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In Cult Of Criterion, The A.V. Club highlights a new release from The Criterion Collection each month, examining the films entering an increasingly accessible film canon.

Only Sammo Hung could inject a grim Vietnam war movie with the kind of bouncy humor that always seems to accompany his regular troupe of acrobatic action heroes.

Like much of actor-choreographer-director Sammo Hung’s work behind the camera, 1987’s Eastern Condors is a collision of disparate tones held together through sheer force of will. During the Vietnam War, a group of Chinese prisoners get a chance at parole and American citizenship if they undertake a secret mission to destroy a cache of weapons before they can fall into the hands of the Viet Cong. This sets up a standard war movie abundant in heroic sacrifice, last-stand shootouts, and archetype characters, but Hung brings his martial arts expertise and propensity for slapstick to a film otherwise keyed to the tragic human waste of war.

Proof of the influence that Hung, who stars in the film as Tung Ming-sun, wielded within the Hong Kong industry, the members of the ad hoc suicide squad at the film’s center are played by a who’s-who of stars and character actors,...

Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan continues to write new chapters in his feel-good comeback story, and this latest one is as an action star in Jonathan Eusebio’s Love Hurts.

After a nearly two-decade hiatus from acting, Quan won an Oscar for his supporting role as Waymond Wang in Daniels’ best picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was a storybook second chance for an actor who grew disillusioned with acting, opting to quit and enroll in USC’s film program. It wasn’t until watching 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians that he felt the urge to test the waters for any new opportunities.

In Love Hurts, Quan’s character, Marvin Gable, is one of Milwaukee’s best real estate agents, and he, too, has also been enjoying his own second bite of the apple until his much darker past as a hitman comes back to haunt him. In the lead-up...

Let this be an object lesson for those fearing it’s to late to pursue their dreams: at the age of 50, Shu Qi––who, granted, is the iconic star of films by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen, Corey Yuen, and Stephen Chow––made her directorial debut. Announced on the Chinese social-media site Weibo is Girl, a feature that’s just finished production, is scripted by the actress, and boasts a cast in which she does not appear. Greater details on either remain unknown for the time being, but likely not long––it’s expected the project’s completed in 2025. [Variety]

On Weibo, Shu shared a poster and behind-the-scenes images collected by Twitter user simon chou chou, which can be found below. Stay tuned for further details on Girl, a sudden candidate for 2025’s most-anticipated films.

The post Shu Qi Wraps Directorial Debut Girl for 2025 Completion first appeared on The Film Stage.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSBlazing Saddles.With on-location filming in Los Angeles on the steep decline, Mayor Karen Bass has launched the Entertainment Industry Council, which plans to lobby the state to subsidize productions in the city.FESTIVALSViet and Nam.The Toronto International Film Festival (September 5–15) has added a number of titles to its lineup, including Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, bringing the total to 276. The Wavelengths slate will feature Truong Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, and Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias’s Pepe, among others. Festival attendees are encouraged to use this nifty tool, lest they be lost forever in the scheduling labyrinth.

No, that is not a spelling error in the title. I do not normally post obituaries but the news at Variety this morning about the passing of Hong Kong cinema legend Corey Yuen is equally tragic and bizarre.    Yuen, one of the more inconspicuous Hong Kong cinema legends, preferring to work behind the scenes on directing and action choreography, passed away - back in 2022. Yuen passed away on an undisclosed date that year due to complications from Covid-19.    His death was initially kept private at the request of his family. But on Monday, the news was revealed on Chinese-language social media by fellow action star Jackie Chan, who paid tribute to Yuen and others in the industry who had died.   Yuen,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

After yesterday’s rumors and confusion, we now know that Hong Kong director and cinematographer Corey Yuen has died. Interestingly, according to the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Yuen passed away in 2022, but the media kept his death a secret at the request of his family. While the Federation did not reveal a date of death, we know the Righting Wrongs, The Transporter, and Doa: Dead or Alive director died of complications from Covid-19. On Monday, news about Mr. Yuen’s death was revealed on Chinese-language social media by action legend Jackie Chan, who trained alongside Yuen under Sammo Hung Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, and Yuen Biao at the Peking Opera School.

Corey Yuen started as an actor, contributing to 114 projects and playing roles in films like The Jade Raksha, Long ya Jian, Ai Nu, Brutal Boxer, and more. He worked alongside cinema’s greatest martial artists, including Chan, Michelle Yeoh,...

