...but if you're a boy and still interested, you can listen too. After all, boys write about girls all the time. You'd think they were obsessed or something. This list easily could run a hundred. But I've gone with five.

The question at today's lunch table of geeks is Five Comic Book Characters You'd Like to Have Dinner With. Naturally, such a question needs serious consideration. Everybody promised to think on it and come back with a good list. Here's mine.

So, this year in music was pretty great. It saw the return of many of our most loved bands. New, long awaited albums (read: Radiohead!) that showed us how a lot of them seemed to have taken it upon themselves to try something new with their music. This was a year of expansion and growth, and that's a good thing. May we all learn a little bit from our favorite artists.

Wait - let me explain. I did one of these lists before for the girls and I called it my 'Top 5 Hottest'. Well, it just didn't feel right to call this new list a list of the hottest. Indie boys are rarely hot - they are, however, terribly adorable.

o6 Ascenseur pour L'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows)
directed by Louis Malle, 1958

A girl, a gun and a broken elevator. See? Good storytellers don't need much at all. It's a little strange to think of a noir film directed by Louis Malle, but in the end this genre exercise is still one of the most memorable you'll ever see. It unfolds like a proper love story in noir - completely romantic and absolutely fatal.

Jeanne Moreau is spectacular as she wanders the streets at night, looking for her lover. She goes, from one cafe to another, in quiet but poignant desperation to the sound of the loneliest trumpet (played by no other than Miles Davis).


o7 Ossessione (Obsession), 1942
directed by Luchino Visconti

In addition to being the film that started Luchino Visconti's career, Ossessione was also the first really great piece of neorealism in Italian cinema. So yes, it is an important film. But never mind. Don't let that get in the way of your viewing. It's just a really, really, really compelling story with simple but undeniable driving forces - passion, poverty and murder.


o8 In a Lonely Place, 1950
directed by Nicholas Ray

Okay. It's just not possible to make a list of film noir favorites without bumping into good old Bogey at least once. And here he is. Of course, most people just up and name The Maltese Falcon or Dark Passage or Key Largo (and it really does break my heart not to have listed a Bogart/Bacall team up) - and those are all great choices. However, I can't help but feel as if it was in this film, In a Lonely Place, where Humphrey Bogart gave the performance of his life. He was the perfect picture of solitude and loneliness. This is a heartbreaking piece of noir with an existentialist kind of sorrow.


o9 The Long Goodbye, 1973
directed by Robert Altman

Philip Marlowe like you've never seen him before. I'm told there were a number of Chandler purists who were displeased, but, oh well, you can't please them all. This is a revision in the best sense of the word. Everyone in the cast is great, but Elliot Gould in particular is a lot of fun to watch. I got the sense that he really had an appreciation for what he was doing. A lot of people call this film a parody or a satire, but I think it lacks that certain smugness that parodies or satires have. It never made any statement about being better than the original material. This is still one of my favorites from Robert Altman (I also have a fondness for Thieves Like Us - and, hey, who doesn't like M.A.S.H?).


10 Double Indemnity, 1944
directed by Billy Wilder

Hey, you knew this was going to be here somewhere. This film is a classic for so many reasons. Mostly because it really does everything you'll ever need in noir - lust, greed, murder and the likes Raymond Chandler working on the screenplay.

If you're like a lot of people and you know Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck as the kind father-figure of My Three Sons and the wise mother type person in The Big valley, respectively, then you're in for a great big weird surprise when you watch them in Double Indemnity as vicious wealth-hungry deviants. And they were good at it too.

I saw Double Indemnity before I saw any of My Three Sons and The Big Valley. Yeah, it was still pretty weird.



Some honorable mentions:

Blood Simple, 1984
directed by Joel Cohen
The Coen's brave and tightly written debut. Original, clever and just plain deadly.

Christmas Holiday, 1944
directed by Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak is probably better known for other films like The Killers or Criss Cross, which are both great entries in the same genre, but I have a great fondness for this particular ironically titled film of his. Maybe because there's a strange brilliance in casting Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin so much against their types. If you've ever wondered just Kelly could act, his performance as the charming and murderous cad Robert Manette just might convince you.

Touch of Evil, 1958
directed by Orson Welles
Obviously, Orson Welles was made for film noir.

Branded to Kill, 1967
directed by Seijun Suzuki
I still watch Branded to Kill every now and then and I find that I'm still never ever prepared for it. So I'm not really sure how to describe it to someone whose never ever seen it before. Is there such a thing as a deconstructionist yakuza tale? Because if there is, then this might be one of them. It's a strange doozy of a film. You should see it too.


D.O.A., 1949
directed by Rudolph Maté
This is how the film opens: Frank Bigelow, played by Edmond O'Brien, rushes into a police precinct and tells the homicide captain "I want to report a murder." They ask him whose and he says, "Mine." And then he proceeds to tell us how he dies.



Hey, which ones make your list?

o1 Le Samourai (The Samurai), 1967
directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

If there was ever such a thing as a perfect film, this just might be it. Sure, Melville is a well-acknowledged influence on some of the more recent, more familiar filmakers (Woo, Tarantino, to name a few), but his films hold up just as well - maybe even more - to this day. The film is stripped down. The only action that happens is minimal and necessary, but that doesn't stop the story from developing into something complicated and completely engaging.

And then there's my imaginary French lover Alain Delon, who is the picture of ultimate cool in his trench coat and fedora. He worked several times with Melville, sometimes as the crook, sometimes as the cop, always our hero. His perfect, understated and fascinating performance makes you believe that right underneath that calm and lonely exterior lies something dark and unbreakable.

I read a review once that said there's cool, there's very cool and then there's a Jean-Pierre Melville film. I completely agree.


o2 Nora Inu (Stray Dog), 1949
directed by Akira Kurosawa

I don't think there is much else I can say about Akira Kurosawa. Or my imaginary Japanese lover Toshiro Mifune, for that matter. I will say this though: Nora Inu, I think, was the first of many masterpieces - for both men.

Like a lot of the great noir films, the story is deceptively simple: Murakami, a young, rookie homicide detective, loses his Colt pistol in the most embarrassing way - it is stolen from him on the bus. The gun finds its way to the hands of someone who uses it to committ brutal assaults on a number of young women. But also like all great noir films, its the little details that allow us to go deeper.


o3 Du Rififi Chez Les Hommes / Rififi (Of Brawling Among Men), 1955
directed by Jules Dassin

I'll have to think very, very long and hard - but I don't think I'll think of a better heist film than Jules Dassin's Rififi. This is the benchmark and it's not hard to see why. The whole movie is filled with palpable tension and tragedy that you don't have to wait for the 30-minute heist (which was so completely detailed that it was banned in some countries when it was first released) to feel the completely moved. Ultimately, however, I think what makes Rififi a stand out is that it was so much more interested in the human element of the story.

The scene I will never ever forget: Tony finds Cesar tied to a pillar in the deserted nightclub because of a mistake he made that cost them the perfect crime. Cesar tries to apologize, but it is too late. Tony turns to him and says, "I liked you, Macaroni. But you know the rules." He does, and so he nods sadly and accepts his fate.


o4 The Third Man, 1949
directed by Carol Reed

Not only is The Third Man one of the best noir films you'll see - it's probably one of the best films you'll ever see altogether. It's dark and angular and completely gorgeous. It manages to tell us all the characters' stories - especially that of Orson Welles' Harry, a chilling villain who is all the more frightening because of his wry, smirking detachment. He is amoral - not immoral. He became, for me, the perfect picture of the dark side of all man.


o5 Scarlet Street, 1945
directed by Fritz Lang

This remake of Jean Renoir's Edward G. Robinson plays Christopher Cross, the biggest dupe in the history of dupes in film noir. He is a vulnerable man who gives into that moment of passion, that dreadful point of no return. He has nowhere to go now, but down and down.


