You’ve got to hand it to Jackie Chan, he’s been able to make sheer hypocrisy and bad taste almost lovable. He’s always playing earnest good guy cops, but in real life is totally in bed with Hong Kong’s biggest alleged triad leader. Then there are his outrageous comments on Taiwan’s elections and his latest on how Western guys should marry Shanghainese women so as to spread Chinese culture. At least he’s sincere in his acting as he does he own stunts, or does he? 
I’ve had the opportunity to bless him with some time in my presence and I found him a bit full of himself. But you find that in all of Hollywood and on some level he’s earned it. Nonetheless he should keep his mouth shut, due to the fact that every time he’s opened about this TW situation, it’s getting more and more twisted(by the TW media). It’s like arguing with a person who is in the habit of having the last word.
Love him. Jackie is a player form the old school. He loves children (and has charities and stuff for them). He taught me how to flip through his massive collection of “instructional” tapes. And he seems like a pretty cool guy.
I’d like to here more about his connections to Triads in Hong Kong thought (if you have a link, or just more info.) I thought he was one of the few people that were unaffected by Triads in their movie industry hayday. I remembe him being in some anti-triad march or something.
Jackie Chan is best pals with another tough up-from the streets guy, Albert Yeung, chairman of the HK-based Emperor Group. The diminutive businessman was convicted for initimidating a witness years ago, and as an ex-con has trouble getting into the US. The HK police have been trying very hard to put Albert behind bars, the last time they arrested him – for kidnapping and related charges – about 20 cops picked him up in an early pre-dawn raid, breaking up a maahjong game with Jackie and other pals. The Emperor Group website, I think, lists some of the companies on which Jackie is on the board. Although Albert’s not one to cross – the prosecution alleged he told a former employee his left leg would be broken if he didn’t cooperate – he’s also a gentleman. During breaks in his trial he would help little old ladies cross the street. So it’s probably fair so say, Jackie has some real muscle behind him. 
[quote=“miltownkid”]
I’d like to here more about his connections to Triads in Hong Kong thought (if you have a link, or just more info.) I thought he was one of the few people that were unaffected by Triads in their movie industry hayday. I remembe him being in some anti-triad march or something.[/quote]
Hahahahah, NOT. The triads in HK are like roaches, they they to be in everything.
Don’t know or care much about his personal life but I like his movies especially pre hollywood stuff. Half a loaf of Kung Fu is a classic
Personally I’m not too fussed by him either way. His HK releases since the mid-90s have even surpassed Bond movies in terms of sheer formulaicness and predictability, and his Hollywood movies vary between decent and good.
But I do think all those people who are all “GRRR JACKIE CHAN SUCKS BECAUSE HE HATES TAIWAN” are dickheads who need a healthy dose of reality and medical treatment for that jerky knee of theirs.
[quote=“Tetsuo”]
But I do think all those people who are all “GRRR JACKIE CHAN SUCKS BECAUSE HE HATES TAIWAN” are dickheads who need a healthy dose of reality and medical treatment for that jerky knee of theirs.[/quote]
No, they(being the media primarily)need to find something of worthy to write about. Otherwise these papers can continue lining the kitty litter box 
I was about to post info on his GOOD “friend” Mr. Yeung.
Lest anyone forget Yeung had actress (and fellow Chan “friend”) Carina Lau Kar-ling kidnapped, beaten, raped and then photographed, even threatening to have her boyfriend, actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai (HAPPY TOGETHER, 2046) rape and beat her again (probably at gunpoint, since Tony’s been with Carina for nearly a decade).
Her offense? Wanting her money back before a land investment scam – er “scheme” in Chine was to go ahead. The scam did go ahead and it went way, way south. She had the foresight ot ask for hte money back before it went ahead.
He had the idea to sick goons on her.
Flashforward to 2002 and nude photos of an obviously distressed Lau balling her eyes out and looking roughed up appeared in one of his mags.
