Kung Fu Cyborg - 機器俠

Kung Fu Cyborg (機器俠) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Hu Jun, Betty Sun, and Alex Fong. The supporting cast include Ronald Cheng and Jacky Wu.

In the year 2046, cyborg robots have been created and are going into production. But they need to test it out in the field. Hu Jun as Dachun is recruited to partner up with their finest model, K-1, played by Alex Fong. Dachun is the chief of police of his village and Betty Sun as Sumei is one of the police officers. K-1 starts to develop feelings for Sumei. But a directive of his programming states that he will shut down if he develops real "love" emotions. K-88, played by Jacky Wu, has developed "religion" and is on the loose. K-1 is recruited to stop him. A battle between K-1 and K-88 goes all CGI.

But the movie doesn't end with that epic battle. We're treated to the next half the film where Dachun is combined with K-88 for a all out funny experience. Sumei now takes the lead in the pursuing K-1. What will happen if K-1 gives in to his emotions?

The movie had received some unfavorable reviews from some the English HK movie sites. You can tell why. The movie is all over the place and the storytelling is rather convoluted. The placing of the story into a rural village also makes this film way less "cool". The country bumpkin stuff didn't work well.

In all, I was expecting it to suck to a certain degree. Which is did, but it was still rather enjoyable for being completely absurd and irrelevant.

The Storm Warriors - 風雲II - 風雲2

The Storm Warriors (風雲II/風雲2) is 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng. The supporting cast include Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, Nicholas Tse, Tiffany Tang Yan, and Kenny Ho. The movie is a sequel to the 1998 film, Storm Riders.

The movie starts with the capture of Nameless, Storm, and many other jiang hu warriors. They are captured by Lord Godless and his son, Heart. However, many of them do make an escape. Lord Godless has also been given all power by the emperor. Nameless and Lord Godless have a intense fight, but Nameless is fighting hurt and cannot defeat Godless. They all escape and Godless's men start to look for them. Wind, who was not captured, comes and aids in their escape.

After they escaped, Storm and Wind are given instructions by Nameless to seek out Lord Wicked for help. Once there, Wind is chosen by Lord Wicked to become one with a wicked demon power. Storm is than trained by Nameless.

Once Storm and Wind are trained in their arts, they go after Lord Godless and defeat him. But Wind's no longer himself, but possessed by the wicked demon eye. Storm and Wind than go at it. They fight to a standstill, but the cliff around them crumbles and Storm finally cuts the demon eye to restore Wind. But Storm falls to his demise off the cliff.



How can the sequel match the original, produced more than ten years after the original, to live up to the hype? You can't, so you just go with the flow. The movie starts off in a confusing place. How did Lord Godless capture all these heroes? Why did they escape so easily? But to the credit of the movie, it says, "forget the story, bring on the fighting". The movie is seriously 75% fighting. Swordplay fantasy fighting. CGI, slow mo, "chi" all thrown in there for good measure.

What should you expect, you should expect a film that says "to hell with character development" and say yes to "computer style fighting". This is not your Jet Li style wuxia film, but a 2009 CGI extravaganza.

I never did read the comics so I am not all that familiar with all the characters of the story, but if you watched Storm Rider: Clash of Evils (風雲決), some of the plot points are also used from there.

600th Post and a lot less posting...

All things must come to an end. A post a day for a year and 2 months plus was a good run for me.

This blog really never got in the way of my life before. But life is going to get in the way of this blog. I will be much too busy for the next 3-4 months to keep up with much of anything with entertainment.

My personal blog posting streak ends tomorrow. I'll still be posting, just with a lot less regularity than I've shown since the summer of 2008. From June 6, 2008 to today, I was able to maintain an 0.83 post count per day. Sadly, that number is headed down.

I don't know who'll care about this anyways. I think I have 2 or 3 regular readers. I've never been able to fully understand the Google Analytics data for my blog.

When July or August rolls around, hopefully, I'll get back to posting daily again and to starting another streak. And celebrating another Laker Championship.

Sherlock Holmes - 福爾摩斯

Sherlock Holmes (福爾摩斯) is a 2009 film out of the US. But the movie is based entirely in London in 1891. The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie.

