The Chinese Cinema (Page 12)

The Chinese Cinema

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Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)

Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)

Just the most remarkable collection of 1970s bodies on display: not just Bruce Lee, but Sammo Hung, Colleen Camp, and of course Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (whose body was, like Lee’s, also replaced by a double for a couple of early scenes). Each one iconic in their own way. An accidental

Midnight Diner (Tony Leung Ka-fai, 2019)

The Other Tony Leung

Midnight Diner (Tony Leung Ka-fai, 2019)

I am, as I suspect many people are, afflicted with an unquenchable fondness for movies about food. Close-ups of meat sizzling, the sound of tea being poured into a china cup, the crispy crunch of vegetables being chopped, it all triggers some kind of ASMR-like pleasure center deep in the

Diao Yinan

Review: The Wild Goose Lake [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wild-goose-lake-diao-yinan-2019/] (2019) — September 23, 2019 Capsule Review: Black Coal, Thin Ice [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tricky-brains-capsule-reviews/] (2014) — June 7, 2014

Good Men, Good Women

Johnny Ma

Reviews: Old Stone [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/old-stone-johnny-ma-2016/] (2016) — December 3, 2016 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/good-men-good-women-capsule-reviews/]: To Live To Sing (2019)— October 4, 2019

The Captain (Andrew Lau, 2019)

The Captain (Andrew Lau, 2019)

Andrew Lau Wai-keung is perhaps the most representative Hong Kong director in the post-Handover era. An accomplished cinematographer dating back to the late 80s (most famously he shot Wong Kar-wai’s debut As Tears Go By and half of Chungking Express, and his first ever DP credit was for Ringo

Derek Tsang

Reviews: Soulmate [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/soulmate-derek-tsang-2016/] (2061) — June 4, 2013 Better Days [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-derek-tsang-s-better-days-has-finally-been-released-but-at-what-cost] (2019) — August 2, 2015

Enter the Fat Dragon (Wong Jing & Tanigaki Kenji, 2020)

Enter the Fat Dragon (Wong Jing & Tanigaki Kenji, 2020)

Things have been tough in Hong Kong lately. Months of protests over the lack of democracy and transparency in the Special Administrative Region sparked violent reprisals by police, with fears of the coronavirus outbreak on the Mainland only making things worse. The protests have split the entertainment community, with many

Ang Lee

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/ang-lee/]: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-ang-lee-2000/] (2000) — August 28, 2013 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/ang-lee-capsule-reviews/]: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) – May 5, 2018 Sense and Sensibility (1995) – August 13, 2015 Lust, Caution (2007) — November 5, 2019 List: Ang

Ang Lee Capsule Reviews

Ang Lee Capsule Reviews

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) – May 5, 2018 A nice movie. Basically a straight version of a family Lunar New Year comedy. All's Well Ends Well or Boys Are Easy for the international art house circuit. But with oh so much food. Added April 25, 2023: À la

Both Sides Now: Women in Chinese Film at the DC Chinese Film Festival

Both Sides Now: Women in Chinese Film at the DC Chinese Film Festival

This weekend, the (Washington) DC Chinese Film Festival [http://www.dccff.org/schedule.html], in partnership with The One International Women's Film Festival, presents a mini-festival focused on women in Chinese Cinema called “On Both Sides of the Camera” focusing on Chinese films by and/or about women.

Notes on Filmspotting’s Contemporary Chinese Cinema Marathon

Notes on Filmspotting’s Contemporary Chinese Cinema Marathon

A few weeks ago, Adam and Josh at the Filmspotting [https://www.filmspotting.net/] podcast invited me to help curate a selection of 2010s Chinese-language movies for them to talk about on their show. I was more than happy to help, as I’ve been a fan of the show

The Shadow Play (Lou Ye, 2018)

The Shadow Play (Lou Ye, 2018)

At this point the best advice I can give you, the prospective viewer of a Lou Ye movie, is this: don’t see it in a theatre, and if you must, sit as far away from the screen as possible. Possibly contemporary cinema’s most extreme abuser of the close-up,

First Love (Miike Takashi, 2019)

First Love (Miike Takashi, 2019)

Every time I watch a Miike Takashi movie, I end up asking myself why I ever watch movies that aren’t Miike Takashi movies. That’s certainly the case with First Love, his latest, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year and opens next week at the Uptown. It’s

The Wild Goose Lake (Diao Yinan, 2019)

The Wild Goose Lake (Diao Yinan, 2019)

