"I grew up watching Jackie Chan movies."
To a certain extent, I did. The first one was Drunnken Master, 醉拳, on TV when I was just into primary school. I loved it so much that when it showed again, my dad recorded it onto a VHS tape so I can watch it again and again. And I did.
Then came some of his earlier works, like 蛇形刁手 and those in the 80s, the early Police Story series, and he recorded those too.
At the time, Chinese KungFu movies revolved around big names like Bruce Lee, Jackie, Samo, Yuen Piao and others of Jackie's class. Well, mostly, the famous ones were by Bruce Lee, which were all serious and portrayed him as the undying hero. Jackie was totally different. Simple day-to-day objects used as weapons or obstacles to stop the enemies, funny moves, the agility of a monkey, new and amazing stunts etc... He was cool, and I watched every one of his movies, owned quite a few on VCDs too.
Well, things started to turn bad when he focused on making Hollywood movies. Rumble in the Bronx wasn't that good, A Nice Guy had a downright cheesy ending... Come to think of it, the only good thing he did in Hollywood is the first Rush Hour. Or maybe that's because of Chris Tucker. :)
The last 2 movies, Around the World in 80 Days, and Hong Kong-based New Police Story, are total disasters. The first was just a big lame joke with a lot of stars showing up in short cameo roles. The latter mixed in new blood from the Hong Kong film industry, had all of them acting so fakely westernized or trying to talk like blacks, and then the story had to put in supposedly romantic/touching stuff to make a decent action flick into a cheesy half-breed of an action film, chick flick and inspirational bullshit.
Some say that Jackie has done all the crazy stunts he could after all these years, and his advancing age if a factor forbidding him in trying out dangerous new stunts. One other thing that comes to mind is that with CG as it is nowadays, so much can be done with a computer, it's pretty dammned hard for most audience to differentiate what is real and what is not, on screen. Jackie's stunts have been touted as defying human abilities, but CG can do much better. Plus, after watching clips of extreme martial arts, Jackie Chan is not that awesome anymore. :P
Is it really the end for Jackie Chan?
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
rants on a few bad ones
Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
Seriously, this is worse than the first. The first one was at least a lil scary, and the plot twists, although too transparent, made things a lil more interesting. The sequel is basically just a linear story with no guess work needed.
There was nothing scary about it. As with the first one, the zombies could've looked more like zombies. Some of them moved pretty fast this time though.
Again, Mila showed her tits. And again, Mila's a great fighter who doesn't really look like she knows how to fight. And yet again, they left the ending open for another sequel.
All in all, it's one of those linear, good for fun, one time only action films. Unless you're a Mila fan.
---
The House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏
Against my better judgement, I disbelieved the bad reviews online and from the newspaper and bought the DVD. It's a beautiful movie, seriously. But sadly, that's all it is.
The story is so like Infernal Affairs 无间道 at a certain level. The cop sent undercover to the bad guys and the cop that's undercover for the bad guys. Nothing truely exciting or unexpected.
All the fight scenes that involves Zhang ZiYi are so freaking fake. Especially when she and Takeshi were running through the bamboo forest with pursuers. I still could not fathom how the pursuers managed to cut and throw so many bamboo sticks in such a short time while jumping from tree to tree, but had to take more than five minutes to do the same thing when they are standing still and both the fugitives are trapped and couldn't move.
And then there's the thing about Zhang kept NOT dying. Even when she had a dagger stuck to her heart, and was half-buried by a snowstorm, she could get back up, pull the dagger out from her heart and throw it with precision that you wouldn't believe.
Not to mention her clothes gets taken off almost every 20 minutes, but it has never gone below her waist and all the audience could see were her shoulders and back. It get really tiring. It's like the whole film was made to promote her.
So, basically, the only things worth watching this movie for are the interior design and decorations, some of the hair-dressing and costumes, plus loads and loads of forest and mountain scenery.
Oh yeah, the ending theme is actually an English song. (I was like WTF?! when I finished the movie.)
