'ONG BAK II'- A LAME BUCK

This review is about the sequel to the Tony Jaa starring 'Ong Bak 1'. Before I get into the meat let me briefly encapsulate the first one in a few lines.

'Ong Bak 1' was, during its time, arguably the super martial art flick that gave a complex to the other pow fests. Path breaking in its superb stunt choreography it altogether bypassed the wire-fu that Hong Kong movies, a-la- 'crouching tiger...' had made virtually the mainstay of martial arts flicks. The action was superb and tony Jaa's skill beyond belief. Seriously, the pain threshold of the Thais seem to be almost Hashish induced! The plot was a little silly- a simple village man goes to the big bad city in search of a stolen religious artifact, and after much butt kicking and eye gouging he reclaims it.

Yet, despite the weak story link, the movie was an undeniable adrenaline roller coaster ride. To be fair to the cinematographer the scenes were also no Hollywood's poor country cousin quality. So quite deservedly the world sat up and took notice of Tony Jaa's butt kicking skills, and in between painful grimaces the audience quickly proclaimed the arrival of the new Bruce Lee. Way too soon, in my opinion...

THE SEQUEL:
The sequel strangely enough, instead of carrying on from the original, goes back in time! Confounds me but my opinions are hardly the issue here.

The plot is rather sketchy, but in short it's set in the pre-19th century Thailand. The protagonist is a prince whose parents were brutally killed by a rival war lord. After doing the rounds of a slave market he finally ends up in the esteemed company of some ancient day super warriors. The story takes off from there and the predicatble revenge motive soon takes center stage.

My views about the movie... Not even half as good as the first. I know that this will create a huge furor among the die hard dishum, dishum fans, but really way too much going on!

My complaints are three fold;
1. The plot becomes even more debatable than in the first. While I agree that plots have never been the strong point of action movies, there has to be a logical chain of events to allow people to follow it. Just stringing together a series of explosive scenes hardly makes a movie. This movie suffers from this symptom, and how!
2. Tony Jaa is admittedly a great fighter, but he is a through and through Muay Thai stylist. The acrobatic styles he uses in the first movie are from a distinctive branch of Muay Thai known as Muay Boran. He is excellent at it. But for some God forsaken reason in this movie he sets out to be the ancient world MMA fighter. Learn all skills while excelling at none. He tries Kung Fu, Kali, Escrima, Juijutsu, African wrestling... now com'on what the hell! I mean WHAT THE HELL!!!
I'm going to spend some time on this one since I'm passionate about the arts. The art of fighting is much like dance- there is a rhythm, a feel and a passion to it. Just because a person is good at cha cha he cannot expect to be suddenly good at the Fox trot. You need finesse and a fluidity to be convincing. Without it no matter how good you are at another dance you end up as nothing more than a rank amateur in another.

Tony jaa has committed the classic mistake- put too many stuffs into a pretty box, finally making it explode in embarrassing fashion. While he is a master at his art he fails miserably at portraying a convincing all-specialist and weapons master. He should have stuck to his game. But, I guess the man's trying to find his element... Really, some of the fight scenes are quite embarrassing.
3. Finally the directors of the movie ( Tony Jaa was also a co-director) have got it all wrong. They've tried to make the stunts carry the entire weight of the movie; kinda like the horse riding the man in my opinion. All stunts and no substance.

So have I given up on Tony Jaa? Not at all. He is after all just starring in his second major release, and we all know how experience teaches. I mean if you watch some of Jackie Chan's earlier movies, you'd all but die due to disbelief and pure indignation! I say give him another movie to express the sum of all his experiences. And if he's learned anything form his failures we're in for a helluva time:-)

If he has not learned anything, he deserves to be buried among the forgotten one hit wonders, that are far more common than bankable superstars.

