If you've seen Manos: The Hands of Fate on MST3K or Elvira, you'll no doubt want to take a look at this fun inside perspective of everyone's favorite bad movie. Torgo, we will never forget you.

Things have gotten really bad in this economy. See more evidence at GameSpy.

Whosoever is a devout lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful bright festival. Whosoever is a grateful servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord. If any be weary with fasting, let him now receive his reward. If any has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any has come after the third hour, let him gratefully celebrate. If any arrived after the sixth hour, let him have no doubt for he too shall suffer no loss. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him come without hesitation. If any arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay. For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He is merciful to the one who delays, and nourishes the first. He gives also to the one, and to the other He is gracious. He both honors the work and commends the intention.

Let all of you enter into the joy of our Lord. Whether first or last, receive your reward. You rich and poor, rejoice together. You sober and you heedless, honor the day! You that have fasted and you that have not, rejoice today! The table is richly laden. All of you, feast sumptuously on it! The calf is fatted; let no one go away hungry! All of you enjoy the banquet of faith. All of you enjoy the riches of His goodness. Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one grieve over sins, for forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. Let no one fear death, for the death of our Saviour has set us free. He that was taken by death has destroyed it! He despoiled Hades, when he descended thereto. He embittered it, having tasted of His flesh! Isaiah foretold this when he exclaimed, "You, O Hades, have been embittered by encountering Him below."

It was vexed, for it was abolished!

It was vexed, for it was mocked!

It was vexed, for it was slain!

It was vexed, for it was annihilated!

It was vexed, for it is now made captive!

It took a body and, lo, it discovered God! It took earth and, behold! It encountered Heaven! It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it could not see! O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the demons have fallen!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of the dead!

For Christ, having risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be the glory and the dominion to the Ages of Ages. Amen.

-St. John Chrysostom 

What a great job to have. Barely ever open, low inventory to manage and shitty selection to boot. Not to mention the ho-hum attitude toward child labor laws. Will Tom teach me to follow all of the customers around the store like they're black? Fucking racist. See more over at GameSpy.

As usual, I've been having way too much fun listening to The Hardline lately. So with Ticketstock 2011 in full force this weekend I decided I may as well share a couple of crudely made videos I put together this month to show my appreciation. You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my radio brought The Ticket home, I knew it was one of my own. And my wolf pack... it grew by one. So there... there were two of us in the wolf pack... I was alone first in the pack, and then The Ticket joined in later. And six years ago, when The Ticket introduced me to The Hardline, I thought, "Wait a second, could it be?" And now I know for sure, I just added two more guys to my wolf pack. Four of us wolves, running around the metroplex together, in Dallas, looking for HSOs, strippers and cocaine. So tonight, I make a toast!

So...

In case anyone is curious as to why you've been redirected here and missed the final update at cinemaasia.org, here it is:

This site is like the Easter Bunny or Sasquatch. It's fun to imagine but it's all just a lie. I've already been through all of the stages. So after over 6 years of film "updates" and the like, it's finally time to let the dream die. With this I bid you all farewell. I'll continue to leave uninformative blog posts, some of which still relate to Asian films, but most do not. Perhaps someday I'll get around to making this site into what I always wanted it to be, although I'm not quite sure what exactly that is yet so I wouldn't count on it. I think it's safe to say the Korean wave is over. After almost two solid decades of socially significant and important, groundbreaking films South Korea has unfortunately taken their foot off the pedal. Great films no longer come out on a break-neck consistent basis, and more and more I find myself filing through pop culture BS movies to find an occasional gem. Even those usually aren't up to the par we have become familiar with over the years. In short, South Korean cinema has become Americanized. There's a formula now and it's very well adhered to. Find the latest pop star, stick him/her in a recycled script, rinse and repeat. There are so many movies like this it's exhausting. Now it's not all completely doom and gloom. There are still a handful of directors whose work are always worth seeking out, which I still continue to do. I wont list them all here, but on a whim I'd name Bong Joon-ho and Hong Sang-soo as a couple I can highly recommend that are constantly creating quality films.

