Some follow-up re kung-fu documentary Cinema of Vengeance I forgot to mention when we saw it in #KungFuSat yesterday
CoV was made by Toby Russell, who was involved with Rick Baker (not that one) in #EasternHeroes in the 90s, a UK #zine & later London shop dedicated to East Asian/ #HongKongAction & #MartialArtsMovies. Fans who made a business out of what they loved. EH was catnip for me in the 90s!
Apparently CoV was available also in a 4-movie box set, with Red Tiger, Call Me Bullet & No Way Back. https://www.lavanguardia.com/peliculas-series/peliculas/cinema-of-vengeance-165790
EH made the Essential Guide to East Asian action movies. I had this! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Guide-Best-Eastern-Heroes/dp/1899252010
EH also made "video magazines", now on Youtube! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyC-cSbGlQQjxufRMEzAdt1CKyu0fA1O0
PDF of EH print magazine article on Lee Tso-nam, director of The Hot, The Cool and The Vicious & Shaolin vs Lama (and yes, Toby is the son of director Ken Russell, he of The Devils, Tommy, Altered States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Russell )
EH has been revived by Rick, but seems it's now basically just an e-tailer selling #BruceLee memorabilia https://easternheroes.com/
Wait, it also has "EH Film Frenzy", a revival/spin-off? on East Asian horror, fantasy & scifi (#Monsterdon material?) https://easternheroes.com/product/new-eastern-heroes-film-frenzy-issue-no1-special-collectors-edition-oct-2023/
Toby also made
- Death by Misadventure: The Mysterious Life of Bruce Lee (1993)
- Top Fighter (male martial arts stars)(1995)
- Top Fighter 2 (female martial arts stars)(1996)
- Jet Li-Thal Weapon (about Jet Li, geddit? 😜 )(1999)All available on Tubi https://tubitv.com/search/toby%20russell
Also involved in Stop! Kung Fu!, a comedy show with kung fu clips presented by UK TV star #JonathanRoss, a big fan of the genre. But a show slammed by other fans. https://www.kungfufandom.com/topic/16421-stop-kung-fu-bbc-2001-all-6-eps-on-youtube/
Toby had 2 video release labels in the 00s, bringing to the UK films like #TonyJaa 's Hard Gun https://www.fareastfilms.com/?feature_post_type=talk-to-me-toby-russell
You can see other things he was involved with as director or actor or producer etc at IMDB, almost all related to HK action. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751481/
