Hard Boiled (1992)

This film is said to be the precursor to the popular 2007 video game Stranglehold

Summary

-A tough as nails cop and undercover police officer team up to take down a mobster and his crew importing weapons into Hong Kong

Cast

-Chow Yun-fat: Inspector 'Tequila' Yuen

-Tony Leung Chiu-wai: Alan

-Teresa Mo: Teresa Chang

-Philip Chan: Superintendent Pang

-Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok: Mad Dog

-Anthony Chau-Sang Wong: Johnny Wong

-Hoi-San Kwan: Uncle Hoi

-Wei Tung: Foxy

-Bowie Lam: Benny Mak

Did You Know?

-In the scene where Tequila is running down the hall with the baby in his arms and the hall exploding in the hospital, director John Woo was not happy with the first take. He made sure the second take had the explosions far closer than Chow Yun-fat was expecting. Chow said "He really was running for his life". He was professional enough to ask how it looked after it was done, but he turned around and said a swear word

-The teahouse where the first scene was filmed was demolished five days after John Woo had filmed in it. When filming was in progress, neighbors called the police every night to complain about the noise, but since the police were fans of Woo, they allowed him to continue each night

-John Woo was known for making movies that glamorized gangsters. In this film, he turned it around and glamorized police

-Many of the characteristics Tequila shows in this film are based on a real police officer John Woo interviewed for the film, such as playing the clarinet in a jazz band. Tequila's love of jazz is taken from John Woo himself

-The more than 200 guns used in this film were real. Hong Kong has very strict laws regarding guns, and they had to be imported from England and inspected by the Hong Kong police prior to being used on set. The production crew also had to import a massive quantity of blank ammunition. It was said that over 100,000 rounds of blank ammunition were used in the film

-Philip Chan, who played Superintendent Pang, was, in real life, a Hong Kong police commander who actually did supervise undercover officers

-The scenes in the hospital took 40 days to shoot

-This was the final Hong Kong film that John Woo made before moving to Hollywood. He was being courted by people in Hollywood, and he wanted to make films that would be popular in his home country and a passport to Hollywood

-There was a sequel to this movie released in 2007. It was in the form of a video game called Stranglehold, with Chow Yun-fat and John Woo performing their roles

-Originally, John Woo wanted a jazz soundtrack for the 1989 film The Killer, but was overruled by producer Hark Tsui. He got his jazz soundtrack in this film

-While filming the warehouse scene, John Woo learned that the film's writer, Barry Wong, had passed away. "He was a true talent which I really admired." he said

-Despite John Woo telling the cast that the film would be grittier and less stylish than his previous films, it changed as filming proceeded

-The role of Inspector Tequila is based on "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) from the Dirty Harry series and Lt. Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) from the 1968 film Bullitt. Like Inspector Tequila, these men were "all guts, no glory" action heroes. Both of these fictional police officers were based on SFPD detective Dave Toschi, who was the lead investigator in the "Zodiac" case

-Script problems caused production to stop for one month. John Woo was having issues with Tony Leung Chiu-wai's character. He wanted to show how far Hong Kong society had fallen, with Leung's character being a psychotic villain who was based on a real life person who had poisoned baby formula. Despite Leung willing to do the role, Chow Yun-fat felt bad about this, as he felt it would be bad for Leung's career. He urged Woo to change the script. Woo agreed, and asked his friend Barry Wong to edit the script. He died prior to finishing the script, so Woo completed the script during filming

-The lead character was named Tequila as a nod to the Sam Peckinpah film The Wild Bunch. This film served as inspiration in many ways, including William Holden's character drinking an entire bottle of tequila

-The statue that Tequila and other officers do respectful prayers at is Guan Yu, known as the God of War. He was a military general in the Eastern Han Dynasty who made a deity as early as the Sui Dynasty. He is still worshipped among the Chinese people to this day. He is a deity that exemplifies bravery, leadership, righteousness, protection and triumph. He is commonly worshipped by Chinese law enforcement agencies so that Guan Yu's blessings will protect them in life and at work. In Hong Kong, every police station has a shrine to Guan Yu

