Blog Archives

Ip Man: The Legend is Born (2010)

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Posted on April 16, 2011 by Alan

Recently I watched Monsters, Gareth Edwards’ reasonably low-budget sci-fi and romance flick. Getting over the being-bashed-on-the-head subtext about racial inequality and the U.S.’ view of the poor and foreigners alike as ‘alien’, the film has a very gorgeous sense of cinematography. The landscapes are verdant, the cityscapes alive, rusted, and full of movement. Edwards’ film captures beautiful moments with economy and subtlety.

Why mention this? Because unfortunately the very next film I watched, immediately afterwards, was this film, Ip … (read more)

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Ip Man 2 (2010)

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Posted on May 31, 2010 by James

This is certainly no tame squeakquel.

More an exuberant throwback to fan-favourite 1980s Hong Kong martial arts movies, with fight scene stacked upon fight scene, shamelessly caricatured gwailo villains, a breezily achieved period setting, and at times (e.g. the fish market) quite thrilling fight choreography. Flawed, without a doubt. Cheesy, yes. The plot is uninspired, the violence unnecessarily excessive at times (Sammo’s face gets a real work out) and there’s emotionally flat filler like the re-introduction of Simon Yam’s character. … (read more)

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Kung Fu Chefs (2009)

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Posted on May 5, 2009 by Deni

Way back in the day, my early education in Hong Kong cinema was more along the lines of guns and hand grenades, as opposed to fists and barrel rolls. Bullet ballets, car chases, crooked cops and machete gangs; I was all over that. It wasn’t until a double bill at a local cinema — Drunken Master II and Hard Boiled, to be precise — that I realised the other side of Cantonese and Mainland action cinema. Since then, I’ve … (read more)

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SPL (2005)

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Posted on July 1, 2007 by Justin

If you’re a regular reader of sites with an interest in Asian cinema on the net, you probably already know all about Sha Po Lang (SPL). You’ve read all four very positive reviews on twitchfilm, you’ve read Grady’s review at Kaiju Shakedown, and you know what’s what. A modern Hong Kong film, starring three very well-respected martial arts stars from different backgrounds, with a gritty, crime setting and a lot of neon lights and breaking glass. A … (read more)

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Project A (1983)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Justin

Project A, made in 1983, marked Jackie Chan’s return to the Hong Kong film industry after his first attempt to crack the American film market (resulting in Battle Creek Brawl and a cameo in Cannonball Run). It reunited the three opera school brothers — Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao — in a huge period comedy with a very liberal dose of action scenes, and earned a ridiculous amount of money at the HK box office at … (read more)

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Eastern Condors (1987)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Justin

Eastern Condors is a hell of a lot of fun, and an interesting film to boot. It’s a modern war film (set in post-war Vietnam) which is a quite a rarity in Hong Kong cinema. It’s also got a very strong cast of late-80’s action stars, including Sammo Hung (who also directs), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo-ping (in an acting role), Lam Ching-Ying, Chin Kar Lok… the list goes on and on.

The story starts in America, … (read more)

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Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (1990)

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Posted on January 28, 2006 by Justin

Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon is one of the later films from the kung fu comedy triumvirate of Sammo Hung, Karl Maka and Lau Kar Wing. They’d worked together a decade earlier, producing a string of excellent period kung fu films, like The Odd Couple, Knockabout and Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog. In 1990, though, they reteamed to make this film, a contemporary action movie chronicling the (possibly even madcap, or zany) exploits of two cops, Skinny Tiger (Karl Maka) … (read more)

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The Prodigal Son (1982)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Justin

Sammo Hung’s been in the film industry a long time and has produced, directed or acted in a huge number of films, working with virtually every major martial arts actor in the business: his younger brothers-in-Opera Jackie Chan (Project A, Wheels on Meals and more) and Yuen Biao, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Lau Kar Leung, Lau Kar Wing… the list goes on. The Prodigal Son is lauded by many as one of his best, … (read more)

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