Rain has won the MTV Biggest Badass Award for his role as Raizo in Ninja Assassin!
I am so happy that Rain has won this award. No doubt all the KPOP fans were voting as it was a public vote but who cares!!! He deserves the recognition for all the months of fight training and conditioning he went through and for the brilliant portrayal of Raizo!
Well done Rain! Funny too that he received his award from Jackie Chan and the new Karate Kid. Rain is releasing a song for the Karate Kid soundtrack in Korea!
This has just made my day! Everyone should watch Ninja Assassin!
Despite all the critics rubbishing the new Sex and the City movie I went along to see it last night. It was a lovely girlie night out with my sis and friend. We went for dinner and then went to see the film.
The cinema was bunged full of women, with a few men scattered into the crowd (poor boyfriends being dragged along, no gay men though!)
I never listen to critics really because they don't have a notion what they are talking about so I always just go to see what I want/like. The film was good fun, lots of laughs but lots of cringey embarrassing moments left me hiding behind my hand or leaning over to my sis asking "why did they do that?".
The fashion and scenery were amazing! Although set in Abu Dhabi it was filmed elsewhere, Morrocco I think, due to decency laws!!! Decency my ass, ridiculous traditions that subjugate women more like!
Relationship stories were the main part of the film as usual, there was no real main storyline apart from the girls on holiday, getaway story which was enough for me. The opulent sets and clothing made me soooo jealous, made me wish I was rich and living a completely different life somewhere else. I wish!
I would recommend anyone to see this film, even men! I think men could learn a lot about women from watching SATC, although it could make them more confused lol.
Anyway, I enjoyed it but not as much as I loved Ninja Assassin, and the critics panned that too! It is a frivolous and fun way to spend a few hours and the laughs made me leave the cinema with a smile so that's all I ask for.
Studying Wing Tsun in the past has given me some knowledge about the Grandmaster Ip Man and the art of Wing Chun but I can't say I know that much. Here is a background for those of you who might be interested before I tell you about the film.
The story goes that a Shaolin Nun named Ng Mui escaped the fire of the Shaolin Temple and went into hiding in Southern China. She was asked by a young girl named Yim Wing Chun to teach her martial arts in order to fight the local warlord who has challenged her to a fight as she has rejected his marriage proposal. After learning the form of kung fu that Ng Mui taught her she then taught it to her future husband who named the form "Wing Chun". Her husband then went on to teach Wing Chun and Ip Man was one of the most prolific students who, when he moved to Hong Kong, he brought Wing Chun to the world. He is considered to be the first person who openly taught Wing Chun as it was said to have been passed down through families prior to this.
The story of Ip Man is less familiar to me. Many people know that he was the teacher of Bruce Lee and that Lee studied Wing Chun but went on to create his own martial art Jeet Kun Do. Ip Man is a legend in China and the current obssession with him in Chinese cinema and tv is definitely showing the Chinese love of the legend. Ip Man, starring Donnie Yen has been released and Ip Man 2 has been announced and will see Donnie Yen again but this time he will face Sammo Hung. The legendary Tsui Hark is also set to make a film about Ip Man called The Great Master starring Tony Leung Chui-Wai. (There has been a recent Hong Kong TV series called Wing Chun starring Nicholas Tse, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, which I will be watching asap, and of course the lovely Michelle Yeoh starred in Wing Chun in 1994 again with Donnie Yen.)
Now, back to the main event. I have just watched Ip Man starring Donnie Yen and Simon Yam and I was really impressed. I spent most of the film grinning madly to myself in awe of the amazing skill of Donnie Yen and the sheer perfection of his Wing Chun.
The story is set in the 1930's before and during the Sino-Japanese Invasion. It depicts Ip Man as a wealthy but quiet man who spends most of his time at home with his family in Fo Shan, training and occasionally sparring with rival masters. (Ip Man came from a wealthy family and was educated in Hong Kong where he also continued his Wing Chun training, returning to Fo Shan in his early 20's.)
He is seen as the greatest fighter in Fo Shan, which is famous for having many different kung fu styles and clubs. When a Northern group of fighters appears in town and defeats the other masters, Ip Man is the only one who can restore honour to the town, which he does with ease, further cementing his reputation as the greatest master in the area.
The more serious storyline develops when during the Japanese invasion Ip Man's home is taken, leaving his family almost destitute and Ip Man working in the coal factory. The Japanese General demands local fighters show their skills against his Japanese fighters in order to win a bag of rice. When a fight goes sour Ip Man is enraged and fights 10 japanese fighters, only bringing himself to the attention of the General who asks him to teach the Japanese soilders Wing Chun. When Ip Man refuses he challenges the General to a match, which he wins. In an outrage the General's closest lieutenant shoots Ip Man in the shoulder causing the watching Chinese to revolt. Ip Man and his wife and child escape to Hong Kong with his long time friend (Simon Yam.) (This part of the story has not been documented as far as I can tell and seems to be for effect rather than a real part of his history)
I am a huge fan of martial arts films and I especially love the folklore epics such as the stories of Wong Fei Hung and Fong Sei Yuk. I have always watched legends like Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, who tend to be the names that resonate overseas but people tend to forget the skill that Donnie Yen and Yuen Biao along with newcomers like Nicholas Tse bring to the Kung Fu genre. Donnie Yen is one of the best movie martial artists of our time but hasn't been able to really move into international films. He has shown himself to be skilled and talented but also one of the better character actors of the big martial arts stars. He is also one of the better english speakers having lived in the US as a child.
In this film he perfectly shows the calm and serenity that Ip Man seemed to always exude, especially whilst doing Wing Chun practice or fighting. He highlights the softness that is essential for Wing Chun to be successful and he also is able to express the anger that the character feels and sadness that he is overcome with.
His Wing Chun in the film is beautiful. His fluidity and skill is amazing to see translated onto the screen. The speed of his chain punching was stunning! I remember the pain of chain punching drills and Donnie Yen just showed me what happens when you really keep doing those drills!
Donnie Yen is one of, if not the best martial arts action star in Hong Kong at the minute and I can't wait to see what he does in Ip Man 2. No doubt I will be giggling like a child who just got a big bag of sweets while I watch it!
He is a clip of one of the fight sequences for you from the first film to let you see what I mean about the skill that he shows.
So I auditioned for Big Brother last week. It was fun but a bit odd.
Started out pretty early. I woke up at 5am and took the 7am train to Dublin. There haven't been any auditions in Belfast for the last few years so everyone has to travel to Dublin or one of the other big cities. Saw 2 guys at the station in belfast and they asked me about the train. I instantly knew they were going to the BB auditions but didn't say anything. I saw them as I was getting off the train in Dublin and asked them if they were going. They said they were and I asked if they wanted to share a taxi. They needed to get some breakfast so we all decided to eat at Mc Donalds...such a healthy start to the day...lol.
After chatting over an egg mcmuffin they told me that only one of them was auditioning and the other was just coming along for the craic (fun) but we tried to encourage him to do it. He said that he just wanted to have a few pints and relax. I thought he would wait in the pub but he decided to buy some booze and drink it on the way. (That's right...you can buy booze at 9.30am in Dublin..lol!)
We finally arrived at the venue at about 10.30. Luckily it wasn't starting until 12 and most people turned up late so we weren't too far back in the queue. I think there were about 50 people infront of us but about 500 behind us...if not more! The guy who was drinking was just a bit tipsy at that stage. We waited in the queue and met a few other people. There was a girl in front of us who was wearing the stupidest costume...a maids costume over blue jeans! Her boobs were almost popping out of it. She wasn't a skinny girl either so it was no surprised that all the camera men, tv/radio crews where taking her picture and chatting to her. Me and my new friends in line were just laughing at all the weirdos.
We finally got to the audition. We were in a group of 10 together and we had to play a warm up game which was just passing a plastic ring (like a cheap version of a hula hoop) from the ground up over our head and then on to the next person. It was a like a race with another team. Luckily we didn't have to do that for long and we went on to the next stage.
The next stage was talking to two girls from the production team. They asked the goup about a moral issue...lol...basically something like "Would you tell your friend you hate their boyfriend?" Things like that. We all had to answer that and discuss it with the group. Then we had to get into pairs and find out things about our partner and then introduce our partner to the group. All this time the guy who was drinking was getting really drunk and he started being argumentative with the production girl. She was getting very defensive and had her arms crossed. I was the only girl in the group and was hoping she would be nice to me. When it came to our introduction she was not nice to me at all and even though she asked everyone why they wanted to be on BB she didn't ask me and I was the only one with a decent answer. All the fellas said they wanted to do it for fun! I was pissed but thought the best of it and tried to be positive. When everyone had finished introducing their partners they told us to talk amongst ourselves and they would decide who would go to the next stage. They then asked us to stand holding our hand up and they would stamp who they wanted to go through. They ended up picking one of the guys I met on the train (the sober one) and another guy. They were the two good looking ones. So at this stage I knew that i was never in with a chance because they wanted the 2 good looking fellas. The girl was a real nasty type but in retrospect I should have said something to her.
Anyway, I didn't get through but the busty maid did get through...lucky girl. Maybe I might wear a costume if I apply again next year...lol. There are online applications this year so I might make a video and put it online...who knows.
Well that's my Big Brother story. Hope it was interesting for some of you BB fans.
So, you know from the last post that I went to see Eragon the other day. Well, I knew that it was going to be a little different but when I actually got there and sat through it I was totally baffled and apalled!!!! I was shocked to see that the film was almost nothing like the book. The characters were poorly cast, poorly acted, the story was totally changed and it was poorly thought out and will be very hard to lead into the next story unless of course they change that too.
I once thought the film versions of Harry Potter were terrible but I now see that they actually werent that bad. At least they were cast well and the characters had the right hair colour (maybe not the right eye colour...Harry should have eyes like his mum...I'm a bit nerdy really..) But seriously, I am so sick and tired of crappy Hollywood movies and companies that destroy the idea of good books and stories. I'm sure the author must but sickened by it unless he is only interested in the money.
I wouldnt recommend anyone who has read the book to see Eragon in the Theatre. If you really want to see it...wait for the dvd or tv showing. Don't waste your money on this crappy film...its utter garbage!!
