Actually, Mark posted the link. He’s the dangerous one.

Even though I haven’t seen “Cradle 2 Tha Grave,” I have to wonder (as you did, B) how he plans to educate the West about buddhism through it. Were buddhist teachings tattooed on DMX? I saw a “making the video” with DMX on it. The director said something like:

“Yeah, now we are just waiting for X to show up. We usually set up, let him know that we’re ready for him, and he’ll drop by when he feels like it. We might wait 4 or 5 hours, but when he gets here, he’s focused. On top of his game.”

I got the impression that DMX couldn’t really be bothered to attend his own video shoot. Once he showed up, he repeatedly referred to himself in the third person and sounded more like a charicature of a modern-day Mr. T than anything else. I guess it sells records.

Schrag… you’ve been quiet. Is that ankle keeping you at home (watching re-runs of The Real World)?

Mark, had trouble with the new categories again. Any ideas?

Better try to get some work done.

Days until Hawaii: 15

So Chris, I read that link. Whatever; that’s his bag and that’s great and all. The question as to whether or not that should matter could be applied to movies like say The Omega Code, where the agenda is so apparent (obviously the whole point of the story, but they kinda pushed it, unlike something like the whole Indiana Jones series). I can’t recall if I actually thought it was a good movie, but the whole point of the movie basically annoyed me. This of course would bring up the point of why I’d go to such a thing in the first place as it’s content wasn’t unknown. In some respects, when one is at the point of going to movies done by specific actors, directors, producers, or whatever, one already knows and accepts whatever this person presents. So, yes, as an educated consumer, all I care is that the movie I go to see because of “x” person’s efforts is good. The dilemma; now that I am aware of Jet’s motivation or whatnot, I cannot for the life of me see any influence of this in Cradle. So in this specific case, his motivation matters only in the sense that I feel inadequate for not having drawn a greater insight from watching DMX and Jet pummeling people.

So, read this: http://www.jetli.com/jetli/jet/jet_religion_why.php?bw=high

I knew about this a while ago, but never really put much thought into it. My initial reaction was backlash only because it’s religion, but I think over the last couple of years I’ve since learned to be more tolerant. Do you guys think Jet’s motivations matters at all? As consumers, do all we care about are good movies?

Well, I haven’t seen Cradle 2 the Grave yet, but have heard similar things; that it’s pretty much generic action movie.

Kiss of the Dragon was maybe a little too dark for Jet, and The One was cool in that you could see different fighting styles pretty clearly, but again the actual story kinda sucked. Many of his HK movies also sucked, by the way; it’s just that we tend to remember the good ones. Still, he’s had a higher percentage of good movies than say Jackie Chan (I swear half of Jackie’s movies, especially the 70s and 80s ones, totally blew).

The thing I’ve noticed about all Jet’s movies so far… he’s totally prudish. Have we seen even one on-screen kiss? He doesn’t get it on with Bridget Fonda, his wife dies in The One, Aaliyah and him also don’t end up together. It’s like he’s afraid to “cheat” on his real-life wife or something… And as soon as he got to the US, it seems like his one emotion is grim resolution. I suppose his care-free days of Fong Sai-yuk are over (he’s probably too old to be depicting an innocent laid-back guy), but he’s got to be able to act more than just stoic hero.

A great website on Jet Li, by the way, is his official Jet Li website.

In gaming news, I played the Freelancer demo recently. Pretty fun, but not sure it’s deep enough for me to want to buy it. Maaaybe multiplayer would be cool… I’ve gotten my hands on Master of Orion 3 and Command and Conquer: Generals and will check those out soon, maybe with Ben. I hope to get Splinter Cell and Sim City 4 soon too. Too many games, too little money, too little time. If any of you get the chance, Hitman 2 is an excellent game.

For all your gaming review needs, go to GameTab.

Yeah, Brandon. I have to agree with you. Jet has had less than stellar movies during his US career. I’ve already crapped all over “Black Mask,” but there have been some other (lesser) disappointments. For example, “Romeo Must Die.” I pretty much put “R.M.D.” in the same category as “The Replacement Killers,” i.e., a showy, action-driven vehicle for bringing a foreign talent to US movie screens.

I remember how excited I was to catch Chow Yun Fat in that movie, but the film just lacked something that John Woo captured so perfectly in classics like “Hard Boiled” and “The Killer.” I think that the US versions are too stylized and wind up looking more like a music video than a movie. Not a big leap because the “The Replacement Killers” was the first movie directed by Antoine Fuqua, who was otherwise known for producing rap videos. (BTW: it isn’t just Hong Kong action stars that get these guys. “Charlie’s Angels” was also directed by a music video graduate- the oddly named “McG“.)

