The Chinese Cinema (Page 13)

The Chinese Cinema

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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

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

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

Derek Tsang

Reviews: Soulmate (2016) — June 4, 2013 Better Days (2019) — August 2, 2015

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

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

Zhang Ziyi Capsule Reviews

Zhang Ziyi Capsule Reviews

House of Flying Daggers (2004) — August 6, 2014 Wife: Why are you watching House of Flying Daggers again? Me: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it. I’ve watched a lot of martial arts and Hong Kong movies in the last couple of years and I’m curious

Yuen Biao Capsule Reviews

Yuen Biao Capsule Reviews

Dreadnaught (1981) — June 24, 2013 I want to spend a month or five just watching all the movies where Kwan Tak-hing played Wong Fei-hung. There's only like 80 of them dating back to the late 1940s. Should be pretty easy to find. Weird seeing Yuen Biao, who played

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)

Wu Jing Capsule Reviews

Wu Jing Capsule Reviews

Drunken Monkey (Lau Kar-leung, 2003) — July 8, 2013 Lau Kar-leung and Gordon Liu together for the last time, passing the torch to a new generation. Lau ends his final fight by grabbing a sword with his bare hand to prevent the killing of the villain. He spends so much of

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

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

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

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

Winners & Sinners

Zhang Ziyi

Reviews: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-ang-lee-2000/] (Ang Lee, 2000) — August 28, 2013 Hero [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/hero-zhang-yimou-2002/] (Zhang Yimou, 2002) — March 28, 2017 Sophie’s Revenge [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/sophies-revenge-eva-jin-2009/] (Eva Jin, 2009) — July 29, 2014 My Lucky Star [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/my-lucky-star-dennie-gordon-2013/

Winners & Sinners

Yuen Biao

Reviews: Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978) — July 14, 2020 Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983) — August 2, 2015 Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983) — June 4, 2013 The Millionaires' Express (Sammo Hung, 1986) – May 27, 2022 Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung, 1987) — May 24, 2013 Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

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,

Winners & Sinners

Donnie Yen

Reviews: The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991) – August 25, 2022 In the Line of Duty IV (Yuen Woo-ping, 1989) – March 24, 2023 Once Upon a Time in China II (Tsui Hark, 1992) — Jan 17, 2017 New Dragon Gate Inn (Raymond Lee, 1992) — Apr 24, 2014 Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)