Why I fancy foreign fighting films

How was that for alliteration, eh?

I just recently watched Ong Bak, which is a great movie about a man named Ting who is forced to fight to get the head of a sacred statue back to his village. It stars Tony Jaa, who is an amazing martial artist, and incorporates one of my favorite fighting styles, Muay Thai. I recommend seeing the film for some grade-A fights, which is always helpful to watch if you have some fighting sequences in your novels.

But today I want to talk about why I love foreign fighting films. I’ve been trying my hardest to watch as many as I can on Netflix, and I found some that I have truly fallen in love with. I’ll watch pretty much anything Jeeja Yanin is in because I think she’s incredibly talented, and I always love seeing a girl doing her own stunts and totally kicking butt! I also recently discovered Tony Jaa, and I think he’s amazing. I can’t wait to see more of his movies.

The main reason why I love foreign martial arts films is because the fighting is almost always superior to American-made films. The sequences are more complex and more beautiful. It’s not just about throwing punches and who can take the most hits before they fall over, it’s about your skill set and your ability to adapt to your opponents’ style, to truly defeat them using your mind and your body.

I find the sequences to be far more realistic, both in how they play out (i.e. when someone gets punched, they don’t get knocked out cold for the rest of the scene, they actually get back up and try to keep fighting) and how they look. From the movies I’ve seen, a lot of the times these actors are taking real hits. It’s a lot more dangerous that way, but it also makes for some incredible shots.

Another reason why I love them is because they have far more respect for the art than most American films do. In so many of these action films we have here in the States, people get beat up and blown away by guns and no one really thinks about the impact it makes on a person. It’s just entertainment. And that’s fine. It really is. I love action movies, and I think they serve their purpose. But films like Ong Bak often portray the main character as a reluctant fighter, and I think that’s important. A lot of the time it isn’t about revenge, it’s about self defense. They have a respect for what they can do, and they know how dangerous even one punch can be. It’s something I’d like to see more of in all kinds of movies.

While the storylines aren’t always the greatest (for example, if I were to watching Raging Phoenix  again, I’d stop about three-quarters of the way through and pretend it ended there), that’s because the highlight of the film is the fighting. If you can get past the cheese and the silly dialogue and the not-always-solid writing and just focus on the talent of the actors and their skill sets, you’ll find movies like Ong Bak to be incredibly enjoyable and enlightening.

Do you like watching foreign martial arts films? Which ones have been your favorites? Least favorites? Do you have any recommendations for me? (Preferably something I can find on Netflix Instant!)

Ten movie cliches I can’t stand

Just about every movie or TV show is filled with some sort of cliche. And, you know, it’s not always a bad thing. One or two movie cliches seems to be the norm per flick, and sometimes you just have to put them in there to get from point A to point B, or to show what you need to show in terms of character development.

But, most of the time, they’re just annoying.

Hence, my list of ten movie cliches that I can’t stand (in no particular order):

1. When a character rips his shirt open. This only works when you’re the Hulk. Other times, it’s just an obvious ploy to get the main character shirtless. Most of the time I don’t complain. But usually it’s just unnecessary.

2. When a character looks up and yells, “Noooooo!” Look, if my best friend died in my arms, I probably wouldn’t even be able to speak. There’d be tears and snot and general disgustingness. I wouldn’t look up and yell at the heavens, shaking my fist at the universe. This also wouldn’t cause me to get up and seek revenge. I’d probably spend the next six months confined to my bed wondering if I would ever function normally again.

3. Super obvious product placement. You know the kind I’m referring to. It’s when the camera lingers just a moment longer on a bag or a piece of technology and you can clearly see the logo. Now, I totally get why product placement is necessary – especially for low budget TV shows. But, come on. There are better ways to do it than the main character not-so-subtly holding out the iPhone for everyone to see a text message that they could’ve read out loud for more dramatic effect. Get creative, people.

4. When a character just has to get in that one-liner right before they kill someone. This drives me bonkers. I’m sorry, but no. You’re not going to hesitate before you shoot the guy that murdered your entire family just to say something witty. You’re going to put a bullet in his brain and be done with it. With that being said, the only time I’ve ever actually enjoyed this was on Buffy. It works on this show because it’s actually part of Buffy’s personality, and the dialogue often pointed it out and made fun of it. That sort of self-awareness makes it okay in my eyes. Plus, Joss Whedon.

5. When someone has to crack their knuckles before they get into a fight or begin torturing someone. What? Is this supposed to make them look tough? Like, all of a sudden it makes them more badass? Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. And it always makes me look at the bad guy as the dumb brute hired to be the muscle. You’ll notice the people with brains don’t usually do this.

