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

Shogun (2024-206)

This TV program centers around the samurai of ancient Japan

Summary

-A mysterious ship from Europe is found stranded in a Japanese fishing village. Meanwhile, Lord Yoshii Toranaga finds secrets that could tip things his way and destroy his enemies

Cast

-Cosmo Jarvis: John Blackthorne

-Hiroyuki Sanada: Yoshii Toranaga

-Anna Sawai: Toda Mariko

-Tadanobu Asano: Kashigi Yabushige

-Yuki Kedoin: Takemaru

-Takehiro Hira: Ishido Kazunari

-Hiroto Kanai: Kashigi Omi

-Yuki Kura: Yoshii Nagakado

-Shinnosuke Abe: Buntaro

-Saeko Kimura: Mariko's Lady in Waiting

-Tommy Bastow: Father Martin Alvito

-Hiromoto Ida: Lord Kiyama

-Kengo Hashimoto: Ishido's Gray Kosho #1

-Yutaro Ryan Oka: Toranaga's Gray Kosho #1

Did You Know?

-John Blackthorne was based on a real historical figure named William Adams. Adams spoke a good number of languages, including Portuguese

-Traditionally, the home where the Emperor resided, was considered the capital. From the years of 794 to 1868, the Emperor resided in Heian-kyo, which is modern day Kyoto. After 1868, the seat of the Japanese government and Emperor's home was moved to Edo, which was later renamed Tokyo

-A woman married to a samurai would receive, as a wedding gift, a small dagger called a kwaiken

-The Samurai were armed with two swords: the longer, more iconic Katana (long sword) and a smaller Wakizashi (mid sword). The Katana was used by the foot soldiers, who would use it to attack from a distance. The Wakizashi was a shorter sword used for close combat situations and as a backup in case the katana was rendered unusable. The Wakizashi was even used to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) is needed. There was also a third weapon, a Tanto (dagger). This was used for combat and seppuku as well

-While the samurai were away at battle, the women married to the samurai and the women of the villages were trained in combat to protect the home and village

-The word samurai means "servant". They actually referred to themselves as "bushi", meaning "warrior"

-Cathay is the older name for China

-Hatamoto means "under the banner" or "near the banner", in reference to their literal position on the battlefield and position to their lord. This closeness also applies off the battlefield and represented a strong trust in all matters. It also references an advisor, or even a high-ranking samurai in areas like diplomacy, trade, foreign policy and battlefield tactics. William Adams, the man Blackthorne is based on, began as an advisor to Tokugawa, advising him on trade and diplomacy. Eventually, he earned the title of Hatamoto, which gave him a lot of influence in matters, especially foreign policy

-Traditionally in Chinese, Japanese and Korean custom, it was customary to put family name first. However, starting in the 19th century, Japanese began adopting the practice of given name first and family name second. In 1875, the government created the Family Register Law, making it required for all Japanese to register their family name for tax purposes

-Hiroyuki Sanada performed all of his own stunts

-This series is based on a novel of the same name by James Clavell. Many of the characters on the program are based on real people

• John Blackthorne: William Adams
• Ferreira: Horatio Neretti
• Father Martin Alvito: Joao Rodriguez
• Yoshi Toranaga: Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Toda Mariko (Maria): Hosokawa Gracia or Akechi Tama
• Toda Buntaro Hirokatsu (Husband of Mariko): Hosokawa Tadaoki
• Toda Hiromatsu (Toranaga's Kara or Second in Command / Father of Buntaro): Hosokawa Fujitaka
•  Ishido: Ishida Mitsunari
• Onoshi: Otani Yoshitsugu
• Kiyama: Konishi Yukinaga / Takayama Ukon
• Sugiyama: Maeda Toshiie

-A naginata is a long pole with a sharp curved blade at the end. It was used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. This traditional Japanese blade was also used by warrior women in nobility. The word translates into "reaping sword" or "mowing down sword". It can be between 1-3 feet long and is sharpened on one side. It was believed this weapon evolved from a tool used for farming

-The executive producer of this program is Michaela Clavell, the daughter of author James Clavell

-Leprosy, which is now known as Hansen's disease, was a deadly disease described in ancient customs. It's an infectious disease results in severe, disfiguring skin lesions and nerve damage in the arms, legs, lungs around your eyes and other parts of the body. It's spread through airborne respiratory droplets, such as coughing and sneezing. It is curable and treatment in the early stages is done through multi-drug prophylactics. If left untreated, the disease can progress and result in permanent disabilities. There were some cases where the virus was so common that those afflicted were exiled to colonies like Molokai in Hawaii or Carville, Louisiana in the US

