This month I took a vacation with my family to Cedar Point. It was a fun vacation with my family. So I'm blogging about this amusement park that everyone raves about and says is better than Six Flags. In some ways they are right. There are more roller coasters and they are mostly better. In my 2-day experience though, they broke down and had to delay using several of them an awful lot. It barely rained at all too. But the rides that are good....are REALLY good. And two of them flat out beat anything I've ever ridden on at Great America or anywhere else.
The two that clearly stand out are Millenium Force and Dragster Racer. Millenium Force reminds me a lot of Raging Bull at Six Flags. Although Raging Bull is smoother, the first drop on Millenium is insane. Dragster may be the shortest ride, but it is the most thrilling. It's name obviously sets up what it's like. You go from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds. It takes you up a huge drop, then spirals back down it. It's the biggest drop in the world and the speed you get to the top of it is insane. Unlike all other roller coasters where you trek slowly up to the top.
The family time together was great. Just a quick 3-day trip but well worth it. Check my flickr photos for pictures from the trip.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Chinese martial artists in Hollywood
Yes, I understand that very few people would be interested in this, but why not blog about something you know about and love. I love martial arts movies. This isn't nearly complete but I think I know more than the average person.
Of course it started with Bruce Lee. That's when Hollywood really started to take notice. His last complete movie, Enter the Dragon, went on to break records in the Hong Kong film industry and make Bruce an international movie star/actor. All the fights were clearly his own design and displayed his strength and agility. In fact, a young Jackie Chan was there taking Bruce's blows in a couple of scenes.
Hollywood now knows Jackie Chan through the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon/Knights films. But before movies like Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, and Operation Condor were re-released in U.S. theaters, before he was misunderstood and changed into something he was not by Hollywood filmmakers in movies like The Protector, Battle Creek Brawl, and Cannonball Run, he did stunts. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce is fighting off a number of Han's men after discovering the opium factory. Jackie takes the hits a couple times, first when he grabs Bruce from behind then Bruce takes him down. And second, the last guy Bruce fights with the bo is Jackie; first hitting him in the stomach and then slashing down on his face. (Which actually made contact by the way! When you see Jackie's head turn in pain, he wasn't acting!)
So everyone knows Jackie does his own stunts. Many of his movies show outtakes at the end, which include stunts that go wrong. In Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie broke his foot. A sock was painted to look like the shoe he was wearing in the end of the film. In Supercop, Jackie jumped onto a pole from the moving train that was supposed to swing. However, the pole didn't swing, and Jackie was helpless in getting hit by the helicopter temporarily connected to the train.
Sammo Hung was also in Enter the Dragon, sparring with Bruce in the opening scene. Although he is not as well known in the U.S. as Jackie, he did a short-lived TV series called Marshall Law. He also directed Jackie in Mr. Nice Guy, which released in U.S. theaters, and has a long friendship and working relationship with Jackie beginning as kids in Peking Opera School.
Donnie Yen may not be as well-known neither, but has tremendous influence on films around the world. We finally see him in a fight scene with Jackie in Shanghai Knights. He was fight choreographer and also had a small role in Blade 2 with Wesley Snipes. He is also known in the U.S. through his role as Wong Kei Ying in Iron Monkey (thanks to Quentin Tarantino).
That's all for now. I could almost write a book on this stuff with all the movies I've watched (including documentaries), and book and articles I've read. Maybe another part will come later.
Of course it started with Bruce Lee. That's when Hollywood really started to take notice. His last complete movie, Enter the Dragon, went on to break records in the Hong Kong film industry and make Bruce an international movie star/actor. All the fights were clearly his own design and displayed his strength and agility. In fact, a young Jackie Chan was there taking Bruce's blows in a couple of scenes.
Hollywood now knows Jackie Chan through the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon/Knights films. But before movies like Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, and Operation Condor were re-released in U.S. theaters, before he was misunderstood and changed into something he was not by Hollywood filmmakers in movies like The Protector, Battle Creek Brawl, and Cannonball Run, he did stunts. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce is fighting off a number of Han's men after discovering the opium factory. Jackie takes the hits a couple times, first when he grabs Bruce from behind then Bruce takes him down. And second, the last guy Bruce fights with the bo is Jackie; first hitting him in the stomach and then slashing down on his face. (Which actually made contact by the way! When you see Jackie's head turn in pain, he wasn't acting!)
So everyone knows Jackie does his own stunts. Many of his movies show outtakes at the end, which include stunts that go wrong. In Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie broke his foot. A sock was painted to look like the shoe he was wearing in the end of the film. In Supercop, Jackie jumped onto a pole from the moving train that was supposed to swing. However, the pole didn't swing, and Jackie was helpless in getting hit by the helicopter temporarily connected to the train.
Sammo Hung was also in Enter the Dragon, sparring with Bruce in the opening scene. Although he is not as well known in the U.S. as Jackie, he did a short-lived TV series called Marshall Law. He also directed Jackie in Mr. Nice Guy, which released in U.S. theaters, and has a long friendship and working relationship with Jackie beginning as kids in Peking Opera School.
Donnie Yen may not be as well-known neither, but has tremendous influence on films around the world. We finally see him in a fight scene with Jackie in Shanghai Knights. He was fight choreographer and also had a small role in Blade 2 with Wesley Snipes. He is also known in the U.S. through his role as Wong Kei Ying in Iron Monkey (thanks to Quentin Tarantino).
That's all for now. I could almost write a book on this stuff with all the movies I've watched (including documentaries), and book and articles I've read. Maybe another part will come later.
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