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The Folklore Behind Invincible Dragon (九龙不败)

21 Nov

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Well GO USA
Now Available on Netflix and DVD

Jin (Max) Zhang is the next Fist of the North Star. Or should that be Crying Freeman? Anime references notwithstanding, he has the good looks to pull off playing either character should they get realized into live action. But in Invincible Dragon, he plays Kowloon, an undercover cop whose lapse in judgement on duty has robbed him of more than just a fiancée. He gets reassigned and stumbles into another crime wave much to the chagrin of his captain.

A psychopath is out on the loose and killing female police officers. Losing his girlfriend is motivation to get him on the case. It’s a cop and MMA showcase of what Zhang can do as a fighter. The punches feel real, especially when his rival, Alexander Sinclair, is played Brazilian mixed martial artist Anderson Silva. They are the highlight. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bungee cord used in a fight before!

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To Calm the Pig Inside, Coming to the IDFA Today!

21 Nov

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

IDFA Festival

European Premiere
Nov 21, 2020

Shorts: Temporal Fragments program

Joanna Vasquez Arong’s short To Calm the Pig Inside is making waves worldwide. The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Festival (IDFA) features documentaries that move the viewer. To see her work travel from the Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival to this event’s official selection is not only a big step towards recognition but also in showing to the world how survivors from 2013’s Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) attempt to reconcile with nature when it razed through the Philippines. Life is not easy in this country, which also has several active volcanoes!

The enormous devastation wrought upon Tacloban City left many people homeless and hopeless. The frustration only grew since the corrupt government wasn’t any help. This Filipino filmmaker lived nearby but delivers the content as though she was a local. The many photographs, artwork, news footage and clips used tell a very emotional tale of how difficult life became. The stories she collected showed not everyone is brave enough to stare back at the returning gaze of a tiger.

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Raptor, A Sokoi Graphic Novel to release July 2021!

19 Nov

Dark Horse Comics
Coming July 2021

From award-winning, critically acclaimed artist and writer Dave McKean (Black Dog, The Sandman) comes his first creator-owned character in a stunning visual tour-de-force graphic novel, Raptor, A Sokoi Graphic Novel.

Raptor flickers between two worlds and two conflicted souls: Sokol wanders a feudal fantastical landscape hunting monsters for those that can pay, and Arthur, a writer of supernatural tales in 19th Century Wales, mourning the passing of his young wife and dabbling in the supernatural in the vain hope of seeing her again. They both exist in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination. Continue reading →

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News Stars are “Vanguard” with Jackie Chan!

19 Nov

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Coming to limited theatres Nov 20, 2020

Please check local listings

After many months of delay because of a certain pandemic, Jackie Chan’s Vanguard‘s world tour lands in North American cinema. Without his name, this film might get missed. This star isn’t as spry. Ultimately, the younger stars in this film are the ones who shine.

Zhang Kaiyuan (艾伦; Lun Ai) and Lei Zhenyu (rising star 杨洋; Yang Yang) are members of Vanguard, a private global security firm providing the best protection to corporations and dignitaries. They thwart attempts to kill Guoli Qin (Jackson Lou), an accountant, but pretty soon, the terrorists target his daughter Fareeda (Ruohan Xu). This group is led by Omar (Eyad Hourani), and his goals are far worse. Everyone gets involved, including Tang Huating (Chan) who is the head of the organization, and that’s when the action gets amped up.

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