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Saturday, September 07, 2002
I'm just watching a bad dream I'd never wake up from.
Find out what anime bad boy you are.
One of the most awesome, charismatic anime personalities known to man. Im honored to bear a likeness to him... hehe. I always knew i had a little Spike in me (as well as some Vash, Hideki, and maybe even a little Nabeshin too...). Fun stuff baby, more to come soon.
Wednesday, September 04, 2002
WUSHU IS HARDCORE...
but i am almost a polar opposite of that due to the summer. Summer rocked throughly, dont get me wrong. But sometimes the greatest pleasure can lead to the worst pain. And this was trying, physical pain that i havent felt for a long time. It was almost like an ol' friend, which tried to maim and crush every portion of this withered body of mine. This is the account of my pain:
After a good 4 hrs of chem 3a disc/lab section, i got a quick bite to eat and headed out for the wushu. First day of classes, so i would figure that it wouldnt be too tough. And i was right. To get the new students acclimated toward the wushu workouts, Darren gave them the basics. And even for this lazy-softy-who-did-diddly-over-summer, it wasnt bad at all. Since there was a whole buncha new students (maybe even more than last fall sem), Darren jus wanted them to get a feel for the whole thing. I remember these beggining workouts makin me pant like crazy. But, a yr does make a difference. So, seeing all the new prospective students made me feel pretty good inside. Wushu jus might be catchin on. But, it was 8:30 by this time, and Kenny took over....
Kenny's the new intermediate/advanced leader, and yea, hes real hardcore. The warmup certainly warmed me up real well. And then came the pain, Kenny-style. I went southern style w/ the workout today, and yea, lotsa stance work. At least im buildin up the nanquan, oh yea baby. *really loud nanquan yell*. And then, came the jumps. After the summer deteriorated my lower extremities, my jumps became really lackluster. I need to build them up soon. To cool down, 40 leg lifts. Yeap... that was tiring. I was huffin and puffin like mad. Too hardcore for me... as of now, that is.
But, its all good. The most satisfyin thing after a workout is to kno that u did it. No matter the pain, the fatigue, u still kno that u can take jus a little more, and after a while, even more than that. Wushu pushes ur limits, brings u to the brink of destruction (of ur body). And the best thing is... u kno u can take so much more, and then the true artistry of wushu can be done. Foundation is key, flavor is developed. Yea, and a side note; its sooo nice to ride a bike downhill after a workout. That gave my aching body time to rest up. Man, im slowly beginnin to love that hunk of metal and rubber.
And now, here i am, writing this b4 u, all dry and shower fresh. And so very tired. I dunno how i can do any sort of studyin/hmwk after this. But along the sem, i have to find some sort of strength to do so. And procrastination shall be a vice of the past (hopefully...). Thats the only way i can survive. And yet, i still have some phys hmwk starin down the barrel at me, laughing... that will be done in due time. Well, take care yall. More to come soon, hopefully ill be totally coherent by then...
Monday, September 02, 2002
MIRAMAX h4x0rs....
this is no joke. That is what ticked me off from the time i read the article (around the same time yesterday) until now, and im still ticked, a lot more so. Yea, so i happen to chance upon an interesting article on this one reliable site i go to often. It has various snipets of news on the more anticipated releases of asian films, and one ive particularly focused on is the upcoming Zhang Yimou feature Hero. So, once again, this is a pretty good site. If u have any remote knowledge of who i am, or if u read this site from time to time, u kno a thing or two about Hero. Well, anyway, the gist of more of the recent Hero updates is that Miramax will once again go out of its way to ruining another potentially great foriegn flick. I feel like im repeating myself, but Miramax (*cough* Disney's batch *cough*) has a real horrible record of releasing foreign films, especially asian ones. The examples include Iron Monkey: a pretty standard movie w/ some real good actors in it. Pretty good action too, but DUBBED and was realeased as a Quentin Tarentino presents. It jus degrades the movie into this revolting odious mass. Another one might be Shaolin Soccer, might cause it hasnt been released formerly here in the states. What they plan to do is to... DUB it, and replace the original soundtrack w/ a hip-hop/rap one. And they plan to delete some scenes from the original release. Good thing they didnt butcher the title... Kung-Fu Soccer. That would have been disasterous. And now, back to Hero. Miramax once again dips its black hand from the dank depths to "edit" this release, planning to delay the release date for a good year. A whole YEAR. Jus so they can add another horrible soundtrack, cut out scene after scene, rendering the plot useless, and the almighty killer of foriegn movies.. DUBBING it. Seriously, i really believe/think/know that the studio will make more money (after all, that is what they're after) if they jus left it alone, put in some decent subtitles, and released it as is. Releasing it as it is, a good foreign movie, i think the audience can decide for themselves the caliber of the film w/o gettin a crappier, dumbed down movie that caters to what the studio execs believe is our taste. The audience (for the most part) is capable of deciding for themselves what deserves their attention. A cruel twist of fate that Miramax pick up the rights to the film instead of Sony Pictures Classics. My heart would have been much more at ease if it was otherwise...