Who lead the rally cry against the “evil” paparazzi?
Jackie Chan.
Who still does business with Yeung and works for Yeung - Chan.
“I do all of my own stunts.” - Jackie Chan
Now, he doesn’t. Big deal.
Bigger deal - he didn’t and this was back in 1984. He still amde the claims.
“Smoking is bad.” - Chan - 1980
Jackie quit smoking in 1992.
“I never gamble.” - Chan, 1978.
Chan nearly got cremed over a pai gow game gone bad in Wanchai in 1980.
“I never deal with gangsters.” - Chan, 1978
That’s why Jimmy Wang Yu had to negotiate a nasty triad abduction/roughing up of Chan by goons sicked upon him by director Lo Wei - who was under contract to Chan.
Chan’s crime? He was laoned out ot producer Ng See-yuen to make his legendary DRUNKEN MASTER and SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW. Chan had some ceative control. The films were hits. Raymond Chow Wai-man’s Golden Harvest - a reputable company with little underworld flack - wanted to sign Chan to a contract.
Lo Wai wanted 15 million US dollars for Chan (an insane price then). Chan, and his freind Willie Chan (not a relative) - both disgruntled with Lo Wei jumped ship, since the “contract” was probably not very binding.
Lo has Jackie kidnapped. Willie goes to Raymond Chow. Jimmy Wang Yu - a star at the time (Taiwanese, too) who has triad connections (I don’t think he’s a triad himself, though) and was a contract star with Golden Harvest, having jumped ship from the Shaw Bros. studios, and a friend of Lo Wei - was sent in to “negotiate” the situation.
It worked itself out, and explains Chan making some odd films for Wang Yu and Kevin Chu Yen Ping (FANTSY MISSION FORCE and ISLAND OF FIRE) that he never would have made on his own (not his style).
Jackie denied his marriage to Lin Fong-jiao, had a reputation for a casting couch for his female leads (which suposedly elad to the downfall of Anita Yuen Wing-yee’s career in Hong Kong after she refused to sleep with Chan while making THUDERBOLT in 1994 or 95), and ended up knocking up actress/model Maggie Siu thre or four years ago.
Chan rarely spent time with his son, Jackson.
Intead of being at his mother’s bedside as she died in Australia, he worked. A choice he consciously made.
Chan is a scumbag.
He does a lot of charity work, and that is admirable. I think there’s a reason behind it. A lot of it has to do with the duality of his personality. He shits on a lot of people and has shady dealings yet he does a tremendous amount of charity work.
Chan’s best work stopped right before 1992’s POLICE STORY III: SUPERCOP. That film was passible.
Still, nearly 20 years of great work is nothing to gawk at.
Hell, 1994’s DRUNKEN MASTER II was amazing and rather than signifying a return to form, Chan went back to vanity projects that continued to show he lost his “groove.”
His move to Hollywood was done in hopes of keeping him a star while his Hong Kong work dwindled in aesthetic quality (I’m not talking about commercial quality). Instead, it’s bombed pretty hard.
Chan’s time has come and gone. It was glorious and he worked hard for it, despite being an incredibly flawed individual.
I’m glad he puts the smackdown on Da-Bien’s inflamatory rhetoric.
Being anti-Chen and pro-peace does not mean he’s against Taiwan or pro-KMT, contrary to what the local scumbag press (and some expat bloggers) would make you believe.
There are other reasons to detest Chan.
Besides, he’s an old man. Try and get your brain to function well with a 5th grade education and a hole in you head (plus years of concussions)!
Seriously though, it’s cool that you can appreciate one of his Lo Wei cheapies!
Ric, that was informative post about Chan. Where’d you find all that dirt-errr I mean information
gimme bruce anyday. he was a duality person but made no qualms or coverups about it. he was a married man and a lady’s man and made no apologies (not that i’m condoning such, but a man is never a wuss about what he does).
also, he was much more of a free thinker than chan.
on chan’s triad connections: you have your choice of triads you want to be associated with. it’s like south LA. join a gang for protection or die.
