Fists of Fury! Plenty of Martial Arts Mayhem and Nostalgia Fills Cynthia Rothrock’s Classic.

Former World Karate Champion (1981-1985) Cynthia Rothrock certainly loves the martial arts movies from the 70’s and 80’s, and in the documentary, Fists of Fury, I’m believe she hand-picked all the forgotten B-grade classics. I recall seeing a few of these on the big screen!

screen-shot-2016-12-07-at-2-27-02-pm-thumb-430xauto-64996By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Former World Karate Champion (1981-1985) Cynthia Rothrock certainly loves the martial arts movies from the 70’s and 80’s, and in the documentary, Fists of Fury, I’m believe she hand-picked all the forgotten B-grade classics. I recall seeing a few of these on the big screen!

Of those which I have not seen, after seeing this extensive reel of trailers and montage presentations, I’m tempted to seek them out. Thankfully, YouTube is my friend because The Lucky Seven (1986) can be found. This movie came out a year after The Goonies and I’m betting the filmmakers were inspired by Spielberg’s film. Sho Kosugi’s movies, to which Revenge of the Ninja is featured, defined part of my childhood love for the genre. This product is filled with plenty of nostalgic laughs. It will become available online Jan 20 on FullMoonStreaming.com and their Amazon channel, along with a physical copy.

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A Look at the Sneak Peak of Doctor Strange on IMAX 3D

doctor-strange-posterBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

I’m sure the numbers of how many people who attended the short preview to Doctor Strange (on a long weekend in North America) is as varied as the response to this film. While I’m excited to catch the end-product come November 4th (the 3D sequences when he’s flying through the multiverse look great), just how many die-hards can accept the movie’s obvious changes will determine its success. I’m okay with the gender-swapping of the Ancient One, and Tilda Swinton is a very respectable actress. With no successor to Mako Iwamatsu’s amazing presence, I’m guessing the producers had make changes lest they do a casting call throughout China / Tibet to find someone just as promising to fill the role.

When the introduction reveals nearly an hours’ worth of scenes are shot with IMAX cameras, the need to tease fans with what is to come is obvious — to spotlight the special effects on a box screen. I will certainly plan to see it again at the National Geographic IMAX Theatre. Sadly this operation plays these movies as a second-run product. Not every cinema has a proper screen to show off this format right.

In what is more in front and centre is Stephen Strange’s ego (Benedict Cumberbatch) which can easily rival Tony Stark’s. When he’s a famous neurosurgeon with some pent up frustrations over who he is required to operate on, the first few minutes works very well to show how conceited he is. That’s until he looks away from where he is driving to a cell phone (showing x-ray scans of his next patient instead of playing Pokémon GO) and winds up over a cliff. The slow-motion scene shows his hands getting crushed.

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Going Ape for a 12 min Preview of Space Pirate Captain Harlock!

Everything in Captain Harlock Space Pirate looks hyper realistic.

captainharlock2Captain Harlock fans all over the world will just have to wait a little bit longer for a dubbed release of the computer animated film, Space Pirate Captain Harlock. That may seem like bad news but the good news is that GFM Films is reported to be working on a dub. But no word has been said about when it will come out and who will be attached to promote it in North America.

But for people who understand Japanese, a 12 minute clip is available to watch online at Yahoo! Japan to show what the animators have done. Everything in this short looks drop dead gorgeous. It blends a bit of noir into a goth style ala Aliens with plenty of Warhammer 40K style aesthetics to boot.

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