I think their butchering is implying something. Zhang Yimou is a pretty renouned foriegn director. His movies tend to deal w/ the Chinese peoples experience, and for the most part, the human experience in general. Raise the Red Lantern and To Live are two movies that come to mind. Havent seen the former, but To Live is one of my favorites of all time, very emotional, and in the words of my ol' global studies teacher, it has this sort of comedy/tragedy duo working for it. All in all, its a really well made production with some great acting. These releases were treated as they should be, good foriegn films that were subbed only, nothing else (to my knowledge, hopefully they didnt delete any scenes, but i doubt it). And all of a sudden, once Zhang Yimou decides to make a martial arts epic, the production becomes this entirely new thing. Maybe its the fact that Jet Li is in it. Jet Li is one of my favorite action stars, my idol in which i want to emulate, but certainly his films havent been entirely plot-driven or Oscar caliber. Sometimes it has a bad connotation when the film is entitled " Jet Li In *add title* ". I love all his films, but they are prime to be butchered w/ horrible DUBBING and cut scenes. Same for Jackie Chan's movies (btw, Accidental Spy is goin to be released on the english DVD w/ 20 min of footage deleted). Or, its not that, my sincere hope. Maybe its more basic. Yea, once it has anything to do w/ martial arts, or fighting in general, involving asian ppl of any sort, it can be molded and demolished into a shadow of its former self. Guess when a movie has anything to do w/ martial arts, its allowed to be DUBBED and packaged into a neat package only miramax can like. Jus because a movie has some sort of relation to martial art, or has some action sequences within it, doesnt mean that it can be treated and thought of in the ol' stereotypes. Zhang Yimou intended to explain the Chinese facination w/ martial art in this picture, but once again miramax might go w/ the ol' stereotypes and make it into something much less than what was intended.
It could be that its jus a misconception in the Western view on Asian culture as a whole. Its a stretch, yea, maybe a little, but certainly there are die-hard stereotypes and misconceptions that continue to plague society, and even more dangerous... continue to be funny. Case in pt, South Park. I think this is a new ep that vic and i saw. It was a parody on the rise of child abductions. In response, the city on South Park decide to call on one man... a chinese fast-food worker.... to build a great wall... His phony chinese accent, the horrible stereotyping... yea, it was funny. I was laughing really hard, despite that voice deeep inside saying that this isnt funny. Yea, and i kno that South Park has this kinda humor, i kno it well. Its always offensive. But doesnt mean u have to jus let it slide. Acceptance, or on a higher lever, complacency can be very dangerous indeed. So much progress made in breaking borders and closer to becoming american, yet still so foriegn. Its the limbo that every asian american person has to face. And yes, on an indirect level, this has to do w/ this sort of stereotyping.
Hero is not a kung fu flick. And it shouldnt be treated like one. Its a foriegn film that happens to be an asian release. And its a potentially well made movie. Potentially cause i havent seen it for myself yet. And w/ miramax's plans to delay it for one whole YEAR, i certainly wont c it soon. Any foreign film should be released as is, as it was. Language is a unimaginably complex thing. Subtitling is the closest way to get to understand the essence of the movie w/o learning the entire language. At least u get to hear how the dialogue is meant to be, w/ its inflections and tones, along w/ the subtitles to get some understanding. And a big production company doesnt have the right nor the understanding to alter an original release. What makes their say more valid? (excluding money... money is linked w/ art but doesnt define it). This sort of creative control is a real old dilemma, the patrons/producers/human atm machines vs the directors/painters/artists. What art could have been minus the barriers from the moneyed interests... impossible to tell. Leave it as is, its not yours to mold. Miramax, hands off of Hero save for decent subtitling (and if it is DUBBED, may u find urself in jikoku). And again, its never kung fu. Its a huge misnomer. Chinese martial art is wushu, wushu being martial art or war art. Kung fu is effort. Never, ever use kung fu to describe martial art. I mean ever. If u happen to make sense of all this, yea, miramax sUx0rs. Take care yall, u kno who u r, hehe. More to come soon, hopefully miramax sold the rights to Sony Pictures Classics due to mysterious circumstances....
Sunday, September 01, 2002
A LITTLE RANDOMNESS...
b4 my next real post. Im pretty tired right now, but there was something i read awhile ago that got me fired up. And fired up in the im-goin-to-hurt-something kinda way. It had to do w/ a release of a certain movie ive been anticipating for a good while now. Well, until im coherent enough to write some inane chatter, here u go, another anime quiz, and its chobits too! YAY!
You're Hideki!
What's there to say? You're a country shmoe who usually has the worst luck this side of the planet Dingdong. Just to save you from utter destruction, however, the gods are usually kind enough to grant you a break once in a while - and when they do, it's usually the break of a lifetime. You're also inordinately horny. Should I have mentioned that?
Which Chobits Character Are You? quiz by Neru
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