i returned to new york a couple of days ago with some pretty delicious last meals from new orleans. we made it to dick and jenny's and were presented with a new spring 2009 menu. it was a great menu, but we felt a little sore that we had missed their previous menu just days before. to think that we could've tried their winter 2008 AND spring 2009 menus! but we sucked it up and ordered their louisiana seafood pie, grilled beef tenderloin, bronzed flounder, and key lime pie. i'm just realizing we started and ended the meal with pies! it guaranteed us a great meal, which it was. all our plates were pretty much cleaned up even though i know you're supposed to leave a bite of food to be polite. but we could not waste even a morsel of food that's so delicious.
it turned out that r had to work the last saturday i was in town. we went to elizabeth's, a local joint, for breakfast. their specialty is poached eggs, which is my favorite. i had it with fried green tomatoes and hash browns. r had the carolina shrimp and grits. one of my eggs were poached hard and the other one soft, which i found a little odd, but the overall meal was good. r's food was really good; the broth in the shrimp and grits made the dish.
later that evening, we ended up forgoing jacque-imo's to join r's work friends to see the watchmen. we were all uncertain what to think of the movie at the end of the viewing. i'd only gotten into about a quarter of the novel a couple of years ago when i had to leave town for a job (actually the job on which i met r) and suspect that the story might be a tough one to translate well on-screen because it's so unconventional. there isn't one character to follow, and the story is so hypothetical, almost as if as a movie, the story became too real to digest whereas it's easier to accept as a graphic novel. we thought the design elements (sets, costumes) were very intriguing though, framed around a world in which nixon was still president in the 80s.
the next morning, r took me to the airport. i came back to new york and started missing r again.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, September 15, 2008
upcoming presidential election
the week before last, i had spent a few days in boston with my friends, p & d. p was on last week of maternity leave. since her mom was there as well, she took the afternoon off from being mommy-p to just being p. we went out to lunch and then to see the dark knight, which was even better the second time around because i caught things that i had missed the first time.
on our walk to harvard square, we started talking about sarah palin, whom we don't support. (i refuse to support anyone who doesn't support women's rights, especially when she is a woman herself. it makes no sense and shows how hypocritical she is.) we had been watching the week's worth of the daily show with jon stewart and the colbert report. as we walked and talked, a woman in front of us hung up her cell phone, turned to us, and said, "i know who you're talking about." p and i looked at each other, unsure of how to react to that statement. then, the woman said, "i hope you're not for palin," and proceeded to go on a rant about the her and the republican party.
she revealed that she had been a federal government employee and hated working under the bush administration. apparently, every time she logged into her work computer, she has to click "yes" to a statement asking if she will work in the best interest of the government to farm out as much work as possible to contractors. regardless of whether she agreed with that policy, she despised having to be forced to agree with it on a daily basis. she was so fired up in telling us how wrong she felt the republican party has treated this country that as we reached our parting ways, she apologized for having us listen to her tirade. we, of course, loved that it had happened, that people are becoming so impassioned about this election that they would reach out to strangers and share their views.
last night, r and i eavesdropped on two guys at the table behind ours, discussing palin's run for vice president. it's exciting to hear people talk about politics after all the talk accusing the american public how uninvolved they had been in previous election years. of course, being in boston and new york is partial. they're mostly democrat supporters. what i would find more interesting is to overhear what people are discussing in the mid-west and other areas of the country where they are more republican. nonetheless, this election seems to illicit more attention and participation than the previous two elections. maybe we now have more at stake, with wall street taking a huge hit today (announcement of the lehman brothers' bankruptcy, merrill lynch being bought out by bank of america, aig's close position to destruction) following a pattern of a troubling economy and the ongoing military involvement in the middle east, that people are paying closer attention. on one hand, yes, people getting impassioned by this election is exciting. on the other hand, however, it's almost as if it's only because this country is facing a dire situation that americans are finally listening up. i can't help but wonder if people had been this involved and paid this much attention the last two times, would we be in this situation.
on a side note, i received a notice from the ins that because i had failed to make my appointment to take my oath of naturalization, i will have to wait for further notice of a rescheduling. i never received the first notice of the oath to begin with. to think that having taken the oath would've secured my ability to vote! now, i have to wait and see if i can make it by election day. fingers-crossed!
on our walk to harvard square, we started talking about sarah palin, whom we don't support. (i refuse to support anyone who doesn't support women's rights, especially when she is a woman herself. it makes no sense and shows how hypocritical she is.) we had been watching the week's worth of the daily show with jon stewart and the colbert report. as we walked and talked, a woman in front of us hung up her cell phone, turned to us, and said, "i know who you're talking about." p and i looked at each other, unsure of how to react to that statement. then, the woman said, "i hope you're not for palin," and proceeded to go on a rant about the her and the republican party.
she revealed that she had been a federal government employee and hated working under the bush administration. apparently, every time she logged into her work computer, she has to click "yes" to a statement asking if she will work in the best interest of the government to farm out as much work as possible to contractors. regardless of whether she agreed with that policy, she despised having to be forced to agree with it on a daily basis. she was so fired up in telling us how wrong she felt the republican party has treated this country that as we reached our parting ways, she apologized for having us listen to her tirade. we, of course, loved that it had happened, that people are becoming so impassioned about this election that they would reach out to strangers and share their views.
