“The sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs.” -Chinese proverb
Although the sparrow is tiny (the smallest of the species weighs in at 0.47 oz with a length of 4.5 in), it has the essential body parts of an animal. Do not discount it.
In the same way, we sometimes go for the big, showy (read: new) technology. However, I revisited the good old VHS recently. My friend told me that Ten Things I Hate About You was one of her favorite romantic comedies. I hadn’t seen it, so I looked for it at the local library. I found it there–on VHS. (Thank goodness, I still have a VHS player in my home–yes, I’m odd.) It was a good movie with a stellar cast. Plus, I gave it extra stars for attempting to adapt “The Taming of the Shrew” to modern times.
I remember watching some of my favorite films on VHS. We watched martial arts movies during my childhood as our family bonding ritual. Here are my top 3 films from that time. Hopefully, you can find a copy today, on VHS or DVD:
1. Wong Fei Hung (Once Upon a Time in China): See Jet Li at his best, as physician/martial arts leader Wong Fei Hung. This is actually an entire series, but I like the first one the best. I lost count of the number of times I’ve seen it, and of course, I can always identity the opening bars of its distinctive soundtrack.
2. The Killer: Watch Chow Yun Fat before his more mellow roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. In the past, he played hard-edged characters wielding lots 0f firepower. He was also very good in the God of the Gamblers, which is apparently getting a new addition to the series in early 2014.
3. Twin Dragons: Jackie Chan always combined humor with his rapid kicks. In this film, you get double the Jackie Chan, since he plays twins.
What’s your favorite older film?
My son and I loved watching the Ip Man series. The first one is set in the 1930’s and the setting’s are so good. I liked the historical rendering of both films.
Oh yes, I’ve watched those, too!
Enter the Dragon.
Gotta love some classic Bruce Lee.
Of course! My favorite would have to be Enter The Dragon.
I LOVE Ten Things I Hate About You. In fact, I should go watch that tonight.
Let’s see…Martial Arts Movies only? Karate Kid. LOL!
So glad I followed my friend’s recommendation.
Well, it could be any older movie, but Karate Kid’s a classic.
Upon seeing “Enter the Dragon” back when I was a kid.
Sister: So, did you like the movie?
Me: It was OK. But I didn’t see any dragon.
She still bugs me about that one. Hahaha!
As far as martial arts movies go, anything with Jackie Chan wins my vote.
I never even thought about the dragon before. Well, you do know that Bruce Lee’s Chinese screen name was “little dragon,” right?
I looooved Wing Chun starting Michelle Yeoh! I actually love a lot of the older films with the female leading ladies. Had it not been for them, I would have never thought a girl could be strong and feminine at the same time. I’ll jump on the Bruce lee band wagon and say “enter the dragon” was a close second, but Wing Chun is my fave of all time :)
I’m right there with you. I loved leading ladies who could fight. I always wanted to be someone who could fly across vast spaces and use sword-brandishing skills.