We all breathed a sigh of relief that Jet wasn’t treated too badly in “Lethal Weapon 4,” but sadly, things haven’t really improved for him since then. Part of the problem is that the movie houses think they need to team him (or other guys like Chow and Jackie Chan) up with some big name US star: Mira Sorvino, Mark Wahlberg, Jodie Foster, Aaliyah, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mel Gibson, DMX, etc.

Instead, they should look to find a script and storyline that fits the skills and talents of the actor. I thought that the studios would have learned more from the success of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” One can only hope…

This is hilarious. Arvydas is a diamond in the rough.

Saw it. Poor Jet Li. He kicked ass as always, but they need to have somebody actually write a movie for him, or just call it UFC. It was amusing at times, even funny, but a predictable flop in terms of story and acting. Too bad.

I had Taco Bell for the first time in like a year or something a night ago. How the hell did I ever eat that crap with such abandon? Schrag, how did we eat 7-Eleven chilli dogs, ever? I saw one of those things on a stormy night up here in Seattle as I was grabbing some gas from a stop and rob… It looked like it had about 10 to 15 years on me and spent too much time sitting in the surf on a sunny beach somewhere… Somewhere awful.

Greetings. My desire to post decreases exponentially with the number of war-related posts. Today’s Boston Herald ran a cover picture of the “terror leader” that was captured over the weekend. Some clown said that “it was equal to the liberation of Paris in the Second World War.” What? Really? I think that you should always leave a few bigger military triumphs to use in future metaphors. I also think that you should not compare a third-world-wide manhunt for a small group of insane people who frequent caves to the Second World War. It’s just sad for everybody.

IVC went 3-0 (6-1 games) this weekend without our best player (the ridiculous Yann). We used another line-up but were able to take down Tufts, BU, and WPI. We brought only six people, requiring the middles to play all the way around, something we hadn’t done yet this year. It was fun. We are currently ranked seventh in Division II for NIRSA Nationals. Not sure if I/we will go or not…

I hate to bring up the movie again, but really, “Kung Pao: Legend of the Fist” is funnier than “Dude Where’s My Car?” Yeah, I thought “Dude…” was good for a laugh, but it never really aimed much higher than convincing people to see it because Ashton Kutcher was in it. According to Hollywood’s fuzzy math:

Ashton Kutcher = $$

See “Just Married” or “That 70’s Show” for a proof of the equation. (Then go and see this and be AFRAID.) I remember a time when we all lived in Portland and went to see movies at every opportunity. Sure the Snake can talk trash about “stupid” movies that he hasn’t seen, but I just want to remind everyone that we were first in line to see Jet Li’s “Black Mask.” That is a movie that sucked in every possible way- especially the over-dubbing and the lame Ozzy Ozbourne look-alike bad guy. It won’t be a good movie just because you put Jet Li in it, just like it won’t be a bad movie just because it’s a schlock comedy (see the Naked Gun series, the Pink Panther series, Fletch, etc.). Enough said.

BTW: Mark how is the Special Edition of Akira? I never got to read the end of the comic (because of delays due to re-writing the ending for the third time), but it’s clear how vastly different the movie is from the comic. Not sure if I like it as much… Anyway…

I musta missed Kung Pow…but then again I didn’t wind up seeing “Dude, Where’s my car?” either which I think Chris thoroughly enjoyed. If I had to choose, well let’s just say…”DUDE! SWEET!!”.

Regarding Mark’s questions, I think there’s nothing wrong with working on any given day as long as: A) you are really into what you are doing or B) there is something you are looking forward to in the forseeable future which working will help you to attain. A sufficient, but less satisfying reason to work hard is the prospect of being thoroughly, publicly embarassed in the very near future if you don’t get something done. For more on this, see: graduate school. From my point of view, being able to set your own hours is the biggest factor. Getting up earlier than you want sucks. I also think that my work/vacation cycle is longer than average. Most people like the work five days/play two days thing (of course most have no choice)…I tend to like the work all the time for 1-2 months and then relax for several days/a week. Your mileage may vary. It’s all about concrete goals…

As far as categories go… is there a limit? Why do we need to add more? I’m just not sure what their big significance is…I suppose you can filter by categories? Anyhow, I guess a movies category is kind of on par with the music category…or maybe they can be merged into one.

By the way Chris, way to talk about my references to my manhood and then go on and on about your “tree” … thinly veiled ….