Success of the Kong Hong Crossover Film

Success of the Kong Hong Crossover Film Chapter 1 Introduction Preface The purpose for this dissertation is to discover what is crossover film and what makes the crossover film a success. The cinema of Hong Kong has consider as the pioneer of chinese language movie. Especially between the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, most of movie fans will be familiar with names like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, John Wu from Hong Kong cinema. The reason why these movie star become so popular because they produce a lot of martial art film during that time. And then these martial art film brought to the western audiences. In fact, A lot of english speaking country or european start to aware of asian movie in that time. However, the English audiences might consider these martial art film as the crossover film. The English audiences think these martial art film as the crossover probably because these martial art film come with simple plot. The story are quite easy to understand for them such as the good and evil character. So the audienes are not nessesary to understand what the character speaking. Therefore, there is no language boundary when the english audiences watch it. In my research, these martial arts films in the past does not count as the crossover film. I would say the crossover film is relate to several elements which is culture references, co-production, company investment, audiences expectation, marketing, etc. Research background Back to Hong Kong cinema, The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the major movie industry in the Chinese language speaking cinema. Before 1997, Hong Kong was a colony of Britain and therefore Hong Kong had a greater freedom on economic and political than mainland China. Even in film industry, The censorship system in Mainland China have a very strHYPERLINK http://cdict.net/q/straightict rule. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ Hong Kong filmmakers either steered away from criticzing China or did so in oblique ways à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“(Clara Lawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Farewell China,1989. P.127: Bordwell, 2000). Therefore, the Hong Kong film maker can barely sell their film or have to re-produce another verison to adapt the market in China. On the other hand, the America or other Euro country censorship syetem are vary widely than China. And a lot of Hong Kong film producers try to sell their films to some western country. But I think it was not that easy for the very beginning because the western audiences probabl y havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen any kind of asian movie before. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“European and North American audiences have never been particularly interested in Asian cinema, Apart from the occasional exotic import and anime.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (D. Bordwell, 2003, P. 83) During the 1970s, the matrial art /Ku fung film become one of the major theme in Hong Kong. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Golden Harvest was the top studio, signing up Jackie Chan, the kung fu comedy actor-filmmaker who would spend the next twenty years as Asias biggest box office drawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Chan and Yang, 1998, P.  164à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"165: Bordwell, 2000). However, during the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. there was a industry crisis because of the Asian financial crisis and also the illegal copy and download over the internet. However, there was a few local film receive a huge success even it was a hard time for film industry by that period. Those are the film that I am going to cover in my research. Chapter 2 What is crossover film? 2.1 Chapter introduction In this chapter, I will be discuss how we define crossover film especially the film made in Hong Kong. Also, Hong Kong produced a lot of martial art or action movie during the late 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and early 1900à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. And Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s probably relate to the politcal and society problem. It might be represent the identity of Hong Kong movie as the martial art film from the english audiences. And I want to find out why they have this thought. Apart from these martial art film, do they know other films that made in Hong Kong? 2.2 Hong Kong movie = Ku fung ? The Martial art movie can be chase back to 1930à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s originally. And the Chinese people called it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film, the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is based on some fictional Chinese novel and always use of the old chinese dynasty as the background. The features of these à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? characters always appear with sword as the weapon and come with superpower. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film probably the most popular genre in the early cinema of Mainland China. I think the Chinese audiences need this kind of topic in the cinema such as heroic and myth after the post-war period. However, the chinese government strongly disapprove à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film in China as the subject matter is over superstition and violence. And some Hong Kong movie producer try to bring action movie to Hong Kong audiences in the late 1930à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The reason is Hong Kong had a superior level of freedom as the social culture and economy development during the colony era. That was the competitive advantage for Hong Kong could produce some action film but Mainland China. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In the British colony of Hong Kong, which had since 1950à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s transformed itself from an entreport to an industial city, the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s was also a period of rapid economic growth and social turmoilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Po Shek fu and David Desser, P.71: Cambridge university press, 2000). Therefore, I believe the martial arts movie has became popular start by the late 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The Martial arts movies still feature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? style in the early Hong Kong cinema. However, there was some significant change in the Hong Kong cinema during the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. I think the first time to allow western audiences to get to know about Hong Kong movies is the master of martial arts Bruce Lee return to Hong Kong cinema. Bruce Lees career achievement as well as cultural aspects of the film have an influence, he not only open the gate for the Chinese to first enter Hollywood, but also created his own philosophy on martial arts Jeet Kune Do. And make Action movies become one of the mainstream genres in Hong Kong. The early co-production with hollywood (Warner Bros) and Hong Kong (Golden Harvest) was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Enter the Dragonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in 1973. It was also the first time Hong Kong attempt to break into western audiences market. The film combined the traditional Kung fu and James bond action style genres. It wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really successful for the first breakthrough with western audiences because Lee dead in 1973. And then the action movie production seem to be lay low for while. This situation change until Golden Harvest studio sign up Jackie Chan as the action movie star. Jackie Chan as early as 1982 when it began to break into the Hollywood market, but he does not run smoothly into the international road. His first foray into the international market film called Cannonball Run. Unfortunately at the box office failure, And then after many years later Jackie took the first Hollywood movie Rush Hour which made him become popular in Hollywood. During the 70à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"early 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, Hong Kong exported a lot of local movie to western country. In my opinon, I think the western audiences probably consider the early Hong Kong action movie as the crossover film. But I think these action movies just the films that made in Hong Kong. Therefore, I m going to look for the real definition for crossover film in next paragraph. 2.3 The definition of crossover film In fact, I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t find any book that mention about the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“crossover filmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? during my research. However, I found some other sourse over the internet to explain what is crossover film. Also I will use my own understanding to outline the definition of crossover film through the research. When I start typing the word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“crossover filmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? on google search engine. I found this web blogger called Pardesi over the internet and talk about what he/she thinks about crossover film. This blogger Pardesi make a compare between two successful crossover films which is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Slumdog Millionaire in the blog entry. Pardesi suggest that the definition of crossover film à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Such films go beyond the traditional markets in the home country, or already exploited by films from the country, and usually end up making a lot of money.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Pardesi, (2010). In my opinion, I think Pardesi only suggest c rossover film more concern by marketing way. However, I believe crossover film can be relate many different elements apart from marketing. Firstly, I think it can separate into two parts which is the crossover film itself and the production. The crossover film itself can develop to culture, actor, and audiences expectation, and narrative structure. And the production element can define as company investment, finanical, special effect, and film location or studio. I think culture represent a lot within the crossover film because it can show some of the local element to western audiences. Also, it probably involve different actor from different coutry or speak different language. And the most important one is audiences expectation, the western audiences might expect to see something where the local film specialize at , or something they probably wont see from the english movie. for example, Martial art, high population or modern city scene. The second part to define crossover film is about production. firstly, it might involve western company to invest Hong Kong movie and re-packaging the film to be come suitable western marketing. Even finanical support is key element as produce a crossover film. Some western film production company might already own their advanced technology to create some imaginary scenes. However, these are just the thoughts come from my research. I will be provide some evidences to proof these elements are relevant. 