LITTLE BALLERINA

Tiny bundle of white clad sadness
swaying to Tchaikovsky in the mirrored hall,
curl those frail arms around yourself
your scars show under the tutu, but never mind,
for this once you're an angel in the skies
just this once become the star of the Russian ballet,
curve you body into the shape of irony
stain the room with your unbridled sorrow- agony,
forget the man who waits at home to hit you
forget the marks on your back from the cruel belt,
My little ballerina in white stretch your arms towards heaven
I can't catch your fall but I'll try to feel them all,
with the music coming to its doomed finale, with the last piano note
she bows her fragile neck and stretches her hand to cradle her legs,
in that unreal pose she stops breathing and wishes it would all end
but she finally stands up and smiles from under her tears,
the world has not stopped moving, she's just a girl with scars
who must go home to the man who waits with cruel smirks, and crueler hands.




A Poem dedicated to all the children who suffer abuse at home. My tears will never reach you but I hope my prayers do. God bless you.

Huthuka Chishi

Picture credit-scenesfromthewild.blogspot

MUSICA DIVINA!

I was thinking to myself a couple of days ago and remarked how music is in such an exciting state currently. I am a product of the 90's( late 90's to be very accurate) and though the music of those times have very nostalgic qualities to them, they were also undeniably in a state of suspension; 'Backstreet Boys' and 'N Sync' ruled the charts for Chrissakes! Without taking away anything from their entertainment value, those were hardly of the same stature as the terrific Art Blackeys and Ella Fitzgeralds of the preceding decades-not by any stretch!

What makes music monumental and what makes it decidedly popcorn entertainment is, I personally think, its originality and genuineness. Music like any other form of expression has a soul and the only way to communicate with the soul is through genuineness. This is the quality that music aficionados clamor for, when modern music is being taken into perspective.

My excitement owes itself to the spying of the same qualities of the great eras in some of the music today. I am going to list out a few of the artists, and mind you keep your prejudiced opinions somewhere else...

1. Lil Wayne- Ha,ha,ha, I can literally hear some of you cuss out loud at that! But seriously I mean it to be no joke because that man is hugely talented! Rap after Biggie and Tu Pac had utterly become a bad joke, but that man in his laughable baggy jeans and with that inimitable smirk is bringing so much freshness into the genre. I know that I may sound audacious but I rank him up there with Tu PAc and Biggie. Can't wait to see what he does in the next few years!

2. Jamie Cullum- Ok, Michael Buble has been doing a very good job of bringing Jazz into the mainstream ( the purists would scream for my blood at the usage of that sacred J word to describe what he does). But he cannot be called original in any sense because he deals with the art of reinvetion. Jamie Cullum on the other hand is amazing for what he is doing- taking the genre associated with old men and tobacco pipes, and imbuing so much coolness that the young can identify with. He will go very far if the world still has its head on the right way:-)

3. Jazmine sullivan- This young girl has a lot going for her. An amazing vocal, great song writing skills and Grammy nominations- and to top it all that enviable quality called 'SOUL'. When I listen to her I can't help but remember the great old ladies like Ella Fitzgeral, Arethra Franklin, Count Bassie. And furthermore, given the fact that she has been in the business just a few years one can only expect her to hone her skills to higher levels.

4. Amy Winehouse- I have had my eyes, and ears, on this one before she became the star, and junkie, she is now. That voice! Ah, pure ecstasy is the only way I can describe it. There are many people with amazing voices but few with the rawness and irreverence that she possesses. I just wish she would get a grip on herself and get back to making music because that's obviously what she excels at.

5. Jason Mraz- He is one cool cat:-) There is not much you can say about his music by way of analysis. The only word I can use to describe his music is 'Honest'. Refreshing and utterly uncaring is what this guy has come to represent in my book of music. It does not hurt that he is a good looking dude too I suppose ( His MYSPACE page has many devoted fans begging to have his children:-)

I would love to write a whole lot more but since this is just a blog page... Anyway to just name a few more- James Morrisson, John West, Adele, Jack White...

In any case the deal's only going to get better, unless music also goes into recession:-( If you have time check these artists out and be glad you have me to introduce you to this luminary company:-) Ciao!