Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman
Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away in 2013 at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and...
Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away in 2013 at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and...
- 6/29/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When it comes to making features like this one, i love the idea of coming up with my own personal “100 Great Kung Fu Movies” of all time. It is tough choosing just 100 because you know there are many more great Kung Fu movies that are not on the list.
I have decided that to make the list, a movie must have a few hand to hand moments during fight scenes in the movies chosen. If for example its mainly sword play with one fight scene hand to hand it won’t make the list. Its old school “style” Kung Fu movies, not modern day settings.
I understand everyone will have their own personal favorites and some may not agree with my list and that’s fine because it’s nice to have different opinions on this genre which keeps it fresh and alive when having good debates.
Anyway, thank you...
I have decided that to make the list, a movie must have a few hand to hand moments during fight scenes in the movies chosen. If for example its mainly sword play with one fight scene hand to hand it won’t make the list. Its old school “style” Kung Fu movies, not modern day settings.
I understand everyone will have their own personal favorites and some may not agree with my list and that’s fine because it’s nice to have different opinions on this genre which keeps it fresh and alive when having good debates.
Anyway, thank you...
- 6/25/2015
- by kingofkungfu
- AsianMoviePulse
Shaw Brothers films are not exactly at the top of many film buffs’ watching list. For one, there has not been a traditional Shaw film, opening fanfare and all, in close to 30 years and a hefty portion of the public do not give catalogue films the time of day. Even for those who do, there is a vast selection of genres, directors, actors and studios that, often for good reason, will strike someone’s fancy more so than a 1960s, 70s or early 80s Shaw production.
It is widely known that said movies were produced at the speed of light, like cheap toys on a factory production line. Even so, their legacy lives on, with the bountiful number of martial arts films made and released in countries around the world, in addition to their critical role in making Kung Fu films popular in North America. For the decidedly smaller band...
It is widely known that said movies were produced at the speed of light, like cheap toys on a factory production line. Even so, their legacy lives on, with the bountiful number of martial arts films made and released in countries around the world, in addition to their critical role in making Kung Fu films popular in North America. For the decidedly smaller band...
- 9/7/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
In conjunction with Bushido Man’s North American premier at the 2013 Fantasia Film Festival on July 27th, director Takanori Tsujimoto, action choreographer Kensuke Sonomura and star Mitsuki Koga sat down the morning after for an interview about the film itself, action movies and food.
Edgar Chaput: First I’d like to thank you very much for sitting down with us on this Sunday morning.
Translator Hidetaka Yoneyama: They could go to your home after!
EC: (chuckles). Thank you for yesterday’s screening, it was very entertaining. And, honestly, I was quite surprised at how good looking the movie was considering you kept saying it had no budget.
Takanori Tsujimoto: But you understand that it had no budget?
EC: Yes.
(Group laughs)
EC: Here in Canada and the U.S., many of the samurai and Bushido movies we watch are set in the past. Why was it decided to set...
Edgar Chaput: First I’d like to thank you very much for sitting down with us on this Sunday morning.
Translator Hidetaka Yoneyama: They could go to your home after!
EC: (chuckles). Thank you for yesterday’s screening, it was very entertaining. And, honestly, I was quite surprised at how good looking the movie was considering you kept saying it had no budget.
Takanori Tsujimoto: But you understand that it had no budget?
EC: Yes.
(Group laughs)
EC: Here in Canada and the U.S., many of the samurai and Bushido movies we watch are set in the past. Why was it decided to set...
- 7/29/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
With the passing of Lau Kar-leung (the common Cantonese spelling, he was also often credited in Mandarin as Liu Chia-liang), one of the great chapters of Hong Kong cinema comes to a close. Justly famous as martial arts choreographer and action director for many kung fu and wu xia films—the last was Tsui Hark's Seven Swords (2005), in which he also acted—Lau was also one of the outstanding filmmakers of Hong Kong cinema. His most important period was during the final heyday of Shaw Brothers, Asia's biggest studio: In the late 70s and early 80s, before Shaw Bros. closed their doors, Lau proved himself the biggest proponent of the martial arts tradition in Hong Kong cinema, as well as its chief modernizing force, hiding sublime layers beneath ultra-robust exterior appearance. (Fittingly, in 2003 he also directed the studio's comeback movie, more or less coinciding with the inauguration of belated...
- 7/1/2013
- by The Ferroni Brigade
- MUBI
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman
Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away last month at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson,...
Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away last month at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson,...
- 6/25/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Mayans were right. They were just off by a couple of months! It’s Doomsday February 5th and Ground Zero is Way Out Club on when we present Super-8 End Of The World Movie Madness!
