The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

This is the third installment of The Mummy series. This one completely moves away from ancient Egypt and instead moves on to ancient China.

Summary
-When Alex O'Connell is excavating at a dig site in China, he unearths the first emperor of the Qin dynasty-a brutal, shape-shifting creature who was cursed by a witch long ago.

Cast
-Brendan Fraser: Rick O'Connell
-Jet Li: Emperor
-Maria Bello: Evelyn O'Connell
-John Hannah: Jonathan Carnahan
-Michelle Yeoh: Zi Yuan
-Luke Ford: Alex O'Connell
-Isabella Leong: Lin
-Anthony Chau-Sang Wong: General Yang
-Russell Wong: Ming Guo
-Liam Cunningham: Roger Wilson

Did You Know?
-Jet Li was only available for part of the shoot. To do his scenes as the Dragon Emperor, it was decided that his character would be seen as either a rotting mummy or as a terracotta mummy. It was done this way so that he could do his live scenes and the remainder would be done through CGI
-In the scene with the tombs, the crossbow traps were based on real life. According to Chinese archaeologists, there were similar traps when archaeologists tried excavating the site of the Terra Cotta Army
-In the movie, there is a device that triggers a trap by dropping a small bronze ball from a dragon's mouth into a frog's mouth. This is said to be inspired by an ancient machine that could predict what direction an earthquake was coming from and is considered to be the father of the modern seismograph
-The scenes in the Himalayan Mountains were actually filmed in summer heat on a soundstage
-This was the Hollywood debut for Chinese martial arts legend Wu Jing, who appeared as one of the soldiers having a brief battle with Jet Li at the start of the movie
-Rob Cohen, director of the movie, had always been incredibly fascinated with Chinese history and culture. When he was approached about filming a movie in China, he was all for it. He wanted the movie to be filmed in China as much as possible and also to pay respect to the culture, he wanted Chinese history and culture to be depicted as accurately as possible
-This movie involves another collaboration between Jet Li and Russell Wong. The first movie starring the two martial artist/actors was 2000's Romeo Must Die

Let's celebrate Asian and Asian American Heritage Month

May is the official month to celebrate the achievements of people who happen to be of Asian descent. Amazing isn't it? That many people think Asians can't do anything or that anything Asian is bad!! Hmm. Well, this post is going to show that it doesn't matter the race. Anyone can make history!!

Eric Shinseki

-The first man of Japanese ancestry to become the US Army's Chief of Staff

Sessue Hayakawa

-The first Japanese actor in the silent film era, whose success, talent and sex appeal rivaled then silent film legend Rudolph Valentino

Jerry Yang

-American-born Taiwanese engineer who created the Yahoo! search engine

Maya Lin

-Created the travelling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

Anna May Wong-The first actress of Chinese descent. Her career went from silent film to sound film to television, stage and radio

Noriyuki 'Pat'Morita-The first American of Japanese descent to star on own sitcom, Mr. T and Tina

Connie Chung-First woman of Asian descent to be a nightly news anchor

Daniel Inouye

-Senator for Hawai'i. He was a member of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, whose motto was "Go for broke". This was the first all Japanese military unit in the US Army. Comprised of American-born Japanese men and Japanese men living in the US, who were all eager to prove their loyalty to the US, both of whom were in internment camps spread throughout the US. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor. He tragically died on Dec. 17, 2012 in Bethesda, Maryland from respiratory problems. He entered the House of Representatives in 1959, when Hawaii became a state and was elected to the Senate in 1963

Gyo Obata

-Designed the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

IM Pei

-architect who designed the triangular pyramid shape of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH

Steve Chen

-Co-founder of the site YouTube

Heather Fong

-The first woman of Asian descent to head a metropolitan police force. In her case, San Francisco, CA

Dale Minami

-Attorney who won the case of Korematsu vs.United States. This case revolved around Fred Korematsu, who disobeyed the Japanese internment orders during WWII

Bruce Yamashita

-Attorney/US Marine officer who exposed racial discrimination in the military

Ken Kashiwahara

-News anchor. He is the first Emmy-winning journalist of Asian ancestry

Ellison Onizuka

-First astronaut of Japanese descent who went up with the space shuttle Challenger. He sadly died during this

Sammy Lee

-First American of Asian descent to win an Olympic Gold Medal for platform diving in 1948 and 1952

Dr. Feng Shan-ho

-He was the Chinese General Consul who saved hundreds of thousands of Austrian Jews during the Holocaust. He saved these peoples' lives by issuing them visas to Shanghai, China, against his boss' orders

Yo-Yo Ma

-A world renowned violinist

Amy Tan

-An author. Most of her stories involve some aspect or another of her Chinese heritage

Duke Kahanamoku

-Known as the father of international surfing

Olympic Locales

I've noticed that evry 4 years, when the Olympics are, they've held these games in some pretty far off, even strange places. Here are some of them. And as I was doing this, London, England seems to have come up alot!!!

