want to put Donnie Yen in your fist?

3am, back in Toronto and suffering the jetlag from the HK trip. Went to Ap Lei Chau to get away from the hordes of rugby fans and there was no internet in my guest house, so hence the lack of posts. Expect a flurry of catch up posts. Meanwhile from my pal King who is still on the ground in HK: IP MAN Donnie Yen Wing Chun Bruce Lee Action Figure 1/6

in HK: IP MAN 2 press conference

Stopped at my hotel to quickly change into fancy duds for the Asian Film Awards tonight, but wanted to share these snaps. In HK for Filmart and the HKIFF and today I was one of the few gweilos at the press conference for the upcoming IP MAN 2. No Sammo in sight, but Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen where there along with producer Raymond Wong and the film's lead actress. I know Wilson from when I presented his films at the Toronto International Film Festival over the years and he was happy to see me. Wish I could fill you all in on the gossip and trivia that the joked about from the stage, but the conference was in Chinese and Mandarin, two languages that I have no skills in. More photos from other HK escapades to come!

arrived in HK + ready to SING!

From my buddy Jesse comes this musical clip from a Tamil movie showcasing HK in the early 80s! About to hike off to the HK Film Archive hoping to see Patrick Lung Kong's Prince of Broadcasters (1966).

future cops vs future x-cops

Oh, Wong Jing! You've just suckered me into wanting to watch another one of your dreadful movies! Winged baddies versus Andy Lau super future crime busting police man! Will I need to backtrack and catch up with your video game comedy Future Cops? And do you have a contract over Andy Lau's soul that makes him continue to star in your films?

Future Cops / 超級學校霸王 (1993)
(literally Title: Super-School Tyrant)


Future X-Cops / 未來警察 (2010)

HK poster a day #24 - Yugoslavian dragons

Three Yugoslavian posters for Hong Kong kung fu films.

Donnie Yen gets to wax on wax off

Found this over at the news section of the HKMDB:

Action star Donnie Yen will have his wax figure displayed at Madame Tussaud's Hong Kong next month, the wax museum announced on Thursday.

Let the comments about his acting start...

Jackie Chan pulls up his HK roots

I bookmark lots of blogs, forget about them and then rediscover them sometimes a year later or so when I clean up all those tagged sites. Re-discovered Hong Konger YTSL's blog "Webs of Significance" in the days leading up to my trip and it is getting me excited to go back, plus the fact that I have three days with no biz commitments!

This March 7th post of from her blog points out the fact that Jackie Chan has closed his landmark office in Kowloon Tong to move to Beijing, and the building is slated for demolition.

pic from http://webs-of-significance.blogspot.com/2010/03/jackie-chans-waterloo.html

She also points out the fact that most Hong Kong residents don't think to much of him after making some controversial political comments where he kowtowed to Mainland China and that he recently came, "dead last out of 80 candidates in a poll of most versus least trusted people in Hong Kong."

Check her blog for more deets and poke around for photos of HK from her viewpoint.

getting ready for my HK trip

Off to Hong Kong on Thursday, so busy getting ready for the trip. Have few posts that I want to pop up here, but very pre-occupied at the moment...

a tip of the hat

Never saw these circulating when the film came out, but now I can buy one on eBay for $29.99

Rare Kung Fu Hustle 2005 Promotional Folding Top Hat

oh, that "Little Lizad"

Read over at the "Daily News" section of the HKMDB, a little news blip that Andy Tsang Tak-Wah, the Eddie Deezen of Hong Kong, known for walk on roles or as the guy complaining about a VCD he bought in Bio-Zombie or as food delivery boy in lift in Bullets Over Summer, has been jailed for raping a 15-year-old girl he lured through the internet.

"Andy Tsang Tak-wah, 31, nicknamed the "little lizard" and claiming to be a casual actor and owner of a modeling company, was found guilty of rape in the High Court last month.

Sentencing the accused yesterday, Deputy High Court Judge Patrick Li Hon-leung said Tsang - who made brief appearances in a handful of local movies and had a one-line talking role in Stephen Chow Sing-chi's 1998 film The Lucky Guy - played up his acting experience to cheat others and had shown no remorse or shame for his act.

"You are, basically, not an actor at all. As for your modeling business, it's very likely it too is a pack of lies aimed at bluffing and deceiving others," Li said."

"In mitigation, the defense counsel said a psychological report showed Tsang "has been living in his own world" and had convinced himself he was part of the entertainment business."

I am going to Hong Kong in a few weeks and curious to talk to some people I know who worked with him to get more back story on what seems to be a rather deluded life in showbiz...

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HK poster a day #23 - Night Caller / 平安夜

Night Caller / 平安夜 (1985)
Director: Phillip Chan Yan-Kin
Script: Phillip Chan Yan-Kin
Action Director: Billy Chan Wui-Ngai
Cast: Melvin Wong Gam-San, Phillip Chan Yan-Kin, Pat Ha Man-Jik, Pauline Wong Siu-Fung

Was just settling down to watch this one on an old VHS tape that I got when I bought a bag of tapes for $2 from one of the Chinatown video stores I used to frequent back in the day (see this post about that purchase). Sadly, the tracking on my VCR is kaput, so I only got 10 minutes into it. Remember seeing a great trailer for it on the front of a tape I rented in the mid-90s that impressed me, but only getting around to it now. Highly influenced by the Italian black gloved killer giallo flicks, Night Caller is written, directed and starring Philip Chan who played Chow Yun-Fat's superior in Hard-Boiled. I recall reading that Chan was an former cop who won some PSA jingle contest and through that got into the film industry. Last I heard, he was involved in production.

Bruce Lee Retrospective in HK

From March 23rd to April 4th, the Hong Kong International Film Festival will be screening a 9 film Bruce Lee retrospective starting with his very first film, THE KID, and wrapping up with GAME OF DEATH.

Screening times, film information, and tickets available here.