bright lights , big city is a 1988 american drama film directed by james bridges , starring michael j. fox , kiefer sutherland , phoebe cates , dianne wiest and jason robards , and based on the novel by jay mcinerney , who also wrote the screenplay .

it was the last film directed by bridges , who died in 1993 .

bright lights , big city ( film )

with the headline : ' bright lights , big city ' - - big trouble .
' ' bright lights , big city ' ' - official film trailer - 1988 .
' ' bright lights , big city ' ' - official film trailer - 1988 . - youtube
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bright lights , big city . great film with michael j . fox staring : buy it great film on dvd . 5 stars rating
with the headline : review / film ; a tale of the dark side : ' bright lights , big city ' .
the title of the episode is an obvious reference to the book ( and later film ) bright lights , big city .
big city : special edition gina belafonte james bridges kiefer sutherland michael j . fox josie bell bright lights phoebe cates
we’d love your help . let us know what’s wrong with this preview of bright lights , big city by jay mcinerney .
leonard pierce of the av club gave bright lights , dean city a b . [ 1 ]
bright lights , big city , at area theaters , is rated r and contains open drug use , profane language and adult situations .
featured in bright lights , big city / the seventh sign / beetlejuice / babette ' s feast ( 1988 ) . see more »
bright lights , big city [ vhs ] : james bridges | michael j . fox | kiefer sutherland | phoebe cates : urltoken video
bright lights , big city is a 1988 drama film directed by james bridges and starring michael j fox . it was adapted from the eponymous novel by jay mcinerney , who also wrote the film ' s screenplay .
aron’s now this is entertainment presents : the film rewind series . i take you back in time to 1988 to reminisce and celebrate the 30th anniversary of michael j fox’s dramatic turn in “bright lights , big city” .
john barrett mcinerney jr . is an american writer . his novels include bright lights , big city , ransom , story of my life , brightness falls , and the last of the savages . he edited the penguin book of new american voices , wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of bright lights , big city , and co - wrote the screenplay for the television film gia , which starred angelina jolie . he is the wine co
david ayer ' s end of watch ( 2012 ) and the militarization of u . s . law enforcement - bright lights film journal
along the gruesome road to self - discovery , bright lights offers some entertaining , episodic , danceable highlights .
pierce , leonard . bright lights , dean city . the av club . october 10 , 2010 . retrieved october 12 , 2010 . < urltoken >
however , the problem i have come to is : does this make bright lights , big city a particularly good film ? it is primarily notable because it does not succumb to the stylistic clichés of modern cinema . if nothing else it is certainly a solid , well - made film .
bright lights , dean city
is the thirteenth episode of season 4 and the overall 52nd episode of the american animated television series the venture bros .
bright lights , big city was released on april 1 , 1988 in 1 , 196 theaters , and grossed usd $ 5 . 1 million during its opening weekend . the film went to make $ 16 . 1 million domestically , below its budget of $ 25 million .
sharp edges have worn smooth in the 22 years since jay mcinerney wrote his bestseller “bright lights , big city . ” paul scott goodman’s musical version of this tale of disaffection among the 1980s dot - commers , supermodels and coke warlords of the new york club scene feels pretty tame . it sounds pretty tame , too ; instead of slamming , outrageous music , this “rock opera” is easy listening — pleasant but somehow suburban to its core . that’s not a bad thing , but it’s not a “bright lights , big city” thing .
bright lights , big city
is the record of jamie ' s search for the bottom . it takes place over the course of a week or so , a chaotic week in which people , events and even whole days drift in and out of focus .
fortunately for me , i had no idea that there was a movie adaptation of bright lights , big city . “michael j . fox ? kiefer sutherland ? ” i asked myself incredulously , “how could marty mcfly and jack bauer ever find themselves in a fraternal cocaine morass ? ”
bright lights , big city was much different than i have always expected it to be . unlike something like less than zero this isn ' t much of a
dangers of drugs
tale . sure , drugs are involved but this is more about coping with loss than anything else .
the city’s famous babelsberg film studios , now a theme park dedicated to film ( and a good one ) , was once a powerhouse of european film production . this was where fritz lang shot ‘ metropolis ’ . this was where marlene dietrich began her film career .
sharp edges have worn smooth in the 22 years since jay mcinerney wrote his bestseller
bright lights , big city .
paul scott goodman ' s musical version of this tale of disaffection among the 1980s dot - commers , supermodels and coke warlords of the new york club scene feels pretty tame . it sounds pretty tame , too ; instead of slamming , outrageous music , this
rock opera
is easy listening - - pleasant but somehow suburban to its core . that ' s not a bad thing , but it ' s not a
bright lights , big city
thing .
to conclude , bright lights , big city is a good film that does not make the viewer feel especially positively inclined toward it . as the nature of the second - person narration of the source text alone should indicate , bright lights , big city is as concerned with each viewer as it is its own characters . even those who have not woken up in a druggy stupor will feel co - opted into the cast’s mired and destructive party lifestyle . whether this is appealing to any viewer , i cannot say . truly , had i been informed that this was the experience i was going to have i may not have spent a weekend night getting choked up and disgusted with myself over the sins that michael j . fox was committing .
new york is also the home of some of the world’s leading film festivals like tribeca and the new york film festival . it’s also the home of some of the world’s leading film schools at columbia , nyu and new york film academy . with so much creativity in the city , it’s no surprise that new york remains one of the most important cities for film production in the world .
bright lights , big city ,
the james bridges movie of the jay mcinerney best seller , runs at such a low idle that you expect it to collapse in a heap right before your eyes . the movie is like a porsche outfitted with a lawn mower engine ; there ' s not even enough juice to get the machine out of the driveway .
sharp edges have worn smooth in the 22 years since jay mcinerney wrote his bestseller “bright lights , big city . ” paul scott goodman’s musical version of this tale of disaffection among the 1980s dot - commers , supermodels and coke warlords of the new york club scene feels pretty tame . it sounds pretty tame , too ; instead of slamming , outrageous [ … ]
james , caryn .
big trouble .
the new york times . january 10 , 1988 .
in the second week of filming , joyce chopra assembled several hundred extras at new york city ' s tunnel club to shoot one of the film ' s opening scenes - flashing lights , blaring music , dozens of couples in bright - colored costumes on the huge dance floor . the scene looked right , but only on the surface .
the cocaine that fox snorts in the film was a prop called milk sugar . the filmmakers shot two different endings - one where fox ' s character decides to start his life all over but is vague with what he specifically plans to do and an alternate one , to please the studio , where he has finished writing a novel to be called bright lights , big city with a new girlfriend who is proud of what he has written .
by 1988 michael j fox had already become both a household name and a box office gold mine . starring in mostly light hearted fair on “family ties” tv series , “teen wolf” , “back to the future” , and “the secret of my success” . his role in “bright lights big city” wasn’t his first departure into dramatic territory . in 1987 he starred with joan jett in paul schrader’s “light of day” . the film was completely swept under the rug when…
with the publication of bright lights , big city in 1984 , jay mcinerney became a literary sensation , heralded as the voice of a generation . the novel follows a young man , living in manhattan as if he owned it , through nightclubs , fashion shows , editorial offices , and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn . with nothing but goodw
trouble at metro - goldwyn - mayer ended his 2009 attempt at a new adaptation of jay mcinerney’s “bright lights , big city . ” ( mr . schwartz still hopes to take another stab at it . ) a deal for him to write the screenplay for “x - men : first class” never came to fruition ; he wrote a draft , but producers decided to go in a different direction .
our final feed event in conjunction with elective affinities explored the “idea of the upper east side” . what outside and inside influences would make alice hauptmann ? feed brings together a fascinating duo of guests : justin davidson , architecture and classical music critic for new york magazine and jay mcinerney , author of bright lights , big city , considered by many to be the quintessential new york novel of the 1980s .
berlin’s artistic side was shown on film in berlin : symphony of a city ( 1927 ) and in rainer werner fassbinder’s epic berlin alexanderplatz ( 1980 ) , but the city’s film scene struggled through two wars and recovery was slow . the berlinale was set up in 1951 and is now one of the leading film events in the world , but it took decades to build its reputation .
i would hear this line again - from chopra and bridges and from the film ' s producers , sydney pollack and mark rosenberg . jamie ' s downfall implies that drugs are bad , they ' d say , but ' ' bright lights ' ' is not about drugs and clubs .
studio executives came around to bridges ' s final scene of jamie at dawn , but even now , it still isn ' t clear that anyone has agreed on what ' ' bright lights ' ' is all about .
thanks to gas lights , cities – the ultimate man - made environment – no longer had to follow the natural rhythms of the sun . in the heyday of gas , the flickering lights of the city became a powerful signifier of modernity . packed with the fruits of mass production , the new urban department stores turned themselves into glittering , brightly lit cathedrals of consumerism . in 1878 , eduardo de amicis , arrived in paris from italy . he was utterly astounded by the bright lights of this city of 1 . 8 million people , describing it as a modern
tower of babel
. his description of this dazzling city is wonderfully vivid and gives a powerful impression of what it must have been like :
bright lights , big city
isn ' t a disaster ; it ' s merely negligible . there ' s a fairly high level of craftsmanship on display here - - in gordon willis ' cinematography , even in bridges ' direction . some have suggested that because the book wasn ' t much to start with , the movie had to be lackluster as well . but the real drag of the film is that it fails even to deliver the small pleasures of the book . it fails even to be tawdry .
once upon a time the lure of hollywood called aspiring actors , screenwriters and filmmakers hoping to hit the big time to the city . for over a century , la was the place to be for everyone in the film industry but do you know the practical reasons behind lala land’s rise in popularity ?
stewart , garrett . “digital fatigue : imaging war in recent american film . ” film quarterly , vol . 62 , no . 4 ( summer 2009 ) : 45–55
a special edition dvd version of bright lights , big city was released on september 2 , 2008 . in her review for the washington post , jen chaney wrote ,
in the end , that ' s what is most disappointing about this dvd . what could have become a compelling look at a seminal novel of the 1980s and its rocky path through hollywood ends up being a rudimentary release with a couple of decent commentary tracks and two forgettable featurettes
.
i remembered this being an epic film , but my god it ' s awful .
' ' there is something in the persona of michael that makes you care what happens to him , no matter how bad the character is , ' ' says pollack . but the instant michael fox was cast , ' ' bright lights ' ' became a different film . this modest project was now a major commercial movie with a top box - office star , a $ 15 million budget and new york city locations , all in the hands of a director who had done one $ 2 million independent feature film .
valerian and the city of a thousand planets is not showing in any theaters in the area .
this book is one i believe everyone should read . the subject matter is poignant , still relevant and ( given the subject matter ) extremely clean . along with many , this book seems to me a prequel to bret easton ellis ‘s take on hip new york . while finishing it , i considered starting it over from the beginning immediately but have decided to reread american psycho first . bright lights , big city is a fast read and i think it is worth your time .
exactly one 108 minutes later , i still had no idea what to think about the film . in fact , i was reasonably sure that i had just weathered a coke binge and come shaking and miserable out of withdrawal . it’s not that bright lights , big city assaults the viewers with “shocking visuals” or “break - neck” ( read : sloppy ) editing , trying to “sublimate the psychological states of the protagonists into film form . ” god knows we have had enough of that as many directors who fancy themselves avant - garde apparently have made a pact to eschew the evocative properties of story - telling in favor of visceral reaction to flashing colors and the grotesque .
is this really a book all new yorkers have to read ? that ' s how it was brought to my attention and , perhaps because of that , i found it disappointingly 80s . i was expecting the city to be more of a character but instead it ' s all coke and bars and mocking of lit magazines - gawker before gawker existed . i feel like
bright lights , big city
belongs on a shelf with
american psycho
and
bonfire of the vanities .
the literary brat pack connection is obvious , the tom wolfe one maybe less so , but all
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
the hero of jay mcinerney ' s book ' ' bright lights , big city ' ' didn ' t have a name , but he certainly had a voice . on the other hand , the film version calls its leading character jamie conway and allows him no real equivalent of the novel ' s astute , dry , nicely self - mocking second - person narration . ' ' you are a republic of voices tonight , ' ' mr . mcinerney ' s hero tells himself at one juncture . ' ' unfortunately , that republic is italy . ' ' who could invent a visual or even conversational equivalent for that ?
that ' s the bad news , but there ' s good news too . the film version of ' ' bright lights , big city ' ' directed by james bridges , which opens today at loews astor plaza and other theaters , seems to know precisely what it can and cannot do , and to work well within those limitations . it may not capture mr . mcinerney ' s novel completely or even succeed in standing on its own , but it does go a long way toward bringing the book to life . if mr . mcinerney ' s readers think it incomplete , they should also find it enjoyably familiar .
before chopra was let go , james bridges ' s name showed up on a short list of possible replacements , along with the theater and movie director ulu grosbard and the australian director bruce beresford . bridges later recalled how the deal was cut over a weekend . on a friday , his agent called him at home in los angeles to say ' ' bright lights ' ' was in trouble . bridges read the novel that night . he flew to new york on sunday , saw chopra ' s film , and agreed to take on ' ' bright lights ' ' if he could start from scratch . on monday , he phoned gordon willis .
the second reason was a little more sneaky . thomas edison’s new jersey based company had a patent on motion pictures that couldn’t be enforced in the ‘wild west’ . this prompted producers looking for a loophole in the law to make the move and take the bright lights of the east coast with them to the city that was to become known as ‘tinseltown’ . by the 1920s , paramount , warner bros , columbia and many other well - known film studios had established themselves in hollywood .
pinewood studios and the warner bros studios at leavesden have contributed to the global success of london’s big budget productions and the highly skilled crews and film services in the city mean that not only do hollywood producers and production companies often chose to leave la to make their movies , but they leave the us in favour of all that london has to offer .
while you might interject here with the observation that my opinion was already shaped by my keen awareness of the actors’ catalogues , i must remind you that i am neither asserting that a “pure” experience of a film is ever possible nor that it was in any elaborate imaginative powers of mine to even attempt a speculation at what would come out if you mixed jay mcinerney’s second - person novel with back to the future and 24 . therefore , with all the ingenuous nonplus of child who has discovered a new combination of his favorite treats—poprocks and chocolate served me well—i cracked the case of bright lights , big city open and began to watch .
at lunchtime , bridges still has to check out the location for the film ' s final scene - a bakery where jamie will trade his sunglasses for some bread , watch the sun rise and decide to start his life all over again . this is the ending bridges , mcinerney and fox like , though they have shot an alternate to please the studio . that one is a hollywood - happy ending , flashing forward a year ; jamie has just finished writing a novel called ' ' bright lights , big city , ' ' and his new girlfriend is standing behind him saying , ' ' i ' m so proud . ' '
published in 1984 , bright lights , big city is famous for being a novel narrated entirely in the second person ; although it ' s neither the first or the only book to do that , somehow it became one of the better known examples of this technique . apparently , the novel began its life as a short story jay mcinerney published in a literary magazine , and which he later expanded into a full novel . aside from the neat narrative trick , there is not much that one can say about the contents of the novel itself
the city and its landmarks have been immortalised on celluloid more often than we could ever begin to imagine . even if you’ve never visited london , you’ll know westminster , big ben , buckingham palace and tower bridge at a glance . you’ve seen the bond movies !
you ' ve been meaning to read bright lights , big city for years , ever since hearing that it ' s written in the second person . you were intrigued , understandably . point of view in fiction has always been an area of interest , and you might be described as a sucker for narrative gimmicks . while preparing for a trip to manhattan , you entertained romantic fantasies of reading a novel set in new york during your stay . you forgot , as you always do , that you never manage to read while traveling , and that at
over 100 years later , la’s reputation as the world’s leading film hub comes down to the vast movie infrastructure in place in the city . those studios grew and developed along with the service providers . industry training and education around the city produced some of the world’s greatest talent . millions of people hoping to make their mark on the industry flocked to the city to seek their fame and fortune . some of them even found it !
il giorno come sempre sarà tu non sei esattamente il tipo di persona che ci si aspetterebbe di vedere in un posto come questo a quest’ora del mattino . questo è l’incipit , comincia proprio così . bright lights , big city – le mille luci di new york . e perché lui e il posto e l’ora del giorno non si accordano ? perché a quell’ora , le 4 del mattino , lui dovrebbe essere a casa a dormire , la mattina dopo deve andare al lavoro . sarà uno straccio per aver passato la notte in piedi . averla passata sniffando coc
what a joy this bloomsbury classic proved to be . first published in 1985 , i’d long written jay mcinnerney’s bright lights , big city off as a “drugs novel” — but how wrong could i be ? yes , there’s a little bit of cocaine use in it , but this is a brilliant and memorable novel about one of my favourite subjects in fiction : journalism . and , like many books of that ilk , it’s essentially a black comedy — and one that felt very close to my heart . the story revolves around a young man living a precarious
davis , mike . city of quartz : excavating the future in los angeles . ny : vintage books , 1992
the novel is fantastic , the film ? anything but . no surprise , the novel is unfilmable .
josh schwartz , right , with victoria justice on the set of his film
fun size .
by then , joel schumacher says , ' ' i began to feel as if i had stayed too long at the fair . ' ' tom cruise got tired of waiting . but before schumacher and cruise could be replaced , weintraub left united artists . ' ' bright lights ' ' became a pawn as he negotiated a complicated settlement with the studio , and months were lost before it became clear the picture would stay at united artists . it was late 1986 , months after schumacher thought his ' ' bright lights ' ' should have been released , and filming had not yet begun .
berlin is just a cool location for a film . probably the coolest city in europe , it inhales creatives . among them , young and exciting filmmakers , writers , performers and artists focus on creating rather than on the commercial elements of filmmaking . it’s a haven for low budget and indie film production . dreams of filmmakers are made even more attainable when you look at the many financing options available for visual media and film production .
changed from a modestly budgeted film to a major commercial feature shot on location in new york city with a top box - office movie star . fox used his clout to request kiefer sutherland play the part of tad allagash .
to be the most interesting one , especially in terms of fox’s acting . the film is an adaptation of
perhaps the best things i can say about this one are that it perfectly captured a perfectly nauseating time period in the mid - 80s and it certainly reinvigorated the use of second - person narrative with surprising elan ; perhaps the worst thing i could say about this one is that it drove me up the wall with its pathetically entitled non - entity of a so - called protagonist and it somehow made it okay to be a pretentious whiny twit and nihilistic fuck . well ok then . man i guess it ' s all about you mark , you ' re so bright lights , big city .
josh baskin ' s ( tom hanks ) flophouse apartment in big , complete with payphone , with stacks of coffee cups on top , on the wall outside his door .
this gritty drama follows two high school acquaintances , hancock , a basketball star , and danny , a geek turned drifter , after they graduate . the first film commissioned by the sundance film . . . see full summary »
i finally read bright lights , big city . i wanted to dislike it , to put it in the same category as american psycho and move on . but i ended up liking the book . i liked it a lot , actually . my main impressions were : ( 1 ) this is not the best book i ' ll ever read , but it ' s better than 95 percent of the books i pick up . the plot is very undeveloped , but the story hangs together extremely well . a series of collages tells you what you need to know without connecting the dots for you . this is uncommon in
i didn ' t expect to enjoy
bright lights , big city
, because the premise sounds so vile : cocaine - addled yuppie cracks up amid the glitzy world of 1980s manhattan . but from the first pages , i realized something no one had ever told me about mcinerney : he ' s a very funny writer . what ' s more , he makes the main character very sympathetic , so despite all the ridiculous , self - indulgent bullshit he pulls , you don ' t feel like he ' s a bad person , and you want him to be okay in the end . mcinerney also does a
john mascarin , aird and berlis llpwith film , television and digital production bringing billions of dollars into toronto every year , the shooting of scenes on the city’s streets and in its neighborhoods is simply a fact of urban living , . . .
encourage governor cuomo to sign the bill to expand the empire state film production tax credit program to the hudson valley .
however fox seems to be trying his absolute hardest to release himself from the shackles of typecasting , his character is the closest to an anti - hero as i’ve ever seen him play . jamie conway ( fox ) is a struggling writer trying to make it in the titular ‘big city ' ; after his wife…
michael j . fox has been dragged by the collar , thrashing and yelling , down the length of a fashion - show runway and tossed out the door several times . now , resting between takes on the set of ' ' bright lights , big city , ' ' he ' s sitting in the second - floor foyer of the parsons school of design in manhattan , joking with his real - life bodyguard , who plays the fashion - show bouncer on screen , and talking to jay mcinerney . suddenly fox and mcinerney look at each other and sing out , as if on cue , ' ' spo - o - o - ky ! ' '
today’s megacities have become the largest artificial structures ever built . in the nineteenth century , people were awed and even rather unnerved by the scale of what was then the largest city on the planet – london . today , the bright lights of the big city fill us with a mix of emotions – awe certainly , but also an unsettling sense of our chutzpah as a species . i have felt this in kowloon , staring out at night across the harbour to the glittering towers of hong kong island . it is an unforgettable sight . the soaring scale of the towers is historically quite recent , but such glittering skylines also speak to us of something that is as old as the first cities : of opportunity and the promise of a new beginning . it’s a powerful message that leaves few unmoved .
, a non - profit organization dedicated to make local work™ in fostering the further potential of film and tech in the hudson valley . with the goal to boost the local economy by bringing film and television production to the region , her passion
, a coup is being organised . the two dozen plotters and planners in the room are concerned principally with the following question : how do you take over the centre of the capital for four nights , close off traffic , extinguish the lights , and give large parts of the city over to the people ?
jay mcinerney , so far , is pleased with the movie ' s fidelity to his novel . but andy fogelson , who as united artists ' president of marketing is in charge of advertising the film , compares ' ' bright lights ' ' to ' ' terms of endearment . ' ' it is ' ' about people , ' ' he says , promising that you ' ll see ' ' michael j . fox as you know him and love him , plus . ' ' take alex keaton from ' ' family ties , ' ' he explains , ' ' send him to new york , have his mother die of cancer , have him marry a model - it ' s the same person . ' ' the same - only - different concept has to make you wonder if ' ' bright lights ' ' is out of trouble yet .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
woody allen’s midnight in paris ( 2011 ) was not his first film about the city and followed his 1996 movie everyone says i love you . richard linklater’s before sunset ( 2004 ) was possibly more of a love story about paris than it was about the characters .
in 2008 , london’s famous pinewood studios set down roots across the pond . it was toronto that they first chose to call home , making an important commitment to the future of the movie industry in canada and marking a significant chapter in the city’s film development . the studio opened the doors for the largest - scale productions to cross the border and the city’s booming industry has since gone from strength to strength .
even when the story lingers at times , the central character is played so strongly that you can still stay with the film .
a disillusioned young writer living in new york city turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife .
an action movie star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled new york city policeman , who finds him superficial and irritating .
the atlanta film industry generated $ 6b in the city’s economy last year . the state of georgia has the 3rd largest film production industry in the us and it looks like things are set to continue . the state easily offers the best tax incentives in the us to attract productions and the film industry in atlanta is known for having more of a ‘can do’ attitude than its glitzy , glossy rival cities . it also helps that a lot of georgia locations are permit - free , cutting through red - tape for producers and locations teams .
with the publication of bright lights , big city in 1984 , jay mcinerney became a literary sensation , heralded as the voice of a generation . the novel follows a young man , living in manhattan as if he owned it , through nightclubs , fashion shows , editorial offices , and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn . with nothing but goodwill , controlled substances , and wit to sustain him in this anti - quest , he runs until he reaches his reckoning point , where he is forced to acknowledge loss and , possibly , to rediscover his better instincts . this remarkable novel of youth and new york remains one of the most beloved , imitated , and iconic novels in america .
the film is a slice of life , with no begining or end , merely a real view of how life can . . .
the film , like the novel , is a nonjudgemental but candid depiction of the drug - fueled lifestyle of 1980s new york yuppies .
in 1863 , science fiction author jules verne looked forward in time to 1960 , when paris would be illuminated by the
incomparable radiance
of one hundred thousand electric streetlamps . [ 4 ] back in reality , the first arc lights were installed in a parisian department store in 1877 . the next year , electric street lighting was trialled in the city . large - scale electric street lighting was demonstrated for the first time at the international exposition of 1889 . at this and the 1900 exposition ( both lit by electricity ) , paris portrayed itself to the world as the city of the new century – the city of light .
it’s not just the french who have romanticised the city . international filmmakers have recognised the draw of paris and brought their stories of the city to life , from vincente minnelli’s 1952 classic an american in paris ( 1952 ) and the pink panther ( 1964 ) to bertolluci’s the dreamers ( 2003 ) .
when the crew started over , they knew that this time there would be no shoe leather - the movie term for filler , usually shots of people walking down the street . word went out that chopra ' s dailies had been nothing but shoe leather , and the film crew ' s baseball team adopted as their logo the old shoe in the barred red circle . the no - shoe - leather t - shirt may have been a cruel joke , but it suited the new irreverence of ' ' bright lights . ' '
it’s the clever incentives put in place by the state that really bring productions to albuquerque and have kept them coming back in recent years . from generous tax credits to financial incentives for training local crews , filming in new mexico is an attractive prospect . it’s especially popular with low budget indie film producers . add to all that the top class film schools in the region educating the next generation of filmmakers and you’re looking at a very bright and sustainable future for filmmaking in the state .
labels : 1980s , drama , james bridges , jay mcinerney , kiefer sutherland , michael j . fox , new york city , phoebe cates , swoosie kurtz
mr . mcinerney ' s book has rightly been compared with j . d . salinger ' s ' ' catcher in the rye ' ' for its complete immediacy , its funny , vibrant and original style , its young man ' s view of responsibility and authority , and its underlying pain . when a book leaves its mark upon a generation in the way that these have , the movie - making impulse is seldom far behind . but in this case , it ' s a misguided one , at least to some degree . too much of what makes ' ' bright lights , big city ' ' so irresistible on the page - its knowing tone , its brisk rhythm , its droll wit and even its nonchalant , unassuming manner - simply cannot be translated to the screen .
for three whirlwind weeks in july , participants in the very first stockade works crew boot camp worked alongside industry professionals to learn key positions on a film set and then put those skills to the test during a low - budget independent film shoot entitled , “the rest of us . ”
i really liked jay mcinerney ' s bright lights , big city when i read it about a thousand years ago , but , because i read it about a thousand years ago , i barely remember it . still , even though i ' m casting my mind back about a thousand years ago , i feel that , despite the script being written by mcinerney himself , this movie doesn ' t capture the spirit of the book . like the awful adaptation of less than zero ( but not nearly as bad ) , the movie seems to want to wedge a hollywood narrative into a story where it can never really work . i liked some things about this . michael j . fox is always fun to watch . there ' s some great tunes on the soundtrack . there ' s phoebe…
. i would’ve liked to have seen fox take more chances like he did with this film . instead , he retreated back to safe comedies like
le0pard13 : thanks for the compliments ! i have a strange fascination with this film and less than zero . both quite flawed but interesting snap shots of their times nonetheless . it really is a shame about fox but once you make an impact in the kinds of films and tv shows he did , the public didn ' t want to see him do anything else . and yeah , bright lights had quite the troubled production and it is a miracle that anything coherent was produced ! as for kiefer sutherland in this film , i could easily have seen james spader in the role but he might ' ve made the character too unlikable . still , maybe that would ' ve been a good thing ! i actually just finished reading mcinerney ' s book and it ' s quite good . i was surprised at how faithful the film is to it .
the making of ' ' bright lights ' ' is the tale of a movie cursed by typical hollywood wheeling and dealing , frightened at the thought of a drug - using hero , faked out by a directors ' strike that never came . when the movie finally opens in march , it will have gone through two studios , three directors , five screenwriters and countless detours around the novel . after three frustrating years , the shooting script was written in one week , the movie shot in just six , and ' ' bright lights ' ' came full circle , emerging as a movie more faithful to the book than mcinerney ' s own first version of the screenplay ever was . ' ' it was phenomenal , ' ' fox said the day shooting was finished . ' ' the only way we could do it was not to know the impossibility of doing it . ' '
in diesem film geht es viel darum , wie emotionen einen menschen in die falsche richtung lenken kann und das bringt er auch verdammt gut rüber . emotional kann der film einen gut mitnehmen und es gibt ein paar szenen bei denen ich wirklich kurz davor war zu weinen . michael j . fox spielt fantastisch und zeigt mal das er auch andere charaktere spielen kann . ohne sein geniales schauspiel hätte mich der film wahrscheinlich nicht so emotional abgeholt . wirklich großes lob ! es…
there are two things that went wrong with this film . first and foremost is that michael j . fox is totally miscast for his role . i can understand him wanting to break away from the alex keaton character on
family ties .
but , although he tries , he simply isn ' t right as a coke - addled , anguished writer . and it knocks the whole film off - kilter . another problem is that the story doesn ' t translate easily onto film . there are some compensations - great supporting cast , catchy theme song (
kiss & tell
by bryan ferry ) , and excellent use of new york city locations . but they weren ' t enough to make the film a success , and the disappointing returns at the box office bear this out .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
a cramped apartment full of movie lights becomes unbearable on a hot summer day . a living room has been made to look like a downtown loft , and extras are crowded in to film a party scene . ' ' bright lights ' ' will wrap in two days , one day ahead of schedule , and by now everyone is worn out . tempers are controlled , but it has been a trying morning . a publicist brought the director brian de palma on the set , unannounced and uninvited - a terrible faux pas . bridges doesn ' t show his anger to the crew , but he ' s incensed . willis seems as calm as ever . ' ' do you all have ulcers ? ' ' i ask him . he smiles and says , ' ' not me , i ' m a carrier . ' '
by the time chopra arrived , ' ' bright lights ' ' had been kicking around hollywood for two and a half years - not long for most movie properties , but this was the novel that defined hip , early 80 ' s style . when chopra began filming in april 1987 , the age of the couch potato was dawning , the club culture was on the wane and cocaine use had become less openly fashionable . the time - lag problem entered the producers ' minds - ' ' i saw a village voice cover asking , ' is downtown dead ? ' and wanted to throw myself in front of traffic , ' ' mark rosenberg says - then left their minds as quickly . ' ' no one ever thought of doing it as a period piece . that ' s boring , ' ' he says . and anyway , ' ' bright lights ' ' is not about drugs and clubs .
is this really a book all new yorkers have to read ? that ' s how it was brought to my attention and , perhaps because of that , i found it disappointingly 80s . i was expecting the city to be more of a character but instead it ' s all coke and bars and mocking of lit magazines - gawker before gawker existed . i feel like
bright lights , big city
belongs on a shelf with
american psycho
and
bonfire of the vanities .
the literary brat pack connection is obvious , the tom wolfe one maybe less so , but all three of these books start with shallow characters sinking in 80s excess and try to remove the facade . of the three ,
american psycho
is my favorite - and the most successful . a reviewer below compared douglas coupland to jay mcinerney , but i ' ve generally found coupland ' s characters to be more relatable than the main character here . maybe it ' s just that i was 20 when i read a lot of coupland .
“a lot of people , a lot of studios , wished tombstone would just die . kevin costner was gearing up his film wyatt earp at t . . .
this post was inspired by mr . peel ' s excellent take on this film over at his blog . here is a good fan site dedicated to the book .
blogger ' s note : this is the first of what i hope will be an ongoing series of tributes to film critics that inspired me . wheneve . . .
the extraordinary filmmaker brandon colvin has just recently launched a kickstarter campaign to help fiance his upcoming film , * a dim valley * , and i would . . .
owen was a veteran of the millennium eve celebrations and the queen mother’s funeral . jacobi’s unusual rigging had done the lighting installations for the phantom of the opera , the royal tattoo and secret cinema’s the empire strikes back , as well as many city - wide celebrations . “a lot of the structures that we use were really invented between tim and aj maybe 15 or 20 years ago in order to deliver big state occasions , ” says marriage .
hong kong’s recognisable cityscape has been used in some of the most memorable films ever made . the city’s indigenous film industry is legendary . who can forget enter the dragon ( 1973 ) , crouching tiger , hidden dragon ( 2000 ) , infernal affairs ( 2002 ) or kung fu hustle ( 2004 ) ? and who hasn’t heard of jackie chan and bruce lee ?
so the actual 30th anniversary of this film was actually yesterday but whatever . i thought rdj was a hot mess in my less than zero review . well mjf is a hottest mess in the history of hot messes in this film ! he basically goes down the rabbit hole here as he is addicted to booze and drugs and even valium ! i do have to give this film credit for a glorious late 80’s cast , including phoebe cates , now 88 year old frances sternhagen , swoosie kurtz , and it’s basically a lost boys reunion as both kiefer sutherland and diane weist are in this thing ! for a film that is over 30 years old now , there are a few people gone , including…
today , for the first time in history more than half the population of the planet live in cities . two hundred years ago , just three per cent were city dwellers , but by 2050 , 75 per cent will be urbanites . city is the ultimate guidebook for our urban age , taking the reader on a journey through the past , present and future of the world ' s cities . illustrated throughout and with essays on everything from ellis island and eco - cities , to street food and tahrir square , this is a fascinating celebration of our greatest creation – the city . more
the einstein family firm had its biggest success in 1888 , when it won the contract to supply power and lighting to the munich suburb of schwabing , where author thomas mann would soon live . it was not until six years later that the city of munich took the decision to introduce electric street lighting . although the new lights were undoubtedly brighter , they cost four times as much as gas lamps . but installing electric street lighting was now about far more than practicalities – it had become a matter of civic pride . everyone was convinced that electricity would be the urban energy of the new century : the city of the future would be wired .
long before mark hamill returned to the sci - fi film role that made him a household name , the once notable jedi knight was slumming it in extended cameos in . . .
we all dream of cruising down rodeo drive as we drive to the studio from our beverly hills mansion , but with many cities now offering world class movie making facilities all around the world , the options for where to shoot your next project are on the increase . locations managers have the tough job of weighing up all the pros and cons for each city . for people who work in film , there’s no need to be tied to one place . here are 10 cities around the world with a vibrant film production scene that you should probably know more about .
the following is an aggregation of what i ' ve determined to be the film world ' s greatest examples of screenwriting spanning the years 1925 - 2017 . this is par . . .
pisters , patricia . “logistics of perception 2 . 0 : multiple screen aesthetics in iraq war films . ” film philosophy , vol . 14 , no . 1 ( 2010 ) : 232–252


duel of fists ( chinese : 拳擊 ; quan ji or kuen gik ) is a 1971 hong kong martial arts film directed by chang cheh and starring david chiang and ti lung .

filmed on location in bangkok , the story concerns a hong kong engineer ( chiang ) who goes to thailand to find his long-lost half-brother ( ti lung ) , who is a muay thai boxer .

duel of fists

with the headline : review / film : diggstown ; a duel of cynics , with wits and fists .
even without benefit of hindsight , duel looks like the work of an unusually talented young director .
disc # 1 - - sword masters : duel of fists play feature scene selection set up audio mandarin 2 . 0 stereo mandarin dolby digital 5 . 1 english 2 . 0 stereo english dolby digital 5 . 1 subtitles english subtitles : on english subtitles : off original trailers play all the battle wizard brave archer and his mate brothers five death duel duel of fists duel of the century the heroic ones holy flame of the martial world journey of the doomed swordsman and the enchantress the trail of the broken blade two champions of shaolin the web of death
duel is great , the tension and cinematography was incredible and i loved it .
although most of it was filmed in thailand and despite its flashy production and groundbreaking ideas , “duel of fists” is probably one of chang cheh’s most halfassed attempts in the early 1970s . it’s hard to believe that this is the same guy and literally the same stars that did the rock solid “vengeance” and “anonymous heroes . ” not that “duel of fists” is a bad movie , but considering its brutal themes , it could have been better .
popular shaw brothers babes ti lung and david chiang star in yet another chang cheh film about fraternal love , duel of fists . this came runner up to the big boss in the 1971 hong kong box office , but it’s much better .
duel of fists is similar to the anonymous heroes in that it’s ultimately a minor chang cheh film , but that doesn’t stop it from being highly entertaining and interesting in its own right . despite having a similar title to the duel , the story in duel of fists is much more straightforward . but where duel of fists breaks ground and offers chang cheh another opportunity to step up his game is in its location shooting , taking the shaw team on the road to bangkok and offering up the exotic sights of 1970s thailand to enthrall viewers . the film also explores the subculture surrounding the muay thai boxing circuit , becoming one of the first , if not the first , film to feature the style . i can’t find any information on any films prior to this that featured muay thai , but as info is hard to come by on these films i think it’s best to say it’s “one of the first” instead of making unfounded , broad claims .
although duel of fists ended up being a bit overshadowed by bruce lee’ coming , its initial success and the riveting fierceness found in muay thai left enough of an impression to have led to the emergence of a minor thai boxing subgenre in its wake . such movies as king boxer , the boxers , greatest thai boxer , maui thai fists , fist of steel , the dark alley and bloody ring ( action choreography by sammo hung ) were either centred on muay thai or had a kung - fu meets kickboxing angle . actress pawana chanajit was even hired to be one of king boxer’s
for chang cheh , duel of fists is a rather bloodless film , so it’s all the more surprising when david chiang puts his hand into a dude’s stomach during the finale . whoa ! didn’t see that coming ! chang also utilizes small bits of editing to recall previous martial feats by chiang ( breaking wooden posts with his hands , etc . ) , cutting in shots of these feats upon impact to emphasize the hit chiang just laid down on his opponent . i really loved this technique , and it added a lot of the brutal , wince - inducing “oh shit ! ” factor that gouts of blood usually bring , without resorting to those huge gouts of blood . while i’m glad he often chose to go the gory route , i enjoyed the simple and effective artistry of the editing techniques seen in the final fight of duel of fists . and besides , if chang cheh made this film overly bloody it would have robbed david chiang’s final , red - tastic costume change of its visceral impact . 🙂
duel of fist was another hit from the
iron triangle
of director chang cheh and stars david chiang and ti lung . and , as with all the director ' s classics , one good hit deserves another , so . . . see full summary »
for one thing , in real life ti lung was a diligent wing - chung exponent and even after making duel he continued training in muay thai . he may not have been a master or a champion in the way that bruce lee was but he was genuinely adept at martial arts . duel’s big villain chen sing was a seasoned karate practitioner who conveyed a raw and gritty power that more than matched ti lung’s own . while in duel chiang’s fights were done in the conventional swingy arms way , chang cheh’s desire to display both realistic kick - boxing matches and ti lung’s own impressive physicality showed that he was going toward a similar goal of martial art authenticity later solely attributed to bruce lee . if anything , bruce lee’s instant success must have shown chang that with duel he was going in the right direction .
over all then , duel is therefore not overly recommended to anyone who isn’t a ti lung , muay thai or kung - fu cinema dedicated appreciator . for the first the movie shows ti lung at his bare - chested fighting furious best while for the second it offers the rare and offbeat showcase of a muay thai centred k - f movie . finally for the third , beyond an appreciably gritty fighting spectacle duel gives an instructive glimpse into the formative years of h - k made kung - fu cinema at the very threshold of bruce lee’s arrival .
bruce lee’s earthshaking arrival broke chiang and ti lung’s blood brothers movies popular momentum . two more were made , including a sequel to duel titled the angry guest ( feb . 72 ) , but neither of them added anything new . thus duel of fists had seen the cycle reaching its creative apex . chang cheh , ti lung and chiang therefore moved on , the first to help launch kung - fu medalled champion chen kuan - tai as shaw’s answer to bruce lee but that’s another story . within two years bruce lee died while chiang and ti lung enjoyed lengthy film careers in martial art cinema and beyond . director chang cheh himself continued to be an innovative martial - art director for most of the decade but past the mid - seventies his movies never enjoyed the popularity they had from 1967 to 1972 .
the film pits the awesome talents of richard matheson . . . with spielberg , delivering one of the best genre films of the past 50 years .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
simply a rivetingly murderous game of cat and mouse that keeps you on the edge of your seat .
disc # 1 - - sword masters : duel of fists 1 . chapter 1 [ 13 : 12 ] 2 . chapter 2 [ 7 : 29 ] 3 . chapter 3 [ 8 : 26 ] 4 . chapter 4 [ 9 : 50 ] 5 . chapter 5 [ 9 : 33 ] 6 . chapter 6 [ 12 : 49 ] 7 . chapter 7 [ 6 : 38 ] 8 . chapter 8 [ 2 : 54 ] 9 . chapter 9 [ 12 : 48 ] 10 . chapter 10 [ 8 : 18 ]
lei li lost his right - arm in a sword duel with the master of a martial arts school , long ago . now , he is able to defend himself well with just his left arm , and kung fu techniques . that he . . . see full summary »
. some of the exterior scenes would even be done on location . chang’s series of unprecedented choices was probably led by the desire to both have a nice change of scenery as well as making the martial - art fighting more realistically fierce and brutal than ever , a set of qualities that are found in muay thai kick - boxing . in any case , as nearly all of chang’s movies were dominated by the imagery of muscular young men cutting or gutting themselves with swords , daggers and hatchets , it can be safely assumed that the mere sight of a muay thai match with it’s young boxers in tight , colourful shorts fiercely fighting one another with fists , kicks and knee jambs must have made quite a vivid impression on him .
duel of fists isn’t as good as it could’ve been , but i still enjoyed the hell out of it . it felt like a good mix between chang’s previous non - martial arts focused films such as stuff like dead end , the singing killer , or the anonymous heroes , and his more well - known , action pictures . it’s also interesting to see how he balances the film between the civilized brutality of the sanctioned ring fighting , and the more traditional shaw brothers free - for - all brawls . and no matter if you like this film or not , david chiang’s wardrobe was just killing it in this movie . if i ever go to bangkok , i should be so lucky as to walk off the plane with as much style as he had here .
that being said , some of the fights are a bit lame . even with tang chia and lau kar - leung choreographing everything , there’s still more than this movie’s share of boring group battles . it’s especially sad because they managed to create such iconic , impressive group fights in the duel , so i would have thought that they’d at least be close to that level here . it’s not a big concern because the fights are always fun , but more than a few times they could easily be better . the in - ring fights , though , are a lot more interesting ( at least to me ) . they aren’t going for flashy there either , instead trying to craft realistic , but exciting movie battles that look like real fights . coupled with the rather static filming of these fights , i think they pulled it off really well . and besides , after so many shaw films featuring variations on similar kung fu forms , the muay thai here was fascinating and a real treat . but that’s me , and i imagine many modern viewers will be bored and fail to see the exotic allure that a lot of duel of fists is built upon . after tony jaa , it’s a little hard to go back to this , and i totally understand that .
a post mortem examination had revealed no evidence that former movie star pawana chanachit was murdered , pol col pornchai suthirakhun , deputy chief of the institution of forensic medicine of the police general hospital , said on tuesday .
in this tv movie , dennis weaver is driving down a deserted southern california highway when he passes a large gas trailer truck . moments later , the truck dangerously tailgates weaver before abruptly cutting him off . weaver and the never - seen truckdriver then engage in a motorized duel . . . to the death .
yes , you could probably say action is what this film is all about , but to me it was all about style . as one of the few shaw brothers films set in the present day , duel of fists has license to be a 70’s film , with all that that entails . david chiang has never looked more comfortable than in the varying succession of groovy threads he gets to wear throughout the film ( watch out for the cowboy - pimp outfit he sports at the end of the film ) . even the henchmen get to dress up , and the group brawls are given a visual boost as our heroes are surrounded by goons in a myriad of brightly coloured shirts , offset by painfully tight looking flairs . if that’s not enough , david chiang also demonstrates the best way to avoid a car and pick up a date at the same time ( take note people ) . ti lung also gets some good outfits , but none to rival david’s . if the fashion isn’t enough , there’s a great funky soundtrack and more whip pans then you can poke a stick at .
over the years ti lung developed a following in the west among hong kong cinema fans , while david chiang on the other hand became one of the most overlooked k - f star - players . some fans it seems even developed a strong deprecating view of him , questioning his looks , acting and screen - fighting skills . they were a bit annoyed by his usually wily and perpetually smirking screen persona and strongly resented that chiang regularly upstaged ti lung in the fights or as the film’s real dramatic focus . duel of fists probably helped to develop such ill appreciation . indeed , while in the film a bare - chested ti lung delivered a fierce , gruelling and authentic looking fighting performance in the ring , swingy arms chiang on the other hand was seen easily besting half a dozen opponents at a time in those stylized whirlwind fights . it was also the slender chiang who was given the film’s final showdown against karate powerhouse chen seng while ti lung was on the sideline . finally , as the film was set in the early seventies , chiang was forced to wear some of period’s most horrendous examples of garish fashion run amok , not the best way to make a good impression .
mr apicha said he was later informed of pawana ' s death at about 3am .
pack your beach blanket for a bittersweet tale of love and summer ' s magic .
slavery is the daughter of darkness ; an ignorant people is the blind instrument of its own destruction ; ambition and intrigue take advantage of the credulity and inexperience of men who have no political , economic or civil knowledge . they mistake pure illusion for reality , license for freedom , treason for patriotism , vengeance for justice .
- simón bolívar
as chinese boxer ended up the box office champion of the year , it’s likely the huge success met by wang yu prompted chang to follow suit with a k - f movie of his own . instead of making a film around chinese kung - fu though he hit on the idea of making one centred on thailand’s muay thai . he also decided to set the film in contemporary time as well as outside of china ; in thailand’s own capital bangkok
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unusually for a shaw brothers film , much of this was shot in thailand . having the real locations instead of cheap sets ( though there are still some in there ) really helps this film , and sets it apart from many of the run of the mill efforts that came out that the same time . it also adds an authentic touch that grounds the picture .
two men , one a businessman skilled in kung fu , the other a kickboxer discover they are brothers , and together , both in and out of the ring , they must face a crime syndicate . one of the first films to use the martial art of muay thai .
here ' s another fine example of the iron triangle ' s early ' 70s dominance . not to be confused with the same year ' s stunningly bloody the duel , this one revolves around the brutal sport of thai boxing . david chiang is the lead , modeling an endless supply of jaunty hats and kerchiefs as he travels from hong kong to thailand in search of a half - brother he learns about from his dying father . all he knows is that the guy is a boxer and has a certain tattoo . it ' s therefore lucky that while hanging around the stadium , he makes fast friends with young muay thai combatant ti lung , who has his own impressive kerchief stash . ti is indeed chiang ' s bro , and even if he ' s able to…
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. . . ' road rage ' taken to new heights of exploitation by the boy wonder .
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unusually for a shaw brothers film , much of this was shot in thailand . having the real locations instead of cheap sets ( though there are still some in there ) really helps this film , and sets it apart from many of the run - of - the - mill efforts that came out at the same time . it also adds an authentic touch that grounds the picture .
urltoken back in the day before steven spielberg became an enormously acclaimed filmmaker irresponsibly recognized by the oscars for directing epic , arty , classy dramas , he was unrecognized for his talent in the thriller genre . when he began he directed his incredible debut feature , a little monster of an exploitation movie called
duel .
although it was filmed on a micro budget and was regarded as a throwaway b movie by the studio that backed it ' s production , it remains one of the most skilfully crafted television movies ever produced , and to a greater extent it is among spielberg ' s greatest films if not the very best of his prestigious cinema legacy . interestingly ever since it ' s creation a number of spielberg ' s well known films pay homage to duel through similar uses of camera shots and characters originating from this film , including that of close encounters of the third kind , and jaws . needless to say that it is incredibly tense and endlessly terrifying . it it essentially the perfect demonstration that ambition and imagination is superior to massive cgi creations when it comes to making the most skillful and enjoyable horror films for both genre fanatics and the general popcorn audience . not only is dennis weaver ' s twitchy , quirky , paranoid performance absolutely terrific , but the direction is absolutely phenomenal for a feature debut . spielberg get ' s just about everything in this genre movie correct , it has an opportunist plot , a fantastic lead , endless tension and sets his career up for greater triumphs . it has a marvelous hitchcock meets
the twilight zone
influenced narrative that makes for a great atmosphere enhanced with spellbinding music and sound effects as well as eery voice over work and silent suspense . duel is basically a darkly haunting benchmark in demonstrating how a finely ambitious small screen director can be instantly transformed into hollywood ' s most admired , all due to one influential and timeless hit .
an autopsy will be conducted on tuesday to establish the exact cause of her death , police said .
dubbed the
pearl of asia
, pawana ' s acting career ran from 1960 to 1979 .
the macho behavior of the characters carries over into the method of the film itself . it has a way of running headlong into situations it never completely resolves . yet in an unexpected way , that is part of the movie ' s appeal . like mr . woods ' s gabe , a tireless operator ,
diggstown
is a lot cannier than its sometimes rather slapdash manners would seem to indicate .
this is among the most flawless pieces of entertainment [ steven spielberg ] ever put his name to .
when his father , the owner of a respected chinese boxing institute , dies of a heart attack on the eve of a trip to thailand , loyal son fan ko ( david chiang ) takes over the family business , and travels to bangkok in search of the brother he never met . along the way , fan ko befriends a talented thai - chinese boxer ( ti lung ) who aids him in his quest .
the indomitable martial arts team of director chang cheh and stunt choreographer liu chia - liang continues the compelling saga of golden swallow from king hu ' s come drink with me in this . . . see full summary »
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my personal collection of east asian movies on plex . apart from a hundred movies and documentaries that currently is not…
what i believe to be the definitive list of martial arts films produced by the shaw brothers studio . let me…
brought a power , grace and authentic “vibe” to his fight scenes that were totally electrifying . nearly overnight he generated a level of excitement among both the viewing audience and the film industry that shook h - k cinema to its foundation and made lee the biggest movie star hong - kong ever had . in the end the bruce lee film not only topped the box office charts but also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor ; duel , 3 . 2 million to 1 . 7 . naturally it totally eclipsed chang cheh , david chiang and ti lung’s own respectable achievement .
a group of bandits kidnaps the governor ' s son and demands their imprisoned leader to be set free in exchange .
there are plenty of engineers in the world but only a few have martial arts training like you do .
fan ke ( david chiang ) fulfils his dad’s last wish by travelling to thailand to locate his long lost half - brother , played by wenlie ( ti lung ) . here’s the catch : wenlie is a professional fighter in the deadly underworld of thai kickboxing . not only that , he is hounded by illegal businessmen who wants a piece of his success . with the help of fan ke , the two set out to fight the baddies , both in and out of the ring .
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ying ke - feng , head of peerless manor , is an expert swordsman whose escort business transports 200 , 000 taels of silver to the capital each year . this year , however , he is afflicted with an . . . see full summary »
two men , one a businessman skilled in kung fu , the other a kickboxer discover they are brothers , and together , both in and out of the ring , they must face a crime syndicate . one of the . . . see full summary »
the golden age of kung - fu film ' s first superstar jimmy wang yu ( even before bruce lee ) wrote , directed and starred in his classic favorite of a noble young martial arts student who won ' t . . . see full summary »
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the final student of a dying martial arts master is instructed to locate the previous five students and defeat any evil ones among them .
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movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
a young man sworn to an oath of non - violence works with his cousins in an ice factory where they mysteriously begin to disappear .
that doesn ' t mean it ' s perfect . women may well be put off by it . the heart of the movie is a series of brutal and hilarious ring confrontations that send up the kind of heart - rending nonsense the
rocky
films trade in . ( mr . mckay ' s next produced screenplay , it ' s reported , will be sylvester stallone ' s
rambo iv .
)
導演：張徹 director : chang cheh 國術社負責人范勤廉擬往泰國尋找舊情人兩母子，不幸心臟病猝死，其子范克（姜大衛）僅憑一張褪色相片與其同父異母兄之臂上有梅花刺青為線索代父搜尋此未曾謀面之母子二人。青年拳手汶烈（狄龍）為母籌集治病費用打拳而引出一番是非，最後范終於找到右臂有刺青的人。 another triumph for the
iron triangle
of director chang cheh and stars davie chiang and ti lung - not to mention action choreographer liu chia - liang . chiang is a chinese boxer who travels to bangkok in search of his lost brother , who may ( or may not ) be the thai boxer played by lung . in any case , this kung - fu / thai boxing combo was one of the mega hits of 1971 , second only to bruce lee ' s the big boss . * dolby digital * aspect ratio 1 : 2 . 35
diggstown
isn ' t overtly chauvinist , but it exemplifies a kind of macho fiction that is usually no less tawdry than the male characters it tries to canonize . like don siegel ' s
escape from alcatraz
and robert aldrich ' s
emperor of the north pole
and
all the marbles ,
this new film somehow transcends its rather parochial roots to become a first - rate work of legitimate if eccentric order .
this 1971 made - for - tv movie was one of steven spielberg ' s auditions for jaws , and the same slickly impersonal shock effects prevail .
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one thing’s for certain , this film is trendsetting . it is one of the earliest attempts at making action packed “tournament” films like “rocky” and the “karate kid . ” more importantly , it was also one of the first films to showcase thai kickboxing , a sport that was made a household name by van damme over a decade later . even lo wei’s “the big boss” ( also filmed thailand around the same time ) didn’t take advantage of this brutal thai martial art .
during chiang’s initial time in thailand , the film has something of a travelogue - like quality , showing us the sites as he travels around . eventually he finds himself at the boxing arena , and here the allure of a foreign culture continues to take precedence over story for chang cheh . the first muay thai match is
set in contemporary bangkok , it ' s partly a proto - kickboxer , partly a tourism promotional film , and partly standard chang revenge fare . the other two sides of the
iron triangle
, david chiang and ti lung , play long - lost brothers reunited on the thai fight circuit but few of the fights stand out .
the film ' s rusted , growling tanker truck is an obvious predecessor to the man - eating great white of jaws . and it ' s every bit as terrifying .
at 24 , spielberg demonsrated his technical virtuosity with his first made for tv feature , a nail - biting suspenser of a salesman pursued on the roadby a mad trucker .
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i’m not a practitioner or a scholar of muay thai or anything , so i can’t comment on the accuracy of the depiction here , but the movements felt true and i was impressed with how well both ti lung and ku feng were able to make their fighting look believable . neither actor looked like they were performing anything close to the kung fu seen in previous shaw bros films , which is mighty impressive . we often place our barometer of acting quality on an actor’s ability to convey realistic drama , but this type of psychical acting should not be discredited . at this point it’s probably unnecessary to say , but i don’t think chang cheh could have made this film a few years earlier with jimmy wang yu . while i have come to respect and enjoy a good wang yu film , he just didn’t have the martial ability necessary to make something like this believable . this also hammers home how different martial arts films had become at the time , just six short years after temple of the red lotus kicked off the modern era of fight films .
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mr apicha , 21 , said one of the workers phoned him and told him that pawana had mysteriously disappeared . he then called pawana ' s relatives to go to her house .
there were several bruises , which could have been caused by body contacts with any object , on the bodyand minor minor injuries at the nape of her neck and on her limbs .
she was initially believed to have falled into the pond and drowned , but police said on monday they had not ruled out the possibility of murder , as alleged by her brother .
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fair use
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pol col pornchai said it was possible that pawana had fainted and drowned , since she had a medical record of treatment for diabetes , heart disease , high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol .
i suspect that the thai government or the thai tourism dept . had a role in making this movie happen . it was noticeably generous and fair in it ' s depiction of thailand and bangkok , with several scenes of straight tourism from the hong kong hero . the plot was very slight . the fights were frequent , unspectacular , and unbelievable . people magically heal overnight . does the long time muay thai champ called
killer
really have a title fight every day ? best part of movie were the increasingly gay outfits worn by the hk hero on vacation . forgettable .
the static in - ring footage is finally pushed to the side for the climactic battle between ti lung and ku feng . the camera gets inside the ring ( at times ) , and actively tries to deliver both a stunning action sequence and a realistic portrayal of a heart - pounding fight . i don’t think it fully succeeds at this , especially with so many of the blows clearly not hitting the other fighter , but it still works despite the flaws . the choreography here is noticeably more movie - like too , making this one of the most exciting moments in the film .
yes , you could probably say action is what this film is all about , but to me it was all about style . as one of the few shaw brothers films set in the present day ,
doctors had gathered some samples from her body for a dna test to establish if anyone else was involved in her death . results of the tests would be known in two weeks , pol col pornchai said .
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gabe ' s intended mark is john gillon ( bruce dern ) , the soft - spoken , politely menacing mr . big of diggs town , who came into his position some years before as a result of a legendary bout that is still spoken about in hushed , somewhat embarrassed tones . everybody knows that the bout was crooked , but not to what degree . gabe and gillon are perfectly matched in their sparring outside the ring .
the film opens at songkran , the thai new year festival traditionally held from april 13th–15th and celebrated by throwing water on random strangers . we are given a taste of things to come , before being quickly whisked back to hong kong , where david chiang plays a civil engineer . one day , his father confesses on his deathbed that he once had an affair with a thai girl during one of his business trips , and he asks david to find his half - brother that he never knew he had . so off chiang goes , and we go with him to experience the exotic culture and country , as well as a different breed of martial arts film .
this is more memorable for its lurid ' 70s fashions than anything else - far from chang ' s best and outdone by another thai - set hong kong movie of that year : the altogether more auspicious the big boss .
the shaolin temple is the last place to resist defeat by the manchu dynasty , mostly because of their unique fighting style . men from far and wide come to wait outside the temple , hoping . . . see full summary »
apicha laosaengtong , pawana ' s adopted son , told investigators that pawana had been living with nattapong luangsirikul , aged 57 , for more than 10 years . they opened a grapefruit shop in front of their house and hired two workers .
chang cheh’s direction in non - action scenes have never been a problem , but this one drags . at one point , i wanted it to end . there was enough action , it just wasn’t hard - hitting enough . the bad editing ( or lack of ) didn’t help either . a lot of the bullshit could have been toned down , for example : the two ugly wenches – one did nothing but cry and the other was like a giddy filipina mail order bride on heroin .
the former movie star , know as the
pearl of asia
. her body was found around 3am on sunday in a pond near her home in nakhon chaisi district ofnakhon pathom . pawana was her stage name . she was born aranyaporn laosaengthong .
another thing that sets this film apart is the fight choreography . it ' s some of the best i ' ve seen , and it should come as no surprise that it was done by the legendary lau kar leung . lau has always taken care to showcase the real martial art where possible and you can see that here are some very accurate muay thai bouts . ti lung makes a credible thai boxer , showing why he was one of the shaw brothers best screen fighters . the action outside the ring is purposefully less pure : it ' s not kung fu , it ' s brawling , and there are some really well staged group battles . there ' s a lot of action in this film ; the two distinct styles ( and inventive choreography and camerawork ) keep the film from getting repetitive . you could argue that there would probably be more guns around at the time , but when we get to see chiang and lung kicking and punching their way through hordes of goons , we can ' t complain .
the scam takes him to diggstown , a small georgia town that seems to be as fantastic as brigadoon but far less benign . gabe has learned of the place through his cellmate . halfway between nowhere and nowhere , diggstown looks like any other sleepy , utterly corrupt speed - trap , but it ' s different . it ' s the center for what ' s known as cash fighting , epic boxing matches that are supervised by no one except the high rollers who arrange and bet on them . they aren ' t the kind of matches that are recorded in the almanacs .
pol lt - col pinyo muksiksarn , the duty officer at nakhon chaisri station , said on monday that he received a report about 3am that pawana ' s body had been found on the ledge of a pond near her house on nakhon chaisri - pinklao road , near the thai human imagery museum .
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has license to be a 70 ' s film , with all that that entails . david chiang has never looked more comfortable than in the varying succession of groovy threads he gets to wear throughout the film ( watch out for the cowboy - pimp outfit he sports at the end of the film ) . even the henchmen get to dress up , and the group brawls are given a visual boost as our heroes are surrounded by goons in a myriad of brightly - colored shirts , offset by painfully tight looking flares . if that ' s not enough , david chiang also demonstrates the best way to avoid a car and pick up a date at the same time ( take note people ) . ti lung also gets some good outfits , but none to rival david ' s . if the fashion isn ' t enough , there ' s a great funky soundtrack and more whip pans then you can poke a stick at .
, without any flourish to the filmmaking . it simply allows us to take in the battle as an audience member would , also capturing the fighters’ ritualistic praying and dancing prior to the match . this isn’t a real match , though , so some of the illusion is broken when that becomes apparent , but it doesn’t hurt the film too much .
chang cheh keeps things very simple in terms of plot , leaving as much room as possible for the action—on his fathers dying wish , fan ko ( david chiang ) goes to thailand to find his brother wen leih ( ti lung ) , a thai boxer . the boxing world is rife with crime , and it’s not long before the boys get caught up in the mess .
chang cheh’s films are often , for no readily apparent reason , more enjoyable than they should be . the hokiness seems only to add to the films . many elements of this film are quite strange : for example , the photo chiang has by which to identify his brother with shows his distinguishing tattoo , although he’s only about 10 years old . the plot manages to be simple while still not making much sense . the sound effects guy must have been trying something new when they shot this , because all punches and kicks sound like bits of wood smashing together . yet somehow all these elements come together to make the film a really fun experience . it also provides more than enough reason for a jaded moviegoer to fall in love with the 70’s again .
chang cheh ' s films are often , for no readily apparent reason , more enjoyable than they should be . the hokeyness seems only to add to the films . many elements of this film are quite strange : for example , the photo chiang has by which to identify his brother shows his distinguishing tattoo , although he ' s only about 10 years old . the plot manages to be simple while still not making much sense . the sound effects guy must have been trying something new when they shot this , because all punches and kicks sound like bits of wood smashing together . yet somehow all these elements come together to make the film a really fun experience . it also provides more than enough reason for a jaded moviegoer to fall in love with the 70s again .
while shaw leading lady ching li would play ti lung’s . her own real life father , character actor cheng miu , would play david chiang’s dying old man . thai boxers were also hired to serve as fight - extras and most likely fight trainers and advisors as well . the role of ti lung’s big ring opponent though was to be played by shaw’s chameleon - like character - actor ku feng
chang cheh keeps things very simple in terms of plot , leaving as much room as possible for the action - on his father ' s dying wish , fan ko ( david chiang ) goes to thailand to find his brother wen leih ( ti lung ) , a thai boxer . the boxing world is rife with crime , and it ' s not long before the boys get caught up in the mess .
opens in bangkok in mid - april during song kran , a festival where the entire country gets into public waterfights . then cuts to hong kong , where fan ko ' s dying father wants his son to quit his civil engineering job to take over his boxing school . then father tells him a secret - he had another son with a thai girl . to honour his father ' s dying wish , fan ko goes to thailand to seek his half - brother wun li . wun li is in trouble . he ' s a good fighter who hates gamblers , but the gamblers are trying hard to rope him in . as part of their plan , they ' ve matched him against the killer , the national champion , two of whose opponents have died in the ring . wun li explains to his girl , yu lan , that he simply must win .
diggstown
is acted with immense style by mr . woods , mr . dern and mr . gossett , as well as by some members of the supporting cast . these include oliver platt , who plays a card - sharp and pool hustler , the decoy gabe sends into diggstown to set up the scam , and heather graham , best remembered as the unhappy nadine in
drugstore cowboy ,
who somehow manages to be memorable in a movie that scarcely recognizes women .
his choices made , chang and his usual writing partner i kuang then cranked up a script , while lead star ti lung went on to daily training in kick - boxing . a local thai film crew was hired to help shaw’s own team and the movie exterior scenes were shot in april 1971 during thailand’s water - festival and the few shots of many water - fights inserted later on captured the local ambience quite well . a thai actress pawana chanajit was cast to play david chiang’s love interest
not since
smile
and
semi - tough ,
both released in the mid - 1970 ' s , has michael ritchie directed anything quite as entertaining as
diggstown ,
a funny and vulgar fable about con artists so cynical that signs of simple skepticism can be taken for religious epiphanies . adapted by steven mckay from a novel by leonard wise ,
diggstown
is rough and improbable , its plotting sometimes opaque ; yet it moves with such speed and cheerful nerviness that it ' s almost as irresistible as its fast - talking hero is reputed to be .
more than a year and a half into the blood - brothers cycle , chang cheh had yet to make a fully - fledged kung - fu movie . meaning by this a film really centred on the martial arts themselves not just in its fighting displays but in its narrative as well . this had just been achieved by chang’s own former protégé martial art cinema super - star wang yu the star and director of the chinese boxer ( nov 1970 ) , widely considered today as the very first modern kung - fu movie . produced by shaw , the film’s kung - fu fights had been handled by the very same action choreographers and stunt - crew that chang used in his own movies .
diggstown ,
which has been rated r ( under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian ) , has vulgar language , brutality and sexual situations . diggstown directed by michael ritchie ; screenplay by steven mckay , based on the novel
the diggstown ringers
by leonard wise ; director of photography , gerry fisher ; edited by don zimmerman ; music by james newton howard ; production designer , steve hendrickson ; produced by robert schaffel and youssef vahabzadeh ; released by mgm . running time : 97 minutes . this film is rated r . gabriel caine . . . james woods honey roy palmer . . . louis gossett jr . john gillon . . . bruce dern fitz . . . oliver platt emily forrester . . . heather graham wolf forrester . . . randall ( tex ) cobb
html public
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urltoken
pawana chanachit , a former movie star , was found dead in unusual circumstances at a pond near her home in nakhon pathom , and police are investigating whether her death was an accident or murder . she was 69 .
when he and pawana ' s relatives arrived , mr nattapong angrily told them not to enter the house and to leave immediately because he was the house owner . mr nattapong also threatened him by firing a gunshot into the air , according to mr apicha ' s statement .
mr nattapong told police that pawana regularly paid respect to holy spirits near the pond and that she might have passed out and fallen into the water .
another witness whose name was not given told police that pawana and mr apicha had traded heated words prior to the incident .
mr nattapong was believed to be present at the pond where the former actress died and there were some conflicting issues to be resolved , police said .
pawana , whose real name was aranyaporn laosaengthong , nicknamed yin , was born on dec 20 , 1943 to a mandarin chinese family .
she began her acting career in 1960 , taking a leading role in the film
saeng soon
, along with late actor mitr chaibancha and actress amara assavanonda . she won an award for the film .
pol col pornchai said minor scratches were found on her face and body , but they were unlikely to have caused her death .
water was found in the lungs , and this was an important indication that she drowned .
at this stage , there were no indications that pawana , 69 , was killed , he said .
waipot laosaengthong , pawana ' s younger brother , said he still believed his sister had been murdered by a person close to her .
he said that person might have hired a burmese worker in the house to kill her and dump the body in the pond .
mr waipot said he had evidence to back his assumption , but would rather allow police to complete their investigation before revealing it .
water was found in the lungs , and this was an important indication that she drowned
isn ' t thailand lucky to be blessed with such talented and skillful forensic specialists . . . . .
she had scratches and bruises , but they didnt cause her death . . .
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trippy indie madeline ' s madeline is the movie that lakeith stanfield and boots riley from sorry to bother you want to see the most .
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china 1925 , a man returns to track down a kill the men who murdered his brother .