Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) 2022 Artist Highlight - Edison Neo, The Brains Behind Martial Arts Comic ‘Snake Claws’

Tick, tick, tick. The clock's ticking down to Singapore Comic Con (SGCC), which will be happening at will return to Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay on 10 & 11 December 2022.

Ahhhhh! Mild panic setting in. Red Dot Diva does not feel that she is quite prepared for the pop-culture convention of the year. Are you all set for the comic con already?

For the second installment of the SGCC 2022 Artist Highlight interview series, Red Dot Diva is pleased to introduce local cartoonist Edison Neo. Edison has self-published comics like the martial art rouser SNAKE CLAWS as well as the anthology entitled NO-BRAINER.

After reading SNAKE CLAWS, Red Dot Diva has been kicking herself as to why she has not gotten to know Edison sooner. His artwork and storylines are wildly exuberant, and funny as hell. Well, Red Dot Diva cannot make any more excuses now. This is because she has asked Edison a list of nosy questions, a number of which are about SNAKE CLAWS!

Punch In For Kung Fu Season 2 on Warner TV (Premieres 10 March 2022)

Mention the “Kung Fu" series to Gen X-ers, and they will immediately remember the 1970's show which starred David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a half-Chinese Shaolin monk who was framed for murder, and came to America to search for his family. It is well known that martial arts legend Bruce Lee was passed over for the main role, and it has been argued that this was due to his accent, which the audience may find difficulty understanding. It just goes to show the level of discrimination Asian and Asian-American actors face, trying to get visibility in tinseltown. The original series has also been criticized for its prominent white-washing and propagating of Asian stereotypes.

With the rebooted, reimagining of the series that premiered in 2021, the creators Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Robert Berens and Warner Bros TV hope to right some of the wrongs regarding Hollywood's ‘bamboo ceiling’. In this new gender-bent version set in modern times, Olivia Liang as Nicky Shen, a young Chinese American woman who ran away from her university studies and ended up learning Shaolin kungfu at a monastery in China.

The first season of KUNG FU follows Nicky's homecoming in San Francisco, to find that her parents owes the mob money due to the family's failing restaurant business. A dangerous Triad has now taken hold of her home district, and is overrun with crime and corruption. While trying to solve the mystery of her sifu's death, Nicky also makes it her mission to disentangle her family from the mobsters and use her kung fu skills to fight for justice.

Season 2 of KUNG FU premieres today (10 March 2022) on Warner TV. There is more battles ahead for Nicky, as the family reunites with a long-lost cousin named Mia (Vanessa Yao). What has Mia got to do with the Russell Tan (Kee Chan), the current season's Big Bad?

If you have yet to get on board with the show, it is still not too late to start. Red Dot Diva gives you the five reasons why you should watch KUNG FU:

Cinemax's Martial Arts Series "Warrior" Based on Bruce Lee's Writings, Premieres on 6 April 2019

Rich Ting as Bolo,  Jason Tobin as Young Jun
Pic credit: HBO/ David Bloomer

Wuxia fans will now have a new martial arts action drama to indulge in. On April 6, CINEMAX will premiere “Warrior”, their first tentpole 10-episode series which is based on the writings of the one and only martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

Back in the 1970's, Bruce Lee tried to get his 8-page pitch called “The Warrior” to be produced, but at that time, the Hollywood studios were not confident that audiences would accept an Asian lead actor as the hero. Things have changed a lot in recent years, with more Asian actors leading Hollywood movies and TV shows, and gaining prominence for their work. With such a pedigree behind it, “Warrior” should prove to be a worthy a fix for those who love to watch martial arts shows.

How did the back story of how Bruce Lee's script finally came to fruition? This amazing journey from idea to TV series is now chronicled in Cinemax's 8-part docu-series, “Becoming Warrior”, and all 8 episodes are now currently available on Cinemax's Youtube Channel!

Celebrate The Festive Season with HBO Asia's Original Chinese Martial Arts Anthology!

Here's a way to infuse some Asian-ess in the year-end festive celebrations. You can watch two Chinese martial arts shows while chowing down on some baked ham and roasted turkey, and you can do this wayyyyy before Chinese New Year too! That is because HBO Asia will be screening an original martial arts anthology at 9 PM on 25 December and 26 December respectively! Shiok!!!

Set in China's Qing Dynasty, the two stories “Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So” and “Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying”, will be sub-titled in English and Mandarin. These HBO movies are a co-production with China Movie Channel (CMC), and will be the first time HBO is airing Mandarin films.

