Onstage with Stephen Chow

Last night I was privileged to handle the Q&A session with Stephen Chow and Xu Jiao after GR's private advance screening of CJ7--a family flick with heart, an alien dog, and some kung fu. The session lasted around 30 minutes and was a lot of fun. After I warmed up with a few questions, we opened it up to the crowd and there were very few lame queries. Even those were met with honest and respectful responses. Not only was Stephen Chow his usual kind, thoughtful self, but Xu Jiao turned out to have detailed, charming, and funny answers, as well! (A lot of cute child actors can be cloying and Xu is not even close to being one of them.)


This is what the stage looked like from my folding chair. The dude on the right is translator Michael Berry. He also translates and writes books. You can tell he takes his job seriously because he takes notes and provides lengthy answers--not like those lazy hacks who will reduce an emotional 2-minute answer into "yes" or "no." A real pro, and a real nice guy.


I took this photo and showed it to Jiao after I noticed her squinting and struggling to see past the stage lights. The crowd consisted of roughly 400 GR readers, staffers, loungers, and friends. Just about every seat was packed; the first two rows were merely added for spillover. After the Q&A, we held a raffle to (1) reward the audience that came out and (2) allow Chow to get away without being mobbed. Highlights included Eric throwing T-shirts into the crowd and three lucky winners picking up CJ7 plushes signed by the filmmaker.


This is Judy, the BK PR ace who made the screening possible in conjunction with Sony Pictures Classics. She was a pleasure to work with, and also helped us arrange a lengthy, one-on-one interview with Chow for our magazine (most journalists had to settle for roundtables). Judy knows what she's doing.


I didn't have time to say hi to everyone I knew in the crowd, but I couldn't miss Luis and Oscar, hardcore readers who attend every GR event. I see these brothers everywhere, and I appreciate their loyalty, energy, and outstanding taste.


Jennifer works at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and took a day off to drive down to L.A. with her roommate to attend the event. If she called in sick, I hope I'm not getting her busted by posting this photo.


Even better were our friends who brought their kids. (Parents, too.) CJ7 is Stephen Chow's first family film, and he did an amazing job by not only retaining but growing his comic and artistic style while crafting entertainment that generations of moviegoers can enjoy. The crowd laughed, cried, and bonded–and will hopefully drag their friends to see it again when it opens on March 7 in LA and NYC.


Sometime around God of Cookery or King of Comedy, Stephen Chow made the jump from incredibly likable, funny, and gifted actor to world-class filmmaker with a unique vision. His current run of movies is as consistent, stylized, and personal as the canons of Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, or Wong Kar-Wai are. There are so many crummy movies out in the multiplexes--especially when it comes to family fare--and it's an honor for us to help expose a brilliant filmmaker like Chow and an excellent movie like CJ7.