-Elizabeth I was the ruling Queen of England during the period this program takes place

-Both Hiroyuki Sanada and Nestor Carbonell appeared in the 2004 series Lost, but didn't share any scenes together

-This program reunites both Tadanobu Asano and Hiroyuki Sanada after their 2021 film Mortal Kombat

-This is the first non-English TV program to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It's also the second to be nominated after the 2021 program Squid Game

-Despite his character requiring a translator during his interactions with John Blackthorne, Hiroyuki Sanada is fluent in English

-Despite his character requiring a translator during his interactions with John Blackthorne, Tadanobu Asano is fluent in English

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

This is one of the more famous films Chow Yun-fat has starred in. Originally, Jet Li was supposed to have the main role, but there personal reasons and a scheduling conflict and he couldn't do it. So the role went to Chow Yun-fat instead

Summary

-When a young Chinese warriors steals a sword from a famous sword maker, she escapes and falls in love with a mysterious man and together they embark on a romantic adventure

Cast

-Chow Yun-fat: Li Mu Bai

-Michelle Yeoh: Yu Shu Lien

-Ziyi Zhang: Jen

-Chang Chen: Lo

-Sihung Lung: Sir Te

-Pei-Pei Chang: Jade Fox

-Li Li: May

-Suying Huang: Auntie Wu

Did You Know?

-Michelle Yeoh spent a year prior to filming this movie so she could learn to fluently speak Mandarin

-The actors in this film did all of their own stunts. Any wires holding them up were removed digitally

-The title of the film refers to a Chinese mythology quote referencing "hiding your strength from others"

-When Ang Lee approached Michelle Yeoh, he told her this would be like the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, only with martial arts

-During filming, Michelle Yeoh had torn her ACL and had to be flown to the United States to have it repaired. She returned to filming at different times to film the non-action scenes until her knee had recovered

-The swords and other weapons were made in Taiwan. Ironically, Taiwan is the country Ang Lee was born in and the swordsmith who made the weapons was actually Lee's neighbor in Tainan, Taiwan

-During an interview with TIME Magazine, Chow Yun-fat described speaking in Mandarin as "It's awful". He had to do 28 takes of shooting on just the first day alone because he had great difficulty speaking Mandarin

-All four of the main stars of the film spoke Mandarin with different accents. Chow Yun-fat spoke it with a Cantonese accent, because Cantonese is his primary language. Michelle Yeoh spoke it with a Malaysian / English accent, Ziyi Zhang spoke it with a Beijing accent and Chang Chen spoke it with a Taiwanese accent

-In the opening scene showing Ziyi Zhang, the embroidered dress she wore took two months to make. It required four highly skilled embroiderers

-The action choreographer on this film is Yuen Woo-ping, who is responsible for choreographing the fight scenes and is also responsible for the choreography in the 1999 film The Matrix and its follow-ups

-While it appears that Ziyi Zhang's character is highly skilled in performing martial arts, in real life she had never undergone any formal studies of martial arts. She used dance techniques to learn her moves as if they were a dance instead of a fight

-As part of her training, Ziyi Zhang also learned calligraphy

-Chow Yun-fat was shown a mockup of what he would look like with a shaved head before he agreed to cut his hair down to the scalp

-The scenes filmed in the Gobi Desert were interrupted by rain constantly

-Jet Li was originally offered the role of Li Mu Bai, but had made a strict promise to his wife Nina Li Chi that he would be with her through the pregnancy of their first child

-This is the first martial arts film for Chow Yun-fat

-Director Ang Lee found the intensity and stress of this movie to be so high he had once again resumed smoking

-Michelle Yeoh didn't speak Mandarin at all. Chow Yun-fat speaks it, but his primary language is Cantonese. Yeoh had to have help from Mandarin-speaking crew members phonetically. Her Malaysian accent can be heard throughout the film. Native Mandarin speakers thought Chow Yun-fat's accent was overdone and strained

-Jet Li was offered the role of Li Mu Bai, but instead he chose to appear in the 2000 film Romeo Must Die instead. Hong Kong singer / actor Leon Lai was offered the role, but turned it down. Finally it was offered to Chow Yun-fat, who accepted it

-Ironically, the film was released in the year 2000, which, in Chinese astrology, is the Year of the Dragon

-For the English language dub, there was extra care taken to ensure that the voice actors' roles and wording matched the original lip movements almost exactly

47 Ronin (2013)

This movie is based on the actual story of the 47 Ronin

Summary

-A group of rogue samurai seek to avenge the death of their master, despite a ruthless shogun informing them not to seek vengeance

Cast

-Keanu Reeves: Kai

-Hiroyuki Sanada: Oishi

-Ko Shibasaki: Mika

-Tadanobu Asano: Lord Kira

-Min Tanaka: Lord Asano

-Jin Akanishi: Chikara

-Masayoshi Haneda: Yasuno

-Hiroshia Sogabe: Hazama

-Takato Yonemoto: Basho

-Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa: Shogun Tsunayoshi

Did You Know?