to be continued

o1 This is a themed entry.





o2 What movie character/role would you like to play?

o3 If they were going to make a movie based on your life, who would play you (aside from you) and who would direct it? Libre naman ang pangarap, hindi ba? Get creative.

o4

Tagged by a couple of people from blogspot. I'm supposed to name five films that I've seen many times or films that mean a lot to me. And again, the tricky part with lists like this is narrowing it down to a specific number. There are plenty of memorable films and I know there tons of films I've seen over and over again. Here are just some of them, in no particular order:

Test Pilot, 1938, directed by Victor Fleming. I love Clark Gable. I love Spencer Tracy. Anytime you get the two of them together is great. Here they are again, playing old friends - one crazy, flashy and mostly drunk, the other sensible, dependable and kind. Bet you can guess who plays who. Of course, this isn't the only time they work together. I choose Test Pilot over Boom Town because of Myrna Loy, who gives a spectacular performance. She plays Clark Gable's Wife and the scene where she talks about her husband's dangerous obsession about flying will always break my heart.

The Last Unicorn, 1982, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. "Who is she, Molly, where does she come from? I don't know any more about her than the first day she came here." said Prince Lir to Molly Grue, about the Lady Amalthea, "...except that I wish to serve her, as you do, to help her find whatever she has come here to find. I wish to be whatever she has most need of." I was only five years old when I first saw this film but it was somehow able to make me understand what it was like to truly love someone. I found the book, written by Peter S. Beagle, soon after. I think I can safely say that there is no movie I have seen more times than this one. It doesn't matter at all that I can play it in it its entirety in my head or that I can quote the whole thing, line for line. To this day, I still cry every time I watch it.

God of Cookery, 1996, directed by Stephen Chow. There are very, very, very few things in the world I love more than Stephen Chow. And it's a hell of a time choosing one out of the many films he has made. I love even the most outlandish of his movies. And I think Chinese Odyssey is among the best he's ever done, but I suppose God of Cookery really has a special place in my heart. Maybe it's because there are 600 jokes every ten minutes. Or maybe it's because they had unabashedly ridiculous cooking battles. Or maybe it's because I love Stephen Chow and Karen Mok. Maybe it's all of those things. It's unapologetically goofy and it works in ways that only Stephen Chow can manage. Oh, also, according to Wikipedia, ever since this movie, "Pissing Beef Balls" became available in many noodle houses in China. Is that awesome or what?

The Devil's Backbone, 2001, directed by Guillermo del Toro. I have been a fan of Guillermo del Toro ever since I first saw Cronos. I think he is my favorite filmmaker today. I swear, the man has access to my dreams and nightmares and he knows how to bring them to life. The Devil's Backbone is chilling and moving and beautiful, and perhaps the most personal film he has made so far. I like to think of this film as a kind of preview to Pan's Labyrinth, which was also a very lovely piece of film. His films are great proof that you can accomplish so much with a genre - you can even transcend it.

A Hard Day's Night, 1964, directed by Richard Lester. This is still one of the silliest things I have ever seen in my life. And I've seen a lot of silly things. It's just really nice to see this film again every once in a while - it's like a time capsule. I'm older every time I see it, but John Lennon is still 23. Actually, they're all pretty young here, and all they do is run around and make jokes. Mostly about Ringo's nose. Nothing serious. Just a lot of sentimental fun. And yelling "I love you, (insert favorite Beatle name here)!" Paul, in my case, naturally.

I'm tagging no one in particular and I'm keeping it open to everyone.  I would love to read your answers, lovelies.

o5 Sometimes, life is like the movies. Especially when the right song plays at exactly the right moment.

o6 Lion vs Lion, 1981
aka Roar of the Lion
Director: Chin Yuet-sang, Hsu Hsia


I've recently found out that even some the more regular viewers of the kung fu genre of film haven't had the chance to watch this movie - and that's just a damn shame. Probably because the directors -Chin Yuet-sang and Hsu Hsia - are not often mentioned when naming old school favorite directors. Both men are more known for their many years of incredible stuntwork. And that's exactly what they drew from to create some of the most original and mind-blowing action sequences on screen.

