Red Cliff II is a highly satisfying conclusion to John Woo’s two-part, epic retelling of the Battle of Red Cliffs. It’s a massive, sweeping melodrama full of style and cinematic bravado. This is the kind of movie-making that drew westerners to Woo’s films the late ’80s and early ‘90s; so it’s a real joy to see Woo come out from the other side of the Hollywood experience with the ability to create something of this scale and undeniable power. I gave up on him at least a decade ago, counting him lost to the Hollywood machine. I’ve rarely been so happy to be wrong about a filmmaker. I was one of those people that was obsessed with Woo's work in the early/mid 90s so it's like a weird cinematic homecoming to be able to feel like a fan of his again.
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My site is celebrating 10 glorious years on the internet and to honor that I'm going to be tossing out a few top ten lists over the next few months. This movie themed list hearkens back to the very origins of this site.

Ten years ago Drunkenfist.com was mostly a repository of my writing for Boston's late, lamented Shovel Magazine. At that point I'd been writing 1-2000 words a month on Hong Kong movies for a couple of years, so there was a lot of content to share. Since then, the site has transitioned from mostly film writing to mostly art, but at its heart the site still has a lot of cinema flowing through its veins.

Because of that, it's only right that I start with this list of ten films released over the past ten years that fit the Drunkenfist.com aesthetic to a tee. If I were still Mr. Movies the following 10 films would have been trotted out at every opportunity. For those of you who followed my writing back in the day, imagine the geeking out I did over Iron Monkey and you'll get a clear picture of how much I like the following films…

So, without further ado, here are 10 movies that have kicked my ass over the past ten years (in one way or another )

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If I was slightly disappointed by the last Shaw Brother movie I watched, Heroes of the East cleared that disappointment up in a hurry. While it's almost entirely plotless after the first 30 minutes, what plot is there serves its purpose admirably. That purpose? Setting up an hour of non-stop fights between Lau Kar-Fai and a stream of Japanese martial artists- each brandishing a different style or weapon. It's structured like kung fu porn.

Yes.
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Only about 30 minutes of The Magic Blade really grabbed me. It was 30 minutes of non-stop, lurid action. Weird characters, cannibalism, freaky weapons and sets- it had it all. The rest of the film? Not so much. It was good, just not as appealing to me as the mayhem filled middle section. Which is something of a disappointment as I'd heard good things about this film.

Oh well.
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Some facts about Challenge of The Masters:

• Lau Kar-Fai (Gordon Liu) plays Wong Fei-Hung
• One of the climactic battles is with his adopted brother, Lau Kar Leung
• Lau Kar Leung also direct the film

So yeah, Challenge of the Masters is pretty good.
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