Today’s viewing: #TheHumanGoddess (Meng Hua-Ho, 1972) a campy, fun comedy musical fantasy from Shaw Brothers set in contemporary Hong Kong where a goddess 7th sister (Lee Ching) comes to Earth and learns about romance and struggle before returning to heaven. #filmsky
Happy birthday and Live Long and Prosper to the legend @georgetakei.bsky.social
42: For Your Eyes Only from Fleming features short stories about Bond some while on a mission some on his own time. What ties them together is Bond’s introspection of his life built around the killing of people and a sense he is less of a spy and more a hired killer. Great read. #booksky
Today’s viewing: #TheVengefulBeauty (Ho Meng-hua, 1978) an entertaining female centered wuxia film from Shaw Brothers about a pregnant woman that becomes a threat to the emperor after his order to kill her whole family is not completed. Non stop action. #filmsky
42: Death in the Jungle a new examination of Jim Jones, his tactics to create his PeoplesTemple and how his drug use and paranoia ultimately destroyed his ministry and led to the mass deaths which as Fleming through extensive research shows were acts of murder and not suicide in 1978. #booksky
41: Goldfinger published in 1958 offers a bleaker and weary Bond as he struggles with the toll of the job and number of people he has killed in the name of empire and service. Fleming explores themes of greed and wealth and how greed destroys capitalism in the figure of Goldfinger. #booksky
Second viewing of day: #TheSingingThief (Chang Cheh, 1969) a thoroughly entertaining action comedy from Shaw Brothers with singer Jimmy Lin Chong playing a reformed cat burglar trying to clear his name when another thief emerged using his same mo. #filmsky
Today’s viewing: #AngelwithIronFist (Lo Wei, 1967) a female centered bangpian from Shaw Brothers with Lily Ho in lead as 009. Entertaining with decent amounts of action and gadgets but the screenplay is too loose and the pacing is off to make it a complete work. #filmsky
Inspired by the discovery of a black kiss film Field meticulously and eloquently crafts the story of the two unknown persons Suttle and Brown and presents their lives in a book that reveals the complex nature of black performers linked to minstrel shows and songs to satisfy racism. #booksky 2/2
40: Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss that Changed Film History a revelatory piece of film history that reshapes the narrative about Black joy and dignity even while confronting racist realities of American culture in 1890s and later. A must read for anyone and film scholars. 1/2 #booksky
Across the U.S., the volume of movie and TV on-location production filming slowed in the first quarter of this year, with one state marking an exception: New Jersey.
Today’s viewing: #TheGoldenBuddha (Lo Wei, 1966) an entertaining stylish take on the Bond films produced by Shaw Brothers that captures the vibrant and economic growth in Hong Kong at the time through its story of a hapless businessman that gets involved in a global crime syndicate. #filmsky
@fuscowrites.bsky.social Hollywood Others offers meticulous scholarship mixed with close readings to offer a new mode of thinking about classical Hollywood system and its larger impact on American society. It is written in a style that is lively and deeply perceptive. 2/2
39: Hollywood’s Others @fuscowrites.bsky.social brilliant counter narrative about classical Hollywood studios and fan magazines and the roles they played in dealing with child stars, people of color, disabled characters and celebrity scandals is a must read for film scholars. 1/2 #booksky
Today’s viewing: #TheStoryofMySon (To, 1990) Johnnie To’s emotionally gritty and devastating portrayal of a father whose wife dies leaving him in debt and then he gambles to pay off the debt leading to him seeking aid from Triad loan sharks all while raising his children. #filmsky
Tonight’s viewing: Hidden in the Fog (Kjellgren, 1953) Swedish noir film clearly inspired by Preminger’s iconic Laura (1944) with a solid performance from Eva Henning as Lora a woman who shoots her husband and then discovers that she is not responsible for his death as he died from poison. #filmsky
38: To Be An Actress Yiman Wang’s theoretically grounded study of Anna May Wong’s modes of labor and performance that shows how she was able to perform within the racist and sexist Hollywood studio system and have some agency. A must read for star studies scholars. @ucpress.bsky.social #booksky
Second viewing of day: #PaintedFaces (Law, 1988) a late ShawBrothers release the drama is a biopic/drama about Wu’s Peking Opera Troupe which Sammo Hung was trained in before becoming an actor. The film is moving and has an elegiac quality to it and was a key film in Hong Kong New Wave. #filmsky
Today’s viewing: #Women (Kwan, 1985) one of the key films of Hong Kong New Wave and Kwan’s debut this film offers a raw, intimate look at the changing and complex nature of marriage, relationships, and sex between men and women in modern Hong Kong anchored by Chow Yun-Fat and Cora Miao. #filmsky
Today’s viewing: #LovingYou (To,
1995) a key film in Johnnie To’s oeuvre and one all fans of his work and Hong Kong cinema should see. It is an astonishing mix of gritty crime drama with emotionally compelling melodrama about a cop who after being shot must rethink his life. #filmsky
37: Appointment with Death the 19th Poirot mystery where Christie explores the dynamics of the Boyton family ruled by a moths who is psychologically cruel, which leads up to her murder in the Middle East. Poirot with a 24 hour deadline must solve the mystery and faces a series of liars. #booksky
36th: Dr No Fleming’s 6th in Bond book offers an intense and thrilling story that pits a recovering Bond against the ingenious and powerful Dr. No in a battle of wit and wills. Unlike the film there is an ecological angle to the story and No is a doomsday prepper. #booksky
Second viewing of day: #GodfatherfromCanton (Hung Kuei, 1982) a gritty, violent, and entertaining gangster picture from ShawBrothers filled with tommy gun battles, kung fu, and deception in the story of a day laborer who becomes a cop and then a gang boss. #filmsky
Today’s viewing: #Destiny’sChampion (Sun Chung, 1984) an exhilarating and moving Shaw Brothers film that captures the divide between the working classes and the hedonistic elite told through the story of Wah a cocky lorry driver who dreams of more and is forced to fight for his future. #filmsky
Braude through Flanner’s letters captures her wit, charm, and passion for Europe and shows how all that was changed by the rise of fascism and her key role in documenting and reporting on that rise at the same time that a German man became France’s most notorious murderer. 2/2 #booksky
35th: Mark Braude’s thrilling TheTypewriterandtheGuillotine a thoroughly researched book that highlights the importance of Janet Flanner a queer American expat who from the 1920s into the 1940s wrote for the NewYorker giving readers slices of European culture and life. 1/2 #booksky
Today’s viewing: #ChallengeoftheGamesters (Wong Jing, 1981) released by ShawBrothers the film offers a mix of gangster, kung fu, action, slap stick and espionage and was an influential film for the development of the Hong Kong gambling genre. Very entertaining. #filmsky
34th: From Russia with Love Fleming’s 1957 Bond novel that offers a more human/romantic approach to the Cold War and spy game. Interestingly the first half focuses on Russia and its preparations for the plot to kill Bond. Second half is Bond focused as he grapples with romance and violence. #booksky
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