wandering-star

This 90 minute documentary takes us to northern Ontario to see the country where the Canadian "Group of Seven" painters did a large portion of their work post WWI / during 1920's. For the first time, the actual sites where the artists stood/sat and painted in a remote and rugged landscape are found. It is fascinating to see the exact viewpoint shown from today, the screen then giving way to the paintings which have become so familiar and iconic to Canadians. It is beautifully shot with rugged landscape, rich fall colours, and rushing waterfalls - in the words of one of the artists, "a fairy land, Dante's dream". Recommend.

Ching is an cocky, under-achieving crook that ends up in prison, where he meets an old man who schools him in a prison kung fu duel. However the old man is sufficiently impressed with Ching as to give him half of a wooden amulet. The other half is possessed by a fellow inmate, and the two go off on a rollicking kung fu adventure to find an ancient scroll.

Monkey Kung Fu delivers fast paced action in a variety of backdrops - courtyards, mountain meadows, and tea houses where the furniture is predictably, and satisfyingly, reduced to firewood. And the brothel full of kung fu prostitutes was pretty fun. While most of the comedy is cheesy, there are so good one-liners ("Are you tired yet"? "No, I have a date with your sister tonight!"), and it keeps the movie light and entertaining.

The fight choreography starts off not too good in my opinion - moves kind of choppy and slow - but by the 38 minute mark, during the fight in a courtyard, it improves vastly. By the end, with a frenetic fight to the death in the mountains with a skilled bo (staff) master, it is some of the best in the genre. Very much recommended.

A sequel to the Shaw Bros. "The Empress Dowager", "The Last Tempus" tells the story of the Empress Dowager Cixi, who unofficially ruled the Qing dynasty in the last half of the 19th century. Emperor Kuang Hsu (Guangxu) officially ruled, and tried to enact reforms of a more Westernized government, but was opposed by the influential Cixi.

This film is a historical drama that claimed to use over 1,000 actors and extras, as well as expansive sets and costumes which are impressive.

However, I personally did not enjoy it. I picked up this one expecting a Shaw Bros kung fu film, and instead got political drama.. just wasn't into it. Maybe others interested in the political history of that era would be.