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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 22 Mar 2016, 21:21
by Masterofoneinchpunch
Early Images of Hong Kong & China (1995) by various authors Chinese/English

This, now rare, softcover book, was for the 19[sup]th[/sup] Hong Kong International Film Festival and presented by the Urban Council in both English and Chinese for all of the sections. For non-English writers their sections tend to be translated by Stephen Teo. The title is a bit of a misnomer because this book has a variety of essays on over a half a century of Chinese cinema including Taiwan and all of them deal with movies – when I see the term images without moving I think of still photography. Unfortunately there are a few negatives to the book: it lacks an index and the book is somewhat fragile. Otherwise it is an informative read and of great use to learning more about early Chinese cinema with the regrettable caveat that so many films have been lost. If you can get this for a reasonable price and are interested in the early cinema of Hong Kong, China and Taiwan then this is a worthy addition to your collection.

To rectify the lack of an index I am going to list the essays and the capsule reviews below. If you want any more explanation or my opinions on a particular essay please ask.

Essays:
Foreward by Lo Tak-sing
Introduction, Postscript by Law Kar
“The Introduction of the Camera to China” by Marie-Claire Quiquemelle
“Hong Kong’s Cinematic Beginnings 1896-1908” by Law Wai-ming
“Early Impressions of the Hong Kong Cinema: 1909-1915” by Law Kar
“How Cinema Came to China: Theories and Doubts” by Lee Daw-ming
“An Investigation into Taiwan’s First Ever Film Activities” by Law Wai-ming
“Tracing the Electric Shadow: A Brief History of the Early Hong Kong Cinema” by Stephen Teo
“The Patriotic Tradition in Hong Kong Cinema: A Preliminary Study of Pre-War Patriotic Films” by Yu Mo-wan
“Patriotism or Profit: Hong Kong Cinema during the Second World War” by Fu Poshek
“The Facial Index: Movie Spies Play Havoc in Hong Kong” by Ng Ho
“A Study of the Da Zhonghua (Great China) Film Company” by Cheuk Pak-tong
“Missing Links: Chinese Cinema in Shanghai and Hong Kong from the 1930s to the 1940s” by Tony Rayns

Appendixes:
1) A List of Films Made by Foreign Groups from 1896 to 1912 that are related to China and the Chinese by Lee Daw-ming
2) Chronology of Cinema Events in Hong Kong: 1896-1950 by Hong Kong Film Archive

Programme Notes (capsule reviews and director notes): Chinese Images in a Western Mirror (various shorts), Half a Century in Hong Kong (various shorts), From Revolution to War (excerpts and documentary In the Name of the Emperor (1995)), Protect my Country (incomplete and with three shorts), Journey to the Yellow Land (1932 France), The Four Hundred Million (1938 English, narrated by Fredric March), Love and Duty (1931), The Eight Hundred Heroes (1938), March of the Guerrillas (1938), Boundless Future (1941), The Pangs of Love (1946), Desire (1946), Along the Sungari River (1947), Madame X (1947), A Dream of Spring (1947), Where is My Darling? (1947), You’re Smart in One Way, I in Another (1947), An All-Consuming Love (1947), Song of a Songstress (1948), Lion-Hearted Warriors (1948), Ghost Woman of the Old Mansion (1949), Home Sweet Home (1950), The Kid (1950), Kaleidoscope (1950), Tears of the Pearl River (1950), Tragedy in Canton (1951), The Guiding Light (1953), General Kwan Seduced by Due Sim under Moonlight (1956).

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 17 May 2016, 19:09
by Masterofoneinchpunch
I will have some comments on this book later, especially some nastiness about Chang Cheh in here. But I wanted to have a description of the book for myself and for goodreads.com and anyone else who might find this interesting.

A Study of Hong Kong Cinema in the Seventies (1984) Presented by Urban Council

Note: I am typing the titles and names verbatim (not counting any spelling errors I accidently made.)

This, now rare, softcover book, was for the 8[sup]th[/sup] Hong Kong International Film Festival and presented by the Urban Council in both English and Chinese for all of the sections. Unfortunately it lacks an index.