I'd like to thank everyone who came to the events (back when we had those) and all of the list members. Believe it or not, this site has almost 100 members and I really appreciate all of those who have taken the time to either catch a movie with us or email me personally. Some of you have great blogs of your own and follow Asian films with much more fervor and detail than myself, and I continue to enjoy your work. Kudos to you all for keeping the scene alive. I know 100 doesn't sound like a large number but for a little website based out of San Antonio, TX of all places, with extremely little marketing or advertising, I think is not bad at all.

I'd like to also extend a special note of gratitude to my friend Daniel Reyes. Although we haven't spoken in years, I fondly remember the countless hours we spent on the UT campus in Austin developing the idea of Cinema Asia at a time when Korean films were exploding left and right and we were in a frenzy to keep up, and more importantly, share with our peers the love and admiration we felt for these films. That's what this whole project has always been about and I'm glad I got to be involved.

Thank you all again for your support.

All I can say is holy shit. Pat's latest game review, on the legendary and extremely rare Nintendo World Championships, is truly one for the ages. Pat's clearly stepped his game up and if there is an award out there for greatest ending ever this video needs to wins it. Way to go, man. Check out the rest of Pat's reviews over at The Punk Effect.

A while back I wrote a little bit about The Ticket and how it occupies a large part of my life. Well, to fill in the time between the end of the current day's programming and the beginning of the next, there is a website devoted to the very best (and worst) segments all-time from this great station. That would be The Unticket. If you're ever hankering for more, curious or just plain bored then this is the site for you. It has provided countless hours of entertainment for me, and even when I'm only looking to kill a few minutes I always end up wasting an hour or more. Here's a sample of some great segments from the past several years. Be careful though, you might be here for awhile.

Congrats to Christopher Tin's Civilization IV song "Baba Yetu" which just became the first VG song ever nominated for a Grammy. It's probably the best song from the VGL shows so the recognition is well deserved. Check it out.

I've been all over chiptunes lately and this addictive song from 8 Bit Weapon is a prime example of just how video game music has advanced and even somehow evolved into something greater than it originally was. If you're unfamiliar, "chiptune" refers to music composed using video game sound chips. For instance, according to 8 Bit Weapon's website they're named after "their arsenal of 8 bit weapons: Commodore 64 and 128, Apple II, couple Nintendo Gameboy classics, Nintendo N.E.S., Amiga 1200, Intellivision synthesizer, Atari 2600, Speak n Spell & Speak n Music, some hybrid lo-fi acoustic-electric drums, and an assortment of other vintage and toy synthesizers." It all really comes together in this song and I constantly have it floating around in my head.

If you're interested in hearing more check out the Chiptunes Station at Shoutcast.com or just use the player below. If you already love video game music like I do I also recommend the RadioSEGA.net station as well. Good times.

After a few years off legendary Korean film director Im Kwon-taek (Chunhyang, Chihwaseon, Beyond the Years) is at it again. I have to admit though, I’m not quite sold on the subject material. Paper? Really? Im himself readily admits it took him over two years to work out the script for this unusual topic (Korean hanji paper) and nearly regretted accepting the project. I’m sure this film will be just as gorgeous as Im’s previous works (probably more so with this being his first foray into HD) and I really can’t wait to see how he puts it all together. Scooping Up the Moonlight (working title) is targeted for festival release in Korea in April 2010. You can read the official releases at the links below.

The Korea Times

JoongAng Daily

KOFIC

Recently this has been a very hot issue in the media as protests have followed the Olympic torch in several countries as it makes its way from Greece to China. While I have very little interest in the Olympics as a sporting event, being Greek I do value it as a part of my cultural heritage and I feel like the fact a nation like China is being given the gift of the Olympics is pure hypocrisy. Let me try and put my education to use (for once in my life) and try to explain why China should not be hosting the 2008 Olympic games. In no particular order:

1. Tibet

For the past 50 years Tibetans in China have been imprisoned, expelled, or executed. What the civilized world considers cultural genocide, China refers to as reform, which has more recently been coined the "Strike Hard" campaign. The Dalai Lama is an advocate for the rights of Tibetan people to maintain their religion and heritage while under the rule of the PRC. He is not a freedom fighter, though the Chinese have deemed him as such. Tibetan monasteries are used by the PRC to "re-educate" the Tibetan population while Chinese immigration to the region have all but eliminated the Tibetan autonomy. According to the Human Rights Watch, China views Tibet's centuries old Buddhist religion as "illegal" and "separatist" and therefore punishable by imprisonment which lead to unjust trials where individuals are denied any rights and are often tortured or even executed.

