Monthly Archive for January, 2008

Brief Chinese movie reviews

Still in Shanghai. I watched a couple movies in theaters recently. I mention “in theaters” because here in China, any movie playing in theaters can be bought on DVD, sometimes even legally. Unlike theaters in the U.S., movies can have different prices. If I remember right, they range from about 30 RMB to 90 RMB (about $4 to $12 USD). It depends on the time of day, how long the movie has been out, and the movie’s popularity. Oh and I find the seats way more comfortable than the ones at the theaters back home (California).

The Warlords / 投名状
Wow this was one crappy movie. Takeshi Kaneshiro can model but he shouldn’t act. You can take any of his scenes from this movie and turn it into a facial cleanser commercial. The battles were boring and looked fake, and the musical score was a ripoff of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Assembly / 集结号
Pretty good. This movie is about a soldier who fought for the Chinese Communists against the Nationalists, and later the Americans in Korea, but it refrained from portraying any side as good or bad. It’s simply one guy trying to get his deceased brethren the recognition they deserve. The battle scenes were first rate, like Saving Private Ryan, Flags of Our Fathers, etc.

That’s all for now.

Advice for noob photographers

I had a blog called Advice for Noob Photographers where I kept telling people not to become professional photographers, but I don’t update it anymore. It was too depressing. I’ll copy some articles over to this blog sometime.

For better advice about becoming a pro photographer, head over to Ken Rockwell’s website. He recently wrote an article titled How to Afford Anything, which of course caught my attention because I can’t afford nothing (except right now because I’m in China, where I can afford noodles). The article is geared toward photographers, as is the rest of his site. After reading the article, I felt a lot better about never buying flowers for my woman.

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Cheap Gary Fong diffuser

Check this out. Lambency Flash Diffuser for 75% less than Gary Fong’s Lightsphere. Of course if it’s a knockoff of the Lightsphere, you should respect Mr Fong for inventing it and not get it, just like the Adobe Photoshop Actions he invented. Don’t even think about making a similar diffuser on your own or millionaire Gary Fong [will sue] [and ruin] [your life].

By the way, be sure to check out Fong’s most awesome invention: laptop feet! Only $9.95! Don’t get the $1 stuff available at the local hardware store.

(Photo: dealextreme.com)

Geek weddings

I said no more shooting weddings for me, but I’d gladly make an exception for some of these.

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