On our last evening with Bob, we met up with Veronica's cousins Naomi and Millie (Geoff is off in NYC on business) as well as Dionne (in the Bay Area on business) for a good Thai dinner at Erawan in Redwood City, followed by the 9:40 showing of Kung Fu Hustle. The flick is Hong Kong cinema kingpin Stephen Chow's latest, set in 1920's-era Shanghai and centering on two hapless street hustlers, a slum home to a collection of peasants and a few master warriors, and the ruthless crime syndicate the Axe Gang. As with his previous domestic release, the fabulous Shaolin Soccer, Chow balances a mesmerizing array of kung fu acrobatics and superhuman fight sequences with humor, both subtle and lowbrow. I particularly enjoyed the death scene where the fallen warrior advises his friend "with great power comes great responsibility" (a direct quote from Spider Man). He then blurts out "what are you prepared to do?!?!", acting out Sean Connery's death scene from the Untouchables. His friend asks why he's speaking in English ... hilarious. My favorite fight scenes were those involving the world's number one killer the Beast, recently liberated from a mental hospital where he claims he was letting himself be incarcerated since there aren't any worthy opponents anymore. His climactic showdown with Stephen Chow is brilliant. The movie doesn't stand up to a whole lot of dissection, but what you get at face value is plenty.

This Boxer Rebellion album keeps sounding better and better. Another band that will hopefully visit the states sometime, although the fact that a domestic release for Exits is not on the cards isn't a good sign.

music is the life man
music is the life man
cries and cries and feels so nice