Based in 1891 London, Robert Downey, Jr. plays Sherlock Holmes. Holmes infiltrates and stops Blackwood in a black magic ritual. Jude Law as Doctor John Watson is along for the ride and helps Holmes. From here on out, we are given bits and pieces of Blackwood's master scheme. Holmes and Watson seem to show up regularity when things go bad and get clues to solve a mystery.

The movis is a Guy Richie film. If you're a fan of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking and Snatch, you'll be a fan of this film. The film has a lot of the Richie film making qualities. The movie had a "epic" feel as it recreated 1891 London. The slow motions. The camera angles! Its a Richie film through and through.

I can see why it did so well at the box office and how word of mouth made it a bigger hit.

So, were there Asians in this film? Yes! They had a scene where Watson just got a little change and was contemplating if he should join some Chinese coolies in a gambling match. In another scene, a kung fu coolie comes out of the sewer to beat up on Holmes. Not very glamorous, but they do get some screen time.

Wonderful Town - 2007 Thai Film

Wonderful Town is a 2007 film out of Thailand. The movie stars Supphasit Kansen and Anchalee Saisoontorn. The movie was a hit with the critics in 2007 and may have been the film of the year for 2007 in Thailand.

A Bangkok city boy Ton, played by Supphasit Kansen, takes an assignment down south in the sleepy town of Phuket. Phuket was one of the communities hit by the 2004 Tsunami. Ton finds a cheap hotel more inland because its cheap. Na, played by Anchalee Saisoontorn, is the main caretaker of the this establishment. Ton goes to the hotel site his company sent him there for and tries to pass his time. Na dreams of fleeing the responsibility of having to care for the hotel on a day to day basis. Eventually, Na falls for Ton. Can Ton give Na security? Will he flee back to the city after his fling?

The movie was super slow. Really, really slow. The story develops at a snails pace. But you do start to find out about both Ton and Na. More so with Na as the story focuses on her town and her life much more. Ton on the other hand is presented on only one level. I couldn't really make him out for the life of me. Was there something more?

The ending is a bit of a surprise, but not without reason if you get the rest of the film. Should you watch this? If you're into artsy fartsy movies, please do. If not, you'll want to wait for Ong Bak 3 as your next Thai movie fix.

Funny People - 命運好好笑

Funny People (命運好好笑) is a 2009 film out of the US. The film stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann. Supporting characters include Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza, and RZA.

Adam Sandler plays George Simmons, a famous comedian and movie star. George is diagnosis with acute myeloid leukemia is starts to take experimental medicine due the stage of the disease. Seth Rogen plays Ira Wiener or Ira Wright. Ira is a struggling stand up comedic looking for his big break. George shows up one night and is followed by Ira. George like Ira's act and hires him to write him jokes for a MySpace event. After the event goes well, George hires Ira to be his personal assistant. George eventually is "better" from the experimental medicine. With his second chance, he tries to re-kindle a relationship with Laura, played by Leslie Mann.

The movie was both funny and extremely sad at the same time. The comic "universe" created from this film was quite amazing. The less than funny life threatening disease was quite sad.

I've been a Sandler fan since his SNL days from the early 1990s. I'd be lying if I said I remembered Sandler in The Cosby Show. But maybe I did, I can't remember that far back now.

For brain-dead comedy a la Sandler, this is not your type of film. If you're looking for more Spanlish or Punch Drunk Love, this is the Sandler movie you might get. I do recommend it. Lots and lots of cameos from the comic world and many unlikely cameos too.

Eric Bana plays Clarke, a rough Australian salesman in China. In the film, China is use in both a positive and derogatory way. It was funny with Ira asks if Clarke's Chinese was Cantonese or Mandarin. And Clarke and kids go "Ba Ba Bu Yao!" repeatedly. Almost to a rap.

Death Note II: The Last Name - 死亡筆記本:決勝時刻

Death Note: The Last Name [Death Note II] (死亡筆記本:決勝時刻) is a 2006 film out of Japan. The film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Erika Toda, and Nana Katase. This film is the sequel and conclusion of the live action Death Note series.

