Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The President's Last Bang [2005]
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Year:2005
Country: South Korea
Director: Im Song soo
Cast:
Song Jae Ho
Han Suk kyu
Baek Yun shik
It's a pretty good watch, a mix of imagination and fact!!! Imagination, because the writers couldn't actually know what went on in the minds of the main protagonists so they had to swing it with innovative dialogue and scenarios. Its appeal is in its tongue in cheek rendition of the President's last 24 hours. Historical and political knowlege of Korea not required, but the movie can be interesting fodder for your next cocktail conversation. This political satire and black comedy focused on the few hours before and after Park Chung-hee's assassination on October 26, 1979.It was funny and gory at the same time. Yeah, there was enough blood spilled to transfuse a battalion as the Director/Writer Im Sang Soo tried to show what went on in the last hours of the President's life. The title is a play on how President Park went, literally with a Bang while indulging in well some psuedo bang!!! Park Chung Lee was actually a General in the army before he became President not army captain as the KCIA Director Kim mentioned and Times magazine named him one of the top ten asian leaders of the 2oth century in 1999.Takaki Masao was his Japanese name when he was with the Japanese Imperial Army.
The movie was controversial as Park's only son Park Ji-man filed a suit against the production company for the fictional portrayal of his father as a fun loving cowardly libertine.
Watch it streaming on aznv.tv and Crunchyroll or buy the dvd and support the artistes. Check out my favorite asian film review site for a more professional film review. President's Last Bang at LoveHKFilm
Click here to order the DVD :
[2000]SMAP-Lion Heart
Lion Heart is one of my favorite singles from SMAP, my favorite japanese idol group. Credit goes to the fansub group JEMix for the romanji and english subtitles. SMAP link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMAP
Takuya, Goro, Nakai, Shingo and Tsuyoshi started as a group in 1991 and today are at the top of the japanese entertainment world as actors, singers and TV hosts.
Kissing John Travolta Part 1
Kissing John Travolta
Part 1
Angelica and I were on our way to Stuttgart to celebrate the eve of the New Year when the Benz of a Filipino T and T (Tago ng Tago or literally an illegal alien) we were riding in went off the autobahn. It was deep winter and we were traveling without snow tires on our way to the party. Then, we almost hit a snow drift. The car spun around before coming to a stop. We sat there dazed for a couple of minutes, until Angelica had the presence of mind to hit Benjie on the head with her evening purse. I don’t know whether it was the adrenalin rush of the accident, the bump on his head, or the three rosaries I prayed, but Benjie got us safely to Stuttgart with plenty of time to spare before New Year’s Eve.
I saw him the moment I entered the room, dressed in skin tight faded jeans and a body hugging shirt, striking a pose right out of Saturday Night Fever. “And who do you think you are, John Travolta?”, I asked. I didn’t blink when he replied “Ja, how did you guess?” “Easy”, I replied, “the invitation said it was a costume party.”
“And who are you supposed to be?”, the blast from the past queried. “Angelina Jolie”, I answered haughtily “ and I’m looking for my Brad Pitt.”
I made a beeline for our hostess Mimi, a gorgeous Pinay mestiza married to a German-Pinoy named Alex. Somewhere in the room I suddenly heard someone shrieked merda. It was a latin-looking girl dressed unmistakably as J Lo who was smooched by Hamir the Egyptian, under the mistletoe.
“Remind me to stay away from that thing.”, hissed Angelica into my ear as she scampered as far away as she could from the mistletoe. From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Benjie loitering in the vicinity of the “kissing” ornament. He was sipping some German white wine, ready to pounce on a helpless somebody, no, make that anybody.
From across the room, John Travolta and I eyed each other like two hungry wolves circling their prey, waiting for the other to make the first move. Angelica, ever observant whispered, “I sense a definite attraction between the two of you, girl.” Hmmm, it was a very interesting tableau.
Mimi dragged Angelica and moi to meet the boys at the party including John Travolta. We conversed, shallow cocktail conversation termed oberflaechliche Unterhaltung, about random topics on nothing and everything. “Strange,” I said to myself “no one really bothered to introduce themselves.” It was just 11 o’clock, one more hour to go before the New Year. I already got the beginnings of a headache shifting from English to German to smatterings of Spanish and French and even Taglish.
The mostly cold buffet spread was inviting and we were hungry. Angelica and I wished it was more of the Media Noche fare from back home but we made do with the delicious German potato salad, kaese and more kaese ( cheese) and sausages or wurst of every description. I nibbled on the blutwurst I normally wouldn’t eat and was mildly surprised at how tasty it was.
J Lo and a friend dressed like Beyonce joined us at the buffet table, chattering in Spanish. Friendly bunny Angelica said hello and before you can say voila, we had two new girl friends. J Lo was Assunta Minilho from some South American country, Chile, I think. Beyonce was Erika Pronstroeller, the niece of Josie. “Oh My God”, Angelica and I shouted in a chorus, “ You’re Pinay too!”
Assunta and Erika were classmates at some prestigious hotel and restaurant school in Salzburg together with Erika’s brother Nacho. “And is this Nacho here as well?”, I asked, curious about other Pinoys in the party. Erika pointed at John Travolta and Assunta said possessively in German . “Er ist meine liebling.-He’s my darling.”Angelica and I exchanged knowing looks- aha, so they’re a couple eh?
to be continued
Lied des Tages
Listen to the song and download:Ich+Ich- Vom selben stern[From the same star]