Shuan's Site

Jiner's Site

Michelle's Site

James' Site

Kenny's Site

 
OLD PHOTOS ARE FUN TO LOOK AT...

well, ill get to that in a bit... today was a good day to catch up w/ my good ol' buddy Kenny. Alas, he only has a couple days here till he leaves for Penn, and pretty much he jus arrived to the sunny skies of so cal. So, today was a good a day as any to listen to his many exploits back in China. Mark and Eric joined up w/ us over at Sam Woo, then over at Life Plaza. Funny, i usually do this kinda stuff in a parking lot... hehe. In usual fashion, Kenny had a bunch to say about various topics, some topics that got me pretty fired up. Well, i wont mention the details, but its relates to issues that ive been dealing w/ for as long as i could remember. Oh yea, and i have to say that Kenny is quite the ladies man, but thats always been the case, right?... hehe, anyway, all in all, it was nice seeing my ol' buddy again. Think the last time i saw the guy was... thanksgiving, maybe, i forget. But, not much opportunity to hang around him, so these are the moments i truly cherish. No matter the length of time, whether in a fleeting moment or otherwise, spending it w/ good company will always be worth it. Kenny, even tho u dont need it, g'luck w/ all those ladies, hehe. Great to catch up again man.

And that leads us to tonite. I noticed, bit by bit, at how my relationship w/ me sis is changing. We're gradually having a better understanding towards one another. Im pretty thankful that i can get on better terms w/ her. Think the true catalyst for all this was when i left for berk. Some time apart from each other can make quite the difference. I remember back in senior yr when my sis and i were fighting a whole lot, for reasons unknown to me now. I remember i would take out things at my sis, lash out at her for faults that were not her own. Lookin back on the whole mess, i question y i felt that way at the time. It was a confusing time for me, i guess. Didnt have the discipline and foresight that ive gained now. Its sad at how much time ive lost jus arguing and such. But, im glad i can make up for a portion of that time now. She and i are truly different ppl. If u met us for the 1st time, i bet u couldnt tell that we were related. Im gettin to understand her situation better, and some of what shes goin through mirrors the situations that were presented b4 me not very long ago. Hopefully i can truly be the big bro that she needs, one who doesnt stifle her, but aids her on her own journey, willing to protect her at all costs. I think someday she will truly surprise me, she has that capacity within her.

Thats the feeling i got when i looked at old family photos w/ me parents. Photos are something remarkable indeed. W/o them, i would potentially lose all those past memories, memories of friends, family, moments, all of which are precious in their own way, due to merely the flow and ebb of time. They are also very peculiar. Its something i remember from the author of The English Patient (i forgot his name...). I dont recall everything, but the gist of it is that in photos, only a certain moment is captured, frozen in time. Although u can piece together some of that past, u cant regain the whole from that photo. Think thats what he was gettin at, but anyway, lookin at those photographs caused a rush of memories. I forgot jus how long my hair was back then... (i was goin for the macguiver look). Lookin at photos of my sis way back when, it jus shows how much shes grown. She was quite the cutie, still has that same smile... kinda like Pucca, hehe. Some things changed, some stayed pretty much the same. And i wouldnt have it any other way. The past is something i cannot alter, it exists (or not...) as a realm that i can only look back on and gauge the present. Nostalgia is a great thing, it reminds u of ur roots. And much hilarity can ensue as well, hehe. Family is truly the foundation in which i am able to do anything at all.

It was nice to get to c those ol' photos again, not to mention a good ol' buddy. Well, take care yall. More to come soon.

 
HE DID NOT JUS SAY THAT...

Miramax's Weinstein Defends His Editorial Cuts

Miramax Co-chairman Harvey Weinstein has defended his editing of films released by his company. "I'm not cutting for fun," he told the New Yorker's Ken Auletta. "I'm cutting for the s*** to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."
Heres the full article.

Old news, but its news to me. The only saving grace that he has is that he executive produced one Equilibrium, which is playin in theaters as we speak. Again, not much substance, the plot involves a drug that rids ppl of human emotion. By doing this, the "father" intends to eradicate war once and for all... along w/ the things that make life worth living. Yea, interesting concept, but not much else. The real shining star of this production is the truly unique take on hand-to-hand combat. Im surprised that this came out of an American studio, cause the last American production that truly impressed me was the Matrix, and even that had many HK influences. (btw, really anticipating Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions... Neo uses a staff!!!). So, as with any action flick, ill rate this w/ the choreography in mind. The new order in this world is maintained by the use of clerics, a specialized policing force that utilizes gun kata. Gun kata is essentially a form in which the idea is to get into certain positions which minimize the probability that the enemy will hit u, and maximize ur chance of hitting them. This is done w/ the use of guns, preferably dual pistols, hehe. So, it is a pretty good way of explainin how one guy can take out a room full of baddies w/ ease. This whole gun kata idea is presented pretty well, and as with several movies ive seen, the bulk of the movie is packed in the last 15 min. All in all, a refreshing action movie that didnt come out of HK.

