Sex and Zen & a Bullet in the Head; the Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-Bending Films

Hammond, Stefan & Mike Wilkins

ISBN 10: 0684803410 / ISBN 13: 9780684803418

Published by Fireside (Simon & Schuster), New York, 1996

About this Item

Annotated catalog of Hong Kong films by two film buffs who met in San Francisco in 1987. 272 p. with index, glossary and list of Chinese titles. B/w illustrations. Pictorial covers in color. Foreword by Jackie Chan. Clean, no markings, Cover corners lightly bent. Original price $12.00 Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 000454

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sex and Zen & a Bullet in the Head; the Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-Bending Films
• Publisher: Fireside (Simon & Schuster), New York
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684803410
• ISBN 13: 9780684803418
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Edition: 1st Ed.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • China
  • Cinema

About this title

Synopsis

Far from the orbit of Planet Hollywood, the new cinema of Hong Kong beckons.
Gone are the flying pigtails and contrived fist-thuds of your father's favorite chopsockies. These are punch-straight entertainers, movies juddering with the excitement that put the "motion" in motion pictures. Dodge a thousand bullets as you contemplate the heroic gangster-knights of Master Director John Woo. Watch international superstar Jackie Chan perform action-comedy on the edge of peril. Wrap your imagination in the fantasy of director Tsui Hark, who proffers comely ghosts floating on silk, otherworldly romance, and no-joke witches and demons. And there's much more! Fighting femme flicks featuring fatales hiking up their designer dresses and bouncing spike heels off the bad guy's forehead. Stylish tragedies rivaling the best of Hollywood noir. Brain-boiling monster weirdies to delight the grindhouse faithful. Subtitles that mangle the English language into fabulous new mutations.

About the Author

Authors Stefan Hammond and Mike Wilkins (co-author of The New Roadside America) met in the front row of San Francisco's now-shuttered Pagoda Palace Theater in 1987, where both had gone to watch The Ghost Snatchers. Now they share the results of their long devotion to the form. They give you their picks for which movies to rent, where to rent them in North America, what to look for once you do, and even film titles in Chinese characters. Zealously written and incredibly entertaining, Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head is the perfect companion to the over-the-edge mayhem of Hong Kong film.