New Bourdain Episodes Start on Monday!

Anthony Bourdain returns with new episodes of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on Monday, July 13, 2009.

The first episode is in Chile.

The Travel Channel provides some background:

"Chile’s cuisine reflects its topographical diversity, consisting of beef, pork, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Chile is also filled with gorgeous landscapes, beautiful mountains, and breathtaking flora and fauna. While in Chile, Tony will not only sample this delicious cuisine but will also do some exploring in this ‘land of extremes’.

During his trip, Tony visits Fuente Alemana, a restaurant serving German pints and Lomidos, a monstrous sandwich of pork, avocado, and mayonnaise (make sure to watch the sneak peek scene on a full stomach!). Tony’s obsession with pork continues when he dines at El Hoyo, a restaurant specializing in all forms of pork, pork skin, and extraneous pig bits.

The episode continues as Tony enjoys a rodeo, some shopping at the bustling market in the Estacion Central, which is filled with fresh produce and meats. He also stops at a food stall in the neighboring marketing, where they enjoy ‘caldopata’ (hoof soup), ‘chunchules’ (fried intestines), and ‘pastel de choco’ (corn pie).

Tony also wants to see a bit of the Patagonia region of the country where there are gorgeous coastlines, quiet beaches, and stunning cliffs and hillsides. There, over a delicious meal of all local ingredients, they discuss living ‘the good life’."

The preview clip got me hungry and I just had lunch!

Kelly Chen Gives Birth!

Well, I have posted some pretty harsh words about the actress in the past (see this about An Empress and the Warriors), but I am still a fan of Kelly Chen.

So very warm wishes from the blogosphere on the birth of her son today! More news here.

Despite some misfires in her film career, Kelly Chen did star in two Hong Kong that I liked quite a bit: Lost and Found and Anna Magdalena (reviews from the ever useful LoveHKFilm.com.

And wasn't she in Infernal Affairs too?

Rant: What The Hell Happened To Borders Bookstores?

I got my first DVD player at Christmas of 2000, and in January 2001, I hit both Tower Records and Borders pretty hard in buying a lot of DVD's for the first time.

Tower is gone. Is Borders next?

I ask because of a few reasons:

One, stories like this always make it sound as if Borders is on the verge of going under.

Two, the evidence. All of the Borders stores that I visit in the D.C. area look like they are getting rid of the majority of their DVD stock.

Inexplicably, Barnes and Noble somehow beats Borders in DVD sales.

I find this a bit odd as Barnes and Nobles' prices are usually list and the best you can get is some rare sale OR pay to join the "club" and get a Barnes and Noble card and get maybe 10% or 20% off of a purchase.

Borders, on the other hand, has a free-to-join Borders Rewards program where you can get sometimes up to 40% off with a coupon.

And even if you don't get that kind of deal, there are always Borders coupons available via a quick Google search every week; at a minimum, you can find a 20% off coupon within seconds.

Add to this that the DVD sections at most Barnes and Nobles stores are so tightly packed that it's awkward to even browse them -- they look designed for photographs, not actual shopping.

So, as early as 2001, my friends and I quickly gave up on buying DVD's at Barnes and Noble and switched to Borders.

Another important factor in our decision was the fact that -- at the time at least -- Borders operated like a little cousin of Tower and seemed to carry at least one copy of most DVD releases. If Something Weird or Blue Underground or Tai Seng put out a DVD, you could be reasonably sure that a few of the Borders stores in the area would carry it.

Now, every Borders I go into looks like they have cut the DVD section in half.

And most of those offbeat titles say "online only" when you look them up on the inventory kiosks in the stores.

If Borders closes, will there be anywhere left for a geek like me to simply shop and browse? I don't buy much prerecorded music in America anymore so that limits the few record stores still in existence and, apart from the comic book stores, there are no stores where it's fun to simply browse and find something cool to purchase not at full list price.

Borders wasn't Tower but they were certainly better for shopping and a leisurely browse than Costco or Walmart, eh?

The Goddess of Mercy

1966's The Goddess of Mercy is -- more or less -- the story of the Chinese deity Kwanyin (or at least one story of the deity's origin). Li Li-Hua plays the daughter of Emperor Miao Cheung who attempts to bring mercy to her people (and her father's prisoners of war) and then suffers the wrath of her father.

From what little I know of Li Li-Hua, the role wasn't much of a stretch for her; she looks the part and acts with a good deal of grace throughout the film, never even soiling her garments when sloshing through mud(!). While she makes for a believable Kwanyin-figure, she doesn't make for a believable human character of Princess Miao Shang. And her scenes with Commander Wei (Cheung Kwong Chiu) fall a bit flat.

The film is a series of scenes with the princess constantly pushing back at her father's abuse and mistreatment of his subjects.

Eventually, there are some instances of direct divine intervention which make the film feel like "The Song of Bernadette" or something.

Still, I did find it fascinating to see a film with a real layer of Buddhist thought to it (unlike those Journey to the West films where the Buddhism is an afterthought to the adventures).

Look for Ouyang Sha Fei and future director Kao Pao Shu as the two other daughters, and Chen Yan Yan as the mother.

