Dance of the Dragon

“A young boy in Korea discovers a dream. A dream he would follow. A dream that would lead to love. Only one thing stands in his way; he must fight for what he loves. Dare to dream, dare to love, dare to fight…Dance of the Dragon.”

Dance of the Dragon starring Jason Scott Lee, Fann Wong and Jang Hyuk is the story of a poor Korean country boy Tae (Hyuk) who since childhood, dreams of becoming a ballroom dancer. Life circumstances all but crush this dream from Tae until he has an opportunity to go to Singapore to a dance school.

There, he meets Emi (Fann Wong), a once champion retired dancer who runs the school. She is romantically involved with Cheng (played by Jason Scott Lee), a former fighting champion who now runs a dojo. But it is apparent that she is restless in her life and very unhappy in her relationship with Cheng.

When an attraction grows between student and teacher, Cheng confronts Tae and challenges him to fight – fight to stay in the studio, fight to stay near Emi.

I enjoyed this movie – was prepared to like it simply because of Jang Hyuk ~ my favorite Korean actor hands down. He’s got a charming face and a smokin’ body, but beyond that, he’s an incredible actor. I’m familiar with Fann Wong from two Singapore series; “Heroes In Black”, and “Out to Win”.

The storyline unfortunately seemed one dimensional to me - after seeing Tae and Emi dance once Cheng (Jason Scott Lee) is absurdly jealous. Had we had more scenes of Emi teaching Tae and a gradual build up to their attraction to each other I could have bought the jealousy. The Tae and Emi thing had much more potential for development too, than it was given which was regrettable. There was so much heat between Jang Hyuk and Fann Wong that I would really have enjoyed watching that evolve. Would have been nice to give them scenes "after hours" where she's teaching him to refine his gift, we could have got some of her back story from her side.

Cheng’s anger – wish we could have gotten more on that too. I was confused – he seemed at once to be a brutish creep but then a sensitive guy just trying to keep his relationship intact. We are suddenly treated to him sitting at a diner table, with a dude we’d never seen before, paying Cheng to rough up a guy who owes him money. Since when did we know Cheng was a mob leg-breaker? When did that happen?

You know, there was beautiful chemistry between Tae and his father - their relationship was a complex one - as many father/son relationships are. The ball was dropped there – this should have been broadened to add more depth. I came away feeling like the "dare to love" tag line was more about Tae going against his father's wishes in learning to dance (his lifelong love) than it was about the hotness between Tae and Emi. Sigh*

Jang Hyuk was the stand out as far as I was concerned. His English was - I could understand him - so often I can't (coughTheLobbyistcough) and the guy can emote without needing to say a single line; such subtlety in his face! He's a child in the face of his father's disappointment, he's full of wonder looking out of the taxi in Singapore, gripping determination in his face as he tells Cheng he'll meet his challenge, intensely focused during the dance and fight scenes. I would have liked to see him smile more, to blossom in his love for Emi. But alas, the movie was too short and underdeveloped.

Overall, a nice movie ~ not one I would have cared about if Jang Hyuk had not been in it. I really hope that he finds another vehicle someday that will propel him into some international attention. He’s gifted and has a great deal of charisma. I’ve yet to see him in anything (post Army) that has been bad. Dance of the Dragon wasn’t bad, but Jang Hyuk was the only element that made it good.

Kingdom of the Winds; Overall Impressions

I really wanted to like this series. As a big fan of Song Il Guk and having been very disappointed in his last effort, “The Lobbyist” I really wanted to like “Kingdom of the Wind”. Other than Song, I was unfamiliar with the other lead actors, but I was excited about the premise. The story followed King Daemushin, third ruler of Goguryeo and grandson of Jumong, the country’s founder. I had so enjoyed “The Book of Three Han; Chapter of Jumong” and we had several characters from that story that were followed through into this one, so as I said, I was excited.

There was so much potential from the word go, reuniting from one of my all time favorites: “Emperor of the Sea” the writing/directing team of Jung Jin-Ok and Kang Il-Soo. “Kingdom of the Wind” was loosely based on a manhwa (comic book) of the same name. I say loosely because it had similar character names and it was titled the same. Pretty much where the similarity ended.

The first episode met with my expectations – the look and feel of the series was more sophisticated than any I’d seen to date and the soundtrack was powerful. I strapped myself in for the ride.

