IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Hextube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

For this Friday Movie Night, first up is A Touch of Zen (1971), a wuxia epic widely considered to be one of the greatest kung-fu movies of all time; think the Chinese equivalent of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). A princess flees the clutches of an evil eunuch and seeks refuge from a secluded group of Buddhist monks, who decide to protect her, and proceed to rock. Director is King Hu, whose film Dragon Inn (1967) was previously a hit on Hextube; this one is generally considered his magnum opus, so it seems like a safe bet. It’s gonna be a long one, so we can take an intermission if need be.

After that is Daft Punk’s animated sci-fi romance musical Interstella 5555 (2003), their feature-length, dialogue-free music video that tells the story of a quartet of blue-skinned aliens who are kidnapped and brought to Earth to play cookie-cutter pop music for a faceless corporation, who has erased their memories of their previous lives. Luckily, another blue-skinned space man has tracked down the band and is determined to free them, as he has fallen in love with their female bassist. The directors of this one include a trio of little-known Japanese animators, though one of them, Daisuke Nishio, did also direct several Dragon Ball Z movies. The character designs in this were done by Leiji Matsumoto, which is why they all look like a cross between Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and The Smurfs. Excellent reviews across the board for this one, so let’s check it out.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• A Touch of Zen: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-touch-of-zen/
• Interstella 5555: https://letterboxd.com/film/interstella-5555-the-5tory-of-the-5ecret-5tar-5ystem/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• A Touch of Zen: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064451/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
• Interstella 5555: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/10102

CWs for A Touch of Zen:

• Blood and gore.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Stabbing.
• Ghosts.
• Implied sex.
• Torture.
• Burning of flesh.

CWs for Interstella 5555:

• Stalking.
• Gaslighting.
• Someone is drugged.
• Unconsciousness.
• Someone is physically restrained.
• Choking.
• Someone is burned alive.
• Someone is shot with a taser.
• Death by falling.
• Kidnapping.
• Ghosts.
• Nudity.
• Hospital scene.
• PTSD.
• Flashing lights.
• Police brutality.
• Homelessness.
• Car crash.
• Spaceship crash.
• Blood and gore.
• Gun violence

Links to movies:

• A Touch of Zen: https://tankie.tube/w/sHYzd2cgu5XVyVQhrXk9Cy
• Interstella 5555: https://tankie.tube/w/nMBfzviNTWxtwT6TM5fHNN