Saturday morning I saw The Foreigner. I don’t go to the movies often because that requires going outside and it’s scary out there in the day. At night, it’s dark and full of terrors. I thought it was a pretty fun movie overall but I can’t remember the last time I saw a Jackie Chan movie and didn’t like it.
It got me thinking about Jackie Chan movies, I’ve seen a bunch of his movies over the years and I love to see the outtakes. Shanghai Noon. Meals on Wheels. My Lucky Stars. Armor of the Gods. Shit, he’s got some good stuff.
Growing up, I knew I’d seen this movie with Jackie Chan where someone got stuck in quick sand, there was a bath scene with soap, and a floor sweeping scene. That’s all I had to work with. I’d googled it off and on over the years when it would come to me but any combination of “jackie+chan+quicksand” or “jackie+chan+soap” would come up empty. Then I’d forget about it until I watched another Jackie Chan movie or when driving or doing something else, it would randomly pop up in my head for some reason.
Until today.
Finally! It’s good to know that there’s vindication. That this movie actually exists. THAT IT STREAMS ON AMAZON PRIME!!
But also that I didn’t imagine it.
This movie has it all- crazy fight scenes, wall climbing, quicksand, comedy scenes, and that little bench they use to fight with. But the quicksand part was hilarious because 30-some-odd years later it provided for some sweet memes.
I watched this clip about how Jackie Chan frames his fights, and it talks about how he films his fights and how he sees things through the lens as opposed to other directors. Which got me thinking about my day to day framing from my POV. Namely, whenever I comment on something or make an observation I always think of it as being viewed by an audience on a screen. Which is weird because I don’t make movies or TV shows and never have. But maybe writing is the same way, you frame it how you want people to see it. Or Facebook. Instagram. That shit. How do you see things? I wonder if that plays out in your mind as well? When you’re recalling things from memory, is the way you think about things the way you play it back?
My friend David posted a meme once about quicksand and it struck a chord last year; it prompted a renewed search. Shit, I read some Jackie Chan related forums looking for this damned movie. CSI Bee I am not.
I wish I could say that I’ve ran into some quicksand in my travels but I can’t. Now I’ll never know if floating on your back and not panicking will save you from that.
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Aoi said, Omg I too, searched ” Jackie chan and quicksand” trying to find the name of the movie and was lead to your website. Thank you!!