TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — An alleged Taiwanese gangster has chosen a novel way of threatening the life of a rival: He sent a video to a local TV station in which he promises to kill him the next time they meet.
Chou Cheng-bao, reputedly a member of the Celestial Way Gang, sent the video to Cable Station TVBS on Monday, less than two weeks after police say he was involved in a shoot-out with other members of the gang at a pub in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung.
The video was broadcast repeatedly on Taiwanese cable news stations Tuesday.
Wearing a tight-fitting black top and matching flak jacket, Chou brandishes a pistol in the direction of a table laden with automatic and semiautomatic rifles, and says he is gunning for Liu Rei-rong, reputedly another member of the gang.
“The next time I bump into you, I’ll kill you,” he says.
Taiwanese media say Chou was attempting to kill Liu during the Taichung shoot-out on March 18. They say Liu was wounded, though not seriously.
Kao Cheng-sheng of Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said Chou’s threat against Liu — and the public way it was made — may be an effort by him to raise his standing in the Celestial Way Gang.
“This was a blunt challenge to government authorities,” he said, adding that police reinforcements would now be mobilized to try to bring him to justice.
Published on
March 30, 2007 in
Musings.
So I finally kicked Blockbuster to the curb. Their service sucked. Even with all its faults, Netflix is still FAR superior than Blockbusters service.
Published on
March 29, 2007 in
Movies.
Ghost Rider, from director Mark Steven Johnson also known as the man that ruined Daredevil, is another attempt to cash in on the comic book craze going on in Hollywood. Only this time they took a relatively unkown character and failed. Unlike Blade, another unknown character, Ghost Rider had a poor script and an even worse director. Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a daredevil motorcycle stuntman who made a deal years ago with Mephistopheles, played by Peter Fonda, to save his father’s life as the elder Blaze was dying of cancer.
In return, Blaze has been made into the Ghost Rider, Mephistopheles’ personal bounty hunter. Now, Mephistopheles is collecting and it’s the Ghost Riders turn to bring in the bounty. It turns out the devil’s son, Blackheart, played by Wes Bentley, wants to out do dad by making his own hell on earth. After battling his own transformation into the Ghost Rider, Blaze is able to overcome Blackheart and his minions. All of it was entirely too predictable for its own good.
Ghost Rider isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s close. It’s a movie with inconsistent quality, extremely cheesy lines, cheesy acting and poor directing. Wes Bently couldn’t have done a worse job acting and every time I saw him I wanted to laugh, he was that bad. Eva Mendes, playing Blaze’s romantic counterpart, also did a terrible job. I honestly don’t think i’ve seen such cheesy acting in a long time. The visual effects weren’t bad, but weren’t as good as you’d expect. Blackheart and his minions looked good, but Ghost Riders skeleton looked fake and out of place.
Only three words can adequetly describe this movie… Pure unadulterated crap.
Published on
March 28, 2007 in
Movies.
Curse of the Golden Flower, from director Zhang Yimou, is a visually stunning movie and unfortunately that’s it. Empress Phoenix, played by the beautiful Gong Li, is unhappy being married to Emperor Ping, played by Chow Yun-Fat, and in turn plots to get rid of her husband which trying to get her favorite son Prince Jie, played by Jay Chou, crowned as emperor. The plan must also include the elimination of her stepson, the Crown Prince, played by Liu Ye, which she is willing to do in spite of the fact that they’ve been secret lovers for the past three years.
The Emperor is plotting his own schemes as well, having his doctor tainting the Empress’ medication, with the hopes of driving her crazy. If assassination and counter-assassination plots aren’t enough, they throw in massive battles, more affairs, flying ninja warriors, surprises from the past, and a finale at the opulent Chrysanthemum Festival.
Everything in this film is taken to the extreme, from the melodrama to the number of extras and it adds nothing to the story. The cinematography and the sets are also done to the extreme and are visually stunning, but again it adds nothing to the story. The film was too long for its own good, and at times you were waiting for the final execution to occur just so you could turn it off. Curse of the Golden Flower was a HUGE disappointment.
