kung fu cinema

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THE CRIPPLED MASTERS Is A Kung Fu Classic For All The Right Reasons

These days, if a film were to heavily feature, say, someone in a wheelchair (besides, perhaps, Charles Xavier), it wouldn’t be long before it was bombarded with cries of “woke!” or “leftism gone mad!”. Back in 1980, this wasn’t the case. In fact, in 1980, exploitation cinema was still thriving. These films often toed the line, highlighting more taboo subjects, such as sex crimes, racism, homosexuality and, of course, extreme violence, as well as many more.

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88 Films Bombards Us With Action With Their June/July/August Slate

Fist of Legend (6/24) – Everyone and their dog knows this film. Considered Jet Li’s best by many, it tells the story of Chen Zhen (also portrayed by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury) fighting off the evil Japanese. Features fight choreography from Yuen Woo Ping and a fantastic villain in the form of Billy Chow. Availaiable on both Blu-Ray and 4K UHD.

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Terror Vision Gives Kung Fu Cinema Lovers A Rare Gift – AN OLD KUNG FU MASTER On Blu Ray!

Terror Vision is doing the Lord’s work. Not only are they releasing a steady stream of rare horror gems; they’ve well and truly dipped their toes into kung fu cinema. Two months ago they released the quirky Barry Chan flick, Game of Killers, and this month we get a Blu Ray of the Yuen Siu Tien (Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow) starring old school gem, AN OLD KUNG FU MASTER. In full remastered glory, no less.

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Film Masters Release The Controversial Kung Fu Classic, THE CRIPPLED MASTERS, This July

Why the controversy? The Crippled Masters stars Frankie Shum (Shun Chung-Chuen) and Jack Conn (Thomas Hong Chiu-Ming), two disabled martial artists as the titular “masters” and focuses heavily on their impairments. Whether the film celebrates inclusivity or not is purely up to the viewer, but it’s safe to assume that the film was made to cash in on the exploitation cinema of the 70’s and early 80’s.

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The FU FOR THOUGHT Podcast Schedule – A Mega Mix of Martial Arts Mayhem!

The FU FOR THOUGHT Podcast Schedule – A Mega Mix of Martial Arts Mayhem!

One of the perks of writing for a website is that I get to promore my YouTube channel to our wonderful readers. If you don’t know already, I host a podcast called Fu for Thought (see what I did there?). Fu for Thought is a bi-weekly – that’s one every two weeks and not twice a week – martial arts cinema concept where I sit down with my wife, Devan, and my best bud, Cyrus, and we review a martial arts movie.

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WALLED IN: TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS

Anticipation Grows As Soi Cheang’s TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN Teaser Drops

While a few snaps of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In‘s FILMART promo poster made it to Instagram yesterday, Chinese website and newspaper, Ming Pao, posted this teaser late in the day. It looks to be a no holds barred action-fest with Philip Ng taking a villainous turn as the film’s antagonist. Fans were initially wondering how physical Sammo Hung’s role would be and this teaser answers those questions by showing the big man in action!

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AGFA, Shaw Bros. To Re-Release Old School Kung Fu Titles Theatrically In 2018

Some of us haven’t had the experience of enjoying old school kung fu in a theatrical setting. I’m an 80s baby myself and my own fandom didn’t take shape until I was old enough to go to video stores or bear witness Dimension’s crossover releases in the 90s.

Fast forward to present day America and with what’s reportedly set to commence this year courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive in its latest partnership with Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studios for the theatrical rollout of thrity 35mm restorations this year. Variety reported the exclusive last week listing titles such as:

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
The Avenging Eagle
Bastard Swordsman
Black Magic 2
Blood Brothers
The Boxer’s Omen
The Brave Archer
Buddha’s Palm
Come Drink With Me
Crippled Avengers
Dirty Ho
The Duel
The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
The Five Venoms
Golden Swallow
The Heroic Ones
Holy Flame of the Martial World
Human Lanterns
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
King Boxer
Legendary Weapons of China
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
Masked Avengers
Martial Arts of Shaolin
The Mighty Peking Man
One-Armed Swordsman
Shaolin Temple
The Super Inframan
Vengeance
The Water Margin

Release details remain pending for each title while its reasonable to believe these will likely be limited to select theaters. Apart from certain event and festival bookings one can only imagine what it would be like to live these releases on within today’s filmgoing demo.

Check back for further updates!

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Well Go USA: Hi-YAH! Is Coming! Ya Herrrrrd???

“We want our fans to enjoy martial arts and action films in every way they want to watch, and this is the next step in making sure they get that access,” said Jason Pfardrescher, SVP, Digital & Theatrical Distribution of Well Go USA Entertainment. He continued, “As the distribution landscape continues to evolve, it’s our responsibility to change with it.” The deal between Well Go USA and PlayStation VUE was negotiated by Eric Stein of Impact Global Media, a consulting firm focused on digital distribution strategy and business development.

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Terracotta Distribution Releases HERO OF SHAOLIN On DVD Next Week

A troop of monks from the Shaolin Temple embark on a mission to get the Golden Sutra to Tibet after the Shaolin Abbot is killed by their traitorous teacher. They are joined on their quest by a beautiful, female warrior – with aims to avenge her father’s death. They traverse forests and mountains on their mission, all the while fighting off deadly ninja assassins, vicious gangsters and even the undead.

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IRON MONK Crowdfunding Campaign Heads To INDIEGOGO!

The film will be Mat Sunderland‘s directorial debut with a script by Mark Pallis. The cast so far includes a growing list of meaty martial arts action talents, namely joining Cao and the Shifu with actress Zara Phythian, actors Silvio Simac and Mark Strange, co-star/action director Vincent Wang, and as of this week, UFC fighter Alex Reid.

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Get Ready For Iron Dragon TV In September!

On top of being a film fan and her on-set experience, Smith herself is also a purveyor of several martial arts styles, including Tukong Moosul – based on its roots in South Korean military commando training. And with her growing credentials in entertainment, it’s clear to see how deserving she is of this opportunity, and I look forward to seeing what happens with her future endeavors with Iron Dragon TV.

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KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR Is Coming In 2015!

KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR Is Coming In 2015!

The film is an historical contribution to the martial arts action genre for modern day filmgoers, and a spiritual window into the Asian action classics of yesteryear, namely with the presence of stars like Sonny Chiba and Gordon Liu, and even made martial arts action maestro Yuen Woo-Ping a household name. Headlined by actress Uma Thurman with a stellar hit list featuring Vivica A. Fox, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen and late actor David Carradine who tragically passed away six summers ago, the film delivers all the glorious tropes of old-school martial arts action, Japanese anime and old-fashioned western thrills, with memorable costumes and weapons, and a story that kept fans on the edges of their seats so many years ago.

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El Rey Network And Celestial Pictures Ltd Announce New Deal Extension!

Austin, TX and Hong Kong – July 28, 2014 – El Rey Network (El Rey), maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s new genre-busting cable network, and Celestial Pictures Limited (Celestial Pictures) announced today a long-term programming partnership.  The new five-year deal begins October 1, 2014, extending and expanding on an existing program licensing agreement. The new deal will provide the network with access to 255 iconic martial arts titles from the Shaw Brothers vault – the world’s leading martial arts collection, many on an exclusive basis. Financial terms were not disclosed. The parties are also in discussion on new original programming concepts. 

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