last night, r and i eavesdropped on two guys at the table behind ours, discussing palin's run for vice president. it's exciting to hear people talk about politics after all the talk accusing the american public how uninvolved they had been in previous election years. of course, being in boston and new york is partial. they're mostly democrat supporters. what i would find more interesting is to overhear what people are discussing in the mid-west and other areas of the country where they are more republican. nonetheless, this election seems to illicit more attention and participation than the previous two elections. maybe we now have more at stake, with wall street taking a huge hit today (announcement of the lehman brothers' bankruptcy, merrill lynch being bought out by bank of america, aig's close position to destruction) following a pattern of a troubling economy and the ongoing military involvement in the middle east, that people are paying closer attention. on one hand, yes, people getting impassioned by this election is exciting. on the other hand, however, it's almost as if it's only because this country is facing a dire situation that americans are finally listening up. i can't help but wonder if people had been this involved and paid this much attention the last two times, would we be in this situation.
on a side note, i received a notice from the ins that because i had failed to make my appointment to take my oath of naturalization, i will have to wait for further notice of a rescheduling. i never received the first notice of the oath to begin with. to think that having taken the oath would've secured my ability to vote! now, i have to wait and see if i can make it by election day. fingers-crossed!
Monday, August 18, 2008
more summer movies
r and i saw the dark knight over the weekend. awesome. we were still thinking about the movie the next day and want to see it on imax now. the acting, particularly heath ledger, was phenomenal. just the title itself, the dark knight/night, so apt to the theme. there was a slight mention of terrorism, but it was pretty soft-handed considering how much it has been used in movies in the past few years. but then, r and i discussed that the word "villain" has been replaced by "terrorist" just because of the times. also, i felt a sense of warmth when hong kong entered the picture as a location. i even found it fitting that the mob's accountant spoke mandarin instead of cantonese, the dominant chinese language in hong kong, because of the way the city has changed and the rising power of mainland china. college kids would surely be writing papers on this movie in their film classes.
we had seen hellboy 2 earlier in the season and had a lot of fun, consistent with the first hellboy. the ending was a little weak, but the new characters introduced were incredible in terms of the imagination that brought it to life.
lastly, f and i saw mamma mia but without r, which actually turned out to be a good move. it was totally a girl's flick. the story was a little ridiculous and predictable, and i bet the musical in the theatre setting is better just because it creates more distance between the audience and the character, thereby allowing the sudden burst into songs more acceptable. but i found myself amazed with meryl streep and mouthing along with the abba songs. abba = happy.
i can't think of any other movie i must see at the moment, but we're eager for the curious case of benjamin button to hit the theatres. r had worked on it and was very proud to have been a part of it.
this year might just be the year when the cinema looks worthy again.
we had seen hellboy 2 earlier in the season and had a lot of fun, consistent with the first hellboy. the ending was a little weak, but the new characters introduced were incredible in terms of the imagination that brought it to life.
lastly, f and i saw mamma mia but without r, which actually turned out to be a good move. it was totally a girl's flick. the story was a little ridiculous and predictable, and i bet the musical in the theatre setting is better just because it creates more distance between the audience and the character, thereby allowing the sudden burst into songs more acceptable. but i found myself amazed with meryl streep and mouthing along with the abba songs. abba = happy.
i can't think of any other movie i must see at the moment, but we're eager for the curious case of benjamin button to hit the theatres. r had worked on it and was very proud to have been a part of it.
this year might just be the year when the cinema looks worthy again.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
summer blockbuster season begins...
we attend a screening of sex and the city last week. neither of us watch the tv show, but r worked on it and received tickets to the cast and crew screening. i wasn't impressed at the beginning but then grew to enjoy the rest of the movie. as r pointed out, there were a lot of classic storytelling elements that made the movie good: the romantic ending to miranda and steve's story, the cinderella tie-in, charlotte's inevitable confrontation that turns out quite differently than she had imagined. also, the sets look fantastic!
yesterday, we saw indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. i have only seen the first indiana jones and must've missed a lot of references to the previous movies. it was a string of action sequences, and i found it enjoyable. it's no brilliant plot. the crystal skull actually looks kind of cheesy. but isn't that the point of summer action movies? i think cate blanchett's performance made it worth watching.
more to come as the season passes...
yesterday, we saw indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. i have only seen the first indiana jones and must've missed a lot of references to the previous movies. it was a string of action sequences, and i found it enjoyable. it's no brilliant plot. the crystal skull actually looks kind of cheesy. but isn't that the point of summer action movies? i think cate blanchett's performance made it worth watching.
more to come as the season passes...
Friday, February 22, 2008
ny food warmed my soul
we traveled back to new york this past weekend since president’s day gave us an extra day of leisure. food in new orleans has been great, but we missed our favorite spots in new york.
our first stop was awash, an ethiopian restaurant, on 6th street between 1st and 2nd avenue. we haven’t searched for ethiopian food in new orleans, but we’re pretty sure even if it exists, it’s extremely rare. and who know if it would be reliably delicious like awash? we were reminded how ass-kicking great berbere sauce tastes, which reminds me that i need to search for a recipe for it.
that evening, we had ramen at ramen setagaya. what joy to sit down to a steaming bowl of supreme ingredients, especially having been re-exposed all day to the new york winter. it was the perfect way to end the day.
we met my family for dimsum the next morning and were in for a treat. the celebration for chinese new year was still in order. lion dancers paraded into the restaurant while drummers added to the festive atmosphere. it was r’s introduction to dimsum, something i grew up with. i was relieved he loved it because i plan on having dimsum again.
