Years ago when Discovery Kids was for kids, and it was on Channel 84 or something, there was a show called Ghostwriter, which told the story of a bunch of kids — I thought they were old kids back then LOL — that solved mysteries with the help of some type of ghost that could only communicate through writing.
Funny thing is, I saw it dubbed in Spanish… so watching it in English was a different experience.
As you can see, the first season has just been released on DVD. So why hasn’t The Adventures of Shirley Holmes been released yet? I demand it!
I have just gone through the first chapter, titled Ghost Story, which in itself contains like 5 episodes of nearly 30min. It was a bizarre experience… remembering what it was about, but then listening to the English. For once, I never knew Alex and Gabby (#1, who was a better Gabby anyway) talked Spanish… I mean, Spanglish at home. Never crossed my mind, because to me… they always spoke Spanish. LOL
While watching it, I also felt this would be a great series to revamp. Even though I am so very against remaking things, I think Ghostwriter would be pretty awesome in a new version… with slightly less 90′s Ghostwriter graphics, and much more natural dialog. Plus, nothing wrong with remaking educational programs, right? But then again, this is not a money-maker, so people aren’t interested in a revamp.
This show hasn’t age as well as Shirley Holmes has, but granted… Shirley is like 5 years ahead of Ghostwriter, and has a different budget, and it isn’t supposed to be educational.
Akiba Fest is today. Never been to it, I guess there will be loads of otakus there. xD
Today, had to attend the press conference for it… ooh, fancy~ Patricia Acevedo (the Latin American voice of Lisa Simpson, Lady Oscar, and Chichi from Dragon Ball), as well as Laura Torres… who is the only dubbing actress I ever recognize on tv merits only, because she is the voice of Daria… as well as Gabrielle on Xena, and I grew up with that dubbing… and then I heard her as Catherine Willows on CSI. Trippy. Then I found out she’s also been Goku when he was a kid, as well as Gohan and Goten… plus, Tommy Pickles from Rugrats, and Shippo on Inuyasha. I’m pretty sure she’s done Happy Feet too. LOL
Please, if you haven’t seen The Host (Gwoemul) — not the Twilight series writer one — and are thinking of watching, watching it subtitled and not dubbed. PLEASE.
Don’t believe me? This is why~
Sure, that scene is supposed to be funny… but that dubbing is HORRIBLE.
Rosen: There are not many Chinese films in the US, and the few Chinese films that are available in the US were directed by famous directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, and so on. There are several types of Chinese films that have played here.
Martial arts films are one type, such as Hero (Yingxiong) by Zhang Yimou and The Promise (Wuji) by Chen Kaige. The other type would be art films, such as those by Jia Zhangke, but these only get a limited release.
However, most Chinese films will never be shown in theaters here, because I think there simply isn’t enough of an audience for them. This is also true for most foreign language films. They are more likely to appear on DVD than to be shown in theaters.
Up to now, the most successful Chinese film has been Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu Canglong), the second most successful was Hero, and then Fearless (Huo Yuanjia).
The most successful Chinese films at the box office in the West have all been martial arts films, where language is less important than the action on the screen.
These are some of my comments,
Instead of Rosen suggesting China focus on big historical blockbuster to compete with Hollywood films, he should have only suggested “you should dub your films in English” – I mean, even great films produced and directed by American fave Clint Eastwood suffered from the “why no dub version” threads online.
What I would like to see is more Chinese films (and over all Asian films) being distributed more in cinemas… in my country. LOL The last Chinese film released here was Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower. AGES ago. So if China wants to have more distribution of their films, they could use their own embassies and consulates around the world to actually screen films locally, instead of the Beijing Screening for international distributors.
I bet most distributors watch them, like them but see no market for them unless they have action sequences. So in the end those distribution screenings are for nothing. China should take distribution of their films in their own hands, I’m sure a lot of people would go to the movies instead of watching online (at least many of you) if the films you want to watch are available locally.
Like I’ve said, I’m not trying to be biased, since I do watch films made in America. But if you take a look at what a Blockbuster is in America, which they are discussing in the interview, films like Transformers 2 and Twilight made big bucks. China’s productions just wonder how they can get that many people to watch their films… and not only martial art films, but other types of films too.
The fact is many foreign films don’t get wide releases because they aren’t mass-appealing (worldwide), most markets just are filled with a lot of crappy American films, and I’m not talking about District 9 or Up… but with things like Transformers 2 and All About Steve or any Jennifer Aniston rom-com. While crappy foreign films (because everyone has their crappy films) can’t even make it outside their country.
The other question is… why does Hollywood remake My Sassy Girl, when My Sassy Girl is a fine film. Why can’t they just release it with subtitles. What does China need to get a film like Internal Affairs in theaters in America, instead of getting The Departed winning Best Film at the Oscar?
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