Into the Movies of Bruce Lee: Enter the Dragon and The Big Boss

As promised, I am now going to have movie reviews beginning with two films starring Bruce Lee. National Geographic Channel’s feature on the legendary movie star motivated an officemate of mine to look into his films. His generation was greatly exposed to his films and it seems to be a nostalgic move on his part to watch them again.

He asked me to look for two of  films namely Enter the Dragon and The Big Boss. It was a good thing that it was widely popular so it was easy to secure a copy. I am not familiar with Bruce Lee or his films. What I know is that he is popular and he is revered as a great martial arts actor in Hong Kong cinema and later in Hollywood. As such, my officemate’s request turned out to be a means to know him.

I watched first Enter the Dragon since its title sounds familiar. The story is about a martial arts competition organized by a man named Han who was expelled from Lee’s Shaolin order due to misconduct. Two other competitors Roper and Williams joined him. Han is known to be engaged in drug trafficking and prostitution so Lee was asked by authorities to work for them to uncover his activities. As they win each day, Lee unravels the activities in the island. The film’s climax would take on with Roper emerging victorious over Bolo causing Han to get angry and ordering his men to attack Lee and Roper. The film ends with Lee’s successful fight with Han.

At first, I really did not see anything remarkable about the film but when I placed myself in the period of the film’s release, I understood the things that made the film outstanding. Bruce Lee was indeed a legend in this film. Its not about the stunts nor the martial art tricks but Bruce Lee’s aura as an action star. His composure was characteristic of a legend. Its as if that when he is faced with a multitude of opponents, you would see in his eyes that he can defeat all of them.

What impressed me in this film is the last scene that shows the fight between Lee and Han in a room full of mirrors. Upon Lee’s entry to the room, I immediately got the idea that it would be the hallmark scene of the film. I also remembered what Lee’s teacher told him about fighting which I told myself would be Lee’ tip to defeat Han.

The second film, The Big Boss, is very different. Upon watching Enter the Dragon, I was expecting The Big Boss to be of similar caliber. The Big Boss seemed to be less in grandeur in terms of production design and action scenes. This film is set in Thailand and the location is very rural. This time, Bruce Lee as Chenge came to Thailand with his uncle to work in an ice factory with his cousins where, again, a series of drug-related activities take place. The problem began when a series of disappearances took place among the factory workers particularly among Cheng’s cousins. Cheng was later promoted as foreman when he was able to defeat some outsiders who were called to quash the workers’ uprising. This was a ticket for him to learn about the fate of those who disappeared. The Big Boss referred to the factory owner which Cheng challenged and defeated.

The film had a very funny element in it. Cheng kept a medallion which reminds him of his mother’s advice not to get involved in fights. As such, every time his cousin gets into fights, he is reluctant to help him. When he is about to help him, he holds the medallion and funny music similar to a lullaby is played. This is not very typical of an action film.

The Big Boss reminded me of a typical plot among Filipino action films. You have a syndicate or a gang involved in illegal activities and the protagonist is out to defeat them. The setting itself reminded me of our action films. Thailand is no different to the Philippines and at that time very striking similarities can be observed.

Speaking of plots, watching these two films would make me say that Bruce Lee’s films would have simple plots with bad guys to defeat. Although they are simple, this will not discourage me from watching more of his films.

Generally, Bruce Lee is an interesting actor to watch. His stunt and action scene executions are like theatrical scenes that are meant to be executed big and to elicit astonishment from the audience. More of Bruce Lee in Game of Death and Fist of Fury.

Random

Got through the highly-dreaded comprehensive exam last week and I’m happy to announce that everyone (we’re 8) of us passed. Now, the only thing that keeps us from earning the degree is our thesis.

I’m hoping to finish my thesis this year if that is possible or if anyone in the program was able to finish a thesis in a period of two terms or equivalent to six months. Its a big challenge actually. I already know my topic and how to go about it. But there are some things that I’m still undecided. Will I write it in Filipino or English? Since the scope is too long, what particular period should I look into so that I may be assured of many things to write? Which kind of countries should I deal with? These questions have to be resolved prior to going with the research proper.

*****

Recently, I’m getting into some movies just to make the most of my time and I’m really enjoying it. In one of these days, I might post some short reviews to have something in my blog. I miss writing reviews though they are not that substantive nor helpful to anyone. Writing them helps me to get away from work and keep myself sane.

*****

While I was taking my Ash Wednesday lunch, I suddenly thought of going into volunteer work. I’m not referring to those organizations that are active during disasters preparing food supplies to be distributed among affected families. I’m thinking of those projects that have specific objectives and target communities/beneficiaries which are in need of people who have certain expertise and skills. I’m referring to development work and not to disaster response or social work.

Since I was taking lunch in an establishment with WiFi connection, I searched through the net of possible ways to make it possible. I came across the Philippine National Volunteer Service Administration, a government agency that coordinates with volunteer organizations and volunteers. I was hoping to find information about favorable options for government employees to go on volunteer work but their website does not say any. I’ll try to find out soon by asking them or the Civil Service Commission.