Aside from Equilibrium... Miramax can pretty much suck it. I dunno how else to say it, it might be the most eloquent response that they can understand. They can rationalize their butchery all they want. Its the same scenario all over again, this constant battle over the creative vision of the film. Who controls, or who should control rather, the way a production is presented: the artist or the atm machine? Sure, w/o that money, the production would jus languish in the mind of the artist. Money isnt a justification for total control of the movie however. Money is merely the catalyst to a potentially good production. I think from this point on, anything else i say will jus be a re-iteration of something i said early on. Oh yea, a pretty disturbing thing i found out was that Miramax helped finance the whole Hero production. Ughh.

If u truly love movies, let the movie speak for itself. And ur not making anything work either. Its entirely the opposite. Its a complete mockery, and all u have accomplished is to perpetuate the long history of Miramax blunders in regard to HK films.

Sorry to bring this up again, but it really pisses me off. Every dubbed movie makes me cry out in pain, to hear those awfully stereotypical voices. I think they're actively tryin to search for voice actors w/ a fobbish accent... damn it. With every delayed release, i lower my head. I really feel for this kinda stuff. I will talk about other things... really. But yea, he made my blood boil, hope he eats his words soon. Take care yall. More to come soon.

 
WHY DUBBING IS THE BANE OF SOCIETY (ALT. JET LI IS HARDCORE)

ok, i kno this is old news and im repeating myself, but... this is somethin i have pretty strong feelings towards. So, as long as dubbing exists, there will be ppl like me... even if it is only 1 guy, wondering y such a waste of money exists. Ehh, what brought this old wound back to light is another Jet Li flick that i havent watched yet, a pretty recent one that was released a good 4 yrs ago. Under the name Contract Killer, i didnt kno if i already seen this one or not, cause w/ all of Jet Li's straight-to-video re-releases, this one was "tweaked" a little, including the title. A good 20 min into it, i finally recognized what it was. I believe it was released under the title of Hitman. Same difference, but evidence to something bigger nonetheless.

As with most of Jet Li's flicks, i expect something out of them, and i kno that most of what he releases isnt all that intellectually stimulating. Jus pure action, with a style all its own. Yea, its granted that some of the dialogue is sometimes cheesy and the plots arent really well-developed or whatnot. But, thats not what i expect from most of his movies (i say most cause some of his movies do have substance as well, including a little movie that ive been talking about all this time and is playin in china as we speak). Anyway, Hitman is pretty much a lighthearted story of a guy who wants to make some money so that his family is better off. And what he finds is a job... a hit on the assassin of a pretty affluent yakuza boss. He teams up w/ an agent of sorts, who in reality is a con-man. They slowly figure out that the assassin is the "King of Killers"... and in a turn of events, they're labeled as the king of killers. As with any of Jet Li's flicks, what i put into consideration when i rate the movies is the fight choreography. And this movie had some scenes that didnt disappoint. Whenever he gets his belt out... u kno its goin to be good. That thing is lethal... And i figured out an application to my tornado fall... hehehe. Not one of his best movies... but its a pretty fun one nonetheless.

As the same w/ Iron Monkey and Shaolin Soccer (i never seen the dubbed version, and i never will, but i heard horror stories bout it), what the American studios did to "tweak" the movie made the situation a lot worse. Rap soundtrack... nuh-uh. I havent heard the original sdtrk, but im pretty sure there was no rap whatsoever in it. Its more of a comedy... not a story about hardcore revenge. Pretty much, they spliced out the original and stuck in another one that did not fit at all. 2nd of all, the title. Guess its a requirement to change the original title of the movie. Or maybe it was a bad translation. Or... maybe they think they'll confuse some1 into thinking that this is a movie that they never heard of b4 (ie me). I could live w/ the latter change... thats minor. Even the rap sdtrk... (maybe)... if they hadnt done one thing. And that is to DUB. Dub in the worst way possible. Not only do some companies dub the voices... they go out of their way to make the voices out of sync. Plus, the voice never fits w/ the character. (Jet never speaks like that. Ever. ). Dubbin ranks high in all the blunders of movie making/distributing. Why waste extra money? In the era of the DVD, subtitles are already there... so y bother? Its not really hard. Release it as is... maybe thats a little too hopeful... at least in the native language. In the end, money has the loudest voice, at least when it comes to this... maybe its fate that requires me to c but the shadow of a potentially good movie.

I loathe dubbin, it makes my skin crawl when i hear fake voices out of sync w/ the video. Almost as much as when i hear the words "kung-fu" being used in the wrong way. Horrible... jus horrible. Well, anyway, at least the rest of the day was good, free of gayness. Watched the Clippers game at Staples Center, my 1st time being there. Pretty nice place, i have to say. But... Dodgers Stadium is more my thing... hehe. Then, over to the LA Auto Show, where i saw some of the latest offerings. Overall, except for a few exceptions... i wasnt impressed. But, i wasnt really into cars in the 1st place. Ehh. Well, even tho i had to get up at the unheard of hour of 8... my day turned out pretty well. Well, to cap this rant on the perils of dubbing, i heard from Kenny that Hero is a pretty good movie. As expected, its on top overseas in China. Hopefully it will be released here soon, w/ as little changed as humanly possible. If not, ill get the HK DVD in a heartbeat. Take care yall. More to come soon.