[Weekly Update] I can't turn my neck

So, due to chronic stress and also sleeping weird, I managed to train my neck to or point where I have to move like Tim Burton's Batman, turning my whole body instead of my neck.

For this reason, progress has been slow. Luckily, there should be no delay for our next upload on April Fool's. But I'll be spending more time on the videos and be less active on social media for a few days.

CHANNEL UPDATE

We have a huge influx of new patrons! Thank you so much for your generous support!

Let's do some housekeeping first! If you'd like your name in the credit to be different than your user name on Patreon, please leave a comment or DM me.

Our next video is an April Fool's joke. As per channel tradition, it'll be about something our channel don't usually cover, but will still be somewhat educational. (Also, they always take way longer to produce than normal videos, that seems to be a tradition as well.)

Bonus video this month will be on the Goonies. It seems like a good time to revisit this film. Honestly, it aged way better than I expect for a mid-80s kid's action film. Give it a watch if you haven't!

We are still looking for film suggestions on two topics:

• Non-American films with American characters/stereotypes
• Interracial relationships in Non-American movies.

Finally, I decided to start working on a video covering the worst movies from around the world. But I gave up pretty quickly because those movies are unbelievably hard to find. I supposed it's a good thing I don't have to watch "Ah Girl Go Army", which no less than 15 viewers said it was the worst Singaporean movie ever made.

And that movie has a sequel, apparently.

MEDIA TALK

In our last video about desexualization of Asian men, I mentioned that a lot of Hong Kong actors with good looks (and good acting talent) didn't make it to Hollywood. Let's indulge in some fanciful thinking and imagine a world in which they did.

Of course, this is largely an exercise of moot point. With production and distribution cheaper than ever, cinema is now much more localized. And without the star system, Hollywood doesn't have the same level of prestige it used to have. American cinema is no longer the dominant forces it once was. Actors stepping into America doesn't feel like a career upgrade.

But if we have to bring an actor from East Asia into the game, I still think Hong Kong actors stand the best chance. Part of it is because the tie between Hollywood and Hong Kong still remains. The goodwill of yesteryears means that many of the old school actors still have some notoriety in the US.

I think the one actor that really should've make it across the pond is Andy Lau. Starring in Infernal Affair, which was popular enough to warrant a Hollywood remake, Andy Lau has the look and the acting skill to be a global star. Any day now, I can see him being invited over, the same way Tony Leung did for Shang-Chi.

A bit less likely is Stephen Chow. Chow demands a lot of creative control over his work, be it a role or an entire film. And he just isn't someone who can work with the Hollywood system. The only possible scenario in my head is if he's invited to direct or produce. But even then, I feel like he'd prefer to do his own thing on his own turf.

Mainland China actually has some actors who worked in Hollywood, but never became a star, like Zhang Ziyi (Memoir of a Geisha), Fan Bingbing (X-Men), and Jiang Wen (Rogue One). One old school star whom I'm surprised never acted in a Hollywood film, however, is Chen Daoming. The man is one of the top actors in China, and is somewhat well-known in the West for starring in Hero. The only reason I can think of is that he isn't interested. Which is fair.

But when I think of Mainland Chinese actors (and to some extend, Korean actors), my mind goes to the younger ones. And there is no way Hollywood would be interested in them outside of a few films that targets Chinese box office. Both industries experienced a cinema boom post-2000s, which explains why actors are either pretty old or really young.

Finally, let's talk about Japan, and there's one and only one actor I want to appear on more Hollywood movies. Technically, he did appear in Ghost in the Shell, but he didn't get to punch anyone.

Of course, I'm talking about the badass gangster cop, Takeshi Kitano. Dude defined genres for two whole decades of Japanese cinema. If you like the Yakuza games, you also have him to thanks. There is no other Japanese actor more deserving on an international spotlight in my opinion.

Oh and he's also a comedian, too. The Takeshi from "Takeshi's Castle"? That's him.

Anyway, that's my rambling update for this week. What are your favourite non-american actors whom you want to see in a Hollywood mega budget production?

I'll see you soon in a new video!