Todd Brown is the founder and editor of the very best foreign film site on the web, Twitch (which can be found at www.twitchfilm.com). He’s also a Movie Blog Alumnus who wrote for us a few years ago.
Todd and I go back a lot of years, and this man’s knowledge of foreign film is nothing short of staggering. Anyway, Todd is also involved in the upcoming Toronto After Dark Film Festival (you can see a small banner for it on the side bar) which is going to be just fantastic.
Yesterday, Todd and I Skyped it up to talk about the After Dark film fest, his recent travel woes (funny story) stuf about Jet Li, Jackie Chan and why on earth Donnie Yen isn’t a big North American star. Seriously, he’s a great guy to listen to.
Anyway, you can listen to our conversation here.
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Oh, no doubt. Jet would take Jackie to pieces. Back in the day when I was working in homeless shelters one of our security guys used to fight semi-pro muay thai (had friends who moved to Thailand and trained in the same camps as Tony Jaa) and Garv would swear up and down that the only one of the major action stars he’d actually be afraid to face in a fight would be Jet Li and that Jet would take him apart before he’d even gotten a single punch in. The other guys – with the possible exception of Donnie given his childhood training – are strictly performers. Jet’s a fighter.
And yeah, Al, if they were gonna get Jet and Jackie together on screen they should’ve done it ten years ago when both were in their prime. At this stage there’s too much chance of it being a sad nostalgia game more than anything else …
The Jet Li / Jackie Chan project has sounded like a terrible idea from the get go with the news of its being another of Jackie “For the kids” idea its sounds like the kind of thing that will have you cringing in front of the screen. Even though Jet is also slowing he would still make Jackie look bad, you talking about a former national Wu-shu champ matched with a martial arts acrobat. I think a lot of people don’t realise that Jackie comes from a Chinese Opera background and not a true fighting background as Todd pointed out.
Fans from the UK over a certain age will recognise the Jackie/Jet project as being the same tale the cult TV show Monkey was based on and I recommend picking up the book which was translated by Arthur Waley.
I would like to see Re-cycle on the big screen if only to see if it looks less murky than it does on DVD, sadly it’s not the film I was hoping for, but still its great that the Toronto after dark festival will give people a chance to see it that way.
I kind of agree with logboy it’s not that hard to visit different movie sites for different things, there are actually quite a few sites dedicated to martial arts, world cinema, genre film and such, although not as many in a blog format, but that does seem to be on the rise.
Hi Logboy, its me “Wolf” from twitch. Hows it going, man? I go by the name Al Young since a regular on this site also go by the name Wolf. I probably should include a link to the site to go with my name. About what I said before on exposing foreign films, I was speaking out specifly for the themovieblog readers who may not be aware of the good stuff out there. So yeah, I think Marina’s idea is a good idea.
Hey Todd, my setiments exactly on your thoughts on the Jet/Jackie project. When I heard its an american production aim for kids, my expectation just drop immediatly. Another thing, it sadden me to say this but Jackie and Jet is not at the top of their game as their were during the 90’s. Don’t get me wrong, they are still awesome but they are not as good as they were before IMO.
I’d be game to be on the audio edition more often. We’ve tried in the past but John and I both keep really hectic schedules, it’s rare that the stars align enough for everyone to be in the same place at the same time. We were going to do this as part of this week’s Audio Edition with Nagy et al in the house but we just weren’t all free at the same time.
Drewbacca: drop me an email about the press credentials and I’ll see what I can do, though that’s not technically my area. As for the Night Watch films there are a lot of things I really like about them but they show all the signs of having been written by the novelist who was in love with certain scenarios. It’s a rare author who can successfully adapt his novel for the screen and I don’t think Lukianenko really pulled it off. There are too many nods that you have to have read the books to understand and too many inconsequential sub plots. That said there really are a lot of moments where they really kick ass, and the second is a big improvement on the first.
John, I think I’ve got one of me juggling body parts around here somewhere from that same photo shoot. Though honestly I mostly dislike these shots ’cause I’ve lost better than thirty pounds since then and don’t like the reminder of how much I’d let myself slide …
agreed theres lots not getting the exposure it deserves, but why the difficulty finding other sites and reading those also? seems some around here know of twitch, surely if you know its to your taste you can type in its URL and visit?
I definitly support having Todd Brown come back on here. His insight on foreign films is interesting to listen to. Perhaps have him come by as a guest on the audio edition to talk about films outside of Hollywood. There is alot of good stuff out there that doesn’t get the exposure it deserved.
Excellent discussion.
I like Darth’s idea too what I’d love even more would be to get more discussion like the Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen one. Any possibility of a monthly podcast with just general foreign film discussion? That would be outstanding.
I like it Darth. Would easily be the single best film site on the web. It’s like when Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man became a tag team. Unstoppable brotha!
Ok guys, just hear me out here, I know you’ll think this is crazy but just listen.
You guys (Todd and John) should totally merge your sites. If you had The Movie Blog and Twitch merged in one site, it would be the ULTIMATE movie fans website. Everything Hollywood and Foreign in one place. I, and other fans like me, would be in total heaven! Combined your popularity would rival any movie site on the web.
Just think about it guys, just think about it
What Superhero Meter Maid set in New York story was he talking about?
Hey guys, good discussion on TADFF. I’ll see you there.
Still crossing my fingers for press passes.
I watched the trailer for “Behind the Mask,” as well as the other movies a while back and they all look fantastic. Particularly Shinobi and Re-Cycle look awesome. Can’t wait. If you haven’t seen em John, check em out for sure. They’re all on the site.
Anyway, I’m excited as hell to leave my country for the first time…all in the name of film!
Ramble on…
~Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com
P.S. – Hey Todd, what did you think of Night Watch and what have you heard about the quality of them? I know part 3 is in English, but besides that, any news or opinions?
Then send me a better one damit! :P
Damn, I hate that picture.