The ride ended at that first episode. Daemushin – which means “God of War” is born as “Muhyul” to King Yuri but the baby is cursed by the gods, the prophecy stating that he will kill his mother, his father, his brothers, destroy his country, drown some cats, piss in the wind, spit in a cup and kick a dog. Better to just kill him now Yuri, he’s a bad seed.

Yuri doesn’t have it in him to kill the boy, so in good Moses-like fashion Yuri puts the baby in a little reed basket, plops him on a river, and hopes he floats. Big brother Haemyeong takes over, brings him to his banished girlfriend and we don’t see Muhyul for 20 years.

Blabbity blabbity, blippity bloppity boo blech.

I watched 10 episodes. Stopped caring. Other than a few sterling moments with Haemyeong, Yuri and Muhyul,the acting was substandard and the plot didn’t impress me. I was ready to walk away. But I felt like I should stick it out – I’ve said more than once that somehow I’m not able to invest in k-drama characters for a good 10 episodes. So I took a break, reluctantly coming back a few weeks later.

Sigh. It heated up to about lukewarm for me, but I was determined to make it through. Song Il Guk’s acting has matured and was consistent overall, without hitting the high notes he had hit in “Emperor of the Sea”. Jung Jin Young was moving as King Yuri, very deserving of his Supporting Actor award at the network awards show. Aside from their performances, nothing stood out for me.

I had a difficult time not comparing the series to “Emperor of the Sea” – some of the scenes were similar, some of the characters smelled the same – without the emotional punch. I don’t like to think the writers were a one-trick pony, but well, there you go. I started to feel like the writers, directors and producers were trying to create the darkness of EotS with the character affection of Jumong and it fell completely flat.

As I was trying to talk myself in to this being a good saeguk, glugging through, forcing myself to watch episode after painfully slow episode, I turned on “War of Flower/Tazza” and couldn’t tear myself away. If I didn’t have to go to mass and walk the dog, I likely would not have moved for all 21 hours. I was gripped, making me realize that KotW just wasn’t that good.

The last two episodes were a deliberate effort to make me cry – which served only to piss me off. One of the nicest characters, with a sweet side story line, was unnecessarily killed off in the 35th episode. It did not progress the story (though we’re supposed to think it was critical) and only embittered me. As if taking the one character I had grown to like a lot and burning him alive was supposed to provide that emotional punch and make me feel like this was a series of some import. It didn’t.

The series was not without its' moments; when Goeyu and Seryu consummated their relationship, Muhyul finding out who his father was, Yuri watching Haemyeong sacrifice himself, and especially the shout out directly to me as they gave me several full seconds of naked Song Il Guk foot.

It doesn’t make up for all of it, but it sure covered a host of sins.

Review up later.

70s E - Compare Donnys

I was never a fan of Donny Osmond; I left that to my cousin Jane. Not really sure who or what I really liked at 12 years old...except I was sadly crushing on Rock Hudson. We all know how that turned out.

But, a week or so ago, again with the facebook, some friends and I were chatting about who and what we liked in the 1970s. Thought it might be fun to compare Donnys. 1972 Donny to 1998 Donny. His 1998 voice -- better. Doesn't hurt that Mulan is one of my favorite Disney cartoons ever. But the 1972 Elvis Whites Osmond Tribal Gear? That hurts.

Alt E; Pork and Beans by Weezer

What a fun video and a triumph of youtube geekage! I'm pretty skewed too...must be why I like it. "I'm fine and dandy with the me inside."



"All your pork and beans are belong to us!"


Lyrics | Weezer lyrics - Pork And Beans lyrics

I Have to Stop

I must stop watching so much Forensic Files.  I am in all my macabre fascination, devoted to the CSI-type of show.  I watched an episode this morning where some guy got hold of the plastic "flex cuffs" cops to handcuff perps.  The perp in this particular episode attacked a female jogger from behind, used the flex cuffs to bind her, raped her, killed her and then tossed her.  Forensic experts eventually nabbed the guy by the metal "stop" used.

I came in this morning to some maintenance staff working on the air conditioning unit above the drop ceiling in my space.  On their little cart.... flex cuffs.

Can you imagine the creepy little melodrama that played in my mind?

