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FANTASTIC FEST 2014: Check Out What's Happening At MONDO CON Next Month!
The Fall season is upon us, and if you follow all things amazing in the realm of sci-fi, action and horror, as well as toy and comic book lore, then you’re in luck! Mondo Con is kicking off simultaneously with this year’s events at Fantastic Fest, which lasts from September 18th through the 25th in Austin Texas.
Deets are below, and feel free to check out what else is lined up for Fantastic Fest at their official website. For all things Mondo-Con, CLICK HERE.
Austin, TX—August 21, 2014– Mondo is thrilled to announce its programming lineup of panels and screening events for MondoCon, set to coincide with the first weekend of Fantastic Fest on September 20 & 21 at The Marchesa Hall & Theater in Austin, TX. Mondo is creating a convention unlike any other, bringing together unique guests from a variety of areas to celebrate film, music, art, and toys with the world’s finest artists, designers, toy creators as well as filmmakers, composers and more.
Panels and screenings will take place in the theater and the exhibition hall will host booths for individual artists and companies featuring artwork and products for sale. The exhibition hall will also offer a unique chance for fans to interact with creators in an intimate environment.
A full service bar and Austin’s finest food trucks will be available at the convention, ensuring that attendees will have access to delicious food and beverages.
MondoCon attendees will also be able to take advantage of live screen-printing for t-shirts and exclusive posters throughout the weekend, courtesy of Industry Print Shop. It will be a rare look into the process of screen-printing and the individual stages of poster production.
Below please find information on panels, screenings, artists & exhibitors and MondoCon exclusives.
PANELS
Designing Movies
Panelists: Geof Darrow, Jock, Mike Mignola, Alex Pardee, William Stout and Bernie Wrightson
It could be as small as a weapon or as big as an entire world, but each part of a film is designed by an artist. Who does that? How are the creatures, ships and landscapes of our shared dreams created? MondoCon sits down with six artists who have given form to some of the most iconic imagery in film. They will share stories and art, including pieces that have never been released publicly from the design phase on films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ghostbusters, The Matrix, Blade 2, Dredd 3D, Return of the Living Dead and more.
The Art of Toy-making
Panelists: Mike Mitchell, Brock Otterbacher, Dan Willett
Go behind the scenes on the world of collectible toys! The panelists will dive deep into Mondo’s brand new toy line with photos and design images from the making of the first lineup of collectibles for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Iron Giant and Alfred Hitchcock. Artist Mike Mitchell will also talk about turning his Lil’ Mikey illustration into a 3D figure. The future of Mondo’s toy collectibles will be discussed with the announcement of a new vinyl figure from a beloved comic book property.
Geof Darrow’s Shaolin Cowboy
Panelist: Geof Darrow
Renowned comic book creator (Hard Boilded, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot) and conceptual film artist (The Matrix trilogy) Geof Darrow will discuss Shaolin Cowboy, including presenting 8 minutes of never-before-seen finished animation from an unproduced adaptation of the beloved cult comic. In 2009 Variety reported that the Wachowski siblings and Circle of Confusion were producing an animated feature of Shaolin Cowboy, but no one has ever seen this footage publicly… until now. Darrow will discuss his history with the project and his experience working on the animation in Japan. This is a unique opportunity for the world to get a first look at a potential anime classic that almost was.
Shaolin Cowboy follows an unnamed former Shaolin monk who wanders the land with a talking mule named Lord Evelyn Dunkirk Winniferd Esq. the Third. Having been “asked” to leave the Shaolin temple, he has since had a bounty placed on his head, which many are eager to collect. Given the Shaolin Cowboy’s prowess in martial arts, however, this proves to be very difficult.
“I met Geof Darrow a year ago in San Antonio. During our talk, he mentioned that he once lived in Japan and was working on an anime. My brain broke at the thought of a Geof Darrow anime based on Shaolin Cowboy followed immediately by heartbreak when he said that funding was pulled and the project was canceled. I’ve always wondered what it would be like. What would a Geof Darrow drawing be like if animated? What would the Shaolin Cowboy look like in action? Good news. All of these questions will be answered at MondoCon,” said Mondo CEO Justin Ishmael.
2001: A Lost Score
Panelist: Brian Satterwhite
Mondo is releasing the lost score for 2001: A Space Odyssey on vinyl for the first time ever!
