Tag Archives: Movies

The Grandmaster (Movie)

Entertainment, Personal, , ,

I thought I posted about this already, but it seems I haven’t yet. It’s nothing new, but I can’t wait for The Grandmaster to open in the US. Directed by Wong Kar Wai, starring Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, and Cung Le.

Here’s the trailer and also an extremely interesting mini-documentary “The Road to The Grandmaster” (both Chinese only). Wow, the director thought about making this film back in 1996. Such a long journey (like Lincoln). Was fun to watch Tony Leung practice.

All this time, the spotlight has been on Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li and his beautiful moves. Ten years ago, nobody was talking about anything REMOTELY related 詠春.

I need to do a marathon of all the Ip Man movies to get myself ready. I just hope the action shots aren’t just a bunch of close-ups where you can’t really see what’s going on.

Star Wars Day 2012

Geek, , , , ,

Jen 160726 600x317 Star Wars Day 2012

You know how my tagline on this website is “more geeky than girly?” Yes, I’m a Star Wars geek. I’ve loved it since I was little. So in honor of Star Wars Day, I changed my Facebook cover photo. You can get your very own Timeline Cover image at the Official Star Wars Facebook Page.

AMC Silver Experience Ticket – $1 (Limit 2) @ Groupon

Entertainment, Materialism, ,

Groupon has AMC Silver Experience tickets for $1 each with a limit of 2 per account. It’s via a special link.

Fill out your shipping information as the tickets are physically mailed to you. When you submit your information there will be no order confirmation, but you can confirm it by clicking “My Groupons” under your account information.

Silver experience tickets cannot be used on new releases through the first two weekends, or 10 days if the movie opens on a Friday.

Asia News (January Edition)

Around the World, Blog, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I haven’t written up a post about Asia in a while, so here’s a mishmash of stuff. Nothing photography-related here.

  1. Peking University – 79
  2. Tsinghua University – 70
  3. Zhejiang University – 66
  4. Fudan University – 46
  5. Renmin University of China – 30
  6. Shanghai Jiaotong University – 25
  7. Sun Yat-sen University – 22
  8. Nanjing University – 20
  9. South China University of Technology – 18
  10. Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan University – 17 (tie)

High five to Christiana for this gem:

Ip Man (Yip Man) Movie

Entertainment, , , ,

I haven’t posted much on this subject, mainly because I keep much of this to myself, even in person. The only other place I remember where I’ve mentioned anything was on my “100 things about me” page. But as my friends and I watched this movie this weekend, I was reminded how this movie has a special place in my heart. I first watched this last year online on some Chinese site and was determined to buy this movie in the summer. I even paid extra for the DVD version (instead of the cheaper, lower quality, but more popular VCD). If you’re ever looking for a great kungfu movie WITH a good story line, go rent this.

Friday Factoid: Star Wars in Africa

Entertainment, ,

The scenes in the original Star Wars (Episode IV) featuring Luke Skywalker’s home planet Tatooine were actually filmed in the Tunisian desert.

Some of the interiors and the courtyard of Luke’s house were filmed in a called Hotel Sidi Driss, a traditional troglodytic underground building in Matmata, Tunisia.  For the die hard fans, you can take plan your own Tunisian Star Wars tour.

Picasa 3 beta (windows only)

Geek, , , , , , , , , ,

Again, Google continues to carry out its mission: to try to take over the world.

I’ve just downloaded the Picasa 3 beta. You can now make movies, take screenshots and webcam shots, add watermarks and print captions. It also comes with a new photo viewer that looks like this:

fullscreen capture 942008 10201 pm Picasa 3 beta (windows only)

Hey, the easter egg still works! Anyone else trying out the beta?

Jet Li’s English

Personal, , , , , ,

I cringe every time Jet Li opens his mouth in these American films. I’m embarrassed for him, but at the same time, it makes me chuckle.

His first line in The Forbidden Kingdom after a long fight scene:

No, Fool!

Why do I write this now? Because I’m watching Kiss of the Dragon on TV and laughed out loud at the following lines:

Bridget Fonda’s character: I’m not your type, huh?
Jet Li’s character: I don’t have a type.

Hmm, what else does he say that’s funny? I can’t seem to remember now.

