Old School Kung Fu Fest - May 3 & 4, 2019

[Temple of Schlock]

Is anyone in the New York City area planning to attend Subway Cinema's Old School Kung Fu Fest the weekend of May 3rd?  Work obligations prevent me from going on Saturday for all of the secret 35mm screenings, but I'll definitely be at DRAGON PRINCESS (also in 35mm) on Friday night.

[SMK]

I'm on the opposite side of the country, California. If I was anywhere near New York, I would have definitely made it a point to attend. 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

58 minutes ago, SMK said:

I'm on the opposite side of the country, California. If I was anywhere near New York, I would have definitely made it a point to attend. 

Me too! The Drafthouse up here in San Francisco really did not come through with the Shaw Brothers last year either. I am on the lookout. Going to screen Black Panther at the end of the month, so there's that. Of course I have to watch it on a cinescan....so there's that....

 

 

 

 

[whitesnake]

Read the new Grady Hendrix article on the 'Old School Kung Fu Fest'; it sure brings back the memories at - https://screenanarchy.com/2019/04/old-school-kung-fu-wants-you-contrib.html  

"Every year, Subway Cinema presents our Old School Kung Fu Fest because we believe these films were meant to be seen on the big screen with a crowd, not on a monitor by yourself.  We're doing it again May 3 & 4 at the Anthology Film Archives and that'll be it for the next couple of years.  The Anthology is closing for a long time for renovations, and there's nowhere else that could house this mayhem in a way where we can break even.  So for two days, the Anthology will be a Times Square grindhouse circa 1973, and then we'll return to seclusion to work on our kung fu.  I missed out on these movies for a long time because of my preconceived notions about them.  Don't make the same mistake."     

[odioustrident]

Spoilers below on some of the films being screened... Don't scroll down if you don't want to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Victim

Drunken Tai Chi

Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe

Dragon Fist

I can't ID the other pics on the promotional email they sent out.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

That's a cool batch of flicks. Not the usual 36th Chamber/5 Venoms that shows up, every f%^king time!

[DragonClaws]

On 4/21/2019 at 3:40 PM, whitesnake said:

Read the new Grady Hendrix article on the 'Old School Kung Fu Fest'; it sure brings back the memories at - https://screenanarchy.com/2019/04/old-school-kung-fu-wants-you-contrib.html  

 

 

How true is the folowing tid-but tkaen from this article?.

 

Quote

Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Lai, Myron Bruce Lee, Judy Lee (billed as his sister — she later had to publicly apologize to the Lee family),

 

 

[odioustrident]

I think that probably comes from this link http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-swordswomen-chia-ling.html

Newspapers.com has old articles billing Judy Lee as the "Female Bruce Lee." It also has articles stating she "is absolutely no relation to the late Bruce Lee."

That is the American papers. I would not put it past the 70's Hong Kong producers and press to claim this woman was Bruce's sister.

The woman who runs Weird Wild Realm is actually very well informed. She is from a generation of fans who watched countless Japanese films on the big screen and were exposed to info we simply don't have today.

It's also possible this was just a misconception of the time based on her constant billing as Female Bruce Lee or his "counterpart."

[DragonClaws]

4 hours ago, odioustrident said:

I think that probably comes from this link http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-swordswomen-chia-ling.html

Newspapers.com has old articles billing Judy Lee as the "Female Bruce Lee." It also has articles stating she "is absolutely no relation to the late Bruce Lee." 

That is the American papers. I would not put it past the 70's Hong Kong producers and press to claim this woman was Bruce's sister.

The woman who runs Weird Wild Realm is actually very well informed. She is from a generation of fans who watched countless Japanese films on the big screen and were exposed to info we simply don't have today.

It's also possible this was just a misconception of the time based on her constant billing as Female Bruce Lee or his "counterpart."

 

Thanks, I just never come across any promotional material of her being billed as BL's sister. The only female-centric related Bruceploitation?.

[gskmeva]

Did anyone go? If I was back in the states, I would've booked a flight ticket and hotel just to see these films.

As far as I know, there was a rare 35mm print of "The Victim" screened a couple of years ago at a few festivals in the US that belonged to an avid kungfu film collector (who I think also has "Mystery of Chessboxing" and "7 Grandmasters" on 35mm and loans it out for screenings). 

Apparently, that print was so beat up that the guy had to perform surgery on it in order to show it (and warns audiences about the condition before screening).

Wonder if this was the same print shown at the festival.

[odioustrident]

The Victim looked fine to me. Heavy artifacting at times which was substantial for few seconds on right side of screen during finale. Overall it was in relatively good shape. I guess it depends on which standards we hold the print to. Dragon Fist print was slightly red and Drunken Tai Chi was in top shape.

[gskmeva]

That's great to hear. I'm in my late 30s so I grew up watching kungfu films on pan and scan VHS before DVD and bluray. Fortunately, I was able to live through the final decades of 35mm film projection so I do remember how analog pictures looked like on a silver screen.

Anyway, how big was the audience to the screenings? Lots of people showed up? Were people wild?