Blog Archives

Election 2 (2006)

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Posted on August 11, 2009 by Samson

With this sequel to the excellent 2005 film Election, Hong Kong director Johnnie To adds yet another great film to his long and impressive list of work. Few other directors have managed to make so many movies and maintain the same high standards in one film after another. Election 2 sees the return of all the characters (at least those who managed to survive) from Election, and guess what; it’s time for another triad election.

It’s been two … (read more)

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Flash Point (2007)

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Posted on August 5, 2007 by John Snadden

The long-awaited sequel to the excellent 2005 crime-action drama Sha Po Lang (SPL) has finally been released – and what a truly disappointing film it turns out to be. Flash Point is one of the cinema’s low points for 2007.

Flash Point is a lazy and unoriginal movie with routine performances from major HK stars and a storyline culled from recent Chinese crime flicks. Plus the near unbelievable fact that this high budget thriller was filmed on digital video. The … (read more)

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Election (2005)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Ben Jennings

This is one of those movies that just gets better and better the more you think about it. Johnnie To has actively sought to bring a realistic representation of the triad to the screen, to subvert the glamourised manner with which the Hong Kong cinema (To included) has portrayed its local gang culture, and lay bare its true nature. These kind of revisionist gangster movies have always been the best, and Election reminded me of The Godfather Part 2 and … (read more)

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Throw Down (2004)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Mark Morrison

Johnnie To is ever the genre-shifting shapechanger. You can’t get a hold on him; just when you think you’ve got a firm grasp on his style, he jinks around, unhooks your hold and throws you back to the mat. I mean that in a good way.

Throw Down sees To partially back in the quirky territory of previous Milkway Image productions like The Odd One Dies and Too Many Ways To Be Number One, but in a more good-hearted … (read more)

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The Lion Roars (2002)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Ching Yee

Alrighty, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a big fan of Cecilia Cheung and quite frankly, I haven’t met anyone who is. Mind you I gave her plenty of opportunities to prove herself after her fine turn in Stephen Chow’s King of Comedy. Then she did Fly Me to Polaris.

OK, I thought, not entirely her fault as the material was about as wet as Jacques Cousteau’s wetsuit. But then she didn’t redeem herself in a slew … (read more)

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Fantasia (2004)

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Posted on January 26, 2004 by Eugene

Yeah! Chinese New Year! Fireworks, Lion Dancing, Dragonboating, the colour, the energy, the food… and of course the mandatory CNY films out of Hong Kong to give us a kickstart into the new year of the Monkey.

And yes, Fantasia is one of those films that gives us a kick. Unfortunately not exactly the kind of kick you want to start the new year with (unless of course you LIKE rolling around the floor in pain – but who am … (read more)

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Lost in Time (2003)

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Posted on November 26, 2003 by Eugene

There is nothing quite like watching a performance from somebody you dismiss as just another pretty face. Yes that is right. It seems Cecilia is more of an actor than I ever gave her credit for previously. When I think of what I have seen her in it is really hard to get past the constant ham and overacting that seems so common in films from Hong Kong. Lost in Time is pretty much HER film and her dramatic abilities … (read more)

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Fat Choi Spirit (2002)

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Posted on September 7, 2003 by Ching Yee

It’s a silly [and superstitious] habit but I like going to the movies when Chinese New Year starts. I think it’s good practice and lucky to start off the New Year with lots of laughter. And what better way to put a big grin on the face that than to see a brand new Lunar comedy?

Over the past decade or so, the trend of putting out Lunar comedies has fallen on Jackie Chan and of course, the laff-meister Stephen … (read more)

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