Chungking Express Blu-Ray

It was exciting to see the anouncement that The Criterion Collection will be releasing Blu-Ray discs for the first time, beginning in November. I've actually been holding back in buying DVD's lately, waiting in limbo to see how this developed.

Among the first discs available is Wong Kar Wai's iconic 1994 film "Chungking Express." I'm excited to see this in HD, considering I was never able to catch it on the big screen. There look to be some interesting special features as well, including an interview with Wong and Chris Doyle.

Yet, one line of the description disturbed me a little:

New and improved English subtitle translation

The English subtitle translation, of course, is our gateway into the language of this film. Will it still be a very emotional towel? Will Cop 223 still ask Woman in Blonde Wig "Would you fancy some pineapple?" We'll have to wait and see.

Days of Being Wrinkle Free, Part V

There are three main challenges involved in completing Days of Being Wrinkle Free:

• Voiceover - The voiceover is intended to be in Chinese. This is the shared vision of Jeremy and I (and Tim Nm). In the Tim Nm film, it was never clear how he would achieve this voiceover. He was always more focused on his yellow subtitles than the logistics of performing and recording a Chinese voiceover. Jeremy at some point, with reasons grounded in Tim's psyche known only to him, determined that Tim would haved toughed it out and recorded the voiceover himself, no matter how poorly it turned out. Well, that was all well and good when DoBWF was a real ramshackle affair, but it's actually turned out to be a polished effort in the end, and it deserves a better (and less potentially insulting) voiceover.


• Sound - We shot the film with absolutely no regard for sound. In fact, Jeremy and I can be heard talking (sometimes debating) during the meat of many of the best shots. In a way, this is somewhat key to the film, because we were actively talking the character through many of the scenes. I guess we thought since the film would be told in voiceover, that we could just toss all of the audio. Even that isn't a great excuse, though, because there were three spoken lines in the film, and the audio on them is completely unacceptable.


• Score - After getting an original score done for Wildlifeless, is there any turning back? No pre-canned music is going to capture the feeling of this film, and no music would fit it's 8.5 minute run time, anyway.

Well, I'm very excited that we have pulled in some very talented people to address these needs:

• Voiceover - Wuzhi Lu will be doing our voiceover. He is a consumate professional with degrees in broadcasting and journalism, 16 years of experience, and completed work for Volvo, BMW, Intel, LG, Ford, GM, Heinken, Gucci, DuPont, the NBA, and Xbox. Wow! He is also a great fit to voice Captain.


• Sound - Alden Fahl is a rising star in the world of sound in Arizona filmmaking community, having recently completed work on The Governor, and comes highly recommended. He will be doing the foley and sound design, bringing the real life sounds of the laundromat to life.


• Score - Luca Antonini is back, having won Best Original Score at the Almost Famous Film Festival 2008 for his work on Wildlifeless. It's a joy to have him on board, and while we have worked with him before, his connection to this film was quite surprising. It turns out that he is a big fan of WKW's BMW Film The Follow. It goes without saying that this entire film is an homage to WKW, but beyond that "Unicornio," the song from The Follow, was top on my short list of musical inspirations for this film. When Luca and I realized this confluence of cirmcumstance, we knew it was meant to be.

There you go, three problems and three talented individuals to make it happen. This film is coming together fast. Film festivals, here we come! Now I have to figure out exactly what film festivals would be perfect for DoBWF.