I was invited to the Gala Premiere of "XXX" yesterday night in the Grand Ocean Cinema in Ocean Terminal, TST.
I won't review the movie this time. There are plenty of reviews all over the web and a pretty cool official website at [url]sony.com/TripleX[/url]. Instead, let me tell you a bit about the HK premiere, as some of you might never have had the opportunity yet.
First, how do you get Premiere tickets?
Do you have a good friend working in the movie business or an affiliated company like an ad/PR agency, cinema, production house, distributor or newspaper/magazine?
Let him/her know what a movie buff you are, how much you enjoy new movies and how you'd be eternally grateful if he could just get you 1 or 2 of these free tickets... It works for me... sometimes...
The show must go on...
The PR agency for the movie distributor and AXN put on a good show for the premiere. There was a fun skateboarding performance by some locally hired talent in front of the cinema.
To enter the cinema through the reserved back entrance, you had to walking through a custom-built XXX tunnel made from backlit red plastic sheets, complete with fake fire pots and huge XXX stickers on the floor. This gives you a kind of red carpet-treatment feeling, incl. the jealous onlookers who couldn't get a ticket.
Inside you're greeted by staff all dressed in XXX T-shirts, some with walkie-talkies, assisting people in getting to their free seating.
Where are the celebrities?
Lots of movie people in the audience, stylish, trying to look soooo cool, even a few Vin Diesel-lookalikes and wannabes. Plus a few minor local celebrities from local TV. But you have to be a local Chinese to recognise these minor celebrities...
I love freebies!
On each seat there was a freebie pack with movie-related merchandise! Everybody got:
- pitch black T-shirt (M-size only. Who wants mine?) with the striking fire-red XXX logo,
- notebook from the sponsor and "publicity partner" AXN,
- glittery tatoo sticker,
- and a small condom (HK-size).
Yes, it was cool, some amazing James Bond-style special effects, slick production, hard rock soundtrack, beautiful Prague scenery, fast-paced action, crazy stunts, gadgets galore, ultra-high energy, plus self-ironic humor and a comic relief sidekick. Like Vin Diesel's former movie "Fast & Furious" on steroids (same director).
Never mind Vin Diesel confusing acting with trying to look cool & macho, the story holes and believability gaps - just suspend your disbelief, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride! We'll see more of "Vin Diesel - new breed of secret agent", in the years to come...
Check him out, the movie starts in HK cinemas next Thursday.
Let's do another one of our popular polls...