after we saw persepolis, which is an amazing movie with incredible animation and a heartfelt storyline, we succumbed to indian food at brick lane, back on the same block as awash. ironically, it was our first time dining in the restaurant. we had had numerous take-out meals when r used to live on that block and voted it as the best indian restaurant on the block of about 20 other indian food establishments.
on our last day in the city, we had brunch at a new place, patisse. it was actually a little overpriced for breakfast for food that wasn’t particularly special. it wasn’t bad, just not worth what they charged.
we spent so much of the weekend just walking, sometimes we both miss dearly, for the intimacy with a city and the exercise. so it was a total bummer that we were stuck at jfk for over 3 hours because our flight was delayed, 3 more hours we could’ve spent IN the city. and 3 more hours we could’ve spent with my sister, whom i’m finding that i miss a lot. it gave us time, however, to enjoy a meal at deep blue sushi. finally, we boarded our flight and made it back to new orleans, another city of great food.
more will come about nola food.
our first stop was awash, an ethiopian restaurant, on 6th street between 1st and 2nd avenue. we haven’t searched for ethiopian food in new orleans, but we’re pretty sure even if it exists, it’s extremely rare. and who know if it would be reliably delicious like awash? we were reminded how ass-kicking great berbere sauce tastes, which reminds me that i need to search for a recipe for it.
that evening, we had ramen at ramen setagaya. what joy to sit down to a steaming bowl of supreme ingredients, especially having been re-exposed all day to the new york winter. it was the perfect way to end the day.
we met my family for dimsum the next morning and were in for a treat. the celebration for chinese new year was still in order. lion dancers paraded into the restaurant while drummers added to the festive atmosphere. it was r’s introduction to dimsum, something i grew up with. i was relieved he loved it because i plan on having dimsum again.
after we saw persepolis, which is an amazing movie with incredible animation and a heartfelt storyline, we succumbed to indian food at brick lane, back on the same block as awash. ironically, it was our first time dining in the restaurant. we had had numerous take-out meals when r used to live on that block and voted it as the best indian restaurant on the block of about 20 other indian food establishments.
on our last day in the city, we had brunch at a new place, patisse. it was actually a little overpriced for breakfast for food that wasn’t particularly special. it wasn’t bad, just not worth what they charged.
we spent so much of the weekend just walking, sometimes we both miss dearly, for the intimacy with a city and the exercise. so it was a total bummer that we were stuck at jfk for over 3 hours because our flight was delayed, 3 more hours we could’ve spent IN the city. and 3 more hours we could’ve spent with my sister, whom i’m finding that i miss a lot. it gave us time, however, to enjoy a meal at deep blue sushi. finally, we boarded our flight and made it back to new orleans, another city of great food.
more will come about nola food.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
jax movie selection
my sister arrived in jacksonville yesterday afternoon. we called the one and only theatre in town to see what was playing. think about that worst movies that got released this season. that’s what’s playing here. at least the golden compass and sweeney todd are playing. i was hoping for juno, but i was asking for too much there. disappointment is what i get for being optimistic. 2 good movies aren’t bad, however. and i do have netflix, for which i am incredibly thankful.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
harry potter and the order of the phoenix
my friend and i saw the movie yesterday. it's difficult to judge it on its own since i've read the book and am actually in the process of rereading it (and the half-blood prince) to prepare myself for the deathly hallows. i recently rewatched the globlet of fire and prisoner of azkaban and realized that i had probably criticized those two films too much. i will have to watch the order of the phoenix again when it comes out on dvd to allow enough time between reading the book and rewatching the film.
the changes i noticed in the film made sense. i appreciated the quickened pacing of the opening, from the playground to the order taking harry to 12 grimmauld place. the film portrayed the drought much more vividly than my imagination did from reading. despite the drought, there were a lot of plants mentioned in the book. but in the movie, the yellowed grass in the playground created a sense of desperation lurking in the air. even the rain offered no relief. instead it brought more danger, the dementors, as if any sense of balance that had existed in the world has dissipated.
as the credits were rolling, i realized that quidditch did not even get mentioned once in the film. the sport has always been a huge part of harry, a natural skill that earned him respect among his peers and also a link between him and his father. but now that i'm rereading the book, i see that quidditch actually played a more important character developing role for ron than harry in this installment. if it had been a movie about ron, i would've been upset about the omission. this is a movie about harry, however, so i am okay with it.
maybe i'll have more qualms after i've finished the rereading, but overall, i highly enjoyed the film.
the changes i noticed in the film made sense. i appreciated the quickened pacing of the opening, from the playground to the order taking harry to 12 grimmauld place. the film portrayed the drought much more vividly than my imagination did from reading. despite the drought, there were a lot of plants mentioned in the book. but in the movie, the yellowed grass in the playground created a sense of desperation lurking in the air. even the rain offered no relief. instead it brought more danger, the dementors, as if any sense of balance that had existed in the world has dissipated.
as the credits were rolling, i realized that quidditch did not even get mentioned once in the film. the sport has always been a huge part of harry, a natural skill that earned him respect among his peers and also a link between him and his father. but now that i'm rereading the book, i see that quidditch actually played a more important character developing role for ron than harry in this installment. if it had been a movie about ron, i would've been upset about the omission. this is a movie about harry, however, so i am okay with it.
