Blog Archives

From Vegas to Macau (2014)

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Posted on March 27, 2014 by Rhys

Sequels, Prequels, Send-ups and Spin-offs: Director Wong Jing finds Chow Yun Fat a new tuxedo amongst his usual box of tricks.

The recent release of From Vegas to Macau harks back to Hong Kong’s gambling fad of the early 1990s. Wong Jing, director of the original God of Gamblers series, offers up a super-silly pastiche of recycled gags that should appeal to fans of classic Hong Kong gambling films. Unfortunately, this time Chow Yun Fat does not play suave gamesman … (read more)

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Vulgaria (2012)

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Posted on September 21, 2012 by John Snadden

Director Pang Ho-Cheung is one of Hong Kong cinema’s chameleons. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, he is well worth discovering. In just over a decade he has made quality and sophisticated dramas like Isabella and Beyond our Ken, which sit comfortably with his cunning and often ground breaking (and at times violent) satires such as You Shoot, I Shoot and Dream Home. His recent RomComs Love in a Puff and Love in the Buff are intelligent and … (read more)

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The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)

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Posted on February 8, 2012 by Justin

Remaking Hong Kong cinema’s greatest hits seems to have been all the rage lately. Last year we had Wilson Yip’s swing at remaking A Chinese Ghost Story and Tsui Hark’s second go at King Hu’s classic Dragon Inn. To be fair, Tsui’s Flying Swords of Dragon Gate ended up as more a sequel to New Dragon Gate Inn than a remake, and it was considerably more fun than I was expecting — I’ll write it up when I get … (read more)

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Initial D – The Movie (2005)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by John Snadden

In the opening minutes of Initial D, we watch as a street legal sports car “drifts” down a narrow mountain road – the driver accelerating into the tight corners, then gliding around the glasslike hairpin bends. All shot under moonlight, this short sequence captures the sublime and surreal beauty of pure auto power.

Initial D was originally slated for Tsui Hark to direct, but early in the production he left the project and was replaced by Infernal Affairs directing … (read more)

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Isabella (2006)

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Posted on August 27, 2006 by Deni

Isabella was a pleasant surprise of a film for me. Perhaps it was due to my expectations. I didn’t expect to like it, and I admit that’s because the minute I find out a film is about an older guy and a beautiful young girl, I’m a bit bored; I’m in the wrong demographic to see the appeal. So no, I didn’t really expect to like it. But Isabella surprised me because it wasn’t really what I expected after all. … (read more)

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Men Suddenly In Black (2003)

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Posted on February 25, 2006 by Ben Jennings

Men Suddenly in Black is a one-joke yet consistently funny spoof of Hong Kong gangster movies. I should probably make it clear from the outset that I have virtually no standards when it comes to the send-up comedy genre, as I find the jokes that don’t work frequently funnier than the ones that do. So if you load your movie with transparently stupid references to other movies and genre conventions, you’re unlikely to get an entirely bad review out of … (read more)

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Moonlight In Tokyo (2005)

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Posted on December 31, 2005 by Eugene

Would I be alone in thinking there’s something amiss about the idea of Chapman To pimping out Leon Lai on the streets of Tokyo? If the answer was yes, then Moonlight in Tokyo is the answer to this singular eccentricity of yours.

If the answer was no … well I won’t have to call for the big guys with the padded van.

Disturbing as the central premise sounds, Moonlight in Tokyo is a surprisingly enjoyable film that looks at the … (read more)

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Golden Chicken (2002)

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Posted on July 31, 2003 by Alison

“What, no Andy, no moaning?” This has to be my favourite line from this film, and is a good contender for my favourite line ever. We hear it late in the film, when Ah Kam, our golden chicken, is being tutored in the fine art of moaning. This comes about as an extension of a famous ad that featured Andy Lau instructing Hong Kong workers how to serve customers: to Kam’s surprise, Andy climbs out of her telly and starts … (read more)

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