W♥M

88 Asia Collection

Read More Shaw Brothers Associated Press is reporting that Run Run Shaw has passed away at the age of 106 (the report lists 107, but he was born on November 23rd, 1907).…

While U.S. companies have long abandoned re-releasing classic Shaw Brothers films in America (nobody will buy these Chinese films here), other countries, such as Hong Kong or the United Kingdom, they are still being re-issued. One of those UK companies, 88 Films (based in Lutterworth), have dedicated a whole line 88 Asia to important Hong Kong films.

Looking over their film library, it would seem that 88 Films is a company interested in releasing very specific genres, particularly Martial Arts, Horror, and Slasher. While there may be a small audience for these trashy genres, it’s a passionate fanbase.

Personally speaking, I will be collecting most of these titles in the 88 Asia line, just because I love Shaw Brothers films. There is one non-Shaw Brothers film on this list below called Casino Tycoon (produced by Newport Entertainment Ltd.)… which I think may be a misstep for 88 Films. I’m probably not going to get it, however, for completist’s sake, I may probably end up buying the title just to complete my collection.

So far, I have imported about 10 titles. Some titles are harder to get (or not listed on Amazon), and I may have to try and get it from specialty stores.

If you’re interested in starting your UK collection, be aware that these titles were never meant to be sold in America (because of rights for distribution and legal contracts). These titles are restricted to Region 2, which mean that your Bluray player (set for Region 1) will not play these discs. There are non-region players out there, but for me, I just convert these movies to digital files using MakeMKV (free) and play them on my computer or local DLNA. To me, these Bluray discs, like my DVDs, are basically my “backup”. Plus, I love to display and represent my movie tastes on my shelves.

Anyway, so far, here are all the 88 Asia Collection listed below. The latest releases are The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) (Alexander Fu Sheng’s last film) and Clan of the White Lotus (1980) (which inspired much of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill).

	01 Hex (1980) Director: Kuei Chih-Hung Restored HD Transfer in Original 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio The Studio that Conquered a Continent Language: Chinese with English Subtitles		02 Black Magic (1975) Director: Ho Meng Hua High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored HD master in original 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Language: English Dub / Mandarin with English Subtitles
	03 Five Element Ninjas (1982) Director: Chang Cheh High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored HD master in original 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Audio Commentary by Bey Logan Language: English Dub / Mandarin with English Subtitles		04 House of Traps (1982) Director: Chang Cheh High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored HD master in original 2.35:1 Audio Commentary by Bey Logan Language: English Dub / Mandarin with English Subtitles
	05 Seeding of a Ghost (1983) Director: Chuan Yang High Definition Blu-ray‭ (‬1080p‭) ‬ Restored‭ ‬UNCUT‭ ‬HD Transfer‭ ‬in Original 1.85:1‭ ‬ HONG KONG HORROR‭: ‬A History of Taboo Breaking in the Far East Audio Commentary by ‬Bey Logan Language: English Dub / Cantonese with English Subtitles		06 Mighty Peking Man (1977) Director: Ho Meng Hua High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored Uncut HD Transfer In Original 2.35:1 Audio Commentary with Bey Logan Language: English / Mandarin with English Subtitles
	07 Killer Constable (1980) Director: Kuei Chih-Hung High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored Uncut HD Transfer In Original 2.35:1 Audio Commentary with Bey Logan Language: English / Mandarin		08 Masked Avengers (1981) Director: Chang Cheh High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1 English / Chinese Audio Audio Commentary by Bey Logan An interview with Godfrey Ho
	09 The Oily Maniac (1976) Director: Ho Meng Hua High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1		10 The Flying Guillotine (1974) Director: Ho Meng Hua High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Film Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1 Language: English / Chinese with English Subtitles
	11 The Bride From Hell (1972) Director: Chow Yuk Kong High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Film Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1		12 Bewitched (1981) Director: Kuei Chih-Hung Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1 Audio Commentary by Hong-Kong cinema expert Bey Logan
	13 The Brave Archer (1977) Director: Chang Cheh Restored HD Master In Original 2.35:1 Audio Commentary by Bey Logan Interview with David West		14 Casino Tycoon (1992) Director: Wong Jing Audio Commentary by Bey Logan
	15 One-Armed Swordsman (1967) Director: Chang Cheh English / Chinese Soundtracks Audio Commentary by Bey Logan interview with David West		16 The Dragon Missile (1976) Director: Ho Meng Hua English / Chinese soundtrack Audio Commentary by Bey Logan Audio Commentary by David West
	17 The Enchanting Ghost (1970) Director: Hsu Chiang Chou 8 Page Booklet featuring writings from Lingge Donge		18 The Ghost Lovers (1974) Director: Sang-ok Shin Language: Chinese with English Subtitles
	19 The Super Inframan (1975) Director: Hua Shan Remastered on 2.35:1 English / Chinese Mono Behind the Scenes Image Gallery		20 Black Magic 2 (1976) Director: Ho Meng Hua Remastered in 2.35:1 English/ Mandarin Soundtrack Audio Commentary by Ian Jane
	21 The Spiritual Boxer (1975) Director: Chia-Liang Liu Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 English/ Chinese Audio Audio Commentary by David West		22 The Human Goddess (1972) Director: Meng Hua Ho Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 Chinese Audio with English Subtitles
	23 The Vengeful Beauty (1987) Director: Meng Hua Ho Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 Chinese Audio with English Subtitles Yueh Hua / Susan Shaw interview		24 Come Drink With Me (1966) Director: King Hu Limited Edition Slipcase Booklet Notes by James Oliver Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 English / Mandarin Soundtrack Audio Commentary by Samm Deighan
	25 The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) Director: Lau Kar-leung Limited Edition Slipcase Foldout Poster by Bob O-Brien Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 English / Cantonese Soundtrack Audio Commentary by Scott Harrison		26 Clan of the White Lotus (1980) Director: Lo Leih Limited Edition Slipcase Restored HD Master in 2.35:1 English / Cantonese Soundtrack

