And I Hate You So (2000) Movie Review

“And I Hate You So” is a Romantic Comedy/Chick Flick. It’s a Chick Flick in the vein of “Serendipity”, and anyone interested in knowing what that means should go back and read the review for that particular movie. For the rest of us, let’s move on, shall we? In “And...

March 24th, 2003 | Read More

Viva Erotica (1996) Movie Review

For those familiar with Hong Kong cinema, the term “Cat III” conjures up images of sex for the sake of gratuitous sex. Hong Kong films that fall into the Cat III rating belong in the “erotica” department, which is separated into two distinctive subgenres: screwball sex farce comedy...

March 15th, 2003 | Read More

Wu Yen (2001) Movie Review

“Wu Yen” looks like a play turned into a movie, but without all the trappings of a “movie world” and everything associated with that. The film purports to tell the “real” story of the Qi Emperor and his rise to greatness, which gives it some ties to the new Jet Li...

March 11th, 2003 | Read More

Bio Zombie (1998) Movie Review

More “Return of the Living Dead” than “Night of the Living Dead”, the Hong Kong salute to Zombies Attack film “Bio Zombie” is funnier and more effective than you would think at first glance. Only true fans of the genre will be able to appreciate the balance director...

March 8th, 2003 | Read More

Saviour of the Soul (1991) Movie Review

“Savior of the Soul”, made in 1991, is the epitome of Hong Kong action cinema cranked out during that particular era. The modus operandi of films in this category involves juvenile high jinks in the name of comedy and hyperbolic swordplay in the name of action. It’s all done with a...

February 28th, 2003 | Read More

The Touch (2002) Movie Review

If Michelle Yeoh’s starring vehicle “The Touch” has parts of it that looks familiar, it’s probably not because it shares more than a few surface resemblances to the “Indiana Jones” movies as many reviewers have pointed out. The fact is, the “Indiana Jones”...

February 27th, 2003 | Read More

Running Out of Time (1999) Movie Review

Don’t let the cover of the Hong Kong movie “Running Out of Time” fool you. The film, about a dying man (Andy Lau) who challenges a brilliant cop (Ching Wan Lau) to catch him as he sets about avenging an old score, is more comedy than police drama. “Time” stars prolific actor/pop...

February 21st, 2003 | Read More

Three (2002) Movie Review

The new Asian anthology movie “Three”, in which 3 directors from 3 different countries craft individual tales unrelated to the other 2, should have been called “One”, and the only writer/director who should have been invited to the party is Teddy Chan. Chan’s “Going...

February 16th, 2003 | Read More

What Price Survival (1994) Movie Review

If “What Price Survival” proves anything, it’s that the Chinese, and most Asians in general, consider melodrama as essential as breathing air or having a bowl of rice for dinner. I’m not being facetious or even over exaggerating. Chinese plays, and now Chinese films, is notorious...

February 7th, 2003 | Read More

Infernal Affairs (2002) Movie Review

Almost everyone familiar with Hong Kong films knows the names Andrew Lau, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung. (Andrew and Andy are not the same person, if you were wondering.) Andrew Lau (”Sausalito”) is a prolific director known for quantity over quality; the same is true for actor Andy Lau (“Full...

February 5th, 2003 | Read More

So Close (2003) Movie Review

I guess you really couldn’t say that Hong Kong filmmakers are trying to capitalize on the success of “Charlie’s Angels”, since I can think back to the early ’90s when “The Heroic Trio” made a splash. So just who is copying whom here? Regardless, “Angels”...

January 27th, 2003 | Read More

Gorgeous (1999) Movie Review

Leave it to Jackie Chan to do a romantic comedy and not have a single kissing scene in the entire thing. (Unless you count the film’s outtakes, which play over the end credits; one of them features Chan kissing co-star Qi Shu during an underwater scene.) “Gorgeous” is a straight comedy...

January 18th, 2003 | Read More

Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2001) Movie Review

Besides the title and the presence of a man wearing Kato-inspired threads, “Black Mask 2: City of Masks” has little in common with the original “Black Mask” starring Jet Li. The original was produced/co-written by Hong Kong action mainstay Tsui Hark (”Time and Tide”),...

January 13th, 2003 | Read More

Naked Weapon (2002) Movie Review

Imagine my surprise when “Naked Weapon”, a movie written by Jing Wong, the man behind such lackluster fare as “The Duel” and “High Risk”, turned out to be one of the more entertaining films I’ve seen in a long while. The movie, about young girls abducted (some...

January 7th, 2003 | Read More

Enforcer (aka My Father is a Hero, 1995) Movie Review

Besides offering us a chance to see Jet Li pretend he knows how to smoke (which he really doesn’t, natch), “Enforcer” (or “My Father is a Hero”, which is the more appropriate title in my opinion) is a pretty standard Hong Kong action movie. Which is to say its plot is outlandish...

November 29th, 2002 | Read More

Sausalito (2000) Movie Review

“Sausalito” is a Hong Kong movie starring Chinese actors, but set entirely in San Francisco. The film is essentially a Romance, but not a Romantic Comedy since there’s little comedy to be had. It stars the delightful Maggie Cheung as Ellen, a single mother and cab driver who dreams...

October 26th, 2002 | Read More

2002 (2001) Movie Review

Nicholas Tse (Time and Tide) stars as Chiu, the only cop in a department within the Hong Kong Police Department designated “2002″ that deals with supernatural occurrences around the city. (Don’t ask, I don’t know the significance of the title, and the movie never elaborates.)...

September 26th, 2002 | Read More

Devil Face, Angel Heart (2002) Movie Review

Question: How do you know a film has little (to no) faith in its screenplay (re: its story)? Answer: When the screenwriter’s name doesn’t even appear in the opening credits, you know you’re in trouble. In fact, if a Gaffer (!) appears in the credits, but your screenwriter doesn’t,...

August 22nd, 2002 | Read More

The Killer (1989) Movie Review

“The Killer” marks probably the best Yun-Fat/Woo team up as star/director, respectively. After the runaway success of “A Better Tomorrow,” the two men became international sensations, and “The Killer” solidified their reputations for all time. “The Killer,”...

August 22nd, 2002 | Read More

Princess D (2001) Movie Review

About halfway through the Hong Kong drama “Princess D,” a character that has suffered a mental breakdown is visiting her incarcerated husband; in a heartbreaking scene, the woman silently tries (but is unable) to understand why there is a glass partition between her and her husband, and although...

July 20th, 2002 | Read More