-The filming was done first in Japanese, because of the supporting cast, then done in English, according to Keanu Reeves

-Carl Rinsch, who directed the film, got into a fight with Universal over this film. They wanted a special effects fantasy film like 2009's Avatar or The Lord of the Rings. Rinsch wanted to make it more of a drama, such as 2000's Gladiator or 2005's Kingdom of Heaven

-This is the first Hollywood film adaptation of the story of the 47 Ronin. Other films have been made about this story, such as: 1941's The 47 Ronin, 1958's The Loyal 47 Ronin, 1962's Chushingura, 1978's The Fall of Ako Castle, 1994's 47 Ronin and 2010's The Last Ronin

-It was said that the character Kai, played by Keanu Reeves, was said to be modeled after Minamoto Yoshitsune, a 12th century warrior who was said to have been trained in martial arts by Tengu

-Initially Keanu Reeves was hesitant to do this film, as he felt his character Kai wouldn't feel integrated into the main plot of the film

-While most of the cast was Japanese and unknown to Western audiences, Hiroyuki Sanada is well known to Western audiences, because of the films he appeared in, which include: 2013's The Wolverine, the 2004 TV show Lost, 2019's Avengers: Endgame and 2007's Rush Hour 3 while Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is well known to Western audiences for appearances such as 2011's Hawaii Five-O, 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha, 2001's Pearl Harbor

-The witch in this film had two different colored eyes, a medical condition called heterochromia. Many Asian cultures refer to this condition as "cat's eyes", as it is a common condition in cats

-The witch was said to have been inspired by a bake-kitsune, which translates into "fox spirit", a type of yokai (spirit, monster, ghost) that can shapeshift into humans or other creatures

-This film is said to have almost nothing in common with the original story. Instead it was set in a world of witches and giants

-There were many critics who claimed this movie was "white washed" only because of Keanu Reeves appearing in it. In reality, Keanu Reeves is 1/4 Chinese-Hawaiian, as is his paternal grandmother while the rest of his ancestry is European. He does not have Japanese ancestry at all

May Birthdays

Since it's May, time to say Happy Birthday

Blaze Bayley

-Birth name: Bayley Alexander Cooke

-DOB: 5/29/1963

-Where: Birmingham, England

-He has the birth and death date of his wife Debbie Hartland tattooed on his arm

Yuki Tsunoda

-DOB: 5/11/2000

-Where: Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

-He was considered to be the youngest Formula 1 driver in the entire 2021 season since he was only 20 years old

Tim McGraw

-Birth name: Samuel Timothy McGraw

-DOB: 5/1/1967

-Where: Delhi, Louisiana

-When he was a child, his favorite baseball player was Tug McGraw and had the baseball card for him taped to his bedroom wall. When he was 11, he learned that Tug McGraw was his biological father

Zhou Guanyu

-DOB: 5/30/1999

-Where: Shanghai, China

-He is the first Chinese-born Formula 1 driver

Chow Yun-fat

-DOB: 5/18/1955

-Where: Lamma Island, Hong Kong, China

-He was offered the role of Morpheus in The Matrix, but turned it down. The role went to Lawrence Fishburne instead

Mike Myers

-Birth name: Michael John Myers

-DOB: 5/25/1963

-Where: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

-He runs a film production company called Eric's Boy. It was named after his father, Eric Myers, who was an encyclopedia salesman who died on 11/22/1991 from Alzheimer's Disease

Cher

-Birth name: Cherilyn Sarkisian

-DOB: 5/20/1946

-Where: El Centro, California

-Her half sister, Georgeanne LaPiere, was actor Michael Madsen's first wife

Eric Singer

-Birth name: Eric Doyle Mensinger

-DOB: 5/12/1958

-Where: Cleveland, Ohio

-He joined KISS in 1991 and stayed until 1995. He rejoined the group in 2000 following the departure of former drummer Peter Criss and left once again in 2002 when Criss came back. He joined the band once more for good after Peter Criss left the band for good and then started wearing the makeup and costumes

Phil Campbell

-Birth name: Phillip Anthony Campbell

-DOB: 5/7/1961

-Where: Pontypridd, United Kingdom

-Replaced "Fast" Eddie Clarke on guitar in Motorhead until the band broke up in 2015 following the death of the band's iconic front man, Lemmy Kilmister