Tag: 1978

Cinema Smorgasbord – You Don’t Know Dick – I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) (/w Luke Higginson)

On a brand new episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK (the world’s finest Dick Miller-themed podcast) we’re joined by director/writer/editor Luke Higginson (director of the Rhys Darby-starring sci-fi comedy RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE!) to discuss the fab four (aka THE BEATLES), Eddie Deezen,  the career of Robert Zemeckis and the 1978 rock ‘n roll comedy I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND! Oh, and we also talk about Dick Miller, of course.  JOIN US!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Whatever Happened to Vic Diaz? – The Boys in Company C (1978)

On this episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ? we’re heading into the jungle with Filipino thespian Vic Diaz in the 1978 Vietnam war drama THE BOYS IN COMPANY C, starring Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens, and Craig Wasson. Similar in structure to Full Metal Jacker (and featuring R. Lee Ermey in a very similar role), it’s a sometimes odd, sometimes hard-hitting look at a controversial war that also includes a whole lot of soccer for some reason. It’s pretty good, and very different than the usual fair we cover on this podcast. CHECK IT OUT!

Cinema Smorgasbord – We Do Our Own Stunts – Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1978)

On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS we’re going back in time! Back before SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW or DRUNKEN MASTER, when Lo Wei reluctantly gave Jackie Chan permission to – finally – make the kung fu comedy he always wanted. The result was HALF A LOAF OF KUNG FU, which Lo Wei immediately shelved until the international success of Jackie’s Yuen Woo-ping-directed films made him rush it into cinemas. How is it? Listen and find out!

Cinema Smorgasbord – We Do Our Own Stunts – Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)

On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS, we continue our chronological look at the career of Jackie Chan and – surprise – Jackie is famous now! After the massive success of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, Jackie returns to Lo Wei who decides to dust some unreleased Jackie features off the shelf and rush them into cinemas. The first is the supernatural kung fu comedy SPIRITUAL KUNG FU, which features five bright white “ghosts” in red fright wigs (who arrived on a meteor) teaching Jackie the five style fists, while a murder mystery plays out in the shaolin temple! Features Jackie shoving living animals down his pants and ghost busting (via urination). CHECK IT OUT!

Cinema Smorgasbord – We Do Our Own Stunts – Drunken Master (1978)

It took 12 episodes to get here, but after the box-office success of SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW, Jackie Chan suddenly finds himself a bankable martial arts star. So why not do it all again, only better? DRUNKEN MASTER reunites Jackie with basically everyone who worked on the previous film, including producer Ng See-yuen, director Yuen Woo-ping, and stars Hwang Jang-lee, Dean Shek and Simon Yuen, and the result isa global smash that launched Jackie’s career and set both a pattern for the next stage of his career, as well as provided material for dozens of rip-offs, tributes and sequels. Join us on the latest episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS where we discuss Jackie’s recent birthday, the death of Jimmy Wang Yu, and talk all about 1978’s DRUNKEN MASTER. Check it out!

Cinema Smorgasbord – We Do Our Own Stunts – Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978)

Over 10 episodes of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS we’ve seen Jackie Chan struggle for respectability and recognition in martial arts films. There have been high and low points, but we always knew his launch to stardom was coming.. and now here it is! On this episode we’re looking at Yuen Woo-ping’s SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW, the film that was Jackie’s first step towards international stardom. But how did it come about? We look at how Jackie was leant to Seasonal Films, his first meeting with producer Ng See-yuen, his history with Yuen Woo-ping’s family and plenty more. CHECK IT OUT!