Firecracker

20/02/201420/02/2014alxkdd

Now let’s head back to the mid-2000s and take a look at Firecracker, who for a few years during that time kept the flag flying for Asian films in London with their amazing film festival and free magazine.

Firecracker was pure class from start to finish, from the superbly stylish magazine, packed with Asian film news and reviews, to their impeccably programmed festival, everything was put together to create a coherent and impressive look and feel to their organisation. Run by Erica & Nick, Firecracker launched as an online magazine first and then moved into film screenings with their festival before launching the free physical magazine which was distributed around cinemas in London.

What really made Firecracker so strong though was their great film programing, they weren’t afraid to take chance and screen films and genres that didn’t really get an attention elsewhere. From a retrospective of the Grace Chang film from Cathay studios, to a season covering the Bollywood crime films of director Ram Gopal Varma and dedicated strands looking at cinema from the Philippines and beyond, Firecracker did a great job of championing films that just didn’t pop up at any other festivals.

A far as I can remember the final Firecracker event took place in May 2007, a free double bill of films directed by Bobby Suarez – One Armed Executioner and They Call Her Cleopatra Wong. Sponsored by Tiger Beer it was a great night with a huge turnout and served as a fitting final event for a great organisation.

Kung Fu ruled at the Stoke Newington Astra

19/02/201417/02/2016alxkdd

Today we’re looking way back into London’s celluloid past to shine a light on another unsung hero of exploitation exhibition: Stoke Newington’s Astra cinema. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I was reading the cinema listings in a handful of vintage 1970s issues of Time Out.

The cinema landscape of London was a very different beast back in the 1970s, there were only 3 TV channels, no video players and the internet as we know it decades away, so consequently the city was overflowing with the cinemas! Which meant that there was plenty of room for a screen that specialised in martial arts double bills, yes that’s what the Stoke Newington Astra did, or at least did most of the time.

What I didn’t realise, until I started digging online for more info, was that the Astra was actually this place:

The Astra in its Kung Fu double bill days (1970s)

Which I’ve walked past so many times, but had no idea it used to be a cinema, let alone that is used to show classic kung fu films back in the 1970s. Today it’s the Aziziye Mosque, with the front section functions as a community store.

I’d always assumed the design was part of the Mosque, but the cinema was actually built in that style when it opened all the way back in 1913. Over the decades it went through different hands and many refurbishments, but always keeping its distinctive exterior. Where it becomes really interesting for us is when became the Astra in 1974 and started playing the kung fu and cult film double bills. Here’s a look at the three killer double-bill Time Out listings that we’ve been able to find for the Astra:

November 1975

November 1977

March 1978

It blows my mind to think that you could have caught these classic films on a big screen in Stoke Newington back in the 70s! Sadly the Astra closed in 1983, but the building is still there and it’s great that the very unique exterior has survived all those decades. We hope this short feature has helped to shine a light onto the Astra and helps to preserve just a little bit more of London’s cult cinematic history.

Eastern Heroes

18/02/201418/02/2014alxkdd

Yesterday we took a look at Jet Li’s London appearance from all the way back in 1996, now today we’ll take a look at the people that put that amazing day together: Eastern Heroes. It’s a thing that’s often said, about how the internet has changed everything in the last decade, and it’s very true. Right now you can pretty much find out anything you want about a film straight away, you can watch it digitally, buy a DVD, read about it being filmed, find out who’s been cast in it and more with just a few keystrokes. But back in the 1990s? Forget it!

And that’s why Eastern Heroes were so important to films back then; they were like a one-stop organisation to get everything you needed about Asian action cinema. Now this feature is by no way a history of them, I really don’t know enough, but what I want to do here is try to highlight how great they were at bringing that world of amazing cinema to life during those pre-internet days.

