A Proposal: Kung-Fu Movie Night

[cassiefuckingcage]

Hey, everyone. I'd like to use this back room channel as an opportunity to gauge interest in something I've wanted to do for a while. As those of you who know about her canon / have threaded sufficiently with Cassie are aware, she is the daughter of martial-arts movie star Johnny Cage. As such, she undoubtedly grew up watching a TON of kung fu movies - both the ones starring her father and the many classics of the genre. It has long been my headcanon that she's something of a fangirl.

There have been a number of movie watch-a-long threads in the main comm - most recently the Sharknado marathon. I've been meaning to do a martial arts movie watchalong for nearly as long as I've been playing Cassie. Obviously, films exclusive to Cassie's universe are out of the picture - our universe is insufficiently awesome for such a film as Ninja Mime to exist in it.

My initial film of choice was Enter the Dragon. The problem is, as great a movie as it is, it's not like Star Wars - not everyone has seen it. What's more, there isn't anyplace where it's readily available to be watched. You can buy it or rent it, but there aren't streaming services that carry it.

However, recently Netflix added a large number of classic Shaw Brothers films to its streaming catalog - most notably The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which was good enough for the Wu-Tang Clan to name an album after it so it's sure as shit good enough for you to sit down and watch. Here's a short list of some of the prominent classics that are available on that ever-reliable and popular streaming service:

1. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin - Quintessential 70s Hong Kong film, and equally quintessential "brash young fighter endures harsh training to become a badass" film.

2. Fist of Legend - Jet Li's finest hour. Really brutal and intense action. Properly good movie, watchable and accessible.

3. Five Deadly Venoms - Another classic Shaw Brothers chop-socky film. Fun as hell.

4. The Legend of Drunken Master - Maybe not the best Jackie Chan movie, but quite possibly the most Jackie Chan Jackie Chan movie. Contains arguably the greatest fight sequence ever filmed. Low on the list because it's the dubbed version. And it ain't an especially good dub, either.

5. Way of the Dragon - Again, low because it's dubbed. Also, most of the movie is just killing time before the part where Bruce Lee fights Chuck Norris. But, and this the crucial part, Bruce Lee fights Chuck Norris.

All five of these are arguably part of the Great Canon of Martial Arts films. And that's just a few of the great ones available (Shaolin Soccer and Kung-Fu Hustle chief among them). I also may say "fuck it" and include Enter the Dragon anyway, because there has to be a Bruce Lee one, right? I'd like to have a thread dedicated to at least one of those films, but more likely a marathon of two or three. Please tag this thread if you're interested at all. I want to know if enough people would tag for this to be worth it.

Comments

[for_good_taste]

Having just watched it myself, can I put in a good word for Ip Man?

(I'm not sure I have time to play it, but I am interested. This guy seems like he'd have an enormous and badly hidden soft spot for kung fu movies.)

[cassiefuckingcage]

I see your good word and put in my own.

[soldier_blade]

I vote for either 36th chamber or Five Deadly Venoms..the latter because it's an interesting title.

[bjornwilde]

I feel like Rollo needs to watch these. I will as well. = ]

[cassiefuckingcage]

Do you have any particular days you'd want to do this? Could Friday or Saturday in the late afternoon / evening be doable?

[bjornwilde]

Saturday after 3pm Pac Standard Time would work best for me. I have a swim meet this weekend but should be home by then.

And I am fine with which ever of the movies as I have Netflix.

ETA: And looks like I am home alone Saturday night. Woot.

[1nv1nc1ble]

As Mark is a purveyor of cult movies and television, he would totally be down with this (his own preferences are for zombie films, but he does dabble in the kick flick genre). Saturday would be good for me as well, I think.

[camwyn]

Can I drop a request for Magnificent Butcher, starring Sammo Hung? It's probably not on Netflix, admittedly.

(Worth noting: any Thai asskicker movies starring Jeeja Yanin, particularly her movie Chocolate, will result in a certain amount of spluttering on Ellen's part since I used that film for a bunch of Ellen's PB pictures.)

[cassiefuckingcage]

Magnificent Butcher is not on Netflix, unfortunately. Otherwise, Netflix subscribers are quite spoiled for choice when it comes to martial arts films. Whichever couple of films I choose I'm going to be leaving a lot out. (Of course, any amount of Sammo Hung is an insufficient amount of Sammo Hung, regardless of the library's size).

Chocolate is on there, though Cassie may be sticking to films in Cantonese and Mandarin, since my headcanon says she speaks those. I need some criteria to whittle down the options. But Thai films aren't totally off the table, especially if she wants to showcase the accelerated diversification of the genre that occurred post-HK changeover.

EDIT: Holy shit, they have Ong-Bak. This is SO HARD.