Simon Yam - The Chinese Cinema

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Simon Yam

A collection of 11 posts

2023 Fall Festival Compilation

2023 Fall Festival Compilation

As I put together in 2022 and again for last Spring, here is a collection of the reviews I wrote for InReview Online's coverage of various film festivals from around the world. For publication here, the reviews have been re-edited and occasionally expanded. Check out the rest of

I Did It My Way (Jason Kwan, 2023)

I Did It My Way (Jason Kwan, 2023)

I didn’t see the Andy Lau crime movie with a title borrowed from a hit 1960s American pop song that came out a couple of weeks ago, but I did see the one that comes out this week. I skipped The Goldfinger, despite the promise of an Andy Lau-Tony

Black Cat (Stephen Shin, 1991)

Paid-members only

Black Cat (Stephen Shin, 1991)

Queen's High (Chris Lee Kin-sang, 1991)

Paid-members only

She Shoots Straight

Queen's High (Chris Lee Kin-sang, 1991)

In the Line of Duty VII (Cheng Siu-keung, 1991)

Paid-members only

She Shoots Straight

In the Line of Duty VII (Cheng Siu-keung, 1991)

The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991)

Paid-members only

The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991)

Burning Ambition (Frankie Chan, 1989)

Burning Ambition (Frankie Chan, 1989)

This is the first Frankie Chan-directed film I’ve seen, after knowing him only from his supporting roles in Sammo Hung’s The Prodigal Son and Carry On Pickpocket and for his work as a composer for dozens of classic martial arts films (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The Five

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

The Legend of the Naga Pearls (Yang Lei, 2017

In what has been a strong summer for Chinese language releases here in Seattle (with Our Time Will Come, Wolf Warrior 2, Meow, Once Upon a Time, and The Adventurers following SIFF's minifestival of Hong Kong films and their presentation of the restored Taipei Story last week), Legend

The Midnight After (Fruit Chan, 2014)

The Midnight After (Fruit Chan, 2014)

The end of the world, maybe. A late-night minibus, packed with commuters traveling from (if my geography is correct) the center of the city to one of its satellite neighborhoods, seems to drive instead into the Twilight Zone: everyone else in Hong Kong seemingly disappears, and then the passengers themselves

SPL: Sha Po Lang (Wilson Yip, 2005)

SPL: Sha Po Lang (Wilson Yip, 2005)

A rote cop/Triad story somewhat elevated by a serious commitment to operatic melodrama on the part of director Wilson Yip and composer Chan Kwong-wing. Sammo Hung is the gangster, Simon Yam the veteran cop willing to break all the rules to capture him. Donnie Yen is the new guy