---
Faffner in the Azure - Dead Agressor
Anime. Evangelion clone with bad design, same old stupid story. I suprised myself by making it through two episodes. I deleted all eleven right after that.
---
Ladykillers
I can possibly categorize this as a comedy, drama or what, but I'm going with the comedy idea. It's funny sometimes, but mostly I find it idiotic. Tom Hanks portrayal of the well-learned professor type, as with the portrayal of all the other characters by the rest of the cast, went a bit too much overboard to keep things funny.
I cannot imaging how much rubbish the people of Mississippi produce. There were so many garbage ships passing along the Mississippi river at all times of the day that it was just plain convenient for murderers to dump bodies into them from the bridge.
It's a movie to watch when you really got nothing better to do and just wanna relax a lil.
Seriously, this is worse than the first. The first one was at least a lil scary, and the plot twists, although too transparent, made things a lil more interesting. The sequel is basically just a linear story with no guess work needed.
There was nothing scary about it. As with the first one, the zombies could've looked more like zombies. Some of them moved pretty fast this time though.
Again, Mila showed her tits. And again, Mila's a great fighter who doesn't really look like she knows how to fight. And yet again, they left the ending open for another sequel.
All in all, it's one of those linear, good for fun, one time only action films. Unless you're a Mila fan.
---
The House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏
Against my better judgement, I disbelieved the bad reviews online and from the newspaper and bought the DVD. It's a beautiful movie, seriously. But sadly, that's all it is.
The story is so like Infernal Affairs 无间道 at a certain level. The cop sent undercover to the bad guys and the cop that's undercover for the bad guys. Nothing truely exciting or unexpected.
All the fight scenes that involves Zhang ZiYi are so freaking fake. Especially when she and Takeshi were running through the bamboo forest with pursuers. I still could not fathom how the pursuers managed to cut and throw so many bamboo sticks in such a short time while jumping from tree to tree, but had to take more than five minutes to do the same thing when they are standing still and both the fugitives are trapped and couldn't move.
And then there's the thing about Zhang kept NOT dying. Even when she had a dagger stuck to her heart, and was half-buried by a snowstorm, she could get back up, pull the dagger out from her heart and throw it with precision that you wouldn't believe.
Not to mention her clothes gets taken off almost every 20 minutes, but it has never gone below her waist and all the audience could see were her shoulders and back. It get really tiring. It's like the whole film was made to promote her.
So, basically, the only things worth watching this movie for are the interior design and decorations, some of the hair-dressing and costumes, plus loads and loads of forest and mountain scenery.
Oh yeah, the ending theme is actually an English song. (I was like WTF?! when I finished the movie.)
---
Faffner in the Azure - Dead Agressor
Anime. Evangelion clone with bad design, same old stupid story. I suprised myself by making it through two episodes. I deleted all eleven right after that.
---
Ladykillers
I can possibly categorize this as a comedy, drama or what, but I'm going with the comedy idea. It's funny sometimes, but mostly I find it idiotic. Tom Hanks portrayal of the well-learned professor type, as with the portrayal of all the other characters by the rest of the cast, went a bit too much overboard to keep things funny.
I cannot imaging how much rubbish the people of Mississippi produce. There were so many garbage ships passing along the Mississippi river at all times of the day that it was just plain convenient for murderers to dump bodies into them from the bridge.
It's a movie to watch when you really got nothing better to do and just wanna relax a lil.
Monday, October 18, 2004
yay
Monday. Luckily, I managed to finish all my assignments and passed them up today. Quality-wise, I don't really think they're anything good. Rushed work is usually like that, but I'm an avid procrastinator and a lazy bum. Working under pressure is the best way for me to concentrate, anyway.
I'm gonna treat myself to a couple of days of DVDs and VCDs, all of which I bought but haven't watched. Then, it's books all over again for my finals starting on Nov 2. If all goes well, I should be able to get outta this dung hole sometime end of the year.
At which time, I should also start thinking of getting back my internet connection. Not all companies will have a 2Mbps line for me to abuse like this. :) Hopefully tmnuts will do something about Streamyx not available in my area. I can already imagine my frustration if I had to deal with 52kbps dialup again.
