Birth of the Dragon

[Drunk Monk]

Dang, 3 movies on 3 consecutive Fridays.

This is one of those films where I know the lead actor cuz that's the way I roll. I knew Philip before he went to Hong Kong and became a star. I got him to write for us and have hung out with his dad many times. So it's hard for me to be unbiased. Plus it's shot mostly in SF, where I left my heart.

The first part of the film bugged me because of the anachronisms. No one spoke mandarin in Chinatown or said CEO in 1964. And the whole shaolin thing wasnt quite working for me, mostly because the GMs were Yu Hai and Wang Xian, two major real life GMs and you'll totally miss them of you don't know. Then it had an Inglorious Bastards moment where it totally leapt into fable and all was right with the film. The fights were by Corey Yuen, so cartoonish yet fun. Phil was great and I hope this opens Hollywood for him.

[Drunk Monk]

One thing I really liked about this film was that it put Wong Jack Man in a positive light. He's been vilified for half a century as the master who challenged Lee and lost. That's like losing a dance battle with Michael Jackson or a scientific debate with Stephen Hawking. But no one has had his negative legacy in films like that.

Tara was lukewarm to it. She liked the fights and the humor, and thought the music was overdone. I as pleased that she recognized the nods to other Bruce Lee films. She's only seen Enter and Return, I think.