6. Insta-love. And, in addition to this, trusting someone the minute you meet them. It’s hard to pull off an on-screen relationship that runs at the right pace. On the one hand, one of the major focuses of the story is probably the romance between the two main characters. You don’t want to drag it out too long because your audience wants to get to the good stuff. However, making two strangers fall in love at first sight is super unrealistic. And it’s been done before. A million times. In the past five years. Literally. It’s hard to find balance, but I usually like to err on the side of slow-burn rather than insta-love.

7. When someone is dying, they have enough time to say something witty or heart-wrenching, but not enough time to tell you highly important secret information. I mean, come on. My first objective if I was riddled with bullets would be to tell you who shot me, not to apologize for whatever I did that got me into that situation in the first place. Screw forgiveness. I’m dead. I don’t need it anyway. Avenge me!

8. The “ugly girl” is never ugly. Like, seriously. I enjoy makeover movies like Jawbreaker and Mean Girls, but those girls are not awkward and ugly. And a little bit of makeup always transforms them into super models. Obviously nothing much can be done when you’re working with beautiful or high-profile actresses, but a little bit of normalcy would go a long way with the plebs (ie. me).

9. Saying “I love you” brings the main character back to life. They’re dead. They’ve flatlined. You’ve given up hope. Banging on his chest and shaking him back to consciousness hasn’t worked. As a single tear falls from your eye and onto his face, you whisper, “I love you.” That final admission, that thing you had been holding inside this entire time, has seeped out. His eyes flutter, he coughs, and says he love you too. …………Yeah, right.

10. Good guys rarely get shot…no matter how many times they’re shot at. Okay, really? You’re an FBI agent in a firefight with members of a notorious gang, all armed with semi-automatic weapons. You’re dodging bullet. You’re rolling on the ground. You’re jumping from one place to the other. And you never get shot. Yet, you manage to take them all out one at a time. Life is just not that clean. It’s actually one of the reasons why I respect Firefly so much. Those guys get shot and cut and beat up all the time. And the doctor has to fix up their wounds. It’s realistic. Plus, you know. Joss Whedon.

What are some movie cliches that really bug you? Any that you’ve seen pulled off well, like those witty one-liners in Buffy?

I Turned Out Okay…

Those passing vehicles in Ireland are so full of anger.

So, I follow a lot of people on Twitter. Well, not a lot…but over 200. One of them is @OMGFacts. They tweet great facts and always have an interesting story to back up each one. A week or two ago they tweeted this:

“The Power Rangers were banned in New Zealand until 2011, despite the fact that the show is filmed there!” (This was because of the violence.)

And then not long after that…

“The Power Rangers were censored in Malaysia, because censors thought it would get kids addicted to drugs!” (This was because the word “Morphin’” in “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” was too close to “morphine.”)

So, this got me thinking. There are a lot of things individuals and groups like the Parents Television Council are slamming lately: TV shows, video games, movies, music. Is this new? No, absolutely not. But that’s precisely what got my gears turning.

I watched Charmed when I was younger – there are episodes where Prue, Phoebe, Piper, and Paige all have sex with their boyfriends (or, sometimes just strangers. Or demons. Or demon strangers. Even demon boyfriends.)

I played, and watched my cousin play, all sorts of video games. Donkey Kong was a favorite. So was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. But he also played a lot of James Bond and Mortal Kombat. James Bond is full of criminal activity – on each level you have to shoot and kill all sorts of bad guys, steal things, blow things up. But it is nothing compared to Mortal Kombat. Did you know there’s a cheat to turn up the blood graphics? Yep, there is. I’m pretty sure a human body doesn’t hold that much blood, let alone get up and start fighting again. Pretty awesome.

And movies! My mom never told me I couldn’t watch a certain movie – mainly because I already filtered through them myself. I never watched horror (I’m a wimp) and I rarely watched a thriller (I’m a BIG wimp, actually). But I’d watch a lot of action movies and comedies.

Lastly, music. If I had headphones in my ears, chances are I was listening to Eminem. (And when it comes to today…chances are I’m still listening to him.) My favorite kind of music is rap, though pop is right up there with it. And don’t get me started on music videos – Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Lil Jon. They’re all full of explicit imagery.

My point?

*shrugs* I think I turned out okay.

I don’t have rampant sex with strangers (or demons). I don’t have intense urges to put fifty rounds through the body of a random person on the street. I don’t have strange desires to jack cars and blow up buildings. And I definitely don’t believe in promoting domestic abuse, murder, or rape.

The thing is, the more you hold a kid back, the more they want to rush forward. Teenagers are rebellious in nature. That is never going to change. You have to teach them maturity, and the only way to do that is to expose them to a subject matter and explain it to them. Honestly, they’re going to be exposed to sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll (actually, rap might be the rock n’ roll of our age, but it doesn’t sound as good) by the time they hit middle school anyway. Trust me. The school bus is an orgy of rumors and hormones.

