From: wildman@athena.mit.edu (Timothy Worsley)
Subject: Pagoda and other stuff
Reply-To: eprice@sybase.com
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 12:16:02 GMT

First of all a brief capsule: KIDS FROM SHAOLIN.  I don't know who directed
it (it's done in a style related to the typical bad kung-fu movie, with
those fast zooms of dubiuos motivation and the bad panned-and-scanned video
transfer) or when it came out (early 80s is my guess).  Try to imagine a
Hong Kong "Brady Bunch" movie.  With kung-fu.  With musical numbers
(songs).  It has some sort of plot about evil guys that slaughtered the
parents of the "Dragons" (these are the boys), and maybe they have
something to do with the "Phoenixes" too (these are the girls).  Maybe they
just want to kill them, I'm not sure.  It's possible that I missed some of
the subtleties because I was having trouble staying awake...  The general
idea is that if these two groups get together the combination of their
respective styles of kung-fu will be, um, really cool or something.  I
recommend this film only to very weird people and Jet Li (ONCE UPON A TIME
IN CHINA, SWORDSMAN 2) completists.  Some of the martial arts scenes are ok.

I talked to a guy yesterday who just put out the first issue of his fanzine
"Pagoda".  Now, this guy is a big fan of Hong Kong films, has lots of them
on laserdisc (he even bought HEROIC COPS, suckered into it the same way I
was -- except I sat through the whole thing IN THE THEATER with *no*
fast-forward button!! -- but returned it the next day...  BTW, he says THE
KILLER is coming out at some point, and he's got the HARD BOILED laserdisc
release [oooooh!!!!] on order from some video store in Chinatown!).  He's a
nice guy and enthusiastic about the genre, *but* I cannot really recommend
this zine on the basis of the first issue.  His grammar and spelling is
atrocious (I though Damon Foster was bad, but this...) and he seems to be
following in the grand tradition of self-styled "alternative" media(eg FILM
THREAT, recently mentioned here) in being highly abusive, and in this case
I think it's unnecessarily excessive.  Insulting the mainstream media and
audiences is fine in moderation, but in this context I was, more often than
not, simply unamused.  He gives capsule reviews to HEROES SHED NO TEARS, A
BETTER TOMORROW, A BETTER TOMORROW 2, THE KILLER, BULLET IN THE HEAD, ONCE
A THIEF, HARD-BOILED, everythging from the "Cinema of Blazing Passions"
program that Tsui Hark's Asian Cine-Vision presented (at the MFA here in
Boston), PROJECT A, ISLAND OF FIRE, TWIN DRAGONS, POLICE STORY 3, DIARY OF
A BIG MAN, KILLER'S ROMANCE, DRAGON FROM RUSSIA, ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA,
and ACES GO PLACES 4.  His next issues is apparently going to be big on
gambling films (he likes GOD OF GAMBLERS 2 and 3 a lot, which surprised me,
but what the hell, to each their own!!)  He praises RESERVOIR DOGS highly
in the opening "editorial", and also puts in his two cents on the Film
Threat/Chas Balun flame war...

I think you're better off reading some of the more informative fanzines
like Oriental Cinema & Video and supplementing it with alt.cult-movies or
whatever.  Pagoda concentrates *way* too much on plot synopsis.  I may have
learned one or two things from reading it; OC&V had much more information I
hadn't been aware of previously.

There is a section on fanzines at the end of Pagoda.  Here's some of the
relevant info:

GORE GAZETTE -- ``The grandpappy of American horror fanzines...  In the
latest issue Rick said that they have a deal going to get issues #1-106
reprinted in a book and if this does happen I'll be first in line to buy.
It's $13.00 for 12 issues.  Send your money to GORE GAZETTE, c/o Sullivan,
469 Hazel St, Clifton NJ 07011.''

PARTS -- ``Friday Jones puts out a great zine on RE-ANIMATOR and what the
various people who were involved in that modern classic are up to now.  It
also deals with H.P. Lovecraft, Charles Band films, and weird Japanese
films as ENTRAILS OF THE VIRGIN. ... a fun and informative read.  It's 4
issues for $10 and $20 overseas.  Send your money to PARTS, 451 Moody St,
#134, Waltham MA 02154.''