The reason behind this interest is because I want to get exposed to another domain. You see, being in the culture and arts sector makes you feel that its all that matters – that culture and arts is an antidote to social problems. Its also a means to get back to a more realistic realm which the social sciences has helped me to realize. Getting into social problems provides greater challenge than protecting and keeping social memory and its material remains.

The Gift of Fear

Fear is not something we welcome with joy. It distorts vision, diminishes confidence, and obstructs our path towards a desired destination. In every way, fear helps in discouraging change to materialize for no move can be made for as long as fear remains.

 

But to me, when fear came, I decided to welcome it with a smile. Last Thursday, my officemate and I discussed about a project which was initially disapproved by the panel of evaluators but was later pushed for reconsideration after a letter of endorsement from a congresswoman was received by the office. The incident did not sit well with us. First, it stands as an insult to the expertise and the authority of the panel of evaluators. Second, it may be regarded as an attack to the very nature of the Commission as grants-giving institution. Lastly, we in the rank-and-file are placed in a difficult situation wherein we are asked (and at times, forced) to bend the rules to favor the demands of the powers-that-be. The last reason elicited fear.

 

The following day, I told my officemate that after our discussion, I found myself staring blankly for a couple of times thinking about the implications of the said incident. I felt afraid that a day would come wherein I’ll get involve in a similar incident. I’ll be asked to do something which I know is against the policy 1and would have serious implications. But then, my manifestation would not be given attention and a problem will arise in which I am to be blamed though I was the first to protest. I told her that such incident is likely to happen and I will not wait for that to take place so I will just quit my work to evade it.  Of course, she was surprised to learn of my decision.

 

Fear appeared as a gift. You see, fear, in this context, helped me to see the gravity and magnitude of the Commission’s flaws and the propensity for such flaws to fall and be blamed among the rank-and-file. Since I felt afraid of such possibility to take place, I admitted that I am seriously considering and will surely make haste attempts to get out of the Commission and transfer to my dream job. When I came in, I said that I will only stay for five years. But now, I told them that I might transfer before I reach my fourth year.

 

Apart from the fear of such possibility taking place, I found other reasons to arrive to such decision. I felt that being a member of the Secretariat is not congruent with my personality. I like to write papers in which I can input what I know and believe in, to be involved in decision-making, and stand as a respected expert of my chosen field. Being in the Secretariat does not give me the opportunity to do all these things because it favors my ability to facilitate and coordinate which are basically people skills. I go more for the thinking task and regard written outputs as accomplishments.

 

At this point, I’m developing strategies to effectively deal with my work despite my diminishing interest in it. I’m giving myself a year to prepare my application for my desired career.

 

Fear helped me to make a vision and in developing ways on how to achieve it. May fear do the same to you and bring you to fearless depths.

Happy Feet 2

Watched the movie yesterday with dear and we really enjoyed it. It was really funny to see the penguins dancing in unison especially the fluffy ones. The movie has great lessons to share and I would really recommend it for children to watch. The plot was simple yet it was meaningful.Different kinds of animal acting for one selfless purpose. Deviance and social conformity was presented in a balanced manner. How I wish to see humans uniting for a pur

Fluffy don’t float.

Mobile Phone Usage History

Yesterday, I went to my postpaid network provider to check if they have an available router for their broadband since I’m also availing of their internet service. I have always wanted to have a wifi connection at home since we have a laptop, a notebook, a desktop, and my iPod touch all sharing for one broadband connection. Unfortunately, they don’t have a stock and its availability is still indefinite.

To make the most out of the visit, I inquired as to the holding period of my postpaid line and my broadband connection. The staff said that my postpaid line is effective until January 26 of next year while my broadband connection is until December 2012. I asked if its possible to choose already the phone I want as replacement. To my surprise, the staff said that I may already choose and get it at that very hour. I didn’t expect that and that seems to be an early Christmas surprise.

I was not exactly overjoyed upon learning it. My initial reaction was to become troubled because I have three phones in my possession: Samsung Corby S3653, MyPhone QT7 Duo, and Samsung E222. The latter two are qwerty dual sim phones and I’m using both of them. Myphone has my office’s Smart prepaid sim while Samsung has my postpaid Sun sim and my prepaid Globe sim. I’m not using my Corby.

To settle the matter, I’ll be giving my Corby to my father once I have it altered to accept simcard of other networks. I will also give one of my qwerty phones to my sister once I have decided which is better to keep. I really don’t like to have a new phone since I don’t need a very savvy one considering that I also have an iPod touch and mobile phones, for me, would really be exclusive for communication.

*****

While I was tinkering on my new Samsung Corby II, I thought of documenting the history of my usage of mobile phones. I started having one in December 8, 2000 with a Nokia 3210. I was about to graduate elementary back then. My mother and I bought it from Greenhills with a smart zed simcard. I still remember the number but I won’t post it here. I used it until second year college and then replaced it with a Nokia 3120. When I was in third year college, I bought a Nokia 5070 which I used until I started working. Then, I got a postpaid line in January 2010, that’s when I got my Corby. Then I bought my first qwerty and dual sim phone MyPhone QTV20 Duo in December 2010 just because I like the idea of being able to watch TV while commuting.  It got lost around August or December of this year and that was the time I also bought my Samsung E222 and MyPhone QT7 Duo. Now, my latest phone is a Samsung Corbv II.

