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Thread: Chinese/Shanghai Steampunk

  1. #16
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    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  2. #17
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    ttt 4 2015!

    Been waiting for this to come around again. The genre surfaced and then fizzled a bit, but never quite went away.

    Dark Horse To Release A Cyberpunk Martial Arts Story About Mulan’s Descendent In June
    Posted February 6, 2015 by by Christine Marie

    From Dark Horse Comics, written by Marc Andreyko (Batwoman, Manhunter), illustrated by Micah Kaneshiro (Blackout, Broken Pieces), with newcomer creator Robert Alter, comes Mulan: Revelations. Releasing this June, the legend of Mulan will continue, but with a twist! The story will focus on a new Mulan, named after her legendary ancestor. Chosen by the ancient Chinese Immortals, the new Mulan will have to face a deadly virus that has made it’s way through the rich and the poor. While it threatens humanity, it is up to her to stop the evil behind it all. She will fight in a final battle for the world.

    Writer Marc Andreyko spoke about the book by saying,

    Working on this project has been a dream. I’ve always been a fan of extrapolating on myths and legends and dealing with the themes that make them so timeless, and Mulan: Revelations has that in spades. Robert Alter and artist Micah Kaneshiro are tremendous collaborators, and I cannot wait for readers to join us on this exciting journey. They are in for something they have never seen before!

    Unlike the legend of Mulan that we are familiar with, Mulan: Revelations will focus on a battle not only for China, but the entire world. Said to be a blend of Chinese martial arts and futuristic cyberpunk, this book will excite fans worldwide. I’m overwhelmed with excitement regarding this upcoming release. Mulan is such an admirable character to begin with, and the fact that we are getting to meet a descendent of hers, who seems to be just as epic of a character, is something I am really looking forward to. I can’t stop staring at the cover. The simplistic background design in combination with the calm resilient character is awesome. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy! Mulan: Revelations is set to release this June. Visit Dark Horse’s website to stay up to date on pre-order information.



    Christine Marie is a Staff Writer at Bleeding Cool, and bibliomaniac with a love for all things creative. She hopes to one day be a Superhero/Disney Princess/Novelist. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @AWritersWay or on her blog writerchristinemarie.wordpress.com.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #18
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    I just remembered this thread.

    Gotta add this now: Into The Badlands



    And in a related note, we never added these: Tai Chi 0 & Tai Chi Hero
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #19
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    Chinese/Shanghai Steampunk



    I'm just going to drop my review now because I saw this on Amazon Prime a week or so ago. This is a Taiwanese film starring Shu Qi and Eric Tsang. I love Eric Tsang. I think Danny Devito is like the Eric Tsang of Hollywood. He has a small part, one that I thought the film had totally forsaken when the credits started, but then there's an after credit scene that pulls it all together. Shu Qi, well, she's dirty without make-up in the beginning, a shackled slave wife, but then she becomes luminous and gorgeous like usual, and actually pulls of some decent dramatic scenes. I come and go with her, but her role here worked for me.

    The story is a period film about dumb greedy villagers, an ancient steampunkish device that erases memories called the Worry Ridder, a scamming Daoist, and a band of bandits that provide their own soundtrack with acapella beat boxing faintly echoing Bobby McFerrin. The bandits were great and sometimes, good villains are all a film needs to succeed for me. It's got some dark humor, brutally heartless yet tongue-in-cheek. I was surprised by several plot turns, and found it's sensibilities humorous, mostly because I was scratching my head trying to figure out where it was all going. And in the end, I found the conclusion satisfactory. It's got some stunning cinematography, well composed scenes, panoramic settings, swooping shots, the director moves the camera astonishingly well. They built a complete village for this, which gives it solidity, especially with some complex drone work. There's sword fights. The main villain carries this ridiculous ratchet. The finale fight is an innovative toggling of fast and slo mo, with absurd wire work, powdered with corn starch for effect.