2. Burma and Sudan

In two of the most unstable parts of the world, where human rights atrocities have been at the height of global security concerns, China provides considerable economic support. In Sudan, civilians in Darfur suffer rape, torture, and death from government forces. And in Burma decades of military rule have resulted in child labor, drug trafficking, disease, and an outflow of refugees.

3. North Korea

Speaking of refugees, China's policy of sending North Korean refugees back to North Korea as "illegal immigrants" is clearly opposed to the UNHCR mandate. As a UN nation and member of the global community China should be obligated to treat these people justly and allow them to escape to a better life, not send them back to famine, torture, and execution that the Kim regime has become infamous for. What a coincidence that the Olympic torch passed through North Korea for the first time ever this year. And what a surprise that there wasn't a single protest to be seen.

4. Made in China

Sadly, we as Americans are as much to blame for China's human rights record. We buy buy buy with disregard to origin, just as long as the price is right. In fact, we are funding China's mistreatment of its own people. Sweat shops, child labor, and unsafe workplaces are all funded by US companies in the name of capitalism. Simply put, if we don't buy it they'll stop selling it. So far toys made in China have given our children lead poisoning and corrupted food has killed our pets. What more evidence do we need to spend our money elsewhere? Buying Chinese products is cheap, but you get what you pay for. I know it's almost impossible nowadays to avoid Chinese products, but if I'm presented with the option, I gladly spend a little more to get something made here. I also don't shop at Walmart.

The ironic thing is that getting the Olympics has been more bad for the Chinese people than good. The Chinese government has placed so much importance on the Olympics that they have thrown all of its own laws out of the books for the sake of a smooth Olympic experience. Illegal evictions of thousands of citizens to make way for new facilities have occured, and on top of that the actual workers constructing the facilities have no health benefits, frequently go unpaid for the work they do, and do not receive proper safety equipment to perform their duties.

5. Olympic Movement

According to the official Olympic Charter, Fundamental principles, paragraphs 1-2, "Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles. The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

If the IOC weren't so corrupt, maybe someone there would've taken a second to read their very own charter and think about if China really fits this description. Have they ever? It's a shame that in this day and age the world is to suffer yet another Soviet or Nazi games, games that are reduced to a tool for propaganda.

Finally, I can best conclude my argument with Paragraph 5 of the Olympic Charter's Fundamental principles which states, "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

That is why we should all say no to China.

I just recently completed viewing this Korean drama series from 2005. This is an endeavor I honestly try not to take very often because of the significant amount of time it takes to get through as well as the emotional investment it requires. Although I haven’t seen the amount of dramas I would like to, my experiences with the handful of ones I have seen have left me mostly disappointed. In between greats like Phoenix, Attic Cat, and Ruler of Your Own World, I’ve suffered through quite a few throwaways, many of which are mirror images of series like Lawyers. The unfortunate thing is that although they all usually have great casts, decent production, and somewhat interesting characters, they normally run out of gas story-wise near the last few episodes and rarely provide you with the payoff you expect. Lawyers is the perfect model of such a series.