Stanley Kubrick’s seminal masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey is known for its classical musical cues as much as for its vivid imagery. What few people know is that those cues that are forever associated with the film were a last minute revision on the part of Kubrick. An original score exists, composed for the film by the late composer Alex North (A Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus) that was abandoned during post-production. North did not know his score was discarded until he saw the film’s premiere screening.
Composer and writer Brian Satterwhite will host a panel on the subject, featuring a live presentation of several scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey with the lost score meticulously reintegrated back to the film to show what could have been.
Working with North’s estate, Mondo will release “Music for 2001: A Space Odyssey” in a deluxe package, complete with liner notes by Jon Burlingame. The vinyl will be available for sale at the Mondo booth.
Godzilla 1983
Panelist: William Stout
Long before Gareth Edwards and even Roland Emmerich took on the iconic monster, Godzilla was set to make landfall on American soil, but it wasn’t his time. Writer Fred Dekker, FX artist Rick Baker and conceptual artist William Stout were just some of the big names involved in an early attempt at a US-produced feature film in the 1980s that few were even aware existed until now.
Artist William Stout will take the audience through the entire feature film with over one hundred storyboards and conceptual art designs that he created along with Dave Stevens (creator of The Rocketeer) and Doug Widley (creator of Johnny Quest)
Mondo Talk: Art Direct a Poster Live!
Panelists: Justin Ishmael, Mitch Putnam, Rob Jones
Mondo Creative Directors Justin Ishmael, Mitch Putnam and Rob Jones will discuss the creative process behind Mondo’s work, showing how the team works with artists to arrive at final images. The panel will include a presentation of alternate poster concepts from previously released prints and reveal new poster designs. The audience will also have the unique opportunity to “art direct” a project live during the panel, adding their feedback and voting on their favorite concept. Mondo will then produce the fan-created project.
SCREENINGS
Tickets for the evening screenings will be made available to badge holders ONLY via Eventbrite before the convention. Stay tuned to the MondoCon website and @MondoConAustin for screening times, ticket release dates and additional screening announcements.
FUTURE SHOCK! The Story of 2000AD (World Premiere Screening)
A long overdue documentary that tells the story of 2000AD, the unsung cult hero of the comics industry. This film will celebrate and pay respect to the comic and explore its importance and influence on contemporary pop culture. Through in-depth interviews with the creators, writers, artists and fans of the last 35 years, we will tell the story of how this irrepressible, independent weekly comic has survived to have such a widespread cultural impact, not only on the international comics industry but also in film, art and literature.
MondoCon will have the world premiere screening of this documentary on Saturday, September 20. The screening will be free to badge holders with the Mondo poster for the event sold separately following the film. The trailer for FUTURE SHOCK! The Story of 2000AD can be found here.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Live Original Score
The most terrifying film of all time will be presented as you have never seen or heard it before. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be shown remastered in 4K with an original score performed live at MondoCon on Sunday, September 21. Composers Anton Maoif and Umberto created a completely new score for the film over the course of the last year after conceiving of the idea with Death Waltz records at Beyond Fest last October. This is the first time it will be heard anywhere. The film will also play with the live score at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles on September 27.
Death Waltz records has produced the score and will make it available exclusively at the two shows in Austin and LA. Only 800 copies will be created. The exclusive Death Waltz vinyl will be included in the cost of admission. View a trailer for this very special event here and listen to three tracks from new score on Sound Cloud.
Sci-Fi classics Ghost in the Shell and Total Recall (1990) will also have screening events on Saturday, September 20 at MondoCon with brand new Mondo prints included in the cost of admission.
MONDOCON EXCLUSIVES
Mondo will operate a pop up shop in the parking lot of The Marchesa Hall & Theatre with tons of surprises throughout the convention. A few of those are spoiled here. Download artwork via this link.
The Iron Giant Mini-Gallery
Celebrating the 15th anniversary of The Iron Giant Mondo will present a mini-gallery with multiple artists taking on the beloved animated classic. To give a tease of what’s to come, Mondo is thrilled to unveil the first print of the event from famed comics artist Alex Ross, working with Mondo for the very first time.
The Iron Giant
Artist: Alex Ross
Edition: 325
15″ x 27″ Giclee
Additionally, Mondo announces the release of The Iron Giant soundtrack on vinyl for the very first time with two incredible package designs from artists Jason Edmiston and Jay Shaw.
