Being an action film junkie, I have always wondered which are the top 10 best movie fights of all time. So, here are my personal top 10, along with some rationale. My only criteria is that, it must be mano-a-mano (1 to 1). That’s why I have excluded the amazing Tony Jaa’s unedited 4-min sequence in Tom Yum Goong.

NO. 10 - Jackie Chan vs Hwang Jang Lee (Drunken Master)

Along with Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, this is the movie that launched Jackie Chan’s brand of Kung Fu comedy. Silly as it seems now, it definitely deserves a place in the top 10.

NO. 9 - Jet Li vs Shi-Kwan Yen (Once Upon A Time in China)

Wong Fei Hung is probably one of the most reprised characters in chinese film history. Kudos to Tsui Hark, this is truly the first one that makes him look cool.

NO. 8 - Jet Li vs Chen Zhihui (Fearless)

From weapons to hands, this is one of the most intense, brutal fight sequence ever choreographed.

NO. 7 - Donnie Yen vs Collin Chou (Flash Point)

This one is no. 7 simply because of the brilliance of Donnie Yen. Donnie’s style has always stayed contemporary by adapting to the current trends in martial arts…in this case, with the use of Mixed-Martial Arts.

NO. 6 - Bruce Lee vs Danny Inosanto (Game Of Death)

The big boss, Bruce is at no. 6 because he made the nunchaks one of coolest waepon you’ve ever seen on screen.

NO. 5 - Jet Li vs Donnie Yen (Once Upon A Time in China 2)

This one is special because no one has ever thought that you can exert such deadly force with a piece of cloth.

NO. 4 - Sammo Hung vs Lau Kar Leung (Pedicab Driver)

We all know Jackie as the Dai-go (big brother) of Hong Kong’s film industry. Well, meet the big brother of big brother (Dai-go Dai), Sammo Hung. Being a man of such size, he is truly inspiritional to everyone that you can be fit and healthy no matter how you look.

NO. 3 - Jackie Chan vs Benny “The Jet” Urquidez (Wheels On Meals)

One of the best choreographed piece, the fight looks intense and funny at the same time. His recent films have not been that good, but we must face the fact that he is a 50-year old guy. Nonetheless, we can’t deny his status as a living legend.

NO. 2 - Donnie Yen vs Jing Wu (SPL)

This movie was released at a time when I almost lost hope that there will ever be a good action movie coming out from Hong Kong. Donnie is probably the last man standing in the current Hong Kong action movie scene.

NO. 1 - Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris (Way of The Dragon)

OK, no. 1 is of course, none other than the greatest fighter of all time, the big boss, the main man, Bruce Lee. This epic fight scene in Rome’s Colosseum is deeply entrenched in every action movie fan’s memory. No doubt about it, definitely the best fight of all time.

Found out recently that my Chinese name is actually a name of a mountain.
Mount Xiantai, Terrace of the Goddess.
Just an awesome but totally unimportant piece of information for you.

Realised that I’m not character-reference-letter-writing material when I was asked to write one for a friend recently. Ironically, I’ve always prided myself for being an observant person and an attentive friend, but I guess things like picking his nose with his right middle finger are of no use when writing this kind of letters. There was even a minimum length!
I had to find ways to expand the letter, e.g. adding unnecessary adverbs like “consistently” to “pleasant” and “ridiculously” to “organized”.
Sadly, being a sincerely honest person, I struggle to find good things to say about my friends sometimes.
Hence, I would like to reiterate here that my forte is in writing rubbish and not reference letters. Took 3 hours to write the letter and only a few minutes to write this post.
But the free dinner was worth the effort though.

Saw an IS music review recently that gave Icky Thump 5 stars.
I haven’t heard the album yet but I must say that I am impressed by the title track. Majestic, classic rift with bizarre, radical solos.
But perfect rating, no reservations? He must be a Mexican.

I can probably never do that.
Afterall, I only gave my favourite album, Ágaetis Byrjun, 4.999999 (wonder how a 0.999999 star looks like).
Too much at stake.
What if I come across a better album in the future?
And is there technically such a thing as a perfect album?

I realised recently that most people can spot imperfections more readily.
Accepting their own is a different story though.
I’ve always loved the speck and log parable.
But it took me a while to finally accept that I am imperfect.
It came to me when I realised one day that nobody is perfect, and I don’t want to be a nobody.

So before I wish upon a 0.999999 star and hope that I can be a somebody soon, I want to end this post by giving a personal opinion on The Deathly Hallows. The most glaring imperfection in the final book is Harry’s perfection.

If ever there’s a time Chee Soon Juan’s talent can be put to good use, that time will be soon. Just imagine, Chee turning  up the airport on the day Yong arrived, or, at the courthouse when Yong is hauled back there. Then, Chee can loudly and proudly ask…

“Mr Yong, where is the people’s money?”

Here’s my attempt at bag design. $2 each, any takers?

For those of you who are too young to remember, this is how The Simpsons look like during its formative years, when it was then a filler for the Tracy Ullman Show. I still remember watching it on TV, amazed at how amateurish the drawings were, but enjoyed it thoroughly. Just something to refresh our memory, in anticipation of the coming Simpsons movie.

As you all know, there are currently 7 giant concerts around the world, known as Live Earth, held to create awareness about the climate crisis. My question is, who doesn’t know about the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming? The only people who doesn’t have a clue about it are some isolated tribes who don’t have televisions. Seriously, we really don’t need some rock stars to teach us about saving the earth. They couldn’t be worse role models. Rampant consumerism is the biggest problem, and the rich and famous, as epitomised by the rock stars, are the biggest culprits. Just look at their house, their cars, their big-ass giant plasma TV. So it’s ok to have that kind of lifestyles, but remember to “purchase your music online and not buy CDs”, as Ben Affleck puts it in one of the ads. So, Live Earth is just another lame excuse to party, not to mention the scale of carbon footprint it leaves behind. It’s hypocrisy, political correctness at its highest. The only truth in all this is as Megatron puts it, “Humans don’t deserve to live”.

Meet NEd and DaphNE, characters designed for the National Education on Total Defense.

1. Treat yourself to treats

2. Exercise

3. Read an inspiring book

4. Catch up on sleep

5. Talk to a sincere ex-smoker

The last one might seem irrelevant at first but ex-smokers are actually the best listeners, because they constantly need something to occupy their minds with.

Accompanying Track: Macy Gray - Happiness