Starring the hopelessly cute Jeong Hye-young (Phoenix), Kim Seong-su (Full House), and Hong Sang-soo favorite Kim Sang-kyung (Tale of Cinema, Turning Gate), Lawyers is yet another sob story of love lost, the essential theme of all Korean dramas. Here Jeong and Kim Seong-su play a young couple in love on their way to a perfect life together. He’s on the verge of completing his law degree, and she’s an aspiring violinist. Then one night her parents are killed in a car crash, coincidentally the byproduct of a mobster trying to run over a couple of thorns in his side walking down the street. The young lawyer gets involved in the investigation and due to a serious lack of common sense he ends up joining their side and dumping the love of his life. The plot is usually farfetched, but that’s part of the “charm.” If you can get by the lack of reasonable decision making present in this genre, you can find a lot of things to love about Korean dramas. Lawyers was an overall enjoyable series, and I constantly found myself watching more than one episode at a time, but when it came time to bring it all to a close and come to a meaningful conclusion it fell completely flat. “I went through all of that, for THAT?!“ is what I believe I said after the last episode. It all comes to a forced, ill-conceived shell of a melodramatic ending which could have all been avoided if just one single person had the wits to simply dial 911. I mean, they are lawyers. They should know when an emergency is at hand, right? I don’t want to give anything away, but if anyone out there has seen it or intends on seeing it I think you will look at it my way. It’s so good at some parts that I actually want to encourage everyone, but taking everything into consideration Lawyers doesn’t warrant your time, energy, or money. Let’s hope Jeong Hye-young shows up soon in something better.

Conclusion: Download if you’re interested, but pass on a buy.

WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN:THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

AN IN-DEPTH, UNFORGETTABLE LOOK AT THE REALITY OF NUCLEAR WARFARE WITH FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS FROM THOSE WHO SURVIVED DEBUTS AUGUST 6, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

As global tensions rise, the unthinkable once more becomes possible. The threat of “weapons of mass destruction” has again become frighteningly real. On August 6^th and 9^th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporized 210,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Currently, the world has an arsenal large enough to repeat the destruction at Hiroshima 400,000 times over. 

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki revisits this event and its aftermath in WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN: THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, premiering August 6^th at 8:30 p.m. Okazaki provides an unflinching look at the reality of nuclear warfare through first-hand accounts as told by 14 atomic-bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the siege. White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki provides a detailed exploration of these two bombings and their aftermath.

Check out the promo for the film here: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2877662

Be sure to check out this heartbreaking documentary on one of the most life shattering days in history and also one of the most forgotten days when WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN: THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, premieres August 6^th at 8:30 p.m., only on HBO!

I saw the documentary Seoul Train a few days ago on PBS’ Independent Lens. The film follows a number of North Korean refugees as they attempt to make a new life for themselves and their families in China, Mongolia, and South Korea. The film is particularly critical of China, which has a policy of repatriating the refugees despite having signed a treaty that bars them from such a practice. China considers the North Koreans to be economic immigrants entering the country illegally. In reality, these people have very little food, no basic rights, and are living in a hopelessly desperate situation. The penalty they face for getting caught fleeing North Korea ranges from imprisonment to execution. You can read a summary of the issue on the Refugees International website.

Wanting to help, I spent some time searching for an organization which uses its donations to help the people directly. I’m not really interested in funding additional research, which is what a majority of the organizations I found did. It's the people that need our attention. I’ve always been fascinated by the North Korean dilemma, one of the reasons being the amazingly little amount of coverage the story gets. Aside from multi-party nuclear talks and being mentioned in the “axis of evil,” North Korea for the most part has been off the radar. They have no freedom concerts, no celebrities speaking on their behalf, not even a commercial asking for charity. Everyone knows about Africa, it’s time North Korea got some of the spotlight. There’s no reason this day and age that 3 million people from one small nation should die from famine. Could you imagine dying from hunger?

The cause of the problem is of no surprise. Kim Jong-Il uses his nuclear weapons program as a bargaining tool for international food aid from the US, Japan, China, Russia, and South Korea. Of course, regardless of how more or little aid he is given each year, the nuclear tests go on. Saddam didn’t have any nuclear weapons, but here we are at war with Iraq. Meanwhile Kim has been working at it for years now, yet somehow I don’t feel there’s any sense of urgency to resolve this issue like there was to resolve the one in Iraq. He’s not Castro, we can’t just wait until he dies and hope everything gets better. Action is required.