2.4 Chapter summary This chapter has mainly introduced the theories and article which relevant in this research. It can give some idea to the reader about the crossover film. Also have the primary understanding about the marketing side and production side of the crossover film. In next chapter, I will discuss more about the elements which make the crossover film success. Chapter 3 The Crossover films 3.1 Chapter introduction The purpose of this chapter is to use three significant crossover films as the example. And then I will discuss the key elements which bring them to become sucessfull around the global. The films I will be focus on Kung Fu Hustle(2004), The film saved Hong Kong film industrial during the global economic crisis and the local film industrial decline. The second film I will look at is Rush Hour (1998), see how the western audiences expectation change from crossover film. Finlly, I will discuss how cross-movies in the western region of Hong Kongs success, rather than in Hong Kong by using à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 3.2 Crossover to international à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Stephen Chowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ Kung Fu Hustleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? During the late 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, hong kong movie industrial met a several crisis. The internet technology was developing extremely fast. People start sharing the movie over the internet, or even purchase the illegal movie DVD copies rather than go to the cinema . Some movie production studio find it difficult to maintain the movie production as the box office decline. However, Hong Kong actor Stephen chow seem to be saved this crisis for Hong Kong movie industrial. Hong Kongs population is 7,061,200. As a small population and economic decline region, Some Hong Kong movie studio find it hard to survive. Therefore, they can only rely on producing some low budget film to maintain the business. Nevertheless, the cinema of Hong Kong still find the way to survive from mainland China and international market. Kung Fu Hustle 2004 is a one of the great successful example. The film recieve highly positive result. Before Kung Fu Hustle, there are several film which co-production with Columbria studio. Howeve, these film have failed at the box office because they remain a little local flavour. The western audiences probably more familiar with one of the most popular actor in Hong Kong Stephen Chow. He created his own comedy style on acting called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mo lei tauà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? , this term can be referred to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Silly talkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“During an interview with Stephen Chow for his 2006 Asian Invasion season, the BBCs film critic Jonathan Ross referred to the genre as Silly Talk, a label that Chow was happy to accept.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Wikipedia. 2011. Mo lei tau), the interview also avalible on YouTube(Asian Invasion Episode 2 Part 2) . Stephen Chow produced the first film à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Shaolin Soccerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which break through the western market. However, the second film Kung Fu Hustle Stephen Chow became an international success. Columbia pictures impressed by stephen previous film Shaolin Soccer and wanted to provide finanical support to Stehpen. As a result, Stehpen came up the new idea on the film Kung Fu Hustle in 2004. Stephen Chow also is an actor himself, he started his acting career from a local television. In early 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, he began to making film with his Mo lei tau comedy style. But this kind of acting style only limited to cantonese speakers understanding. Therefore, Stephen tried not to put too much Mo lei tau acting style in Kung Fu Hustle, and used the CGI and pop culture references instead. In addition, Stephen co production with Columbria studio and several film studio in mainland China. In my opinion, I think such as this kind of collaboration with western movie studio is quite benefit to Hong Kong film industrial. The reason is western movie studio has already built up a very mature technique on film production. Also, they developed some advance computer graphic during the editing part. This is a great improvement on visual effect for the Hong Kong film, so the CGI technology can perform the scene that impossible become possible. For example, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Kung Fu Hustleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? refer a lot of superhuman ability combine with martial art. During the interview with BBC, Stephen said this kind of technology did a great help for his film, but he insist to put CGI graphic as the assistant role for the film. I agree what Stephen says because it wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t lose the originality with martial art element. Also, the CGI effect just play a little role that make western audiences easier accept the film rather than produce the stereotype martial art movie. The western audiences probably have seen a lot different martial art film from the past. Furthermore, the Hollywood production system more focus on quality rather than quantity. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Hollywood directors count themselves lucky to make a film every three yearsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In the late 1990s Andre Lau( Hong Kong director) was directing as many as 4 films per year.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (David B, P.  117 2003). In such a condition, I think hong kong filmmaker can only produce some low budget film and lack of idea on creating some stunning story. Therefore, I reckon the collaboration between western film studio and Hong Kong film maker which is quite benefit to Hong Kong film to break through western market. Apart from big company support, Stephen Chow also wanted try some new element into the film such as put a several American pop culture in different scenes. These references including Road Runner à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wile E. Coyote and Road Runnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? , and a dance scene which refer to Amercian musical à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“West side storyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the horror scene à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Shingingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?1908. When I look at some Hong Kong movie in the past, I think they cant become mainstream movie in western country because the film is more focus on local audiences taste. Only some of the popular martial art or action movie can be sell to western. Beside, the western audiences only understand because these film content involve simple plot such as bad character get beat up by the good character. It might be already label that Hong Kong movie represent martial art or kung fu in some sence. Therefore, I believe the way to make western audiences re-consider Hong Kong movie not just another martial art or action film could be consider to put some western pop culture. This is not only reduce the language boundry, but also bring up some new element to the film. 3.3 Cultural cross-over movieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Even Stephen Chowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gain a hugh success from western market. There is still some movie fans not quite fancy foreign film. Especially the film is based on chinese language. According to producer Terence Chang à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A lot of Hong Kong films have things that I think American audiences canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t accept.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? D. Bordwell (P.19 ,2000) In 1998, Jackie Chan finally arrived to Hollywood. Chanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? series become at Rank #1 at the North American box-office with a weekend gross of $33 million in September 1998 (figure on Appendix -1) Which is unexpected result for foreign film. I would say the Martial Art combine buddy movie opened the gate for crossover film. The movie applied the buddy film style like the hollywood film normally use. In Rush Hour, it is about a Chinese inspector and American detective. The character James Carter (Chris Tucker) keeps the American comedy element in the film, and Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) remain his action scenes throughout the movie. I think the audiences have never seen the buddy film like this before which bring a lot of new visual elements to them. However, Jackie Chan reveal on his official blog that he didnt really like the film and he felt very disappointed. Chan Said, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand the American humor.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Which I consider the film might suitable for western audiences rather than local audiences. In à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? series, there are a lot of jokes which based on minority racial stereotypes in Amer ican society. I think that makes the film easier to get accepted by majority white audiences. The two character portray totally different personality. Carter portray as a loud, speak with high pitch, impulsive, childish Black man who often causing trouble, Lee is a respectful Asian man who good at Kung Fu. According to King (2002) points out that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"reduce any threat created by the spectacle of a seemingly dominating Black characterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (p. 149).These features of both characters become likeable for the western audiences. In Bar fighting scene, Lee says à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Whats up my Niggerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to the bartender because Carter said that to the African customer. But Lee doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand the wordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Niggerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is a racist word to African. I think the director uses quite a lot this kind of jokes in the film to reflect the culture differences from society. In contrast with Jackie Chanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s earlier Hong Kong action movie. He represented as a masculinity and tough character most of the time. But in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, character Lee who always wanted help the FBI to solve the case. And the FBI try to use character Carter to send Lee away. Altough White Character involved small role in this film. I think the director still want White character to portray as important position in the film. 3.4 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Crouching Tiger was very well received in the Western world, however Crouching Tiger was widely dismissed as just another wuxia film among many others in asia.) Chapter 4 Research Methodology 4.1 Chapter introduction The purpose of the primary research provide the basic level of understanding for the researcher. I will use questionnaire during the primary research. The questionnaire will be conducted ten questions which indicate the western audiences interest on crossover film. The result will indicate the future trends for crossover film. This chapter will be described how the methodology adopt and analysis research question. Furthermore, this chapter is going to explain the research design, research location, sampling design and data collection process, survey instrument, and ethical issue. 