The vast, empty plains of Inner Mongolia were an amazing sight, but Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, found something even more startling during a recent business trip to the region.
"Hawaii Five-0."
People there are obsessed with the popular TV show and watch it online, he said. The land of Genghis Khan — and too many meals of cold, boiled mutton — may be a remote section of China, but it’s on the grid.
"I watched herds of wild cattle go across endless terrain and I am on my phone," Boller said. "We would go into a yurt village and I had Internet access."
Although the population speaks mostly Chinese, there are no subtitles for "Five-0," Boller said.
None of the Mongolians seems to care, though. The fact that Hawaii fills their screens is almost all that matters.
"It’s their concept of paradise," Boller said. "That’s the power of ‘Hawaii Five-0.’"
Well, if the Mongolians enjoy the scenery that much, they might also want to download the music and put a little aloha in the yurt.
Recordings by Hawaii musicians John Cruz and Jake Shimabukuro are part of a special soundtrack for the second season of "Five-0" that will go on sale Tuesday at Amazon.com and in local stores, too.
The collection includes a previously unreleased track by Bob Dylan that was recorded in the early 1980s, tracks by Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley, Switchfoot, The Swell Season, Train and the Goo Goo Dolls and the first commercial release of the show’s revamped main theme. It also includes a tune by Corinne Bailey Rae that was used in the first season. Most are new.
Shimabukuro performs a piece called "Ukulele Five-0." Cruz performs the slack-key standard "Hi‘ilawe," which was made famous by Gabby Pahinui.
Cruz was selected after the show’s music supervisor saw him perform last summer at the Kauai Music Festival.
"I think it’s really kind of cool that they chose ‘Hi‘ilawe.’" Cruz said. "It’s the only Hawaiian language song. This is ‘Hawaii Five-0′ so there should at least be one."
Although CBS gave fans two extra episodes in the first season of "Five-0," the network has ordered only a traditional 22-episode season for the show’s sophomore year.
After waiting a year since filming finished on "Madison County," Joanna Sotomura is about to have her feature film debut at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival on Oct. 17 at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
The 2005 ‘Iolani graduate from Hawaii Kai plays Brooke, one of five college students investigating murders in a rural community. They wind up being chased by an ax-wielding killer wearing a pig’s head. The characters were the attraction, Sotomura said.
"They weren’t caricatures of people who were going to get maimed," she said. "They weren’t your generic jock, cheerleader and dork who go into the woods and get murdered. They were people with legitimate backstories."
Screamfest should help "Madison County" get into theaters — maybe even here. Since the festival formed in 2001, the majority of the films that it has screened have received distribution deals.
And that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