maybe i'll have more qualms after i've finished the rereading, but overall, i highly enjoyed the film.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
home?
i returned to new york today, and it doesn't feel like home, even though it technically is. it's what's on my driver's license and where all my mail is delivered. but having "lived" here for only six months, including a miserable winter that resulted in wind burns streaked across my face and then leaving for shreveport, louisiana for three and a half months, new york doesn't feel like home.
it might not help that i'm leaving for another four months in less than two weeks from today either.
okay. instead of dwelling on new york's status as "home", i'm going to catch up on my visit with my mom in jacksonville, north carolina. luckily, she had the first week of july off from work so we were able to travel a little. our first trip was to emerald isle. we normally go to hammocks beach in swansboro but figured we should go to another one, just to see. emerald isle is still really nice, just not as nice as hammocks beach, which i'll get to later.
on july 4th, we traveled to new bern and stumbled upon a free day at tryon palace, the only day of the year when it opens its grounds to the public for free. i don't remember having been there on any school field trips although my sister had gone multiple times during her days in the north carolina public school system. my mom definitely had never been there before. we didn't go on any tours but just walked around the gardens, which were beautifully kept. afterwards, we went to the mall.
later in the week, we made a day trip to wilmington to have lunch with a friend of mine. as we walked from the parking garage to the restaurant, i think we passed by julia stiles. anyway, my mom had thai food for the first time. i think she liked it but not love it like i do. it was nice to see my friend and to finally meet his girlfriend, whom he had talked about a lot. after a stroll along the boardwalk, we went to the mall.
i'm breaking here to express how much shopping irritates me. unless there's something i'm looking for specifically, i don't like to shop. maybe it's a point in my life that i've reached where shopping is no longer an appealing activity. also, knowing that we were making a trip to chapel hill later in the week where we could stop by the southpoint mall, a much bigger mall than the ones in new bern and wilmington and includes an outdoor section, i really didn't want to go to the two smaller malls.
so yes, we went to chapel hill for my friend's harry potter party, which was a lot of fun. she and her husband made brunswick stew and yorkshire pudding. yorkshire pudding is new to both my mom and me. my mom loved it. i liked it but not love it like she did. we watched two of the harry potter movies and went on an elaborate and creatively set up treasure hunt. then, i was introduced to the wii. an ingenius product. my sister has already requested one for her graduation present but now i'm not so sure if i'll be able to hand it over to her when i'm able to find one.
we spent the night in chapel hill and then drove to hammocks beach the next day. i don't think i can ever find another beach i love more than this place. it's kind of a pain to get to which weeds out a lot of people. you have to take a ferry and then walk about 1/2 mile to cross bear island to arrive at the beach. also, as a state park with a huge emphasis on preserving the ecology of the island, it's kept extremely clean. no alcohol is allowed either. whereas you can find little mounts of cigarette butts at emerald isle, there are little clumps of seaweed that have washed ashore, sprinkled along hammocks beach. the waves were so great that afternoon that i wished i had a surfboard instead of my little boogie board, with which i still managed to catch quite a few waves.
the visit with mom wouldn't have been complete had we not been able to go there. while talking with the ferry captain on the way back to the mainland, we realized that we've been going to this beach for 14 years. our first visit occurred while i was still in middle school, and we've gone pretty much every year since then. i only hope we can still go every year from now on. summer would not feel like summer without a trip there.
it might not help that i'm leaving for another four months in less than two weeks from today either.
okay. instead of dwelling on new york's status as "home", i'm going to catch up on my visit with my mom in jacksonville, north carolina. luckily, she had the first week of july off from work so we were able to travel a little. our first trip was to emerald isle. we normally go to hammocks beach in swansboro but figured we should go to another one, just to see. emerald isle is still really nice, just not as nice as hammocks beach, which i'll get to later.
on july 4th, we traveled to new bern and stumbled upon a free day at tryon palace, the only day of the year when it opens its grounds to the public for free. i don't remember having been there on any school field trips although my sister had gone multiple times during her days in the north carolina public school system. my mom definitely had never been there before. we didn't go on any tours but just walked around the gardens, which were beautifully kept. afterwards, we went to the mall.
later in the week, we made a day trip to wilmington to have lunch with a friend of mine. as we walked from the parking garage to the restaurant, i think we passed by julia stiles. anyway, my mom had thai food for the first time. i think she liked it but not love it like i do. it was nice to see my friend and to finally meet his girlfriend, whom he had talked about a lot. after a stroll along the boardwalk, we went to the mall.
i'm breaking here to express how much shopping irritates me. unless there's something i'm looking for specifically, i don't like to shop. maybe it's a point in my life that i've reached where shopping is no longer an appealing activity. also, knowing that we were making a trip to chapel hill later in the week where we could stop by the southpoint mall, a much bigger mall than the ones in new bern and wilmington and includes an outdoor section, i really didn't want to go to the two smaller malls.
so yes, we went to chapel hill for my friend's harry potter party, which was a lot of fun. she and her husband made brunswick stew and yorkshire pudding. yorkshire pudding is new to both my mom and me. my mom loved it. i liked it but not love it like she did. we watched two of the harry potter movies and went on an elaborate and creatively set up treasure hunt. then, i was introduced to the wii. an ingenius product. my sister has already requested one for her graduation present but now i'm not so sure if i'll be able to hand it over to her when i'm able to find one.