I must have watched a lot of these Shaw features because I was right when I thought I recognized Lily Li in a very small but important part as a handmaiden who falls afoul of the emperor.

The ending was surprisingly bloody but, in retrospect, seems almost inevitable now given the earlier parts of the story.

And if that ending shocked me, it shouldn't as it clearly illustrated some basic Buddhist concepts perfectly.

The film was reportedly a big budget Chinese/Korean production of the time and the money is on the screen; the production values and sets are impressive and there are certainly a lot of extras in the film.

A minor film but certainly an interesting one that attempts to illustrate morality without too much preaching.
You can order The Goddess of Mercy on DVD here.

Journey To The West, Shaw Brothers Style

When these Shaw re-issues started in 2003, I purchased a few on DVD and a few on VCD and one of the first in that latter category was The Cave of Silken Web (which thoroughly confused me). So, when I finally got that film and the other three titles in the Journey to the West series on DVD, I set them aside for the time being with the understanding that, one day, I would sit down and watch the 4 in a marathon session.

Well, I had a long weekend over the 4th of July so I decided to finally watch these in order.

The Monkey Goes West (1966)

Future director Ho Fan plays Tang, the monk on a mission to get Buddhist scriptures from the West (India).

I'll admit that I thought this first film was a bit tedious (but I was a little tired when I watched it).

It is fun to see so many Shaw stars in one place -- I didn't recognize Yueh Hua as the Monkey King, but there's the quite recognizable Paang Paang as Pigsy.

And after a long first half detailing Tang's journey and Monkey's release from imprisonment, with intercession and instruction from the goddess Kwanyin, the two happen upon Pigsy in his human form about to marry to goddess-like Diana Chang.

[duriandave's blog has a lot of great information about Diana Chang, like this post.]

There is much 1966-style comedy and Pigsy's human lusts eventually cause him to be turned into his porcine form.

He joins the duo and there's a further adventure under the sea (some bad special effects there) and Pigsy proves his worth in battle.

Look for actress Kao Pao Shu as the woman attempting to trick Pigsy into marrying her 3 daughters (who bathe with a surprising bit of rear nudity for 1966!). Kao Pao Shu ultimately became a director for the Shaw Brothers studios.

Now, on to feature number 2!

Princess Iron Fan (1966)

A vast improvement upon the first film in the series, 1966's Princess Iron Fan moves at a pretty good clip (it *is* some 20 minutes shorter than the earlier film).

With the story already established, we can simply join the heroes as they continue their journey.

The first section of the film follows Sun Wukong (The Monkey) as he attempts to get the Iron Fan from the title Princess in order to put out the flames of the Flaming Mountain which is preventing the group's passage.

Princess Iron Fan is played by Pat Ting Hung -- check out duriandave's blog for links like this on the beautiful actress. The princess is one of two sets of women that the Ox Demon is keeping and, once the Monkey disguises himself as the Ox Demon, this section of the film turns into a fun little case of very mistaken identity. Again, some surprising rear nudity in this one, this time from Pat Ting Hung as she bathes which must have raised some eyebrows in 1966.

Look for Lily Li as one of the handmaidens in the bathing scene.

The rest of the film is spent with Pigsy and Sun Wukong matching wits with the devilish Madam White Bone (Cheng Pei-Pei) and her sister (Lily Ho). Cheng Pei-Pei seems to be having a blast playing a villainous character instead of her usual virtuous swordswoman and if Lily Ho is underused here, Cheng Pei-Pei makes up for it.



There are tricks, double-crosses, and by the film's end, the heroes are reunited, with Sun Wukong drawn back into battle to save his comrades. Tang doesn't get much to do in this film and that's probably a good thing; a pure pilgrim is kind of a boring character.

Look for Ku Feng as one of the people the sisters masquerade as to ensnare the heroes.

The Cave of Silken Web (1967)

This third film in the series is (as of this writing) the only one released in America (by Image Entertainment, I do believe) and one can see why: it's trippy, has 7 beautiful women in sexy outfits, and it plays like some weird episode of "Lost in Space" or something.

The majority of this 82-minute romp (10 minutes shorter than the previous film in the series) is set in the underground cave of the title where the heroes are menaced by the 7 seductive spider sisters (or something).

With each film, Sun Wukong seems to gain more and more powers and it begs the question: "Why doesn't he just turn into a giant again and then run real fast and get the scriptures and then no one has to journey to the West?" I know, I know; I'm missing the point probably but the question did cross my mind after the umpteenth time of watching the Monkey change identities and rescue his fellows.

It's worth noting that Yueh Hua no longer plays Sun Wukong. The role is now assayed by Chow Lung Leung who brings a bit more of an acrobat's energy to the part which helps as the series gets sillier and sillier.

One of the lead sisters is played by Angela Yu Chien and -- once again -- I recommend checking out duriandave's site for links like this on the sexy actress.

Maybe I'm saying this because I'd already seen this installment on VCD about 6 years ago, but this film seemed the most consistent of the 4 films in the series.

One more to go!

