London Chinatown Celebrates the Year of the Golden Pig

The Duelist

Loosely based on an original manga by Bang Hak-gi and set during Korea's late Chosun Dynasty era, acclaimed Korean filmmaker Lee Myung-Se's (Nowhere To Hide, Bitter And Sweet) innovative and visually impressive reinvention of martial arts genre conventions, DUELIST is a ravishingly shot and brilliantly choreographed tale of intrigue and romance. Taking visual inspiration from the works of artists Matisse and Mondrian (specifically the pieces "Dance" and "Manhattan" respectively) and basing the fight choreography on rhythms and movements more associated with the tango and ballet than with kung fu and swordplay, in DUELIST Lee Myung-Se has created a uniquely artistic and visionary martial arts film unlike anything seen before.

Well, that's what the blurb says. Decide for yourself when it is released on 9th March in the UK.

Save Oriental City

The Asian themed shopping centre 'Oriental City', on the outskirts of London in sunny Colindale, is under threat from developers!

I have been to the centre a few times and it has an excellent food court with outlets selling food from all over Asia. Thus you are able to sample dim sum turnip cakes, Vietnamese pork and sushi all at the same time! Not to mention the delicious range of teas on offer. There is also a large supermarket and some shops selling Chinese dresses, DVDs, pottery and of course Hello Kitty and Doraemon goodies. When you're done shopping you can kill some zombies on the House of the Dead game in the arcade. The first time I went to Oriental City I spent 5 hours in there! Managed to fit in 2 meals. Yum. There is a large Chinese restaurant on the top floor which I have heard is good but I haven't tried out.

It seems to me it would be a great shame to get rid of it. It needs refurbishing if anything and some good publicity. Our mayor seems to have a penchant for all things Chinese at the moment perhaps he should intervene?

Check out info. on dimsum.co.uk:
http://www.dimsum.co.uk/viewpoints/oriental-city-protest.html

Blog of interest:
http://british-chinese.blogspot.com/

Wong Kar Wai style

The sumptuous colours remind me of a Wong Kar Wai movie. His first English language film My Blueberry Nights should be out here in the UK this year. It is a road movie with Norah Jones in the lead role. Jude Law also stars, hmmm that does not make me leap about the room with enthusiasm. A remake of The Lady from Shanghai is apparently Wong's next project. I had heard rumours he was to make a martial arts film with Tony Leung (The Master), now that is more like it!

The magazine pictured also reminds me of the Thai movie Tears of the Black Tiger, a technicolor melodrama/cowboy film. Very good. The director Wisit Sasanatieng's second film Citizen Dog previewed at the London Film Festival 2 years ago but never got a general release. Shame as it sounded interesting (people with tails). Korean site with nice animated trailer:
www.citizendog.co.kr/
Watch an extract on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdS1poPa4SM

Podcast of show on Hip Hop & Martial Arts

Happy New Year!

The show I did with my brother on Hip Hop & Martial Arts is now avaialable as a podcast online:http://luckycat.podOmatic.com

Come Drink With Me

Classic Wu Xia action from Shaw Brothers starring Cheng Pei Pei. I saw this a couple of years ago on the big screen at the National Film Theatre in London when they had a Martial Arts season on. Fantastic to see it on the big screen. Cheng Pei Pei is familiar to most Western audiences from her role as Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but she was a big Shaw Brothers star back in the 1960s. The movie features a prototype for the Drunken Master character, called Drunken Cat played by Yueh Hua.
According to IMDB Cheng Pei Pei currently has 3 films in production. Her daughter Eugenia Yuan is also an actress and had a minor role in Memoirs of a Geisha (a film which I did not rate highly!), she stars with her mother in the upcoming The Shanghai Hotel. You can see a trailer for this new movie on Youtube.

Tofu Herb Salad Recipe

easy and tasty lunch recipe

• 1 block firm tofu
  
• 1 small bunch coriander
  
• 1 small bunch mint
  
• 1 small bunch sweet basil
  
• handful of toasted sesame seeds
  
• sesame oil
  
• soya sauce
  
• black pepper
  
• 1 clove of garlic
  

cut the tofu up into medium chunks, leave to marinate for an hour or so in sesame oil and soya sauce. tear coriander, mint and basil into a bowl. toast some sesame seeds and add to the herbs with the tofu chunks, mix in. add chopped raw baby sweetcorn for added crunch. make a dressing with sesame oil, soya sauce, black pepper and finely chopped garlics and mix into salad. serve with rice. nice.

talking of tofu, check out Tofu magazine: http://www.tofu-magazine.net/newVersion/pages/home.htm

Marlene Dietrich 'Shanghai Express' poster

Chinese Jamaican Reggae part 2 now online as podcast

Click here to get your own player.

Listen to Lucky Cat shows online

At last I have set up a podcast facility for 2005-6 Lucky Cat shows. To kick things off I have put up the show on Chinese Jamaican Reggae, co-presented by Jak Ripley, from 10th Feb 2006. More to come....


Click here to get your own player.

Great Chinese LP Cover

Tom Yum Goong/Honour of the Dragon/The Warrior King/Thai Elephants In Space/Trunken Master

Review by Simon of mediapill.com

Anyone who has seen Ong Bak may be slightly apprehensive at the start of Tom Yum. Ong Bak pretty much went straight in with fast paced action and didn't let up. Tom Yum starts with a 20-30 minute sequence establishing young Kahm's (Jaa) love for elephants (platonic).

Some may find this beautiful and necessary exposition to set up the character for the events and journey he is to undertake as a young man, others may feel this is twenty minutes of cloying sentimentality that could have been better spent showing Jaa kicking heads/lampposts/windows. I'm on the fence. Hopefully a fence Tony Jaa would kick a man through whilst I watched in slack jawed amazement.