Film-maker who directed films starring Li, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh and later worked as a Hollywood fight coordinator, died during the Covid pandemic two years ago

Celebrated Hong Kong martial arts actor and director Corey Yuen died two years ago during the Covid pandemic, it has been reported.

The Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed Yuen’s death following a social media post by action star Jackie Chan naming Yuen (also known as Yuen Kwai) among a list of late disciples of China Drama Academy head Yu Jim-yuen, who died in 1997.

Corey Yuen, the actor, action choreographer and director of “So Close” and “Doa: Dead or Alive,” died in 2022, the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed to Variety.

Local and English-language reports say that Yuen died of Covid-19 on an undisclosed date in Hong Kong. He was born on Feb. 15, 1951 as Ying Gang-ming.

His death was initially kept private at the request of his family. But on Monday, the news was revealed on Chinese-language social media by fellow action star Jackie Chan, who paid tribute to Yuen and others in the industry who had died.

Yuen and Chan were contemporaries and trained together with Sammo Hung Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Yuen Biao at the Peking Opera School. Together, they were sometimes referred to as the Seven Little Fortunes or The Lucky Seven and made their mark during the heyday of Hong Kong cinema from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

Scott Adkins has been kicking and punching his way into action movies and Hollywood stardom since the early 2000s. The English actor studied under some of the best martial arts film choreographers in Hong Kong, including Corey Yuen and Jackie Chan, after not making it through the prestigious Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. The actor has also […]

The 14 Best Scott Adkins Action Movies Written by Sergio Pereira for Fortress of Solitude...

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu superstar Sammo Hung will deliver a masterclass on May 4 as part of the 12th Singapore Chinese Film Festival. He will also attend a mini-retrospective of his films. Hung studied under Peking Opera master Yu Jim Yuen at a young age and was the “big brother”’ to the China Drama Academy’s performance troupe known as the Seven Little Fortunes, whose members included Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen. He starred in “Painted Faces” (1988), which was based on his time in the Seven Little Fortunes.

Hung’s career as an actor, action choreographer, director and producer spans some 60 years. His acting credits include action comedies “Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog” and “Odd Couple,” paranormal horror comedies “Encounters of the Spooky Kind” and “The Dead and the Deadly,” comedy film series “Lucky Stars” and gangster action film “Shanghai, Shanghai.” In 1982, Hung won the...

Recently, Ke Huy Quan’s upcoming action film With Love announced that it has set a release date for February 7, 2025. The movie comes from Universal and 87North Productions. While the plot details have yet to be revealed, it has been announced that With Love is written by Luke Passmore and was based on an original script by Josh Stoddard & Matthew Murray. Former stunt performer and coordinator Jonathan Eusebio steps up as the director after having done second-unit directing on films like Violent Night, Deadpool 2, Black Panther, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Deadline has now revealed that co-starring with Huy Quan in the film will be West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose. DeBose recently starred in the sci-fi thriller I.S.S. and showed off a sliver of her action prowess in the recent spy-action-comedy Argylle from Matthew Vaughn. According to Deadline, “After attaching Huy Quan to the starring role,...

Last week, Ke Huy Quan’s upcoming action film With Love announced that it has set a release date for February 7, 2025. The movie comes from Universal and 87North Productions. While the plot details have yet to be revealed, it has been announced that With Love is written by Luke Passmore and was based on an original script by Josh Stoddard & Matthew Murray. Former stunt performer and coordinator Jonathan Eusebio steps up as the director after having done second-unit directing on films like Violent Night, Deadpool 2, Black Panther, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

87North’s David Leitch and Kelly McCormick are currently promoting The Fall Guy, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and the film is getting massive praise. The producing couple spoke with Collider recently to talk about their latest project as well as their excitement about working on With Love with Quan. When inquired...

Co-produced by Corey Yuen and Yuen Biao, with the two of them also function as action director, and the first being credited as the director and the second as the protagonist, “Righting Wrongs” is considered one of the best movies of the latter and has now reached the status of cult for a number of reasons.

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In that fashion, some trivia regarding the production are definitely interesting to mention. According to Rothrock, Golden Harvest originally signed her to play the villain opposite of Jackie Chan in Armour of God, but when production halted due to Chan's near-fatal filming accident, the studio reassigned Rothrock to Righting Wrongs with Biao. While practicing her moves for the film, she injured her right Acl; rather than take time off to undergo surgery, she proceeded to shoot her scenes using her left leg for her kicks.

