Note: This blog expresses only the opinions of the blog owner, and does not represent the opinion of any organization or blog that is associated with RONIN ON EMPTY.
Don’t be swayed by the man’s innocent act. He’s dangerous. And, uh, young, too.
[Periodically, Ronin on Empty will be taking a look back at some Hong Kong cinema classics, albeit with a specific emphasis on “Great Moments” — i.e. classic scenes that no Hong Kong cinema fan (old or new) should miss. Of course, “classic” will not only entail super-cool, gobsmacking moments, but also the downright ridiculous stuff, too. The numbers — #1, #2, etc. — are not indicators of ranking, but merely a way to keep a running tally of how many “great moments” we can list here. Readers are welcome to send in their own fave scenes as well.]
While studies say we’ve become increasingly numb to movie violence in recent years, I would argue that there are some filmic displays of violent acts that stick with you long after the film has ended. Perhaps Joe Pesci’s demise in Casino (1995) really got to you. Maybe the torture porn gore of the Saw and Hostel series was too much for you. Or maybe you even flinched at what that carpenter had to suffer in Mel “I’m not racist, I’m insane” Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).
No matter. All of those violent scenes pale in comparison to what poor Shing Fui-On (RIP: Big Sillyhead) had to endure in the first installment of the Young and Dangerous series. In the film, LoveHKFilm.com’s favorite actor, Ekin Cheng, plays a young and dangerous (naturally!) triad member named Chan Ho-Nam who has a bone to pick with Brother Sau (Shing Fui-On). For reasons I’ve never particularly understood, Ekin is absolutely obnoxious as Ho-Nam in this first film. Thankfully, his character improved in the sequels. Still, it was this first film in which we were introduced to his altogether unconventional triad weapon of choice — a plastic chair. Prepare to wince at the ferocity!
I’ve embedded the vid so it’ll start at the appropriate scene about forty-five seconds into the clip. Chan Ho-Nam’s insidious hate crime occurs sometime around the 1:03 mark, but be sure to stick around to 1:52 for the hilarious capper to an all-out gang brawl like none you’ve ever seen. I bet gang members in America don’t celebrate a beatdown in quite the same way as the Hung Hing boys. In fact, I’m sure of it.
For some of you, July 4th marks the anniversary of the day Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman saved Planet Earth from a horde of Martian invaders. For Americans, however, it’s a holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. We also like to set off fireworks.
Fun fact: The Chinese invented firecrackers.
Now, I don’t think it’s too much of a generalization to say that Americans of my generation and earlier were given a largely whitewashed version of history when we were students. That was most certainly the case in elementary school (how many myths about George Washington were presented as fact?), and for those who didn’t have really good history teachers in junior high and high school, they probably didn’t get the whole unvarnished truth until college, if at all.
As an academic, I feel it is my responsibility to shed light on these darkened corners of our own history. The Glenn Becks, the Bill O’Reillys, and the Ann Coulters of the world may cling to a distorted version of our own country’s past, resorting to juvenile name-calling and vicious attacks when anyone dare paint the United States in an unflattering light.
Invincible: Where’s he going with this?
Hero Hua: I don’t know.
We, too, may not wish to look too deeply into our nation’s past for fear of what we might find, but as responsible citizens we must endeavor to search out the facts wherever they may lead. And so, on this Fourth of July, 2010, I present a Hong Kong film that attempted to rectify a typical US history book omission. Do you remember reading ANYTHING about a well-coiffed Chinese laborer having a swordfight with a blind Japanese guy on top of the Statue of Liberty…before obliterating Lady Liberty herself in the process? I didn’t think so.
I guess that goes a long way in explaining the Chinese Exclusion Act.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your super-powered martial artists…”
Now, of course, my lack of even the most fundamental Chinese reading skills puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to truly immersing myself in the world that Ma Wing-Shing created in his beautifully illustrated comic books, but that hasn’t stopped me from being a fan of the franchise. Still, I’m pretty familiar with the early story arcs since I own almost the entire run of the English language translation of the comic book published by the now defunct company, Comics One (those graphic novel reviews should be coming sometime around 2046). During my trips overseas, I’ve bought several Storm Riders artbooks, desk tchoktkes, and a pretty badass poster of Nameless that I keep threatening to hang up against my girlfriend’s wishes. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my bad habit of collecting those little Storm Riders figurines that come out every so often. And of course, I own both Andrew Lau’s initial Storm Riders film as well as Dante Lam’s animated “sequel” Storm Rider: Clash of Evils. Heck, I even introduced the original film at a student-run film festival back at my alma mater, Oklahoma State University (in hindsight, we should have shown Shaolin Soccer instead, but I digress).
