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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/
A man is kidnapped and held for reasons he's never told, only to be let out to be confused alongside this movie's viewers.
I want to like this, I really do, but it makes no damned sense.
Just tinkering with a perspective that bounced around my head just now.
There are two frames of mind when doing paired martial arts training.
Permission is "softer", and honesty is "harder". Both of these things are important, and both pose problems.
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275773/
http://movie.softgarage.com/versus/
In a forest where any who die rise as zombies, an escaped convict does something something.
I got 1/3 in and got bored. It's too over-the-top.
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110200/
Upon hearing of his master's death, a man returns to Shanghai amidst tensions from its Japanese occupation, and learns there was foul play.
Quite a good movie, with all the basic elements. There's next to none of the B-movie cheese that's pervasive of such films, so it's good enough for everyday people.
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325710/
http://www.lastsamurai.com/
An American captain, suffering from PTSD-induced nightmares so bad he became alcoholic, is brought back into the trade as a consultant and trainer to suppress the civil war in Japan and fight against its old warrior class, the samurai.
Dare I say this is one of the greats. It has various classic elements without being tiring and obvious, and maintains a great pace and tone.
 This image doesn't even begin to do this book cover justice
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Entertainment > Reading > samurai >
An extraordinary tactician and samurai (Japanese swordsman) had a late-life crisis and retired into monkhood. Over time, he allowed a scribe to record advice from his experience. Though meant to be extremely-selectively passed-on, it ultimately found itself in the hands of enough people to survive to today. It is a book on the martial use of the sword, the way of swords, the way of personal and mass martial strategy, and the Way.
I haven't read broadly and deeply enough, and I doubt anyone has, to truly judge this work in the context of what humanity has to offer (what has survived, that is), but I feel comfortable saying this is one of the Great works. I should say I highly recommend it, but I fear most people wouldn't even begin to comprehend it even in any vague sense. This is not a beginner's book, whatever "beginner" means with this book in that context. At the very least, this ought to be read by people who are deeply passionate about philosophy (of the armchair variety).
My edition of this book has an unfortunately-shiny fabric hardcover, with glossy full-colour pages with photographs which give it an impression of high quality. It even has an integrated ribbon bookmark. When reading it at length, I get the impression that the pages will eventually pull out. I hope this is not true.
Some years ago, I also read A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy, translated by Victor Harris (1982)
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6019206/
An assassin tries to leave the life, and though she gets tracked down she survives and takes to a life of revenge.
Incredibly drawn out. I've seen it some time ago, but even attempting to re-watch this makes me cringe. This gets grouped into the category of "I'd be able to pay attention if the lead character was better looking." .. and like those other films, that still wouldn't be enough to make this a good movie.
This is a shit movie that only did well because it was unique at the time.
This is the whole of volume 1 and volume 2 put together.
There will probably be a sequel.
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2652118/
Something about a sword that's a greenish, and some people who fight and think fighting is cool because of honour and all that.
I also think there's a Princess Leia/Luke Skywalker thing happening, but I was too distracted by the terrible mixing of accents.
Like superhero movies, this genre has completely worn out its welcome. I'm no longer interested in the same old shit, and even the attempts at story telling have become bland to me. Its scenery and music have become samey and aren't going to make up for the lack of captivating characters and a solid story. Overused wire-jumps are not exciting. And stop with that screeching sound when swords are un/sheathed.
Properly titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
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(on Wikipedia)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3865236/
The world, having gone to shit for some reason, has no guns for some reason, and, in a world nothing like Mad Max - (1979 movie), things happen for various reasons.
It's a manly man man show, with fighting and stuff, though it does have some sort of fantasy fiction quietly woven in. It seemed fair, but I struggled to get through season one and just didn't care after a couple of episodes of season two.
Loosely based on Journey to the West, attributed to Wu Cheng'en.
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Entertainment > Movies >
(on Wikipedia)
https://youtu.be/bS5P_LAqiVg
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kungfury/kung-fury
Kung Fury travels through time to fight the forces of Kung Führer.
A fantastic action-comedy, most especially for people who grew up in the 1980s.