4.2 Research processes Primary research: Survey ÃÆ'  Questionnaire by Student/Internet users ÃÆ'  Collect from: Northampton/ linking the questionnaire on facebook ÃÆ'  Analyze results In primary research, it will be carry out a questionnaire research. According to Ticehurst, Gregory W (2000: P.135) defined a questionnaire survey is the way to collect information from individual by using a set of question. Therefore, I believe the first to do is focus on what type of information and respondent are looking for. Then start to think about an appropriate questions for the research. The primary research will only take 10% part of this dissertation. The reason is I am hoping to get about medium size of response rate from that. Here is the brief descript type of questionnaire survey will be use: Type of questionnaire Cost Length of questionnaire Response rate Street/University/Internet Low Short Medium 4.3 Research Location The questionnaire survey is taken place from the three locations in Northampton which are the Abbeyfield school , Northampton town center and University of Northampton. The reason of chosen these place to research because it can save time to traveling different places which far way from Northampton. Further more, it can widely spread collecting the data over the internet. 4.4 Survey Instrument Development The questionnaire (Appendix). There are 3 parts of the questionnaire. The first part is about personal information such as age, gender. this is designed to collect the demographic data of the respondents. Then, the second part is about the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s knowledge on crossover film. That is to collect the information about how much respondent know about crossover film. Finally, the third part is about respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest on crossover film. And that is designed to what sort element the respondent like so I can provide the recommendation for the future crossover film. 4.5 Ethic Issue in Research The protection for the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s information is one of the most important thing in the research. In à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Doing your research projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, According to the Judith Bell (2005: 51) the researcher can follow two things to maintain the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s right when they carry out a research. 1.) Keep the participant innominate. 2.) Treat all the information as confidential file which from the respondent. However, My questionnaire is based on personal opinion rather than personal details. Therefore, I suppose my research will not meet any ethical issue. Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1 The future for the crossover film 5.2 Conclusion Appendix Part -1 Rush Hour Domestic Total Gross: $141,186,864 Distributor: New Line Release Date: September 18, 1998 Genre: Action Comedy Runtime: 1 hrs. 37 min. MPAA Rating: PG-13 Production Budget: $33 million 1998 Date (click to view chart) Rank Weekend Gross % Change Theaters Change / Avg. Gross-to-Date Week # Sep 18à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"20 1 $33,001,803 2,638 $12,510 $33,001,803 1 Sep 25à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"27 1 $21,202,929 -35.8% 2,643 +5 $8,022 $64,037,138 2 Oct 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"4 3 $14,492,122 -31.7% 2,701 +58 $5,365 $84,014,663 3 Oct 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"11 2 $11,105,465 -23.4% 2,701 $4,111 $98,382,886 4 Oct 16à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"18 4 $8,247,411 -25.7% 2,724 +23 $3,027 $109,911,590 5 Oct 23à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"25 6 $5,860,347 -28.9% 2,602 -122 $2,252 $117,284,969 6 Oct 30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nov 1 6 $3,799,380 -35.2% 2,402 -200 $1,581 $122,428,446 7 Nov 6à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"8 10 $3,322,424 -12.6% 2,043 -359 $1,626 $127,044,896 8 Nov 13à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"15 11 $1,866,524 -43.8% 1,615 -428 $1,155 $129,829,673 9 Sources from: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rushhour.htm Part -2 I am a student from University of Northampton. I am going to conduct a survey about the Crossover film that made in Hong Kong. I would be grateful if you could finish this questionnaire. Your honest view is taken with highly to appreciate. All the information in the questionnaire will be kept confidential for analysis only. Thank you very much. (Please tick the appropriate box) Gender à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Male à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Female Age à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 15 ~ 25 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 25 ~ 35 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 35~ 45 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 45 ~ above Do you know any of these asian movie stars from below? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Jackie Chan à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Bruce Lee à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Jet Li à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Stephen Chow à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Andy Lau à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Tony Leung à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Other ________________ Have you ever watched any other films that has been made in Hong Kong? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Not sure if the film is made in Hong Kong 5. How often do you watch Hong Kong movies? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Daily à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Weekly à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Monthly à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Occasionally 6. Do you think Hong Kong movies representing martial arts? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Not sure Do you understand what the story is about when you watch crossover films? If the film is using original Chinese language, just subtitles. (such as these films for example) Shaolin soccer, kung fu hustle, Internal affairs, In the mood for love à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡No 8. Do you prefer to see the actor you familiar with from Hong Kong movie? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No What sort of things do you expect to see when you watch a Hong Kong movie? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Kung Fu fighting à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Action movie star à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Local culture à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Comedy Would you recommend friends to watch film that made in Hong Kong? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡No Success of the Kong Hong Crossover Film Success of the Kong Hong Crossover Film Chapter 1 Introduction Preface The purpose for this dissertation is to discover what is crossover film and what makes the crossover film a success. The cinema of Hong Kong has consider as the pioneer of chinese language movie. Especially between the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, most of movie fans will be familiar with names like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, John Wu from Hong Kong cinema. The reason why these movie star become so popular because they produce a lot of martial art film during that time. And then these martial art film brought to the western audiences. In fact, A lot of english speaking country or european start to aware of asian movie in that time. However, the English audiences might consider these martial art film as the crossover film. The English audiences think these martial art film as the crossover probably because these martial art film come with simple plot. The story are quite easy to understand for them such as the good and evil character. So the audienes are not nessesary to understand what the character speaking. Therefore, there is no language boundary when the english audiences watch it. In my research, these martial arts films in the past does not count as the crossover film. I would say the crossover film is relate to several elements which is culture references, co-production, company investment, audiences expectation, marketing, etc. Research background Back to Hong Kong cinema, The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the major movie industry in the Chinese language speaking cinema. Before 1997, Hong Kong was a colony of Britain and therefore Hong Kong had a greater freedom on economic and political than mainland China. Even in film industry, The censorship system in Mainland China have a very strHYPERLINK http://cdict.net/q/straightict rule. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ Hong Kong filmmakers either steered away from criticzing China or did so in oblique ways à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“(Clara Lawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Farewell China,1989. P.127: Bordwell, 2000). Therefore, the Hong Kong film maker can barely sell their film or have to re-produce another verison to adapt the market in China. On the other hand, the America or other Euro country censorship syetem are vary widely than China. And a lot of Hong Kong film producers try to sell their films to some western country. But I think it was not that easy for the very beginning because the western audiences probabl y havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen any kind of asian movie before. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“European and North American audiences have never been particularly interested in Asian cinema, Apart from the occasional exotic import and anime.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (D. Bordwell, 2003, P. 83) During the 1970s, the matrial art /Ku fung film become one of the major theme in Hong Kong. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Golden Harvest was the top studio, signing up Jackie Chan, the kung fu comedy actor-filmmaker who would spend the next twenty years as Asias biggest box office drawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Chan and Yang, 1998, P.  164à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"165: Bordwell, 2000). However, during the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. there was a industry crisis because of the Asian financial crisis and also the illegal copy and download over the internet. However, there was a few local film receive a huge success even it was a hard time for film industry by that period. Those are the film that I am going to cover in my research. Chapter 2 What is crossover film? 2.1 Chapter introduction In this chapter, I will be discuss how we define crossover film especially the film made in Hong Kong. Also, Hong Kong produced a lot of martial art or action movie during the late 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and early 1900à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. And Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s probably relate to the politcal and society problem. It might be represent the identity of Hong Kong movie as the martial art film from the english audiences. And I want to find out why they have this thought. Apart from these martial art film, do they know other films that made in Hong Kong? 2.2 Hong Kong movie = Ku fung ? The Martial art movie can be chase back to 1930à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s originally. And the Chinese people called it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film, the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is based on some fictional Chinese novel and always use of the old chinese dynasty as the background. The features of these à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? characters always appear with sword as the weapon and come with superpower. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film probably the most popular genre in the early cinema of Mainland China. I think the Chinese audiences need this kind of topic in the cinema such as heroic and myth after the post-war period. However, the chinese government strongly disapprove à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? film in China as the subject matter is over superstition and violence. And some Hong Kong movie producer try to bring action movie to Hong Kong audiences in the late 1930à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The reason is Hong Kong had a superior level of freedom as the social culture and economy development during the colony era. That was the competitive advantage for Hong Kong could produce some action film but Mainland China. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In the British colony of Hong Kong, which had since 1950à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s transformed itself from an entreport to an industial city, the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s was also a period of rapid economic growth and social turmoilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Po Shek fu and David Desser, P.71: Cambridge university press, 2000). Therefore, I believe the martial arts movie has became popular start by the late 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The Martial arts movies still feature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wuxiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? style in the early Hong Kong cinema. However, there was some significant change in the Hong Kong cinema during the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. I think the first time to allow western audiences to get to know about Hong Kong movies is the master of martial arts Bruce Lee return to Hong Kong cinema. Bruce Lees career achievement as well as cultural aspects of the film have an influence, he not only open the gate for the Chinese to first enter Hollywood, but also created his own philosophy on martial arts Jeet Kune Do. And make Action movies become one of the mainstream genres in Hong Kong. The early co-production with hollywood (Warner Bros) and Hong Kong (Golden Harvest) was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Enter the Dragonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in 1973. It was also the first time Hong Kong attempt to break into western audiences market. The film combined the traditional Kung fu and James bond action style genres. It wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really successful for the first breakthrough with western audiences because Lee dead in 1973. And then the action movie production seem to be lay low for while. This situation change until Golden Harvest studio sign up Jackie Chan as the action movie star. Jackie Chan as early as 1982 when it began to break into the Hollywood market, but he does not run smoothly into the international road. His first foray into the international market film called Cannonball Run. Unfortunately at the box office failure, And then after many years later Jackie took the first Hollywood movie Rush Hour which made him become popular in Hollywood. During the 70à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"early 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, Hong Kong exported a lot of local movie to western country. In my opinon, I think the western audiences probably consider the early Hong Kong action movie as the crossover film. But I think these action movies just the films that made in Hong Kong. Therefore, I m going to look for the real definition for crossover film in next paragraph. 2.3 The definition of crossover film In fact, I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t find any book that mention about the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“crossover filmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? during my research. However, I found some other sourse over the internet to explain what is crossover film. Also I will use my own understanding to outline the definition of crossover film through the research. When I start typing the word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“crossover filmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? on google search engine. I found this web blogger called Pardesi over the internet and talk about what he/she thinks about crossover film. This blogger Pardesi make a compare between two successful crossover films which is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Slumdog Millionaire in the blog entry. Pardesi suggest that the definition of crossover film à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Such films go beyond the traditional markets in the home country, or already exploited by films from the country, and usually end up making a lot of money.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Pardesi, (2010). In my opinion, I think Pardesi only suggest c rossover film more concern by marketing way. However, I believe crossover film can be relate many different elements apart from marketing. Firstly, I think it can separate into two parts which is the crossover film itself and the production. The crossover film itself can develop to culture, actor, and audiences expectation, and narrative structure. And the production element can define as company investment, finanical, special effect, and film location or studio. I think culture represent a lot within the crossover film because it can show some of the local element to western audiences. Also, it probably involve different actor from different coutry or speak different language. And the most important one is audiences expectation, the western audiences might expect to see something where the local film specialize at , or something they probably wont see from the english movie. for example, Martial art, high population or modern city scene. The second part to define crossover film is about production. firstly, it might involve western company to invest Hong Kong movie and re-packaging the film to be come suitable western marketing. Even finanical support is key element as produce a crossover film. Some western film production company might already own their advanced technology to create some imaginary scenes. However, these are just the thoughts come from my research. I will be provide some evidences to proof these elements are relevant. 2.4 Chapter summary This chapter has mainly introduced the theories and article which relevant in this research. It can give some idea to the reader about the crossover film. Also have the primary understanding about the marketing side and production side of the crossover film. In next chapter, I will discuss more about the elements which make the crossover film success. Chapter 3 The Crossover films 3.1 Chapter introduction The purpose of this chapter is to use three significant crossover films as the example. And then I will discuss the key elements which bring them to become sucessfull around the global. The films I will be focus on Kung Fu Hustle(2004), The film saved Hong Kong film industrial during the global economic crisis and the local film industrial decline. The second film I will look at is Rush Hour (1998), see how the western audiences expectation change from crossover film. Finlly, I will discuss how cross-movies in the western region of Hong Kongs success, rather than in Hong Kong by using à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 3.2 Crossover to international à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Stephen Chowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ Kung Fu Hustleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? During the late 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, hong kong movie industrial met a several crisis. The internet technology was developing extremely fast. People start sharing the movie over the internet, or even purchase the illegal movie DVD copies rather than go to the cinema . Some movie production studio find it difficult to maintain the movie production as the box office decline. However, Hong Kong actor Stephen chow seem to be saved this crisis for Hong Kong movie industrial. Hong Kongs population is 7,061,200. As a small population and economic decline region, Some Hong Kong movie studio find it hard to survive. Therefore, they can only rely on producing some low budget film to maintain the business. Nevertheless, the cinema of Hong Kong still find the way to survive from mainland China and international market. Kung Fu Hustle 2004 is a one of the great successful example. The film recieve highly positive result. Before Kung Fu Hustle, there are several film which co-production with Columbria studio. Howeve, these film have failed at the box office because they remain a little local flavour. The western audiences probably more familiar with one of the most popular actor in Hong Kong Stephen Chow. He created his own comedy style on acting called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mo lei tauà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? , this term can be referred to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Silly talkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“During an interview with Stephen Chow for his 2006 Asian Invasion season, the BBCs film critic Jonathan Ross referred to the genre as Silly Talk, a label that Chow was happy to accept.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Wikipedia. 2011. Mo lei tau), the interview also avalible on YouTube(Asian Invasion Episode 2 Part 2) . Stephen Chow produced the first film à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Shaolin Soccerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which break through the western market. However, the second film Kung Fu Hustle Stephen Chow became an international success. Columbia pictures impressed by stephen previous film Shaolin Soccer and wanted to provide finanical support to Stehpen. As a result, Stehpen came up the new idea on the film Kung Fu Hustle in 2004. Stephen Chow also is an actor himself, he started his acting career from a local television. In early 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, he began to making film with his Mo lei tau comedy style. But this kind of acting style only limited to cantonese speakers understanding. Therefore, Stephen tried not to put too much Mo lei tau acting style in Kung Fu Hustle, and used the CGI and pop culture references instead. In addition, Stephen co production with Columbria studio and several film studio in mainland China. In my opinion, I think such as this kind of collaboration with western movie studio is quite benefit to Hong Kong film industrial. The reason is western movie studio has already built up a very mature technique on film production. Also, they developed some advance computer graphic during the editing part. This is a great improvement on visual effect for the Hong Kong film, so the CGI technology can perform the scene that impossible become possible. For example, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Kung Fu Hustleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? refer a lot of superhuman ability combine with martial art. During the interview with BBC, Stephen said this kind of technology did a great help for his film, but he insist to put CGI graphic as the assistant role for the film. I agree what Stephen says because it wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t lose the originality with martial art element. Also, the CGI effect just play a little role that make western audiences easier accept the film rather than produce the stereotype martial art movie. The western audiences probably have seen a lot different martial art film from the past. Furthermore, the Hollywood production system more focus on quality rather than quantity. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Hollywood directors count themselves lucky to make a film every three yearsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In the late 1990s Andre Lau( Hong Kong director) was directing as many as 4 films per year.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (David B, P.  117 2003). In such a condition, I think hong kong filmmaker can only produce some low budget film and lack of idea on creating some stunning story. Therefore, I reckon the collaboration between western film studio and Hong Kong film maker which is quite benefit to Hong Kong film to break through western market. Apart from big company support, Stephen Chow also wanted try some new element into the film such as put a several American pop culture in different scenes. These references including Road Runner à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wile E. Coyote and Road Runnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? , and a dance scene which refer to Amercian musical à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“West side storyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the horror scene à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Shingingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?1908. When I look at some Hong Kong movie in the past, I think they cant become mainstream movie in western country because the film is more focus on local audiences taste. Only some of the popular martial art or action movie can be sell to western. Beside, the western audiences only understand because these film content involve simple plot such as bad character get beat up by the good character. It might be already label that Hong Kong movie represent martial art or kung fu in some sence. Therefore, I believe the way to make western audiences re-consider Hong Kong movie not just another martial art or action film could be consider to put some western pop culture. This is not only reduce the language boundry, but also bring up some new element to the film. 3.3 Cultural cross-over movieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Even Stephen Chowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gain a hugh success from western market. There is still some movie fans not quite fancy foreign film. Especially the film is based on chinese language. According to producer Terence Chang à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A lot of Hong Kong films have things that I think American audiences canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t accept.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? D. Bordwell (P.19 ,2000) In 1998, Jackie Chan finally arrived to Hollywood. Chanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? series become at Rank #1 at the North American box-office with a weekend gross of $33 million in September 1998 (figure on Appendix -1) Which is unexpected result for foreign film. I would say the Martial Art combine buddy movie opened the gate for crossover film. The movie applied the buddy film style like the hollywood film normally use. In Rush Hour, it is about a Chinese inspector and American detective. The character James Carter (Chris Tucker) keeps the American comedy element in the film, and Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) remain his action scenes throughout the movie. I think the audiences have never seen the buddy film like this before which bring a lot of new visual elements to them. However, Jackie Chan reveal on his official blog that he didnt really like the film and he felt very disappointed. Chan Said, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand the American humor.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Which I consider the film might suitable for western audiences rather than local audiences. In à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? series, there are a lot of jokes which based on minority racial stereotypes in Amer ican society. I think that makes the film easier to get accepted by majority white audiences. The two character portray totally different personality. Carter portray as a loud, speak with high pitch, impulsive, childish Black man who often causing trouble, Lee is a respectful Asian man who good at Kung Fu. According to King (2002) points out that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"reduce any threat created by the spectacle of a seemingly dominating Black characterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (p. 149).These features of both characters become likeable for the western audiences. In Bar fighting scene, Lee says à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Whats up my Niggerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? to the bartender because Carter said that to the African customer. But Lee doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand the wordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Niggerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is a racist word to African. I think the director uses quite a lot this kind of jokes in the film to reflect the culture differences from society. In contrast with Jackie Chanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s earlier Hong Kong action movie. He represented as a masculinity and tough character most of the time. But in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rush Hourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, character Lee who always wanted help the FBI to solve the case. And the FBI try to use character Carter to send Lee away. Altough White Character involved small role in this film. I think the director still want White character to portray as important position in the film. 3.4 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Crouching Tiger was very well received in the Western world, however Crouching Tiger was widely dismissed as just another wuxia film among many others in asia.) Chapter 4 Research Methodology 4.1 Chapter introduction The purpose of the primary research provide the basic level of understanding for the researcher. I will use questionnaire during the primary research. The questionnaire will be conducted ten questions which indicate the western audiences interest on crossover film. The result will indicate the future trends for crossover film. This chapter will be described how the methodology adopt and analysis research question. Furthermore, this chapter is going to explain the research design, research location, sampling design and data collection process, survey instrument, and ethical issue. 4.2 Research processes Primary research: Survey ÃÆ'  Questionnaire by Student/Internet users ÃÆ'  Collect from: Northampton/ linking the questionnaire on facebook ÃÆ'  Analyze results In primary research, it will be carry out a questionnaire research. According to Ticehurst, Gregory W (2000: P.135) defined a questionnaire survey is the way to collect information from individual by using a set of question. Therefore, I believe the first to do is focus on what type of information and respondent are looking for. Then start to think about an appropriate questions for the research. The primary research will only take 10% part of this dissertation. The reason is I am hoping to get about medium size of response rate from that. Here is the brief descript type of questionnaire survey will be use: Type of questionnaire Cost Length of questionnaire Response rate Street/University/Internet Low Short Medium 4.3 Research Location The questionnaire survey is taken place from the three locations in Northampton which are the Abbeyfield school , Northampton town center and University of Northampton. The reason of chosen these place to research because it can save time to traveling different places which far way from Northampton. Further more, it can widely spread collecting the data over the internet. 4.4 Survey Instrument Development The questionnaire (Appendix). There are 3 parts of the questionnaire. The first part is about personal information such as age, gender. this is designed to collect the demographic data of the respondents. Then, the second part is about the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s knowledge on crossover film. That is to collect the information about how much respondent know about crossover film. Finally, the third part is about respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest on crossover film. And that is designed to what sort element the respondent like so I can provide the recommendation for the future crossover film. 4.5 Ethic Issue in Research The protection for the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s information is one of the most important thing in the research. In à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Doing your research projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, According to the Judith Bell (2005: 51) the researcher can follow two things to maintain the respondentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s right when they carry out a research. 1.) Keep the participant innominate. 2.) Treat all the information as confidential file which from the respondent. However, My questionnaire is based on personal opinion rather than personal details. Therefore, I suppose my research will not meet any ethical issue. Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1 The future for the crossover film 5.2 Conclusion Appendix Part -1 Rush Hour Domestic Total Gross: $141,186,864 Distributor: New Line Release Date: September 18, 1998 Genre: Action Comedy Runtime: 1 hrs. 37 min. MPAA Rating: PG-13 Production Budget: $33 million 1998 Date (click to view chart) Rank Weekend Gross % Change Theaters Change / Avg. Gross-to-Date Week # Sep 18à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"20 1 $33,001,803 2,638 $12,510 $33,001,803 1 Sep 25à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"27 1 $21,202,929 -35.8% 2,643 +5 $8,022 $64,037,138 2 Oct 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"4 3 $14,492,122 -31.7% 2,701 +58 $5,365 $84,014,663 3 Oct 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"11 2 $11,105,465 -23.4% 2,701 $4,111 $98,382,886 4 Oct 16à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"18 4 $8,247,411 -25.7% 2,724 +23 $3,027 $109,911,590 5 Oct 23à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"25 6 $5,860,347 -28.9% 2,602 -122 $2,252 $117,284,969 6 Oct 30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nov 1 6 $3,799,380 -35.2% 2,402 -200 $1,581 $122,428,446 7 Nov 6à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"8 10 $3,322,424 -12.6% 2,043 -359 $1,626 $127,044,896 8 Nov 13à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"15 11 $1,866,524 -43.8% 1,615 -428 $1,155 $129,829,673 9 Sources from: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rushhour.htm Part -2 I am a student from University of Northampton. I am going to conduct a survey about the Crossover film that made in Hong Kong. I would be grateful if you could finish this questionnaire. Your honest view is taken with highly to appreciate. All the information in the questionnaire will be kept confidential for analysis only. Thank you very much. (Please tick the appropriate box) Gender à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Male à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Female Age à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 15 ~ 25 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 25 ~ 35 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 35~ 45 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ 45 ~ above Do you know any of these asian movie stars from below? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Jackie Chan à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Bruce Lee à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Jet Li à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Stephen Chow à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Andy Lau à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Tony Leung à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Other ________________ Have you ever watched any other films that has been made in Hong Kong? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Not sure if the film is made in Hong Kong 5. How often do you watch Hong Kong movies? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Daily à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Weekly à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Monthly à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Occasionally 6. Do you think Hong Kong movies representing martial arts? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ Not sure Do you understand what the story is about when you watch crossover films? If the film is using original Chinese language, just subtitles. (such as these films for example) Shaolin soccer, kung fu hustle, Internal affairs, In the mood for love à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡No 8. Do you prefer to see the actor you familiar with from Hong Kong movie? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡ No What sort of things do you expect to see when you watch a Hong Kong movie? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Kung Fu fighting à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Action movie star à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Local culture à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Comedy Would you recommend friends to watch film that made in Hong Kong? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡Yes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ ¡No