    Do I recommend it? Well, definitely for anyone keeping up with Chinese cinema. I would enjoy your take on this very much. Also recommended for any of you that are Shu Qi fans. It's award-winning Taiwan cinema, but it might be too quirky for many. I enjoyed it for what it was. It felt like fresh escapist fare. Some of its notions were hackneyed and uneven, but there was enough novelty that it kept me engaged.

    THREADS
    The Village of No Return
    Chinese/Shanghai Steampunk
    Gene Ching
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  5. #20
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    Slightly OT

    In Asian Art Museum's Cyberpunk Exhibition, an Ancient Poet Navigates the Future
    Kristie Song
    Nov 17

    'River,' a video installation for 'Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk' on view at the Asian Art Museum beginning Nov. 18. (Kristie Song/KQED)

    During China’s formative and tumultuous Warring States period — a time when various regions fought for territory and political power, from around 475 BCE to 221 BCE — the disillusioned and aging poet Qu Yuan decided to end his life in the Miluo river. In his new exhibition Warring States Cyberpunk, opening Nov. 18 at the Asian Art Museum, visual artist and animator Kongkee creates an alternative futuristic reality wherein Qu Yuan emerges and is granted a second chance.

    As the poet readjusts to bright, jarring sounds and sights, museum-goers are invited into a similarly overwhelming space, drenched in flashy neon light. Floating projections, optical illusions and sound installations meld past and future, nostalgia and fantasy.

    “I’m trying to find a way to deconstruct your senses, to push you to rediscover yourself a little bit more,” says Kongkee. Now based in London, the artist grew up in Hong Kong, where tradition and modernity intersect, both contradicting and coexisting with one another. In 2013, he began to incorporate futurism and sci-fi into his comic series, Mi Luo Virtual, to explore how history can be reinvented — a journey that would eventually culminate in this exhibition.


    Selected comic panels from Kongkee’s work on display. (Kristie Song/KQED)
    In Warring States, the artist uses fluorescent cyberpunk imagery to “rip out” and distort conventional understandings of time and history. In Kongkee's artistic universe, nothing is linear. Here, he intentionally plays with viewers’ expectations to create a multidimensional timeline: one where where everything can exist at once.

    “River,” one of many immersive video installations, features a large, moving projection of items drifting in blood-orange water. Kongkee imbues the haunting, dystopian scene with nostalgic objects he grew up seeing in his native Hong Kong: road signs, ferries and a book titled Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time wade through still waters amidst an apocalyptic backdrop.

    He hopes that his bright yet bleak vision of the future provokes hope, urgency and reflection from attendees. There is a universality, he says, that comes from “being a human — being put in the river of time, of the universe.”


    LED installations that explore loneliness and perspective in 'Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk.' (Kristie Song/KQED)
    As for Qu Yuan: Kongkee recasts him as a rock star, strutting through intense, highly saturated landscapes in fashionable robes. The artist speaks of the poet with reverence, noting this contemporary, edgy revamping suits Qu Yuan’s groundbreaking ways. During his time, Qu Yuan ushered in a new style of Romantic poetry that departed from conventional four-character verses in favor of lines that varied in length and expression. In his titular work, Lisao, he wrote: “I plucked soft lotus petals to wipe my welling tears / That fell down in rivers and wet my coat front.” Like Kongkee, his work was neither minimalistic nor subtle — it was effusive and overflowing.

    But beyond the aesthetic revitalization of the historical figure, Kongkee is interested in how thinking about alternative pasts can open up pathways to alternative futures.

    Kongkee’s art doesn’t provide answers — it inundates the senses and scatters timelines so viewers might begin to question their own chronologies. “Art is not about solutions,” Kongkee says. “It’s about the feeling, the connection.”



    'Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk' will be on view Nov. 18, 2022 – Jan. 23, 2023 in the Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Hours and ticket info here.
    I must check this out...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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