Firstly you had these amazing series of screening which ran at The Scala from the late 1980s through until the cinemas sad closure in 1993, in fact the final screening there was the Eastern Heroes Chow Yun Fat weekend, which saw the great man himself grace the cinemas stage for two amazing days of films. You can see the event programme and videos from the weekend here:

Here’s a great example of the sort of screenings that they’d regularly organise at The Scala:

Then you had their long running magazine which filled you in on recent Asian cinema releases, let you know what was coming up and had great interviews with actors and directors that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. I only have a few of their magazines left, but taking another browse through them now really brings back how much of an eye opener they were at the time.

Then there’s also the two Eastern Heroes stores which were a great focus point for film fans back then. The first store opened up in Camden and was followed by a second store located right in Chinatown on Shaftsbury Avenue. Both were stocked wall-to-wall with VHS, VCDS, Laserdiscs, magazines, posters and much more. The stores were really great and were an essential stop for any film fans in London. Here’s a great video which takes you inside the Chinatown store, along with a selection of store adverts:

But as we always say, nothing lasts forever, times changed and eventually Eastern Heroes closed down operations at some point in the late 1990s. But we’re happy to report that recently Eastern Heroes have re-launched, with Rick Baker still in charge, there are plans afoot to launch a new magazine, they also put on a recent screening in Chinatown, showing two brand new martial arts documentaries. So it’s great to have them back and let’s hope 2014 sees Eastern Heroes go from strength to strength. Thanks for all the great times from us at The Duke!

Find out more about the relaunched Eastern Heroes right here!

The Day Jet Li Visited The Prince Charles Cinema

17/02/201417/02/2014alxkdd

With our Shaw Brothers Tribute only one week away we’re dedicating this week to posts about classic martial arts film screenings in London, from special guest events, to film festivals and even back to the 1970s for some vintage double-bill screenings.

Today we’re taking a look at a very special event: The Day Jet Li Visited The Prince Charles Cinema – yes Sunday 13^th October 1996 was the day Jet set foot on the stage at the Prince Charles and it’s a day that’s been stuck in my memory ever since, simply because I was lucky enough to be there.

The day was put on by the kings of kung fu screenings at the time: Eastern Heroes. Having lost their spiritual home The Scala a few years before, they’d now moved location to the Prince Charles and it was there that the 3 film event kicked off at the early time of 10.30 with a screening of the then very new Jet actioner Dr Wai. My actual memories of the films aren’t that clear, what I more remember about the day was the incredible atmosphere, whistles were handed out to everyone in the queue, the house was packed and everyone was so up for a good time. The films played great, especially the second film of the day, the absolute classic Fist Of Legend which caused everyone to the cinema to go into fits of wild screaming and whistle blowing.

Then before the third and final film of the day, Black Mask, it was time for Jet to take the stage, the place went wild, he was preceded by a dragon dance, the atmosphere was electric and it felt like the cinema itself was going to explode, people were going wild. But don’t just take my word for it, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube right here:

Now as to why this event was so special to me was what happened next, there was a prize draw to win one of three Jet Li film posters, which you could collect from the stage, meet Jet and he’d sign the poster for you. As you can imagine everyone in the cinema wanted to win, everyone that is except me, not that I didn’t think it was a great idea I just don’t really collect signed items, I was hoping someone who really wanted one would win. So when it came down to the third and final prize draw can you guess who won? Yes it was me! So I managed to fight my way to the stage, met Jet, he misunderstood how to spell my name and had to cross it out on the poster. Now I had an original Golden Harvest theatrical one sheet for Fist Of Legend, signed by Jet, which even I suddenly realised was actually very cool. Everyone else seemed to think so as well, people started offering me money for it right away!

After that Jet left the stage to much applause and then it was time for Black Mask. It was a fantastic day: it you look closely you can see my leg while I’m onstage in the video, I still have the poster, it’s a little bit battered but still in ok shape, though my ticket has long gone.

Tomorrow on the blog we’ll be looking at the guys behind this event: Eastern Heroes, who practically owned martial arts screenings in London through the 1990s!