The Ashcan

Morning Dump: the future of kung fu films, reality porn, the Salinger anthology, and Serpico, the bearded fur trapper

Posted on 30. Jan, 2010 by theashcan in Uncategorized

With Bruce Lee long gone and Jackie Chan doing Disney style family romps, The National Post questions the future of kung fu films.When you’re done reading that, forget thinking about it and head on over to its Ampersand blog to watch clips from some of the best fight scenes from this ailing? industry (Even if there is no Bruce Lee killing Chuck Norris in the Coliseum mention. You’ll have to You Tube that).

What’s the difference between porn and reality television? While I would argue that the answer to that is that reality tv has less close ups, The Daily Beasts’ Andy Dehnart takes a much more, er, classier approach here.

The literary world lost a brilliant writer who managed to accomplish so much acclaim even though he only published one full length book (never mind that”Catcher in the Rye” just happens to be one of the best full length books out there). What better time to rediscover the genius in his short stories though, as the New Yorker published links to every story J.D. Salinger ever wrote for them here. Start with “Bananafish”, then move on to “For Esme”. While your at it, why not look into another lit giant’s mind with this full transcript of a Paris Review interview with Hemingway shortly after “The Old Man and the Sea”.

The NY Times catches up with Serpico, the honest police officer made famous by Al Pacino’s iconic portrayal of him, and fills in the blanks from after the credits rolled. Just check out the lead paragraph: “He looked like some sort of fur trapper, this bearded man walking through the snowy woods here in upstate New York. But then, Frank Serpico has always been known for his disguises.”