With Eyes East

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This month, Donovan Morgan Grant returns to provide an overview of the American kung fu movie, which is also the story of the evolution of the action scene and the United States’ cultural perception of China, Hong Kong, and Japan. We start at prehistory, before the advent of martial arts styles, and move through the watershed year of 1973 — challenge the conventional wisdom that that was the beginning — and continue onto the Golden Age and the resulting Doldrums, both pivoting around the rise and fall of The Matrix. Throughout, we introduce the careers of the action icons like Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and whittle down a list of recommendations.

Viewing History

After preaching the good word of RRR, we reflect on the turning tide against Taika Waititi following a less-than-stellar reception to his latest Marvel outing.

News

Shinzo Abe, killed at 67, leaves a storied legacy as Japan’s longest-serving premier

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated Friday, stunning a nation where gun violence and political attacks are rare. Japan’s influential and longest-serving prime minister worked to revitalize the nation’s economy — with his namesake “Abenomics” policy — and rebuild its role on the global stage. He was 67.

Abe was giving a speech for a candidate in Nara, a city in western Japan, just ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, when a man fatally shot him from behind with a handmade firearm.

Abe shooting suspect’s mother donated ¥100 million to Unification Church, uncle says

The man, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told investigators he believes Abe was linked to the church and he resents it because his family’s finances were ruined due to the donations made by his mother.

On the Watchlist

Feature: American Kung Fu Primer

Nearly 20 years ago now, the main host of the Genrebusters podcast put together a Hong Kong Film Primer in two parts, an overview of the martial arts movies from the Shaw Brothers up to then-present day. In doing so, he identified individual periods, a strategy we in the business of cognitive psychology refer to as “chunking.” Useful for me still because I’m currently feeling my way through Hong Kong martial arts movies, so I thought we’d start with something more manageable, more underdog perhaps – the American martial arts movie.

Runtime: [03:10:55]

Music Selection
“Naatu Naatu,” Rahul Sipligunj
“Copycat,” Chobom
“Fight to Survive,” Stan Bush

Further Reading

Afghanistan earthquake: despite risks, release funds to the Taliban
Girls’ Generation’s upcoming variety show ‘SoShi TamTam’ reveals main poster; Drops new teasers
CHOBOM (A Pink’s Chorong and Bomi) release tracklist for their unit debut album ‘Copycat’
카피캣 뮤비 촬영 현장을 담은 🌸 보미의 일기 🌸 ㅣCopycat MV Behind
The Enter the Ninja Podcast
From Strip to Script – A Jack Kirby Fight Scene
John Wick 4 Teaser Trailer