Light, played by Tatsuya Fujiwara, continues his cat and mouse game with L, played by Kenichi Matsuyama. The group is introduced to Kira II, played by Erika Toda. Kira II has a Death Note book too. And she wants to find the real Kira and uses some extreme measures to get it. Kira II is special in that she has the Eyes. The ability to see people's names and their lifespan.

I would like to go on, but I would be revealing too much of the plot. This film was better than the first in my opinion, because the pacing was must faster and the 2 new leading ladies were very easy on the eyes. The suspense and twist are maximized to the fullest with this arc.

The ending is a surprise to me and I wasn't disappointed nor was I into it as well.

A nice series that plays on the supernatural and the "logic" that comes from movie magic.

YouTube Singers

One of the great things about YouTube is the massive amounts of people that post up covers to songs and posting their original songs. Some are great and some are "eh...". I don't normally get to catch up on the latest "it" guy or gal. Because someone knew about them way way before I did. So, I am a bandwagon when it comes to these trends.

My favorite is Afraid of Everest aka Singindork888. It's been a few years since he broke out into cyber space with his cover of Jason Mraz's Lucky. Since than, he's been regularity pumping out great stuff. I'd be lying to say I keep up. But the guy has some mad guitar skillz and a pretty smooth voice.





Recently, I stumbled upon aozorafantasii. aozorafantasii has some pretty good indie skillz with the guitar and a pretty voice. According to aozorafantasii's blog, she was born in China, raised in the US, picked up Japanese in HS and got the Japanese bug! aozorafantasii packed her bugs for the land of the rising sun. Wow, what a great story along with some mad talent. aozorafantasii sings in English, Japanese, and Chinese. Mad props.

天龍八部 - Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - Tian Long Ba Bu - Broadcasting

天龍八部 (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils/Tian Long Ba Bu) started broadcasting last week in Taiwan. I had recently watch this in its entirety and did a review late last year.

Well, its on daily from Monday to Thursday in Taiwan. So you can get your Jin Yong on.

This is a top 5 Jin Yong story for me.

第36個故事 - Taipei Exchanges - Upcoming

第36個故事 (Taipei Exchanges) is a upcoming film being released in Taipei on May 14, 2010. The movie stars Kwai Lun-mei.

The movie is about a cafe that exchanges things. These things have stories behind them. Stories that take them beyond the small island of Taiwan.

Looks like a super interesting film. The atmosphere of the cafe looks inviting. Just hope the stories are worth the stay.

神話 - The Myth - Broadcasting

神話 (The Myth) started broadcasting on CTV in Taiwan on April 7th.

From the long CTV trailer, it looks like the voices may be different than the China dub. I wrote a review of the China version about a month back.

The series is 50 episodes, so its pretty long and quite slow when the politics overtake the series.

America's Best Dance Crew - Champions for Charity

Last night was a special America's Best Dance Crew episode. The previously champions join the newly crown champion for charity.

The crews started the show with a ensemble dance performance. Each crew was highlighted and the was capped off with a joint dance number.

After that, going from the latest to the oldest Champion, each Champion would visit a charity and than give a special performance dedicated to that charity. They would also present $10,000 to the charity.

As you can expect, all 5 crews played to their strengths and personalities.

The most memorable performance was put up by original champions, the JabbaWockeeZ. They also had the longest performance.

The judges were back to offer some chit chat to move the show along.

The show ended with a "face off" type circle and it ended way too early.

A must watch for all ABDC fans.

(500) Days of Summer - 戀夏(500日)

(500) Days of Summer [戀夏(500日)] is a 2009 film out of the US. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. This is the film debut of acclaimed music director, Marc Webb.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen and Zooey Deschanel plays Summer Finn and they are a couple. The movie moves in an episodic way through their relationship. However, instead of the conventional start to finish, this movie starts with the break up and flashes back to different points in their relationship. The 500 days is the number of days that Tom is "in love" with Summer. Along the way, we jump from the beginning to the middle, back to the beginning, and towards the end. The movie may jump back and forth to play off specific significance events or behaviors from the different times in a non-linear fashion.