we spent the night in chapel hill and then drove to hammocks beach the next day. i don't think i can ever find another beach i love more than this place. it's kind of a pain to get to which weeds out a lot of people. you have to take a ferry and then walk about 1/2 mile to cross bear island to arrive at the beach. also, as a state park with a huge emphasis on preserving the ecology of the island, it's kept extremely clean. no alcohol is allowed either. whereas you can find little mounts of cigarette butts at emerald isle, there are little clumps of seaweed that have washed ashore, sprinkled along hammocks beach. the waves were so great that afternoon that i wished i had a surfboard instead of my little boogie board, with which i still managed to catch quite a few waves.
the visit with mom wouldn't have been complete had we not been able to go there. while talking with the ferry captain on the way back to the mainland, we realized that we've been going to this beach for 14 years. our first visit occurred while i was still in middle school, and we've gone pretty much every year since then. i only hope we can still go every year from now on. summer would not feel like summer without a trip there.
Monday, May 28, 2007
pirates
i saw pirates of the caribbean: at world's end over the weekend. not as fun as the second pirates and definitely not as fun as the first. the pacing was a little dragged out. i almost fell asleep twice, although i was pretty exhausted walking into it. even so, it didn't exactly keep me awake.
problems were too easily resolved, but in its simplicity, it was still trying to be complicated. the writers seemed to have had more fun sticking in supposedly witty lines than giving the story a sense of fullness.
i was surprised to see chow yun-fat when he appeared onscreen. i had no idea he was a part of it. to me, it would be like seeing al pacino appear in kung-fu hustle 2. his character, captain sao feng, had very little depth. there was no explanation regarding his history with jack sparrow. the way his character dealt with women was repulsive, but i guess that's just what being a pirate is all about? if he's only supposed to play the character as a disgusting, selfish, piggish pirate, then his performance was great. it's just that out of all the captains in the congregation introduced in the story, his character played the largest role. i wished there was more to him. why bother having this character take on a role as big as it did if there's no depth to him? chow yun-fat's acting skills were so wasted in this movie. but sadly, if he wants to break into hollywood, he has to take these roles in dumb blockbusters for exposure.
also, i'm not sure about the history of singapore, but hong kong, where they're building the newest disney theme park, actually was a haven for pirates before the british gained sovereignty over the island. i wonder why captain sao feng's base was set in singapore as opposed to hong kong. chow yun fat is from hong kong as well. besides, wouldn't it be a plug for the theme park if they set that part of the story in hong kong instead of singapore? that confused me. at least they kept to cantonese as the sole dialect of chinese that surfaces in the movie.
as for the 4th installment, i won't be eager to see it.
problems were too easily resolved, but in its simplicity, it was still trying to be complicated. the writers seemed to have had more fun sticking in supposedly witty lines than giving the story a sense of fullness.
i was surprised to see chow yun-fat when he appeared onscreen. i had no idea he was a part of it. to me, it would be like seeing al pacino appear in kung-fu hustle 2. his character, captain sao feng, had very little depth. there was no explanation regarding his history with jack sparrow. the way his character dealt with women was repulsive, but i guess that's just what being a pirate is all about? if he's only supposed to play the character as a disgusting, selfish, piggish pirate, then his performance was great. it's just that out of all the captains in the congregation introduced in the story, his character played the largest role. i wished there was more to him. why bother having this character take on a role as big as it did if there's no depth to him? chow yun-fat's acting skills were so wasted in this movie. but sadly, if he wants to break into hollywood, he has to take these roles in dumb blockbusters for exposure.
also, i'm not sure about the history of singapore, but hong kong, where they're building the newest disney theme park, actually was a haven for pirates before the british gained sovereignty over the island. i wonder why captain sao feng's base was set in singapore as opposed to hong kong. chow yun fat is from hong kong as well. besides, wouldn't it be a plug for the theme park if they set that part of the story in hong kong instead of singapore? that confused me. at least they kept to cantonese as the sole dialect of chinese that surfaces in the movie.
as for the 4th installment, i won't be eager to see it.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
kung fu hustle
i rewatched kung fu hustle recently and was reminded of how great it is. it doesn't try to be sentimental. it manages to make physical comedy smart, something that has been lacking in hollywood comedies. all the characters are to some degrees caricatures. it's intriguing that the two female characters have opposite traits that has to do with their voices: the landlady's superpower is the volume of her voice; the lollipop girl is mute. i'm no longer smart enough to pinpoint the significance of this juxtaposition, but i know it adds to the story. somehow. if i were still in college, i could totally whip out a 20-page analysis of this movie.
besides the immense subtext that you can draw from this movie, what allows me to enjoy it so much is the element of surprise. with most movies nowadays, i can see the joke before it happens. but kung fu hustle is so unpredictable. who would've thought sing would use the knives in his shoulders as side rear view mirrors until he actually used them as such? the movie managed to be all over the place (a dance sequence, a live-action road runner sequence, martial arts, physical comedy, play on words, sexuality but not sex) but never lost its center, which very much adheres to the idea of kung fu and chi.
i've watched stephen chow since i was a kid, when he hosted a hong kong children's program, "430 space shuttle" (along with tony leung, another favorite actor; stephen and tony were in a sketch of good guy vs. bad guy - tony played the good guy and stephen played the bad guy). stephen went through a phase of crass comedy which had turned me off from his work for a while. now with kung fu hustle, he's definitely redefined himself as a comic genius.
