ryankhabui Reviews

Street Food Around the World (2012–2014)

Makes you understand people's cultures but the host is unbearable

[5/10 · 1 January 2017]

I just started watching this show on Netflix because I love travel shows and more importantly I love food. The host has 24 hours to eat and experience the street culture in the countries he visits. He visits street vendors, bakeries, restaurants, tea shops, coffee shops as well as the local street markets. The show lets us have an inside look at some of the places we will never have the chance to visit ourselves.

The reason why I gave this show a 5/10 is because the host is so obnoxious and has no training in culture appreciation. He makes rude jokes sometimes that he thinks are funny, but to the people living there, it is just plain offensive. That being said, he is entertaining on some parts of the show and does provide a brief summary of the history on the food he is eating. But in order to compare him with other food show host, he must be able to describe the food like the viewers are there eating the food themselves. His description on the food he tries are below average. "That's good" and "Wow, that's delicious" does not really describe the different flavors that are exploding in your mouth. No wonder this show only has two seasons. Overall, it's a good show to watch if you can ignore the host and just focus on the culture and food itself.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

Is this a Chinese film or an American film?

[4/10 · 28 February 2016]

Being an Asian American, I have watched a lot of Asian movies, ranging from Chinese films to Korean films. And let me tell you, Sword of Destiny is none of those.

The scenery just felt so fake. The CGI was just a little bit over the top for me. The film should have kept true to the original with a Chinese background that shows off the beauty of China. But instead, we get a New Zealand landscape with the aid of a CGI green screen. Hmm...reminds me of The Hobbit.

As for the acting, everything was just alright when it comes to the main characters. Nothing was fantastic at all about the acting. Michelle's acting and level of emotion was 3xs better in the original film! As for Donnie, you can tell he tried his best (and I love Donnie). The acting of all the extras was just terrible. Donnie's character and Michelle's had no chemistry like Fat's character in the original. Everything felt rush, especially the ending. At the end of the movie, you're sitting there like "THATS IT?!". As for the fight scenes, it was decently good. I feel like most of the credit should go to Donnie because of his intensive background in martial art.

The most disappointing part about the movie was that the original language they used was in English. What?! This is suppose to be a Chinese film and the English language does not sound as beautiful when speaking in poetic dialogs. It just sounds awkward. In my opinion, everything was a little to Westernize and not authentic. I felt like the concepts of the movie was copy from the Netflix show Marco Polo.

1 star for excellent Donnie's martial art skills 1 star for recasting Michelle 1 star for "trying" to bring up scenes from the original for plot connection 1 star for the second leading female actress, Natasha. Her acting was pretty good actually.