As promised, in anticipation of the new HK movie, here are some photos from the Storm Warriors exhibit at VivoCity at Harbourfront in Singapore. After making the rather long trip on the MRT (subway to Americans like me) to see the exhibit, I was a little annoyed that the people at the Information Counter had no idea what I was talking about. You would assume that a major Hong Kong star like Ekin Cheng coming to a mall in Singapore would be kind of a big deal, but not only did the young man that I talked to NOT have an earthly clue who or what I was talking about, but he had the nerve to say — when I asked whether his co-worker might know — “She doesn’t know either.”
Ah, so helpful.
Thankfully, I found the exhibit all by myself. It was hidden away in the lobby of the theater. For more information on Ekin Cheng’s visit to Singapore to unveil these props, click here. Sorry about the image quality!
The Display
Cloud’s “Ultimate Superior Sword” (kinda redundant, eh?)
Wind’s Blizzard Saber (Has nothing to do with Dairy Queen)
The Final Countdown
Since those pics aren’t exactly earth-shattering, I’ve embedded a link to a high quality version of the Storm Warriors Final Theatrical Trailer that was released a little while ago. Enjoy!
On some level, I knew this would happen. And by “this” I’m specifically referring to my steadily declining output for this wonderful website. Every time I check the main page for updates, I find the blogroll mocking me on a daily basis, reminding me that I haven’t updated this blog in close to two months. And so, I sincerely apologize to you few, you happy few who actually take the time out of your day to read my stuff. Thanks a million for your support. But I have to tell you, my hiatus from blogging was not without good reason.
To make up for Sanjuro’s two month blogging hiatus, Singapore’s very own Stefanie Sun wishes LoveHKFilm.com readers in the U.S. a belated Happy 4th of July!
For one, I’m in a PhD program. My areas of interest are 20th century American literature, Asian American literature and film, hard-boiled detective fiction, and American film noir. I’m taking my qualifying exam in the fall, so that basically means I’ve been spending the last several months of my life and will be spending the next several months studying my ass off for what I am certain will be the hardest final exam I have ever taken in my life — which, by the way, has a timed written component as well as an oral one in front of a wizened council of elders. In my worst nightmares, I imagine it looks something like this:
GUILTY!
So to make a long story short, the last few months and the next few months for me means reading a lot of fiction and a lot of critical theory, as well as watching a lot of films that don’t have anything remotely to do with Hong Kong cinema.
When I do have free time, this is what tends to happen. I’m in a happy relationship, so that’s my number one priority. But aside from trying to be a good boyfriend, I — as some of you might remember — am also trying to be a good writer, and so whenever I get a sliver of time to myself, I work on my writing in the hopes that someday I’ll have another story, collection of stories, or novel to submit for publication. I’m actually pretty close to finishing a first draft of some new work, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that everything will turn out for the best.
Anyway, I guess I just wish I could split myself into three people — a movie reviewer, a would-be professor, and a writer of fiction. I guess I’m too ambitious for my own damn good.
Another thing that caused the hiatus is the simple fact that there are too many short-term distractions that I find myself succumbing to — I mean, when you can play Rock Band with friends, read the ever-addictive20th Century Boys, or watch the latest episode of Supernatural for free, one feels less inclined to blog about one’s silly little opinions on Hong Kong cinema.
On the bright side, I’m going to be taking a short trip to Singapore, which I’m hoping will put me right smack dab in the Asian cinema loop. Last time I went, I saw Jay Chou’s Initial D car on display. Bam! That’s a blog post right there. I’m a little pissed that I won’t get to see/meet unofficial LoveHKFilm.com mascot, Ekin Cheng, as he’s set to kick off a 150-day countdown to the release of Storm Warriors. He’ll be there July 20-21, and unfortunately, I don’t get there ’till late August. Still, when I see the life-sized replicas of the two Wind and Cloud swords at VivoCity, you can bet your ass I’ll take pictures and blog about it. That’s a promise!
Of course, I will watch any Asian film in Singapore theaters — even Murderer, despite Kevin’s warnings, simply because I think I might get a kick out of seeing that outrageous twist ending that he so graciously spoiled for me and all his Facebook friends. One thing I really love about Singapore theaters is you get the Asian equivalent of Kettle Corn popcorn . Another great thing is that every film has English subtitles. Thanks to that, I’ve gotten to watch everything from Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water to Jay Chou’s Secret during my intermittent trips to the Lion City.