besides the immense subtext that you can draw from this movie, what allows me to enjoy it so much is the element of surprise. with most movies nowadays, i can see the joke before it happens. but kung fu hustle is so unpredictable. who would've thought sing would use the knives in his shoulders as side rear view mirrors until he actually used them as such? the movie managed to be all over the place (a dance sequence, a live-action road runner sequence, martial arts, physical comedy, play on words, sexuality but not sex) but never lost its center, which very much adheres to the idea of kung fu and chi.
i've watched stephen chow since i was a kid, when he hosted a hong kong children's program, "430 space shuttle" (along with tony leung, another favorite actor; stephen and tony were in a sketch of good guy vs. bad guy - tony played the good guy and stephen played the bad guy). stephen went through a phase of crass comedy which had turned me off from his work for a while. now with kung fu hustle, he's definitely redefined himself as a comic genius.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
sunday
the original plan was to venture to dallas again this weekend. since i couldn't make it to the arts district last week, this was supposed to be the chance. friday was a late day at work, however. we didn't leave the office until shortly after 1am, technically saturday. i also didn't want to drive back tired on sunday night only to have to wake up early to work the next morning. so this weekend has been devoted to nothingness in shreveport.
yesterday was pretty tame. i left the apartment to reclaim the strawberries i was going to take home from the office and to pick up some caffeine to wake up fully and some chicken to make congee for breakfast. i heated up leftovers for dinner and watched the maltese falcon. i didn’t like humphrey bogart’s character. not that he was set up to be any gentleman, but it’s still hard to like a movie/story when you don’t like the protagonist. i ended up the day by going to bed before 10pm, something i haven’t done since...i can’t remember when.
today was a little more interesting. i got my butt out of bed at around 10am and had breakfast at a little local restaurant nearby. they make breakfast the way breakfast should be made. the two kitchens are open; nothing is enclosed or hidden. you see the cartons of eggs piled on a shelf above the grill. that’s a sure sign for a good breakfast joint. the menu was simple, nothing fancy, just as breakfast should be. it’s a meal that jump starts your day. it’s too early of a meal to be anything more than simple and fulfilling. i ordered eggs with bacon, grits, and toast, having already missed the biscuits. of course, there was coffee. the tab was under $6. they apparently serve homemade chicken and dumplings on weekday evenings. i’ll be going back.
afterwards, i went back to the apartment, realizing that i had forgotten my camera. then, i headed for the r. w. norton art gallery, the one and only art museum in shreveport. tucked away in a neighborhood, the sight of the edifice laid upon a large piece of green land is quite impressive. it’s a beige brick structure that stretches out into two wings, with the main entrance dividing the building in half and brown windows lined with white patterned blocks almost giving the wings a joint at which to flap. the collection, however, was not as impressive. well, i guess it might be impressive if your interest lies in cowboy and indian art, but i don’t care much for it. it pains me to see the way native americans are depicted, knowing how much suffering their race had gone through. they are one of the most tortured, destroyed races in history. but i guess it’s in the spirit of the louisiana purchase and the idea of the exploring and conquering the frontier. i am in louisiana after all. there were a couple copies of rodin that held my interest. but the great fascination was the garden behind the museum itself.
i actually had arrived about 45 minutes before the museum opened. so i wondered the plot of land it’s on and found the garden in the back. along the way, i took some close-ups of tree trunks, wanting to capture the rough textures in the early afternoon light. at the garden, i took a couple of pictures of the pond. it was after checking out the art when i went back to the garden that i got really inspired. there were these girls, between the ages of 8 and 11, who were dressed in sequined cowgirl costumes. they seem to be part of a baton-twirling-dancing group. some were chubby and others were skinny. all little white girls with their matching white cowboy hats and boots, exuding a strong texan culture. later, i saw that they were gathering to have their photographs taken by a professional using the garden as a backdrop. when i reached at the garden again, families had shown up and were taking pictures of each other. without any hesitation and almost without thought, i took up my camera and started snapping pictures of people taking pictures of each other. that was the theme of this roll of film: taking family snapshots. not the snapshots themselves but the act of it. i’m anxious to see how the pictures turn out. it’s been a while since i’ve had a jolt of inspiration like that. yeah, today counts as a good day.
yesterday was pretty tame. i left the apartment to reclaim the strawberries i was going to take home from the office and to pick up some caffeine to wake up fully and some chicken to make congee for breakfast. i heated up leftovers for dinner and watched the maltese falcon. i didn’t like humphrey bogart’s character. not that he was set up to be any gentleman, but it’s still hard to like a movie/story when you don’t like the protagonist. i ended up the day by going to bed before 10pm, something i haven’t done since...i can’t remember when.
today was a little more interesting. i got my butt out of bed at around 10am and had breakfast at a little local restaurant nearby. they make breakfast the way breakfast should be made. the two kitchens are open; nothing is enclosed or hidden. you see the cartons of eggs piled on a shelf above the grill. that’s a sure sign for a good breakfast joint. the menu was simple, nothing fancy, just as breakfast should be. it’s a meal that jump starts your day. it’s too early of a meal to be anything more than simple and fulfilling. i ordered eggs with bacon, grits, and toast, having already missed the biscuits. of course, there was coffee. the tab was under $6. they apparently serve homemade chicken and dumplings on weekday evenings. i’ll be going back.