The mid-nineties were a period of transition for Jet Li. Having made his name in period martial arts pieces during the aftermath of the new wave, the saturation point had been reached and stepping into the modern action movie was inevitable. Initial forays had been limited in their success (Dragon Fight & The Master) and it wasn't until the shameless “The Bodyguard” rip-off “Bodyguard from Beijing” in 1994 that he began to get accepted in this genre. “The Enforcer” to give “My Father is a Hero” its generic western release title was a reunion of star and director, only this time with added familial drama with a script co-written by Wong Jing. As Eureka Entertainment releases its “Heroes and Villain's” box set, it's time to revisit this transitional period of the star and see how it holds up today.

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Undercover cop...

Spoiler Alert: This story includes discussion of major plot developments on “Loki,” which is currently streaming on Disney+.

Roughly 20 minutes after the news broke that the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike had concluded, the first email I received from an actor’s publicist was for Ke Huy Quan. That’s how enthusiastic the recent Oscar-winning star of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was to talk about his role on “Loki,” the Marvel Studios series for Disney+ that just wrapped up its second season. When he signs on to our Zoom chat for the interview, his face is beaming.

“I’ve waited a long time to talk about ‘Loki,’” he says. “Like, talking to you right now gives me a lot of joy.”

Quan plays Ouroboros, or “Ob,” the head (and seemingly the sole employee) of the Repairs and Advancement Department of the Time Variance Authority — basically, the one person responsible for keeping the Tva’s machinery running.

Through martial arts cinema Fighting Spirit Film Festival aims to entertain and inspire people, promote martial arts culture, and support those who have chosen it as a career. The Festival is back in London this year with a two day action packed programme, including films, two free seminars, demonstrations, and more.

Tickets for Fsff 2023 are now available! click Here to view the schedule and purchase tickets.

Events And Free Seminars:

Capoeira workshop with Michael Nelson-cole

This workshop will take place at the Tottenham Community Sports Centre Boxing gym from 6-8pm and is open to all ages. Michael Nelson-Cole will teach the basics of Capoeira and explain it's origin and background. Come and move, jump, kick, and see what you're capable of! Entry is just £5.

Free seminar: Martial arts in fiction with Goran Powell and Chris Bradford

Authors Goran Powell and Chris Bradford discuss the importance of storytelling/narrative in martial arts fiction.

Corey Yuen's career may not have hit the heights of his contemporaries Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo Hung but when it came to female led action films, he can certainly claim to have a huge influence, being the director of the seminal “Yes Madam”. He would later rather unsuccessfully try to merge Category III with the genre in the poor “Women on the Run” and remake John Woo's “The Killer” into the Shu Qi starring “So Close”. Yet it is “She Shoots Straight” that comes the closest to matching “Yes Madam” for energy and similarity in form and in many aspects. With Eureka Entertainment releasing a remastered Blu Ray in the UK in September, it's time to go back and revisit one that possibly audiences might have missed out on.

Inspector Mina (Joyce Godenzi) is about to marry Inspector Huang Tsung-pao (Tony Leung Ka-fai) the only male in a family filled with policewomen.

Reliably one of the most euphoric and rewarding events on the circuit, the New York Asian Film Festival emerged at a time when hardcore cinephiles were forced to import prohibitively expensive foreign-region DVDs if they wanted to watch the latest hits from the other side of the world, and the first editions of the fest — then hosted at the Anthology Film Archives — got a major boost by screening hard-to-find cult objects and/or future classics at a time when Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean cinema were all on the rise to one degree or another.

No disrespect to the prestigious New York Film Festival, but Nyaff beat them to the punch when it comes to major auteurs like Park Chan-wook, whose “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” screened at the 2002 event alongside millennial breakouts like Corey Yuen’s “So Close,” unheralded pop masterpieces like Fumihiko Sori’s “Ping Pong,” and what the fuck did I just witness?...

The Film

Cynthia Rothrock made her film debut in Yes Madam, subsequently going on to great success in supporting roles in the likes of Righting Wrongs and Millionaires Express. Lady Reporter (also known by the much cooler title The Blonde Fury) though would be her first true vehicle. It was conceived for her and directed largely by her Yes Madam colleague (and sometime partner) Mang Hoi. It’s a ground-breaking film in one major way: it was the first, and to date remains the only, time that a non-Asian actress was top billed in a Hong Kong martial arts film.

The film finds Rothrock playing Cindy, and FBI agent recruited to go undercover at a Hong Kong newspaper which the Feds think is being used as cover for a counterfeit money operation. As you might expect, kicking ensues.

The plot isn’t particularly complicated, but it doesn’t always connect perfectly from scene to scene.

During the early nineties in Hong Kong, the prolific screenwriter, producer, director and sometime actor Wong Jing made quite a number of crowd-pleasing action comedies which was a highly popular genre back then. Although wacky and action packed in nature, his films like “Tricky Brains”, “Royal Tramp”, “Legend of the Liquid Sword”, “Flying Dagger”, “Holy Weapon” and so on were commercially successful productions. Fast forward to 2011 and with a bigger Mainland budget, plus the help of two award-winning actors, Wong ws back and doing pretty much the same old thing. Set in White Horse Town, ancient China, “Treasure Inn” revolves around young Master Kung (Nicholas Tse) and Lo Pa (Nick Cheung), two lowly and underappreciated constables who work in the courthouse kitchen and laundry instead of doing proper investigating duties.

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One day, some thieves break into the Zhang family mansion,...

Also known as The Lady Dragon, Cynthia Rothrock first started acting in Hong Kong films in the 1980s following a very successful career as a competition martial artist. She holds 5 black belts and is ranked 8th Dan Grandmaster. She competed against men for a good part of her competition days due to there not always being a women’s category, where she won many times over. Her achievement in the martial arts world got her the first female cover of Karate Illustrated and her film career is filled with action and a bit of humor. Here are 5 of the best Cynthia Rothrock movies:

Yes, Madam (1985)

Her very first movie role, the part of Inspector Carrie Moss was designed for Rothrock and her skills, or so it would seem while watching the film. Directed by Corey Yuen and co-starring Michelle Yeoh, a woman who needs no introduction at this point, the...

A sign of a classic movie is that it still holds up well against subsequent remakes\reimagining. “The Boxer from Shantung” to the best of my knowledge has been reworked at least twice in “Hero” by Corey Yuen and more recently as “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai”. To it's credit the original holds its own and, in many respects, remains the superior entity despite the evolution of action cinematography and film technique.

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Ma Yung Chen (Chen Kuan-tai) arrives in Shanghai to escape poverty and seek his fortune. Initially, he is only able to find work as a labourer. A chance encounter with the crime lord Tan Si (David Chiang) sets him on his way. A defeat of a travelling Russian strongman only adds to his burgeoning reputation. Romance comes in the form of singer Chin Ling-tzu (Li Ching...

Before his Academy Award-winning performance in "Everything Everywhere All at Once," Ke Huy Quan had found himself in a 20-year acting hiatus. The Vietnam-born, Chinese-American actor is best known for starring as Short Round in 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" at just 12 years old and for playing Data in 1985's "The Goonies." As Quan grew up, he took on roles in international productions; however, the opportunities for Asian talent in Hollywood specifically continued to get slimmer.

In 2002, Quan left acting behind — but despite popular belief, he never once gave up on his passion for filmmaking and storytelling for a second. In fact, Quan would find himself trying out a variety of roles behind the camera. After graduating from USC, Quan was briefly mentored by action choreographer and director Corey Yuen, and even helped choreograph a significant fight sequence in the original "X-Men" film. The retired actor spent...

The career of one Ke Huy Quan may just be one of Hollywood's most stirring comeback stories. After gaining recognition as a child actor in "The Goonies" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," Quan struggled to find further roles as he grew older and eventually all but disappeared from movies as a performer. That is until he made his incredibly lauded return in "Everything Everywhere All at Once," kicking off the let the Ke Huy Quan-Naissance and winning him an Academy Award -- not to mention the hearts of all rooting for his much-deserved success. Quan never quit the industry entirely, however, and his work as a stunt choreographer and assistant director in his interim years proves his technical expertise in the world of cinema.

After "The Goonies" released in 1985, Quan appeared in a variety of international productions like the Japanese bike racing drama "Passengers" in 1987, the American...

Michelle Yeoh has just won the Academy Award for best actress with her hysterically good performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, making Oscar history as first Asian woman winning that category. It has been a long way since the year 1937, when white actress Luise Rainer won the same category for sporting a “yellowface” and play a Chinese villager in “The Good Earth.” But the Malaysian-born actress had already built up a reputation in the 1980s and '90s as Hong Kong's kick-ass action star.

Check out the interview of Michelle Yeoh An Interview with Michelle Yeoh : One of Asia's Biggest Film Stars

A ballet dancer since 4, she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy as a teen, but her dancer career didn't last long. After winning the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Australia in the early 1980s, she...