That’s right; we’ll be showing condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of several apocalyptic disasters on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. Here’s the judgment day lineup: War Of The Worlds (1953), When Worlds Collide, Crack In The World, Meteor, and Charlton Heston in Earthquake, and The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Other (non-doomsday) films screening on February 5th are: Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, Tom and Jerry in Million Dollar Cat, Jane Fonda in Barbarella, Woody Allen in Take The Money And Run, The Wasp Woman, The Deadly Mantis, a James Dean Clip Reel, and The Warriors.
Cover charge is a mere $3.00 and the show begins at 8pm. We’ll...
That’s right; we’ll be showing condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of several apocalyptic disasters on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. Here’s the judgment day lineup: War Of The Worlds (1953), When Worlds Collide, Crack In The World, Meteor, and Charlton Heston in Earthquake, and The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Other (non-doomsday) films screening on February 5th are: Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, Tom and Jerry in Million Dollar Cat, Jane Fonda in Barbarella, Woody Allen in Take The Money And Run, The Wasp Woman, The Deadly Mantis, a James Dean Clip Reel, and The Warriors.
Cover charge is a mere $3.00 and the show begins at 8pm. We’ll...
- 1/18/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Shaw Brothers Saturdays: ‘The Sword and the Lute’ ends its trilogy, but is also one chapter too many
The Sword and the Lute
Directed by Hsu Tseng-Hung
Written by San Kong
Hong Kong, 1967
After Temple of the Red Lotus and The Twin Swords both emerged onto the Hong Kong cinema scene in 1965, showcasing several brand new, soon to be insanely popular actors moulded by Shaw Brothers studios, among them Lo Lieh, Jimmy Wang, Ivy Ling Po and Chin Ping, director Hsu Tseng-Hung and writer San Kong removed themselves for 2 years from the world of Scarlet Maid, the Gan family and the fantastical poisonous lute before finally concluding the trilogy of films in 1967. By this time Jimmy Wang was a powerful name in the industry, appearing in numerous films and having starred in one of the studio’s most famous adventures, The One Armed Swordsman, with Golden Swallow to come shortly thereafter, which may in part explain why in this third and final chapter he is more of a...
Directed by Hsu Tseng-Hung
Written by San Kong
Hong Kong, 1967
After Temple of the Red Lotus and The Twin Swords both emerged onto the Hong Kong cinema scene in 1965, showcasing several brand new, soon to be insanely popular actors moulded by Shaw Brothers studios, among them Lo Lieh, Jimmy Wang, Ivy Ling Po and Chin Ping, director Hsu Tseng-Hung and writer San Kong removed themselves for 2 years from the world of Scarlet Maid, the Gan family and the fantastical poisonous lute before finally concluding the trilogy of films in 1967. By this time Jimmy Wang was a powerful name in the industry, appearing in numerous films and having starred in one of the studio’s most famous adventures, The One Armed Swordsman, with Golden Swallow to come shortly thereafter, which may in part explain why in this third and final chapter he is more of a...
- 3/10/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Shaolin Mantis
Directed by Lau Kar-leung
Screenplay by On Szeto
Hong Kong, 1978
In the world of kung fu, so far as the movies go at least, there is a laundry list of various fighting styles which have adapted or directly imitated characteristics of certain animals and insects. Snakes, tigers, crabs, these creatures as well as many others have been the inspiration for some of the most famous combat and self-defence techniques. How one comes to translate the movements of a creature to the realm of martial arts is a matter of inventiveness, but also practice, practice, practice! In 1978, the same year he made 36th Chamber of the Shaolin, director Lau Kar-leung teamed up with perennial star David Chiang, the latter whom spent most of his career collaborating with Chang Cheh, to produce his own animal inspired epic, Shaolin Mantis.
Viewers are once again transported to the time of the Ching Dynasty,...
Directed by Lau Kar-leung
Screenplay by On Szeto
Hong Kong, 1978
In the world of kung fu, so far as the movies go at least, there is a laundry list of various fighting styles which have adapted or directly imitated characteristics of certain animals and insects. Snakes, tigers, crabs, these creatures as well as many others have been the inspiration for some of the most famous combat and self-defence techniques. How one comes to translate the movements of a creature to the realm of martial arts is a matter of inventiveness, but also practice, practice, practice! In 1978, the same year he made 36th Chamber of the Shaolin, director Lau Kar-leung teamed up with perennial star David Chiang, the latter whom spent most of his career collaborating with Chang Cheh, to produce his own animal inspired epic, Shaolin Mantis.
Viewers are once again transported to the time of the Ching Dynasty,...
- 1/14/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
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