Coyote Blue Chapter 18~19

CHAPTER 18 Shadowphobia Saturday morning Josh Spagnola was sleeping in and dreaming of putting shampoo into bunnies' eyes when the Harley-Davidson crashed through his front door carrying a 270-pound, pissed-off, speed-crazed biker named Tinker. With the crash and thunder of the bike in his living room, Spagnola sat up in his nest of satin sheets thinking earthquake, listening for the sounds of his burglar alarms, which did not come. Spagnola's house was wired six ways to stop an elegant picklock or spry cutpurse from entering by stealth, sneak, or cat's-paw; he had, in fact, protected himself against someone exactly like himself. That anyone would break in on a battering ram of Milwaukee iron, in broad daylight, had never occurred to him. Tinker, on the other hand, took the words breaking and entering quite literally, and found entering a rather empty experience without substantial breaking. He carried on his belt a policeman's riot baton, a blackjack, two hunting knives, and a set of brass knuckles. In a rare moment of sanity he had left his guns at home. His lawyer had advised against guns while on probation. Tinker had received an early-morning call from Lonnie Ray, one of his brothers in the Guild. â€Å"You want him dead?† Tinker had asked Lonnie. â€Å"No, just fuck him up. And don't wear your colors. I don't want any connection to me.† â€Å"Is he big?† Tinker had a deep-seated fear of someday meeting someone as large and violent as himself. â€Å"I don't know. Just wait until I call. You'll see the black Mercedes.† â€Å"You got it, bro,† Tinker said, and hung up. Tinker tried to wait for Lonnie's call, but he'd been up all night cooking up a batch of methedrine in the Guild's lab, and had lost his patience after sampling the product in order to take the edge off the case of beer he'd drunk. At daybreak his bloodlust got the better of him and he left. In the bedroom, hearing a Harley do burnouts on his Berber carpet, Spagnola finally realized that something was seriously wrong. He leapt from bed and began searching through a trail of clothes he had left last night on the way to bed with the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday masseuse from the Cliffs. He remembered kicking his gun belt away from the bedroom door when he sent her home at midnight and scrambled to the door. He was bending to unholster the gun when Tinker kicked the door open, catching Spagnola square in the forehead, knocking him cold. Tinker looked down at the naked, unconscious little man and let out a sigh. The absence of terror was wildly unsatisfying for him. As a gesture of brotherhood to Lonnie he pulled the baton from his belt and with two vicious blows broke both of Spagnola's legs, then he sulked out of the bedroom, mounted his bike, and rode to the Guild's clubhouse to watch Saturday-morning cartoons. -=*=- Sam awoke to Yiffer yelling, â€Å"Get down! Don't let them see you!† Sam looked around the room. Calliope and Grubb were gone. He got up and reached for his watch on the dresser while shouts and whispers continued from the living room. Six in the morning. It must have gone on all night: the shouting, the pounding, the babies crying. He was lucky to have slept at all. He dressed and walked into the living room. â€Å"Get down,† Yiffer said. â€Å"Don't let them see you.† Sam dropped to a crouch in the doorway. Nina and Calliope were huddled under the front windows holding the babies. Yiffer was crouched by the door that led to the balcony. He rose up to peek out the window, then instantly dropped to cover. â€Å"What is it?† Sam said. â€Å"Is someone shooting?† Nina said, â€Å"No, it's the garage sale people. Stay down.† â€Å"Good morning,† Calliope said. â€Å"Did you sleep well?† â€Å"Fine. Who are the garage sale people?† â€Å"They're fucking predators,† Yiffer said. â€Å"They keep circling like sharks. Look.† Yiffer gestured to the window. Sam duck-walked to the window and peeked over the edge. Dodge Darts and Ford Escorts were cruising slowly by, stopping in front of the house, then moving slowly on. Nina said, â€Å"Yiffer put the ad in the paper for our yard sale with the wrong date. They're all looking for us.† â€Å"Five of them have been to the door already,† Yiffer said. â€Å"Whatever you do, don't answer it. They'll tear us apart.† â€Å"Probably ten of them went to Lonnie's door and left when he didn't answer,† Calliope said. â€Å"What happened with Lonnie?† Sam said. Yiffer rose up and peeked out the window. â€Å"Christ! There's a whole van full of them outside.† He dropped to a sitting position, his back to the door. To Sam he said, â€Å"Lonnie didn't answer when I went down there last night. As soon as he heard me come back upstairs he got on his bike and left.† Nina said, â€Å"How long are they going to circle? I have to go to work today.† â€Å"They're never going to leave,† Yiffer wailed hopelessly. â€Å"They're going to just wait and pick us off one by one. We're doomed. We're doomed.† Nina slapped Yiffer across the face. â€Å"Get a grip.† Sam could think of only one thing, the cigarettes on the seat of his car. He had gone sixteen hours without a smoke and was feeling as if he would snap like Yiffer in a few minutes if he didn't get some nicotine into his system. â€Å"I'm going out there,† he said. He felt like John Wayne – before the lung cancer. â€Å"No, dude. Don't do it,† Yiffer pleaded. â€Å"I'm going.† Sam stood up and Yiffer covered his head as if expecting an explosion. Sam picked up Grubb's plastic donut on wheels. â€Å"Can I borrow this?† â€Å"Sure,† Calliope said. â€Å"Are you coming back?† Sam paused for a minute, then smiled and took her hand. â€Å"Definitely,† he said. â€Å"I just need to take a shower and handle a few things. I'll call you, okay?† Calliope nodded. â€Å"You'll never see him alive again,† Yiffer whined. Nina looked up apologetically. â€Å"He had a lot to drink last night. I'm sorry if our fighting disturbed you.† â€Å"No problem,† Sam said. â€Å"Nice meeting you both.† He turned and walked through the kitchen and out the door. As he went down the steps, the van that Yiffer had spotted screeched to a halt in front of the duplex and a dozen gray-haired ladies piled out and rushed him. They met at the bottom of the steps. â€Å"Where's the sale?† one said. â€Å"This is the right address. We checked it twice.† â€Å"Where's the bargains? The ad said bargains.† Sam held the plastic donut up before them. â€Å"This is it, ladies. I'm sorry, but everything was gone but this when I got here. We were all too late. The quick and the dead, you know.† A collective moan came from the mob, then one shouted, â€Å"I'll give you ten bucks for it!† â€Å"Twelve!† another shouted. â€Å"Twelve fifty.† Sam gestured for them to be quiet. â€Å"No, I need this,† he said solemnly. He hugged the donut to his chest. Their purpose gone, they milled around for a moment, then gradually wandered back to the van. Sam stood for a moment watching them. The other garage sale people who had been circling the block saw them leaving, and Sam could almost feel the disappointment settling into their collective consciousness as they broke pattern and drove off. â€Å"Great night,† Coyote said. Sam's nerves had been so worn from the night and morning that he didn't even jump at the voice by his ear. He looked over his shoulder to see Coyote in his black buckskins and a huge, white ten-gallon cowboy hat. â€Å"Nice hat,† Sam said. â€Å"I'm in disguise.† â€Å"Swell,† Sam said. â€Å"I can't get rid of you, can I?† â€Å"Can you wipe off your shadow?† â€Å"That's what I thought,†. Sam said. â€Å"Let's go.† -=*=- The shogun of the Big Sky Samurai Golf Course and Hot Springs was worried. His name was Kiro Yashamoto. He was driving his wife and two children in a rented Jeep station wagon up a winding mountain road to look at an ancient Indian medicine wheel. The day before, Kiro had purchased two thousand acres of land (with hot springs and trout stream) near Livingston, Montana, for roughly the price he would have paid for a studio apartment in Tokyo. The deal did not worry him; after the golf course and health club were built he would recoup his investment in a year from the droves of Japanese tourists who would come there. His children worried him. During this trip Kiro's son, Tommy, who was fourteen, and his daughter, Michiko, who was twelve, had both decided that they wanted to attend American universities and live in the United States. Tommy wanted to run General Motors and Michiko wanted to be a patent attorney. As he drove, Kiro listened to his children discussing their plans in English; they paused only when Kiro pointed out some natural wonder, at which time they would dutifully acknowledge the interruption before returning to their conversation. It had been the same at the Custer Battlefield, the Grand Canyon, and even Disneyland, where the children marveled at the machinations of commerce and missed those of magic. My children are monsters, Kiro thought. And I am responsible. Perhaps if I had read them the haikus of Basho when they were little instead of that American manifesto of high-pressure sales, Green Eggs and Ham†¦ Kiro steered the jeep around a long gradual curve that rounded the peak of the mountain and the medicine wheel came into view: huge stones formed spokes almost two hundred feet long. In the center of the wheel a tattered figure lay prostrate in the dirt. â€Å"Look, father,† Michiko said. â€Å"They have hired an Indian to take tickets and he has fallen asleep on the job.† Kiro got out of the Jeep and walked cautiously toward the center of the wheel. He'd learned a lesson in caution when Tommy had nearly been trampled in Yellowstone National Park while trying to videotape a herd of buffalo. Tommy and Michiko ran to their father's side while Mrs. Yashamoto stayed in the car and checked off the medicine wheel on the itinerary and maps. Tommy panned the camcorder as he walked. â€Å"It's just rocks, Father.† â€Å"So is the Zen garden at Kyoto just rocks.† â€Å"But you could make a wheel of rocks at your golf course and people wouldn't have to drive up here to see them. You could hire a Japanese to take tickets so you wouldn't lose revenue.