It's actually better not to know the plot, but just know that this is a mind trip film. It's one of those films that comes along every so often from a fresh new director that just blows me away. The last couple of movies that did this to me were Napoleon Dynamite and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (ironically both are from 2004). The story, movie feel, the production value and tricks, and actors all combine for something so harmonious.

I've been a Zooey Deschanel fan since her turn as a big sister in Almost Famous. Although all the movies she's done in-between not be my cup of tea, this movie was made so much better because of Zooey. In that role as a woman who's lost faith in love and how she finds it.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt been around for ages. As Tom Hansen, he goes from "eh", floating in the clouds, to the depths of rejection, what a masterful performance.



The music was also like a soundtrack of my elementary school days to the modern emo/folk stuff. The soundtrack to the movie complemented and helped move the story along. Because the meanings of the songs and the "followers" of the music was also reflected in the personalities of the two leads.

I can't give this movie enough praise. It's one of those movies that can be raved about and also live up the expectations.

The film was also based in downtown Los Angeles. I had worked in downtown Los Angeles for 5 years and many of the sites they were at reminded me of those days. And the blade runner building was also a feature.

One note is that Asians are quite lacking in this film. If you've been to downtown Los Angeles, there are a host of Asians there, most offices would feature many more Asians than presented in this film. And when they were a focus, it was for the butt of a joke. The only sour note to an amazing film.

Marc Webb, the director of the film has been a music video director for the past ten years. Maybe that's why music is such an important aspect of the film. Webb is also the director for the Spider-Man reboot. It's too bad as I would have liked Webb to have channeled that indie spirit into another couple of films.

乘著光影旅行 - Let the Wind Carry Me - Upcoming

乘著光影旅行 (Let the Wind Carry Me) is an upcoming film being released in Taipei on April 30th.

The film is a documentary about a famous Taiwanese Cinematographer, Mark Lee (李屏賓). Mark Lee was behind the lens of some of the most memorable films out of Taiwan and Hong Kong the past twenty years. Films such as In The Mood For Love, Shanghai Flower, After This Our Exile, and Secret.

I have a feeling that I'll never get a chance to view this film as it'll probably only be a film circuit and limited release Taiwan film It's a shame, as I review Mark's films, many are ones I respect a lot.

Death Note - 死亡筆記本

Death Note (死亡筆記本) is a 2006 film out of Japan. The movie is partly based on an Japanese anime of the same name. The movie stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, and Yuu Kashii.

The movie is about a notebook called "Death Note". The first page of the book has rules on how to use the book and the movie will display those rules on the screen. Basically, if you enter a name into this book and you know the face, the person will meet its death as you write it or suffer an heart attack. Tatsuya Fujiwara, plays Light, a college law student and son of the high ranking inspector. Light has been on a surge with writing names into the book and many criminals have now died because their names appear in the book. The worldwide community has started to investigate and pinpointed the suspect to Tokyo. A cat and mouse chase happens between Light and those trying to find the killer, L.

The movie was rather slow and predictable. Maybe its because the stupid DVD previews the anime before the movie. Giving away most of the plot points. Or was it the, "hey, he's for justice, but now thinks he's god" complex that you knew was coming. Or was this movie just too hyped that I was let down. I don't know. I am now wondering if I want to see the sequel. If it is more of the same, I am not interested.

Zombieland - 屍樂園

Zombieland (屍樂園) is a 2009 film out of the US. The movie stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. As you can tell from the title, there's gonna be zombies in this film. Bill Murray also makes a cameo.

The film starts with a voice over of a guy that explains how the zombies came about and how he survived up to that point. He's got a bunch of rules. While traveling on his way back home from college, he bumps into a guy. They meet and they give each other names, Columbus for the college kid and Tallahassee for the redneck. Tallahassee has a thing for Twinkies and will go into any store to get it. Even if there are Zombies to take on. Tallahassee also has a thing for taking out Zombies. At a stop, they meet 2 more humans, a pair of sisters, Wichita (older) and Little Rock (younger). Wichita tells the two that Little Rock has been bitten and is starting to turn. Both Columbus and Tallahassee do not have the heart to kill Little Rock, so they hand the shotgun to Wichita. However, Wichita and Little Rock are con women and take their guns and car. Columbus and Tallahassee eventually find another car and head out. They meet up with Wichita and Little Rock again. But they become friends and head out to Pacific Playland in the Los Angeles area.