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Shaw Brothers Weekend

Read More Shaw Brothers Associated Press is reporting that Run Run Shaw has passed away at the age of 106 (the report lists 107, but he was born on November 23rd, 1907).…

Still in lockdown here… so I’ve been on a Shaw Brothers kick lately. As you know, I’m a huge Shaw Brothers fan, and for a time, I thought I’d seen most of the ones that were officially released through Celestial Pictures. Unfortunately, with the lack of interest in the USA, Shaw Brothers films just stopped being released here.

Fortunately, other countries, like the UK and Hong Kong, they’re releasing these classic films on Bluray. I recently ordered a few UK releases, paying a hefty import tax and shipping … but it’s worth it. Since they are Region 2 locked, I suggest you have a no-zone Bluray player or decrypt it on your computers. If that’s too much of a hassle, you can buy ($4) or rent ($1) these films on Google Play.

Here are some Shaw Brothers films I recently saw.

KILLER CONSTABLE (1980)

Having just seen this film, Killer Constable (萬人斬), I have to say that it’s one of my new favorite Shaw Brothers film. Unlike a lot of Kung Fu movies, this one has a really good story with a great twist.

The story starts with the robbery of the royal vault. The administrative appointed chief constable Ling Tien Ying to track down five robbers. Ying has a reputation as the “Killer Constable” as he doesn’t take prisoners. The constable brings along five loyal assistants to help return the gold and bring justice to the thieves.

One by one, the constable’s assistants dies on this long journey, and you find out the truth about the robbery. It’s masterfully shot (particularly all the night fight scenes), and the ending was very satisfying.

THE SAVAGE FIVE (1974)

The Savage Five (aka The Savage 5) pre-dated the Five Venoms, but it does have some elements and themes of later Venoms formula - such as five masters/strangers teaming up to fight a common enemy.

In this story, a group of bandits takes over a small town and demand them to open the safe they’ve stolen. When the local blacksmith refuses to open the safe, the bandits murders and rapes the inhabitants. A thief (David Chiang), a kung-fu fighter (Ti Lung), a woodcutter (Chen Kuan-tai), a blacksmith (Danny Lee) and a visiting acrobat (Wong Chung), teams up to defeat the gang of bandits.

