Guest teako170 Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 The recent changes to Kung Fu Fandom have made think about this place; the friendships that have been created and the knowledge that has been shared. Things change rapidly on-line and quickly become lost to cyberdust. I thought before it got to that point, it would be worthwhile to chronicle the history of KFF. Now, I'm no historian. I wasn't here from day one so in order to make this work, I'll need the input of various members - especially from the old-school crowd. Some screenshots of KFF over the years and how the look has changed.... Fu Sheng's Salary (2002) False Statements about David Chiang (2003) Celestial releases - Censored/Cropped (2003) What's w/ gay stuff in Chang Cheh's films (2004) KFF was originally created by Brian Clearly on September 8, 2001 and was a forum offshoot for two sites: Kung Fu DVD and Kung Fu Cinema. I haven't spoken to Brian but hopefully he can be contacted and shed some light on the who/what/why etc. on the origins of KFF. (Or if someone else knows, lay it on us). It would be interesting to find out who the original moderators (Mark?) were and to reveal a timeline to the current mods. ---UPDATE--- Some digging provided the following info ---> Early 2003 mods: GaySerialKiller, gimpusmons, Holy Robe of Shaolin, Shanghaikid Early 2004: Jirpy100 Late 2004: jirpy100, Kwok Choi, Linn1, TheManInWhite (at a later date, vengeanceofhumanlanterns joined which is where we are today) Also, besides Brian Clearly there was another administrator called "therealsundown" back in '03. ---END UPDATE--- I also thought it would be interesting to chronicle some of the following subjects. Hotly debated topics Some that come to mind are "What's a bootleg?" -- "Is Chang Cheh gay?" -- "Subs vs Dubs." Posters Hall-of-Fame/Shame (Yes the good, bad and the ugly) Who were some of the great posters that are no longer with us? Cmyk328 comes to mind. He worked for ATV in the 80s and had all sorts of inside gossip. Of course who can forget the dreaded ShawScope character, the recent meltdown of Frank, Beardy's trades, and the long-winded but always entertaining bjv. Noteworthy threads (here's a few...) "More David Chiang Bashing" (July 2002) "Fu Sheng's salary (Unbelievable)" (an eleven page thread from Aug 2002) "Kung Fu films and "borrowed" music (Sept 2002) "Lo Lieh RIP" (Sept 2002) "Celestial releases- CENSORED & CROPPED!" (started by mantis2k in Jan 2003) "Godfrey Ho & Tomas Tang: the real truth!" (from Jun 2003) "Kill Bill wasn't that good" (over 275 posts from Oct 2003) "Biggest Kung Fu Movie Collector" (over 100 posts from Dec 2003) "Marco Polo" (Aug 2005) "The Films of Celestial Pictures" (a sticky thread by markgway) "Images from magicpoe/mahsingyi" (another sticky) "The Offical Shaws Dub Thread" (sticky) "The Seasonal/Cathay/First Films Filmography" (created by Markgway/falkor) "Photos from the Lo Meng Weekend" (Venom's historic first visit to the US) Noteworthy contributors Some that come to mind: mahsingyi & his covers, easternfreak & his lobby's, falkor & his scans, sevenhooks & his wav files I joined this little community about a month after Chang Cheh's death back in '02. I don't know what type of posts existed about the lost of this great man but hopefully someone saved a few to their harddrive. I wasn't around either when Meyers ventured onto the forum though I do recall the great EZBoard Crash of 2004(?). ---UPDATE--- Few more things to add.... There were few other forums back in late 2003 that seemed to disappear in early '04: - Poster and Cover Art (anyone recall a guy named "notworthysire"??) - General Anime - General News & Reference In early 2004, the forum look changed from image #3 (above) to a temporary banner which featured the ever lovely Cheng Pei-Pei. This look was gone by the Spring/Sumer '04 in which the current (or formerly current) look appeared (see image #4). Finally... some stats for you number freaks: DEC 2003 Daily Posts (109) - Total Posts (45,483) - Daily Visits (6041) - Total Visits (2,099,657) SEPT 2005 Daily Posts (136) - Total Posts (134,861) - Daily Visits (10,397) - Total Visits (8,061,803) DEC 2006 Daily Posts (93) - Total Posts (171,982) - Daily Visits (7802) - Total Visits (11,205,150) JUL 2007 Daily Posts (90) - Total Posts (188,922) - Daily Visits (8581) - Total Visits (12,717,994) ---END UPDATE--- So how about it? What else can be added to the History of KFF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 VERY good idea Teako. I have only been here for like a year so this is very interesting to me. Thanks a lot for all the info. Watchintransit should probably go in the hall of shame, and also the hall of fame. He always provided good info on Taiwanese/Lo Rei/Chang Shan/Eagle Han movies, and then of course he had that crazy post on the Don Imus thread. I vote for this to be a sticky thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 VERY good idea Teako. I have only been here for like a year so this is very interesting to me. Thanks a lot for all the info. Watchintransit should probably go in the hall of shame, and also the hall of fame. He always provided good