R.I.P. Sir Run Run Shaw

Legendary film producer/media giant Sir Run Run Shaw died on Tuesday at the incredible age of 106; I won't attempt a career-spanning obit right now but if you need a quick catch-up on who this guy was, the New York Times has a pretty good one, or try the AV Club. The long and short of it is, this man, and his brothers, who went under the production banner of Shaw Brothers, produced hundreds of kick-ass kung fu films in their lifetime.

But here's a little bit of recent history pertaining to the Shaws and DVD... Back when DVD was in its relative infancy, circa 2002, Celestial Pictures, the rights-holder to 760 Shaw Brothers films, announced that they would be digitally remastering them for the format. For film geeks everywhere, this was amazing news, since the majority of these films were extremely hard to see in any shape or form on home video. They would be subtitled in English and presented in their original aspect ratios. Although the martial arts films were Shaws' bread-and-butter, these releases also included a range of comedies, horrors, romances, musicals, thrillers, dramas and exploitation films.

A smattering of them made it here too, via now-defunct distributor Siren, and we picked up most, if not all of them for our library. So if you're remotely curious about Shaw Brothers movies or want to rewatch a few classics in memoriam, there's a bunch sitting on our shelves right now (the ones tagged with ** are essential):

All Men Are Brothers
The Assassin
Challenge of the Masters
Death Duel
Dragon Swamp
Duel of Fists
Heroes of the East** 
Heroes Two
The Heroic Ones
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan**
Invincible Shaolin
The Lizard
My Young Auntie
The One-Armed Swordsman**
The Shadow Boxing
The Shadow Whip
Shaolin Hand Lock
Shaolin Prince
The Spiritual Boxer
36th Chamber of Shaolin**
Trail of the Broken Blade
The Twelve Gold Medallions
The Water Margin
The Web of Death

Trailer: Man of Tai Chi

Last year we saw some promising behind-the-scenes footage from Keanu Reeve's directorial debut, the martial arts film Man of Tai Chi; now the international trailer's arrived, we can see what it actually looks IN the film, and I have to say, I'm a little less enthused about the other stuff. Seeing Reeves intone, "Let.. the show... begin" was a bit painful, as was imagining him as some sort of villainous mastermind who oversees his operation in front of a gazillion screens. We get snatches of Yuen Wo-ping's choreography, not long enough of anything to go wild about, but I'm sure it'll deliver in the fight department. Where's Iko Uwais??

Short Film: Iron Man vs. Bruce Lee

The talented guy behind that cute Dragon Baby short last year returns with a similarly fun action short pitting Bruce Lee against Iron Man. Why not? This will be the most entertaining 1 minute you'll have today.

Short Film: Dragon Baby

Simple concept (kung fu baby vs dragon), executed well = awesomeness, and awesome cuteness.

Keanu: Man of Renaissance?

Perhaps Keanu's time has come? We can now all stop laughing about his non-acting and look at what he's doing behind the camera! The dude, who's almost 50 (for anyone who's wondering), has a cool little doco called Side by Side playing at the NZFF, which I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the digital takeover of the celluloid as the primary means for shooting and exhibiting movies. Furthermore, his directorial debut, the martial arts flick Man of Tai Chi, is on the way, and it was recently reported that Iko Uwai, The Raid's chief bone-obliterator, has signed on for a role. According to Reeves, there will be about "40 minutes of fighting". I am excited yes. See the clip below for what to expect as he tests out some new tech for shooting the fights:

Trailer: The Grandmasters

It could be argued that we don't exactly need another a movie about Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, what with no less than 3 Ip Man-related films released in the space of the last few years: Wilson Yip's Ip Man and Ip Man 2, and Herman Yau's Ip Man: The Legend is Born. But I'm still hanging out for The Grandmasters, Wong Kar-wai's take on the kung fu master. Wong's undeniable, distinctly stylish stamp could bring something fresh to the plate, if not narrative-wise, then at least visually and texturally. And things look damn promising in this clip featuring black-clad Tony Leung Chiu Wai dishing out some good ol' whoopass in the rain in gorgeous slow-mo...

The Carradine Conspiracy?

It was pretty shocking and saddening to hear of David Carradine's death last Thursday - the details of how it happened even more so. Auto-erotic asphyxiation? Found in a closet? In a Bangkok hotel? Predictably, the media are going to town with it. There's some chatter about a conspiracy (apparently he was looking into "secret societies"). Was it an accident, or was he murdered? Some reports are indicating that his hands were tied behind his back. There's also something about a footprint on the bed. Hmm. Here's a CelebTV report:



Meanwhile, Carradine's family are upset and disturbed that the photos of his body were published in a Thai newspaper, and have asked the FBI to investigate his death.