His name synonymous with martial arts, SF-born Bruce Lee inspired a generation of fans with his physical strength and control, an his mysterious death left them both haunted and heartbroken. But for director Justin Lin, Lee’s legacy has fostered an unexpectedly comedic opportunity—one that’s explored in the form of the mockumentary Finishing the Game.
Born in 1973 (the year Lee died, at the age of 32), Lin grew up in Southern California knowing the martial artist as both a celebrated paradigm and the source of a stereotype. “He was a sexy, empowering role model for a young Asian American,” Lin says, “but all the other kids would do the Yell and expect me to know kung fu.”
Lin remembers seeing Game of Death, Lee’s last, unfinished movie, and being confused by the body doubles that tookover after Lee died. “I was pretty young, but it was still obvious that there was this other guy walking around, this guy that wasn’t Bruce Lee. I became intrigued by that ‘other guy.’” A quarter century later, audiences at festivals across the nation (including SF’s International Asian American Film Festival) laughed as they watched studio execs in Finishing the Game search for Lee’s replacement in a sea of inappropriate, wildly unqualified, polyester-clad candidates. Thanks to the success of those screenings, Lin’s film is coming to a theater near you this October.
Finishing the Game is filled with sociopolitical truths, industry satire,groovy hairstyles and over-the-top characters (all of whom, Lin emphasizes, are entirely fictional). Though firmly rooted in the kitschy ’70s, the film’s themes—Hollywood and the seemingly outrageous laws that govern it—could easily show up on Entourage. Oakland’s own MC Hammer, without whom, Lin says, none of his films would exist, makes a hilarious cameo as a cartoonish agent. (The story of their friendship is too good to make up—just out of UCLA’s film school, Lin struck up a conversation with Hammer at a trade show in Las Vegas, and Hammer gave Lin his card with the invitation to “call some time.” Three years later, Lin, who was six figures in debt, didn’t know where to turn for the money to finish his first, and eventually breakthrough, indie film, Better Luck Tomorrow. His eye fell on Hammer’s card, and he realized it was indeed Hammer time.)
Other notable appearances include a cameo by porn titan Ron Jeremy, a mustachioed James Franco as the star of a cop TV show and a naïve youth portrayed with earnest hilarity by Sung Kang. There is someone who is conspicuous in his absence, though. “You never see Bruce Lee in Finishing the Game,” Lin says, “but his presence is everywhere.”
Finishing the Game opens in San Francisco theaters on Oct. 19.
PREMIERES
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The San Francisco Bicycle Film Festival returns to SF, bringing with it a critical mass of films about our favorite vehicle. Check out Klunkerz—a history of the mountain-biking movement originating in Marin—and Bikecar, the story of four adventurers who traveled across the Pacific Northwest in a strange (spoiler alert!) car-shaped contraption composed of bicycle parts. Sept. 19–22; bicyclefilmfestival.com |
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Directed by SF’s own Sean Penn, Into the Wild stars Emile Hirsch as a youth who braves the backwoods of Alaska. Based on the book by Jon Krakauer, the film brings us face-to-face with the romance and danger of man’s relationship with nature.
In theaters Sept. 21. |
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In this screen adaptation of California transplant Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel The Kite Runner, a young man flees his war-torn homeland of Afghanistan but is compelled by duty and honor to return. Marc Forster (Stranger than Fiction) directs.
In theaters Nov. 2. |
 |
Jeroen Berkven’s A Skin Too Few will, without question, be a highlight of this year’s 60-films-strong SF DocFest. The artfully shot feature focuses on musician Nick Drake, whose too-short life left us with three albums as bittersweet as the documentary itself. Sept. 28–Oct. 10; sfindie.com |
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Amid the international spectrum (50 countries) represented at the 30th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival, Bay Area filmmakers Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori will screen their sexually charged feature Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm. It’s a documentary about the vibrator, the Big O and, naturally, the Big Three: sex, power and deceit. Oct. 4–14; mvff.com |
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| Credits (TOP TO BOTTOM): JT Fountain; Chuck Zlotnick; Phil Bray; courtesy of Docfest; courtesy of MVFF |
His name synonymous with martial arts, SF-born Bruce Lee inspired a generation of fans with his physical strength and control, an his mysterious death left them both haunted and heartbroken. But for director Justin Lin, Lee’s legacy has fostered an unexpectedly comedic opportunity—one that’s explored in the form of the mockumentary Finishing the Game.
