EASTERN FILM FANS - ITS WHERE THE ACTION IS

It's happened to me. It's happened to my brother. And it's happened to my good friend, Phil. For some unexplained reason we've all been bitten by a bug so biting and so bold, we've felt compelled to write about it. That being, the 'Martial Arts Movie' bug. Here, folks, when you have the time, please check out a conversation me and Phil had only the day, whilst kicking back and kicking silly, big time. 





1) What are your own origins, Phil? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today?   My origins sprang from watching Bruce Lee films as a kid and then I found people like Jackie Chan which introduced me to people like Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao and then it grew from there into the whole Hong Kong film scene.

2) How did ‘Eastern Film Fans’ come about? And what is your role within this fanzine?   Eastern Film Fans came about after working with Phil Mills and the team at Far East Films. I was a reviewer for a number of years and then I decided I wanted to start my own Asian film site and review films I wanted to review. Kind of be able to steer my own ship, so to speak.

3) In your own words how would you describe this site?   It’s an Asian Action movie website, it’s all about the action foremost and mostly Hong Kong Cinema. Yet I do like to diversify and cover other films from Korea, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

4) What song would you say best represents this site and why?   Wow! A song? Good question. Probably “Namm yi dong ji Keing” Theme from Once upon a time in China. Its recognizable as soon as you hear it and brings a sense of happiness.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   It would have to be the late great Bruce Lee. Its why I do what I do today and I am what I am. In respect to being alive, though, I'd choose Donnie Yen. As I believe he is everything that my site is about at the moment which is bringing the action and exciting audiences.

6) What was the first Eastern film you watched? And what do you still remember about it?   I started with Bruce lee films, but I don’t think it was until I saw ‘Eastern Condors’ on the big screen that the whole Asian film genre started to become part of much of my life. It’s a film I still watch every year, on my Birthday, sad but true.

7) Has your site received any praise from the media or other noted sources?   It’s a young site -- 3 years old -- so I've worked hard to get the people I have that follow me. The greatest compliment I can pay is getting some of the interviews. People I watched on the big screen, some of which were my idols growing up I’ve got to interview, so there’s no greater praise than when someone agrees to an interview for my site, it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

8) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour? And were their any unforeseen obstacles you had to contend with along the way?  You have to believe in what you’re doing, you have to have passion for it, that’s what I hope shines through on an interview or a review. It’s not the fact that its overly wordy or pretentious. It’s about being real to myself and showing my exuberance. There’s always an obstacle, interviews can be difficult to arrange or get through a language barrier. But as I said before, if you’re passionate about something you’ll see it through to the end.

9) If your ‘EFF’ had a motto, what would it be?   Eastern film Fans, its where the Action is.

Ka-Pow! Said it in one, Phil. So there you have it, folks. EastenFilmFans.co.uk in a can. I'm sure you'll give it a one-inch click when you've got the time. And while you're at it, please remember the face-face, tweet-tweet, thing too. Satowit.