Blogorama! Redux

Hey there, and welcome to the first post in “Asian Martial Arts Cinema Trends”! I am here to blog about the latest trends in Martial Arts/ Action cinema not only from East Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan but also from Southeast Asian Countries such as Thailand and Vietnam which are gaining more and more ground in the international market every day.

The Martial Arts film genre is one that is widely established in Asia, and it is the style of Action and Choreography in these films which is widely imitated all over the world today. Asian influence can be seen in films like The Matrix and Transporter which are the result of Hong Kong choreographers working in the US. In reality these films are pale imitations of the innovative action coming out of Asia every year.

Right now is an especially exciting time for Martial Arts films. As the older stars of the genre including Jackie Chan and Jet Li begin to transition to less action-oriented roles as their bodies age and become more decrepit, there is a movement to find new stars to fill the gap left behind by legends of the past. This puts focus not only on young stars from Mainland China and Hong Kong, but to styles of Martial Arts from countries such as Vietnam and Thailand which are new to many moviegoers. Also, the ever growing popularity of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) – a style incorporating not only standing fighting but grappling as well – has begun to exert its influence on choreographers in the US and in Asian countries as well. This gives rise to a diverse output and also to a global search for new talent not seen since the death of Bruce Lee.

I have a deep love for martial arts films, that was generated purely out of a love for the many styles of martial arts found all over the world. I started about six years ago with Chinese Wushu and Shaolin Kung Fu, styles known on for their speed, athleticism and fluidity – qualities which all transfer well to the screen. As my love for martial arts grew, so did my love for film and how it is able to capture the dynamic movements of the human body in combat. I love watching action, from the slickest Hong Kong choreography, to the lowest budget direct to video American action. I now study Taekwondo and Mixed Martial Arts as well as Wushu, and I love integrating all the techniques I learn with my own personal style and flavor.

I am able to draw on my own experience in Martial Arts, as well as my knowledge of different Martial Arts from around the world and how they are utilized in film. As a former film student, I am able to apply a critical lens to the cinematic techniques used by Asian filmmakers and also to the developing trends in Martial Arts movies. Through personal experience making several bootleg-esque martial arts student films, I have been able to experience firsthand what works in martial arts movies, and the crushing agony of what doesn't work (there is nothing worse than seeing yourself flailing around onscreen while friends, family and also strangers watch, and all you're thinking is "it looked cool when I was filming it!"). I intend to use all my experience and pure love of martial arts and kung fu movies to the fullest in this blog.

The Martial arts and Action genre is an exciting one with a long tradition in Asia. This diverse continent has produced films that influence not only their onscreen counterparts but popular culture in general as well as the audiences who watch them across the world. In this blog I will not just include the latest Martial Arts movie news, but examine new trends in fighting and filmmaking out of Asia which will continue to influence not only Martial Arts but all genres of film today.

Profile of a Blog

In the wide world of the interweb, there are a lot of bad blogs out there. But every once in a while you run across a blog that is both entertaining and also informational, making it actually worth the 5 or so minutes wasted at work reading the latest post One such blog which I recently took notice of is "Kung fu Fridays" (http://kungfufridays.blogspot.com/), a funny and informative chronicle of Chinese cinema – with an emphasis on Kung Fu films – plus a healthy dose of general randomness thrown in for good measure. The writer is Colin, hailing from Canada, who is a fan of obscure movies – including but not limited to Kung Fu flicks. He is also a small business owner who runs an independent film distribution company specializing in offbeat titles. In many ways it is the type of position that gives great authority in a field such as Kung Fu movies: professional enough to know certain facets of the business, but independent enough to still be a diehard fan. Posts are made several per week, another aspect that shows the author’s dedication and a love of the genre.

The posts cover a wide range of topics, from new Kung Fu movies, to older ones and rare or obscure finds. There are also many posts which aren’t even about Kung Fu films – rather strange posters or memorabilia the blogger has picked up recently – but it serves to add to the quirky and alternative feel of the blog, keeping it from being a dry news source to one that is actually fun to read - sometimes providing one with updates on new movies, sometimes with obscure useless 80s references which nonetheless are entertaining. One of the more interesting posts is of an old ad for Kodak film prominently featuring Kung Fu. The post can be found at http://kungfufridays.blogspot.com/2009/01/slash-kick-chop-violence-galore.html, and the tagline is “Slash! Kick! Chop! Violence galore!” – which is, according to the ad is the type of action contained in the series Kung Fu with David Carradine. It is interesting to see this old representation of Chinese martial arts, prominently displayed even so long ago. It reiterates that in the film world, Kung Fu is seen as one of the most cinematic styles of the martial arts.

On the more modern side, there is another post compiling several semi-recent commercials called “Brand Name Punching” (http://kungfufridays.blogspot.com/2008/11/brand-name-punching.html). One commercial from Thailand features Muay Thai superstar Tony Jaa in a Mitsubishi ad, while two other ads show Donnie Yen – a martial artist who is nearing the latter portion of his film career, but is nonetheless reinvigorating Hong Kong choreography right now. What is interesting is that the ads highlighted here don’t feature the most famous current names in martial arts movies – arguably Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Tony Jaa is an unreal Muay Thai practitioner and gymnast from Thailand – a relative newcomer with only two watchable movies to his name (a third being released soon). Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong veteran whose style I would characterize as Chinese kickboxing with attitude, but nevertheless he has not reached stardom on par with Jet and Jackie. Yet these two are currently some of the most innovative in movie martial arts. What we get from Tony and Donnie is always an attempt to do something new and not seen before, and it translates well into the world of advertising. Ads can be a good way to get a sneak peak of something new and different. That is the best way to sell a product – and the simple thoughtfulness of combining different recent ads in this post gives us a clear impression of who the advertisers and public identify with for these qualities.

And here is one more post, exemplifying the unique spirit within the “Kung Fu Fridays” blog.

http://kungfufridays.blogspot.com/2009/01/sticky-stars-of-80s.html

A collection of amateurish photo stickers the author purchased in Chinatown for 79 cents. The whimsical caption reads

“Check out young Tony, who wishes you all, ‘Gong hei fat choi!’”

I can only imagine the hope felt by this sassy young fellow after his first “professional” photoshoot. Little did he know that 20 years later his stickers would end up on the blog of a middle aged Canadian man for the world to see. Good luck to you Tony. Does this post have anything to do with martial arts movies? No. Does it amuse me and add to the atmosphere of the blog? Yes.

The aforementioned posts about martial arts movies (sorry Tony) give us a sense of the past and present development of kung fu/ martial arts in the media – from the 70s “chop socky” to the current cutting edge martial artists presenting new concepts to the genre. The blog strikes a good balance between old and new in that it has updates about events in martial arts film world (an example being a post detailing new Criterion Collection DVDs of Hong Kong films), yet at the same time it also provides a background to what Kung Fu films were like in the 70s and 80s: zany and exploitative, and loads of fun. The blog has a personal touch (Tony), and the somewhat esoteric subject matter means the readership is comprised mostly of obscure or cult movie fans. Posts are not always long on writing, but usually graphic intensive – with many Youtube videos to boot.

It is basically a fan blog, but written by someone who has experience in the industry and is a lover of Kung Fu and retro movies, with good insight and a few good news stories. My blog will not be concentrated quite so much on the old school, retro Kung Fu films, but rather on the newest developments in the Asian martial arts styles on film. Many of the movies detailed in "Kung Fu Fridays" are the history, the backdrop to every martial arts movie made today. Yet at the same time the exciting fusion of modern martial arts concepts like dynamic Wushu, hard hitting Muay Thai and a new level of acrobatics is changing the field. Still the spirit of my blog and "Kung Fu Fridays" is the same: a love for martial arts and cinema, a love which grows even more when combined. An excellent quote that is on the main page of the blog exemplifies this point of view. The quote is one I have never heard before, but is by renowned director Werner Herzog and really demonstrates my feelings about martial arts movies as well. “Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film”

“Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film”

