The Chinese Cinema (Page 16)

The Chinese Cinema

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Tian Zhuangzhuang

Tian Zhuangzhuang

The Horse Thief — January 14, 2019 Easy to see why Martin Scorsese was so taken with this, a story of sin, excommunication and failed redemption. Less easy to see why he named it the best film of the 90s. But you gotta admire his bold rejection of temporal reality. Springtime

Han Han Capsule Reviews

Good Men, Good Women

Han Han Capsule Reviews

Duckweed (2017) — July 3, 2017 Race car driver, essayist, and film director Han Han had one of 2017’s biggest hits with Duckweed, a time travel comic drama about a son learning to respect his father. An update of Peter Chan’s 1993 classic He Ain’t Heavy, He’s

Missbehavior (Pang Ho-cheung, 2019)

Missbehavior (Pang Ho-cheung, 2019)

This week’s snow has certainly thrown a wrench into my Lunar New Year movie-watching plans, but fortunately my kids’ school actually started on time today so I was able to make the long drive to the Pacific Place to catch an early morning show of Pang Ho-cheung’s latest

Liz and the Blue Bird (Yamada Naoko, 2018)

Iwai Shunji's Last Letter wasn't the only tear-jerking teen romance to sneak onto Seattle screens this past week. Yamada Naoko's anime Liz and the Blue Bird, based on a novel called Sound! Euphonium by Takeda Ayano that has already been adapted into two seasons

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bi Gan, 2018)

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bi Gan, 2018)

Thinking of a series of dreams Where the time and the tempo fly And there’s no exit in any direction ‘Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes Wasn’t making any great connection Wasn’t falling for any intricate scheme Nothing that would pass inspection

Sylvia Chang

All About Sylvia Chang — May 18, 2018 Capsule Reviews: Passion (1986) — May 11, 2018 Sisters of the World Unite (1991)— May 11, 2018 Mary from Beijing (1992)— May 09, 2018 In Between (Samson Chiu, Yonfan, Sylvia Chang, 1994) – May 1, 2023 Siao Yu (1995) — May 12, 2018 Tonight Nobody Goes

List (Hong Sangsoo, 2011)

List (Hong Sangsoo, 2011)

With a few days to spare after wrapping the production of In Another Country, Hong Sangsoo and some of his crew and actors hung around and made this short film, which he’d agreed to do as part of the funding for the feature. Being Hong Sangsoo, of course he

Hou Hsiao-hsien in Austin

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Hou Hsiao-hsien in Austin

This weekend the Austin Asian American Film Festival kicks off a month-long retrospective on Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien at the Austin Film Society [https://www.austinfilm.org/series/reality-in-long-shots-a-hou-hsiao-hsien-retrospective/] , all but one of which will be playing on 35mm film. I wrote extensively about Hou, who would probably be my

Hanagatami (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 2017)

Obayashi Nobuhiko

Hanagatami (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 2017)

Obayashi Nobuhiko’s Hanagatami is the kind of maximalist masterpiece that simply has to been seen. A story about the lives of young people in a remote village in Japan in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor, it’s awash in the poetic dreams of youth, aswoon with love

The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (Yang Ya-che, 2017)

The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (Yang Ya-che, 2017)

The winner of this past year’s Golden Horse Awards Best Picture is shockingly bad. Generally considered the top awards body for Chinese language film, The Golden Horse has a sterling reputation, though perhaps that is unearned. Looking back over recent winners reveals more than one questionable decision (2013’s

The Enigmatic Cases Capsule Reviews

The Enigmatic Cases

The Enigmatic Cases Capsule Reviews

Hsu Tseng-hung: Temple of the Red Lotus (1965) — June 23, 2015 The Shaw Brothers dove headfirst into wuxia in 1965 with this, the first in a trilogy previously adapted as an epic serial (one of the longest movies ever) in 1928. Future luminaries abound, from Jimmy Wang Yu and Lo

Good Men, Good Women

Ho Meng-hua

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/ho-meng-hua/]: The Flying Guillotine [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-flying-guillotine-ho-meng-hua-1975/] (1975) — December 20, 2012 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/ho-meng-hua-capsule-reviews/]: Cave of the Silken Web (1967) — June 3, 2015 Vengeance is a Golden Blade (1969) — October 28, 2010 Black Magic (1975) — October 15, 2018

The Mission (Johnnie To, 1999)

The Mission (Johnnie To, 1999)

After a few rough years at the start of his Milkyway Image studio, producing great movies that never really caught on at the box office, and constantly at odds with his subordinate directors, in 1999 Johnnie To just decided to give up the pretense and begin directing most of his

