Blog Archives

Golden Job (2018)

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Posted on November 24, 2021 by Andrew

Chin Kar Lok is one of those hard yakka performers the Hong Kong and Chinese film industries have relied on over the years and I have a lot of time for his work. A stunt veteran and background character for much of the 80s and 90s (e.g. Millionaires Express) with an occasional lead role (e.g. The Scorpion King), for the last decade or so he has been more of a character actor (e.g. Cold War). He only … (read more)

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The Storm Riders (1998)

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Posted on August 12, 2011 by Eugene

Well, there seems to a plethora of comic book based movies nowadays, with the ever-increasing ability of digital effects to recreate the comic book panel.  So whilst skimming over a cinema guide recently, my mind slowly drifted to one of the first comic book digital effects spectacles that I could remember: The Storm Riders.  It was convenient then that Pinnacle are about to do an Australian DVD release, meaning I get to revisit this 1998 ‘classic’.

Ah, nostalgia – … (read more)

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Once a Gangster (2010)

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Posted on August 7, 2011 by Justin

Anyone with an interest in contemporary Hong Kong cinema has seen a film with Felix Chong’s screenwriter-fingerprints all over it, from this year’s Donnie Yen action spectacular (well, one of them!) The Lost Bladesman to the much-lauded Infernal Affairs trilogy. Usually, he works alongside Alan Mak, with whom he shares most of his writing credits, and often it seems that director Andrew Lau’s involved as well.

Not so for Once a Gangster, Chong’s first film as solo director. Years … (read more)

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Kamui (2009)

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Posted on September 20, 2010 by Deni

There are levels of disappointment in this world. We all should know this by now. Finding out your latest crush is not at all like you thought is somewhere around the level of a mild case of indigestion. Not getting that pay rise you’d hoped for registers somewhere around that punch-to-the-gut level. Discovering the last Tim Tam is gone is upping the ante somewhat to the equivalent of a great gaping hole in existence, worse if it directly follows the … (read more)

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Storm Warriors (2009)

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Posted on December 15, 2009 by Elizabeth Kerr

It’s been a decade since Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng starred as Cloud and Wind respectively for Andrew Lau’s adaptation of Ma Wing-shing’s popular The Storm Riders (1998). Released on the cusp of the Hong Kong industry’s virtual collapse, it was a hit that set the digital standard for filmmaking in the SAR for years to come. It was also one of the last big, all-star epics from that period to find a cult following overseas.

So what’s changed, what’s … (read more)

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Heroic Duo (2003)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Alison

Dead funky computer animation during the credit sequence promises that Heroic Duo will be one helluva film. The remaining 101 minutes delivers on that promise. A solid cast, tight direction, and production values through the roof work together to make a tense, intriguing film.

The story begins with Ekin Cheng essaying a tense cop investigating a colleague who claims to have been hypnotised, shortly before blowing his brains out. Cheng seeks out a jailed hypnotist, played by Leon Lai, for … (read more)

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The Twins Effect (2003)

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Posted on January 7, 2006 by Alison

This is nothing more nor less than a promotional effort for The Twins, that ebullient Cantopop duo made up of Gillian Cheung and Charlene Choi. But for all that, it’s not a bad piece of froth, provided you disengage your brain while you watch.

One of the highlights, for cinema aficionados, is the presence of the consummate actor Anthony Wong. Although he has a reputation for sleepwalking through roles which fail to engage his interest, here he adds sparkle as … (read more)

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Running Out of Time 2 (2001)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Ching Yee

If you liked Running Out of Time as much as I did then you’d have been hanging out to see this sequel by Johnnie To.

First off, the good news — Lau Ching Wan returns as the likeable, determined smarty-pants cop Inspector Ho Seung Sang. Other regulars from the first film such as Lam Suet, Ruby Wong and Hui Sui-Hong also returns (Lam Suet in a break from continuity tradition returns as a different character just to mess with our … (read more)

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