There really isn't a point to this movie. If anything, it is that humanity can still exist in the mist of zombie chaos. Nothing that we haven't seen before. However, with this film, it takes on a carefree and childlike behavior. The 4 characters all compliment each other well with their respective personalities.

What makes the movie good is that its super funny and there isn't a "scare" factor from the zombies. The "scare" factor comes from the other humans.

18 Fingers of Death!

18 Fingers of Death! is 2006 parody film, written, directed and starring James Lew.

It's low budget, low brow, and almost unwatchable. The parody is more in line with the Bruce Lee style films of the 70s than it is of the general martial arts of the current era. The comedy was forced and the acting was over the top. It also pays homage to parody The Last Dragon.

I have a high tolerance level and I couldn't finish the film. I had to walk away.

Ichi - 盲劍

Ichi (盲劍) is a 2008 film out of Japan. The movie stars Haruka Ayase and Takao Osawa. Shido Nakamura and Yosuke Kubozuka both have supporting roles.

Ichi, played by Haruka Ayase is a traveling goze looking for a master blind swordsman, Zatoichi. On one of her travels, Ichi saves a Ronin Toma, played by Takao Osawa. Toma is struck by Ichi's beauty and starts to follow her. The arrive at a city known to be an "inn town". But the yakuza of the town are in a battle with bandits called, Banki. After a gambling house visit, Toma is again saved by Ichi, as she takes out 5 Banki henchmen. Toma is given credit and converts the opportunity into a gig as a bodyguard for the yakuza. Ichi continues her search, but stays a few days extra to wait for a entertainment that has a "master blind swordsman".

The movie was pretty good. It was nicely paced and the story was predictable but enjoyable at the same time. Haruka Ayase is stunning as the goze and her action scenes are quite believable.

If you're a samurai movie fan, this one shouldn't disappoint.

America's Best Dance Crew - Season 5 - The Finale

Last night was the eleventh and final episode of America's Best Dance Crew (Season 5), the Finale.

Fifteen crews began the season with the hopes of competing for the the ABDC title. With two crews eliminated from each of the regionals, we had nine crews left battle it out via votes.



In the end, there were two crews that can be could be called America's Best Dance Crew, Blueprint Cru and Poreotix. Which one won over the hearts of fifteen millions voters?

Poreotix keeps the tradition of the West going FTW. Poreotix seems to have won over America with their playful antics and smooth robotic movements.

As was I, Poreotix started out as my favorite. In the middle of the season, I didn't have a favorite, but the last couple of episodes, it got me back.

Congrats to the Los Angeles boys for keeping it westside. Cause you know its the best side. ;-)

For Season 6, please please do an all-star show. Bring back the crews that didn't win it and have them go at it. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Kaba and Beat Freaks in a finals showdown?

And the charity event next with all five winners of ABDC! What?! I can't wait to see Quest back in action.

Cover of Whitney Houston by 小胖 林育群 from Taiwan Singing Show One Million Star

林育群 (小胖/Little Fattie) was a PKer on the the Taiwan singing show One Million Star (超級星光大道). Last week, he sang an amazing rendition of "Amazing Grace". This week, he choose Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

Seems that he's become an internet craze around the world. He's version is very good. You can tell the pronunciation is off on some of the words. But was pretty on on 90%+ of the song.

大嘴巴 - 万凸3 -- Da Mouth - One Two Three

大嘴巴 (Da Mouth) released their third album earlier this year in January, 万凸3(One Two Three).

Da Mouth consist of a four "hyphens" in the Taiwan music industry.

• Harry Chang -- Taiwanese-Korean-American


• Aisa -- Born and raised in Japan


• MC 40 -- Taiwanese-Canadian


• DJ Chung Hua -- Taiwanese, but was raised partially in Japan

Harry has recently appeared in a couple of high profile Taiwanese dramas. Aisa was Vanness Wu's love interest in Meteor Rain years back. MC 40 and DJ Chung Jua are making their mark with Da Mouth.