The Iron Giant Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Michael Kamen
2XLP, Remastered for Vinyl by James Plotkin
Cut at 45RPM for best possible sound quality
Version A – Featuring brand new, hand painted Artwork by Jason Edmiston
Pressed on 180 Gram Black & randomly inserted Steel Grey Vinyl
Version B – Artwork, and package design by Jay Shaw
Pressed on 180 Gram vinyl, housed in a metal embossed slip case.
Limited to 1,000 copies
Boom! Comics & Tyler Stout
Tyler Stout lent his stunning artwork for an alternate cover of Boom! Comics’ Big Trouble in Little China #01. The print originally was made available as the official poster for Butt-Numb-A-Thon 9 at the Alamo Drafthouse in 2007 long before Stout was a household name.
ARTISTS, PANELISTS & EXHIBITORS
An expanded lineup of artists, panelists & exhibitors in attendance is below, joining previously announced legends like Basil Gogos, Geof Darrow and Mike Mignola. Bios and information on all special guests can be found at the MondoCon site here.
Oliver Barrett
Richey Beckett
Andy Belanger
Anne Benjamin
Burlesque of North America
Scott C
Chronicle Collecitbles
Becky Cloonan
Daniel Danger
Geof Darrow
Death Waltz Recording Co.
Laurent Durieux
Jason Edmiston
Mark Englert
Brian Ewing
Ferg
Francesco Francavilla
Fright-Rags
Ken Garduno
Basil Gogos
Gordon Video
JJ Harrison
Tom Haubrick
Jock
Bryan Lee O’Malley
Val Mayerik
Middle of Beyond
Mike Mignola
Mike Mitchell
One Way Static
Oni Press
Alex Pardee and Zero Friends
Phantom City Creative
Phone Booth Gallery
Gary Pullin
Retroband
JC Richard
Arik Roper
Tim Sale
Secret Headquarters
Jay Shaw
Skinner
Todd Slater
William Stout
Tiny Kitten Teeth
Kevin Tong
Unbox Industries
Bernie Wrightson
Waxwork Records
We Buy Your Kids
Mondo has expanded in recent years to include a world-renowned gallery, becoming passionate purveyors of art, vinyl, VHS and now toy collectibles. MondoCon will celebrate all of this and more, a chance for fans of film, art, collectibles & music to mix with their creators.
Tickets for MondoCon are on sale now at Mondo-Con.com. Single day tickets are $35 and full weekend tickets are $70. A full weekend ticket to MondoCon will be included with all VIP badges for Fantastic Fest. Both Saturday & Sunday are packed with unique panels, screenings and events!
Fantastic Fest press badges will include a MondoCon press badge. To apply for a badge for Fantastic Fest/MondoCon please email press@fantasticfest.com
New ECHOES OF A RONIN Footage Slashes Its Way Online in David Sakurai's New Action Reel
David Sakurai Action Teaser from Sakurai on Vimeo.
BAMCinématek Presents – ALL HAIL THE KING: The Films Of King Hu This Summer!
Kung fu cinema fans in New York City will be getting some more screentime thanks to the kind folks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where BAMcinématek will be hosting a new retrospective on the work of late legendary award-winning film auteur, King Hu. Known for adhering to the music and fluidity of his faved Beijing operas he loved while growing up, Hu’s credentials include over three decades in the industry in set and costume design, as well serving as actor, producer, writer and award-winning filmmaker.
Further details can be read in the followng press release from the academy, including the official announcement, days and dates, and titles to be showcased. For more information, visit the official website.
From Friday, June 6 through Tuesday, June 17, BAMcinématek presents All Hail the King: The Films of King Hu, a 15-film tribute to the Chinese cinematic titan. Master of the martial arts movie, King Hu revolutionized the wuxia/swordplay film, introducing a refined sense of aesthetics, attention to mise-en-scène, and an aura of mysticism to the genre that was borne out of his lifelong love for Chinese opera. With his unique blend of stoic, iconic heroes, realistic violence, and dance-styled fight choreography, Hu’s style influenced decades of subsequent Asian cinema, modernizing the wuxia in the same way that Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone changed the Western. The series includes nine features by Hu alongside a globe-spanning sidebar of films that both influenced and paid homage to him, with many screening in rare and imported 35mm prints from around the world. All Hail the King is programmed by Andrew Chan and Nellie Killian and presented in conjunction with the Taipei Cultural Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.