If you haven't seen this film yet, I implore you to go and find it. Now.

o7 The Magnificent Butcher, 1979
aka Lin Shi Rong, Ren Zhe Wu Di
Director: Yuen Wo-ping


I've forgotten how many times I've seen this movie. I think I've seen it three or four times every year since I first saw it. Sammo Hung and Yuen Wo-ping collaborated well and created an energetic piece of film with some of the most funny, dynamic and incredibly fast fighting scenes ever.

o8 Heroes of the East, 1978
aka Zhong Hua Zhang Fu, Shaolin Challenges Ninja
Director: Lau Kar-leung


Odds are, when you think of kung fu movies, you can pretty much think of standard storylines and characters. Lau Kar-leung tried to break away from the usual with Heroes of the East. Starring, once again, Gordon Liu (sporting a wig, this time), and Yoko Mizuno, this movie is about a young Chinese gentleman who marries a young Japanese bride. She, however, is far from the picturesque dutiful Chinese lady. She is proud, high-spirited and as stubborn as her husband. It's a battle of the sexes - with kung fu!

The young bride finally returns to Japan after being defeated by her husband. In an attempt to get her back, he sends a letter of challenge. The letter lands in the hands of her very angry martial arts master who takes the challenge very personal. She comes back to China with a whole horde of trained warriors, all very eager to take on her husband. Gordon Liu takes them all on! Fun for everyone!

o9 Legend of a Fighter, 1982
aka Secret Master
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping


I can't remember just how many movies there are about Huo Yuan Jia. I imagine there should be quite a number. And hey, why not? He was an interesting fellow. Legend of a Fighter though, is easily one of the most memorable. What's really great about this movie is that the story doesn't take a back seat to all the clear and powerfully executed action. Yuen wo-ping as director. Ng See-yuen as writer and producer. There are just some combinations that can't go wrong.

1o The Secret Rivals, 1976
Director: Ng See-yuen


When I first saw an old betamax tape (hah) of Secret Rivals, I squealed. I had just seen The Instant Kung Fu Man and I swore to watch every and any film with John Liu and Hwang Jang-Lee in it. I think, partly, because I had developed a crush on John Liu (I think it was after I saw Shaolin Ex-Monk). Mostly though, it was the kicking.

The battle between Hwang and Liu and the charismatic Don Wong Tao is pretty crazy. Barring a few times when Yuen Biao probably stepped in for Silver Fox (Hwang) when he flips head over heels, there was no need for wire work or camera tricks. It was just a very watchable frenzy of moving and very, very deadly limbs.




Some very, very honorable mentions:

Phantom Kung Fu, 1979
aka Mantis in the Monkey's Shadow
Director: Lee Tso-nam
- Show some love to Lee Tso-nam, the best unknown filmmaker in Asia! Watch this movie! And while you're at it, watch The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious!

Mad Monkey Kung Fu, 1979
Director: Lau Kar-leung
- In addition to directing and choreographing this film, Lau Kar-leung also stars in it. Hooray! This is just one of the many films where we can see just how well he and Hsiao Ho (whom I had a huge crush on) work together.

The Lady Hermit, 1971
aka Zhong Kui Niang Zi
Director: Hoh Mung Wa
- More super swordplay at the hands of the deadly and very stunning Cheng Pei Pei.

The Blood Brothers, 1973
aka Ci Ma, Dynasty of Blood, Chinese Vengeance
Director: Chang Cheh
- Probably the best collaboration between screenwriter Ni Kuang and director Chang Cheh.