Sneak Peek: The Forbidden Kingdom

Personal, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

forbiddenkingdomposter Sneak Peek: The Forbidden KingdomJust got back from a sneak preview of The Forbidden Kingdom that opens this Friday, along with Expelled. Don’t worry, no spoilers here because I don’t really like to write. I’m just embarrassed every time Jet Li speaks in English. I think filmmakers make the effort to minimize his lines. But boy, he does move beautifully. Jackie Chan–always funny. Great choreography by the famous Yuen Woo Ping, whose moves most Americans would know from the Matrix movies and Kill Bill.

I remember watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the theater, especially during the scenes when the Chow Yun Fat ran across the water or over trees, people whispered “that’s so fake.” OF COURSE IT’S FAKE, PEOPLE!!! Anyhoo, I think The Forbidden Kingdom will make just about anyone appreciate fantasy martial arts movies. My friend’s 3 (almost 4) year old daughter Mackenzie was so gripped by the movie that at one point she yelled out about Jackie Chan’s character “you just can’t kill him!”. Too cute.

This is the first film that features Jet Li and Jackie Chan together. Apparently, Jackie Chan said it was pretty easy to work together.

I have not worked with someone whom I’m comfortable with, in terms of
movements, rhythm and natural reactions, in the last 10 years. I have
done many fight scenes with others but there were usually more than 10
takes, which is a waste of time as the person may forget his moves and
unnecessary injuries. When I fought with Li, our actions were quick. We
also didn’t have to do the same stunt over 20 times. #

Ok, I’m motivated to go to the park again. My new dream job: to be in a movie with both of them.

City!N launches in China

Around the World, , , , , , , , ,

City!N (read CityIN), is a new China-based social networking site that launched earlier this month.

An article at VentureBeat explains why it’s a bit different from Facebook.

Users create profiles where they explain their interests such as favorite movies, cars, or celebrities. They rate items and then the site recommends other people in the same local areas who have similar interests.

Currently, the site is only in Chinese, but they plan to expand to English language support at some point in the future.

Crash

Entertainment, , , ,

crash Crash

The surprise Best Picture Oscar winner last year. And not a bad movie at that. I am by no means a movie critic, nor do I watch movies all that often for that matter. But this movie was super intense, maybe because racial issues really get me riled up. Is it because I am part of a minority group? Do white people think about this stuff as much as non-whites? Um, my white coworkers don’t count in this generalization question because that’s what we deal with…hehe. Color or no color, we all need Jesus. Ha. Sounds so preachy. Guess that’s where I learned to love because He first loved me. Amen?

Three thumbs up. Thanks for the loan, Raymond and KK.

Side note: also loved the soundtrack.

Four things

Personal, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You know when you played tag and you wanted to be it….oh oh, tag me, tag me! You end up just reaching out asking for the tag? I’m it!

Four jobs I’ve had in my life

  • Ice Cream Scooper
  • Teacher
  • Restaurant Manager
  • Therapist

Four movies I can watch over and over (hmm, I own the last 3 movies on the list)

  • The Shawshank Redemption
  • Princess Bride
  • Spaceballs
  • Chocolat

Four places I have lived

  • San Leandro, CA
  • Danville, CA
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Hong Kong

Four TV shows I love to watch

  • Jeopardy
  • CSI
  • Apprentice
  • Lost

Four places I have been on vacation (not many places, sadly)

  • British Columbia, Canada
  • HK/China
  • Florida
  • East Coast

Four websites I visit daily (er, almost daily)

  • Bloglines
  • Google News
  • Yahoo -to check mail and fantasy golf stats (when I remember)
  • The high school fellowship site

Four of my favorite foods

  • Breakfast – sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, bacon, etc.
  • Japanese -but not the raw stuff, hate the texture
  • Noodles -any kind
  • My mom’s cooking

Four places I would rather be right now

  • Sleeping in my bed
  • Snowboarding on a snow-covered mountain somewhere
  • On a golf course playing 9 holes (not in any shape for 18 right now)
  • Eating with my parents or my grandma

Four people I am tagging to do this (no one specific, like how I was tagged)

  • anybody who reads this and wears glasses
  • anybody who reads this and is bored
  • anybody who reads this and has a blog
  • anybody who reads this and is procrastinating like me