Articles in Mainland China Movie Reviews
Cell Phone (2003) Movie Review
With his big budget opus “The Banquet” having emerged as one of the most talked about films of 2006, it’s good to see Mainland Chinese director Feng Xiaogang’s earlier “Cell Phone” finally getting a DVD release with English subtitles. Although perhaps not so well known outside of China, the film was certainly a big hit [...]
November 3rd, 2006 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreCrazy Stone (2006) Movie Review
“Crazy Stone” is the latest offering from Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau’s “FOCUS: First Cuts”, a scheme designed to help young Asian film makers. The film has been a genuine sensation at the Chinese box office, raking in more than 17 million RMB (over US$2 million), an incredible figure for such a low budget production. [...]
October 24th, 2006 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreThe Banquet (2006) Movie Review
Over two hours of running time, the most extravagant costumes, eye-catching opulent sets, elaborate fight choreography, and currently the most famous Chinese actress in the world as your star. And yet, director Xiaogang Feng’s “The Banquet” still managed to dull the senses, rot the emotion, and make one pray for an ending — any ending, [...]
October 4th, 2006 | Nix | 3 Comments | Read MoreHow is Your Fish Today? (2006) Movie Review
“How Is Your Fish Today?” began life as a British-commissioned Chinese documentary about Mohe, a small village in the northernmost part of China , lying on the Russian border. However, when the crew reached Mohe, a supposedly mystical town where it’s light twenty hours out of the day and the aurora [...]
August 31st, 2006 | Andrew Mackenzie | 1 Comment | Read MoreRiding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005) Movie Review
“Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles” sees Zhang Yimou returning to the kind of intimate drama with which he made his name as a director. Eschewing the flashy visuals of “Hero” and the cheap melodrama of “House of Flying Daggers”, “Miles” tells a simple, yet emotional story about the complex relationships between fathers and their [...]
February 2nd, 2006 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreThe Promise (2005) Movie Review
Chen Kaige’s “The Promise” arrives in a year crowded with Asian big-budget martial arts epics, counting among the competition Jackie Chan’s “The Myth”, Tsui Hark’s “Seven Swords”, and Myung-se Lee’s “The Duelist”, with 2006 promising even more titles from the genre. All four films have opened with mixed results, their pedigree as an Asian film [...]
January 4th, 2006 | Nix | 1 Comment | Read MoreA Time to Love (2004) Movie Review
It was inevitable that the classic love story Romeo and Juliet would get updated yet again, as if having to endure Baz Luhrmann’s dizzying interpretation in his 1996 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes wasn’t bad enough. Though the story has been tweaked a bit this time around, mostly with Chinese cultural traditions added [...]
October 10th, 2005 | Alex Lui | 0 Comments | Read MoreA West Lake Moment (2004) Movie Review
“AWest Lake Moment” is the latest film from Hong Kong director Yim Ho, best known for complex emotional dramas such as “The Kitchen” and “Homecoming”. Here, the director turns his hand to contemporary romance, with an attempt to explore modern relationships in a manner that is whimsical, yet shot through with a bitter sense of [...]
August 31st, 2005 | James Mudge | 2 Comments | Read MoreA World Without Thieves (2004) Movie Review
“A World Without Thieves”, the latest from acclaimed Mainland Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, follows the criminal life of Bo (Andy Lau) and Li (Rene Liu), wandering husband and wife grifters, con artists, and whatever else takes their fancy. They’ve been in the game for years, when suddenly Li announces that she’s had enough. Not only [...]
January 4th, 2005 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MorePurple Butterfly (2003) Movie Review
“Purple Butterfly” is a movie with the makings of a great film, but is unfortunately marred by a couple of silly decisions that should have been avoided. There is little doubt that Ye Lou (“Suzhou River”) is a talented filmmaker, but there is such a thing as making a film more complicated than it needs [...]
December 23rd, 2004 | Nix | 0 Comments | Read More
It looks like a dud. I saw the trailer. Tom is the only person speaking with an American news network ...
nothing they payed fox.... 
OMG!!!! 
