Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Randomissimo - Walker, Texas Ranger dubbed

G. does not have Sky TV. At night either it's the Italian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" , "Wheel of Fortune" (wtf is up with the Vanna White type chick and the host who is way over the top?), some show about men and women hosted by a woman who has the deepest voice I have ever heard, "CSI" /"House" dubbed or last night a special treat, "Walker, Texas Ranger", starring the one and only Chuck Norris.

Okay last night's episode, from what I understood, was about a young Latino kid who is in Walker's martial arts class. He's a good kid, loves his mama, but his older brother wants him to join the gang. No he says until his other brother/cousin (?) who works at a gas station, is shot in a drive by while taking a Christmas tree out of his pick-up. He believes the rival gang did it but we the audience know the truth. The brother in the gang shot the guy for trying to protect our young protagnonist. One day the kid does not show up for class and Walker finds out why. He looks pensive and the music builds to a climax.

This show had me on the floor cracking up when Walker would roll up in the Crips (blue) and Bloods (red) respective hangs out by himself to find out what was going on. Why the gang bangers didn't put a cap in his ass the minute he walked through the door made no sense to me. Maybe because it's small town?

In the final scence our young kid has his AK-47 and is ready to fight. The Crips didn't show up becaue Walker convinced them not to. Violence is not the answer folks! The head gang banger, the big mouth who started all the mess said yes to fighting Walker one on one without weapsons. Of coure this 50 plus guy whooped the 20 year-old's butt. The gang banger was on the ground all jacked up telling his homies to shoot Walker but none of them would. The cops came and arrested everyone. Our protagonist quits the gang. I have to say the Italian dubbing was quite good. I'm sure some of the slang the gang bangers were throwing around was not easy to translate.

Paul Haggis co-created this show. He would go on to be nominated two years in a row for a Best Orginal Screenplay Oscar(Crash, Million Dollar Baby) and co-wrote Casino Royale and wrote the next Bond movie. I found last night's show more entertaining than the dubbed "According to Jim". I don't think that show is funny in any language.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

tracey k/Ohio: That was absolutely hilarious! Don't mess with Walker! He is a bad "mo-fo." AND, without even having seen it - I bet when he was whopping on that young guy, his 10-gallon hat didn't even come off, did it?

See? I told you....:-D

Frankie said...

Hi! This is my first time commenting but I've swung over a couple of times and enjoyed your blog. This post made me laugh- I'm in Rome with a broken leg and so unfortunately have initmate knowledge of Italian TV by now.
You'll soon discover that dubbed Walker takes that primetime slot every night- odd eh? Oh, and the manly-voiced woman? I am so glad you picked up on that, I thought I was alone in finding it a little unnerving!
Hope you are settling in well in Rome.

'A Tuscan view.....from Umbria' said...

Don't get me going on the joys of Italian TV, thank goodness the booze is good because it's turned me to drink. I must say that after a 'big' glass of rosso even Flavio on Affari Tuoi seems watchable. What about Amici? Now that is great TV. It was lovely to meet you in Florence, I wish we'd had more time, until we meet again in real life I'll see you in the comment section. Ciao Amanda

erin said...

yes! I thought this was great when i stumbled upon this the first time...wait, it's funny even the 100th time! We bought a book about C.Norris in Italian for a Florentine friend of ours and he loved it.

So glad we finally got to meet! We'll definitely meet up next time we're in Rome.

glamah16 said...

HAHAHAHA. But TV is a great way to pick up the language.My boyfriend also turns on the subtitles to red and listen to at the same time.

Anonymous said...

Walker Texas Ranger (blank stare), you've got to be kidding me! LOL No Desperate Housewives or Lost?

Ms. ATL

Homebody at Heart said...

Okay, a TV show that might not make sense? Let's think about this for a moment... I remember my own watershed moment while watching the movie "Time Bandits" produced by George Harrison. Little people steal a map of the universe from God and drop into different times in history...Like onto the Titanic just before it sinks. All believable up to this point, right? Then, there they are in the cold, arctic water for what seems like forever, and I blurt out, "Okay, like they could ever survive that long in water without dying from hypothermia"! The dry (male) response was, "Has it been believable up to this point"?!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

tracey k - that is correct, his hat did not come off!

frankie - thanks for stopping by. It must be hard getting around this city with a broken leg. Yes that woman is married to a big time TV host I think his name is Maurizio Castanza. She has two shows on the air now.

amanda - it was nice to meet you as well. Amici is hilarious. I won't have a TV in my new place so I will have to miss all this programming. ha.

erin - wait a minute. there are books about Chuck Norris in Italian? Okay that is random! haha. See you in Rome.

glamah16 - yes it is. Movies are a great way as well.

ms. atl - those shows are on another cable system. :)

homebody - ha! I have heard of that movie but I have never seen it.

Jen said...

And they call things like "Enchanted" fantasy??

Too weird. I'd love to see Italian dubbing take on "House".

Anonymous said...

That's really too bad G doesn't have Sky. I can't stand regular Italian tv. It's either all about soccer, politics or variety/reality shows with half-naked no-talent women.
I wish Chuck Norris would save us!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

jen - hello, I know. "House" is very popular here.

linda - ha. Maybe he has more time on his hands now that he is no longer on Huckabee's campaign trail. I don't mind the soccer (esp. if Gennaro Gattuso is involved, or Luca Toni or Fabio C. or..okay I'll stop now) or politics but I don't get why there are so many variety shows. I know they are cheap to produce but come on. Where do they find these women? Some are not Italian. I think the woman on Wheel is American.

Paul Daniel Ash said...

I am looking forward to a regular feature called "randomissimo..."

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

paolaccio - ha. Random is a word I used to say all the time in L.A. i.e. "That is so random!" I didn't realize I said it that often until my boss made a comment about it.