You could argue that no one has done more for cinema in Asia, and more for global cinema from Asia, than Sammo Hung.

There was proof of that on display at the Asian Film Awards on Sunday night (Hong Kong time) when the veteran filmmaker and martial arts master was handed a lifetime achievement award and a highlight reel traced his 200-plus film career back to the 1960s and showed the audience flashes of the genius that has driven Hung’s career ever since.

From child star to getting bashed by Bruce Lee in the opening scenes of Enter the Dragon; from an assistant to the great Hong Kong action director King Hu to the stunt director who help guide Jackie Chan and helped invent the action comedy genre and on to the star and director of a string of hits of his own, Hung has helped shape the action...

Martial arts veteran Sammo Hung will be presented with a lifetime achievement honor at the Asian Film Awards.

The ceremony is back as an in-person event after a two-year absence and has shifted back to Hong Kong after previously being held in Hong Kong, Macau and Busan. Hung will accept the award on Sunday at the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

Hung’s career as an actor, action choreographer, director and producer spans some 60 years.

His acting credits include action comedies “Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog” and “Odd Couple,” paranormal horror comedies “Encounters of the Spooky Kind” and “The Dead and the Deadly,” comedy film series “Lucky Stars” and gangster action film “Shanghai, Shanghai.” In 1982, Hung won the best actor prize at the second Hong Kong Film Awards for his directorial effort “Carry on Pickpocket,” as well as best action choreography for “The Prodigal Son,” which he also directed and starred in.

Rousing action films get your blood pumping and lift your spirits. In some respects, they're even more thrilling when women play the action hero. Though ladies have been kicking butt in movies for decades now, it's still just as exciting when a new woman fights her way to the big screen and into our hearts. If you're a fan of action films -– and hopefully if you're a fan of women –- you've probably seen many of this century's most popular female-led action epics. There are the "Kill Bill" films, of course, Ripley's badassery in "Aliens," and more recent fare like "Atomic Blonde" and "Mad Max: Fury Road."

These are all incredible films that certainly deserve their place in the action pantheon, but others deserve our attention, too. For one thing, there actually were a few female-led action films made before the year 2000, something you might not be aware of...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Doa: Dead or Alive"

Where You Can Stream It: Tubi, Vudu, Redbox, Freevee, Plex

The Pitch: Based on the hit fighting game franchise, "Doa: Dead or Alive" tells the story of a group of fighters from all over the world who convene to win $10 million dollars or, potentially, die trying.

The cast is vast, but taking center stage are the professional wrestling Tina (Jaime Pressly), her overbearing father Bass (Kevin Nash), the ninja princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki), the sultry super thief Christie (Holly Valance), the girl next door Helena (Sarah Carter), and the mysterious Donovan (Eric Roberts), who runs the fighting tournament and eventually downloads everyone's fighting skills into nanobots controlled by super sunglasses. Along the way they fight,...

Considering the dispiritingly youth-obsessed leanings of Hollywood, 2022 has been an encouragingly banner year for older actors in muscular roles.

The array of brawny films led by strong quinquagenarians included Tom Gormican’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” with the 58-year-old Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalized version of himself across high-wire action sequences, generously paying homage to the action films of his past.

Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” was perhaps the leading title of this quiet trend. Maybe because we are accustomed to seeing Tom Cruise doing his own stunts with mind-blowing acrobatics across countless action films, we often forget that our ageless movie star is now at 60 years of age.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s fierce “The Woman King” was another remarkable example of this group, with Viola Davis’ Nanisca in the lead of a group of female warriors protecting the African Kingdom of Dahomey.

“When I first went into it,...

The Film

With Everything Everywhere All At Once looking a likely Best Picture Oscar nominee, starring roles in the new Witcher spin off at Netflix and American Born Chinese for Disney+ and the small matter of the Avatar sequels, Michelle Yeoh is having a banner year in 2022, in which she also turned 60.

Eureka’s new release of Yes, Madam (previously on UK DVD from Hong Kong Legends under the title Police Assassins) turns the clock back to the very beginning of Yeoh’s career, aged 23, in her first leading role.

Yeoh plays Inspector Ng. Her friend, also a cop, from the UK is murdered and the microfilm he was carrying unknowingly acquired by three bumbling thieves, who get wrapped up with the gangsters who want killed Ng’s friend for the film. Yeoh then teams up with Scotland Yard detective Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock in her film debut) to solve the murder,...