Daniel Wu (吳彥祖) Leads New AMC Martial Arts Drama Series "Into The Badlands" - Premieres 16 November 2015

Who loves watching kick-ass martial arts movies?

Red Dot Diva does.

She was brought up on a constant fodder of martial arts movies. Ever since she was a kid, she has been relishing those action movies churned out by Shaw Brothers Studio, with actors Ti Lung, David Chiang, Wang Yu and Brigitte Lin gracing the big screen with their moves. In later years, Red Dot Diva continued to get kicks out of watching Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Donnie Yen, and Jet Li movies. Thanks to her Dad and an uncle who loved kung fu movies. She even has a cousin named after famous wuxia actress Chen Pei-Pei!

Which brings about how excited Red Dot Diva about AMC's new drama series "Into The Badlands", created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar ("Smallville"). The 6-episode show is set in a dystopian world, 500 years from now, where guns have been outlawed. This gives a great excuse for AMC to bring back martial arts to our TV screens.

"Dragon Blade" Gala Premiere - Excited Fans at GV Vivocity and A Movie Review by Vernon

The very very very expensive epic historical action movie "Dragon Blade" opens officially in cinemas island-wide today on 19 February, the 1st day of Chinese New Year.

From what Red Dot Diva was told, the movie did very well during the sneak screenings from 13-15 February, grossing about S$147,662 in just 3 days.

RED CARPET
The cast were in visibly good spirits on their first promotional stop in Red Dot Island, even though Adrien did seem jetlagged at the morning's press conference.

Later that day at GV Vivocity for the red carpet gala premiere, they seem to have perked up more. Hundreds of fans (mostly young ones, who seem to be there screaming for Choi SiWon) were lined up along the passageway leading into the multiplex, all eager to catch a glimpse of their favourite idol(s).

Jackie leads the way on the red carpet (pic from Encore)

"Shaolin" - A Kung Fu Movie About Redemption

If one thinks that "Shaolin" is a remake of the 1980 "Shaolin Temple" movie that launched Jet Li to international fame, then Red Dot Diva says -- think again.

The only similarity between the 1980's "Shaolin Temple" movie and the new movie is the use of the famous Shaolin temple in China. The temple was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in August 2010.

Instead of just a mere show of the kung fu moves that the Shaolin monks are reknown for, "Shaolin" (新少林寺 or "New Shaolin", if one takes the literal translation from the Chinese title) is more stately and quite fitting of current times.

Speedy Encounters at Austin CC

It was late last Sunday that Red Dot Diva saw a tweet from my Texan SDCC-roomie @RealFastTlkr. She had suddenly decided to head to the Austin Comic Convention the next day! And she said she was going to try to catch one of Red Dot Diva's favourite stunt guys (and ex-"Heroes" Season 4 actors) - Ray Park.

For those who are more familiar with Ray Park when he's not without make up, he's the person behind "Star Wars"' facially-tattooed villain, Darth Maul and "X-Men's" Toad, amongst many other movie characters (usually nasty, bad guys).

Red Dot Diva's other good friend @eserei27 had met Ray before at an Ohio convention and she mentioned that he was very personable and friendly to his fans. She got Red Dot Diva a Ray-autograph pic during that convention - on which, he had written her a very sweet personalized message. So Red Dot Diva heart-hearts Ray Park. ;)

Here is @RealFastTlkr's account of her Ray Park meet-up at the Austin CC!

A Dee-lightful Detective Popcorn Fare

Spontaneous human combustion and a talking deer in a Chinese movie? Red Dot Diva nods: You read it right.

This brand of quirky-fun mix of supernatural-fantasy-and-martial arts (wuxia 武侠) entertainment can only be successfully pulled off by famed HK director Tsui Hark 徐克). And more so with updated CGI effects, in his latest movie "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame". Sounds like an Oriental Harry Potter book title, no? ;)

"Detective Dee" or Di Renjie is a well-known character and magistrate in Chinese history and is also featured in a set of fictional novels by - strangely enough - a Dutch diplomat named Robert van Gulik. In addition, Dee has been fictionalized in a couple of Chinese TV drama series. Dee is usually portrayed as a much older man. However, Red Dot Diva suspects that to make the new movie more "current-sexy", Tsui Hark has decided to hire dashing Andy Lau (刘德华) to take the lead role. The movie was shown in the recent Venice Film Festival 2010 and was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion Award.