The Glorious Day Has Arrived

Fellow citizens, rejoice!

Today is the day Shaolin Soccer opens wide in the U.S.

The critics love it. I saw the Hong Kong DVD (thanks, Will!) and laughed my freaking ass off. You will love it too.


Comments

Sandy

April 23, 2004
3:17 pm

Hmm…only one theater in the DC area? Not exactly “wide” release.
What are these studios thinking?
Any word on whether it’s been cut?

Jason Lefkowitz

April 23, 2004
3:28 pm

“Wide release” is what they call it when they go beyond a limited NY/LA release. Even if it’s only playing in one art house in each city, it’s still playing in each city, hence “wide”. There are lots of films that never go beyond NY/LA, so I guess we should be thankful for what we get…
As for the cut, Elvis Mitchell spoke to that in the NYT review ( http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/02/movies/02SOCC.html?ex=1112418000&en=1a00f1920b2bbc82&ei=5083&partner=USERLAND ):
” ‘Soccer’ was released in Hong Kong in 2001, and was available on DVD until nearly a year ago. Miramax bought it, tricked it up with new, simplified subtitles and scissored nearly half an hour of jagged subplots and brawling that might have compromised a get-’em-into-the-tent PG-13. To compensate, new music and English-language signs and graphics have been added, so the film seems to take place in an even odder world than most Hong Kong action epics.”
There was a cut they showed at film festivals a while back that was pretty poorly received, but that was a different cut than this is.