A re-watch of Wong Kar Wai’s beautiful meditation on martial arts and heroism, shot through with his perennial preoccupations of time, aging and fading memories. Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi steam up the screen as the rivals who struggle to resist the undercurrent of attraction between them. Read my full review here Read more »
Juno Mak’s directorial debut is a moody revivial of the quintessentially Hong Kong hopping vampire films of the 1980s. Assembling a cast of horror veterans, headed by Chin Siu Ho, Anthony Chan Yau and Paw Chee Hing, the film is the story of a washed up actor who moves into a dilapidated apartment building, intent […] Read more »
Dante Lam follows up his action spectacular The Viral Factor with this far more character focused and melodramatic story of two MMA fighters in Macau. Nick Cheung goes even further to transform himself into a twisted knot of walking muscle while Eddie Peng stakes his claim as the young Chinese hope in the relam of […] Read more »
While a somewhat minor entry in Johnnie To’s prolific canon of work, there is no denying this lighthearted tale of pickpockets has become something of a fan favourite. The cast of Milky Way stalwarts, including Simon Yam, Gordon Lam and Lo Hoi Pang do great work, as does Kelly Lin as a mysterious beauty who […] Read more »
Rigor Mortis is Juno Mak’s debut as a feature film director. Mak, known for acting in and co-writing Revenge: A Love Story (2010) has chosen to make a homage to the 80s Chinese “geung see” (Mr Vampire) films. Mak also wrote the film and co-produced it alongside Takashi Shimizu, director of Ju-on and it’s English […] Read more »
In an effort to cash in on the popularity of gross-out sex comedy Vulgaria, this wayward, sloppy and mostly uninspiring trio of saucy tales emerges, and for the most part fails to impress. The first segment in particular, in which two young male and sexually inexperienced students are forced – due to accommodation shortages – […] Read more »
First of two 3-part horror anthologies adapting the stories of acclaimed Hong Kong author Lilian Lee. Read more »
Probably Wong Kar Wai’s best film and certainly his most visually accomplished, this is a delicate, ornate study of social mores, forbidden love and loyalty in the face of infidelity. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are immaculate and stunning as they loiter around each other’s apartments, share clandestine meetings in the back alleys of 1960s […] Read more »
My Full Disclosure entry for June was this early Wong Kar Wai classic, starring a host of big Hong Kong stars including Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau. Check out my thoughts on the film here Read more »
Jet Li back doing action? Sounds great, but Badges of Fury proves to be more a goofy comedy for his co-star Wen Zhang than a kung-fu packed homage to old school Hong Kong action. Despite its setting, this is aimed squarely at mainland audiences, shot in Mandarin with a mostly mainland cast. The results are […] Read more »
Johnnie To had got back in my good books with the excellent Drug War, and the prospect of reuniting the reliable Andy Lau with the delightful Sammi Cheng for the first time in nearly a decade, had certainly whetted our appetites. However, the early buzz that looked close to To’s excellent Mad Detective slowly dissipated, […] Read more »
Chapman To, Shawn Yue, Matt Chow and Derek Tsang play five Special Duties Unit cops who head to Macau for a night of Category III-rated revelry. Written and produced by Pang Ho Cheung. I’ve seen it, but right now, I’m not allowed to talk about it. Read more »
Very much cut from the same cloth as the Step Up series, Adam Wong’s Hong Kong dance comedy sees plucky young wannabe Fleur (Cherry Ngan in what will surely prove a career-making role) join a university street dance gang. Not only does this pit her against the finest dancers in the city, but promises love, […] Read more »
An unusual inclusion in the Local Origination Project section was this Hong Kong-set short from Horie Kei. Filmed in a combination of Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese, it nevertheless proved an easy-to-follow chamber piece set entirely within the confines of a Hong Kong cafe. Ishida Akira and Ikehata Reina play a Japanese couple who run the […] Read more »
Opening this year's HK International Film Festival is Herman Yau's follow up to The Legend Is Born. Anthony Wong stars as an aging Ip Man, forced to abandon his wing chun teaching and face off against a local gangster in this modest, yet rather charming little film. Read more »
I finally caught up with Wong Kar Wai’s much-lauded 1997 film, starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai as tempestuous lovers living in Buenos Aires. To find out what I thought about it, you’ll have to read my February submission in Twitch’s Full Disclosure series, which will be appearing on the site this Sunday. Read more »
Screening as part of the Film Archive’s 100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies, this is a delightful romantic comedy from 1987, starring Chow Yun Fat and Cherie Chung, and filmed in New York City. Innocent young stuent Jennifer (Chung) moves to NYC to study and be close to her boyfriend, staying with a distant relative she’s […] Read more »
I had little interest or faith in Stephen Chow’s latest retelling of the classic Chinese fantasy, but there is some enjoyment to be had. The story, which is essentially the origin story of monk Tripitaka, relies heavily on large CGI beasts fighting each other for extended periods of time. This isn’t ideal, especially when the […] Read more »
A decade after it was announced, Wong Kar Wai finally delivers his martial arts epic, starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai as wing chun advocate Ip Man and Zhang Ziyi has his potential adversary/love interest. Beautiful, elegant, light on narrative but heavy on class, Wong is back at the top of his game with what is […] Read more »