Wow.  That was actually a great time.

Muay Thai Giant is, as you can guess from the box art and the title, not an intellectually stimulating movie.  It’s main offering was a goofy story, a mountain of a man, and a young woman who kicks ass with Muay Thai.  My world isn’t shaken or anything, but it’s nice to have some variety.  There was probably a touch too much wrestling, since apparently this is the specialty of Nathan Jones.  I didn’t get it until the end, but in many ways the giant is the shorter of the two central pugilists.

Check it out when you have some time.  It gave me some laughs and was all in good fun.

What a good movie.  This was recommended to me via Netflix for a while, and I’m glad I got down to seeing it.  Mother is an intelligent movie, and it runs a good balance between suspense and mystery.

The movie plays with what you might expect, sometimes moving in the direction you see, and other times holding back.  The soundtrack and cinematography are similarly beautiful, operating on negative space while not lingering too long.  The general story is that of a mother and her son, but it’s not a straight narrative, and it’s well worth seeing whenever you can get the chance. A+

What a great movie.  I was a bit on the fence about watching it for whatever reason, but I was quite blown away.  Everyone did a great job, and it portrayed the complexities of family without resorting to explicitly good and bad characters.  It does help to like boxing movies a bit, though even without that it’s well worth seeing.

I actually liked Ong Bak 3.  Compared to the first two there’s a whole lot less action, and a lot more dance and philosophy.  It is a lot slower as a result, though it did a good job of tackling some of the Buddhist teachings about life in the process.  It can be a bit awkward when warrior/movie types try to instill life lessons in their craft, though it seems to me that Tony Jaa, the star of the show, thought about his approach well.

The original Ong Bak gave a modern twist on Muay Thai, involving a lot of mind-bending acrobatics and huge amount of flying elbows and knees.  Ong Bak 2 went back in time, and to an awful lot of weapons: knives, daggers, poles, spears, you name it.  Ong Bak 3 tied the story of Ong Bak 2 to the original, and was much more about meditation, life, and what seems to me a blend of Tai Chi and Muay Thai.

All in all I would recommend the movie, as long as you aren’t seeking blood lust.  It certainly made me think fondly on my time with martial arts, and dance.  Jaa puts that the two are related, and both are a way of respecting and training the body.  I can dig that, and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

Watched Predators tonight; the 2010 version which was only produced, not directed by Robert Rodriguez.  The long and the short is that it wasn’t that great of a movie.  It was a formula type deal, mirroring rather closely a large number of other monster survival type movies.  The effects were alright, but in the end there wasn’t that much to hold my attention all that well.

It wasn’t a horrible movie, and I was at least entertained.  I would say, though, that it’s not worth going out of your way to see it.  Just think up what you think would happen, and know it’s all pretty close to that.

I’m still two episodes from the end of the third season, but True Blood has been a great wild ride so far.  Alan Ball is a really witty dude, and this show hits the mark on a number of levels.

If I have any complaint, it may be that Season 3 has too many plot lines running across each episode: Lafayette, Tara, Sookie, Bill, Eric, Russel, Sam, each have their own stories, which are edged forward at a snail’s pace.  With that said, there’s an awful lot of suspense and anticipation, and a lot does happen over the course of the season.

As is generally the case I’m going to try and keep my comments short so as to not give anything away, though if you haven’t seen any of the show I highly recommend it.  Netflix has the previous seasons on DVD, which due to their release cycles does mean I’m perpetually a year behind.  It’s worth it even so.  If you have the time go check it out!