"Year of the Yao" Advance Screening: Who wants to go? (UPDATE: Filled)

Err... did those confirmation e-mails go out yet? 'Cause I didn't get one.

 

"The Year of the Yao" Trailers

Check it out. The Year of the Yao

Man, I wish I would have the chance to see the movie!

 

YAO was not the first Chinese NBA player. Wang Zhi-Zhi was.

 

Very apparent that whomever wrote this article either has little/no interest in the NBA and the Rockets, or simply hasn't done his homework to know the facts.

MSNBC is on quiet a roll here, I am getting more impressed by the day

 

And Mengke Bateer was the first chinese player to win a championship in the NBA.

 

Not me...this movie has cheese written all over it, i'll wait for it to come out on TBS in 6 months.

 

Yeah, but it says the NBA's first chinese player.

 

I noticed that later last night and felt stupid

 

Its a freakin documentary film, not an Oscar winning movie. You go watch and enjoy it for what it is...a film that ducument Yao's transition from China to the NBA. Good stuff to see if you're a Rocket or Yao fan. If I remember correctly, you the one that always say bad thing about the Rockets. Seriously have you said anything posive at all since you joined?

 

Can't wait for the reviews. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm sure it will delight Yao fans around the globe and make a pretty penny in the process. Enjoy your "documentary".

 

Did you even read what noize said? This has nothing to do with what is or isn't a documentary. Yet you try to degrade the film by implying it's devalued because of the money making leverage the film has. So what?

Nozie's point was to take the film purely for enjoyment of it; mostly entertainment value and some educational aspects in regards to Yao. Or maybe some people wont, but rather enjoy watching films about Yao. So what, again?

Your last statement, "Enjoy your documentary" is really meant to imply, "Don't enjoy it because I wont (because *real* documentaries are "serious!").

Whatever...

 

Thank you! About time you said something positive. Here, have a cookie...

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/entertainment/3133052


Yao documents Ming's larger than life rookie year

By BRUCE WESTBROOK
Houston Chronicle

Colin Pine understood that being an interpreter for Yao Ming was a job, not a career. As Yao hones his English, Pine's third year at his side could be his last.
But given the bond between Pine and Yao, it's hard to imagine them separated — especially after seeing The Year of the Yao, a documentary on the Houston Rockets center's first NBA year.

Opening in Houston Friday and nationwide April 29, The Year of the Yao covers the culture shock, media glare and whirlwind of superstardom that engulfed Yao after he became the NBA's No. 1 draft pick in 2002.

It also becomes an old-style buddy picture, as trust and friendship grow between the 7-foot-6 Yao, whom some call "the gentle giant," and the 5-foot-9 1/2 Pine, whom some might call a bookish nerd.

For months they were inseparable, and at film's end Pine can hardly bear to leave as Yao waits for a flight home to China.

"Oh, God — the cheese level goes way up," says Pine, who's seen the film twice. "It's a little hard to watch."

But it's also rewarding.

"Yao has said, and I agree, that it's interesting to look back, because there was no time for reflection during that year. We were moving all the time. Now it's nice to reflect and to have that time of my life documented. It's like a good home movie."
Marvi Lacar: For the Chronicle
Nowadays, Yao Ming seldom speaks using his interpreter, Colin Pine, foreground. The Year of the Yao, a documentary about the Rockets star, follows these two around during Yao's rookie year.

That movie shows Yao and Pine in a vortex of fame and scrutiny almost evoking Beatlemania. They rush from planes to hotels to arenas to photo shoots. Even their rare free time — as when Yao shops for video games — becomes an event, with fans swirling around.

"Yao Ming isn't somebody who can hide," Pine says with a shrug.

Since a film crew was there, such scenes may seem like contrived photo ops. But Pine says most footage "is real."

"The shopping scene was set up, but it was what Yao wanted to do that day. Overall I think the film is an accurate reflection of what happened that year."

Pine said he had "an inkling" he'd be prominent in the film when producers asked him to do voice-over narration. Even so, its "focus on our friendship was a bit of a surprise."

A Maryland native who learned Mandarin while teaching English in Taipei, Taiwan, Pine lived with Yao and his parents at their West Houston home during Yao's rookie season.

"We were together all the time," he said. "That is not the case now. He's much more independent. But I think our friendship is just as strong."

Yao spoke "basic English" his first year but has vastly improved, Pine said.

"As his English has increased, the need for translation has decreased, and my role has changed. I'm now more of a buffer. And there'll always be times he doesn't feel comfortable expressing himself in English."

They normally speak English, but Yao still uses Mandarin to impart personal thoughts he'd rather not share with others, Pine said.

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"Is his English perfect? Certainly not," Pine said. "But Yao is a really bright guy and has become conversationally fluent."

Beyond tapping the translation skills he used while working for the State Department, Pine has had "a lot of hats to wear" with Yao, such as being his "guide to the culture."

Life in the NBA fast lane "has a decadence and materialism" unlike China's sense of selfless solidarity.

"You could make a case that the NBA is the antithesis of the Chinese cultural ideal. But I think the significant differences are national ones, between Chinese and American culture," said Pine. "The NBA only adds a level to that."

Just as the Rockets were lucky to land Yao, Pine feels Yao was lucky to land in Houston.

"It's the perfect place for Yao," he said. "It's a big city without being too urban and congested, and it has an international population, but not too much.

"San Francisco would have been difficult because the Asian community there is so big, and the attention would have been amplified. There's a large Chinese community in Houston, but not so large that it's overwhelming."

In the film, fans in China are seen watching Rockets games on TV, and sometimes they cheer for the team as much as their national hero.

"Through Yao, (Chinese) people have adopted the Rockets as their team," Pine said. "They start out cheering for Yao and then cheer for the Rockets. Basketball is a team sport. Cheering for one player gets boring after a while."

Beyond their Rockets duties, Pine, 31, and Yao, 24, still have dinners together and stay in touch by e-mail in the off-season. But their last two years together have been nothing like the first, when the American public was "transfixed by this 7-foot-6 Chinese guy playing in the NBA."

While Yao isn't quite as much a prisoner of fame now, "that'll always be there," Pine said.

In part, that may be why Pine stayed beside him this season.

"More than anything, I think it was Yao Ming's choice, for his level of comfort," Pine said. "But it was also my choice. "

Yao and Pine may go their separate ways, "but we will always be friends," Pine said. "That will never go away."

 

What?

I'm not degrading the film. I haven't seen it yet. Or read a review. I'm sure it will be packed with cute funny scenes about Yao's comical misadventures and mistranslations as a rookie in america and some neat highlights of his moves as well as stories of a young man growing up in China dreaming of playing in the NBA to bring honor to his home. I am sure it will talk about the nay-sayers (Barkley ass-kissing Kenny) and how Yao has proved them wrong in the end, and will have a happy ending.

Sure, it's a documentary. NBA Entertainment takes critical in-depth film making quite seriously I hear. This will certainly be an expose on how the Chinese used HGH to make Yao as tall as he is.

 

Your welcome...I was going to ask for a cookie