Went to Gateway to watch Birth of the Dragon 1:00 PM only to find out at the ticket counter that the screening is at 4:45 PM. Waiting for a screening at Gateway is like waiting for a flight at the airport. You keep passing the gate to the departure area and buzzing round the shops until it's almost time to go in.
It rained hard for at least a quarter of an hour. I sauntered through two book stores, a novelty store, the Cubao Hogwarts Espresso Station, Taco Bell, a kitchen supply store, and yet another bookstore where I purchased a heavy-duty, canvas apron for oil painting. Walked around sipping the first refill of my bottomless Pepsi Max--yes, like an atchay--instead of sitting still and lingering at Taco Bell. I did bring my leather notebook and dragon pen but not a book to read.
Birth of the Dragon is a marvelous movie--not because I am a Bruce Lee fan (as a matter of fact it is set in 1964 and Bruce Lee is portrayed here as an arrogant dick whose main concern is achieving stardom) but because of its unusual structure, its clever screenplay, its direction and performances, its fabulous fight scenes, its photography, including nuances and witty references to Bruce Lee's future movies, and the well-executed soundtrack that synchronizes with the fight scenes. The movie is quite unique because it has three protagonists (Bruce Lee, Wong Jack Man, and student Steve McKee [a.k.a Steve McQueen?]) who are equally presented to the audience. The only "antagonists" here are a syndicate of hoodlums. There is, alas, one factor that bogs down everything, which is the predictable, 20th-century love angle a la Lun Tha and Tuptim in The King and I (all the way from "Getting to Know You" and "We Kiss in a Shadow" to "Hello, Young Lovers"). That factor makes the movie appear like a B-Grade--but the rest of the structure of this movie is so intelligently crafted that I suspect that the factor is a conscious and deliberate pun on Bruce Lee's movies.
The premise of the movie is that only spiritual purity leads to triumph, world acceptance, and immortality. Indeed, it is only when Bruce Lee gives up his desire for stardom that the Dragon is born.
Photos from the Internet
It rained hard for at least a quarter of an hour. I sauntered through two book stores, a novelty store, the Cubao Hogwarts Espresso Station, Taco Bell, a kitchen supply store, and yet another bookstore where I purchased a heavy-duty, canvas apron for oil painting. Walked around sipping the first refill of my bottomless Pepsi Max--yes, like an atchay--instead of sitting still and lingering at Taco Bell. I did bring my leather notebook and dragon pen but not a book to read.
Birth of the Dragon is a marvelous movie--not because I am a Bruce Lee fan (as a matter of fact it is set in 1964 and Bruce Lee is portrayed here as an arrogant dick whose main concern is achieving stardom) but because of its unusual structure, its clever screenplay, its direction and performances, its fabulous fight scenes, its photography, including nuances and witty references to Bruce Lee's future movies, and the well-executed soundtrack that synchronizes with the fight scenes. The movie is quite unique because it has three protagonists (Bruce Lee, Wong Jack Man, and student Steve McKee [a.k.a Steve McQueen?]) who are equally presented to the audience. The only "antagonists" here are a syndicate of hoodlums. There is, alas, one factor that bogs down everything, which is the predictable, 20th-century love angle a la Lun Tha and Tuptim in The King and I (all the way from "Getting to Know You" and "We Kiss in a Shadow" to "Hello, Young Lovers"). That factor makes the movie appear like a B-Grade--but the rest of the structure of this movie is so intelligently crafted that I suspect that the factor is a conscious and deliberate pun on Bruce Lee's movies.
The premise of the movie is that only spiritual purity leads to triumph, world acceptance, and immortality. Indeed, it is only when Bruce Lee gives up his desire for stardom that the Dragon is born.
Photos from the Internet
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