Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Monkey King

Jennifer and I went to see "Forbidden Kingdom" today, and we had a great time. Jackie Chan and Jet Lit together? Brilliant! The roles they play are awesome. Jackie does Drunken Master... AGAIN! The costumes are superb, the props amazing, and the fight scenes are so cool.

But what it really made me think of was Chinese Opera. I can remember watching a special on Chinese Opera from Showtime in the late 70s or early 80s. The music, the acrobatics, and the costumes. One of the things I remember most was that to stretch their faces, the actors put a wet headband on. Then as it dried it pulled the skin tight.

This special had two parts of the saga of the Monkey King. It it was so much fun. Then when I was a sophomore in high school, I got to go with a friend of mine and his parents to see a live performance of Chinese Opera. You watch this stuff happen, and you can't believe it. There was no wire work, no harnesses, nothing. It's just a bunch of people jumping and diving and somersaulting in big costumes carrying big sticks and fake swords.

I've got to see if Netflix has anything like that available.

I'm not done with Portal yet, but I'm getting close. 18 of 19.

No comments: