The Chinese Cinema (Page 19)

The Chinese Cinema

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Sono Sion Capsule Reviews

Sono Sion Capsule Reviews

Tokyo Tribe (2014) — February 20, 2015 I’d love to see this play on a double bill somewhere with The Midnight After. I would totally show this movie to a class to explain the society and culture of early Anglo-Saxon Britain. Somewhat related: no one wants me teaching their history

Stanley Kwan Capsule Reviews

Stanley Kwan Capsule Reviews

Women (1985) — March 11, 2018 Stanley Kwan’s first film starts with Cora Miao abruptly telling Chow Yun-fat she wants a divorce. Seems he’s been cheating on her, with Cherie Chung no less, and she’s had enough. She takes their son and moves in with her mom while

Michael Hui Capsule Reviews

Michael Hui Capsule Reviews

Games Gamblers Play (1974) — January 7, 2014 Less episodic than some of the Huis’ later films, it follows a mostly conventional plot structure about gamblers trying to make it big. Neat twist with Sam being terrible while Michael is actually a pretty good guy. The Private Eyes (1976) — December 5,

Chung Mong-hong Capsule Reviews

Crippled Avengers

Chung Mong-hong Capsule Reviews

The Fourth Portrait (2010) — October 6, 2010 This Taiwanese film is about a precocious young boy named Xiang whose father dies, sending him first into the helpful hands of the school janitor, and then back to his mom, a prostitute (naturally) and step-father (who’s pretty much pure evil). Director

Devils on the Doorstep

Sono Sion

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/sono-sion/]: Bicycle Sighs [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/bicycle-sighs-sono-sion-1990/] (1990) —August 8, 2016 Suicide Club [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/suicide-club-sono-sion-2001/] (2001) — August 15, 2016 Love Exposure [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/love-exposure-sono-sion-2008/] (2008) — August 22, 2016 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/sono-sion-capsule-reviews/]: Tokyo Tribe (2014)

Stanley Kwan

Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/stanley-kwan-capsule-reviews/] : Women (1985)— March 11, 2018 Love Unto Waste (1986) — March 25, 2018 Rouge (1988)— August 20, 2013 Full Moon in New York (1989) – May 17, 2018 Centre Stage (1991)— May 1, 2015 Podcast: Centre Stage [http://thegeorgesandersshow.blogspot.com/2015/05/episode-59-clouds-of-sils-maria-and.html]

Michael Hui

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/michael-hui/]: The Contract [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-contract-michael-hui-1978/] (Michael Hui, 1978) — June 5, 2017 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/michael-hui-capsule-reviews/]: Games Gamblers Play (Michael Hui, 1974)— January 7, 2014 The Private Eyes (Michael Hui, 1976) — December 5, 2013 Security Unlimited (Michael Hui, 1978)

Fei Mu Capsule Reviews

Fei Mu Capsule Reviews

Song of China (Fei Mu & Luo Mingyou, 1935) – March 3, 2017 There’s a lot of really interesting background on this film, its production, and eventual release in the US at The Chinese Mirror [https://web.archive.org/web/20101231195539/http://www.chinesemirror.com:80/index/2010/09/1935-fei-mu-lianhua-and-song-of-china.

Stephen Chow Capsule Reviews

Stephen Chow Capsule Reviews

Final Justice (1988) — December 19, 2013 Stephen Chow, in his breakthrough film role (he won the Best Supporting Actor Golden Horse award) is introduced as a young car thief who wears a denim jacket with the word “FUCK” spelled out in rainbow colored stickers across the back. Apparently this is

Stephen Chow

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/stephen-chow/]: A Chinese Odyssey [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-wacky-existentialism-of-jeffrey-lau-s-a-chinese-odyssey] (Jeffrey Lau, 1995) — August 12, 2019 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 The Mermaid [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/

Before We Vanish (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2017)

Kurosawa Kiyoshi

Before We Vanish (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2017)

The latest film from one of the most interesting directors in the world right now is playing at the Grand Illusion for week starting this Friday. Kurosawa Kiyoshi, director of such key Japanese horror films as Pulse and Cure, as well as award-winning dramas like Tokyo Sonata, was last seen

The Monkey King 3 (Soi Cheang, 2018)

The Monkey King 3 (Soi Cheang, 2018)

The latest in director Soi Cheang’s saga inspired by the classic novel Journey to the West might be the strangest one yet. The franchise blockbuster has always been a weird fit for the former director of indie horror movies and slick crime dramas, and Cheang’s first Monkey King

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law Capsule Reviews

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law Capsule Reviews

An Autumn’s Tale (1987) — December 3, 2013 A romance without a single kiss. Great performances from its stars (Chow Yun-fat and Cherie Chung, never grungier and never cuter, respectively), great use of New York locations (I love how the pre-Giuliani city gradually turns from post-apocalyptic to quirky as immigrant