Born in Beijing, Hu emigrated to Hong Kong as a teenager and drifted into jobs in the film industry, where he came to specialize as an actor and a set designer. For the famous Shaw Brothers studio, Hu worked as an assistant to director Li Han-hsiang on two films, including The Love Eterne (1963–Jun 7), a musical romance so popular in Asia that lines of its dialogue became catchphrases. Hu’s breakthrough film as a director, Come Drink With Me (1966–Jun 8), introduced the first of his many badass heroines: Cheng Pei-pei as the unforgettable Golden Swallow, first glimpsed decimating a tavern full of gangsters with her faster-than-lightning hands.
Already notorious for his meticulous, intractable attention to detail, Hu clashed with producer Run Run Shaw over Come Drink With Me and left for Taiwan to make Dragon Inn (1967–Jun 14), a Ming Dynasty revenge yarn that cemented Hu’s commanding mature style of dynamic widescreen compositions, tracking shots, and rapidly edited combat scenes. Two years in the making, A Touch of Zen (1971–Jun 6) is Hu’s magnum opus, depicting the larger-than-life battles between a female fugitive (Hsu Feng) and her pursuers from the point-of-view of a humble scholar (Shih Jun) who becomes her protector and lover. With its famously transcendental ending, A Touch of Zen literally took wuxia to another level and remains highly influential–contemporary Chinese master Jia Zhangke paid it tribute with last year’s acclaimed A Touch of Sin.
Working independently and on a smaller scale after the box office failure of A Touch of Zen, Hu made the spy vs. spy melodrama The Fate of Lee Khan (1973–Jun 15), a claustrophobic “inn film.” Hu loved this setting, a place where people of all classes and professions would interact that explodes into violence in the last reel. By contrast, The Valiant Ones (1975–Jun 13) is non-stop action from start to finish, as the titular heroes rout a gang of Japanese pirates along the Chinese coast.
Next Hu made two back-to-back films in sumptuous South Korean locations: the languorous supernatural epic Legend of the Mountain (1979–Jun 16) and the twisty Raining in the Mountain (1979–Jun 17), a story of temple intrigue in which wit supplants weaponry. Legendary Taiwanese New Wave screenwriter Wu Nien-jen (The Puppetmaster) co-wrote Hu’s rarely-screened, 10th-century dark comedy All the King’s Men (1983–Jun 11), and a new generation of martial arts stars (including Sammo Hung and Joey Wong) headlined his final film, Painted Skin (1992–Jun 10), a ghost story based on the same collection of Pu Songling stories as A Touch of Zen.
Also screening are Kurosawa’s samurai classic Seven Samurai (1954–Jun 15), a major influence that Hu called “a real martial arts picture,” and Nicholas Ray’s own “inn film” Johnny Guitar (1954–Jun 7), whose gunslinger leading ladies (Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge) parallel Hu’s female combatants. Hu disciple Tsui Hark pays homage to the ending of The Valiant Ones in his sweat-and-blood-soaked The Blade (1995–Jun 13), just as the acrobatic action scenes in Ang Lee’s crossover hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000–Jun 9) invoke A Touch of Zen’s balletic bamboo forest fight. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003–Jun 14), Tsai Ming-liang’s tribute to Hu and to the twilight of cinema itself, features cameos by two of Hu’s stock company, Shih Jun and Miao Tien, in the audience for the final show of a closing Taipei movie theater–a screening of Dragon Inn.
All Hail the King: The Films of King Hu Schedule
Fri, Jun 6
7:30pm: A Touch of Zen
Sat, Jun 7
2, 7pm: The Love Eterne
4:40, 9:40pm: Johnny Guitar
Sun, Jun 8
4:30pm: Come Drink with Me
Mon, Jun 9
4:30, 7, 9:30pm: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Tue, Jun 10
8pm: Painted Skin
Wed, Jun 11
8pm: All the King’s Men
Fri, Jun 13
2, 4:30, 9:30pm: The Blade
7pm: The Valiant Ones
Sat, Jun 14
4:30, 9:30pm: Goodbye, Dragon Inn
7pm: Dragon Inn
Sun, Jun 15
2, 8:15pm: Seven Samurai
6pm: The Fate of Lee Khan
Mon, Jun 16
8pm: Legend of the Mountain
Tue, Jun 17
8pm: Raining in the Mountain
Film Descriptions
All films in 35mm unless otherwise noted.
All the King’s Men (1983)
Directed by King Hu. With Cheng Pei-pei, Tang Paoyun, Tian Feng.
Hu introduced a wry sense of humor into the historical epic form with this lavish, gorgeous tale of court intrigue, power plays, and elaborate political machinations during the tail end of the Tang Dynasty. Set in the 10th century BC, this dizzyingly complex story revolves around a sickly emperor who sends his prime minister to infiltrate the neighboring kingdom and bring back the only doctor capable of saving his life.