In typical Chang Cheh style, there’s very little story here, but there’s plenty of blood and kung-fu action. It’s not one Cheh’s better films, but I’m not terribly fond of some of his early work.

The one thing I did like about the film is that the villains are very distinctive. One guy has a whip and knives, one guy has two guns, and one guy have a big gap in his teeth. They try to make the good guys interesting too, but they aren’t as fun as the bad guys.

I do not believe this film was released on Bluray or DVD, but you can stream it online if you have Amazon Prime. The English dub is pretty bad, like making the thief sounding Australian. The fighter sounds too old for his youthful looks, so it was hard to enjoy the film.

BEWITCHED (1981)

I had a VHS bootleg copy of Bewitched, when I was little. The VHS copy was called “Black Magic”, so for many years, I had thought that was the title of the film… when, in fact, Black Magic is a different Shaw Brothers horror classic.

There’s actually a lot of similarities between Black Magic and Bewitched, but I feel the latter is a far superior and effective horror film.

The story of Bewitched is about a guy who visits Thailand and had a fling with a local girl. She puts a curse on him, that if he doesn’t return to her by a certain time, that he’ll die a gruesome death. Sure enough, the man undergoes a series of disgusting spells by an evil bat spirit. The rest of the story follows a police detective investigating the cursed man. He eventually sought help from a Buddhist monk to fight the evil.

Since the film took place in Hong Kong and Thailand, they did go a little over budget, and watching all the gross practical special effects (including condom skins blowing up!), it was all worth it.

If you’re a horror fan, you’ll really appreciate all the strange and disturbing gore effects. It’s so uniquely Asian horror, and it is still very scary and effective to this day. Imagine what it was like to view the film in its original theatric release. It was terrifying and nasty. Trust me, you’ll want to throw up when you see all the maggots!

Overall, a great little Asian horror film. The film is similar to other Asian horror films, such as Black Magic, Hex, and Seeding of a Ghost.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: November 19, 2014

Here are some shows taking place in Minneapolis/St Paul on Wednesday, November 19, 2014.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Stars We like Stars here, having covered the band since we started W♥M. The Canadian band is making their way east in America. … Hey Rosetta! Canadian indie rock band, Hey Rosetta!, ended their 2012 U.S. tour dates at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis last night, October 25th. …

STARS w/ Hey Rosetta!
at First Avenue
Wednesday 11/19/14, 7pm
$20: first-avenue.com

I originally saw Stars in 2005 and again in 2013, and let me tell you: the Canadian band's music have changed a lot. Like many bands, they're allowed to grow and reinvent themselves.... but at the heart of the band is always Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan.

Stars' latest album No One Is Lost is out now on ATO.

The last time I saw seven-piece band Hey Rosetta! was in 2012, we noted that they had a very dedicated fanbase (with some fans driving into Minneapolis from Canada just to see them).

What's new with Hey Rosetta! is that they have a new album called Second Sight, which is set for January 27th, 2015... which I'm going to assume they will preview some tracks for us this November 19th.

Tour dates:

11/08 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
11/09 Boston, MA Royale
11/10 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall
11/12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
11/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
11/14 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
11/15 Atlanta, GA The Loft
11/16 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
11/18 St. Louis Old Rock House
11/19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
11/21 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
11/22 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
11/23 Buffalo, NY Tralf (Music Hall)

All dates with Hey Rosetta!

Read More Sub Focus With that introduction out of the way, his latest single is called Endorphins, which came out May 12, 2013 on Casablanca / Republic Records. The song features BRIT Award's nominee Alex Clare. …

ALEX CLARE
at Varsity Theater
Wednesday 11/19/14, 7pm
$22: varsitytheater.org

British singer/songwriter Alex Clare came to our attention last year as one of the BRIT Award's nominee. His biggest hit song "Too Close" peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart an #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Clare will be in the US on Skype's "Ones To Watch" Concert series.

