Ping Pong Playa (DVD)

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Ping Pong Playa runs for a long 96 minutes. The core idea basically yields enough material for a sketch, which can be seen in the commercials included as Extras. Loud smart-mouths are amusing for only a few minutes, so while Jimmy Tsai has a winning screen presence, his character doesn´t. The movie´s biggest problem is that it is an intentional comedy. Intentional comedies involve forced situations, so they´re never as funny as observant movies that notice the humor in everyday occurrences.

The cover art looks cute, but parents should be forewarned. The movie bleeps out profanities with odd gong noises, though it´s obvious what the actors are saying.

Video:
The movie´s low-budget origins are clearly evident in the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. You frequently get a soft, washed out picture that sometimes has a lot of grain or video noise. Indoors footage (particularly during the tournament and during a bowling sequence) offers the best quality due to the stability of the shooting environment.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is a lively affair due to the main character´s personality and tastes. Hip-hop music thumps bass constantly, and there are several noteworthy stereo effects, such as ping pong balls flying back and forth during C-dub´s training sessions. However, the rear channels are mostly inactive.

Extras:
Upon loading, the disc plays previews for other movies.

There´s an informative audio commentary by Jessica Yu and Jimmy Tsai, though the chat session also includes a lot of back-slapping as well as self-admiration of the movie´s so-so humor.

"Warm-Up Drills" and "Post-Game" are two featurettes with behind-the-scenes footage as well as some commercials that were shot for a clothing line.

Finally, you get the theatrical trailer as well as text biographies of the cast and crew.