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1. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey - (John Little, 2000) - January 1 - Perhaps the best documentary on Bruce Lee available (and believe me, there are several). The inclusion of the uncut scenes Lee shot for Game of Death, which had never been seen before, is worth it alone.
2. Fearless Dragons aka Two for the Road - (Lee Chiu, 1980) - January 1 - One of those cheaply made old-school kung fu flicks. I have only a semblance of an idea of what the plot was because it was an English dub with crappy sound quality, but the action was good.

1. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey - (John Little, 2000) - January 1 - Perhaps the best documentary on Bruce Lee available (and believe me, there are several). The inclusion of the uncut scenes Lee shot for Game of Death, which had never been seen before, is worth it alone.
2. Fearless Dragons aka Two for the Road - (Lee Chiu, 1980) - January 1 - One of those cheaply made old-school kung fu flicks. I have only a semblance of an idea of what the plot was because it was an English dub with crappy sound quality, but the action was good.
3. Legend of a Fighter - (Yuen Woo-ping, 1982) - January 2/3 - Now this is more like it! Leave it to the master Yuen Woo-ping to bring it to the next level. The story of Huo Yuan-Jia/Fok Yuen-Gap has been told several times, perhaps most recently in Ronny Yu's Fearless, starring Jet Li (which, coincidentally, was actually choreographed by Yuen). The fights are top notch, and the simple "my school vs your school" plot is well served. Also, I love getting to see Yasuake Kurata in Hong Kong movies.

1. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey - (John Little, 2000) - January 1 - Perhaps the best documentary on Bruce Lee available (and believe me, there are several). The inclusion of the uncut scenes Lee shot for Game of Death, which had never been seen before, is worth it alone.
2. Fearless Dragons aka Two for the Road - (Lee Chiu, 1980) - January 1 - One of those cheaply made old-school kung fu flicks. I have only a semblance of an idea of what the plot was because it was an English dub with crappy sound quality, but the action was good.
3. Legend of a Fighter - (Yuen Woo-ping, 1982) - January 2/3 - Now this is more like it! Leave it to the master Yuen Woo-ping to bring it to the next level. The story of Huo Yuan-Jia/Fok Yuen-Gap has been told several times, perhaps most recently in Ronny Yu's Fearless, starring Jet Li (which, coincidentally, was actually choreographed by Yuen). The fights are top notch, and the simple "my school vs your school" plot is well served. Also, I love getting to see Yasuake Kurata in Hong Kong movies.
4. * Crippled Avengers aka The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms aka Mortal Combat - (Chang Cheh, 1978 ) - January 3 - Let's get this out of the way: this movie is so not PC. That's fine though, because it's without one of the best martial arts films ever made. An evil lord disables four men in different ways - one blind, one deaf-mute, removes the legs from one, and perhaps most troublesome, turns one into an idiot. They combine what abilities they have left to form the ultimate team. How is that not an awesome plot? Add in top-notch action, and you have a certified classic. I had the pleasure of seeing a dilapidated print of an English dub of this film a few years back, and it still holds up with the campiness removed.

1. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey - (John Little, 2000) - January 1 - Perhaps the best documentary on Bruce Lee available (and believe me, there are several). The inclusion of the uncut scenes Lee shot for Game of Death, which had never been seen before, is worth it alone.
2. Fearless Dragons aka Two for the Road - (Lee Chiu, 1980) - January 1 - One of those cheaply made old-school kung fu flicks. I have only a semblance of an idea of what the plot was because it was an English dub with crappy sound quality, but the action was good.
3. Legend of a Fighter - (Yuen Woo-ping, 1982) - January 2/3 - Now this is more like it! Leave it to the master Yuen Woo-ping to bring it to the next level. The story of Huo Yuan-Jia/Fok Yuen-Gap has been told several times, perhaps most recently in Ronny Yu's Fearless, starring Jet Li (which, coincidentally, was actually choreographed by Yuen). The fights are top notch, and the simple "my school vs your school" plot is well served. Also, I love getting to see Yasuake Kurata in Hong Kong movies.
4. * Crippled Avengers aka The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms aka Mortal Combat - (Chang Cheh, 1978 ) - January 3 - Let's get this out of the way: this movie is so not PC. That's fine though, because it's without one of the best martial arts films ever made. An evil lord disables four men in different ways - one blind, one deaf-mute, removes the legs from one, and perhaps most troublesome, turns one into an idiot. They combine what abilities they have left to form the ultimate team. How is that not an awesome plot? Add in top-notch action, and you have a certified classic. I had the pleasure of seeing a dilapidated print of an English dub of this film a few years back, and it still holds up with the campiness removed.
5. Vengeance - (Chang Cheh, ) - January 4 - This is it. I finally got to see it. This is a certified classic on the same level as Chang Cheh's Crippled Avengers. This is the nascent of the "heroic bloodshed" genre later popularized by John Woo. The difference between this and most other Shaw Bros. martial arts films is that, while most of their films are classics specific to the martial arts genre, the plot and drama in Vengeance could actually appeal outside of genre fans. That's not to say it's necessarily better than their other films, but it's definitely on par with the best.
6. The Big Boss - (Lo Wei, ) - January 4 - Bruce **** Lee. While with Vengeance, I finally got a chance to see it, with The Big Boss, I finally got around to watching it it. Or at least watching it the whole way through. For some reason the first time I tried to watch it, I just couldn't get into it, but now having seen the whole thing, it really gets better as it goes along. Better than Enter the Dragon (sue me, that movie is good but it's also ridiculously overrated), though not quite on par with Bruce Lee's best film, Fist of Fury. However, commits the cardinal sin of under-utilizing Nora Miao.
7. Born to Defense - (Jet Li, 1986) - January 5 - Jet Li's much maligned sole directorial effort. Not as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, the fight in the middle of the film in the flooding bar is really damn good. But as an overall film, not that great.
8. Kids from Shaolin - (Chang Hsin-Yen, 1984) - January 5 - Baby Jet Li! "Baby" as in "21 year old" I guess. He really shows his potential acting chops here that would lead him to a great career.
9. Martial Arts of Shaolin - (Lau Kar-Leung, 1986) - January 5 - Sadly, the only time Jet Li and Lau Kar-Leung would get to work together. Apparently something about them not getting along... Shame, that. They would have made an excellent team.

1. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey - (John Little, 2000) - January 1 - Perhaps the best documentary on Bruce Lee available (and believe me, there are several). The inclusion of the uncut scenes Lee shot for Game of Death, which had never been seen before, is worth it alone.
2. Fearless Dragons aka Two for the Road - (Lee Chiu, 1980) - January 1 - One of those cheaply made old-school kung fu flicks. I have only a semblance of an idea of what the plot was because it was an English dub with crappy sound quality, but the action was good.
3. Legend of a Fighter - (Yuen Woo-ping, 1982) - January 2/3 - Now this is more like it! Leave it to the master Yuen Woo-ping to bring it to the next level. The story of Huo Yuan-Jia/Fok Yuen-Gap has been told several times, perhaps most recently in Ronny Yu's Fearless, starring Jet Li (which, coincidentally, was actually choreographed by Yuen). The fights are top notch, and the simple "my school vs your school" plot is well served. Also, I love getting to see Yasuake Kurata in Hong Kong movies.
4. * Crippled Avengers aka The Return of the Five Deadly Venoms aka Mortal Combat - (Chang Cheh, 1978 ) - January 3 - Let's get this out of the way: this movie is so not PC. That's fine though, because it's without one of the best martial arts films ever made. An evil lord disables four men in different ways - one blind, one deaf-mute, removes the legs from one, and perhaps most troublesome, turns one into an idiot. They combine what abilities they have left to form the ultimate team. How is that not an awesome plot? Add in top-notch action, and you have a certified classic. I had the pleasure of seeing a dilapidated print of an English dub of this film a few years back, and it still holds up with the campiness removed.
5. Vengeance - (Chang Cheh, ) - January 4 - This is it. I finally got to see it. This is a certified classic on the same level as Chang Cheh's Crippled Avengers. This is the nascent of the "heroic bloodshed" genre later popularized by John Woo. The difference between this and most other Shaw Bros. martial arts films is that, while most of their films are classics specific to the martial arts genre, the plot and drama in Vengeance could actually appeal outside of genre fans. That's not to say it's necessarily better than their other films, but it's definitely on par with the best.
6. The Big Boss - (Lo Wei, ) - January 4 - Bruce **** Lee. While with Vengeance, I finally got a chance to see it, with The Big Boss, I finally got around to watching it it. Or at least watching it the whole way through. For some reason the first time I tried to watch it, I just couldn't get into it, but now having seen the whole thing, it really gets better as it goes along. Better than Enter the Dragon (sue me, that movie is good but it's also ridiculously overrated), though not quite on par with Bruce Lee's best film, Fist of Fury. However, commits the cardinal sin of under-utilizing Nora Miao.
7. Born to Defense - (Jet Li, 1986) - January 5 - Jet Li's much maligned sole directorial effort. Not as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, the fight in the middle of the film in the flooding bar is really damn good. But as an overall film, not that great.
8. Kids from Shaolin - (Chang Hsin-Yen, 1984) - January 5 - Baby Jet Li! "Baby" as in "21 year old" I guess. He really shows his potential acting chops here that would lead him to a great career.
9. Martial Arts of Shaolin - (Lau Kar-Leung, 1986) - January 5 - Sadly, the only time Jet Li and Lau Kar-Leung would get to work together. Apparently something about them not getting along... Shame, that. They would have made an excellent team.
10. * Lady Snowblood - (Toshiya Fujita, 1973) - January 8 - Ah, an old favorite. I probably haven't seen this movie in at least six years, but considering that it was one of my favorite films during the beginning of my film studies, it's neat to see how many scenes influenced me that I almost forgot about. Definitely, definitely holds up almost a decade later.
11. The Hateful Eight -(Quentin Tarantino, 2015) - January 9 - I can see why this movie has been divisive, and it definitely started off slow, but I found myself liking it more and more as it went on. Still not sure where I'd rank this among Tarantino's films, but definitely not at the bottom. Zoe Bell is always a welcome presence though.
12. Kung Fu Cult Master aka Evil Cult aka Lord of the Wu-Tang - (Wong Jing, 1995) - January 9 - Typically ridiculous Wong Jing film. Mid-to-low tier Jet Li vehicle, especially considering that it was made during the height of his career. But hey, it had Chingmy Yau in it, and I'm always happy to see her.