info on Taiwanese/Lo Rei/Chang Shan/Eagle Han movies, and then of course he had that crazy post on the Don Imus thread. I vote for this to be a sticky thread. Fair warning none of what Wan Chai said was real. Linn himself in the dub thread points out his stuff was bull. I always love the time me and seven started going through the LOC nuts after I found records of dubs randomly. Man that was exciting and fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Well I did always speculate he made up his Taiwan info. We are talking about the same watchintransit person right? I think that was his screen name, but I am bad with names. That is too bad. I wanted to believe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Well I did always speculate he made up his Taiwan info. We are talking about the same watchintransit person right? I think that was his screen name, but I am bad with names. That is too bad. I wanted to believe! Yep, all crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teako170 Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Yeah, KFF should hand out a "Sybil Award" to the poster with most aliases. ShawScope had his own series of unique personalities but Frank took the cake by having lengthy discussions with himself ala wanchaitransient ("Huns and Central Asians in kung fu movies" thread) and then a no holds barred blowout with himself ala ShifuDugu. All in all, while we've had a few wacky posters, the majority of those who've come here over the years have contributed a great deal of positive energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Killer Meteor Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 I remember some silly troll called JetsonFu about a year ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teako170 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Want to see some posts from 2001/2002...? http://web.archive.org/web/20011212150409/pub95.ezboard.com/fkungfufandomfrm1 The thread links usually result in an error but at least you can see what topics were being discussed and who was posting back then. Apparently, there was only 'one' forum section at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Yeah, KFF should hand out a "Sybil Award" to the poster with most aliases. ShawScope had his own series of unique personalities but Frank took the cake by having lengthy discussions with himself ala wanchaitransient ("Huns and Central Asians in kung fu movies" thread) and then a no holds barred blowout with himself ala ShifuDugu. All in all, while we've had a few wacky posters, the majority of those who've come here over the years have contributed a great deal of positive energy. Yeah, by far its either him or SS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mark Pollard Posted October 24, 2007 Member Share Posted October 24, 2007 Wow. That's cool you have pics of the old forum layouts I made. I forgot all about that. KFF was originally an offshoot of DVD Cult. Brian wasn't a web designer so that's probably why he went with ezBoard. At some point in late 2001 or early 2002, I can't recall when, I approached Brian to team up with him on running the board jointly. I recall being greatly impressed by the community at the time and that was when Brian was still updating his now defunct site regularly. Brian didn't have the time or interest to get too involved in the forums so I basically took over the forums as active admin and mod throughout 2002 and 2003. After two years of running the site, I stepped away to focus on my site, mostly because I was doing all the moderating and it was eating up too much of my time and energy. Had I been smart, I would have recruited more mods back then and remained in a admin position. I remember therealsundown but only in name. Unfortunately, after I left I lost touch with what was going on. It took some members up to a year or more to realize I was no longer associated with the forums because I would continue to get occasional e-mails regarding disputes. I did keep in touch with jirpy but then he used to be a KFC contributor so I knew him outside of the forums before he even joined the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'll contact Brian Cleary and suggest that he lay some 'origins' info onto this thread. Good thinking teako. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shaolindogma Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Ive been in the hospital for the past 3 months, missed alot. Could someone please elaborate on what happened with Frank. Last I saw him post he was saying he couldn't afford rent and had to become homeless and live under a bridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teako170 Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Could someone please elaborate on what happened with Frank. Its a DEAD issue and I don't want this thread to go off on a tangent. I'll contact Brian Cleary and suggest that he lay some 'origins' info onto this thread. Nice VOHL. I hope he can add some good bits to this topic. BTW, when did you become a mod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 "Nice VOHL. I hope he can add some good bits to this