Tour dates:

11/05/14 Munich, Germany Tonhalle
11/06/14 Zurich, Switzerland Komplex 457
11/10/14 London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
11/16/14 Toronto, ON The Cameron House
11/17/14 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
11/18/14 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar
11/19/14 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
11/22/14 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
11/24/14 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
11/25/14 Seattle, WA The Neptune
11/26/14 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
11/30/14 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
12/01/14 Los Angeles, CA Belasco Theater
12/02/14 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
12/03/14 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
12/04/14 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
12/06/14 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen
12/07/14 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
12/09/14 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
12/10/14 Austin, TX Emo's
12/11/14 Houston, TX House Of Blues
12/13/14 San Antonio, TX The Aztec Theater
12/14/14 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues
12/15/14 Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theater
12/17/14 Phila, PA Theatre Of The Living Arts
12/18/14 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
12/20/14 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
12/21/14 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
12/22/14 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
12/23/14 New York, NY Irving Plaza
02/02/15 Frankfurt, Germany Batschkapp

Read More Shaw Brothers You know I love my Kung Fu movies, so when when I saw the trailer to RZA's "The Man With the Iron Fists" movie, I had mixed feelings about it. …

KUNG FU w/ Circle of Heat
at Cabooze
Wednesday 11/19/14, 9pm
$5: cabooze.com

Connecticut's Kung Fu, no relationship to Shaolin Kung Fu or Shaw Brothers' Kung Fu movies or Wu-Tang Clan... these guys are a funk/rock/fusion band.

The band will be in Minneapolis on November 19th, local rock/fusion band Circle of Heat to open.

Tour dates:

11/13/14 Buffalo, NY The Waiting Room
11/14/14 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
11/15/14 Lansing, MI The Loft
11/16/14 Bloomington, IL The Castle Theatre
11/18/14 Madison, WI The Frequency
11/19/14 Minneapolis, MN The Cabooze
11/20/14 Milwaukee, WI Miramar Theatre
11/21/14 Chicago, IL Martyrs'
11/22/14 Indianapolis, IN Mousetrap
11/23/14 Lexington, KY Cosmic Charlie's
12/04/14 Killington, VT Pickle Barrel Night Club
12/05/14 Providence, RI The Spot On Thayer
12/06/14 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
12/08/14 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live!
12/19/14 New Haven, CT Toad's Place
12/20/14 New Haven, CT Toad's Place
01/03/15 Miami, FL Railroad Blues
01/06/15 - 01/11/15 Jam Cruise
01/12/15 Key West, FL Green Parrot
03/05/15 Live Oak, FL Spirit Of The Suwannee

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Raymond Wong - Shaolin Soccer Opening Theme

 

Photo: Chan Kwok-Kwan

Sorry for all these soundtracks, this will be the last in a while, I promise. I just couldn't help it with this entry, because my brother sent this in:

China films Bruce Lee biopic
Tue Apr 10, 9:15 AM ET

(excerpt)

Chan Kwok-kwan, who plays Lee in the TV series, said he had mixed feelings about playing the role of an icon.

"I'm nervous and also excited, but I will do my best," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

 

Raymond Wong - Shaolin Soccer Opening Theme

Raymond Wong

It's no accident Chan Kwok-Kwan looks just like Bruce Lee, apparently Stephen Chow did a search for a look-a-like to star in his film. Check out that yellow, black-striped, jumpsuit that looks like from "Game of Death" (incidentally, Uma Thurman wore a very similiar outfit for "Kill Bill").

So just a little trivia for you, before "Shaolin Soccer" was released in the USA, I read somewhere that Miramax wanted to replace the entire soundtrack (please listen to Raymond Wong's "Opening", to get a taste of the original soundtrack) and they wanted to dub the movie. They just didn't know how to market the film to the US audience.

To me, it was simple: just release the film in its original edit, with subtitles. But you know how it is: Americans just simply don't want to see a subtitled movie.

The only good thing out of the Miramax debacle was that when the DVD was released to North America, they included both (American edit and Hong Kong edit) version.

PS, I'm too lazy to do any research on Raymond Wong, the music composer. If anyone have any information, I will include it in this entry. Non-vox people, you can leave a comment here: www.haloscan.com
PPS, I will get around to fulfilling that Cat Power request (yes, we take requests, send us a message), that is unless someone else want to do a writeup on Chan Marshall/Cat Power. I already have the discography section built, I will happily insert it in any post.

  ♥ vu