[quote=“Tetsuo”]
But I do think all those people who are all “GRRR JACKIE CHAN SUCKS BECAUSE HE HATES TAIWAN” are dickheads who need a healthy dose of reality and medical treatment for that jerky knee of theirs.[/quote]
C’mon Tetsuo, you have to admit that his refusing to come to Taiwan until after the next election is just stupid and petulant. Fine, if you don’t like it, don’t come. Making a speech about it is just a bad business decision. Changing your mind five minutes later is pathetic. I do hope he decides to get more involved in politics, it would be much funnier than any of his movies.
Good job Ric Flair on the dirt digging. I worked around the edges of the HK movie business in the '80s and anyone involved even superficially could tell the whole ‘Brother Chan is such a great guy’ thing was a crock, but they all kept repeating the mantra. Creepy.
Stupid and petulant, maybe, but not as stupid and petulant as these whining little pussies who suddenly up and change their minds and start screaming about what a dick he is because he hates Taiwan solely on the basis of probably doctored soundbites and news reports. Those people need to learn to think for themselves once in a while.
No.
That would be Taiwan.
People need to understand the history of the triads. The operations nad mechinations of these freaks go back so far that they’re as Chinese as hanzi, chopsticks, umbrellas and bad driving abilities.
As for the Hong Kong Entertainment industry. Yeung’s sojourns into music and movies increased tenfold after the hand over.
I’m not sure if it’s the Sun Yi On or the 14K he’s affiliated with. The lines blur.
Before Yeung there were the Heung Brothers. They were considered the “good” Triads. Their entertainment investments were indeed legit, though the bros.’ pop was a major mainland triad.
They ran Win’s Entertainment, which later became China Star Entertainment. Jimmy Heung was more behind-the-scenes and administrative, while the more handsome Charles carved out a pretty decent movie career (he can boast to be a decent supporting actor with some actual martial skills too). One of his most memorable screen characters was “Ng gohr,” or “Wu Keh,” or ‘Brother Five’ - the relatively silent but loyal bodyguard in the GOD OF GAMBLERS films.
When Win’s were at their peak they “managed” the careers of Andy Lau Tak-hwa, Jet Li Lien-jie, director Wong Jing, Sharla Cheung Man, Steven Chow Sing-chi, Chow Yun-fat, and director Tsui Hark. Even Jackie Chan had some weird agreement with them that never did come to fruition.
Jet Li joined their fold after his manager Jim Choi was gunned down in front of their offices.
Andy Lau became embroiled in appearing in Triad productions.
During the Cantonese film boom of the seventies and eighties the triads were stepping up to the plate for legit money making and entertainment. Many, many, many Catagory III skin flicks and countless action flicks were financed by them. Some great films were made. However, many, many stars were “encouraged” to make films for the producers.
Some did it for protection.
Some did it out of loyalty.
Some did it for easy cash.
Some did it because they’d be killed.
Buxom starlett Amy Yip Chi-mei was reportedly raped for not agreeing to appear in a production.
Of course, nothing official was filed with the RHKP.
Andy Lau ended up indebted to a few gangsters and part of his massive 100+ film output, is a result of that.
This happened after he left the Shaw Bros. studios.
He appeared in legit productions, but between 1986-1991 he was making as many as 10 films in a year. If pressed, he’d likely admit he wasn’t fond of many of them.
Chow Yun-fat doesn’t bring up Candy Yu On-on much. Mention the name, and if he actually decides to respond - it won’t be too happy of a response that comes out.
Candy was Chow’s first wife.
Candy was a film and television actress who was nothing specacular. She wasn’t ugly, but her looks were far from spectacular. The same goes for her acting skills.
Like Chow, Candy was a Shaw Bros. developed talent. Chow was though their TV-B studio. Candy was through their film branch.