So, instead of trying to keep them innocent forever, I suggest getting to them before anyone else does. When a borderline-panic-inducing subject (like sex, *gasp!*) comes up in a TV show (I’m thinking about Glee here), take the time to explain your expectations of them. Should they do it? Probably not. Will they do it? Maybe. Talk to them about the dangers and set some guidelines – not the 20 foot high castle walls with accompanying moats of lava, rickety draw bridges, and starving dragons type of guidelines, though. Kids, believe it or not, respect their parents if the parents take the time to earn it. They’re not going to want to disappoint you.

Now, I realize that there is a difference in being your child’s friend and your child’s parent. I definitely get that. I think there should be rules – curfews, computer monitoring, parental supervision – but you can’t smother your child. It will back fire. I’ve seen it enough times to know that is absolutely true.

I wasn’t smothered as a child. I was expected to make decisions that could have consequences. I chose to be responsible and I think I was a pretty good kid. And that pretty good kid turned into a pretty good adult.

The bottom line is this: TV, video games, movies, and music do NOT turn a good kid into a bad kid. Poor parenting does. These things can be contributing factors, but they are not sole reason why your child suddenly decided to murder the neighbor’s cat. (And if he really did that, please be responsible and send him to a professional. I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds to know that it’s a precursor to some more serious problems.) I’ve seen perfectly good kids knock down the toughest baddie Mortal Kombat can throw at them, and bad kids that have never picked up a controller in their life. If they’ve got issues, it lies much deeper than what they’re seeing on screen.

Featured Video – One Woman A Cappella Disney Medley

Okay, here’s the thing. It’s one thing to be an incredibly talented singer. It’s another thing to be an incredibly creative person. There are so many artists out there that lack the creative gene – they just have the voice, and that’s what makes them famous. OR they might be amazing songwriters, but they just can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

It is something above and beyond to be BOTH of those things.

I just…I can’t put this video into words. None of them do it justice, so I’m just going to let it speak for itself.

If you’re not impressed by the work this girl did, you seriously have some high expectations. Or, no heart.

Some facts:

1. She is 17. She did this in her spare time because, you know, she’s still in high school.
2. She sings 13 main songs, but quotes 13 other Disney songs.
3. It took her 86 days just to create this. Another month went into the editing process. (That’s four months for an 8 minute video.)
4. She arranged this by EAR. She recorded it herself. She edited it herself. She did all of her own makeup and costumes (there’s over 30 of them).
5. SHE IS 17. She did this in her SPARE TIME because, you know, she’s still in HIGH SCHOOL.

What a beautiful voice. And the makeup! And she sings from my favorite Disney movie – Hercules. I find that this one often gets looked over, so I’m really happy she decided to include it.

Props to @StarkidSims from Twitter for pointing this out to me.

Tweet this video to Ellen by clicking on this link.

PLEASE help me make this go viral. She deserves it.

I Believe an Introduction is in Order…

I’ve been here before. I’ve sat in this very seat, staring at this very screen, writing these very sentences. (Well, not these sentences, but something akin to them.)

Writing a blog has occurred to me on more than one occasion. I even tried it out once. It lasted through about a dozen posts before I scrapped it. I had decided I didn’t like talking to thin air. It wasn’t very responsive.

So, what changed? A lot of things. But, for one, I don’t care anymore. I’ll talk to thin air if that’s the only thing that will listen to me. I’m pent up with too many opinions not to let them out along one avenue or another. My friends and family can’t sit through anymore lectures about characterization or writing styles or plot holes (I’m looking at you, Glee…).

And, secondly, I want to be published. Like, bad. Like, I-don’t-think-I-can-live-my-life-knowing-I-haven’t-tried-every-possible-thing-to-get-noticed bad. As corny as it sounds, I know this is what I was born to do. I’m not asking for fame or fortune, but maybe just a small following. I just want to know that what I have in my head ends up on paper and that someday someone will read it and be as lost in that world as I was. I want to impact people.

I’m a midnight novelist. I like to write in dimly lit rooms when everyone else is asleep and the only things that are moving outside are the twinkling stars and a family of raccoons. If that doesn’t work, I’ll settle for some overcast weather and a bit of rain. I love to write. I always have. I’ve moved up from those single paragraph “stories” into my three-hundred-plus page novel. My writing skills have changed (thank God), but I haven’t. I still love writing about what I like reading about – fantasy, magic, adventure.

I’m hoping this blog lasts. I’ve got plenty to write about – books, movies, TV shows, life, and writing, always writing. I think it’ll make it – sometimes I have hunches about these things. Even if my biggest fan is the empty air, at least I’m writing. That’s what’s important.