thomas4cinema

I frequently go back to the UME website – always nurturing the dire hope that there must be a day when more interesting produce than “Assembly” and “Warlords” hits Beijing’s big screens (I think I would physically give my left arm to see a non-censored version of “No Country for Old Men” on one of the Beijing big-ass multiplex screens – both arms for a double feature with “There will be blood”). During the comfort of the No-US-Movies moratorium that of course did not exist, the screens filled with some extravagant stuff (most if which was outright rubbish) and with a bit of threshold material, pretending not to be American (My Blueberry Pies, I think it was called).
Now I come back to see whether it’s better to go for the DVD collection on an uncomfortable Saturday afternoon, and here he is: Will Smith and the Film With the Spelling Mistake in The Title. I would have much preferred to see the IMAX version of I am Legend, of course, but this is not so much a film now, but more a light on the horizon, indicating the point has been made about the WTO and the Chinese film’s market share has been re-established (or maybe it’s a technicality and one of the producers had an English grandmother? Never mind, it’s the signal that counts!). At least this promises a couple of blockbusters in a decent technology setting. Get out the 3-D goggles, Beowulf can’t be far!
UPDATE 2008-01-20: The colleagues at www.Danwei.org point to recent schedules with quite a few US and other foreign movies waiting in line: “Doraemon (Japan, 01.24), Salir pitando (Spain, end of Jan), The Water Horse (US, 02.16), Atonement (UK, end of Feb), some Russia movie that I can’t find a translation for (end of Feb), and then in March, Golden Compass and National Treasure” linking to this Chinese source and to this slightly different Canadian one. Let’s sit and wait…