Shaolin Prince, 1982
aka Iron Fingers of Death
Director: Tong Gaai
- It's a pity Tong Gaai didn't direct as many movies as his many time partner Lau Kar-leung. Despite this being his first directorial attempt, he manages to do better than many other more experienced directors at the time.

part 1 here

Hey! Which ones make your list?

o1 The Five Deadly Venoms, 1978
aka Ng Duk, Wu Du, The Five Venoms
Director: Chang Cheh




This just so happens to be the first kung-fu movie I ever saw. But that's not the only reason why Five Deadly Venoms is the first movie I think of when someone says kung fu movie. You've got everything you expect from a standard martial-arts film and then some. The fights, I admit, although pretty solid, are far from the best you'll see on screen (it was more for style and camp than realistic skill), but the chemistry between the actors is. Each 'Venom' brought a unique and memorable persona to their roles. Aside from being probably one of the most significant martial arts film in history, it is also one of the most entertaining ones.

And just in case you've never seen it before, let me tell you what it's about:

Yang, the sixth and final student of the Five Venoms House is ordered by his dying master to seek his brothers; the five deadly fighters, each trained in a deadly martial art modeled after the most venomous creatures in nature. Scorpion, Snake, Centipede, Gecko and Toad. They are tasked to seek and kill those who have made their proud clan enemies of the martial world.

Sold? Yeah, I thought so.

o2 Drunken Master, 1978
aka Drunken Monkey in a Tiger's Eye
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping




If I remember correctly this was a first for Yuen Wo-ping as lead choreographer and director, and he was able to highlight his own skills as a filmmaker.

Jackie Chan tried something different by playing Wong Fei-hung as a lazy, useless and rebellious young man. I mean, at one point you've got him acting like a monkey. At another point, you've got him acting like a girl. This movie shows his ability to make use of his comic and physical prowess.

o3 Executioners from Shaolin, 1976
aka Hung Hsi-Kuan, Shaolin Encounters, Executioners of Death
Director: Lau Kar-leung




By now, the name Pai Mei should be familiar with anyone who has seen Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. But it was Lau who first introduced this character to film in 1976 - based on the legendary founder of Pai Mei Kung Fu (or White Brows style) who broke ranks from the Shaolin to join the Manchu. Executioners from Shaolin is a great story about the all out war between Pai Mei and the disciples of the Shaolin temple.

There are plenty of outstanding kung fu action and performances in this movie, including that of Lo Lieh and a young Gordon Liu. It was clear that director Lau was preparing the young Liu for greater roles in the future. One of these future roles, of course, is that of Tarantino's Pai Mei.

o4 Come Drink with Me, 1966
aka Me Da Zui Xia, Big Drunk Hero
Director: King Hu




In life, there are fewer things that I love more than Cheng Pei Pei. In 1966 it was unusual to cast a female lead. Cheng Pei Pei, however, was more than up to the task. Come Drink with Me is a wonderful combination of King Hu's masterful direction, the Shaw Brothers' resources and Cheng Pei Pei's incomparable performance. Hu pulled the camera was back to capture Cheng Pei Pei's fluid, graceful and unedited movements. The teahouse fight is probably one of the most famous fights in the history of Hong Kong cinema.

o5 The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, 1978
aka Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang, Shaolin Master Killer
Director: Lau Kar-leung




How can you go wrong with the 36th Chamber of Shaolin? Simple. You can't. As the young fugitive San Te, played by Gordon Liu, goes through all 35 of the Shaolin Chambers to learn kung fu, you'll notice that just about everything in this film - direction, cinematography, music - is perfectly executed.


part 2 here

I wonder why it is that we like making year end lists so much. Maybe it's just a reflection of our constant attempt to have some kind of organization in our lives. Or maybe it's because we like to take stock and reflect on what we've had and experienced through the whole year. Or maybe it's because we've got opinions coming out of our ears. Or maybe it's our way of reaching out to other people, telling them that despite all the crap out there (and lordy, there sure is a lot of crap out there) there are some really, really awesome things too, so look out.

And speaking of year-end lists, here's my list of top ten favorite albums of 2006.



Hey, what are your favorite albums of 2006?