The mid-80s were magical for Ke Huy Quan. Not only was he chosen by Steven Spielberg to co-star with Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the young Vietnamese-American actor followed that up with The Goonies too. But with very few roles for Asian actors at that time, Quan decided to stop acting and pursue a career behind the scenes. Here, Quan reflects on his time away from the spotlight, how the 2018 comedy Crazy Rich Asians was a personal game-changer, and the deeply humbling experience of his return in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Deadline: A lot of people don’t realize that you took some time off from being In front of the camera and studied film at USC. Then once you graduated, you ended up working for renowned Hong Kong action director Corey Yuen and a certain Wong Kar Wai.

Ke Huy Quan: Yeah.

When “Naked Killer” starring Chingmy Yau came out in 1992 and became a cult favorite, producer and scripter Wong Jing followed it up with “Naked Weapon” in 2002 ten years later starring Maggie Q. Fast forward another ten years, the prolific filmmaker Wong resurfaced with another installment of his erotic girls-with-guns thriller “Naked Soldier” this time starring Jennifer Tse and Sammo Hung in the lead.

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The film kicks off with Interpol Agent Ck Lung (Sammo Hung) leading his men to a mansion which ends with a huge drug bust and making headlines everywhere. Next up we see him cooking Christmas dinner for his whole family but before they have a chance to eat, a group of gunmen fronted by Madame Rose (Ellen Chan) storms in and shoots at everyone. Lung fights hard with his enemies and gets shot in the chest.

Passionately acknowledged for his traditional kung fu flicks, this was Lau Kar Leung’s Hong Kong’s version of the popular Hollywood buddy-cop action comedy genre of the 80s which borrowed heavily from Peter Hyams’s “Running Scared” (1986) to Richard Donner’s “Lethal Weapon” from 1987. Due to its success, a sequel soon followed in 1990 starring Danny Lee but only Conan Lee reprised his role. It was nominated for the Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1989 but “Police Story 2” was the winner.

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In a total contrast to his heroic character in “A Better Tomorrow” (1986), Chow Yun Fat portrays the womanizing and cowardly police Sergeant Francis Li mostly for laughs. Incidentally, this is the kind of clowning role his Asian audiences preferred and were fond of instead of the tough action hero type favored by the West.

Everything Everywhere All at Once. Courtesy of A24.In an interview with Donna Chu of the Hong Kong Film Archive in 1999, Michelle Yeoh said, “Nowadays, when people hear that Michelle Yeoh is in a film, they will immediately think it is an action film. I hope in the future it will be different, and I can present a variety of faces of myself to the audience. But right now I'm very proud of myself for what I've done, creating a niche for myself in action films, because I've worked very hard to achieve this. I really treasure this status and do not take it lightly. But as an actor, you just want to try to act in different styles, and pursue being in different genres of films.”1The twenty plus years since then have seen Yeoh accomplish exactly that, as she is now internationally famous not just as a star of action films,...

It’s Scene 1, Take 1 for the 2021-22 class of ViacomCBS’ Directors Initiative. This year’s group, which is guaranteed to helm an episode of television on CBS, includes Julie Herlocker, Joy T. Lane Steven J. Kung, Pat Santana and Bao Tran.

The initiative provides a platform for experienced directors to gain access to showrunners, executives, managers and agents and the opportunity to shadow CBS Television Network and CBS Studios shows throughout the year. The program helps directors develop meaningful relationships with industry professionals that are essential to getting hired.

“The ViacomCBS Directors Initiative gives television directors the access, exposure and opportunity to be successful in this industry,” said Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i, EVP Entertainment Diversity and Inclusion, Global Inclusion, at ViacomCBS. “The success of this initiative has created a growing community of support, where past participants, who are now in positions of influence, are mentoring and hiring current participants.”

One of last year’s participants,...

Kung Fu movies can sometimes get a bit of a bad reputation. Bad VHS copies, poor dubbing etc. have created a legacy that can be hard to shift. Outside of the principle names, it can be hard to recognize them seriously but amidst all the schlock there were some pretty good movies that emerged from the golden era and are slowly getting re-released for a new audience to discover. Joseph Kuo created a whole series of lower budget spectacles in Taiwan during the 70’s that deserve a spot of re-evaluation. “7 Grandmasters” is one such production.

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Sang Kuan Chun (Jack Long) a grandmaster of the Bai Mei style is almost ready to retire from the martial world. Before he does so, he seeks to challenge 7 other masters in order to fulfil his legacy. As he commences his journey with his daughter Ming Chu (Nancy Yen) and three students,...

