Asian Corner
For the very first asian corner segment i decided to choose two of my favorite Asian movies. One of them is a special effects extravaganza and the other is a martials arts extravaganza. First up is The Legend of Zu aka ZU WARRIORS by Chinese director Tsui Hark. How do i even start to sum up this movie? Its like a cross between Chinese opium mixed with Super Hero acid, with a pinch of Crouching Tiger's coke. Ill be honest the plot is almost uncomprehensible in places. Its a remake/reimaging (thats the new catch phrase term for remakes it seems) of Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain which i also love. Legend of Zu has scenes with flying skulls which attaches together to form a Giant Skull. It has blood demons, evil fairies, and other (gods?) who dont know how to walk they just fly from place to place. For a non ILM, Weta production i thought the special effects were awesome. Its based on Chinese mythology which im not familiar with in the least. My suggestion to watch it is just to open up some brew, kick back, relax, dont think and just enjoy the visuals. It is slow paced in a few parts so i wouldnt suggest watching it in a party type atmosphere.
Next up is one of my all time favorite kung fu flicks is 8 Diagram Pole Fighter aka Invincible pole fighter and also Magnificent Pole Fighters. This is another masterpiece by one of the greatest Choreographers in kung fu cinema Lau Kar Leung. He's part of the holy trinity of choreographers along with Sammo Hung and Woo Ping. Lau Kar Leung is best known for the 36th chamber of Shaolin and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master 2 aka Legend of Drunken Master. 8 diagram stars the bald hero of kung fu Gordon Liu "master killer". Basically the story goes as follows: Gordon Lius family is slaughtered and his sister is kidnapped by Mongols. So he trains and becomes a master at pole fighting so he can get revenge. The fights are marvelously choreographed using props, weapons and anything that can kill. Every fight starts off great and gets stronger as the fight progresses. The finale is something to behold. Gordon Liu pulls out a pole of whip ass and goes to town demoloshing everyone. Blood does fly and so does bodies as Gordon impales, crushes and humiliates everyone with his pole mastery. He shows he is the undisputed champion of poles. No one man holds a pole like he can. To sum it up this is a near perfect masterpiece. Go right now to Ebay, Amazon or wherever and order your copy. There are limited region 1 under the name invincible pole fighter but its fullscreen and not that great of a print. You can also order the region 2 disc from celestial that is a pristine print and widescreen. Just make sure you can play all region dvd's. My recommendation is to go on out and enjoy some pole!