Be Water

[Drunk Monk]

Yay. I got to do another screener. But I can't tell you about it until next week when it comes out. 

I've got a phoner tomorrow with the director. And it's for a new platform, one that I really want to get in tight with, in hopes of selling some more freelance work. An old industry friend reached out to me offering the job, which was really nice. 

I threw out my cassette recorders cleaning my office last week, but the platform will provide transcription if I give them a digital file, which was trickier than I thought at first since iPhones won't record phone calls (how dumb is that?) But I've sorted a workaround and gave it a successful test run. 

The film is deep in my wheelhouse and I even got some BTS scandalous intel from one of my ninjas - not that I can use any of that but it's good to know. I did enjoy the screener and am getting Stacy to watch it to get a less biased opinion.

I've feeling a lot of pressure to knock this one out of the ballpark. I feel I have to prove myself again with the new platform. I feel I got this, but I also feel there's a lot at stake so I don't want to screw the pooch.

Wish me luck.

I'll change the title of this post when I'm released from the NDA.

[Greg]

Excellent!

[cranefly]

Just a thought.  When you rename this thread after you're released from the NDA, I'm thinking you should change it to the name of the movie.
Just a suggestion.

P.S. Exciting.  Wishing you the best.

[Greg]

I checked what movies are coming out this week to get a bead on the mysteries of DM.

I found nothing.

[Drunk Monk]

it's a streamer, obvs. 

and when you get that dm bead, please to share. i'd love to know myself...

[Drunk Monk]

I changed the title of NDA Screener to the actual title. It was for my DoG interview: http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...3#pid38563

The doc is okay. It doesn't reveal anything new really, and perpetuates a lot of myths about Lee. I liked its artistry in presentation for the most part, but found its harping on the Amer-azn aspect a bit overdone. I read some other interviews with the director Bao Nguyen, and he said the only azn on-screen character he remembered was Short Round. Really? For me it was Kung Fu movies, Kaiju movies and Mr. Sulu. I guess that dates us. It's timely however. The PBS American Asians series (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=5445) covered the same ground with Lee but in less than 10 mins. My Shaolin brother Matt Polly, who is now the Bruce expert after his biography, gave me a ton of backstory about the production, stuff I couldn't use. It became the Shannon Lee show, which I understand. It's impossible to access the estate without Shannon, and her dad died when she was only 4, so how much did she really know him? I've met her several times and even interviewed her, and you have to play to her in a certain way to get 'authorized'. 

The timing of the doc was good. I wish they had gone into the Hong Kong protests more than just that nod in the credits. That's a great part of the Be Water phenomenon, a missed opportunity, but perhaps he was too deep in post prod to include that more successfully. 

At the very least, I'm grateful that it opened a door for me to Den of Geek. They're having me pitch a few stories later this week. Wish me luck.

[Greg]

May the luck be with you.

[Greg]

I have seen it. It was a fine, serviceable documentary. I was thrown for a bit by Way of the Dragon until I remembered they had retitled it Return. I was surprised to see how close Lee's death and the release of Enter were to each other.

I hadn't seen most of the footage so that was good. I think the only piece I did recognize when he kicks out the lamp in Marlowe's office.

I thought they would talk more about how he died since all the mysteries seem to swirl around that and in light of the revelations from Polly's book, but they just sort of glossed over it.

Since, I had read Polly's book, there were no big revelations. It did help to put some faces to the stories.

[Drunk Monk]

It wasn't anything new for stalwart Bruce fans and it flew in the face of Matt's book. Ironically, it would not have been made without Matt's book. The original project was rejected years ago from the director. The director retooled it to be a cinematic version of Matt's book and resubmitted it. Contracts were signed. Then the director kissed up to Shannon and retold many versions of the story from her 'official' position. The director pillaged Matt's contacts for interviews. Matt was denied. His most startling revelations were omitted and old myths, like Bruce creating the Kung Fu TV show, were perpetuated. But there was that contract. In the end, Matt got an acknowledgement in the credits. 

If you want a chuckle, check out Matt's twitter when for the day it was broadcast. He gives a running begrudging commentary.

I was in contact with him throughout my review process. He told me stories I could not reprint. He understood I had to write neutrally to appease my new masters. It was awkward.

[Greg]

Ha! Filmmakers are the worst.

Update: I read Polly's tweets. I had the same thoughts about the girl that was with him when he died. Another gloss. He does promote the documentary. And he does get credit, which I was happy to see.

[Drunk Monk]

Yeah he promotes it but what can you do?

I’m always bummed when Bruce bios overlook his pot use.

Matt is working on another bio now

[Drunk Monk]

Today is Bruce Lee's 80th birthday so in celebration, there's a free screening of this doc at 5PM online, along with an interview with the director. 

https://story-spaces.com/events/be-water-6vmgve

[Greg]

One of the Showtime channels is doing a marathon of Bruce Lee docs.

[Greg]

You find Bruce Lee everywhere.



TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray first saw the trend of custom thigh pads spread through the NFL, he wasn't interested in being another player making a fashion statement.
He was a traditionalist of sorts, preferring the regular, plain, nondescript thigh pads that are a standard part of football uniforms and became required by the NFL in 2013.

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Then something changed in Murray.
"I decided to give it a shot," Murray said.
He reached out to Brian Gudalis -- the owner of treDCAL, the company that makes those custom thigh pads -- through Instagram and asked if he could get a pair. They talked through a few ideas and settled on three: the No. 1, Murray's personal "KM" logo and the face of Bruce Lee. The first two wouldn't be a problem to produce, but Gudalis knew Lee's image was going to be difficult to pull off. Complex images like that don't always show clear enough through football pants, Gudalis said, but he tried anyway. It worked. The image of Lee can be seen clearly through the Cardinals' white pants, giving Murray some of the most striking thigh pads in a league full of them.
"I think it's a dope idea," Murray said. "You look around the league, everybody has got different designs, whether it be their own or whatever. I think it's pretty cool."

[Greg]

1) Why isn't there just a Bruce Lee Forum?

2)