Also, a trip overseas means my Asian DVD collection is sure to expand, despite the fact that I still haven’t completely whittled down my unseen DVD pile just yet. I’ll catch up with Singaporean cinema, which has a small enough movie industry that one could actually watch every film made in the last ten years if one were so inclined. Singapore is also a great place to get affordable Japanese and Korean films and television dramas. Last time, I picked up Nodame Cantabile and Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (review forthcoming!?) for a very small sum. Buying Hong Kong films is a little trickier, though, because sometimes the Singaporean distributors don’t include the original Cantonese track. For instance, my copy of Invisible Target only has a Mandarin dub. So…new DVDs means new blog posts.
I will be drinking a lot of this in Singapore. Admittedly, Coke tastes a bit better, but this is somehow more addictive. I think they may put crack in it. No wonder it’s not available in the United States.
Anyway, I guess I the whole point of this blog post was to say 1) I haven’t abandoned the blog, 2) I’m really sorry for the hiatus, 3) I had my reasons, which I’m sure you’ll understand, and 4) things are looking up.
So, in the words of our illustrious governor, I’ll be back.
Hello, my name is Calvin McMillin, a.k.a. Sanjuro. You might remember me from such film reviews as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Swordsman 2, or perhaps the strangely infamous Flowers of Shanghai. I’m here today to give you the skinny on my new blog, Ronin on Empty. Now, you might be aware that I once had an irregularly updated column on the site called A Man Called Sanjuro or that I most recently maintained a blogger account also called Ronin on Empty. Those previous writing venues have been folded into this brand-spankin’ new LoveHKFilm.com blog. I wasn’t sure how or where to begin, so I did a few test posts to start out, which you can read underneath this one. With that initial tomfoolery out of the way, I thought I might use this first substantive posting as an opportunity to reflect on the past, consider the present, and speculate on the future.
”Be like water, fool! Be like water!”
I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I really got into Hong Kong cinema sometime in the summer of 1992. Before then, aside from the small handful of films Bruce Lee made in his lifetime, the only Chinese films I had seen were those poorly-dubbed chopsocky flicks that the local channels would show on Saturday and Sunday mornings. But in 1992, something truly glorious happened to me. While I visited Singapore on summer vacation, my family was all abuzz about a new Chinese movie that had just come out, and since they were all itching to see it, I tagged along for the ride. And boy, what a ride. As it turned out, the movie in question was Once Upon a Time in China 2. To put it simply, it was a magical time at the cinema. I honestly hadn’t been so fully immersed in a film since watching the Star Wars trilogy as a kid. Now I could go on for pages talking about Once Upon a Time in China 2, but I’ll spare you the frothing, fanboy excitement. Let’s just say I was hooked — BIG TIME.
Best. HK Movie. Ever.
I just had to know — were there more films out there like this? And if so, how could I see them? The next day, one of my aunties took me to the local video store, and I was able to watch a few Hong Kong films I’d never seen before. As a result, I had a great time devouring this “new” cinema that was so utterly amazing to me and yet had totally been under the radar for me for so many years. But when I returned to my home in Oklahoma, the my down-home rural locale made access to these films a major obstacle. For those of you too young to remember, the convenience of the internet was years away, and the DVD revolution had yet to occur. Getting to see Hong Kong films — in any form — was a pretty big deal.
“What’d you say about DragonBall Evolution?”
Not to sound like an old-timer, but I remember setting the VCR before I went to bed to record late night showings of dubbed versions of A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2, and Hard Boiled (complete with an Aussie-dubbed Chow Yun-Fat!) on Cinemax. Things got a lot better when I got my hands on various mail-order catalogs, which allowed me to order two-tape sets of Hong Kong movies for a whopping $40. Exactly why these movies were cut into two parts over two separate video cassettes remains unclear to me even today.
“Whaddya mean by ‘overcompensating’?”
But the situation improved as time passed. Video stores like Hastings started carrying VHS tapes of HK movies with subtitles, and I’d watch every single one that would show up on the shelves, even ones I probably should’ve avoided. After Rumble in the Bronx and Rush Hour performed well at the US box office, more and more Jackie Chan films were released in the US. Sure, the English dubbing and recuts might not have been the most desirable format for hardcore fans, but you have to remember that these were different times. It was a minor miracle seeing a Jackie Chan movie in an American theatre. And then something even cooler happened — Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon hit American shores. I distinctly remember the unbelievably surreal quality of watching CTHD in Mandarin and then later Iron Monkey in Cantonese in a rinky-dink six-cinema theatre in Duncan, Oklahoma. To me, this was unthinkable only a year before. When I saw the first Once Upon a Time in China on DVD at Wal-Mart for $19.99, clearly it was a good time for Hong Kong cinema fans in the United States.