I've seen Da Mouth on many a Taiwanese variety shows the last couple of years. It wasn't until their third albums' "愛不愛我" that got me to purchase their CD from AMAX couple of mouths back.

The music is more on the dance level and everyone except for the DJ gets in on the vocals. If you like upbeat and happy songs, you may like Da Mouth. So far, four MVs for 万凸3(One Two Three) have been released. Posted below, you can see if you like it too.

Spiritual Kung Fu - 拳精

Spiritual Kung Fu (拳精) is a 1978 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Jackie Chan, James Tien, and Mo Man-Sau.

Jackie Chan plays Yi-Lang, a non-monk pupil of Shaolin. Yi-Lang is notorious for getting in trouble, being punished, lazy, and has bad luck. One night, a meteor hits Shaolin temple and five aliens or ghost appear in the library where Yi-Lang is serving as a guard. Yi-Lang out smarts them and becomes their boss when he find the five style martial arts manual. Yi-Lang than starts to learn these five styles, Tiger, Dragon, Crane, Snake, and Panther. The main plot revolves around James Tien's character who is trying to be the master of the clans. Yi-Lang and evil guy have a super long showdown at the end. Guess who wins? Seriously super long showdown.

The version I saw was the English dubbed version. The movie itself is dated and the climatic fight scene is super long. If you're a Jackie fan, you'll want to catch this as its the beginning of Jackie's comedy-fu. It's old skool that didn't stand the test of time too well.

The Drummer - 戰鼓

The Drummer (戰鼓) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Jaycee Chan, Tony Leung, Angelica Lee, and Roy Cheung. Eugenia Yuan makes a brief cameo.

Jaycee Chan plays Sid, the son of one of the toughest triad bosses in Hong Kong. That tough triad boss is Tony Leung as Kwan. Sid starts up a relationship with a mistress of a triad boss higher up than Kwan, Stephen Ma. Ma catches Sid and his Mistress Carmen. Sid confronts Ma and insults him in front of his men. From that point on, Ma wants Sid dead. Kwan steps in and sends Sid to Taiwan to hide out while he takes care of the situation in Hong Kong with Ma. While in Taiwan, Sid has to settle into a boring life and laying low and not causing trouble. Sid is awoken daily by the sound of drums every morning. Sid was a drummer in a band back in Hong Kong and is interested in finding out where this sound comes from. Sid works his way into the group. As its most junior member, he'll have to learn the virtues of being a drummer. Sid befriends Angelica Lee as Hong Dou and tries to impress her. Along the way, the events in Hong Kong eventually get worst for Kwan as he ends up in jail. Will Sid be able to find the virtues of drumming? Will he be able to get back to Hong Kong?

The movie was beyond my expectations. It took the Hong Kong triad movie style and applies it to the slow pace of a "coming of age" story. Character development of the primary protagonist Sid is explored to its fullest at the expense of of the people around him. The pacing of the movie was herky jerky, but it worked for me. At times, the mood who be intense, than move to a somber moment. The mood shift would normally be too abrupt for me. But it worked me in this film. Fast to slow, slow to fast, over and over again.

The drumming group featured in this film is the famed U-Theatre (優人神鼓) drumming group based out of Taiwan. Other than Angelica Lee and Jaycee Chan, the rest of the troupe are real members. I would like to see U-Theatre one of these days. If I ever find out they are coming to Los Angeles, my wife and I will try to make time to go see their show.

I got the movie off Netflix and their was only 1 language track with English subtitles available. The scenes in Hong Kong were in Cantonese and the scenes in Taiwan were in Mandarin. Normally, I'd like to watch the completely Mandarin dubbed version so I don't have to read subtitles. But this version wasn't bad and it was a change of pace to hear their real voices. The "making of" was long and gave an in-depth look at the movie that was excellent.

Fighting - 打出頭

Fighting (打出頭) is a 2009 out of the US. The movie stars Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, and Zulay Henao. Cung Le makes a special appearance as a fighter.