One of the most anticipated Chinese titles of this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival is Diao Yinan’s follow-up to his Berlin winning 2014 film Black Coal, Thin Ice. Like that film, The Wild Goose Lake is a moody Chinese noir, full of morose characters trapped in a world

The Case of Hana and Alice (Iwai Shunji, 2015)

The Case of Hana and Alice (Iwai Shunji, 2015)

What do you do if you want to make a prequel to one of your best movies, one built as much around the performances of two terrific young actresses more than anything else, but a decade has passed and the actresses are now much too old to be playing the

Donnie Yen Capsule Reviews

Donnie Yen Capsule Reviews

Drunken Tai Chi (Yuen Woo-ping, 1984) — December 12, 2017 Yuen Woo-ping spent the better part of a decade trying to make Donnie Yen a star, beginning with this period non-specific kung fu comedy. Donnie plays a badass rich kid who drives a bully insane with fireworks (in self-defense of course)

The In the Line of Duty/Yes, Madam Series

The Odd One Dies

The In the Line of Duty/Yes, Madam Series

Yes, Madam! (Corey Yuen, 1985) — July 2, 2015 Royal Warriors (David Chung, 1986) — December 19, 2013 Magnificent Warriors (David Chung, 1987) — December 20, 2013 A self-consciously Hollywood-esque period adventure with Michelle Yeoh as an Indiana Jones-inspired hero who helps a small town (set ostensibly somewhere like Bhutan) resist the Japanese

Winners & Sinners

Wu Jing

Reviews: Zu Warriors (Tsui Hark, 2001) — May 30, 2013 SPL: Sha Pol Lang (Wilson Yip, 2005) — October 1, 2016 Wolf Warrior 2 (Wu Jing, 2017)—August 5, 2017 The Wandering Earth (Frant Gwo, 2019) – February 27, 2019 The Battle at Lake Changjin (Parts I & II) (Tsui Hark, Dante Lam,

Winners & Sinners

Michelle Yeoh

The Many Faces of Michelle Yeoh – April 8, 2022 Reviews: Yes, Madam! (1985) — July 2, 2015 Royal Warriors (David Chung, 1986) — December 19, 2013 Easy Money (Stephen Shin, 1987) – March 14, 2023 The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To & Ching Siu-tung, 1993) — August 1, 2015 Police Story 3: Supercop (Stanley Tong,

Michelle Yeoh Capsule Reviews

Michelle Yeoh Capsule Reviews

Magnificent Warriors (David Chung, 1987) — December 20, 2013 A self-consciously Hollywood-esque period adventure with Michelle Yeoh as an Indiana Jones-inspired hero who helps a small town (set ostensibly somewhere like Bhutan) resist the Japanese with the help of Richard Ng and Derek Yee. Relentlessly-paced, with a series of show-stopping action

Big Brother (Kam Ka-wai, 2018)

Big Brother (Kam Ka-wai, 2018)

Into the hallowed tradition of high school movies wherein juvenile delinquents are straightened out by an unconventional teacher steps none other than Donnie Yen, his furious fists solemnly taking up the mantle of Blackboard Jungle, Stand and Deliver, and Dangerous Minds. It’s clearly a project that means something to

Winners & Sinners

Jet Li

Reviews: Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991) — January 16, 2017 Once Upon a Time in China II (Tsui Hark, 1992) — January 17, 2017 The Master (Tsui Hark, 1992) – June 7, 2022 Swordsman and Swordsman II (Ching Siu-tung, 1990-1992) — September 26, 2012 Once Upon a Time in China

Winners & Sinners

Josephine Siao

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/josephine-siao/]: The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-legend-of-fong-sai-yuk-corey-yuen-1993/] (Corey Yuen, 1993) – January 23, 2022 The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk II [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-legend-of-fong-sai-yuk-ii-corey-yuen-1993/] (Corey Yuen, 1993) – January 24, 2022 Capsule Reviews: [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/josephine-siao-capsule-reviews/] Jumping Ash (Josephine

Jet Li Capsule Reviews

Jet Li Capsule Reviews

Martial Arts of Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung, 1986) — June 18, 2014 Of interest for the early Jet Li performance and the location shooting in China. A glimpse of things to come in the move out of the Shaws studios and into the big, varied world. Lau Kar-leung keeps putting Li in

Josephine Siao Capsule Reviews

Josephine Siao Capsule Reviews

Jumping Ash (Josephine Siao & Po-chih Leong, 1976) — July 7, 2017 The intersection between Hollywood exploitation and the Hong Kong New Wave, though the former may be the accidental byproduct of watching a cropped and dubbed version of this, apparently made for some kind of TV broadcast. Co-directed and co-written