Don't worry though, after the I-Love-My-Elephants bit is out of the way, the pace picks up back to what we expect. After his two elephant friends are kidnapped, Kahm travels to Australia to get them back - and uses his Muay Thai fighting to skills battle a series of thugs, punks, scum, bodyguards, Wushu fighters, wrestlers, Capoeira fighters, BMX gangs and an evil woman. All right!

Aided by a Thai born Australian cop (Thai comedian Petchtai Wongkamlao, who appeared as 'Dirty Balls' in Ong Bak) Kahn discovers a conspiracy that involves Chinese gangsters and corrupt Australian government officials. The action is slick and spectacular, and Tom Yum even manages to squeeze a brief cameo from Jackie Chan giving Jaa a thumbs up gesture. Awesome!

Tom Yum isn't that different to Ong Bak - it's the story of a man fighting against incredible odds to reclaim his heritage - though it's still and incredibly enjoyable film. If you're a fan Jaa's previous outings then this won't disappoint, and if you've never seen any of his films you should watch Tom Yum Goong and Ong Bak in one sitting. You know. Bak to bak.

The Voice of Doraemon

Doraemon is a Japanese anime robot cat from the future. I love him.
Visit the Doraemon shop: http://www.pingmag.jp/2005/11/14/the-doraemon-shop/

Together At Last

R Kelly style RnB and Peking Opera! Stumbled across this on YouTube. It's by Lee-Hom Wang, American born Taiwanese singer/songwriter. It's not to my taste but it's an interesting product of the global diaspora.
Find out more about him at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Hom_Wang

Operation Blue Wasp

These are a selection of lobby cards from the movie Operation Blue Wasp that I found whilst browsing ebay. Looks like a great Hong Kong B movie. I have been unable to find any information on the film online.

Jaa is back on the big screen

No wires, No CGI, No stuntman - JUST JAA!

Warrior King is the latest movie from Thai action star Tony Jaa. Titled in Asia Tom Yum Goong (a Thai soup, see my recipe here), also known as Elephant Love Soup! The UK title is slightly less eccentric. Aw. Well, I suppose no one would want to go see an action movie set in Scotland called Mulligatawny would they? Or would they.....

Check out the trailer here:
http://onlinemoviepromo.com/player.php?id=774

Mira Stout / Korean cultural info

Korean/American writer Mira Stout was on last week's programme. We talked about her wonderful book One Thousand Chestnut Trees which is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of a young woman tracing her Korean roots.
Mira recommended the Korean restaurant Kaya in Albermale Street London for fancy Korean food. She also gave a recipe for Bulgogi.

Talking of all things Korean the Yohangza Theatre company are putting on A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Barbcian Theatre in London this summer,see:
http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=3655

Playlist for 16th June 2006

• The Butterfly Lovers - Excerpt from a Traditional Chinese Opera
  
• Moonlight Reflected On The Water - Chinese Traditional Erhu Music
  
• Tea Harvest - Lei Qiang, Erhu music
  
• Peking Opera Melodies - from a Chinese Folk Music LP
  
• Flowing Water - from Pekiing Opera melodies LP
  
• Tzuyeh-Thundering Dragon - from Gongs & Drums Of The Peking Opera
  
• Jet 747 - The Jets
  
• A Thousand Changes Tonight - Jackie Chan & Anita Mui
  
• Years Flow As Water - Anita Mui
  
• Ying Tian - Karen Mok
  
• Sweet Like Candy - Winston Williams
  
• Jasmine - Chinese Traditional Erhu Music
  
• The Flickering of the Candle Flame - Chinese Traditional Erhu Music
  

Lucky Cat Show on every Friday 1-2 pm on Resonance 104.4 FM or listen online at www.resonancefm.com,repeated Tuesdays at 10am.

Win The Peacock King DVD

Hong Kong Legends (www.hongkonglegends.co.uk) have released this crazy Yuen Biao martial arts DVD based on the manga Kujaku-Oh, it's about the gates of Hell opening and Armageddon on Earth. Written by Izô Hashimoto (co-writer of Akira) it features claymation monsters and the Queen of Hell feasting o na human arm - what more do you want?! Oh yes, there's some excellent martial arts action too. I have one copy of the DVD to give away to a lucky winner! Yes, another competition, another FREE DVD yours by answering a very simple question:

The Peacock King also stars martial arts movie legend Gordon Liu (36th Chamber etc). Gordon more recently starred in Tarantino's Kill Bill II as Uma Thumran's Master. Who killed him in the movie? Name the actress (clue!) or character.

Email me with your answer: djmymelody@yahoo.com by Thursday 22nd June 2006. Competition open to UK and Europe only.

Lucky Cat Show on every Friday 1-2 pm on Resonance 104.4 FM or listen online at www.resonancefm.com,
repeated Tuesdays at 10am.

Playlist for Show 26th May 2006

• 007 - Desmond Dekker
  
• It Mek - Desmond Dekker
  
• The Israelites - Desmond Dekker
  
• Woman From Yonder - Composed by Kenji Kawai for the Seven Swords soundtrack
  
• Massacre Rhapsody - Composed by Kenji Kawai
  
• Talking About Fighting Skills - Josephine Siao Fong Fong and Chan Pao Chu (Shaw Bros soundtrack EP pictured above)
  
• Encounter at the Shrine - Composed by Kenji Kawai
  
• The Spirit of the Swords - Composed by Kenji Kawai
  
• Handsome Man - Unknown Chinese Artist (1950s)
  
• Zaijian - Josephine Siao Fong Fong
  

Lucky Cat Show on every Friday 1-2 pm on Resonance 104.4 FM or listen online at www.resonancefm.com,repeated Tuesdays at 10am.