As some of you Kung Fu Fridays regulars will know, I had amassed a decent collection of 35mm prints of Hong Kong feature films over the years, rescuing them from closed Chinatown cinemas and in some cases, from the garbage. In March I donated a number of those prints to the University of Toronto and this Saturday, they are holding a FREE screening of two of the films to celebrate the donation. In between the two films will be a discussion about the films and their directors, plus a dim sum snack will be served! If you want to beat the heat, what better way to do so than by sharing in laughs and chills from two rarely screened Hong Kong films! And again, it's F-R-E-E!
Hoping to see some of the familiar faces from Kung Fu Fridays out for the evening!
Colin
(FREE!) HONG KONG FILM RETROSPECTIVE DOUBLE BILL / ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH Restless Spirits: Ronnie Yu and Ringo Lam's 1980S Ghost Comedies
Saturday May 29 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM Innis Town Hall Innis College at the University of Toronto 2 Sussex Avenue (south of Bloor at St. George)
Colin Geddes will launch his donation of Asian films to U of T with fun and prizes
Schedule 3:30 Doors open 4:00 - Film Screening - ESPIRT D'AMOUR 6:00-7:30 Panel on Hong Kong Films with Bart Testa (Professor of Cinema Studies) and Colin Geddes (International Programmer, TIFF & Ultra 8 Pictures), and moderated by Peter Kuplowsky [Dim sum snack will be provided] 8:00 - Film Screening - THE OCCUPANT
4:00PM - Film Screening
ESPRIT D’AMOUR 1983 / 35MM / Hong Kong / English Subtitle / 98 min Director. Ringo Lam Ling-Tung Cast: Alan Tam Wing-Lun, Joyce Ngai Suk-Kwan, Cecilia Yip Tung, Bill Tung Biu, Billy Lau Nam-Kwong, Phillip Chan Yan-Kin
Supernatural romance and shenanigans abound in Esprit D'Amour, a funny and even tragic romance directed by master filmmaker Ringo Lam (City On Fire, Full Contact). Alan Tam is Ming, a mousy insurance agent engaged to spitfire fiancee Ivy (Cecilia Yip). When investigating the death of the young and pretty Siu Yu (Joyce Ni), Ming meets and falls in love with Siu Yu's spectral form. Siu Yu wants her life insurance delivered to her beneficiary (a five year-old boy), and the charmed Ming is only too happy to go along. But falling in love with a ghost is sure to arouse some suspicion, and when the scheming Ivy catches on, Ming's ghost-man love affair may be in jeopardy. Mixing romance, comedy, drama, and a touch of supernatural tragedy, Esprit D'Amour is wildly entertaining and compelling example of Hong Kong cinema entertainment.
THE OCCUPANT 1984 / Hong Kong / English Subtitle / 96 min Director. Ronny Yu Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Sally Yeh, Raymond Wong, Lo Lieh
Five years before their now-classic romantic pairing in The Killer, Sally Yeh and Chow Yun-Fat starred in this 1984 horror-comedy hybrid from director Ronny Yu (The Bride with White Hair, Fearless). Yeh stars as a wide-eyed Canadian college student named Angie, who comes to Hong Kong to do some field research for her study of Chinese superstitions. She gets a bit more than she bargained for when she rents an apartment haunted by the spirit of a spurned singer. As if fending off ghosts wasn't bad enough, Angie also has to deal with the unwanted affections of a sleazy con-man (Raymond Wong, All's Well Ends Well), as well as the sweet-talking detective (Chow) who vows to solve her supernatural case. Chow requires a little otherworldly help of his own after Angie's body is taken over by the ghost, who's hell-bent on reenacting the murder-suicide that ended her life. The Occupant's evenhanded mix of Creepy and Crazy foreshadows Yu's later work on American horror flicks like Bride of Chucky, and although Chow is operating largely in comedic mode, his role as a fearless police detective looks forward to his later heroic bloodshed collaborations with John Woo. But this is Sally Yeh's show, and her wonderful split-personality performance as a naive student of the supernatural possessed by the ghost of a sultry singing chanteuse is what ultimately makes the film a success. (synopsis from www.yesasia.com)
MAIN SPONSOR Asian Institute
SPONSORED BY Ultra 8 Pictures
CO-SPONSORED BY
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library Cinema Studies Institute
And in related webcrawling, here is a pic of Jackson in costume when he visited the Shaw Brothers Studio on a trip to Hong Kong in 1987. (via shawbrothersreloaded.com)
And then there is also the lifesize Bruce Lee statue in MJ's private arcade wearing his owner's hat.
If you missed the world premiere at the Undine Far East Film Festival and are in the NYC area, be sure to check out Pang Ho-Cheung's Dream Home, easily the bloodiest film in the line-up at the Tribeca Film Festival.
It's a gruesome throwback to the Category 3 films of the early 90s that had social commentary on local HK issues buried amongst the sleaze and the violence. Starring Josie Ho (Exiled) the film has stand-out brutal set pieces choreographed by one of my favourite, if not one of the most underrated HK stunt people, Chin Kar-lok. I got to see a very rough version of this last summer and was impressed, but am curious to know how the new cut is following a legal battle regarding editing between the director and his actress/producer Josie Ho. A good pal of mine, Fred Ambroisine recently interviewed Josie Ho for his site Action Queens.
Dream Home plays tonight at Tribeca and has more screenings throughout the week.
Sun, Apr 25, 10:00PM - SVA Theater 2 Mon, Apr 26, 9:30PM - Village East Cinema 6 Tue, Apr 27, 9:30PM - Village East Cinema 6 Fri, Apr 30, 11:45PM - Village East Cinema 2
Reporting from the field! Currently in Asheville, NC to serve on the jury of the first edition of Action Fest. A little groggy from a long day of travel that included a 30 minute dentition in Toronto at the airport by US Homeland Security that made me miss my initial flight, but ready for action! Going to explore the town then check some films, but the highlight of the weekend is the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Chuck Norris! And somehow, I have been given the privilege of moderating a panel discussion with Chuck and his stuntmen on Sunday! However did that manage to happen. More to follow.
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
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!
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?
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
