Hong Kong

Mr. Vampire is the seminal Hong Kong horror-comedy featuring the infamous hopping vampires of Chinese folklore, and it stars the genre’s undisputed king: the great Lam Ching Ying! Kou (Lam Ching Ying) is a quietly charismatic Taoist priest with one goal in life: to take out the undead with his cool Taoist shenanigans. Kou is called into action when an undead fellow (Yuen Wah) refuses to stay dead thanks to burial in a site with bad feng shui. He becomes a hopping terror begging for Kou’s exorcism, but Kou must also deal with his two students Ricky Hui and Chin Siu-Ho. One is haunted by a pretty ghost (Pauline Wong Siu Fung), and the other is infected for possible conversion into a hopping vampire! But when the undead vampire targets Kou’s granddaughter (Moon Lee), all bets are off! Sticky rice, paper amulets, and the fabulous sword of coins are the chosen weapons in Mr. Vampire, and Lam Ching Ying has the skills and the smarts to wield them! Featuring action sequences from the great Sammo Hung, Mr. Vampire is an entertaining action-horror-comedy that still charms and amazes years after its release.Read More »

Synopsis:
Wang Yu takes the title role as a young kung fu student who prides himself on his skill and his upright standing. These skills are tested and defeated when a local rival enlists the help of a group of Japanese fighters who then kill most of Wang Yu’s school. The injured hero barely escapes with his life and moves to a retreat to learn the Iron Palm–the only technique that can defeat the force of Japanese karate. Having finished his rigorous training, the Chinese fighter faces his numerous foes in a series of nicely choreographed fight scenes.Read More »

AMG: Shanghai Blues combines romantic comedy, slapstick, music, and several classic coincidences (a favorite ploy of director and writer Tsui Hark to tell the story of a man (Kenny Bee) and a female dancer (Sylvia Chang) who meet under a Shanghai bridge in 1937 as they seek shelter from the Japanese bombing of the city. They are immediately drawn to each other and make a pact to meet under the bridge again when the war has ended. But their plans are thwarted and ten years later, the man gets an apartment in Shanghai (where he works as a musician, songwriter, and clown) unaware that the dancer — for whom he has been searching — is his downstairs neighbor. Meanwhile, a young, bubbly woman makes friends with the dancer at the club where she performs and inadvertently causes a considerable mix-up that at first looks fated to keep the star-crossed lovers apart.Read More »

Synopsis:
Set in Hong Kong, 1962, Chow Mo-Wan is a newspaper editor who moves into a new building with his wife. At the same time, Su Li-zhen, a beautiful secretary and her executive husband also move in to the crowded building. With their spouses often away, Chow and Li-zhen spend most of their time together as friends. They have everything in common from noodle shops to martial arts. Soon, they are shocked to discover that their spouses are having an affair. Hurt and angry, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates.Read More »

Synopsis:
The estate of the Kao family was attacked by Pai an enemy of the Kao family. The last member of the Kao family barely escapes with his life and seeks to avenge himself. His old teacher refuses to help him because he is too caught up in anger and hate. Kao hears of a famous hero in the local town, he tries to befriend him so that he might have his aid in taking revenge against Pai.Read More »

It’s winter and 22-year-old Muzi has returned to her home town of Hangzhou for a visit, a new year is around the corner. Her parents are long since separated, her father has a wife and young daughter and her mother is dating, though the old family apartment is still furnished as was. Muzi befriends an older bar owner and her university boyfriend comes looking for her, although no relationships here are straightforward. It takes time to work out how everyone connects to Muzi anyway, there are no explanations or introductions and one scene can shift into another without warning, creating ellipses along the way; it’s less about telling a story than capturing a mood, the same sense of melancholy stasis that settles even over the sudden outbursts of feeling. Read More »

Synopsis:
Critically-lauded but somewhat distant drama from Ann Hui.

Review by Kozo (taken from Love HK FIlm):
Award-winning political drama from Ann Hui treads on rich territory and results in a noble, but emotionally lacking effort. Using the work of real-life activist Father Franco Mella (played here by Anthony Wong) as a guideline, Ordinary Heroes moves from the plight of the boat people through the tragedy at Tiananmen Square with a sweeping view of political activism in Hong Kong.
The situations and storytelling are top notch but ultimately the film proves a better portrait than a story. The film doesn’t try to educate viewers about Hong Kong’s political history, and instead concentrates on a long-unrequited romance between Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-Sheng and Loletta (now Rachel) Lee. Sadly, that plotline proves of tenuous interest, which isn’t helped any by Lee Kang Sheng’s obviously dubbed acting. The relationships, while affecting, don’t truly reach a conclusion in the film, which is sad because it seems that Hui is reaching for one.Read More »

Synopsis:
A magician makes money by charging people to cast love spells on the objects of their affection. Complications arise when he decides that he wants a customer’s bride for himself.Read More »

Yiu-Kwok is a high school teacher, having a perfect family. Good times don’t last long, when a student, Choy-Nam, falls in love with him. For dealing with a relationship with Mr. Seng, a beloved teacher of the couple, his wife Man-Ching requests a leave for a month. A midlife crisis mixing with pressure sends him into an emotional tailspin. Everything seems to lead him towards Choy-Nam, the forbidden fruit. History seems to repeat itself.Read More »