Blog Voice

Undoubtedly one of the most prominent blogs about martial arts movies on the internet today is “Kung Fu Cinema” (http://www.kungfucinema.com/). With a simple and straight to the point title, “Kung Fu Cinema” is one of the most authoritative blogs on the internet regarding breaking news about new releases out of Asia, as well as martial arts movies from other parts of the world and recent DVD releases. The blog - essentially the more popular and better looking older brother (who the parents secretly love more) to all other kung fu blogs on the internet - is comprehensive, not merely concerning Chinese martial arts styles (as implied by the title), but brimming with news relating to any and all upcoming martial arts films, big or small. The author Mark Pollard is clearly very knowledgeable about all different kinds of martial arts movies, as he casually references various trends and styles of films in his posts to illustrate various points or add insight.

One of Mark's most recent posts, regarding the upcoming US live-action adaptation of the G.I. Joe cartoons and toys (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=4991) is one that resembles the excited style of a fanboy while at the same time being very knowledgeable about the whole genre. He starts off what could be a routine news story by contextualizing the post as a reference to a TV spot for the upcoming film during the Superbowl, then adds

"I have to say, for a CGI-infested maelstrom of extreme gun-blasting, acrobatic,
sword-clanging, urban destruction by director Stephen Sommers, the guy who
brought us the turd that is VAN HELSING, I am pleasantly surprised to see what
looks to be a potentially fantastic popcorn flick."

Such a long, descriptive sentence draws in the reader and captures the nonstop barrage of action – highlighted by the furious word “maelstrom” – that the TV spot promises. He also throws in some casual humor by describing Steven Sommers as

"the guy who brought us the turd that is VAN HELSING"

That type of language is appropriate for the subject matter of the post: assessing the potential of a movie based off a Saturday morning cartoon. And after all, there is no need to take it easy on Van Helsing. At the end he comments on the various martial artists and choreographers who will be involved in the film, showing not only the fanboy side but a knowledge of various parts of the industry, including important people in front of and behind the camera. At the end of the post, he goes into the style of choreography in the film, a vital factor in the success of an action movie, and ties in the subject of trends of top choreographers working in videogames today. Balancing technical knowledge with “turds” is no easy feat, but here Mark Pollard pulls it off with ease.

The posts are very current, with the blog being updated several times a day. In another post, he shows skillful use of pop culture references regarding the new videogame based martial arts movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=4983). In one passage, he assesses the screenwriter’s comparison to the previous Street Fighter movie, saying

“He has said that this film is to the Van Damme STREET FIGHTER movie what BATMAN BEGINS is to BATMAN FOREVER. It’s not too difficult to make something better
than the 1994 STREET FIGHTER but it’s a lot more difficult to get a genre film
up to BATMAN BEGINS territory. To me, THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI looks to have fallen somewhere in the middle but only time will tell.”

In going with this analogy and expanding on it, he demonstrates again a thorough knowledge of not only his subject matter but the ability to relate it to outside references which other readers might understand more readily. The quote comparing Joel Schumacher and Chris Nolan is somewhat nonsensical – I myself also doubt the new Street Fighter movie will be on par with a series reboot like Batman Begins. However the best way to respond to such a charge is to respond in kind, and Pollard gets his point across well.

Videos are used extensively in the posts, usually bracketed by text introductions and comments. This is a wise move considering the visual nature of the subject matter, and makes the blog a useful source for martial arts previews linked from many different websites. Many posts are mostly comprised of just videos, with text summaries and elaborations following. The amount of content is impressive, and for more detailed opinions there is also an extensive review section.

One of the best qualities of “Kung Fu Cinema” author Mark Pollard’s writing is the mixture of extensive knowledge about martial arts movies and what goes into making them, mixed with the attitude of a true fan of such films. I believe this kind of informal style can relate to the audience, many of whom presumably share the same love for those types of films. Yet by detailing many facets of the films production, he also demonstrates authority, which makes the blog one of the premier martial arts film web sites on the internet. This is a blog that is one of the most informative out there, but is also fun to read and come back to day after day.