Lately — and all too quietly — the Indomina label has been releasing some excellent packages of Asian action films I’m afraid otherwise would go unseen by North American audiences: True Legend, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame and now, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. Apparently a sequel and/or semi-remake of 1992’s […]
Jet Li
Posted inArts & Culture
Ocean Heaven / 1911
Namely, your body starts to fail you. No longer are you as quick, nimble and flexible as in your prime. What’s an action hero to do? If you’re Jackie Chan and Jet Li — age 57 and 48, respectively — you start turning more and more to dramas. Coincidentally (or not), both martial-arts superstars have […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Expendables: Extended Director’s Cut
Running 11 minutes longer, it’s superior, Sly says, to what we saw in theaters. I’ve gotta be honest: This is my third viewing of “The Expendables,” and other than the awful power ballad that now hangs atop the opening credits, I can’t say I noticed marked differences. (Then again, I’m not a movie memorizer. I […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Expendables: Extended Director’s Cut
Running 11 minutes longer, it’s superior, Sly says, to what we saw in theaters. I’ve gotta be honest: This is my third viewing of “The Expendables,” and other than the awful power ballad that now hangs atop the opening credits, I can’t say I noticed marked differences. (Then again, I’m not a movie memorizer. I […]
Posted inArts & Culture
True Legend
To HK aficionados, this will come as no shock, as the film bears the directorial credit of Yuen Woo Ping. Although known to American audiences as the guy behind the wire-fu choreography of “The Matrix,” “Kill Bill” and “Charlie’s Angels,” he’s responsible for the whole of some kick-ass projects in his homeland, including Chan in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The King of Fighters
In “Fighters,” three ancient artifacts — a sword, a shield and a chain-metal necklace that looks like Red Sonja’s thong — combine to unleash energy that opens a gateway to another dimension where characters compete in underground fighting tournaments to become the King of Fighters. There, logic and physics are on hold, tunnels are awash […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Martial-arts film fans know the answer: He’s a fictional folk hero played by Bruce Lee in 1972’s “Fist of Fury,” then Jet Li in 1994’s “Fist of Legend,” and now Donnie Yen in this, although the movies have no real relationship to one another — well, other than being cool, of course. If anything, “Legend […]