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Heroic Bloodshed
Heroic bloodshed is a genre invented by Hong Kong action cinema revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honour, redemption and violence that has become a popular genre used by different directors worldwide. The term ''heroic bloodshed'' was coined by editor Rick Baker in the magazine ''Eastern Heroes'' in the late 1980s, specifically referring to the styles of directors John Woo and Ringo Lam. Baker defined the genre as "a Hong Kong action film that features a lot of gun play and gangsters rather than kung fu. Lots of blood. Lots of action." Heroic bloodshed films often feature gun fu action sequences. Motifs Protagonists in these films are often good-willed criminals, typically Triad members, hit men, or thieves with a strict code of ethics, which in some cases leads to the betrayal of their employers and the saving of many intended victims. The police officer with a conscience, who cannot be corrupted in any way, is also comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Kong Action Cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards. The first Hong Kong action films favoured the ''wuxia'' style, emphasizing mysticism and swordplay, but this trend was politically suppressed in the 1930s and replaced by kung fu films that depicted more down-to-earth unarmed martial arts, often featuring folk heroes such as Wong Fei Hung. Post-war cultural upheavals led to a second wave of wuxia films with highly acrobatic violence, followed by the emerg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Brothers (1979 Film)
''The Brothers'' (Cantonese: 差人大佬搏命仔 ''Cha yan daai liu bok meng chai'', Mandarin: ''Cha ren da lao bo ming zai'') is a 1979 Hong Kong action crime-drama film directed by Hua Shan, written by Lam Chin Wai and Yuen Cheung, and produced by Runme Shaw under the Shaw Brothers Studio. The film stars Tony Liu, Danny Lee Sau-Yin, Chau Li Chuan, Ku Feng, and Nam Hung. It is a remake of Indian action crime-drama film ''Deewaar'' (1975), written by Salim–Javed. In turn, ''The Brothers'' inspired John Woo's ''A Better Tomorrow'' and played a key role in the creation of the heroic bloodshed crime genre of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema. Plot ''Hong Kong Cinemagic'' provides the following plot summary. Cast The following are the film's main cast members. *Tony Liu (Lau Wing) as Zhang Zhigang * Danny Lee Sau-Yin as Inspector Zhang Zhiqiang *Chow Lai-Kuen as Yanfen *Ku Feng as Boss Qian Laosan *Nam Hung as Mother Zhang *Chiang Tao as Zhou Hei / Blackie *Ricky Wong Chung- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reservoir Dogs
''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunker as diamond thieves whose heist of a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. Kirk Baltz, Randy Brooks (actor), Randy Brooks, and Steven Wright also play supporting roles. It incorporates many motifs that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, profanity, and nonlinear storytelling. The film is regarded as a classic of independent film and a cult film and was named "Greatest Independent Film of all Time" by ''Empire (film magazine), Empire''. Although controversial at first for its depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, ''Reservoir Dogs'' was generally well received, with the cast being praised by many critics. Despite not being heavily promoted during its theatrical run, the film became a modest su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-linear storylines, Cameo appearance, cameos, ensemble casts, and references to popular culture. Other List of filmmakers' signatures, directorial tropes associated with Tarantino include the use of songs from the 1960s and 70s, fictional brand parodies, and the prominent Framing (visual arts), framing of women's bare feet. Tarantino began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of the crime film ''Reservoir Dogs'' in 1992. His second film, ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), a dark comedy crime thriller, was a major success with critics and audiences winning numerous awards, including the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 1996, he appeared in ''From Dusk till Dawn'', also writing the screenplay. Tarantino' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City On Fire (1987 Film)
''City on Fire'' () is a 1987 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Ringo Lam, who also produced with Karl Maka. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, and Sun Yueh. Following ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1986), it helped establish Chow's popularity as an action star in Asia, and, to a lesser degree, North America. Plot An undercover cop, Chan Kam-wah, who is investigating a group of jewellery thieves, blows his cover and is stabbed to death by three attackers in a street market. His superior, Inspector Lau, orders Ko Chow, another undercover policeman, to resume the investigations. Ko Chow accepts reluctantly because during his previous undercover mission he had to arrest someone who had trusted him as a friend. The robbers are holding up a jewellery factory, but someone manages to alert the police. One of the robbers, Fu, kills a policeman, starting a firefight with the approaching policemen. The gang barely escapes. The police commissioner sets up a dedicated task force to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Diplomat
''The Diplomat'' is an international online news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Indo-Pacific region. It is based in Washington, D.C. It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones, David Llewellyn-Smith and Sung Lee in 2001, but due to financial reasons it was converted into an online magazine in 2009 and moved to Japan and later Washington, D.C. The magazine is currently owned by MHT Corporation. History ''The Diplomat'' was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones, David Llewellyn-Smith and Sung Lee in 2001. The first edition was published in April 2002, with Bui Jones as the founding editor and Llewellyn-Smith the founding publisher. The magazine was acquired by James Pach through his company Trans-Asia Inc. in December 2007. Pach assumed the role of executive publisher and hired former ''Penthouse'' editor Ian Gerrard to update its presentation. Nonetheless, the print ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of The United States
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of American cinema is classical Hollywood cinema, which developed from 1913 to 1969 and is still typical of most films made there to this day. While Frenchmen Auguste and Louis Lumière are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema, American cinema soon came to be a dominant force in the emerging industry. , it produced the third-largest number of films of any national cinema, after India and China, with more than 600 English-language films released on average every year. While the national cinemas of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also produce films in the same language, they are not part of the Hollywood system. That said, Hollywood has also been considered a transnational cinema, and has produced multiple lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Cinema
World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive definition of world cinema." ''Remapping world cinema: Identity, culture and politics in film'' (2006): 30-37. The Third Cinema of Latin America and various national cinemas are commonly identified as part of world cinema. The term has been criticized for Americentrism and for ignoring the diversity of different cinematic traditions around the world. Types World cinema has an unofficial implication of films with "artistic value" as opposed to "Hollywood commercialism." Foreign language films are often grouped with "art house films" and other independent films in DVD stores, cinema listings etc. Unless dubbed into one's native language, foreign language films played in English-speaking regions usually have English subtitles. Few films of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Killer (1989 Film)
''The Killer'' () is a 1989 Hong Kong action thriller film written and directed by John Woo. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. Chow plays the assassin Ah Jong, who accidentally damages the eyes of the singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a shootout. He later discovers that if Jennie does not undergo an expensive operation, she will go blind. To get the money for Jennie, Ah Jong decides to perform one last hit. After the financial backing from Tsui Hark became problematic following the release of Woo's film '' A Better Tomorrow 2'', Woo had to find backing through Chow Yun-fat's and Danny Lee's financing companies. Woo went into filming ''The Killer'' with a rough draft whose plot was influenced by the films '' Le Samouraï'', '' Mean Streets'', and ''Narazumono''. Woo wanted to make a film about honour, friendship and the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. After finishing filming, Woo referred to ''The Killer'' as a tribute to directors Jean-Pierre Me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