-While researching the film, John Woo interviewed real police officers, including one detective who was known for being extremely rough on criminals. "But in the meantime, he's a drummer", John Woo said. Woo put that in the movie, making a cop who works in a jazz club

City on Fire (1987)

This is one of Chow Yun-fat's earlier movies and, not surprisingly, it's in Chinese. If you watch, be prepared to read subtitles in English. It's overall a good movie. Certainly was not prepared to see Chow Yun-fat's bare backside, though

Summary

-An undercover officer looking to retire is drawn into one final case - investigating a gang of jewel thieves planning to rob a jewelry store

Cast

-Chow Yun-fat: Ko Chow

-Yueh Sun: Inspector Lau

-Danny Lee: Fu

-Carrie Ng: Hung

-Roy Cheung: Inspector John Chan

-Lau Kong: Inspector Chow

Did You Know?

-Quentin Tarantino used this film as the inspiration for his film Reservoir Dogs

-In the scene where Ko Chow escaped from the police by jumping from the second floor to the eave on the first floor of the building and then down to the ground, that was not done by a stuntman; it was actually done by Chow Yun-fat himself. A stuntman had done a practice of this before shooting while the director had set up tatami mats and safety boxes for protection to keep things safe. These safety measures were hidden using specific angles

-Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee appeared in another movie together. John Woo's 1989 film The Killer. Chow Yun-fat plays a hitman while Danny Lee plays a police officer

-In the scene where Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fat) is running along Nathan Road to escape the police, the scene was filmed when director Ringo Lam put the camera in a van and suggested Chow Yun-fat to follow the van driving along the road

The Corruptor (1999)

This is one of my favorite films

Summary

-An Asian NYPD detective is trying to stop drug trafficking and corruption by immigrant Chinese Triads with the help of his partner, but things get difficult when the Triads attempt to bribe the policemen off the case

Cast

-Chow Yun-fat: Nick Chen

-Mark Wahlberg: Danny Wallace

-Ric Young: Henry Lee

-Paul Ben-Victor: Schabaker

-Jon Kit Lee: Jack

-Andrew Pang: Willy Ung

-Elizabeth Lindsey: Louise Deng

-Brian Cox: Sean Wallace

-Byron Mann: Bobby Vu

-Kim Chan: Benny Wong

-Marie Matiko: May

Did You Know?

-Kim Chan plays a character named "Uncle" Benny Wong in two films: this film and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

-Originally, in the scene where Det. Nick Chen (Chow Yun-fat) walked in on Henry Lee being fed grapes by May, the scene called for May to be performing oral sex on him. Chow Yun-fat stated he would not continue his relationship with May after seeing this. The scene was changed to a more friendly scene of grape feeding instead

-Originally Ethan Hawke was supposed to play the role of Danny Wallace, played by Mark Wahlberg. Unfortunately, production had ended to accommodate Chow Yun-fat's production schedule

-Initially, in the scene where Det. Nick Chen finds out Danny Wallace is working with Internal Affairs investigating him, the scene called for Chen to go into the bathroom and knock a hand dryer off the wall and smash a mirror. It was changed to Chen doing a sort of deep breathing instead because the previous idea was deemed an American response and, since Chinese culture is so heavily present in the film, deep breathing was more appropriate

Anna and the King (1999)

This is a modern remake of The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr

Summary

-Anna Leonowens is a teacher working in the royal court of Siam during the 1860s and the unexpected romance with the then King of Siam

Cast

-Jodie Foster: Anna Leonowens

-Chow Yun-Fat: King Mongkut

-Bai Ling: Tuptim

-Tom Felton: Louis

-Syed Alwi: The Kralahome

-Randall Duk Kim: General Alak

-Lim Kay Siu: Prince Chowfa

-Melissa Campbell: Princess Fa-Ying

-Geoffrey Palmer: Lord John Bradley

-Ann Firbank: Lady Bradley

-K.K. Moggie: Phim

Did You Know?