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law

Mabel Cheung & Alex Law

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/mabel-cheung-alex-law/]: The Illegal Immigrant [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-shaw-brothers-sisters-filmmakers-at-a-fallen-studio] (Mabel Cheung, 1985) — August 23, 2019 Painted Faces [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/painted-faces-alex-law-1988/] (Alex Law, 1988) —August 2, 2014 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/mabel-cheung-alex-law-capsule-reviews/]: An Autumn’s Tale (Mabel Cheung, 1987)— December

Soi Cheang Capsule Reviews

Soi Cheang Capsule Reviews

New Blood (2002) — July 21, 2020 Extremely spooky low-budget ghost story about one half of a double suicide haunting the three people who donated blood and thus saved the life of the other half. Like an extremely fucked up remix of Rouge. Aside from the obvious craft, this may be

Soi Cheang

Reviews: Accident (2009) — July 29, 2014 The Monkey King 3 (2018) — February 18, 2018 The Monkey King 3 (2018) – February 28, 2018 Limbo (2021) — October 12, 2021 Mad Fate (2023) – July 18, 2023 Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) – August 8, 2024 Capsule Reviews: New Blood (2002) — July 21,

Peter Chan

Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/peter-chan/]: He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/he-aint-heavy-hes-my-father-peter-chan-1993/] (1993) — July 29, 2014 Comrades, Almost a Love Story [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/comrades-almost-a-love-story-peter-chan-1996/] (1996) — January 1, 2014 Wuxia [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/wuxia-peter-chan-2011/] (2011) — April 25, 2014 Capsule Reviews

Apichatpong Weerasethakul Capsule Reviews

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul Capsule Reviews

Blissfully Yours (2002) — March 9, 2016 The first time I saw this, I was swept away by the languid happiness of the young lovers, the delicate rhythm of the 21st century A Day in the Country, where a single afternoon of happiness can define a lifetime. This time, I was

Sylvia Chang Capsule Reviews

Sylvia Chang Capsule Reviews

Passion (1986) — May 11, 2018 When George Lam’s mustache is so sexy that even a lifetime of friendship can’t keep Sylvia Chang and Cora Miao from both falling in love with him. Sisters of the World Unite (1991) — May 11, 2018 Very pleasant Lunar New Year style movie

Peter Chan Capsule Reviews

Peter Chan Capsule Reviews

Perhaps Love (2005) — May 6, 2014 Kaneshiro Takeshi goes to China to make a movie for Jacky Cheung. It’s a musical and co-stars Zhou Xun, the story of the film being that she and Kaneshiro had been in love, but now she has amnesia and has forgotten him and

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Devils on the Doorstep

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/apichatpong-weerasethakul-capsule-reviews/]: Blissfully Yours (2002)— March 9, 2016 Tropical Malady (2004)— March 11, 2016 Syndromes and a Century (2006) — March 12, 2016 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) — December 11, 2019 Mekong Hotel (2012)— October 2, 2012 Cemetery of Splendour (2015) — January

Benny Chan Capsule Reviews

Benny Chan Capsule Reviews

A Moment of Romance (1990) — February 22, 2016 Nobody pops the collar of their denim jacket quite like Andy Lau. As Tears Go By told in the style of the last five minutes of All About Ah-long. Directed by Benny Chan, produced by Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and Wong Jing

Good Men, Good Women

Feng Xiaogang

Reviews: I Am Not Madame Bovary [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/i-am-not-madame-bovary-feng-xiaogang-2016/] (2016) — November 17, 2016 Youth [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-the-thousand-faces-of-dunjia-and-youth] (2017) — January 9, 2018 Only Cloud Knows [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-ip-man-4-and-only-cloud-knows] (2019) — December 27, 2019 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/feng-xiaogang-capsule-reviews/]: The

Good Men, Good Women

Benny Chan

Reviews: Gen-X Cops (1999) – September 23, 2023 Gen-Y Cops (1999) – September 23, 2023 Meow (2017) — July 22, 2017 Raging Fire (2021) — August 11, 2021 Capsule Reviews: A Moment of Romance (1990) — February 22, 2016 A Moment of Romance II (1993) – April 24, 2023 Big Bullet (1996) — April 14 , 2016 Heroic

Feng Xiaogang Capsule Reviews

Feng Xiaogang Capsule Reviews

The Dream Factory (1997) — December 10, 2017 Feng Xiaogang’s second feature, a light comedy in which Ge You and some ex-actor pals form a company devoted to fulfilling people’s dreams, for a little while. It’s told episodically, spending a little time with each dream. One guy wants