Candy’s family (including almost all of her brothers) were known triads.
Chow and Candy fell in love and al lwas well, but after a year or so things went downhill quickly.
Chow fell for another woman.
Angry, Candy threatened to destroy him and his career.
Through some sort of change of heart Candy decided she’d let Chow live and have a career if he’d make a final gesture.
That gesture - after being thoroughly beaten down by her brothers - was to eat shit.
Chow did.
Candy allowed for the divorce and Chow’s Hong Kong career is historical and full of well-earned praise.
Candy Yu On-on was never a superstar.
I could go on about the triads who have carved a niche in the Hong Kong film industry if anybody cares.
:s
I’ve been watching Hong Kong films since I was knee-high. Bck in the United Snakes I taught classes on the region’s cinema. I started writing about them, professionally - 13 years ago, though I retired from freelance writing in 2004. I still keep the powder dry, however.
Um, actually you’re wrong.
Bruce did hide his covrting. So did Linda and so did Bruce’s boss, Raymond Chow.
The only person who didn’t hide it was his last lover, Taiwanese starlet Betty Ting Pei - whose apartment was where Bruce suffered his fatal annurism, brought about by an alergic reaction to his pot smoking and ingestion.
Or any other major Hong Kong star in the seventies.
Comedian Eric Tsang Chi-wai would fill that kurt, honest, from-the-hip public speaking/shooting style in the eighties and nineties, resulting in numerous beatdowns upon the diminuative, talented actor, and at least two kidnappings (though he survives!).
Not anymore. In fact, he hid his associations with Yeung (which started during his final years with the Golden Harvest studios, in the mid nineties). Between Chan’s first Golden Harvest film - THE YOUNG MASTER - in 1980 - to SUPERCOP: POLICE STORY III (1992 or 3 - I forget and no logner care since hte film was mediocre) he was not invovled with triads.
Lelie Cheung Kwok-weng, Alan Tam Kar-ming, the Hui bros., etc. - many, many HK stars had no direct mob ties.
So, your comment is an innacurate, broad generalization, though its impetus comes from the fact that some celebs did have mob ties (whether they wanted them or not).
[quote=“Tetsuo”]
Stupid and petulant, maybe, but not as stupid and petulant as these whining little pussies who suddenly up and change their minds and start screaming about what a dick he is because he hates Taiwan solely on the basis of probably doctored soundbites and news reports. Those people need to learn to think for themselves once in a while.[/quote]I know you weren’t poining your finger at me in particular, but just for the record I’d like to point out that I’ve always thought Chan to be a no-talent assclown and about as funny as genital herpes. I just never thought it worth mentioning before.
Ric: I once had the displeasure of working with Chow Yun-fat. A more arrogant and self-important dipshit I’ve never met, so the shit-eating story made my day. It still makes me laugh that people actually think he’s tall.
(he stands on boxes in shots with other actors and always has contracts force the camera to shoot him from below.)
Sadly, this only applies to Chinese countries/territories with non-Chinese influence on their political and social system (i. e. education and law enforcement).
I think you’ve basically painted Hong Kong, Macao and Malaysia. Moreso Hong Kong and Macao…
[quote=“hsiadogah”]Ric: I once had the displeasure of working with Chow Yun-fat. A more arrogant and self-important dipshit I’ve never met, so the shit-eating story made my day. It still makes me laugh that people actually think he’s tall.
(he stands on boxes in shots with other actors and always has contracts force the camera to shoot him from below.)[/quote]
I met Chow in 2001. He’s not that short. 5ft 8 (I’m 6ft 3, so I am trying to think in terms of HK stars). So, I suspect that if you worked with him it would have been in the United Snakes, yes? No?
Nicest, coolest, most generous HK superstar - Sammo Hung Kam-bo and his current wife, Joyce Godenzi. Moody guy at times, but pretty straight forward and doesn’t shy from an honest answer.