New Rochelle Library To Host Martial Arts Movie Marathon

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A day spent watching martial arts movies on your sofa sounds just plain slothful, but attending a martial arts movie marathon at the New Rochelle Public Library sounds like a unique cultural experience.

It also sounds really cool and like a lot of fun. And you just know there are going to be cool people there because this really isn't the sort of thing that attracts squares.

The New Rochelle Public Library (NRPL) will be hosting "Martial Arts Movie Madness" this Saturday. It will be a full day of three martial arts films shown one after another. The program will be hosted by NRPL librarian and film historian Chris Poggiali, who is co-author of the new book "These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World."

The three movies to be screened are:

• Black Samurai (1976) starring Jim Kelly at 12 p.m.: "When a coven of kung fu Satanists kidnaps his girlfriend, secret agent Robert Sand — code name Black Samurai — springs into action with sword, feet and fists-a-flying!"
• 5-Pattern Dragon Claws (1983) starring Hwang Jang-Lee and Dragon Lee at 1:45 p.m.: "The deadly Thunder Foot will stop at nothing to track down four valuable kung fu manuals, but meets his match in a young practitioner of the Lightning Mantis Strike."
• The Haunted Samurai (1970) starring Hideki Takahashi and Isao Natsuyagiat at 3:30 p.m.: "The hunter becomes the hunted in this period ninjutsu swordplay adventure from Japan, which hasn't been screened in the U.S. for over 40 years."

Following the screening of each of the films, Poggiali will lead a discussion and answer questions regarding the film.

The program will take place in the Ossie Davis Theater at the New Rochelle Public Library located at 1 Library Plaza. Registration is requested and can be done here, by email or by calling 914-813-3706.