I don’t want to get into politics here because I dislike it just as much as the next guy, but I do want to help and I’d like to point anyone else who might care about this issue in the right direction. I found two very worthy organizations you can make donations to, and I hope the few people out there reading this can find it in their hearts to offer as much as they can. Please donate generously. I will also be writing a letter to the US ambassador to China Clark T. Randt Jr., which I will post here upon completion.

Liberty in North Korea

Helping Hands Korea

Today's employer was another marketing firm in Dallas, Bradley Clarke & Associates. Check out that website, it's so badass! Anyway, they do the same type of work yet they weren't as up front about their clientele as Synergy. I noticed various sports memorabilia throughout their office but nothing concrete besides a very large Mavs framed poster. The reason I sent my resume to Synergy was because they outright said they worked with the Texas Rangers, and me being a huge baseball fan I couldn't pass up the opportunity. On a positive note, the interviewer did mention the Cowboys when I requested an example of the company's work, so that's more of a step in the right direction. I love baseball the most, but any professional sport will do. After Asian film I'm a sports fiend.

So on to the interview. The good news is I actually got to say a couple of sentences, the bad is it otherwise went about the same way the first one did. Either this is some interview technique I'm very unfamiliar with, or I'm just getting the brush off. I sit down, quickly explain why my name is so long, hear the company spiel, and get quickly sent off. The whole thing lasts about 15 minutes. I try to get in a question or two with a careful interruption, but I want to be a good little boy so I refrain from breaking up the lecture too much. I believe I'm an excellent listener and I can ask smart questions, as long as I can remember what they are. This guy is from Ireland, only been here for 4 years, and he's going lightning speed through this information. Then when he finishes he asks if I have any questions and I'm speechless. I did have questions, 1 minute and 5 chapters ago, but sorry since then I forgot. Oh well. In about 2 hours I should know my status for a second meeting. Then it's full focus on interview #3 tomorrow.

I'm always fascinated how people can come to this country and almost instantly become successful. It really blows my mind. I've been here since day one of my life and I can't grasp it, yet others just show up here and before you know it they have a new car, house, family, kids, business, investments, etc. I just don't get it.  Did I miss something?

(FYI, the link above hasn't worked for the past 3 days even though they sent me an email urging me to explore their website. Hence the joke. Just in case at some point someone reads this later on and the link does work, no the site isn't badass. I'm pretty sure it's lame.)

Well let's just say the whole Asian film thing ain't too hot in SA right now...cause it ain't! So to keep myself entertained and perhaps a couple of others out there I decided to mess around with this blog feature which conveniently came free with the domain. Click on that crap up top and make someone happy.

Although the myspace blog has been up for some time, I just didn't feel it was suitable for me to say anything relevant (or irrelevant) on except for announcing events. After all, myspace is 100% purely intended for whoring yourself out to complete strangers, and I intend for it to stay that way. If it's not a party, a pill, or a booty call don't bother. So here I am on my lonely little blog.

I am always watching Asian films, and although it seems like the whole Drafthouse thing has blown over, I'd still like to share my passion for Asian cinema with whoever would like to listen. "I Wish I Had a Blog." I think the title is fitting in several ways. With the vast amount of information on just about anything available over the internet, it's very easy for one to feel insignificant in offering their own personal opinions. What could little me possibly have to say that the rest of the world hasn't said already? That's one of the questions I ask myself on several occasions when I attempt to put my thoughts into print. With the thousands and thousands of other opinions to compete with out there, it's difficult to stand out. I won't be reporting for IFC or Sundance anytime soon, that much is for sure.

That leads me to my next point, which is my desire to maintain this organization's Texas roots. It's the Death Valley of Asian film news and events, of course, but this is where I live and from my experiences in Austin I've learned that though the following may be small, it is a very loyal one and the people are always extremely interesting to talk to and hang out with. "I Wish I Had a Blog." It's not NY or LA, and I'm no Grady Hendrix. We'll just all have to settle I guess.

Finally, the title, in case you missed it, is a reference to Park Heung-shik's comedy I Wish I Had a Wife, a film I have grown quite fond of. It fits well in tying in the Asian film theme, don't you think?