I'm gonna treat myself to a couple of days of DVDs and VCDs, all of which I bought but haven't watched. Then, it's books all over again for my finals starting on Nov 2. If all goes well, I should be able to get outta this dung hole sometime end of the year.
At which time, I should also start thinking of getting back my internet connection. Not all companies will have a 2Mbps line for me to abuse like this. :) Hopefully tmnuts will do something about Streamyx not available in my area. I can already imagine my frustration if I had to deal with 52kbps dialup again.
inspirational
According to Nash (played by Russell Crowe) in A Beautiful Mind, Adam Smith is wrong. The concept of "the best results comes from everyone in the group doing what's best for himself" is, according to Nash, incomplete. The best results is only achieved when everyone in the group does what's best for himself AND the group. And then, he illustrates this with the example of how everyone can get laid. Basically, the most intereting thing in the movie.
The scenario was that there was this stunning blonde, with a few brunettes, just entered a bar/student lounge where Nash and his fellow students were, and everyone wanted the blonde.
So Nash came up with the following, which is entirely true in real life:
"If we all go for the blonde, we'll be in each other's way, and none of us will get her. So we turn to her friends, but they'll all give us the cold shoulder because no one wants to be second choice...". And he concludes that, for all of them to get laid, none of them should go for the blonde.
That, basically, sums up a lot of the success techniques of the first move in picking up women (or girls, if you'd prefer), in a bar/club. Always go for the second best, unless the best has an eye for you and only you. :)
OK, back to the movie. I actually find it kinda inspiring, the way that Nash dealt with his schizophrenia without taking medication. He probably wouldn't have done it without the support from his wife and friends though. It's basically your typically inspirational success story with a twist. The twist being success not in achieving something widely recognised or would revolutionalize something, Nash did that when he was much younger. The success here is overcoming personal difficulties in the face of overwhelming despair.
One other thing that had me thinking about this movie, and all biographical movies in general, is how true or how romanticised the story on screen is, compared to what really happened. I usually think of this point since I'd read Neil Gaiman's Reboot a few years ago.
Reboot is a short story included in Neil Gaiman's short story collection, Smoke and Mirrors. It's about a drug that cures cancer, but has certain non-lethal nor destructive side effects. One of these side effects, changing one's gender overnight, led the drug, Reboot, to be a hit. The story told of the inventor of the drug's real life and his counter part in a biographical movie of him. Two totally different versions of the "same" person, with the movie romanticised to suit the market.
Somehow, this takes the fun out of most "real-life" adapted, inpirational movies.
The scenario was that there was this stunning blonde, with a few brunettes, just entered a bar/student lounge where Nash and his fellow students were, and everyone wanted the blonde.
So Nash came up with the following, which is entirely true in real life:
"If we all go for the blonde, we'll be in each other's way, and none of us will get her. So we turn to her friends, but they'll all give us the cold shoulder because no one wants to be second choice...". And he concludes that, for all of them to get laid, none of them should go for the blonde.
That, basically, sums up a lot of the success techniques of the first move in picking up women (or girls, if you'd prefer), in a bar/club. Always go for the second best, unless the best has an eye for you and only you. :)
OK, back to the movie. I actually find it kinda inspiring, the way that Nash dealt with his schizophrenia without taking medication. He probably wouldn't have done it without the support from his wife and friends though. It's basically your typically inspirational success story with a twist. The twist being success not in achieving something widely recognised or would revolutionalize something, Nash did that when he was much younger. The success here is overcoming personal difficulties in the face of overwhelming despair.
One other thing that had me thinking about this movie, and all biographical movies in general, is how true or how romanticised the story on screen is, compared to what really happened. I usually think of this point since I'd read Neil Gaiman's Reboot a few years ago.
Reboot is a short story included in Neil Gaiman's short story collection, Smoke and Mirrors. It's about a drug that cures cancer, but has certain non-lethal nor destructive side effects. One of these side effects, changing one's gender overnight, led the drug, Reboot, to be a hit. The story told of the inventor of the drug's real life and his counter part in a biographical movie of him. Two totally different versions of the "same" person, with the movie romanticised to suit the market.