The Blade (1995) 105 min.
Directed by Tsui Hark. With Vincent Zhao, Moses Chan, Hung Yan-yan.
A longtime favorite of Quentin Tarantino, and widely considered one of Tsui Hark’s greatest and most audacious films, this brutal homage to the macho Hong Kong action films of the 1960s follows the tale of an orphan raised by the owner of a sword factory and his quest to avenge the death of his father. Reimagining the Chang Cheh martial arts classic The One-Armed Swordsman, The Blade also incorporates visual homages to the films of King Hu, who served as Tsui’s most important mentor and whom he eventually replaced as director on the legendary wuxia film Swordsman. Praising its show-stopping montage sequences, scholar Stephen Teo compares Tsui’s work to “the incredible technical effect King Hu achieved in The Valiant Ones.”
Come Drink with Me (1966) 95 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua, Chan Hung-lit.
Hu’s first wuxia film is a landmark marriage of swordplay with the stylized grandeur of Chinese opera, in which a woman (Cheng) goes undercover as a warrior in order to rescue her brother from the clutches of the Five Tiger Gang. A seminal work of Hong Kong cinema, this Shaw Brothers production established a number of Hu’s recurring motifs: a strong female action hero, lavish art direction, and elaborately choreographed, balletic fight sequences.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 119 min.
Directed by Ang Lee. With Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi.
Ang Lee revitalized the wuxia genre with this exhilarating, fairy tale-like epic of warriors and thieves battling for possession of Green Destiny, a mythic 400-year-old sword. Justly celebrated for its transcendent, airborne action sequences, this Academy Award-winning international mega-hit is rife with references to Hu’s work–particularly the famous bamboo grove fight in A Touch of Zen.
Dragon Inn (1966) 111 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Polly Shangguang Lingfeng, Bai Ying, Miao Tien.
In this martial arts classic, a trio of swordsmen and women battle the forces of a powerful, conniving eunuch plotting to wipe out the children of his political rival. Following a falling out with Shaw Brothers over his desire for more artistic control, Hu unleashed his awe-inspiringly ambitious vision in this action-packed Taiwanese production that laid the foundations for decades of wuxia films to come.
The Fate of Lee Khan (1973) 105 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Angela Mao, Li Hua Li, Hsu Feng.
The third film in Hu’s “inn trilogy” (along with Come Drink with Me and Dragon Inn) is a rollicking comic adventure that follows a band of largely female fighters out to stop a Mongol warlord from getting his hands on a valuable map. With fight choreography by none other than Sammo Hung, The Fate of Lee Khan is a rousing showcase for Hu’s formidable women warriors, including martial arts icon Angela “Lady Whirlwind” Mao.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) 82 min.
Directed by Tsai Ming-liang. With Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi.
Contemporary art-house darling Tsai Ming-liang pays poignant tribute to King Hu with this entrancing elegy for the golden age of Taiwanese cinema. Set in a crumbling Taipei movie palace during its last screening ever–Hu’s iconic Dragon Inn–it captures the theater’s workers and patrons (including two actors from the Hu classic) in alternately mundane and deadpan moments, as Tsai’s hypnotic long takes gradually acquire a quietly moving minimalist majesty. “A movie about the dreamy pleasures of moviegoing that is itself both haunting and haunted” (A.O. Scott, The New York Times).
Johnny Guitar (1954) 110 min.
Directed by Nicholas Ray. With Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge.
Nicholas Ray’s subversive oat opera is at once a tale of Freudian passion, a camp vehicle for star Joan Crawford, and a florid satire of the Hollywood blacklist, released even as Senator Joe McCarthy staged his last investigation. With its powerful female protagonists, insular saloon setting, and feverishly stylized aesthetic, it makes for a fascinating Hollywood companion piece to King Hu’s Come Drink with Me.
Legend of the Mountain (1979) 184 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Shih Jun, Hsu Feng, Sylvia Chang.
Made in South Korea, this atmospheric supernatural fable follows a scholar (Shih) who retreats to the mountains to finish transcribing a sutra and finds himself suspended in an alternate reality, seduced by two women who may or may not be ghosts. One of Hu’s most visually ravishing works, Legend of the Mountain is a mesmerizing, mood-drenched feast for the senses. Digibeta.
The Love Eterne (1963) 126 min.