Disappointment

3:55 am. I woke up an hour early today, thinking that I would have to leave my house proportionately early for work due to the inauguration events. Even so, I figured I’d be hopelessly tied up in traffic. The news and water cooler gossip has been all about how awful the traffic will be, leave at 3am, oh, you have to work on Tuesday? We were all certain that Inauguration revelers would be marching in to DC on route 7 arm in arm making a mess of the commute.

I packed a lunch.

Took me 30 minutes. And that’s hitting traffic lights. I was in the office by 6:36 am and wanted to kill myself. Two hours early. I’m not a salaried employee either, so I don’t get paid to be here.

I was disappointed.

The good news is that I didn’t have to wait in line at the fancy schmancy coffee machine in our fancy schmancy “encounter” room for my daily shot of Starbucks half-caff. There was a little fella in there about to restock the beans, the likes of whom I considered shoving out of the way, but he smiled and let me have my coffee.

I also have to admit to being disappointed in “Kingdom of the Winds”. To the point that I haven’t watched the final two episodes. I need to, because it wouldn’t be right to post thoughts or a review without having seen the entire series.

I WAS disappointed in “Terroir” for ten episodes, having needed something light and romantic after that roller coaster that was “Tazza”. I wasn’t warming up to the leads; TaeMin’s stone cold face, Woo Joo; really over the top with the spunky poor maiden crap. But I’m no longer disappointed; it’s heating up, I’m becoming entranced and am eager for each new episode. I will be judging all k-drama by the Tazza-factor now though, and want to be taken in at episode 1.

More than likely will be disappointed there too.

Even then it’s not so bad – so maybe I didn’t get stuck in traffic this morning – I bet I will tonight! And so what if Kingdom of the Winds wasn’t the best drama yet…finish it up, move on! Next up series for Il-Guk is “Hero” or “Man Called God”. Something to look forward to.

If these are my disappointments, it’s not so bad.

Love You Messages

I called my Mom this morning to tell her that I had had a curious visit by my Dad this week. This visit was made most curious by the fact that he’s dead and has been for 14 years. It wasn’t any sort of spooky apparition type thing; I may be an avid and devout Catholic, but I don’t see the Blessed Mother in the toasted cheese. Trust me, if I did see her I’d say, “Hey, Meg…look at that…CHOMP!” and enjoy a warm and crispy bite of her mantled head.

It’s how I roll.

Over the last 14 years, Dad has come in apparition form, or so I’ve been told. Recently, my daughter told me her “apparition story”. It was 1995 – Dad had passed in January. The month was August of the same year, and it was my sister’s wedding day. We all went back up to my Mom’s house for an after-reception reception. My daughter walked in to the kitchen and saw Dad leaning up against the table and he said, “Hi Meg!” She said “Hi!” and moved on. It hadn’t registered with her four year old brain that he wasn’t supposed to be there, being as he was dead and all. She had yet to really grasp the concept. See, I have never gotten those happy visits.

That’s apparently NOT how I roll.

I’ve talked before about how Dad manifests to me and he did it again this week. Reading the blogs, you see that I had gotten pretty nostalgic last week – (yeah, well, not the Korean stuff) the post about playing in the snow in particular. Facebook and my friends there were a wealth of opportunity to think about the 1970s and my then carefree life.

Driving in to work on Wednesday, I heard the song “The Last Farewell” by Roger Whittaker – one of Mom and Dad’s favorites.

the Last Farewell - Roger Whitaker

I hadn’t heard that song since June 9, 2007 – the day of my son’s wedding. At the time, I figured it was Dad saying he was around and that he loved us. I was moved Wednesday at hearing the song; and not a little concerned – my dramatic brain started working - what’s up Dad? Why you hanging out now? Who’s gonna die? What you prepping me for? But no call of dread came through all day and when I got back in the car after work, I had a long one-sided chat with Dad. It was nice, but not very fulfilling. You know how one-sided chats are.

That was nice, I figured. A lovely cap to a lovely week.

6:30 am this morning, the phone rings. Mind you, this is about the same time of day we got the phone call that Dad had passed. Well, here it was then, my black suit needed to be dry cleaned. Crap. It isn’t hard for you to imagine the four letter word that came unbidden to my lips. Braced for the worst I picked up the phone ~ and listened ~ school was delayed an hour due to inclement weather.

Oh for crying out loud (ha – yeah, like that’s what I thought – there were more four letter words).

Driving in to work it happened again. The other song that makes me think of Dad and cry whenever it comes on - “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger.

I called Mom. I told her I loved her.