-In real life, the real King Mongkut was paralyzed on one side of his face. This was not mentioned in the film

-This film was banned in Thailand because it was said there were historical inaccuracies regarding the King of Siam and that particular time period

-The story was inspired by the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. It was written in 1944 and was inspired by the diaries and memoirs of Anna Harriet Leonowens. Anna was an English teacher who worked in the palace. A lot of what Leonowens had written down by her had been invented by her, of cruelties she was said to have witnessed. Years later, she met with the son and then King of Siam, who had inquired about why she had written such lies about their father. She insisted that they were truthful. She had also claimed she had written about a three year visit to Egypt, which never happened. That she elevated her late husband's military rank from private to general, that she was born in England when she was actually born in India and was one quarter Indian. According to the testimony of one of Tuptim's daughters, she had invented the fate of the woman known as Tuptim

-For her role as Tuptim, Bai Ling shaved her head completely, so as to fit in with the Buddhist monks to be with her lover

-Three months into filming, there was an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis, transmitted by mosquitoes, due to the proximity to pig farms. The sets too close to the pig farms were moved, others were doused with insecticide. The on-set doctor vaccinated the entire cast and crew before production could continue

-According to Andy Tennant, Chow Yun-Fat was referred to as "Fatty" on set

-During the scene where Anna is showing the children the science trick of putting the egg into the bottle, the contents smelled so rank that Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat could hardly breathe

-When Anna worked at the royal court, she worked there from 1862-1867. The king had died the following year

-In the film, it was said that the King had a dozen children, with ten more on the way. In real life, the real King of Siam had 82 children

May Birthdays

Since it's May, time to say Happy Birthday!!

Tim McGraw

-Birth name: Samuel Timothy Smith

-DOB: 5/1/1967

-Where: Delhi, Louisiana

-His father is former major league baseball player Tug McGraw

Bono

-Birth name: Paul David Hewson

-DOB: 5/10/1960

-Where: Dublin, Ireland

-Known for his all black attire

Natasha Richardson

-Birth name: Natasha Jane Richardson

-DOB: 5/11/1963

-Where: Marylebone, London, England

-DOD: 5/18/2009

-Where: Manhattan, New York (epidural hematoma)

-Actress Vanessa Redgrave is her mother while her aunt is actress Lynne Redgrave

Chow Yun-fat

-DOB: 5/18/1955

-Where: Lamma Island, Hong Kong, China

-He is best known for acting in "gun-fu" movies with director John Woo

Mike Myers

-Birth name: Michael John Myers

-DOB: 5/25/1963

-Where: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

-One of his best known characters, Austin Powers, came to be out of Mike Myers trying to hit on his wife with an English accent

Bill Ward

-Birth name: William Thomas Ward

-DOB: 5/5/1948

-Where: Aston, Birmingham, England

-Was the victim of many pranks by fellow Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi

Cher

-Birth name: Cherilyn Sarkisian

-DOB: 5/20/1946

-Where: El Centro, California

-Dated Kiss bassist Gene Simmons for a short time

Eric Singer

-Birth name: Eric Doyle Mensinger

-DOB: 5/12/1958

-Where: Cleveland, OH

-Previously played drums for Black Sabbath during the 1980s

Day 21-Your favorite movie

God, this list is going to be long. Generally anything with Hugh Jackman, Jet Li, Sylvester Stallone, Chow Yun-fat or anything music-related I will watch

Australia

-An English baroness must go to Australia to sell her father's estate, Faraway Downs, but in the process learns how to round up cattle and falls for the Drover (Hugh Jackman) in charge of the cattle

Flushed Away

-A pampered pet rat named Roddy St. James is accidentally flushed down the toilet and ends up in an underground version of London, where he runs into a scavenger rat named Rita. They both get caught up in a toad's attempt to flush out the underground world where she lives during the soccer World Cup

Flight 666

-This is a concert film about heavy metal band Iron Maiden's 2008 Somewhere Back in Time tour

Tango & Cash

-Two rival cops are set up for murder and must work with each other to prove their innocence