Directed by Li Han-hsiang. With Betty Loh Ti, Ivy Ling Po.
Hu cut his teeth at the legendary Shaw Brothers studio, where he assistant directed this sweeping musical based on a famed Chinese legend about a young woman (Loh) who disguises herself as a male in order to attend college and falls in love with a man who doesn’t know her true identity. Rooted in the highly stylized tradition of Chinese opera, this sumptuously mounted romance proved nothing short of a box office phenomenon throughout Asia, helping jumpstart Hu’s own directorial career.
Painted Skin (1993) 94 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Adam Cheng, Joey Wong, Sammo Hung.
Drifting away from wuxia films later in life, Hu focused instead on tales of the supernatural. His final work, based on a classic Chinese legend, is a beguiling story of a young scholar (Cheng) entangled with a beautiful ghost (the ethereal Wong) who paints her skin in order to appear human. Hu masterfully evokes an otherworldly atmosphere with his typically opulent visuals in this horror-tinged metaphysical fable, which features the great Sammo Hung as a Taoist priest.
Raining in the Mountain (1979) 120 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Hsu Feng, Sun Yueh, Shih Jun.
Hu immediately followed up Legend of the Mountain with this more action-oriented but no less pictorially lush tale of intrigue in a Ming Dynasty-era Buddhist monastery, in which a nobleman and a general each conspire to steal a valuable scroll from the temple’s library. With the action deftly confined to the monastery’s maze-like interiors, Raining in the Mountain becomes a virtuoso showcase for Hu’s typically luxurious mise-en-scène and elegant choreographing of action.
Seven Samurai (1954) 207 min.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. With Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima.
This sweeping chronicle of courage and heroism tells the story of 16th-century farmers who enlist a band of samurai to protect their village from invading bandits. Frequently listed as one of the greatest movies of all time, Kurosawa’s masterpiece showcases stunning cinematography, star turns from the great Toshirô Mifune and Takashi Shimura, and the director’s masterful approach to storytelling. In addition to providing source material for the classic western The Magnificent Seven, its virtuoso displays of swordplay also exerted enormous influence on the Shaw Brothers studio films and King Hu in particular, who called it a “real martial arts picture.”
A Touch of Zen (1971) 200 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Hsu Feng, Roy Chiao, Bai Ying.
Hu’s masterpiece is a mind-meltingly mystical tale of a female warrior (Hsu) who must fight for her life when the corrupt Ming dynasty targets her and her entire family for extermination. The first Chinese film to win a prize at Cannes, A Touch of Zen is part martial-arts epic, part ghost story, and part metaphysical reflection on Buddhist philosophy that bursts off the screen with Hu’s knockout visual flourishes, including the unforgettable image of a monk who bleeds gold.
The Valiant Ones (1975) 102 min.
Directed by King Hu. With Hsu Feng, Bai Ying, Roy Chiao.
Hu bid farewell to the wuxia genre with this elegiac, stylistically inventive period tale about a band of warriors battling Japanese pirates on the coast of China. The director transforms breathless fight sequences into an abstracted rush of rhythm and movement in this “daringly innovative action adventure story… The glittering images include a chess game that suddenly becomes a battle plan, a silent woman with heightened sight and hearing, and a rumbustious zen archer” (Time Out London).
H/T: Twitchfilm
Subway Cinema/NYAFF Presents: OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST 2014!
The movie that cracked the genre in half, 36th Chamber is king of the kung fu films — everyone references it, everyone steals from it, but it still holds up today. LKL’s god-brother, Gordon Liu, plays a kid in Manchu-occupied China who gets his entire family killed by the Manchus because he is an idiot. With nowhere else to go, he flees to the Shaolin Temple, and begs them to train him for revenge. Training involves mastering 35 chambers, each teaching a different discipline, and as he conquers them one-by-one the Buddhist philosophy behind Shaolin kung fu opens his third eye to enlightenment. The training sequence is a stock martial arts movie setpiece, but in the hands of LKL it expands into an hour-long, genius-level, cinematic tone poem on how discipline, focus, commitment, and willpower can save you from yourself.
A Classic Action Heroine Makes A Fresh Return In The New Short Film Trailer For CROFT
Dayum! Talk about a fan film trailer.
A Soldier Takes His Fight To His Sister's Kidnappers In The New Shortfilm Thriller, TEARS AT DAWN
TEARS AT DAWN – TRAILER from Jordan Kerfeld on Vimeo.