IN THE FLESH -- ``In my opinion this is the best foreign zine out there
today.  .. It covers everything from tashy horror films to Hong Kong
movies.  It's informative and a lot of fun to read.  ... Also calling them
a fanzine is stretching it a bit because with each new issue their look
keeps getting better and better. ... Subscriptions are 4 issues for $40.00
CASH ONLY!  Send your money to Steve C., Box 1, Garageland, Focus, Princess
Victoria St, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4BP.''

Now this one looks interesting:

M.A.M.A. -- ``... a good zine put out by Rick Myers and William Connolly.
It's informative...  In fact it probably has the most information than in
any Hong Kong movie zine out there.  Even the letters are informative.  ...
It's 4 issues for $10.  So send your money to William Connolly, 6635
DeLongpre #4, Hollywood, CA 90028.''

He also mentions ASIAN TRASH CINEMA and ORIENTAL CINEMA AND VIDEO, both
already covered in greater detail here in alt.cult-movies.

I should mention that issue #4 of PAGODA is tentatively planned to be a
massive reference a la ASIAN TRASH CINEMA #1, except this guy promised me
he would actually watch all the movies.  :-)

Some of you may want to know that the last page of PAGODA contains a
listing of movies that you can order from this guy, who will tape them from
laserdisc for you.  The cost is generally $15 + $3 S/H.  Email for the details.

You can order PAGODA for $3 from this address:

PAGODA
c/o Garo Nigoghossian
2 Holworthy Terrace
Cambridge, MA 02138

Ciao,

-Ed (not Tim), eprice@sybase.com (not wildman@...)

PS remember my complaint about the morons at the Brattle theater (which I
attributed to the proximity to a certain academic institution)?  Check out
this little aside from PAGODA:

``WHY ANGLOS ARE SO STUPID -- I have just seen THE KILLER again at a local
art theater [yeah, the Brattle] for the 5th time and when ever I see THE
KILLER about 90% of the Anglos laugh at stuff that is not supposed to be
funny.  Why do these dicks laugh?  Because this film cares about it's
characters.  American films don't care because all they want to do is make
mony.  So when they see these characters start to bond they don't know what
to think so their feeble little minds tell them to laugh and they do.''

And Damon Foster saw fit to bring up the same subject (OC&V #14 p22):

``Most movies are funner to see on a theatre's big screen than on a TV.  I
suppose THE KILLER is that way too, but not when you see it at a theatre
like the Roxie [in San Francisco], as I first did.  The audience was full
of pretentious, trendy "art" types, and ones who felt the need to laugh out
loud at scenes not meant to be funny.  Many of these laughs were
artificial, people just forcing themselves to bring out a fake laugh to ber
heard, to prove they weren't intimidated by the excellent H.K. flick which
easily blows away any American movie these snobs have seen.''

Oh, BTW, on the subject of masterpieces, "great" films, etc., here's what
Damon Foster says about A BETTER TOMORROW: ``It's very unlikely that I
could ever agree with any majority, that's about as rare as a Mr. Rogers
porno movie [hhmm, I'll have to call Video Search of Miami about this...
:) ].  yet even in American, there are many fans of A BETTER TOMORROW,
which includes me and anyone with even the slightest sign of taste [take
*that*, Peter Reiher et al.! :) ].  A BETTER TOMORROW is both a classic and
a masterpiece...  As of 1986, A BETTER TOMORROW was John Woo's most
successful film, as well as one of the highest grossing movies in Hong Kong
history.  This uniquely outstanding movie couldn't have happened at a
better time, when HK action dramas consisted mainly of martial arts romps
and repeated formulas.  A BETTER TOMORROW broke all the rules, broke
hearts, broke records, and broke new grounds; the only things not broke ere
its makers.  For once there was a modern crime drama in HK which didn't
rely on kung fu to suceed.  The real power behind A BETTER TOMORROW lies in
its powerfully effective drama, its superb character development,
magnificent performances, I'm using too many adjectives again, and of
course, John Woo's ingenious directing.  [Not to mention the importance of
seeing it in the tehater, or at least letterboxed...]''

Go buy the mag to read more, I recommend it.  ($6.00/issue US, $7 in
Canada, $8 elesewhere to Damon Foster, PO Box 576, Fremont CA 94537-0576.
I'm quoting from #14 but #13, 12, 11 also cover HK action apparently.)

Garo in PAGODA on A BETTER TOMORROW: four stars, and "100 times better on
the big screen."

See, I'm not the only one!  Not that I don't have significant differences
of opinion with both of these people, but I'll put those aside for the sake
of the pro-ABT alliance...