Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[QualityChimp]

Sorry, I'm really behind in my Kung-Fu film watching!

Been playing too much Red Dead Redemption and Lost Planet 2.

I might try and see the Ip Man sequel, but I note that the other Ip Man film that also stars Sammo Hung (and Yuen Biao) is out in Hong Kong cinemas tomorrow!

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=11256

[goldmouth]

Good shout Sir!

iv been hunting for things to watch but nothings taken my fancy.................i say nothing>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR5jUMolz2o

[zeroboo]

Sorry, I'm really behind in my Kung-Fu film watching!

Been playing too much Red Dead Redemption and Lost Planet 2.

I might try and see the Ip Man sequel, but I note that the other Ip Man film that also stars Sammo Hung (and Yuen Biao) is out in Hong Kong cinemas tomorrow!
http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=11256

Heard good things about the Ip Man prequel. Apparently it's just as good as Ip Man but without the Donnie Yen star affection.

[monel]

And it features Yuen Biao and Sammo!

[QualityChimp]

I tried to watch My Lucky Stars but kept falling asleep as I was knackered. This made the fairly incoherent plot very incoherent!

I'll write more when I've seen it properly...

Here's a nice review for Ip Man: The Legend is Born.
I liked this bit:

The film doesn't have the studied retro look and feel of director Wilson Yip's (葉偉信) Ip Man (葉問) and Ip Man 2 (葉問2), the pacing is more restless, and the action less classically staged and shot. However, in its own way the movie is just as involving on an entertainment level, and the copious displays of martial arts are just as hypnotic, with fighting used to advance the story and express character rather than simply to provide spectacle.

In fact, there's probably more fighting in The Legend Is Born (葉問前傳) than in the other two movies combined, as characters set to it at the drop of a hat rather than waste time shaking hands or talking. If Legend doesn't have the look of a '60s/'70s Hong Kong martial arts movie, it certainly has the social manners of one, and the choreography, supervised by producer/story writer/Wing Chun pupil Checkley Sin (冼國林), is agile and inventive without resorting to modern-style visual effects or excessive wire-work.

[prinnysquad]

Still haven't seen any Men of Ip films.

I started watching some wire-fu film a week or so ago. It might have had Chow Yun Fat in it? Something to do with the Nazis after a book in a temple, and one monk escaping with it and hiding out for decades. It was a bit laughable really, at no point did think WOW about the fighting or the effects. Any good fighting was muted by the wire shizzle that didn't really look right, even from a fantasy perspective.

edit: twas Bulletproof Monk

[QualityChimp]

I was going to suggest that one.

The cover has CYF on a car roof toting twin-handguns like most of his heroic bloodshed films.

In the actual scene, he removes the bullets and breaks the guns!

The worst for wire-fu for me was Romeo Must Die with Jet Li. In The One, he's got superpowers and it's all sci-fi, but in this, when Jet's surrounded by a circle of bad guys and just floats in the middle of them and kicks them all, it just looks silly.

[goldmouth]

jet li + western cinema = Bulls**t

[QualityChimp]

Right, so I re-watched My Lucky Stars last night with the Bey Logan Commentary on.

I fell asleep watching it earlier in the week at the right place, because the start and finish are the best bits and the middle is a lot of localised humour.

Some of it is chuckle-worthy, but they seem to drag each section out for 10 minutes!

There's a bit where they all pretend they're being robbed so they can take it in turn to be tied up to the female assistant they've been assigned. You get the point after the first one, but they repeat the gag for each and every member of the Lucky Stars!

Bey Logan explained that it was released at Chinese New Year, so people are looking for a light-hearted comedy with a bit of action, hence it's structure.

Obviously, when the Sammo-choreographed action takes place, it's amazing. It's not just the fighting, but the way it's shot. It's actually quite subtle, but Sammo carries your eye from one fight to another, in a similar way to how I said after watching Winners and Sinners and Eastern Condors.

Watch this from 3:20. Sammo despatches one guy on screen right, catches another, then turns to take one out screen left. He lands in the foreground and as the camera pans to follow him, Sammo moves out of shot and the camera focuses on the background where Sibelle Hu is fighting and it finally cuts to a closer shot of her fight.

[Finsbury Girl]

Sorry, I'm really behind in my Kung-Fu film watching!

Been playing too much Red Dead Redemption and Lost Planet 2.

I might try and see the Ip Man sequel, but I note that the other Ip Man film that also stars Sammo Hung (and Yuen Biao) is out in Hong Kong cinemas tomorrow!
http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=11256

just watched the trailer - wow. looks very awesome indeed.

[prinnysquad]

Ten Tigers of Shaolin got a proper watch last night and written up.

The story is pretty run of the mill, and some interesting ideas aren't really developed, but this film is all about the fighting, man.

There's a decent smattering of fights for the first hour, then the last battle kicks in, all 25 minutes of it. The Ten Tigers face off against varied groups of bad 'uns, such as Wing Chun sword experts, polefighters, shielded swordsmen, and general hand to hand badasses. The scenes are great: fast, accurate and exciting. Yeah, you can tell that a lot of the hits aren't connecting, but that doesn't really matter.

A decent cast too, with Bruce Leung kicking well, Jason Pai Piao doing his business, Larry Lee booting rings, and even Shan Kwai (the hunchback from Buddhist Fist and Mantis Fists and Tiger Claws) appearing, being typically odd.

[QualityChimp]

Has anybody seen Dragon From Russia?

It looks pretty sweet!

[monel]

I've got it but have never gotten round to watching it. It's loosely based on the Crying Freeman story.

[QualityChimp]

Picked it up from eBay for a fiver. Worth a punt!

[QualityChimp]

Jackie Chan is going to be on Jonathan Ross' final show!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10464008.stm

David Beckham's coming on too and I look forward to his excuses for England's rrrrubbish World Cup performance.

I'm really chuffed that of all the people who've been on his sofa, he's chosen JC to be on his last show.

I'm hoping Ross will do more geek stuff for a while as I loved Japanorama and The Incredibly Strange Film Show.

To bring things full circle, here's his special on Jackie Chan: