"Chocolate" Movie Review (Blu-Ray)

I just got this on Blu-Ray the other day, so I thought I'd review it.  "Chocolate" stars JeeJa Yanin (who is a female Tony Jaa of sorts), who plays a young autistic girl (Zen) who is the daughter of a female Thai criminal (Zin) and a Japanese Yakuza.  The father moves back to Japan to avoid conflict between himself and the Thai gang of the woman; this leaves Zin to take care of the autistic girl all by herself.  The lady eventually gets sick (cancer, I presume), while the girl watches the neighbors doing Muai Thai and imitates their moves.  Growing up, she watches Tony Jaa films and plays fighting video games -- which she imitates.  Her best friend is a chubby kid named Moom.  The hospital bills of her mom becomes a problem, so they need a way to make money.  Moom finds Zin's old list of people that owe her gang money and tries to collect.  Zen comes along and the fights ensue.  Eventually the Thai gang captures Moom, so Zin, Zen and later the Japanese dad come to confront them.

Ok, now that I have the plot out of the way, it's on to the good stuff.  This JeeJa Yanin girl (her Thai name is Yanin Matinanda) is up to par with Tony Jaa's moves!  Though she does not have the power that he does, she is just as acrobatic.  Truly breathtaking to watch.  She seems really young, I'm sure she'll improve even more in time.  Though, I wish she had better fight choreography.  Especially during the first few fights.  Way too many basic kicks during the ice factory scene.  And it was a bit annoying how many Bruce Lee "waaaaahh's" she'd scream after every kick -- I know her character is autistic, but they could've cut some of it out.  I did notice some speed up during some of the fights, as well as a little bit of wire work (during the final building scene, for safety reasons; but also during the fight in the Japanese restaurant).  But it was minimal, and not overdone like some movies *cough, cough, modern Hong Kong kung fu flicks, cough*  Don't get me wrong, this movie is filled with terrific fight sequences.  She is easily the best female on-screen martial artist I've seen.  And Yanin is a likeable actress; definite star potential.  I liked the idea of an autistic hero.  A much better plot twist than just getting back the head of a statue... ahem, Ong-Bak.

As I said, I purchased the Blu-Ray, so I'll comment a little on it.  It comes with the original Thai language, as well as the English dub (though, I strongly recommend you avoid it -- terribly done).  Of course it has English subtitles.  The box says it has Spanish subs as well.  The only real bonus feature is a "Making Of", which is an over extended version of the trailer with a few training scenes sprinkled in.  The other "bonus feature" is a bunch of trailers for movies from Magnet studio -- pretty much horror/suspense flicks; has nothing to do with Thai martial arts flicks.  Was hoping to see release info for Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong on Blu-Ray.  Oh well.

In conclusion, I'd give this three and a half stars out of five.

"Chocolate" 2008

Starring: Yanin Mitananda (JeeJa Yanin)

Directed by:  Prachya Pinkaew

I had to delete my Real World parody videos

Due to copyright issues, Youtube decided to mute the audio on my "Real World: VA" video.  I used the song "Apache" by the Sugarhill Gang which is owned by Warner Music Group.  I got a notice on my account telling me they muted the video until the music was swapped out.  Well, the scene was me imitating the Fresh Prince of Bel Air skit where Carlton and Will entered a dance contest and performed to the aforementioned song.  It just wouldn't make sense if I changed it.  So rather than change my original vision, I deleted it.  My way or the highway.  They limited the views of the video.  I wondered why it got so little views, and now I know.  Youtube limited the visibility of the video -- they said so in the message/warning.  

The Simpsons now in HD

In it's 20th season, the Simpsons has gone Hi-Def!  Though it doesn't look too much different, it is cool to see it in widescreen now.  So no more using the old footage of the opening scene.  The opening has a few references to going HD - on the chalkboard, Bart wrote "HDTV is worth every cent".  Then at the end of the couch gag, they have a widescreen version of their purple television - complete with rabbit ears!  Funny to see it fall off the wall as if it were mounted like a LCD/Plasma screen.  I'm really glad I don't have to see the black bars on the sides anymore.

Chocolate trailer (Thai)

This came out last February in Thailand and probably the rest of Asia. But I just heard about it today. After watching the Thai version of the trailer, I was freakin AMAZED. From the director of Ong-Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong (The Protector), comes this film about a girl born from a Yakuza father and I'm guessing a Thai woman, who ends up autistic -- and that somehow makes her a kung fu genius. Not that I'm looking for a deep story from this genre, but it is a better and possibly more universal concept (that maybe why it is being released on Blu-Ray on Feb.10 -- Ong-Bak and TYG have yet to be put in HD). You'd think a girl version of Tony Jaa would be watered down; well, you'd be WRONG! The lead in this film is out of this world. She does as many crazy moves as Jaa, if not more (just based on the trailer alone). Watch this trailer --much better than the English version that  has too many cuts and editing. I will be picking this up on Blu Ray...

MacGruber Pepsi ad: Best of the Super Bowl commercials

I thought that this spot was the best hands down of the night. It's so random that they put an SNL skit on as a Pepsi commercial. And it couldn't have cost much to produce (aside from SNL copyright fees, actor wages). Especially compared to the special effects (i.e. 3-D, computer graphics) seen in all of the other commercials. Having the real MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) on was fun, too. Though it added absolutely nothing...