Channing Tatum is Shawn MacArthur, a street hustler selling fake iPods and Harry Potter books. In the front of Radio City, a crew led by Terrence Howard as Harvey Boarden, starts to mess with Shawn and eventually steal some of his materials and money. Shawn runs into Harvey's crew in a diner while passing by and demands his money. Harvey strikes up a relationship with Shawn and becomes his manager. Harvey gets Shawn more fights and each fight is more money. Shawn fights and fights his way up. While getting the girl too.

The movie was very predictable and the fighting wasn't very fluid. Too many edits and shaking going on. I think they need to do that to disguise the actors sake. Cung Le was in the "Asian" fight and again, the fight wasn't great due to the quick edits and shaking.

The Asians in the movie were played up to exotic or weird and in red. What's up with the stupid stereotypes. It played the Chinatown syndrome stereotypes to the max. Yet, later on, it was referenced as a Korean establishment. Yikes! Racist Hollywood at work. And I am only talking about the "Asian" scenes.

The Expendables - 浴血任務 - Trailer

The trailer for The Expendables (浴血任務) was released recently. The movie was written, directed, and stars Sylvester Stallone. Sly is joined by a who's who of action movie stars from the birth of the Blockbuster era in ensemble, cameos, bad guys, and background guys roles. A movies and B movies can make you an action star.

Among these from the 80s and 90s are Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Gary Daniels, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The current action stars include Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, and Steve Austin.

The movie seems to be a bloody mess from the trailer, but if its a Rambo 2 throwback, count me in. I probably will be watching on DVD and not in the theatres.

America's Best Dance Crew - Season 5 - Hip Hop Nation and Last Chance Challenges

Last night was the tenth episode of America's Best Dance Crew (Season 5), Hip Hop Nation and Last Chance Challenges.

The final three crews took the stage and Blueprint Cru was voted into the finals. Hype 5-0 and Poreotix drop to an elimination round. I was actually surprised since Poreotix was my favorite from last week. Maybe MTV had to eliminate one of the Asian crews? Just a conspiracy theory.

Blueprint Cru performed the Hip Hop Nation and Last Chance Challenges in ok fashion. After the first few times of seeing them, I am pretty bored watching them. I wasn't really feeling their performances.

Hype 5-0 went back to their high energy choreo and added a few disses of some crews. In all, it was also ok. But it wasn't enough for the judges to keep them around for the final.

Poreotix performed twice and I liked both of them better than the rest. But I wasn't blown away. It was enjoyable as I like their style. Precise movements with flashes of b-boy thown in. The Hip Hop Nation challenge was good because it was so long. They were able to throw in a lot of stuff. But nothing with a "wow" factor. Their Last Challenge was a different story. Sticking to what they like best, Poreotix went back to basic and had lots of isolations, tutting, popping, and robotic movements.

I would be surprised if Blueprint Cru is awarded ABDC next week. But this season was very similar to the last season for me. I was waiting and waiting and waiting to be wowed. I never did, but it was so close, it kept me around.

In comparison, Season 1 was kept intense because Jabba and Kaba were so good. Season 2 had Super Cr3w, SoReal Cru, Fanny Pak, and Supreme Soul putting out amazing performances every week. Season 3 belonged to Quest and Beat freaks.

Season 4 and the most current, Season 5 did not present any real front runners and really anyone could have been eliminated each week and we wouldn't be surprised.

Well, I will be voted by the locals of Los Angeles, Poreotix. Not only because they are homeboys, but I like them better. To each their vote.

台北星期天 - Pinoy Sunday - Upcoming

台北星期天 (Pinoy Sunday) is an upcoming movie being released in Taipei on May 7, 2010. The movie is the adventures of two pinoys in Taipei.

The Chinese title translates to Taipei ("台北") Sunday("星期天"). Which is normally the day of the week that workers in Taiwan get some time off to do their own thing.

The movie seems to follow two Pinoy men on a Sunday and their adventures with a red sofa. The movie seems to look at relationships in a foreign land while they have a family back home.

I highly doubt I'll ever get to see this movie in Los Angeles as it probably will not get any English subtitles. Well see. I would like to see this movie.