topic. BTW, when did you become a mod?" teako, I became a mod around almost a year ago, if I remember correctly. Brian Cleary asked me if I'd like to be a mod. I must say I'm probably the least responsible of the lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Dragon Ma Posted January 3, 2008 Member Share Posted January 3, 2008 I remember my girls with guns thread going for quite awhile, I can't be bothered looking for it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted January 30, 2008 Member Share Posted January 30, 2008 By the way teako, Brian just isn't interested in posting any info, unfortunately. I'm not sure why to be honest. He just stopped by a few days ago and watched Bloody Parrot, which he enjoyed immensley. Also he informed me of several kung fu films being played in showcase cinemas in our local area on every wednesday for the next six weeks. What can ya do. Can't call the police. They don't care. I don't care. It's not my fault Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted December 31, 2008 Member Share Posted December 31, 2008 Time for the annual recap and see what has happened @ KFF in 2008. JANUARY Several month's prior, Lo Mang of The Five Venoms was the toast of the town in Philadelphia. This month he was once again in the spotlight but for reasons that he and many of his fans would rather soon forget. Too much libation created an ugly situation in which ... Lo Mang arrested for kissing 2 men and brawling FEBRUARY It goes without saying that this month brought about the worst possible news as our senior moderator and good friend -- Linn Haynes, met his untimely demise in an automobile accident on February 28th. An outpouring of shock and grief gripped not just this forum but various boards and sites across the net. With 225+ replies and 10,000+ views, this thread continues to grow despite the many months since this tragic event... Linn Haynes In Memory Of In this month, another death occurred as HK actress Lydia Shum passes away. She was 60. MARCH This month saw some changes to the layout of the board with the merging of some forums and the deletion of others. The "Filmmaking and Production" and "Technical Issues" forums were merged with "General Discussion." The "Chamber of Disembowelment" was deleted and a new forum, "Vintage Martial Arts Cinema" was created. Also introduced was a new image gallery providing a public access repository for MAM images to be shared by the whole community. APRIL The long awaited Media Blaster's release of Heroes Two finally occurred. With a commentary track by the late Linn Haynes, this DVD became even more poignant ... Update on Heroes Two Shipping Date The above thread was an extension of a much larger thread (10,800 views) which initially began in 2007 .... Heroes Two (1974) MAY More sad news as our genre loses another actor of yesteryears. The talented, comedic actor Wong Yue 1955-2008 passed away May 16th from acute pneumonia. Featured in over 60 films, Wong had appeared in such Shaw classics as "Executioners From Shaolin," "Dirty Ho," "The Spiritual Boxer" and "The Kid With A Tattoo." JUNE Gordon Liu In Montreal!! Yes, the Master Killer himself appeared this month in Canada for the Fantasia 2008 con. For those lucky enough to attend, they got the chance to interact with one of the world's most well known kung fu film personalities. JULY It was a dream too good to be to true -- and sadly it panned out that way. The uber-hyped Sparkling Diamonds Tour (announced back in January) was deemed a hoax: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4492 This month acknowledged the 25th death anniversary of one of SB's most beloved actors; Alexander Fu Sheng: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5533 Moderator shuffle: Long standing mod jirpy steps down as HAZ and teako170 become the forum's newest moderators. AUGUST In late August, several forum members converged on Macon, GA to pay respects to the late Linn Haynes... http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5956 OCTOBER KFF marks its one-year-anniversary at KungFuCinema on October 16th... http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6291 NOVEMBER Old school kung fu actor Jimmy Lee Fong passes away. Career span included 80 films... http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6650 DECEMBER BCI Eclipse Out of Business and Dead... http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6893 KFF members gather in Philly for Christmas holidays... https://www.36styles.com/kungfufandom/index.php?/topic/6587-kff-christmas-in-philadelphia/ What will occur in 2009? Only time will tell so hope you'll stick around ..! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mark Pollard Posted January 1, 2009 Member Share Posted January 1, 2009 Our resident historian strikes again. Great summary. I appreciate it Teako. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Bravery Posted January 2, 2009 Member Share Posted January 2, 2009 Yeah, awesome job, Teako. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted January 5, 2009 Member Share Posted January 5, 2009 Very interesting to keep track of all this, I think I started lurking in KFF back in 2004 after finding it through KFC, I see the Vintage section looks to have been deleted recently. Mark what ever happened to your top 50 favs list, I remember seeking out the movies on that list that I hadn't watched, probably would of never seen Yellow River Fighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mark Pollard Posted January 6, 2009 Member Share Posted January 6, 2009 The "Vintage Martial Arts" forum was merged with Classic. I was hoping it would attract fans of those early films, few as they may be, but it never happened. Jean's article links to her blog were not enough to sustain it. I'm surprised you remember the top 50 list. That hasn't been online for years. A series of Top 10 Lists was meant to replace it but I haven't found the time to get more lists out. I'm still working on a Top 10 Kung Fu Movie list. Unfortunately, I've been held up by not having a chance to acquire a couple titles I need to watch again before making a final decision. Hopefully, 2009 will be the year I get some of my old projects jump-started again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The "Vintage Martial Arts" forum was merged with Classic. I was hoping it would attract fans of those early films, few as they may be, but it never happened. Jean's article links to her blog were not enough to sustain it. I'm surprised you remember the top 50 list. That hasn't been online for years. A series of Top 10 Lists was meant to replace it but I haven't found the time to get more lists out. I'm still working on a Top 10 Kung Fu Movie list. Unfortunately, I've been held up by not having a chance to acquire a couple titles I need to watch again before making a final decision. Hopefully, 2009 will be the year I get some of my old projects jump-started again. Mark, I printed your top 50 list. I have almost all of them, except for some I didn't care for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted February 18, 2010 Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 Time for the annual recap and see what happened @ KFF in 2009. Below is just a small slice of the many threads posted by (IMO) the finest group of KF fans on the net. JANUARY { started in 10/08 but a huge thread throughout 2009 } Ong Bak 2 http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6260 FEBRUARY 28th Hong Kong Film Awards http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7283 MARCH The PanMedia Issue http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7427 APRIL Mini-skirt Gang coming to DVD http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7733 MAY Five Deadly Venoms - Dragon Dynasty http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8023 JUNE Cinemart magazine by falkor http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8249 NEW SB DVDs coming from Celestial http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8295 MJ Dies http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8303 David Carradine found dead in Bangkok http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8128 R.I.P Shek Kin http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8129 JULY Bruceploitation Book...Coming soon http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8446 SEPTEMBER Second Batch of Shaw Brothers films released by Media Blasters http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8797 Patrick Swayze dies at 57 http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8895 OCTOBER Bey Logan no longer with Weinstein Company http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9037 Jimmy Wang Yu - "Worst guy I've ever worked with" http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9192 NOVEMBER R.I.P Chen Hung Lieh http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9456 Kara wins award http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9489 DECEMBER Kung Fu grandmaster jailed for kicking mistress http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9420 BCI Titles picked up by Funimation http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9634 See ya next year...! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted February 18, 2010 Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 Nice: I've been on this board since around 2003-2004 but I was under a different name "Ninjai" I can relate to a few of the hot topics we had, more so the Sub vs. Dub and my favorite the bootleggers and fansubbers. Even though I never knew Linn personally he would always be open to suggestions to make this site better, and he let me make quite a few on the Japanese section. He would also help stop a lot of the online bashing of the fansubbers and would even delete posts that were unnecessary and really out of content. I like the fact that on here we can get a lot of great info on all types of movies, really the Asian movies that without this site, I know a lot of us wouldn't even know half these movies even exist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted March 8, 2010 Member Share Posted March 8, 2010 Good work Teako! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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