Action star Sammo Hung will take the helm of the production of “Seven Little Fortunes,” a feature film re-telling Hung’s childhood story where he and a generation of Hong Kong action movie icons such as Jackie Chan were coached by their mentor, Peking opera master Yu Jim-yuen.

Co-produced by Yuen Biao Films Production, Beijing Renxing Film Media Culture and Quanton Times Pictures, Hung will be the chief director of the film penned by Raymond To (“I Have A Date With Spring”). Yuen Biao, who also trained under master Yu, will executive produce the project.

Starring Tony Leung Ka-fai the film is expected to have a production budget of RMB50-100 million ($7.7 -$15.5 million). Shooting is expected to start in March 2022. International sales have not yet been determined.

Known as a strict teacher, Yu was the master of the China Drama Academy, a Peking opera school in Hong Kong in...

When the topic of cannibal films comes up in genre discussions, the likes of Ruggero Deodato’s seminal “Cannibal Holocaust” or Trey Parker’s “Cannibal: The Musical” are the first choices to come to mind. The outright brutality mixed with the pointed social commentary on the nature of mankind in “Holocaust” or the sheer over-the-top hilarity in dealing with such a dark subject matter of “Musical” is what keeps them in the forefront of the genre regardless of their preference for either the exploitation or entertainment side of the genre. Early into his career, the legendary Tsui Hark combined these two elements and created this masterpiece genre effort mixing graphic carnage with comedy and cannibals.

After making his way to a strange island, Agent 999 (Norman Chu) looks into reports that a criminal known as Rolodex (Melvin Wong) is hiding out there. Dealing with the quirky villagers led...

With regard to the sheer amount of films he made in 1993, it is safe to say Jet Li was quite the success, especially after the first two parts of the “Once Upon A Time in China”-trilogy had been released in the years before. However, his career was just beginning to take off which is also due to his role on Corey Yuen’s 1993 box-office hit “The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk”, also known simply as “The Legend” in many countries, a feature which not only received positive reviews at the time of its release, but was also honored with a Hong Kong Film Award and a Golden Horse Award for its action choreography. Combining the elements of the period piece to action and martial arts, it delivered a very popular blend of these genres and also gave Li a chance to show his qualities as a leading man, playing the titular role of Fong Sai-yuk,...

From time to time, I like to do features about my favorite top 10 movies for certain actors, and this time, it’s kung fu legend Jet Li. I hope you enjoy my top 10 list and remember, these are only my choices, everyone will have a different top 10.

10: Fong Sai Yuk (1993)

Director:Corey Yuen

Cast:Michelle Reis, Vincent Chiu, Josephine Siao, Peer Chan, Adam Cheng, Sibelle Hu

9: The Warlords (2007)

Director:Peter Chan

Cast:Andy Lau, Kaneshiro Takeshi

8: Kiss Of The Dragon (2001)

Director:Chris Nahon

Cast:Bridget Fonda, Sam Wong Shum

7: Once Upon A Time In China II (1993)

Director:Tsui Hark

Cast:Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan, David Chiang, Hung Yan Yan, Max Mok

6: Last Hero In China (1993)

Director:Wong Jing

Cast:Gordon Liu, Leung Kar Yan, Nat Chan, Chung Fat

The article continues in the next...

Few things are as scary as real life these days, but for those seeking more refined thrills and chills, this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival continues to provide the best in “genre” entertainment. While the “genre” moniker is wide-ranging enough to stir up images of everything from slasher films to kung fu epics, the annual Canadian festival has consistently stretched the concept to embrace all sorts of off-beat features that go somehow beyond the norm of mainstream cinema.

This year’s lineup is no different, encompassing not just terrifying horror movies and wild martial arts action, but true stories about unique people, unexpected romantic dramas, even a careful examination of how a cute cartoon frog became a symbol of hate. If it’s weird or wacky, it just might land at Fantasia.

This year’s festival runs August 20 through September 2, though it is only available online to Canadian audiences.

Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with a Region B review of Tsui Hark’s mystical tale of derring-do in ancient China. Hark revived a once popular variant of the wuxia film form — the Chinese shenguai wuxia films from the late 1920s — which paired chivalric martial arts with more overtly mystical and mythological elements. The groundbreaking and stylishly executed result is said to have been John Carpenter’s chief inspiration when making Big Trouble in Little China.

Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain

Blu-ray

Eureka Entertainment

1983 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 98 min. / Shu Shan – Xin Shu shan jian ke / Street Date April 20, 2020 / £17.99

Starring: Adam Cheng, Brigitte Lin, Damian Lau, Biao Yuen, Hoi Mang, Moon Lee, Judy Ongg, Sammo Hung, Norman Chu, Corey Yuen.