In a period of 11 years, I had 8 mobile phones already. I had bar phones, qwerty, dual sim, touch screen, and one with a wifi. I had 3 smart prepaid simcards, I guess I only had 1 globe prepaid simcard, and around 2 or 3 sun simcards. That’s as far as I can remember. At present, I’m keeping 3 simcards of the major networks placed in 3 phones.

 The point is not to exhibit affluence. Actually, having a mobile phone is a necessity and keeping more than one phone and having more than one simcard is quite common. But the idea really is to show how much e-waste a person contributes. Imagine I only had 8 but how about those that regularly avail of the latest in mobile phone technology. They are contributing more e-waste. It would be good to conduct a survey among mobile phone users to see the consumer behavior vis-a-vis the e-waste contribution. Policy measures can be enacted to address the growing volume of e-waste through the survey results. It would be better than enacting legislations on mobile phone services taxation.

 

Rondalla

Tuesdays and Fridays at 5pm are scheduled for our rondalla classes. We have two hours to practice playing different songs as an ensemble. As a late entrant to the course, I find it funny that my classmates don’t know the background of the songs they’ve been playing for quite some time. One notable example is the Hatikvoh which is actually the national anthem of Israel. I learned about this when I looked for a youtube video of the song because I want to know how the song goes so I can play it. To my surprise, all the search results pointed out that it is the Israeli national anthem.

At this time, we are practicing playing the song Tiritomba, an Italian song. For those assigned with the banduria like me, its very to difficult to play this song since the tempo is fast and the notes are hard to follow in the frets.

I hope that our teacher will soon teach us songs which are familiar to us. If not contemporary songs, those that we can sing or we’re familiar with the melody will do.

My colleagues in the section are also happy that I’m part of the rondalla course since I’m the only one in the room who’s part of it. I’m echoing to them our lessons so they also get to learn playing the banduria.

In one way, attending the rondalla classes help me to release the tensions I have with work. You see, we are currently in a transition in the use of a new framework in processing project proposals so its really stressful to adjust with the new framework. Listening, playing, and being part of a musical ensemble helps me a lot to relax.

My Appreciation for the Arts

Art is lived, and as such, it is needed.

Each day of our lives is filled with art. The problem is that the kind of arts we know are those that we associate with technology and the formal spaces where we can find them, do them, and experience them. This, however, is a rigid conception of a very fluid activity, experience, and expression.

The closest art to me is literature. It can be easily owned because it only needs playing with words. I text poetic verses that I compose and send to my friends. I make essays and speeches. That is how easy and close to my life literature is.

For the visual arts, my digital camera helped me to get involved with photography. I'm no professional but I enjoy taking photos because capturing meaningful events, people, and places is necessary for me.

Music and cinema are the art forms I enjoy experiencing rather than making. They are common forms of entertainment and if you are not a literary person, you are probably more inclined to listen to music or to watch a film.

The least art forms I appreciate are the performing arts of dance and theater. For sure, others would also state that the reason for this is because these are art forms that require real talent.

Into the Wild

Many great things can be said about this film – the story, the actors, and the visually appealing natural settings – but perhaps greater things can be said about the messages it want to communicate and the emotions it evoked among those who have seen it.

The idea of escaping the life you currently have and to run far away to live the way you want it is something I have always been thinking. It felt like the movie is telling me how to do it and why shouldn’t I do it. What Chris (or Alex) did was actually liberating and was indicative of the innate human capacity to live only with needs and in the absence of wants. However, it also reminds us that life was not meant to be lived alone but was meant to be shared.

It is painful to realize that he learned his lesson in his death.  But he did not simply died, he died without regretting what he went through. His pains were redeemed by his realization that happiness [is] real when shared.

Travel Lesson

Repost. SkyWalk. Cebu.

Our trip to Cebu made me realize never to rely on the people who arrange your travels. Always make it a point to check on every nitty-gritty detail even though you expect the person to do his/her job.

The saddest part of the trip is our failure to get on the Skywalk only because the person who arranged our trip failed to secure a free entry to the said facility. I will go back to Cebu and try it out. Of course by that time, it won't be free.

Bhutan

I was very happy to learn about the marriage of Bhutan’s King Jigme Wangchuk to his 21-year-old commoner wife, not out of fondness for royal weddings but out of the interest and scholarly attention we had when we were still studying about the country and the South Asian region.

My blockmates and I are equally fascinated with Bhutan and Nepal for these countries are not that familiar to most people. When Nepal’s royal family was murdered, Bhutan seemed to held a singular distinction to our fascination. Perhaps, Bhutan is well-known to us for its unique measure of development which is the Gross National Happiness.  Apart from this, its rich architectural heritage is an additional attraction. The country’s uniqueness and mysticism remain to be the reason why most of us still prefer to reside in Bhutan than any other South Asian country whenever our dear professor,  the late Dr. Mateo, would ask us.

I hope to visit this country when the opportunity comes.