Host Cities

Summer Olympics
-1896: Athens, Greece. Where it all started
-1900: Paris, France

-1904: St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
-1908: London, England
-1912: Stockholm, Sweden
-1916: Scheduled for Berlin, Germany
-1920: Antwerp, Belgium
-1924: Paris, France
-1928: Amsterdam, Netherlands
-1932: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

-1936: Berlin, Germany
-1940: Tokyo, Japan
-1944: Scheduled for London, England. Didn't happen due to WWII
-1948: London, England

-1952: Helsinki, Finland
-1956: Melbourne, Australia
-1960: Rome, Italy
-1964: Tokyo, Japan
-1968: Mexico City, Mexico

-1972: Munich, West Germany
-1976: Montreal, Canada
-1980: Moscow, Russia
-1984: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
-1988: Seoul, South Korea
-1992: Barcelona, Spain
-1996: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
-2000: Sydney, Australia

-2004: Athens, Greece
-2008: Beijing, China
-2012: London, England

-2016: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-2020: Candidate host cities: Istanbul, Tokyo or Madrid

Winter Olympics
-1924: Charmonix, France
-1928: St. Moritz, Switzerland
-1932: Lake Placid, New York
-1936: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
-1940: Sapporo, Japan
-1944: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
-1948: St. Moritz, Switzerland
-1952: Oslo, Norway
-1956: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
-1960: Squaw Valley, California
-1964: Innsbruck, Austria
-1968: Grenoble, France
-1972: Sapporo, Japan

-1976: Innsbruck, Austria
-1980: Lake Placid, New York
-1984: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
-1988: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
-1992: Albertville, France
-1994: Lillehammer, Norway
-1998: Nagano, Japan
-2002: Salt Lake City, Utah
-2006: Torino (Turin), Italy
-2010: Vancouver, Canada
-2014: Sochi, Russia
-2018: Pyeongchang, South Korea

Mulan II

Mulan II

Plot
-Fa Mulan in for the shock of her life. Her ne wlove, Captain Shang is asking for her hand in marriage. Before the two can wed, the Emperor sends them on a mission. They must escort 3 princesses to Chang'an. Mushu, who feels that Shang is taking all of Mulan's attention away from him, decides to drive a wedge between the two after he learns that he will lose his job as a Fa family guardian if Mulan marries into the Li family.

-After the 2 princesses fall in love with Ling, Yao and Chien-Po, Mulan decides to help them escape the fate of arranged marriages. This goes against the Emperor's orders and forces him to put Mulan's relationship with Shang into suspicion. They are attacked by Mongolians and it's up to them to save China

Cast
-Ming Na: Mulan
-B.D. Wong: Shang
-Mark Moseley: Mushu
-Lucy Liu: Mei
-Harvey Fierstein: Yao
-Sandra Oh: Ting Ting
-Gedde Watanabe: Ling
-Lauren Tom: Su
-Jerry Tondo: Chien Po
-Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita: The Emperor
-George Takei: First Ancestor
-June Foray: Grandmother Fa
-Freda Foh Shen: Fa Li
-Soon-TekOh: Fa Zhou

Did You Know?
-Mulan's family name, Fa, should actually be pronounced Hua. Fa is a Cantonese pronunciation used in Hong Kong and the surrounding area, whereas Hua is the Mandarin pronunciation used in the rest of China. It means "flower". In the Chinese release of it, the name Hua is used
-Ice skater Michelle Kwan is the voice of the shopkeeper in the village. When she is showing Chien-Po the ginger, she is seen skating around
-Actress Judy Kuhn does the singing voice for princess Ting Ting

My Favorite Disney Characters

Strangely enough, most of the Disney characters I like are from Mulan



Abu, Aladdin

Belle, Beauty and the Beast. I still don't understand how she's considered a princess



Chien Po, Mulan

Fa Mulan

Fa Zhou, Mulan's father. In China, it's customary to put last names before the first name



Fa Li, Mulan's mother

General Li, Mulan. Voiced by American-born Japanese actor James Shigeta



Genie, Aladdin

Goofy



Iago, Aladdin. The voice alone cracked me up, cuz it was done by Gilbert Gottfried

Kala, Tarzan. I've always loved gorillas



Captain Li Shang, Mulan. Even though he's a cartoon guy, he's still cute!!

Mickey Mouse



Minnie Mouse

Mushu, Mulan



Pluto the Dog

Ariel, The Little Mermaid

Princess Jasmine, Aladdin



Grandma Fa, Mulan

Rafiki, The Lion King

 



Rajah, Aladdin

Tarzan

Tigger, Winnie the Pooh



Ling, Mulan

Zazu, The Lion King. What I like about this character is that Rowan Atkinson does the voice of him. I never knew that until I got older