Cinematography: Bill Wong

Film Editor: Peter Cheung

Original Music: Sing-Yau Kwan

Written by Cheuk-Hon Szeto

Produced by Raymond Chow

Directed by Tsui Hark

Reviewed by Lee Broughton

Ancient China: civil...

Hong Kong is always on the edge of destruction. Almost as long as it has been a city, it has been in crisis. World War II and the subsequent Chinese Civil War saw a massive contraction and then expansion of its population, flooding the then-colony with an nigh unsustainable number of refugees. They were packed into hellishly inadequate housing and given jobs (when they could find them) at the lowest rungs of laissez-faire industry. As one generation transitioned to another and the colony’s economy boomed, massive scandals came to light of corruption and interconnection between the police force and the criminal gangs that dominated the still-nightmarish warrens where the city’s poor still lived. Then, in 1984, the British and Chinese governments agreed that Hong Kong would be returned to Mainland control before the end of the century. This set the clock ticking on the potential end of all that Hong Kongers had built,...

Exclusive: Tran Quoc Bao’s The Paper Tigers has set its cast with Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, and Mykel Shannon Jenkins toplining the kung fu action comedy and Jae Suh Park (Friends from College) and Raymond Ma (Always Be My Maybe) stepping into supporting roles. The film is currently in production in Seattle.

Bao’s feature debut features Yuan, Uy, and Jenkins playing former Kung Fu prodigies who are now washed-up middle-aged men, one kick away from pulling their hamstrings. When their master is murdered, they must escape their dead-end jobs and overcome old grudges to avenge his death. The feature is an homage to Seattle’s martial arts scene from the 1970s and 1980s as well as the legendary Bruce Lee — a name that has been making headlines due to Quentin Tarantino...

Anyone with even a passing interest in peak-era Hong Kong kung fu movies will recognize Sammo Hung for the titan he is. For a start, he’s the oldest of the so-called Seven Little Fortunes, students of the China Drama Academy, who went on to shape not only Hong Kong’s film industry but, to some degree, Hollywood’s, both directly and indirectly; other Fortunes include Jackie Chan and fight choreographer-director Corey Yuen, who applied his distinct kung fu touch to X-Men, The Transporter and choreographed all of Jet Li’s American action titles. Since beginning his career as a child actor,...

Anyone with even a passing interest in peak-era Hong Kong kung fu movies will recognize Sammo Hung for the titan he is. For a start, he’s the oldest of the so-called Seven Little Fortunes, students of the China Drama Academy, who went on to shape not only Hong Kong’s film industry but, to some degree, Hollywood’s, both directly and indirectly; other Fortunes include Jackie Chan and fight choreographer-director Corey Yuen, who applied his distinct kung fu touch to X-Men, The Transporter and choreographed all of Jet Li’s American action titles. Since beginning his career as a child actor,...

Craig Lines Jan 24, 2019

We look through the life in film of a legendary martial artist – the man who trained Bruce Lee and inspired a few movies of his own...

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

After Bruce Lee's death at the height of his fame in 1973, Hong Kong filmmakers raced to capitalize on his stardom. With the kung fu craze booming, almost every facet of Bruce's life – and plenty of glorious nonsense like a fight against Dracula - got turned into a movie. Lookalikes with new names like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, and Bruce Leung became some of the most prolific kung fu stars of the era, and "Bruceploitation" became a prominent subgenre.

Perhaps because these films were mostly sold to the west, one part of Bruce's life that was rarely explored was his early life in Hong Kong and his Wing Chun training with Ip Man. We...

Female-fronted action movies like Tomb Raider are becoming more popular than ever before. That makes now a perfect opportunity to look back at some previously stellar, but less widely known examples.

While the female-led action films have been released since the dawn of cinema, they remain less than a common occurrence in theaters. Until now, studios just haven’t had the same confidence that audiences will turn out for female action heroes much in the same way that they do for male ones. Part of this reason is the stereotypes associated with the genre, and the connections we have with certain actors filling familiar roles. However, just because there aren’t a lot of female-led action films doesn’t mean they haven’t been any good. This is an example of 10 female-led action films which might not be that familiar to you, but definitely deserve to be.

Yes, Madam! (1985) [aka Ultra Force 2, or The Super Cops]

Director: Corey Yuen

Starring: Michelle Yeoh,...