† They reached the Indian and Tommy put the camcorder on the macro setting for a close-up. â€Å"Look, he has fallen asleep with his face on the ground.† Kiro bent and felt the Indian's neck for a pulse. â€Å"Michiko, bring water from the Jeep. Tommy, put down that camera and help me turn this man over. He is sick.† They turned the Indian over and cradled his head on Kiro's rolled-up jacket. He found a beaded wallet in the Indian's overalls and handed it to Tommy. â€Å"Look for medical information.† Michiko returned with a bottle of Evian water and handed it to her father. â€Å"Mother says that we should leave him here and go get help. She is worried about a lawsuit for improper care.† Kiro waved his daughter away and held the water to the Indian's lips. â€Å"This man will not live if we leave him now.† Tommy pulled a square of paper from the beaded wallet. He unfolded it and his face lit up. â€Å"Father, this Indian has a personal letter from Lee Iacocca, the president of Chrysler.† â€Å"Tommy, please look for medical information.† â€Å"His name is Pokey Medicine Wing. Listen: ‘Dear Mr. Medicine Wing: ‘Thank you for your recent suggestion for the naming of our new line of light trucks. It is true that we have had great success with our Dakota line of trucks, as well as the Cherokee, Comanche, and Apache lines of our Jeep/Eagle division, but after investigation by our marketing department we have found that the word Crow has a negative connotation with the car-buying public. We also found that the word Absarokee was too difficult to pronounce and Children of the Large-Beaked Bird was too long and somewhat inappropriate for the name of a truck. ‘In answer to your question, we are not aware of any royalties paid to the Navaho tribe by the Mazda Corporation for the use of their name, and we do not pay royalties to the Comanche, Cherokee, or Apache tribes, as these words are registered trademarks of the Jeep Corporation. ‘While your proposed boycott of Chrysler products by the Crow tribe and other Native Americans saddens us deeply, research has determined that they do not represent a large enough demographic to affect our profits. ‘Please accept the enclosed blanket in thanks for bringing this matter to our attention. ‘Sincerely, Lee Iacocca ‘CEO, Chrysler Corporation. â€Å" Kiro said, â€Å"Tommy, put down the letter and help me sit him up so he can drink.† Tommy said, â€Å"If he knows Lee Iacocca he will be good to have as a contact, Father.† â€Å"Not if he dies.† â€Å"Oh, right.† Tommy dropped to his knees and helped Kiro lift Pokey to a sitting position. Kiro held the bottle to Pokey's lips and the old man's eyes opened as he drank. After a few swallows he pushed the bottle away and looked up at Tommy. â€Å"I burned the blanket,† he said. â€Å"Smallpox.† Then he passed out. CHAPTER 19 Five Faces of Coyote Blue Ever since the morning Adeline Eats had found the frost-covered liar in the grass behind Wiley's Food and Gas there had been a screech owl sitting atop the power pole in front of her house, sitting there like feathered trouble. In addition, Black Cloud Follows had blown a water pump, all of her kids were coming down with the flu, her husband, Milo, had gone off to a peyote ceremony, and she was trying desperately to stay out of Hell. It was unfair, she thought, that her new faith was being tested before the paint was even dry. She wanted the owl to go away and take her bad luck with it. But to a good Christian, an owl was just an owl. Only a traditional Crow believed in the bad luck of owls. A good Christian would just go out there and shoo that old owl away. Of course, it wouldn't bother a good Christian. Adeline had come to Christianity the same way she had come to sex and smoking: through peer pressure. Thinking about her six kids and her smoker's hack, she wondered if perhaps peer pressure didn't always lead to the best habits. Her sisters had all converted and they had referred to her as the heathen of the family until she caved in and accepted Christ. Now, only three weeks after being washed in the blood of the Lamb, she was already backsliding like a dog surprised down a skunk hole. The owl. Adeline looked out the front window to check on the owl; he was still there. Had he winked at her? She had pinned up her hair and was wearing sunglasses and a pair of Milo's overalls, hoping the owl wouldn't recognize her until she figured out what to do. She was tempted to pray to Jesus to make the owl go away, but if she did that, she would be admitting that she believed in the old ways and she'd go to Hell. There was no Hell in the old ways. Then again, she could load up Milo's shotgun, walk out in the yard, and turn that old owl into pink mist. She couldn't see herself doing that either – no telling what kind of trouble that would unleash. And she couldn't wait for Milo and ask him for help: not after weeks of working on him to leave the Native American church and trade in his peyote buttons for wafers and wine. She ducked away from the window. One of the kids coughed in the other room. Eventually she was going to have to take them down to the clinic for treatment. But she was afraid to pass by the owl. According to the priest, God knew everything. The sunglasses and hairdo wouldn't fool God. God knew she was afraid, so He knew she still had faith in the old ways, so she was going to Hell as sure as if she'd been out all morning worshiping golden calves and graven images. â€Å"I got bad medicine from being Crow,† she thought. â€Å"And I'm going to Hell for being Christian. I should have let that old liar Pokey freeze to death.† She slapped herself on the forehead. â€Å"Damn! Another Hell thought.† -=*=- A nun with an Uzi popped up on the parapet of Notre Dame like a ninja penguin. Coyote shot from the hip, winging her before she could fire. She tumbled over the side, bounced off a gargoyle, and splattered on the sidewalk below. A synthesized Gregorian chant began to play as her spirit rose to heaven, a steel ruler in hand. Coyote strafed a stained-glass window and took out a bazooka-wielding bishop for two thousand penance points. Sam walked into the bedroom, hair wet, a towel wrapped around his hips. â€Å"Nice shot,† Sam said. Coyote glanced up from the video game. â€Å"The red ones have killed me three times.† â€Å"Those are cardinals. You have to hit them twice to kill them. Wait until you get to the Vatican level. The pope has guilt-beam vision.† Before Coyote could look back to the screen the cathedral doors flew open and St. Patrick fired a wiggling salvo of heat-seeking vipers. â€Å"Hit your smart bomb,† Sam said. Coyote fumbled with the control, but was too late. A snake latched onto his leg and exploded. The screen flashed GAME OVER, and a synthesized voice instructed Coyote to â€Å"go to confession.† Coyote dropped the control onto the bed with a sigh. Sam said, â€Å"You did good. Gunning for Nuns is a hard game for beginners.† â€Å"I should have brought some cheating medicine. My cheating medicine never fails.† â€Å"This isn't like the hand game. This is a game of skill.† â€Å"Who needs skill when you can have luck?† Sam shook his head and turned to go back to the bathroom. During the night something inside him had changed. Each time he thought things had reached a plateau of weirdness, something even weirder had happened. The result, he realized, was that he was now accepting anything that happened, no matter how weird, without resistance. Chaos was the new order in his life. The phone rang and Sam, hoping it was Calliope, grabbed the receiver off the vanity. â€Å"Samuel Hunter,† he said. â€Å"You low-life, scum-sucking shithead!† â€Å"Good morning to you too, Josh.† â€Å"You win, dickhead. There'll be a meeting of the co-op association tonight. They'll vote you back in. You can keep your apartment, but I want your guarantee that this is over.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"I hope you know I've lost all respect for you as a professional, Sam. The doctor says I'm going to walk with a limp for the rest of my life.† â€Å"There was a crooked man who had a crooked-â€Å" â€Å"You broke my legs! My house is destroyed.† Sam peeked into the bedroom where Coyote was attacking the Sistine Chapel with a helicopter gunship. â€Å"Josh, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm glad you came to your senses.† â€Å"Fuck you. I'm using up years of collected dirt to get your apartment back.† â€Å"Townhouse,† Sam corrected. â€Å"Not apartment.† â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Sam. I'm in a cast up to my nipples and a sadistic nurse has been force-feeding me green Jell-O for an hour. Just tell me it's over.† â€Å"It's over,† Sam said. The phone clicked. Sam walked back into the bedroom. â€Å"What did you do to Spagnola?† Coyote was rolling on the bed in exaggerated body English to tilt the gunship. â€Å"These birds are eating my tail rotor. I can't control it.† â€Å"Uh-oh, St. Francis released the doves of death. You're dead meat.† Sam took a cigarette from the pack on the dresser and offered one to Coyote. â€Å"What did you do to Spagnola?† â€Å"You said you wanted your old life back.† â€Å"So you broke Spagnola's legs?† â€Å"It was a trick.† â€Å"You can't just go around breaking people's legs like some Mafioso fairy godmother.† The gunship spun out of control and crashed on the mezzanine. Coyote threw the joystick at the screen and turned to Sam. â€Å"How can I win if you keep talking to me? You whine like an old woman. I got you your house back!† â€Å"I wouldn't have lost it if you had left me alone. Be logical.† â€Å"What gods do you know that are logical? Name two.† â€Å"Never mind,† Sam said. He went to the closet and pulled his clothing out for the day. Coyote said, â€Å"Do you have a light?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"No? After I stole fire from the sun and gave it to your people?† â€Å"Why, Coyote? Why did you do that?† Sam turned to point out the lighter on the dresser, but the trickster was gone. -=*=- Calliope's upbringing in the Eastern religions, with their emphasis on living in the now – of acting, not thinking – had left her totally unprepared to do battle with the future. She'd tried to ignore it, even after Grubb was born, but it had become more and more difficult to function on karmic autopilot. Now, Sam had entered her life and she felt like she had something to lose. The future had a name. She wondered what she had done to manifest the curse of a nice guy. â€Å"It feels wonderful, but I want more,† Calliope said. â€Å"I don't get it,† Nina said. They were cleaning up the kitchen. Grubb was scooting around on the linoleum at their feet, tasting the baseboards, a table leg, a slow-moving bug. â€Å"I've always felt separate from men, even during sex. It's like there's this part of me that watches them and I'm not really involved. But it wasn't that way with Sam. It was like we were really together, no barriers. I wasn't watching him, I was with him. When we were finished I lay there watching the pulse on his neck, and it was like we had gone to some other world together. I wanted more.† â€Å"So you're saying you're a hosebeast.† â€Å"Not like that. It was just that I want to feel that way all the time. I want my whole life to feel – complete.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Calliope, I don't get it. I'm happy if Yiffer doesn't pass out before we finish.† â€Å"I guess it's not a sexual thing. It's a spiritual thing. Like there's a part of life that I can touch but I can't live in.† â€Å"Maybe we just need to find a house where your ex doesn't live downstairs.† â€Å"That was pretty awful. I couldn't believe Sam didn't just leave.† Nina threw a dish towel at Calliope and missed. â€Å"You had a little good luck for a change, accept it. Not every guy has to be a creep like Lonnie.† â€Å"I'm a little afraid to leave Grubb with him when I go to work today.