Shop! Shop! Shop!

Hi guys,
We decided to open a little online shop!
We will sell original posters and lobbies for mainland movies and coproductions (ex. china-tw, china-hk). Moreover we are thinking to make it more interesting: we won't sell just posters/lobbies but also those little books that we already shown you and vcds/dvds (original and cd-r/dvd-r for the movies that are not available on any legit release).
It will open on facebook, we just have to figure out how to make it possible.
Stay tune for the big opening!

PS: we are not dead, we are really busy so our updates are really slow.. sorry about that.

Death at the Carefree Mansion (索命逍遥楼)(1990)

Death at the Carefree Mansion (索命逍遥楼)

Dir: Wenhua Li || Ni Li

Cast: Guoqiang Huang, Fengyi Yang, Chi Wang

Year: 1990

Country: Mainland China

Notes: The movie is released in China on dvd by GZ　Beauty (without subtitles). Amazon.com carries it. Fengyi Yang (the girl in the movie) just starred in this and in another kung fu flick (Loyal Hero (1992)). Guoqiang Huang starred in a lot of action flicks (for ex: Death Inn (1988), The Flying Ratman (1990)). Same goes for Chi Wang (The Magic Legs (1988), Disciples of Shaolin Temple (1985)).

Personal opinion: When we bought this movie we didn’t know anything about it. Was it a good flick? Was it awful? Didnt know back then. Last night we finally watched it and… damn if it was good. The action scenes were outstanding, with and without weapons (swords, flames, spikes, etc) the actors knew how to put a show. As far as the acting was corcerned, We must admit that the actors were pretty weak, they were not that good. Sometimes the impression was like they didn’t even want to be in the movie. The plot is pretty interesting and with a lot of surprises (We never expected that…… we will not spoil you anything), So: the story works, the martial arts scenes work.. what else could you ask for? Check it out!
Some snapshots (from the original dvd):

Rarities [Update]

Hi guys/gals! Here the last update for May.
These images are from some magazines we bought here in China. The one about 南北少林 (1986) shows a rare "on set" pic. The article is about the movie of course. Source: Wu Hun 2/1984

The one about 三上五台山 shows 2 pics of the movie as long as a long description of the story. Source: Wu Hun 2/1984

Now let`s go with some other stuff.
Here's an "article" about the movie 黑匣喋血记 (1986). It shows some of the cast, with pics and names. Source: Shanghai Film 1985

Here's the last "article". It's about the movie 张衡
(1983), with pics, cast and plot. Source: Shanghai Film 1982

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (五郎八卦棍)(1990)

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (五郎八卦棍)

Dir: Gangyu Du

Cast: Bruce Leung, Kwan Hoi, Kong Do, Jo-see Wong, Wong Hap

Plot: Song dynasty, Liao's soldiers invaded China. During an ambush Fifth brother (Bruce Leung) is separated from his brothers/sisters. Wounded, he got picked up by some monks and took to their monastery. Here he wants to improve his kung fu to get revenge on Liao..

Year: 1990

Country: Mainland China / HK

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZUsq3UGrug

Notes: The movie is released in China on dvd by Boing! (with English subs too). It stars the famous Hsiao Liang, Kwan Hoi, the mainlander Zongxiang Guan (Mysterious Buddha) and Jo-see Wong.

Personal opinion: Not to be confused with the SB classic, this HK/Mainland China co-production is a mix between fantasy and a kung fu flick. We have special effects (pretty basics), wire works, people who flies and such. We have also classic martial arts showcase. The monks training was awesome, to be honest it was the best part of the movie. The final showdown is really short and not really worth it in our opinion.One thing we really disliked was..the fights! Beside the normal ones, a lot of fights are speed up, too much speed up! This choice just ruined them..
Some snapshots (from the original dvd):

 

New entries

Hi guys,
lately we've been really busy and didnt have time to watch movies or such.
This post is just to tell you that we're still alive, and still looking for some rares in China. Here what we recently bought:

A narrow escape (1990)

Tian Xia Di Yi Jian  (1988)


Heroing Lu Sininang (1988)


and the original poster and stills for the north korean movie Hong Kil Dong (홍길동)(1986)

If the pics dont work, please let us know and we will fix it.

[UPDATE] Kung Fu Hero Wang Wu (大刀王五)(1985)

Just a small update for the blog. We already reviewed the movie ( click here ) but ,today, we uploaded the intro on youtube so you can check it out.
The link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAm5NE_FBQE
Enjoy it.

Mysterious Buddha (神秘的大佛)(1980)

Mysterious Buddha (神秘的大佛)

Dir: Huaxun Zhang

Cast: Xiaoqing Liu, Cunzhuang Ge, Gengchen Jiang, Zongxiang Guan, Shun Feng

Plot: It revolves around the story of a conspiracy to steal an ancient Buddhist treasure, and the strange figures surrounding this mysterious object

Year: 1980

Country: Mainland China

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGPQR6TSmvY

Notes: The movie is available on dvd in Mainland China by Gzbeauty (with english subtitles!).As it is stated on the back cover of the dvd, this is the first action movie to be shot in mainland China since the beginning of the reform and opening policy. The director kept directing action/martial arts movie within China, movies such as The Swordswoman in White (白衣侠女)(1992)(you can see the poster in our memorabilia's post),Sins in the Wutai Mountains (五台山奇情)(1989) and Zhu jian (铸剑)(1994). Xiaoqing Liu (the actress who played the heroine here) acted in the famous The Burning of Yuan Ming Yuan (火烧圆明园)(1983) and in others dramas.

Personal opinion: Although it is stated as the first action movie, the martial arts scenes are just a few, and especialy at the end of the flick. It's more a thriller than an action movie, most of the time there are just dialogues. As far as the martial arts are concered, we have some good stuff here but also some really dull ones. Wires are used for some jumps, but most of the time the action is slow paced (as in some old Shaw Brothers movies) and pretty simple (you can check some on the trailer we made). One of the best thing in the movie is the location, being filmed in Leshan (Sichuan Province) the movie shows breathtaking landscapes and,of course, the famous giant buddha.

Anyway, the flick itself is not really a masterpiece for martial arts fans, but for the chinese cinema is surely an interesting starting point (we talk about the cinema after mao's death) that brought us more and more worthy movies (The Shaolin Temple anyone?).

Some snapshots (from the original dvd):