Feeling link-ish

Over on Tars Tarkas’ blog, Tars has posted a very handy overview of the Cantonese “Jane Bond” films of the 1960s, a great resource for anyone interested in that genre of delightfully rough-edged but nonetheless charming costumed heroine movies, many of which have sadly been lost to the ages. In addition to his own well-researched words on the subject (which include a review of Connie Chan’s Lady Black Cat), Tars has also linked to a number of other reviews, including ones written both by myself and by my pal Dave over at Soft Film.

And speaking of Soft Film: I’ve mentioned over one million times now my fondness for old school fantasy wuxia films in which people are shown shooting cartoon lightning bolts out of their hands, and Dave has posted a sizeable clip from the 1964 Cantonese wuxia Buddha’s Palm that consists of pretty much nothing but. I especially loved how the actors are underselling the move in this example, being all like, “Ho hum, just hold up your hand and apparently someone’s going to draw some kind of a cartoon ghost or something coming out of it in ‘post’, or whatever we call it here in 1964.” Of course, this movie should not be confused with the Shaw Brothers’ 1982 film Buddha’s Palm, which also has lots of people shooting cartoon lasers out of their hands, as well as a dragon that looks like a muppet.

Elsewhere, though I normally only pimp my own writings on Teleport City on this blog, I just have to steer you toward Keith’s just posted review of Manos: The Hands of Fate. Keith here has the last word on this badfilm classic, as well as the first, and… well, to tell the truth, he’s actually managed to use pretty much every word that could conceivably be dedicated to Manos in the course of this tour de force. Essential reading, for sure.

And finally, while it might be considered unusual to link to a post that I have not actually read, in the case of my linking here to MemsaabStory’s review of Azaad there is a method to my madness. You see, I am planning to watch and review Azaad myself in the near future, and Memsaab’s coverage of the films she reviews tends not only to be very thorough, but also to include all of the best possible screen captures, a fact which in the past has discouraged me from even bothering to review movies that she has gotten her greedy masala-loving hands on first. So, as of now, I am doing my best to avoid her review of Azaad, because it really sounds like my kind of picture. I mean, from just the tiniest peek I took at Memsaab’s write-up, I can see that it involves Dharmendra dressing up like Zorro, as well as at some point wrestling with a stuffed dog and – no no no no! I’ve already heard too much! LALALALALALALA! Not listening!