afterwards, i went back to the apartment, realizing that i had forgotten my camera. then, i headed for the r. w. norton art gallery, the one and only art museum in shreveport. tucked away in a neighborhood, the sight of the edifice laid upon a large piece of green land is quite impressive. it’s a beige brick structure that stretches out into two wings, with the main entrance dividing the building in half and brown windows lined with white patterned blocks almost giving the wings a joint at which to flap. the collection, however, was not as impressive. well, i guess it might be impressive if your interest lies in cowboy and indian art, but i don’t care much for it. it pains me to see the way native americans are depicted, knowing how much suffering their race had gone through. they are one of the most tortured, destroyed races in history. but i guess it’s in the spirit of the louisiana purchase and the idea of the exploring and conquering the frontier. i am in louisiana after all. there were a couple copies of rodin that held my interest. but the great fascination was the garden behind the museum itself.
i actually had arrived about 45 minutes before the museum opened. so i wondered the plot of land it’s on and found the garden in the back. along the way, i took some close-ups of tree trunks, wanting to capture the rough textures in the early afternoon light. at the garden, i took a couple of pictures of the pond. it was after checking out the art when i went back to the garden that i got really inspired. there were these girls, between the ages of 8 and 11, who were dressed in sequined cowgirl costumes. they seem to be part of a baton-twirling-dancing group. some were chubby and others were skinny. all little white girls with their matching white cowboy hats and boots, exuding a strong texan culture. later, i saw that they were gathering to have their photographs taken by a professional using the garden as a backdrop. when i reached at the garden again, families had shown up and were taking pictures of each other. without any hesitation and almost without thought, i took up my camera and started snapping pictures of people taking pictures of each other. that was the theme of this roll of film: taking family snapshots. not the snapshots themselves but the act of it. i’m anxious to see how the pictures turn out. it’s been a while since i’ve had a jolt of inspiration like that. yeah, today counts as a good day.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
golden globes
maybe this is a sign that i'm getting old and jaded: i don't really care to watch award shows anymore. the golden globes was on last night, and i found myself unable to listen to anyone complete their acceptance speech. maybe it's the plethora of awards for this industry that has diluted the significance of any of them. maybe it's knowing how much politics play into the decision of the the winners. maybe it's the self-congratulatory factor that annoys the hell out of me.
here are the films i really liked this year:
children of men
the departed
little miss sunshine
pan's labyrinth (favorite)
science of sleep
stranger than fiction
thank you for smoking
volver
to be fair, i haven't seen EVERYTHING, but with the exception of the departed, there wasn't much recognition for them. i think i have pretty decent taste for movies (right?). i would actually say the departed might be my least favorite on this list - i thought it was great and was actually better than the original hong kong version from which it was remade. (i only liked the original hk version okay.) it just wasn't as creative and rich, however, as the rest of the films. maybe fantastical elements play too large of a role in my preference for a film. maybe i was really annoyed with some of the characters - they were caricatures. the characters could've remained strong without being so obvious and going over the top.
i do have to admit the fashion aspect of these awards shows is fun. nothing was really memorable last night, but the best (or worst) will probably appear at the oscars. and having ellen degeneres as host could be more entertaining as well. if not, let's hope there'll be something else on that evening that i could watch and flip to the oscars only during the commercial breaks.
here are the films i really liked this year:
children of men
the departed
little miss sunshine
pan's labyrinth (favorite)
science of sleep
stranger than fiction
thank you for smoking
volver
to be fair, i haven't seen EVERYTHING, but with the exception of the departed, there wasn't much recognition for them. i think i have pretty decent taste for movies (right?). i would actually say the departed might be my least favorite on this list - i thought it was great and was actually better than the original hong kong version from which it was remade. (i only liked the original hk version okay.) it just wasn't as creative and rich, however, as the rest of the films. maybe fantastical elements play too large of a role in my preference for a film. maybe i was really annoyed with some of the characters - they were caricatures. the characters could've remained strong without being so obvious and going over the top.
i do have to admit the fashion aspect of these awards shows is fun. nothing was really memorable last night, but the best (or worst) will probably appear at the oscars. and having ellen degeneres as host could be more entertaining as well. if not, let's hope there'll be something else on that evening that i could watch and flip to the oscars only during the commercial breaks.
Monday, January 08, 2007
pan's labyrinth
it will be pretty hard for any movie in 2007 to beat guillermo del toro's "pan's labyrinth". i was actually kind of exhausted when we went to see it last night, but i was kept on the edge of my seat throughout the film. the performances were superb. the effects were incredible. i'm not sure if it's cgi or not, but great effects only work when there's a great source of creativity and an incredible story involved. the two story lines were intertwined so beautifully together, and i loved the pace of the film. it drew me in slowly as the little girl revealed more and more of the fantasy, and despite the foreshadowing, it kept my utmost interest at all times. even though it comes across as a children's story, it's tremendously sophisticated and extremely tragic. the film is a testiment to del toro's genius. it's definitely one that i will invest money for a dvd.