Born in 1973 (the year Lee died, at the age of 32), Lin grew up in Southern California knowing the martial artist as both a celebrated paradigm and the source of a stereotype. “He was a sexy, empowering role model for a young Asian American,” Lin says, “but all the other kids would do the Yell and expect me to know kung fu.”
Lin remembers seeing Game of Death, Lee’s last, unfinished movie, and being confused by the body doubles that tookover after Lee died. “I was pretty young, but it was still obvious that there was this other guy walking around, this guy that wasn’t Bruce Lee. I became intrigued by that ‘other guy.’” A quarter century later, audiences at festivals across the nation (including SF’s International Asian American Film Festival) laughed as they watched studio execs in Finishing the Game search for Lee’s replacement in a sea of inappropriate, wildly unqualified, polyester-clad candidates. Thanks to the success of those screenings, Lin’s film is coming to a theater near you this October.
Finishing the Game is filled with sociopolitical truths, industry satire,groovy hairstyles and over-the-top characters (all of whom, Lin emphasizes, are entirely fictional). Though firmly rooted in the kitschy ’70s, the film’s themes—Hollywood and the seemingly outrageous laws that govern it—could easily show up on Entourage. Oakland’s own MC Hammer, without whom, Lin says, none of his films would exist, makes a hilarious cameo as a cartoonish agent. (The story of their friendship is too good to make up—just out of UCLA’s film school, Lin struck up a conversation with Hammer at a trade show in Las Vegas, and Hammer gave Lin his card with the invitation to “call some time.” Three years later, Lin, who was six figures in debt, didn’t know where to turn for the money to finish his first, and eventually breakthrough, indie film, Better Luck Tomorrow. His eye fell on Hammer’s card, and he realized it was indeed Hammer time.)
Other notable appearances include a cameo by porn titan Ron Jeremy, a mustachioed James Franco as the star of a cop TV show and a naïve youth portrayed with earnest hilarity by Sung Kang. There is someone who is conspicuous in his absence, though. “You never see Bruce Lee in Finishing the Game,” Lin says, “but his presence is everywhere.”
Finishing the Game opens in San Francisco theaters on Oct. 19.
PREMIERES
|
The San Francisco Bicycle Film Festival returns to SF, bringing with it a critical mass of films about our favorite vehicle. Check out Klunkerz—a history of the mountain-biking movement originating in Marin—and Bikecar, the story of four adventurers who traveled across the Pacific Northwest in a strange (spoiler alert!) car-shaped contraption composed of bicycle parts. Sept. 19–22; bicyclefilmfestival.com |
|
Directed by SF’s own Sean Penn, Into the Wild stars Emile Hirsch as a youth who braves the backwoods of Alaska. Based on the book by Jon Krakauer, the film brings us face-to-face with the romance and danger of man’s relationship with nature.
In theaters Sept. 21. |
|
In this screen adaptation of California transplant Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel The Kite Runner, a young man flees his war-torn homeland of Afghanistan but is compelled by duty and honor to return. Marc Forster (Stranger than Fiction) directs.
In theaters Nov. 2. |
|
Jeroen Berkven’s A Skin Too Few will, without question, be a highlight of this year’s 60-films-strong SF DocFest. The artfully shot feature focuses on musician Nick Drake, whose too-short life left us with three albums as bittersweet as the documentary itself. Sept. 28–Oct. 10; sfindie.com |
|
Amid the international spectrum (50 countries) represented at the 30th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival, Bay Area filmmakers Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori will screen their sexually charged feature Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm. It’s a documentary about the vibrator, the Big O and, naturally, the Big Three: sex, power and deceit. Oct. 4–14; mvff.com |
|
| Credits (TOP TO BOTTOM): JT Fountain; Chuck Zlotnick; Phil Bray; courtesy of Docfest; courtesy of MVFF |
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