Jean-Claude Van Johnson: A Little Conversation About Trust

January 27, 2018 12:46 PM - Season 1, Episode 3

Filip reels from revelations about his future self and is given an opportunity for new employment. JCVD is surprised by a change in casting. Gunnar is surprised by the perfection of a new scene. Luis makes a choice to get involved. Are we rolling?

Will Filip eventually think Looper is a better movie than Time Cop?
Is JCVD's nose really that much larger and flatter?
Why would the greatest actor of all time kill all my friends?
What is the important thing now?
Is this the last of Victor?
Are we rolling? Are we rolling? Can we f*cking roll?
How many times will Gunnar vape?
Did D Camera go easy enough on the shake?
If the Emu farm isn't in Bali... where is it?
Why is Jane heading to Bulgaria?
How is JC doing in the the dailies?
Have you read the IMDB Cast page yet?

Movies Mentioned: Timecop (and Looper... but that features Bruce Willis... so...)
Still no additions to the split count.
Bonus: Timecop poster at Filip's House

posted by Nanukthedog (4 comments total)

The whole riverboat scene was incredible on how absurd it is: Van Damme is legit killing goons left and right, Luis guts another one with a plastic fork (maybe the power was all in the cape?), there are unscripted weapons on the stage, but Gunnar just rolls with it and the only one that sees the carnage it's his assistant.

If the N-Word Jim subplot was an interesting ankle-deep dive into how to treat problematic characters from vintage media, the payoff was also interesting: how tentpole producers shoehorn asian actors into movies just to please financiers and/or to make it more marketable in China.

Poor Filip.



Also, I think I need to see Timecop now.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:29 PM on January 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

Full disclosure:
I saw Timecop as part of a sneak preview before the theatrical release. Not because I was into JCVD... but because I knew that someday I would be into JCVJ...

That... or that it was a $2.00 social activity in college...
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:58 PM on January 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

re: Asian Actors - totally, and there's a payoff later too!

A lot of days I feel like the assistant/ script supervisor.

There's so much to love about this episode. The identification sketch of Filip was hilarious; the best bit was the hand drawn poster of 'Double Impact' next to the 'Timecop' poster. The "ink on my finger" gag when Filip has a facial mole.

"Don't touch me!"
"It's fine. I'm not actually a Timecop."

I really like the transition between post-production-ed looking film scenes and 'real life' scenes.

This is a bit of a faint praise/ self depreciation commentary on how JCVD always had been a better fighter than he ever was an actor. Going to have to go rewatch 'Bloodsport' now.
posted by porpoise at 7:04 PM on January 27, 2018

Damn, JC was so young in 'Bloodsport' (1988) (and HK rather quaint).

Also, this is one of very few films that has actual footage from the Kowloon Walled City.
posted by porpoise at 10:08 AM on January 28, 2018