My first three post-1997 HK flicks all featured Ekin Cheng. And I liked them. Sue me.
When I returned to Singapore in 2002, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of Hong Kongfilms on VCD that I encountered there. Unsure of what to buy beyond the films I knew from 1980-1994, I consulted the internet. I typed in “Hong Kong film,” and I was instantly taken to a little website bearing the name — you guessed it — LoveHKFilm.com. I thought the reviews were well-written and funny; whoever this Kozo guy was he sure did share my sense of humor and love for HK cinema. I couldn’t believe a site like this existed. I contacted Kozo, who was looking for reviewers, and for reasons I can’t quite recall, I asked if I could join. I think my first review was Swordsman, based off a crappy VCD, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Of course, a lot has changed since I started writing for this site all those years ago. Back then, I was a single, fresh-faced, clean-cut junior high teacher who spent his weekends reconnecting with Hong Kong cinema through a copious amount of DVD and VCD purchases from Yesasia and local video stores. Now, I’m grizzled, long-haired PhD student with a beautiful girlfriend and a workload that just gets piled higher and deeper with each passing day. I have a tough time finding the time to even watch a HK movie, let alone review one, and unlike Kozo and Kevin Ma, I’m far, far away from the Hong Kong action to be anywhere near the cutting edge in terms of my review output. It also doesn’t help that the heyday of HK cinema is long since gone. Earlier, I likened my experience watching Once Upon a Time in China 2 with my childhood viewing of Star Wars, and I’m wondering what to do with that comparison. I mean, just 8-10 years ago, I used to collect Star Wars VHS tapes, DVDs, tie-in books, graphic novels, toys galore, you name it. Today? I’m totally indifferent to the franchise. But is that how I feel about HK cinema? Not at all. I’m not ready to give up on it. Really, it’s just a question of re-energizing myself.
Pictorial Representation of Sanjuro Re-energized
So how do I do it? Well, I came up with two ideas. I recently calculated the number of DVDs that I own that I haven’t watched, and the number was somewhere in the 100s, depending on how you count TV shows. Of those, probably 80 are relevant to this website and 50-60 of those have never been reviewed by anyone at LoveHKFilm.com. Thus, my goal for the year is to slog through the remaining titles in my collection, and review every relevant movie. My collection runs the gamut of pan-Asia stuff from Japan, Korea, and Malaysia, as well as a number of Hong Cinema films, especially from the Shaw Brothers most prolific era. There are even a few gems that Kozo, Kevin, and I haven’t touched yet (Centre Stage, anyone?), and I’d love the chance to remedy those omissions real soon.
I promise to review this movie someday.
The second effort to rejuvenate things is this blog. And at the risk of looking like the site’s resident curmudgeon, I’m doing to dip back into the archive from time to time to spotlight movies from “the good ol’ days.” This blog, however, won’t be about my personal life, so don’t worry about weepy blog posts entitled “Sad” or “Desperate Cry for Help.” Instead what I want to do is simply talk about Hong Kong and Asian entertainment in a format that can’t be given adequately treatment in a review. I might want to focus on an unsung film, an underrated performance, or a really great action scene. This blog is very much a work-in-progress. What I suspect you might find most consistently is a blog that’ll provide some US Blu-Ray and DVD news on HK and Pan-Asian movies, as well as some short essays on Hong Kong cinema from time to time. I’ll try to surprise ya.
Unlike Chow Mo-Wan, I never write in a suit. Hell, I don’t even smoke.
The other thing that I may want to do is serialize some of my fictional work. This is a tricky issue due to a) rights issues, b) relevancy to the site itself, and c) your interest as readers. I’m a writer – or at least trying to be – and I was lucky enough to get two stories published; one was a little ghost story called “Raffles Place Déjà vu” that got picked up (and re-edited quite embarrassingly) in a Singaporean horror anthology, and the other was a short story called “The Sushi Bar at the Edge of Forever,” which finally got published a couple years ago in The Hawaii Review. Anyway, if I do decide to serialize some of my stuff, I want your comments, your criticisms, your suggestions. Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, and even Stephen King have been successful with the serial format, and while I know I’ll never be as popular as any of those fine fellows, I’m intrigued to experiment with the form and challenge myself to make it interesting for all of you. I’m not doing this for the fame (although that would be great); I’m more interested in telling stories, and I’m sincerely hoping people like them. If you’re interested in me posting stuff like that, let me know.
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In the words of Shakespeare (or was it Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa?): It has begun.