First Blood

-This is the film that introduces the character known as Rambo. John Rambo is a war-torn Vietnam Vet just passing through a small town on his way to meet up with the members of his military unit. The local sheriff doesn't like his disheveled appearance and arrests him. The cops torture him, forcing flashbacks and he escapes, prompting a large, wide-scale manhunt

Rocky

-Everyone knows this series. It's about a down and out boxer who manages to become the world championship boxer

Kiss of the Dragon

-Jet Li plays Liu Jian, a Beijing police officer in Paris to arrest a drug kingpin known only as Mr. Big. When a corrupt Parisian police officer kills him and Jian witnesses it on screen, the Parisian officer convinces his fellow cops Liu is a psychotic killer and has the whole Parisian police force out looking for him. The only known witness is an American prostitute named Jessica Kamen (Bridget Fonda), who can prove his innocence

Unleashed

-Jet Li plays a man with a child-like mentality who was taken from his mother, a piano virtuoso, at a young age and trained to be an attack dog for a vicious London loan shark. When the car they're in crashes one day, Li escapes and finds himself in the loving care of a blind piano tuner and his daughter, who are in London while she attends school and after she graduates, are going back to New York. This piano tuner offers to take him with them, which Li graciously accepts

Bulletproof Monk

-Chow Yun-fat plays the Monk with No Name. He has a scroll which will give unlimited power. He must seek out a new keeper of the scroll to prevent it falling into the wrong hands, which in this case are two Nazis from the 1940s

Freejack

-This is one of Mick Jagger's attempts at acting. He's pretty good in it. Emilio Estevez plays Alex Furlong, a race car driver brought into the future as the recipient of a mind transplant for a rich, dying businessman. When he escapes, "Bonejackers", mercenaries with time travel technology, led by one Victor Vacendak (Mick Jagger), must seek him out

Detroit Rock City

-Four teens-Hawk, Trip, Jam, Lex- are all fans of the band KISS. They are also in a band that plays KISS music called Mystery. They have been trying desperately to see KISS in concert, but all attempts have been futile. Only when Jam's mother, a religious fanatic who believes KISS stands for "Knights in Satan's Service", finds tickets to the band in her son's pocket, she embarrasses him at school with a rant over the PA and forces him to watch as she burns the tickets, not knowing her son's friends are also watching. It then becomes an all out mission to see KISS play at Cobo Hall in Detroit

Across the Universe

-Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a Liverpool dock worker who joins the Merchant Navy. While on the East Coast, he meets up with his father, who basically turns him away. While on campus, he meets Max, a rich kid who has been drafted and he meets his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). The two fall in love amidst the heightening Vietnam protests

Ninja Assassin

-I honestly didn't know how violent and bloody/gory this movie was until I seen it. It's about a ninja who wants to break away from his clan and in the process is accused of murder and becomes the target of EUROPOL, who are trying to prove that ninjas are used for murder-for-hire missions. The person who plays the main ninja is a Korean pop singer named Rain. He's very attractive

Mulan

-No matter how many times I see this, I still love it every time. Reminds me of Chinese culture, which I love so much!

Memoirs of a Geisha

-Chiyo, a young girl from a fishing village, along with her sister Satsu, are sold out by their parents to a man named Mr. Tanaka, who takes them to Kyoto and takes Chiyo to an okiya (geisha boarding house) because of her pretty looks and Satsu to a house of prostitution. Chiyo then learns all the things she must know to become a geisha and in time, becomes one of the most revered geisha of all, but not before running into problems with her okiya's resident geisha, Hatsumomo, who is the okiya's main earner and is cruel, devilish and bullying

The Full Monty

-A group of Sheffield, England steel mill workers have been laid off. One of them, nicknamed "Gaz", is looking to make some quick money for child support payments. While going through town one day, he sees a line of women queuing up outside a nightclub and he quickly sees why. The American male entertainer troupe the Chippendales are inside. He gets an idea to have them all become strippers and do "the full monty", meaning go down to complete nudity