This is Stephen Chow’s Struggling Career Journey
Born in HongKong Pools on June 22, 1962, under the name Chow Sing-Chi, he had to live a bitter life as a child. Quoted from the page Dream.co.id, raised by his mother and grandmother through a foster program from the government after his parents divorced. His hobby is watching action movies as a child, one day leading him to become a big actor who had become his ideal.
Striving hard to tackle success in the cinema scene
Because he dreamed of becoming an action actor like his idol, Chow then pursued the wing Chun martial arts which is a branch of Chinese martial arts. Unfortunately, he never won a master’s degree when working on it. His first career began as a temporary actor in the early 1980s at TVB, at which time he graduated from acting class in 1982. the film Final Justice (1988) was a good start for Chow’s career in the film industry. At that time, pocketed the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Moving on in 1990, he was once again nominated for Hong Kong’s best actor in 1990 for the films “All for the Winner” and “Fight Back to School” in 1991. In a row, Chow won many Golden Horse Award nominations for best actor for the film “Justice, My Foot!” (1992), the best actor in the Hong Kong film Awaess for the film “Beijing with Love” (1994), and an “A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella” (1995).
Had accused the mafia and hijacked his films
His successful career as an actor made Chow interested in developing his talent behind the scenes as a director. He also successfully spawned his work entitled Shaolin Soccer which was released in Hong Kong in 2001 ago. Unfortunately, from this film, hard trials began to afflict him. Although the film Shaolin Soccer successfully penetrated Hollywood, the Miramax Studio broke the contract with him because of piracy.
Not just a matter of piracy, Chow was even barred from living in Canada because of allegations related to The Triad, a Hong Kong mafia gang. In fact, he wanted to go there so he could develop his career and produce quality films. Not breaking with the trials, then decided to make a film called Kungfu Hustle (2004), by cooperating with Sony Picture Classic to work together.
Success in producing quality films that make it rich
Unexpectedly, the Kung Fu Hustle film that tells the story of a young man who wanted to become a gangster turned out to be a huge success. With a budget of US $ 20 million (Rp. 278 billion), the film pocketed revenues of up to the US $ 102 million (Rp. 1,421 trillion). In fact, Chow himself pocketed revenues of the US $ 15 million (Rp 209,017 billion) in 2005.
Thanks to the film, Chow is now known as a versatile artist. Both as an actor and film director he sometimes plotted himself as the main character. Chow’s success continued with the film CJ7 (2018) which he starred as well as the director, there was also Dragonball Evolution (2009), where Chow was acting as a producer this time. It is not wrong if the Hong Kong press refers to him as “Comedy King” because the story of the film combines martial arts with jokes.
Behind his unique and entertaining films, Stephen Chow’s figure is a unique figure because he is also involved as an actor in his cinema. Not only as a director behind the scenes but also played as the main character. Hilarious behavior coupled with riveting storyline and martial arts action, his films successfully made those who grew up in the 90s and 2000s feel at home in front of the TV.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story Goes John Hughes
Mekado Murphy, writing at the New York Times‘ Arts Beat blog, has a short piece on the tribute to John Hughes’ seminal 1980s teen movie The Breakfast Club in Focus Features’ forthcoming It’s Kind of a Funny Story, written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden.
In an interview with Fleck and Boden elsewhere on the New York Times‘ website, Boden says:
I think both of us immediately saw in [It’s Kind of a Funny Story] some quality of the John Hughes movies that we grew up with that affected us so much and were so important in our teen years. […] I think we approached it more as the spirit of his films. We didn’t study them for form or content. We have a little Breakfast Club reference in the movie, a little homage, when they’re running around the hospital.
And, just to prove it, you can go to the Times website to compare and contrast clips from the two movies – enjoy!
Vanity Fair on Zach Galfianakis, Serious Actor
Over at Vanity Fair‘s website, John Lopez has a wrap-up piece on the recently-concluded Toronto International Film Festival, “When Comedians Stop Being Funny and Start Getting Real,” which looks at two films, It’s Kind of a Funny Story and Everything Must Go (starring Will Ferrell), in which well-known comic actors take on nuanced, serious roles.
Here’s an extract in which Lopez chronicles the history behind Galifianakis’ casting in Funny Story, and how writer-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden got past his wild and wacky comic persona to offer him the role of Bobby in their movie:
Galifianakis was a surprising choice to play the boy’s unlikely mentor, a fellow patient named Bobby. “We looked at The Hangover and thought, well, that’s great, it’s a funny movie, but we didn’t necessarily see Bobby in Zach,” according to Ryan Fleck. Still, at their producer Kevin Misher’s suggestion, Fleck and Bodensat down with Galifianakis and were more than pleasantly surprised. “He was such a warm charming dude whose smile lit up the room, through that beard, We were like, ‘Man, that’s something we hadn’t really seen him do before on camera.’ If he can take more elements of himself, the charming guy we met, and then combine them with the rough-around-the-edges dark character we’ve seen in his other roles, then this could be something really special.”
