One of my favourite things we ever published: @ianshade.bsky.social interviewing Chris Tucker about RUSH HOUR 3. Halfway through the interview, Tucker asks Ian if he's seen the movie, and Ian just can't bring himself to do the disingenuous junket banter anymore. filmfreakcentral.net/2007/08/unde...
— Bill Chambers (@flmfrkcentral.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 5:25 PM
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From 2007 (I've never seen any of the Rush Hours or X-Men The Last stand (which is also mentioned)):
Here, a brief pause leads the interview to take a more freeform turn that requires some explanation beyond a straight transcription. He very directly asks me: “Did you see the movie?” I explain that I’ve only seen a workprint. “What did you think?” At first, Tucker’s friendliness puts me on the defensive; I recoil with the old polite standby that it’s “got a lot of interesting things in it” and “gave us a lot to talk about,” but Tucker is listening intently, and I quickly find that I’m already pre-empting myself by explaining my discomfort with the film’s Ugly-Americanism. “Somebody else said that today, too,” he says. “So you didn’t think that was necessary.” No. I continue down a familiar path by pointing out the racial jokes throughout the series, particularly Rush Hour 3‘s gags about fried chicken and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. “See, that was all Brett. Yeah, it had a lot of stuff that, y’know, even I was like–” he emits a few sounds of reluctant disapproval. “But I understand, I understand totally… So you think it’s a little too racist?” I do.I go on to tell Tucker about my Ratnerthon, and how instances of racism and misogyny can be found throughout the director’s oeuvre. Tucker asks for a bit of clarification