† â€Å"Lonnie won't hurt Grubb. He was just pissed that you were with someone else. Men are like that. Even when they don't want you, they don't want anyone else to have you.† â€Å"Nina, do you think there's something wrong with me?† â€Å"No, you're just not very good at worrying. You'll get the hang of it.† -=*=- â€Å"I've got to get back to the house,† Lonnie said to Cheryl, who was pouring peroxide on his damaged chest. She wiped away the foam with a tissue, then poked the wound with a broken black fingernail. â€Å"Ouch! What are you doing, bitch?† Cheryl got up from the bed and pulled on a pair of leather pants. Lonnie could see her hipbones and shoulder blades pushing against her pale skin as if they would poke through any second. â€Å"You're always thinking of her. Never me. What the hell is wrong with me?† She turned to face him and he stared at her breasts lying like flaps against her ribs. She pulled back her lips in a snarl and Lonnie knew his face had betrayed him. â€Å"Fucking asshole,† she said, pulling on a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt. â€Å"It's not her, it's the kid. He's my kid. I have to watch him when she goes to work.† â€Å"Bullshit. Then why won't you fuck me?† She tossed her head and her long black hair fell into her face like seaweed on the drowned. Because you look like you just escaped from fucking Auschwitz, Lonnie thought. He'd been with Cheryl for three months and had never seen her eat. As far as he could figure she lived on speed, come, and Pepsi. He said, â€Å"I worry about the kid.† â€Å"Then get custody. I can take care of him. I'd make a good mother.† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"You don't think so? You think that vegetarian bitch is a better mother than me?† â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You start treating me right or I'm gone.† Cheryl took a purse from the floor and began digging in it. â€Å"Where the fuck is my stash?† She threw the purse aside and stormed out of the room. Lonnie followed her, carrying the denim vest sporting the Guild's colors. â€Å"I've got to go,† he said. Cheryl was dumping a bindle of white powder into a can of Pepsi. â€Å"Bring back some crank,† she said. As Lonnie walked out she added, â€Å"Tink called while you were sleeping. He said to tell you he took care of things.† Outside Lonnie fired up his Harley and pulled out into the street. Tinker's news should have cheered him up, but it didn't. He felt empty, like he needed to get fucked up. He always felt that way lately. At one time being a brother in the Guild, being accepted for who he was, had been enough. Having all the women and drugs and money and power he needed had been enough. But since Grubb was born he felt like he was supposed to be doing something, and he didn't know what it was. Maybe the bitch is right, he thought. As long as the kid tied him to Calliope he was going to feel shitty. It was time to feel good again. -=*=- Frank Cochran, the cofounder of Motion Marine, Inc., had spent most of the morning in his office milling over the bane of his existence: the human factor. Frank loved organization, routine, and predictability. He liked his life to be linear, moving forward from event to event without the nasty backtracking caused by surprises. The human factor was his name for the variable of unpredictability that was added to the equation of life by human beings. Today, the human factor was represented by his partner, Jim Cable, who was in the hospital after being attacked by an Indian. Frank's thinking went thus: If Jim dies there'll be insurance hassles, legal battles with the family, and someone will have to comfort Jim's mistress. But if Jim lives – maybe Jim's mistress should be comforted anyway†¦. His train of thought was broken by the buzz of the intercom on his desk. â€Å"Mr. Cochran,† his secretary said, â€Å"there's a man from NARC here to see you.† â€Å"I don't have any appointments until after lunch, do I?† The office door burst open and Cochran looked up to see an Indian in black buckskins striding toward him. His secretary was shouting protests from her desk. Cochran spoke into the intercom, â€Å"Stella, do I have an appointment with this man?† â€Å"Native American Reform Coalition,† Coyote said. â€Å"I understand that some insurance agent is taking credit for what happened to your partner.† Cochran had a very bad feeling about this. â€Å"Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't like surprises.† â€Å"Then this is going to be a very bad day for you.† Coyote slammed the door behind him. â€Å"A very bad day.† The trickster extended his right hand. â€Å"Nice to meet you.† Cochran watched in horror as the Indian's hand began to sprout fur and claws.

Is Management an Art or Science? Essay

Management is a set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. A manager is someone whose primary responsibility is to carry out the management process within an organization. The effective practice of management requires a synthesis of science and art; that is, a blend of rational objectivity and intuitive insight. Good management is a mixture of art and science. Managing is working with and through other people to accomplish the objectives of both the organizations and its members. Management is both art and science. It is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you. The science is in how you do that. There are four basic pillars, plan, organize, direct, and monitor. Most managers attain their skills and positions through a combination of education and experience. Management is science but whenever and wherever one is dealing with human beings one can not expect same behavior, reaction or same outcome in a given situation, therefore the science of management is to be applied and utilized in most artful manner to achieve best results. It can be said with fair amount of certainty that a good manager is the one, who is also a good public relation man and does apply the science of management in a fashion whereby giving human factor prime importance. It is proven that a manager’s job is naturally multifarious, a reasonable question relates to whether management is a science or an art. In fact, effective management is a blend of both science and art. And successful executives recognize the importance of combining both the science and the art of management as they practice their craft. Many management problems and issues can be approached in ways that are rational, logical, objective, and systematic. Managers can gather data, facts, and objective information. They can use quantitative models and decision-making techniques to arrive at correct decisions. And they need to take such a scientific approach to solving problems whenever possible,  especially when they are dealing with relative routine and straightforward issues. Technical and diagnostic skills are especially important when practicing the science of management. All said and done still science of management is not the kind of science where you mix two parts of Hydrogen and one part Oxygen and you get water, but it is the kind of science where you adapt and adjust management techniques according to circumstances and different scenarios. Even though managers may try to be scientific as much as possible, they must often make decisions and solve problems on the basis of intuition, experience, instinct, personal insights and on compassionate grounds. Relying heavily on conceptual and interpersonal skills for example, a manager may have to decide between multiple courses of action that look equally attractive. Solving unusual and non-routine problems almost certainly requires an element of intuition, emotions and personal insight. Although science of management provides valuable information on how to manage human resources effectively to get optimal results but still it is not possible to, or can be counter productive, if the management techniques are applied without giving due consideration to different situations and varied human behaviors. In short a successful manger is the one who uses science of management in an artful manner and get best possible results.

Cbt And Narrative Therapy For My Client s Post Traumatic...

Introduction Throughout the semester, we analyzed two very different treatment modalities of therapeutic interventions. These methods were Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Narrative Therapy. The framework and strategy behind each of these concepts could benefit a particular client depending on diagnosis and various other factors. Moreover, in some instances, a combination of both therapeutic interventions may be most constructive. In this paper, I will introduce my client and provide details of his life history in order to explore his clinical diagnoses and examine how his presenting issues are affecting his day to day functioning. I will evaluate CBT and narrative therapy models to determine what approach would be most productive to use in therapeutic sessions with this client. I will explore what researchers have discovered about CBT and narrative therapy in regards to the efficiency of treatment for my client’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis. I will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both therapies and choose the therapeutic approach that is substantiated by research for the best possible outcome for my client. Upon completion of this evaluation, I will examine my own cultural power and privilege relative to this individual and reflect on my professional strengths and limitations in using the selected therapeutic framework. Client and Problem Description My client is fifteen year old. He is a Hispanic male. He has been involved with theShow MoreRelatedBefivfbowbofboip11296 Words   |  6 Pages 1) Identify what additional information you would need to begin treatment with this client? One of the most important aspects of counseling is to learn how your client copes with their struggles. I found that this was not covered in the â€Å"Karen† intake. If I were to go back and complete an assessment with her, I would most definitely cover this topic in further detail, specifically with her traumatic event with her own personal experience with her car accident as well as losing her fatherRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )2731 Words   |  11 Pagesnot understand the effects of war and mental illness nor how to treat it. In this paper, I will discuss the history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), explain the diagnostic description, and describe etiology and treatment for PTSD. History of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and War Although not recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), symptoms of this disorder have been noted throughout the centuries. Not only has it been known by several names, but has also repeatedly been misunderstoodRead MoreCognitive Behavioural Therapy for Ptsd9239 Words   |  37 PagesBehavioural and related Therapies for the Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Abstract In this paper the therapies related to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) will be studied in order to determine the applicability thereof for the treatment (and prevention) of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD will be summarised as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders edition 4 with revisions (DSM-IV-TR). The therapy models, their theory andRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 PagesCOGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR OCD This page intentionally left blank COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR OCD DAVID A. CLARK THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London  © 2004 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com All rights reserved Paperback edition 2007 Except as noted, no part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical