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December 2 movie: Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior. Contrary to what you might think, Ong Bak is not the name of the Thai Warrior. His name is Ting. Ong Bak is the Buddha statue in Ting's village, whose head is stolen by a bad, bad man from Bangkok. Ting goes on a rescue mission for Ong Bak's head, leaving a path of mayhem and desctruction behind him.

The movie stars Tony Jaa, an expert in the Muay Thai school of martial arts. I never heard of Muay Thai before this movie, but it seems to be very violent. It's not about finesse and defense; it's about knocking people senseless with one blow. And doing amazing acrobatics at the same time. There was one move he did, slamming his elbow down on the top of the other guy's head, which looked pretty harsh. But you'd have to be tall to do it. I don't think I could even reach the top of most people's heads with my elbow! I also never heard of a "rope fist fight" before. They wrap rope around their fists and forearms. I guess it allows them to do more damage. I wonder if people really do that, or if it was just for the movie.

Georg told me after the movie that Jaa did all his own stunts, with no wires. At first I didn't believe it. The stunts were just too impressive. But the DVD extras included a demonstration he did in France which included some of the best moves -- like jumping up and running along the shoulders of a bunch of other guys -- with nary a wire. Unbelievable.