Cantonese

  • Lawrence Ah-Mon – Miao jie huang hou AKA Queen of Temple Street (1990)

    Lawrence Ah-Mon1981-1990AsianDramaHong Kong

    Quote:
    Lawrence Lau provides another snapshot of social realism akin to his amateur acted affair Gangs. However with Sylvia Chang and debuting Rain Lau, Queen Of Temple Street is put into another division, providing up close but not overbearing views of the prostitution surroundings,.Read More »

  • Johnnie To – PTU: Into the Perilous Night (2003)

    Johnnie To2001-2010AsianCrimeHong Kong

    Quote:
    When an obnoxious detective loses his gun to four young thugs, it’s up to the P.T.U. (Police Tactical Unit) and their iron-willed leader to recover the weapon and clean up the mess before daybreak.Read More »

  • Bee Thiam Tan – Tiong Bahru Social Club (2020)

    2011-2020Bee Thiam TanComedySingapore

    Ah Bee goes on a comedic odyssey through Tiong Bahru Social Club, a data-driven project to create the happiest neighborhood in the world. Little by little, his encounters with the neighborhood’s residents reveal the absurdity of life.Read More »

  • Johnnie To – Dyut meng gam aka Life Without Principle (2011)

    Johnnie To2011-2020CrimeHong KongThriller
    Dyut meng gam (2011)
    Dyut meng gam (2011)

    Plot / Synopsis
    Hong Kong auteur and Festival favourite Johnnie To returns with Life Without Principle, a suspenseful drama starring Denise Ho, Lau Ching Wan and Richie Jen. The film takes a hard look at Hong Kong’s money-obsessed culture through three characters whose destinies collide one fateful day.

    Teresa, a customer service manager at a bank, is under pressure to make her sales quota with a high-risk investment fund. Although she knows the sale is only for the bank’s benefit, she pitches it to some of her clients, including a shady loan shark and a clueless housewife.Read More »

  • John Woo – Laat sau sen taan aka Hard-Boiled (1992)

    John Woo1991-2000ActionCrimeHong Kong

    Quote:
    It is almost impossible to review Hard Boiled and at the same time avoid the bottomless anus-bowl of cliches that surround it. I’m sure it’s been described as “a high octane thrill ride”, and even on the box it says Hard Boiled is “an action fan’s dream”. This is all true, but plain and simple it is just a damn awesome movie. I am at a loss for bad things to say about it. Not many movies get me as pumped up as Hard Boiled does. It uses an arsenal of well executed techniques to draw the viewer into each and every action sequence. Woo also manages to craft these explosive scenes so that he actually makes you feel stupid if you miss something cool. There are many small and beautiful things going on during all of the crimson waterworks that you may not notice the first time through. One image that really stuck out to me was during the first action scene in the teahouse. There is a shot of someone getting blasted in the leg. The bullet goes through a table first, so you get this foreground picture of the table’s leg busting in two as the man’s leg snaps right behind it. It is really fantastic in that it was totally unnecessary.Read More »

  • Tat-Chi Yau & Johnnie To – Fai seung dat yin AKA Expect the Unexpected (1998)

    Tat-Chi Yau1991-2000ActionCrimeJohnnie To
    Fai seung dat yin (1998)
    Fai seung dat yin (1998)

    In this “cops and robbers” film, a raid on a jewelry store staged by a band of amateur hold-up artists goes horribly wrong, leading to a shoot-out. The elite Organized Crime Bureau team, headed by Captain Ching King Gen, is poised to go into action at a moment’s notice. Working as a unit, they bring law and order to Hong Kong streets, where they must rely on their courage and skills to survive.Read More »

  • Johnnie To – Dung fong sam hap AKA The Heroic Trio (1993)

    Johnnie To1991-2000ActionFantasyHong Kong
    Dung fong sam hap (1993)
    Dung fong sam hap (1993)

    The all-female Heroic Trio are Tung (Wonder Woman), Chat (Thief Catcher), a mercenary, and Ching (Invisible Woman). Initially, they’re on opposing sides – the invisible Ching is kidnapping newborn male babies for her evil master, Tung is trying to solve the crime (rather more effectively than her policeman husband, who is unaware of her secret identity), and Chat, who was formerly employed by Ching’s evil master, is trying to sell her services and inside knowledge to the police. But all three have something in common buried deep in their past…Read More »

  • Patrick Tam – Lie huo qing chun AKA Nomad (1982)

    1981-1990AdventureCultHong KongPatrick Tam
    Lie huo qing chun (1982)
    Lie huo qing chun (1982)

    Nomad (Chinese: 烈火青春) is a 1982 Hong Kong film directed by Patrick Tam. It is about the experiences of a group of youngsters who feel lost and try to find the true meaning of life. Nomad is considered as one of the representatives of the Hong Kong New Wave films.Read More »

  • Patrick Tam – Xue zai shao AKA Burning Snow (1988)

    Patrick Tam1981-1990DramaHong Kong

    Synopsis:
    A young woman is forced to marry an older man who runs a roadhouse saloon. She is constantly being raped by her husband, a drunken loutish brute. She harbors a young man wanted by the police in a murder case, and soon the fugitive and the young wife have a torrid affair as she continues to hide him from the authorities.Read More »

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