Somehow, this takes the fun out of most "real-life" adapted, inpirational movies.
Monday, October 11, 2004
*phew*
Been slaving away with my adv Java assignment for the past week, almost non-stop. Finally finished the front-end for the e-business system I'm supposed to do today. I've got less than a week to complete the back end and finish the documentation. I should be happy and take a break, since I actually finished in 1 week what my classmates took more than a month. Well, probably what I did wouldn't be of as good quality as theirs.
The break will have to wait though. I've got another paper, a very technical report for network management, that's due on the same day as my adv Java assignment. I think I seriously need some luck to make this.
Once I'm done after next Monday, I'm gonna spend a couple of night not doing anything and just watch all the DVDs I've piled up and haven't watched.
The break will have to wait though. I've got another paper, a very technical report for network management, that's due on the same day as my adv Java assignment. I think I seriously need some luck to make this.
Once I'm done after next Monday, I'm gonna spend a couple of night not doing anything and just watch all the DVDs I've piled up and haven't watched.
Friday, October 1, 2004
i, robot
I've staved off watching I, Robot for months. When I finally saw a friend of mine with a DVD copy, I just thought I'd give it a try, even though everything I heard about it sucks. :) First off, let's just say that, when you buy a pirated DVD, make sure it's not recorded directly from the cinema. It's irritating, although funny, to see people moving around when you're watching a DVD.
On to the movie. It does suck.
Barely 10 minutes into the movie, and I've already been bombarded by ad after ad of brand names. JVC, Converse, Audi... and the list goes on. "Vintage 2004" my ass. I gotta hand it to the director though. It's the most time-saving commercial effort. Every 10 to 15 minutes, you'll see at least 2 big brand names displayed on screen. Kinda reminds me of watching local Malaysian TV with over 15 minutes of ad breaks in a 1-hour show. I wonder if Will Smith showing his ass twice is supposed to be an advertisment too.
Eyecandy-wise, there wasn't really much to go "ohh-ahh" about. Nothing to watch -- from realistic expressions on robot faces to the car chases, explosions, the robot attack finale -- that hasn't been done before. The car chase scene with the robots were kinda disappointing. With the number of robots attacking a single car, it's just not logical that they didn't succeed in killing Will Smith right there.
Besides the 3 laws, the movie title, and names like Alfred Lanning, there was basically nothing in the movie that actually reminds one of any of Isaac Asimov's novels. It's like a total new story, tailor-made for Will Smith to show off as the hero -- which wasn't very impressive either way -- and to cram in advertisement after advertisement to make a helluva lot of money.
All in all, I think just wasted 2 hours watching the show last night.
On to the movie. It does suck.
Barely 10 minutes into the movie, and I've already been bombarded by ad after ad of brand names. JVC, Converse, Audi... and the list goes on. "Vintage 2004" my ass. I gotta hand it to the director though. It's the most time-saving commercial effort. Every 10 to 15 minutes, you'll see at least 2 big brand names displayed on screen. Kinda reminds me of watching local Malaysian TV with over 15 minutes of ad breaks in a 1-hour show. I wonder if Will Smith showing his ass twice is supposed to be an advertisment too.
Eyecandy-wise, there wasn't really much to go "ohh-ahh" about. Nothing to watch -- from realistic expressions on robot faces to the car chases, explosions, the robot attack finale -- that hasn't been done before. The car chase scene with the robots were kinda disappointing. With the number of robots attacking a single car, it's just not logical that they didn't succeed in killing Will Smith right there.
Besides the 3 laws, the movie title, and names like Alfred Lanning, there was basically nothing in the movie that actually reminds one of any of Isaac Asimov's novels. It's like a total new story, tailor-made for Will Smith to show off as the hero -- which wasn't very impressive either way -- and to cram in advertisement after advertisement to make a helluva lot of money.
All in all, I think just wasted 2 hours watching the show last night.
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