And that’s exactly what they got: Galifianakis is as zany as ever, but with a new pathos, vulnerability, and sweetness that calls to mind Harpo Marx in a moment of quiet retreat. Did the directors use some special trick to get this performance out of him? “I don’t think so,” says Fleck. “He wasn’t trying to be silly during the dramatic scenes. He knew what each scene was and what it required, and we just urged him to bring as much of his real personality into the role as he could.” Well then did Boden pull a fast one in the editing room? “I think that as an editor, I’m always looking for little quiet, silent moments, silent expressions that people have. I don’t think it’s different for Zach than anybody else.” At last, sensing our despair at learning the ultimate secret to turning a funny man sad, she mercifully elaborated: “I really love finding those quiet reactions or moments when an actor disengages from the dialogue for a second and goes inward, and I thought that was particularly helpful for Bobby because he’s kind of this character who’s pretty extroverted but then he has all this internal conflict…. You know, Zach gave those kinds of expressions even in the middle of something that might seem like a comedic scene or have a comedic tone.”
You can read more on the JALATOGEL website.
Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday Tags It’s Kind Of A Funny Story As The Film
Checking in from the Toronto Film Festival, The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday appraises Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s comedy It’s Kind of a Funny Story as a “little gem” that “could be the small movie to see this fall.” Her reasons why? “Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have exemplified a generation of young filmmakers whose spontaneous sense of narrative, intimate filming, and humanistic compassion have reinvigorated American movies.” Yet––and with all due respect to Ms. Hornaday’s kind sentiments––we hope that a cast like Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Keir Gilchrist, Lauren Graham, Viola Davis, Zoë Kravitz, and Aasif Mandvi will make it more than just a “little” gem.
Zach Galifianakis on Being A Sex Symbol
Another day, and another really funny Zach Galifianakis interview to share with you. In this one, he’s talking to Prairie Miller from the Long Island Press, and before they get to discussing Zach’s role in Focus Features’ forthcoming comedy It’s Kind of a Funny Story, the conversation turns to him becoming a Hollywood sex symbol.
Here’s the way that part of their chat played out:
Q: You’ve been getting into some romantic situations on screen lately, however strange they may be. Do you see yourself becoming a sex symbol down the road somewhere?
ZG: Ha! No, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. Wait a minute, what romantic things have I been doing? You must be getting me confused with Denzel Washington! But no, I don’t think there’s a big market for bear erotica! You know how a lot of actors end up fat and bearded? I’m going the reverse route. I’m going to lose the beard and lose a bunch of weight. Then maybe, hopefully, I can be considered for the romantic lead. But those parts are so boring. That kind of stuff just doesn’t interest me. The poor actors are always so bland. I don’t think I have to worry about it!
You can read more about Zach being a bear and acting in It’s Kind of a Funny Story on the Long Island Press
Emma Roberts Talks Funny Story With Jimmy Fallon
Last night, It’s Kind of a Funny Story star Emma Roberts was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and talked with the actor-comedian host about her new film, also starring Zach Galifianakis and Keir Gilchrist, which is now in theaters everywhere.
You can watch their conversation below. here
Los Angeles Times On Funny Story’s Writer-Director Team
In yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, reporter Steven Zeitchik wrote “A Funny Story About Two Directors,” a smart, insightful piece on Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, who share writer-director credits on Focus Features’ new comedy It’s Kind of a Funny Story, in theaters everywhere now.
A lot of the focus of Zeitchik’s article is on how in tune Fleck and Boden are with each other, after knowing each other for over a decade and working together on three features, plus a handful of shorts. (“After a take, we typically wouldn’t need to consult each other. We’d just look at each other,” Fleck says in the interview.)
In the extract below, in which both Boden and Fleck share their thoughts on making a teen movie, you can see just how in sync they are with each other:
“I still feel like a teenager sometimes,” Boden says. “I still deal with so much of that vulnerability and self-consciousness that it didn’t feel that hard to do that.” She flows right from that thought, without missing a beat, to remind the waitress that she hadn’t brought Fleck’s order; Fleck, having forgotten he placed the order, thanks Boden and fluidly picks up where she left off.
“And I said let’s go back and make a movie about growing up that reminds us of John Hughes movies — not about the jock interacting with the nerds but about ‘My God, I’m living in a world where there’s two wars going on, my dad might lose his job at any moment and I have to get into a good school,'” Fleck said.
You can read the article in its entirety on the website.
Zach Galifianakis Interviews Bruce Willis, Poses in a Swimsuit
Zach Galifianakis may well be the busiest man in showbusiness: his Focus Features movie It’s Kind of a Funny Story is in theaters now, he has another comedy, Due Date, coming up next month, and he’s currently shooting The Hangover 2.
But that’s not all he’s been up to. Yesterday, Galifianakis unveiled the latest interview in his Between Two Ferns – a chat with Bruce Willis — and then unveiled a whole lot more in a swimsuit photo shoot for Vanity Fair that needs to be seen to be believed. (Zach gives those Sports Illustrated girls a run for their money!)
Check out the Bruce Willis interview below, and then head to the Vanity Fair website to see Zach frolicking on the beach.