Land of Many Perfumes (1968)

This final film is, like its predecessor, only 82 minutes long, and it's probably the weirdest and most confusing of the series. The confusion stems in part from some really bad special effects in some sequences that are so distracting as to cause the viewer to wonder what the hell is going on.

I say that with the knowledge that, yes, it's 1968 and technology's limited but, compared to any Ray Harryhausen film from that era, these are some really bad special effects.

But, the production design and attractive cast of female actresses almost make up for those bad fx.

The quartet of Tang, Pigsy, the Sand King, and Sun Wukong find themselves in a land of women and the first scene of the female populace going crazy at the sight of the men approaching on the road is quite funny; big women lifting weights and older women knocking over food stalls in the castle square are very farcial elements that made this film seem a lot less serious than even the third film in the series.

Look for Fang Ying as the daughter fighting her mother for Tang's affections.

And kenixfan favorite, Irene Chen has a few prominent scenes as well. Unlike her wonderful little part in Guess Who Killed My Twelve Lovers, her presence was not enough to keep me enthralled for the entire 82-minute length of this film.

Chow Lung Leung again plays Sun Wukong. Kao Pao Shu shows up again after her appearance in the first film in the series, this time as a villainous scorpion queen.

There's not much more that a layman like me can write about these 4 films. They are about Buddhism almost as much as "Le Morte d'Arthur" is about Christianity: not very much.

The Buddhism, like the Christian elements in the tale of King Arthur, is merely a device to propel the story forward and -- perhaps -- provide an impetus for tiny instances of pseudo-morality in the tales.

Considering how quickly this film faded out, I think most viewers were like me and wondering when we'd get to see the characters actually get the scriptures.

No, Sun Wukong turns back into a turtle, saves the heroes, there's a fight at the end where the heroes are fighting the women who have turned into clones of them and then it's all over. I didn't even manage to figure out who the "real" characters were in that scene.

Rush, rush, rush and then it's over.

It's worth noting that the director of these 4 films, Ho Meng Hua, recently died and I recommend reading this tribute from French journalist Frederic Ambroisine.

You should also check out Sanjuro's reviews of these 4 films as well. The links are here, here, here, and here.

You can order The Monkey Goes West on DVD here.

The DVD of Princess Iron Fan is out-of-print but you can order the VCD here.

The DVD of The Cave of Silken Web is out-of-print but you can order the VCD here.

The DVD of Land of Many Perfumes is out-of-print but you can order the VCD here.

[Photos: YesAsia/Celestial Pictures]

Rose Elinor Dougall's New Video

I posted about the new single from Rose Elinor Dougall in early June, and now there's a video!

The song still makes me think of the early Broadcast releases more than Rose's old band, The Pipettes, but that's okay; the song is haunting and I've played it a few times a week since I purchased the MP3 almost a month ago.



In America, you can buy the download from Amazon.com here.

Or from the iTunes store here.

Karl Malden

Karl Malden died today at the age of 97. And while I'm sure a lot of people my age remember his American Express commercials -- and Johnny Carson's parodies of them -- from the 1970's, it's easy to forget what a great actor the man was.

There's no way I can hear the man's name and not think of this clip from 1954's On The Waterfront.

And it's probably a good thing I never saw the entire film until a good two years after I dropped out of Bible college for the 2nd and final time 'cause this sort of thing could have inspired me to stay in the game.

But that's another story!

Here's Mr. Malden at his finest (along with some great dialogue, direction, cinematography, and music):

The House of Love Live at The BBC

In 1988, I got my first CD player; purchased my first Creation Records compilations; got further into the British music press; and read a review of "Christine" by The House of Love.

As was typical at that time given the sorry state of alternative radio in this area (WHFS was not totally horrible [just predictable] and the University of Maryland's station was fine but just on a weak signal), I usually read something in either NME or Melody Maker first and then sought out the import CD in Georgetown or at Tower Records in D.C. (I think there was only one in this area in 1988).

The reviews of the first self-titled House of Love album were ecstatic to say the least and yet not entirely overblown; "Christine" remains one of my favorite singles of all time and it never ceases to thrill me when it first starts -- exactly the feedback that I liked in The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Never Understand" only polished into something resembling an Echo and the Bunnymen track like "Bring On The Dancing Horses" (or something similar).

The band seemed to be aiming for a large sound without the bombast of U2 or the cod-Doors poses of McCulloch and co..

And when I saw the band live in early 1990, around the time that my beloved Record Co-Op was closing, they were perfect, filling the old 9:30 Club with waves of sound that prefigured the shoegazer bands already filling small halls in England.

So, that's all simply an introduction to the recently released live album The House of Love: Live at the BBC which collects some early 1990's-era live performances from the band.

While I could easily fault the track listing -- no "Destroy The Heart"!?! -- the album reminds me of why I once thought this band was going to be so popular.

They weren't.

But I know that I'm not alone in remembering a time when hearing "I Don't Know Why I Love You" or "Never" on WHFS felt like hearing U2's "I Will Follow" for the first time.


You can download the album from iTunes here.

You can order the CD from Amazon here.

And there's probably a download available from them as well.