Monday, October 02, 2006
parallel synchronized randomness
saw the science of sleep yesterday with my friend a and my sister. i loved it - the stop-motion animation made me feel like a 6-yr-old again, looking at the world with wonder, and gael garcia bernal made me feel like a 16-yr-old with a high school crush on a boy. the blurring of dreams and reality was a little exhausting, trying to figure out whether things were really happening or just in stephane's mind. but i think the appeal was this very obscure division between reality and dreams - my life seems to resemble this dubious state. i'm not quite sure what i'm doing. everything feels kind of surreal. maybe my days would feel more solid if i gave myself more structure - a schedule of things to do everyday. but right now, being unemployed, i daydream a lot. i'm alone for most days. sometimes, the tv is on - it's been a long time since i've watched this much tv. even when i'm doing chores, they're pretty mindless work that i would imagine all sorts of things. i took the curtains to the laundromat today. as i was standing on the windowsill, taking off the curtains, i wondered if i lost my balance, threw my weight on the window, and the window popped out of the rectangles in the walls, would the glass panes and frame hold together and simply fall over the narrow space between our apartment building and the next, with the ends catching the outer walls of both buildings and keep me suspended in that narrow corridor like a bridge? or i'll fall the other way and would my reflexes be quick enough as i tip over the ledge to let me leap onto the futon for a softer landing? or would i miss and hit my head on the edge of the frame? my imagination runs a little too wild sometimes - it's probably just a sign that i'm bored. need new project.
Monday, September 18, 2006
trader joe's and adam sandler
i can't believe what a big deal it is to go to trader joe's in nyc. the check-out line snaked through the store with a girl holding a sign designating where the end is. the store is not very different from the ones in la - the biggest exception is that there's no alcohol isle - there was beer, but there's a separate trader joe's wine storefront, next to the grocery store. and i didn't see any liquor.
on our way back to our apartment, we walked in the middle of a adam sandler movie filming two buildings over from us - video village is actually just outside our building. one of the background saw our trader joe's grocery bags and asked us where it was. i'm so befuddled with the insanity that surrounds trader joe's. don't get me wrong - i love the store. but i guess it's so prevalent in la that i didn't really think of it as something to obsess over. and i had suspicion that the building the production is using today was being prepped for a show. b had mentioned that they were doing some construction in it earlier in the month, but i saw a couple of trucks the other day, one of which had grip equipment. it's almost sad that i could recognize it. maybe i should stay in film production for now - i can't seem to escape it...
on our way back to our apartment, we walked in the middle of a adam sandler movie filming two buildings over from us - video village is actually just outside our building. one of the background saw our trader joe's grocery bags and asked us where it was. i'm so befuddled with the insanity that surrounds trader joe's. don't get me wrong - i love the store. but i guess it's so prevalent in la that i didn't really think of it as something to obsess over. and i had suspicion that the building the production is using today was being prepped for a show. b had mentioned that they were doing some construction in it earlier in the month, but i saw a couple of trucks the other day, one of which had grip equipment. it's almost sad that i could recognize it. maybe i should stay in film production for now - i can't seem to escape it...
Monday, August 28, 2006
days 2-5 in denver
i've made it to denver! the roads were cleared the following morning of the storm in gallup, nm. i was able to stop in las vegas, nm to see a friend and have lunch with her. coincidentally, it was her birthday so the visit was a happy occasion. she and her family moved to the town recently, and everyone seems to be adjusting to the new place well. she seems happy with her new job even though she's exhausted from the long hours.
the rest of the drive to denver was pretty uneventful...except for the brief hail storm in colorado springs. i managed to find my friend l's place quite easily, and we went to a concert that evening - melissa ethridge. neither of us were familiar with her music except for a couple of songs. l got the tickets from someone who had to leave town over the weekend. we enjoyed the show though - melissa ethridge has such amazing energy on the stage.
over the weekend, we took it easy. we saw 'little miss sunshine' and loved it! dysfunctional families rule - otherwise, how boring life would be. on sunday, we went on a hike just outside of the city. the scenery was incredible. giant slabs of red rocks jut out of the ground at an angle, like frozen waves of the red earth, contrasting with the green hills in the back drop and the bold blue sky above. the city created an outdoors concert hall, taking advantage of the accoustics the rocks offer and the fresh air in the openness.
and today, it's been a while since i've had a decent monday. getting to stay home (well, l's home) and watch the u.s. open is not too bad. people in denver seem extremely nice and sweet - it's like being in the south without the drawl. we're going to boulder tonight to have dinner with one of l's friends. the woman is apparently really nutty but an absolute sweetheart. it'll be an interesting evening.
the rest of the drive to denver was pretty uneventful...except for the brief hail storm in colorado springs. i managed to find my friend l's place quite easily, and we went to a concert that evening - melissa ethridge. neither of us were familiar with her music except for a couple of songs. l got the tickets from someone who had to leave town over the weekend. we enjoyed the show though - melissa ethridge has such amazing energy on the stage.
over the weekend, we took it easy. we saw 'little miss sunshine' and loved it! dysfunctional families rule - otherwise, how boring life would be. on sunday, we went on a hike just outside of the city. the scenery was incredible. giant slabs of red rocks jut out of the ground at an angle, like frozen waves of the red earth, contrasting with the green hills in the back drop and the bold blue sky above. the city created an outdoors concert hall, taking advantage of the accoustics the rocks offer and the fresh air in the openness.
and today, it's been a while since i've had a decent monday. getting to stay home (well, l's home) and watch the u.s. open is not too bad. people in denver seem extremely nice and sweet - it's like being in the south without the drawl. we're going to boulder tonight to have dinner with one of l's friends. the woman is apparently really nutty but an absolute sweetheart. it'll be an interesting evening.
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