Below are the major sections for this book.

Essays:
Introduction/Postscript by Li Cheuk-to
“Hong Kong and Television in the 1970s: A Perspective” by James Kung and Zhang Yueai
“Anatomy of a Legend” by Cheng Yu
“Bruce Lee and Other Stories” by Tony Rayns
“The Dao of King Hu” by Stephen Teo
“The Fallen Idol – Zhang Che in Retrospect” by Tian Yan
“Resilience: The Cinema and Liu Jialiang”
“Wu Ma’s Nose: Her and There” by Roger Garcia
“Michael Hui: A Decade of Sword Grinding” by Law Kar
“A Portrait of the Comedian as a Schizophreniac” by Ng Ho
“The Journey of Desires” by Sek Kei
“Li Hanziang’s Aesthetics of the Cynical” by Stephen Teo
“Lu Qi: Softcore Sex and Hardcore Morality” by Cheng Yu
“Shu Shuen: The Lone-Rider in Hong Kong Cinema in the 1970s” by Lau Shing-hon
“The “Shaolin Temple” of the New Hong Kong Cinema” by Law Kar
“An Interview with He Lanshan” by Silas Lee

Biographical Notes: these are capsule biographies, though sometimes bigger than that, on: Jacky Chan, Chen Jingsen, Gui Zhihong, He Lanshan, Hu Feng, Jenny Hu, Michael Hui, Ricky Hui, Sam Hui, Jiang Xinglong, Jing Li, Leong Po-chih, Lu Qi, Richard Ng, Shi Tian, Sun Zhong, Alan Tang, Wu Yusen [a little telling of age that he is not written as John Woo], Yang Quan,

Programme Notes: the movies and TV episodes that were shown with capsule comments: Legends of Cheating, The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Love is Smoke, The Warlord, The Fate of Lee Khan, The Call-Girls, The House of 72 Tenants, Hiroshima 28, Wits to Wits, China Behind, Disciples of Shaolin, Anti-Corruption, The Last Message, The Magic Blade, Homicdes: The Criminals, Part II, Jumping Ash, Mud Child, Pound of Flesh, Private Eyes, Executioners from Shaolin, The Contract, Drunken Master, Law Don, Raining in the Morning, Dirty Ho, His Name is Nobody, The Secret, From Riches to Rags, Anger, Happiness, The Assassination of Ma (from Ten Assassinations), Black and White (From ICAC), The Pawnshop (From Below the Lion Rock), Bar Girl (From Operation Manhunt), Old Lai (From Below the Lion Rock), Two Stories (From ICAC), The Gold Dagger Romance (Last Episode), Boy From Vietnam (From Below the Lion Rock), Cat and Bird (From When We Were Young.)

Filmography: This is quite nice to have as it has all the major releases of Hong Kong films and their dates during the 1970s.

Top 10 Grossing Hong Kong Films (1970-1979): Self-explanatory, but nice to have with the caveat that one should take box office figures from this period with a little incredulousness.

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 17 Oct 2017, 05:32
by chazgower01
ImageAnybody know where I can find a copy of this online that ships to the United States, or ANY of the Hotwax stuff that is out there? Thanks!

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 17 Oct 2017, 05:56
by HungFist
chazgower01 wrote:Anybody know where I can find a copy of this online that ships to the United States, or ANY of the Hotwax stuff that is out there? Thanks!
You could try some private sellers at amazon.jp but I'm not sure if they will ship abroad.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listing/4401751108/

https://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_no ... k%3Ahotwax

Yesasia is listing a couple of Hotwax books:
http://www.yesasia.com/global/search-bo ... uioos=true

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 17 Oct 2017, 08:39
by Guro Taku
Or you could use a proxy service like celga.com and let them deal with amazon or the sellers there before passing the good on to you. Of course they charge you a fee for it so take that into account.

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 31 Oct 2017, 05:06
by chazgower01
Took some advice and started to pick up a few things... as they come in I'll post some info about them.

