank you. That's nice of you. Thank you.

Thanks to Harald, Bebe, and Gillian, for putting together this interview. Go see The Karate Kid this summer!

[GeneChing]

Here's our local WUSHU contender.

Fremont martial artist hopes to be next Karate Kid
Washington High student needs online votes to attend Hollywood movie premiere
By Linh Tat
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 05/24/2010 05:40:32 PM PDT
Updated: 05/25/2010 07:28:37 AM PDT

FREMONT — Jaden Smith may play the new Karate Kid, but America's real Karate Kid just may be found in the East Bay.

Jasmine Magallanes, 16, a junior at Washington High School in Fremont, is one of 10 finalists in the nationwide Karate Kid Challenge based on her martial arts performance at a recent competition.

With one day left to cast ballots, if online voters select her as one of the Top 3 martial artists, Magallanes will be invited to walk the red carpet with Smith and Jackie Chan, stars of "The Karate Kid" remake, at the upcoming Hollywood premiere. There's also talk the grand prize winner may be considered for a role in the next Karate Kid movie.

"Since I was small, I used to watch all the Jackie Chan movies. I said, 'Oh, I want to do that.' This is why this contest is so important to me," said Magallanes, who idolizes the Hong Kong movie star.

As for her acting abilities, Magallanes said, "They're pretty good. I've taken drama classes a couple times."

Magallanes is no stranger to being in the spotlight. She is a third-degree black belt martial artist who has won 10 national and five world titles.

Magallanes enrolled in kung fu nine years ago. Today, she trains at the Champion Wushu Center, Club Sport and Martial Arts America in Fremont. During the school year, she trains five or six hours a week and increases the practice sessions to a few hours each day, plus eight hours on weekends, during the summer.

"Life without martial arts would be really weird," she said.

"I like the physical fitness of martial arts, and I love what it teaches. It teaches honor, respect. "... It pushes me to learn things and reach goals. It gives me a well-balanced life," she said.

Martial arts also has been a bonding experience for the family.

Magallanes' sister, Monique, 18, is a three-time national champion and four-time world champion, and brother Anthony Jr., 14, is a four-time national champion and two-time world champion. The siblings call themselves the Eagle Strike Team and have been dubbed the Top Kung Fu/Mixed Martial Arts Family in the U.S. since 2005 by the U.S. Wushu Union and Tiger Claw Disney Wide World of Sports.

Anthony Magallanes Sr. said he wanted his children to study martial arts as he had. "We've been very lucky that all three of them love it and all three of them are good at it. We go to competitions as a family. It's kept us close as a family," he said.

Although preparing for major tournaments has meant sacrificing time with friends, Magallanes Sr. said his children have been featured in commercials and in Black Belt and Kung Fu magazines.

"They've missed out on a lot of things, but at this point, their friends see they have a chance to do exciting things," Magallanes Sr. said. "It's really opened up a whole new world."

[GeneChing]

Was Karate Kid as big in the UK as it was in the US?

Sony Pictures UK Announces the search for the UK Karate Kid
Posted by Evrim Ersoy May 25, 2010, 11:35 GMT

To celebrate the July 28 release of The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, Sony Pictures UK today announced the launch of a nationwide search for the UK Karate Kid. Sony Pictures UK is running the search in association with the English Karate Federation and Shine who both share the ethos of The Karate Kid and encourage talent in young people.

Competitors take part by visiting www.facebook.com/KarateKidUK and uploading a 60-90 second video clip of themselves performing a karate routine and 300 words explaining why they should be the UK Karate Kid. The entry phase of the competition is open now and runs until Sunday, June 20. The second phase of the competition will start on Thursday, June 24 when a shortlist of 10 competitors will be up for public vote via the Facebook page. The 3 finalists will be announced on Thursday, July 8 with the UK Karate Kid being announced the week of the UK Film Premiere.

Entrants have a chance to win a cash prize for their karate club, youth/sports organization or school plus the chance to win tickets to the star-studded UK Film Premiere of The Karate Kid on Thursday, July 15, attended by Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.

[GeneChing]

Anyone here from Chicago? Go check this out and report back for us!

New 'Karate Kid' stars in Chicago for special screening
Updated at 10:08 AM today

May 26, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Here's your chance to kick it with the Karate Kid: Fans can join stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith for the Karate Kid Street Festival.

The event features a martial arts demonstration and a Chinese dragon parade.

Chan, Smith and other special guests will walk the red carpet before a special screening of the new Karate Kid movie. It starts at 3:30 this afternoon, at the AMC River East Theatre, 322 E. Illinois St.

[Lucas]

friends got 2 tickets for a sneak showing tomorrow night, wants me to go. not sure if i can make it, ill post if i do.

[ghostexorcist]

This may turn out to be a good movie, but I refuse to go see it. Jackie Chan is pretty much the Asian Samuel L. Jackson now. He'll do anything for a paycheck.