Well, it's that time of the year again. Let me take a moment to offer a few special gift suggestions that can't be found at your local Walmart — or even Amazon for that matter.
This new DVD box set from Arthur Dong is a must-have for those of you interested in the rich history of Chinese American performers. The set includes a special 2-disc edition of his most recent documentary,
Hollywood Chinese (2007), which won Best Documentary at the Golden Horse Awards. It also includes
A Toisan Trilogy, comprising three of his early short films. Last and definitely not least is the hard-to-find
Forbidden City U.S.A. (1989), an entertaining and groundbreaking work of scholarship that is a major inspiration for this blog. At $98.95, the set is not cheap, but believe me — it's worth every penny. Perhaps the most compelling reason to buy this collection is to get your hands on one of the few remaining copies of
Forbidden City, which will soon be out of print and unlikely reissued because of expiring music rights. This is the last chance for individuals to acquire the DVD (which is now only available as a single disc to institutional buyers). You — or the ones who love you — can order the set
here. Free holiday shipping is available until December 13th. Don't miss this window of opportunity. Regrets are no fun.
Vous ne parlez pas français? That's no excuse not to buy this book. Only 22 euros (18 if you pre-order before December 13th), the 148-page
Les actrices chinoises is bursting at the binding with gorgeous portraits of Chinese film stars, from Ruan Lingyu to Gong Li. It includes rare photographs from the films of Wong Kar-wai and the personal collection of
Paul Fonoroff, as well as a few choice pieces from yours truly. Click
here for detailed information in English about
Les actrices chinoises and how to order it. To see a slideshow of some of the images from the book, check out the
original page. I can't wait for my copy!
There's nothing cooler than a cool t-shirt. Best of all is a cool Hong Kong movie t-shirt, which is exactly what you'll find at
Shelf Life Clothing. Their truly unique designs are guaranteed to please even the most jaded of HK cinephiles (may I recommend the
Category III shirt).
As for me, I'm partial to the
Girls with Guns shirt, featuring "classic beauty" Betty Loh Tih toting a semi-automatic and the Mauser-armed heroine from
The Red Detachment of Women.
Coming soon and available for pre-order is the hilarious
Gambling Vampire shirt. A mash-up of
God of Gamblers and
Mr. Vampire, this design epitomizes what some of us love most about Hong Kong cinema. Is it too much to hope that Wong Jing will see this shirt and steal the concept for his next movie?!
