Champion of Tianjin

As if a birthday gift, my designation to the UK project was withdrawn yesterday so scratch that stuff about going to adjust to the English time. Yahoo!

So, ayun. Yesterday, I just bought grub for the officemates, went out to watch a movie, then ran home to karaoke-frenzic relatives and family friends. All in a day! Parang artista sa booking... wahehehe. Pweh! Celebrations will not stop there, though. Later tonight, punta kaming Gilligan's ng Justice League "para maiba". Tas sa Saturday, bilihan ko na lang ng kung anong machicha yung mga UP-CFA boyz.

Anyway, DD was texting me last night for this package to Boracay come April. Tatanggihan ko ba ang offer or uumpisahan ko nang magpalaki ng katawan to attack the beach (as if!)? Abangan...

Salamats sa lahat ng birthday greets, on or off cam (i mean, on or off blog) man! Ambabait niyo! Si God na bahala sa inyo! Haha!


Fearless
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

This'll be the last Kung Fu movie of Jet Li. At least, he'll retire from the role with grace.

The movie is your typical oriental adventure flick with a theme revolving around vengeance and triumph. The plot itself is common on most Chinese karate films which involved a young protagonist's struggle to excellence and his eventual revenge from a loss inflicted by a super kick-butt enemy. I don't know why, but I find everything in it very very "usual"... the redundance being needed to emphasize it. Same o' same o' plot, same o' same o' theme, usual super Kung Fu fight stunts, typical bland romance...

The only obvious departure from the common Chinese Kung Fu stories was that it ended tragically with the main character's death which was needed on the story anyway since it was a semi-fictitious recount of Huo Yuanjia's life. Huo Yuanjia was a Chinese hero who restored the glory of practicing martial arts. Truly, the film summarized the basic principles behind wushu and the art of its discipline. The Buddhist Channel even tagged the movie "the most Dharma-filled film of Jet Li" who is a practicing Buddhist himself.

Wushu is a collective term for the Chinese arts of combat.
Dharma is a written account of Bhuddist principles known as the "eternal truth".

Ever the admirer of girls with slits for eyes, the "supposed" leading lady, Sun Li is very very cute! Now that really needs redundancy. She pulled off a nice portrayal of a blind girl. However, I stressed on the words "supposed leading lady" because her "supposed" love story with Huo Yuanji didn't even spark! It seemed that the story wanted to create a relationship between the two but then not! Amf. If the director intended to develop romance here then I say it was pretty much underdeveloped. But then, I heard that some of the scenes had been cut for theatrical release. I even saw in one film outline that Michelle Yeoh had been a cast but her scenes were included among those that were cut. Total bummer.

Still, for the sheer emotional tension of watching the film, some funny scenes that tickled me much, action-packed combats, and a cute "supposed" leading lady, I give it a thumbs up.

*****

Hobo: Yuanjia! Yuanjia! When will you be the Champion of Tianjin?
Yuanjia: What do you think?
Hobo: It'll be today! It'll be today!!

Champion of Tianjin

As if a birthday gift, my designation to the UK project was withdrawn yesterday so scratch that stuff about going to adjust to the English time. Yahoo!

So, ayun. Yesterday, I just bought grub for the officemates, went out to watch a movie, then ran home to karaoke-frenzic relatives and family friends. All in a day! Parang artista sa booking... wahehehe. Pweh! Celebrations will not stop there, though. Later tonight, punta kaming Gilligan's ng Justice League "para maiba". Tas sa Saturday, bilihan ko na lang ng kung anong machicha yung mga UP-CFA boyz.

Anyway, DD was texting me last night for this package to Boracay come April. Tatanggihan ko ba ang offer or uumpisahan ko nang magpalaki ng katawan to attack the beach (as if!)? Abangan...

Salamats sa lahat ng birthday greets, on or off cam (i mean, on or off blog) man! Ambabait niyo! Si God na bahala sa inyo! Haha!


Fearless
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

This'll be the last Kung Fu movie of Jet Li. At least, he'll retire from the role with grace.

The movie is your typical oriental adventure flick with a theme revolving around vengeance and triumph. The plot itself is common on most Chinese karate films which involved a young protagonist's struggle to excellence and his eventual revenge from a loss inflicted by a super kick-butt enemy. I don't know why, but I find everything in it very very "usual"... the redundance being needed to emphasize it. Same o' same o' plot, same o' same o' theme, usual super Kung Fu fight stunts, typical bland romance...

The only obvious departure from the common Chinese Kung Fu stories was that it ended tragically with the main character's death which was needed on the story anyway since it was a semi-fictitious recount of Huo Yuanjia's life. Huo Yuanjia was a Chinese hero who restored the glory of practicing martial arts. Truly, the film summarized the basic principles behind wushu and the art of its discipline. The Buddhist Channel even tagged the movie "the most Dharma-filled film of Jet Li" who is a practicing Buddhist himself.

Wushu is a collective term for the Chinese arts of combat.
Dharma is a written account of Bhuddist principles known as the "eternal truth".

Ever the admirer of girls with slits for eyes, the "supposed" leading lady, Sun Li is very very cute! Now that really needs redundancy. She pulled off a nice portrayal of a blind girl. However, I stressed on the words "supposed leading lady" because her "supposed" love story with Huo Yuanji didn't even spark! It seemed that the story wanted to create a relationship between the two but then not! Amf. If the director intended to develop romance here then I say it was pretty much underdeveloped. But then, I heard that some of the scenes had been cut for theatrical release. I even saw in one film outline that Michelle Yeoh had been a cast but her scenes were included among those that were cut. Total bummer.

Still, for the sheer emotional tension of watching the film, some funny scenes that tickled me much, action-packed combats, and a cute "supposed" leading lady, I give it a thumbs up.

*****

Hobo: Yuanjia! Yuanjia! When will you be the Champion of Tianjin?
Yuanjia: What do you think?
Hobo: It'll be today! It'll be today!!