Here is one of the Hotwax books, Volume 8, which just so happens to be special Noribumi Suzuki Special

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Some pictures in it, I've seen before and some I haven't - 99% of it is in Japanese, so I have to guess about some of it, though I think this one is pretty obvious:
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Etsuko Shiomi and someone else from 'The Great Chase' (1975)
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They have a section with two page spreads devoted to each film, covering some of his most popular work...
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Then there's another color section in the back about music from the 70's in Japan
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And you even get a CD!
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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 25 Nov 2017, 12:35
by chazgower01
Finally picked up an original copy of Hiroko Sakurai's book '929 Days of Akiko Fuji' (フジ隊員の929日)
Can't read a word of it, of course, but it features some cool behind the scenes pictures from the original Ultraman series (1967), one of my favorite TV shows as a kid.


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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 29 Jan 2018, 11:39
by chazgower01
Looks like Meiko Kaji is releasing an autobiography on March 8th....

https://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/4163908099/

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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 29 May 2018, 01:28
by chazgower01
At long last! My book is here!
Yep, the first book about the Movies and Career of Hong Kong Star Amy Yip! And featuring the first full nipple exposed picture of Amy Yip ever!
Amy Yip shot to stardom in the early 90's Hong Kong Movie scene becoming one of the biggest stars in Southeast Asia, but just as quickly would disappear from the public eye.
Read about her movies, her life, her TV career, her music and more in this first of its kind book about the Hong Kong Celebrity Legend! Includes a complete filmography, including her work in television; complete reviews for all of her movies, and some never before seen photos! A must have!
And buy a Paperback copy and get the Kindle version for FREE!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982967072
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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 29 May 2018, 08:41
by HungFist
chazgower01 wrote: 29 May 2018, 01:28 And featuring the first full nipple exposed picture of Amy Yip ever!
They sure know how to advertise a book.

Speaking of which, where are the photos???

I finally ordered Tom Mess' Meiko Kaji book. I started working on a Sasori article (Finnish) and though I'd better see if he has any relevant secrets to reveal.

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 05 Jun 2018, 02:32
by chazgower01
In the movie Requital 五湖四海 (1992)- the scene where she gets raped by one of the yakuza goons, Amy has on a loose fitting top...you've probably seen the publicity stills... at one point she turns and pulls the rapists gun from his belt... well when she turns, her boob pops out completely. Unless you slow-mo it frame by frame you wouldn't even notice it. But.... my research was thorough!

I've actually turned this photo upward so you can better reference it. She's actually sideways in the movie frame.

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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 05 Jun 2018, 02:53
by chazgower01
Some pics from the book:

Would love to find the magazine with these behind the scenes pics from jailhouse Eros!
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Little seen print ad from Amy:
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Amy had lots of TV shows before she got into movies, but apparently did one more AFTER her film career began. Called 'Destned of Love' or something...
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Amy and Veronica Yip! They don't look like pals.
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A couple of pics of Amy as a pre-teen and teenager!
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What I believe are a part of the first pictures of Amy with her boobs on display. I didn't put this set of pics in the book for some reason... maybe I'll start a blog...
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The last of Amy's PRE-movie career TV shows was a modern show called Hong Kong Love, which actually looks like it might be kinda fun.
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Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 05 Jun 2018, 03:04
by chazgower01
And of course, my youtube trailer featuring some very cool rare Amy Yip footage!

https://youtu.be/vy1YEPyO1qk

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 05 Jun 2018, 11:57
by HungFist
Thanks!

At first I didn't realize that really was your book. Cool!

So, correction: You sure know how to advertise a book! :lol:

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 05 Jun 2018, 13:32
by chazgower01
HungFist wrote: 05 Jun 2018, 11:57 Thanks!

At first I didn't realize that really was your book. Cool!

So, correction: You sure know how to advertise a book! :lol:

Thanks!

And it'll be free in Kindle for the next 5 days starting tomorrow. Hopefully, people will see how well it's researched and feel they have to have a print copy!

Re: Books on Asian Film

Posted: 11 Jun 2018, 00:42
by chazgower01
My banner ad is up at Eastern Kicks, with my book review coming up!

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