Poon Man-kit Capsule Reviews

It's a Drink, It's a Bomb

Poon Man-kit Capsule Reviews

To Be Number One (1991) — Sept 24 2017 Epic trash/trash epic about real-life gangster Crippled Ho. Ray Lui plays Ho, chronicling his rise from early 60s Mainland immigrant to heroin kingpin, mainly focusing on his rivalry with fellow gang leader Fat Kwan (Kent Cheng). This is higher level gang

Wilson Yip Capsule Reviews

Wilson Yip Capsule Reviews

Bio Zombie (1998) – September 25, 2023 This Wilson Yip should come back as a zombie to eat the face off the Wilson Yip who directed the Ip Man movies. Flash Point (2007) — November 18, 2014 About 20 minutes into the climax of the movie, after he has been beating the

Crippled Avengers

Wilson Yip

Reviews: SPL: Sha Pol Lang (2005) — October 1, 2016 Ip Man 3 (2015) — January 22, 2016 SPL: Paradox (2017) — October 8, 2017 Ip Man 4 (2019) — December 27, 2019 Capsule Reviews: Bio Zombie (1998) – September 25, 2023 Flash Point (2007)— November 18, 2014 Ip Man (2008)- April 4, 2019

Daniel Lee Capsule Reviews

Crippled Avengers

Daniel Lee Capsule Reviews

Black Mask (1996) — March 22, 2016 Saw this dubbed when it got released in the US in 1999. Surprisingly enough, it’s better in the original language. Best part of rewatching these movies now is recognizing the character actors: Lau Ching-wan as Jet Li’s cop buddy, Anthony Wong as

Dante Lam Capsule Reviews

Dante Lam Capsule Reviews

Beast Cops (1998) — August 5, 2017 Not only does this have Anthony Wong at his most righteously sleazy playing the streetwise cop who bends but doesn’t quite break the rules in the interest of maintaining the delicate balance of the community under his protection (ie: the Triads are OK

It's a Drink, It's a Bomb

Dante Lam

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/dante-lam/]: Operation Mekong [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/operation-mekong-dante-lam-2016/] (2016) — October 1, 2016 Operation Red Sea [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-lunar-new-year] (2018) — February 28, 2018 The Rescue [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-rescue-dante-lam-2020/] (2020) — November 25, 2021 The Battle at Lake Changjin (Parts I &

Wong Jing Capsule Reviews

Wong Jing Capsule Reviews

The Buddhist Fist (Yuen Woo-ping, 1980) — June 21, 2013 Maybe the biggest gap between quality of acting/storytelling and choreography/action I’ve ever seen. It’s the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers of kung fu movies. To what degree that is the result of the copy I saw being

Wu Ma Capsule Reviews

Good Men, Good Women

Wu Ma Capsule Reviews

The Dead and the Deadly (1982) — June 2, 2017 Nastier than Winners & Sinners-era Sammo Hung or the Mr. Vampire series, with Wu Ma directing as well as starring, playing a grotesque con artist who gets good guy Sammo to avenge his murder at the hands of his co-conspirators. A

Derek Kwok Capsule Reviews

Derek Kwok Capsule Reviews

Gallants (2010) — January 28, 2018 Seeing this now at home, alone, more than seven years after catching it in a massive yet still overstuffed festival venue (the no longer operating Ridge in Vancouver), and being significantly more familiar with the cast and the kung fu classics it’s riffing on

Andrew Lau Capsule Reviews

Andrew Lau Capsule Reviews

Young and Dangerous (1996) — November 5, 2014 The Muppet Babies of Heroic Bloodshed films. Equivocation, extenuating circumstances, and context are the wisdom of the adult; the young see only absolutes, the letter of the code. These kids know the rules, but they don’t understand their own code. When Ekin

Lau Kar-wing Capsule Reviews

Good Men, Good Women

Lau Kar-wing Capsule Reviews

Odd Couple (1979) — July 20, 2017 Going from Sammo Hung’s early 70s supporting work in something like The Skyhawk to this, made only a few years later, is a trip. No longer held back by co-stars who can’t keep up or unimaginative casting that refuses see him as

Good Men, Good Women

Derek Kwok

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/derek-kwok/]: Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/journey-to-the-west-conquering-the-demons-stephen-chow-derek-kwok-2013/] (Stephen Chow & Derek Kwok, 2013) — April 3, 2014 Schemes in Antiques [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/schemes-in-antiques-derek-kwok-2021/] (2021) — December 16, 2021 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/derek-kwok-capsule-reviews/]: Gallants (Derek Kwok