Plot / Synopsis
Two friends, Hero Hwa and Chiang Ho-Chie star are two old friends who meet up in later life. Hwa is a triad gang member and Ho-Chie is an insurance salesman, Hero is looking for a career change and Ho-Chie has become disillusioned with life after discovering he has a “bubble” in his brain that could burst at any time killing him. The two decide to switch lives for a bit with the Triad going respectable and the Insurance Salesman taking on the world of the Triads.Read More »
PLOT SUMMARY
A group of idealistic Chinese students move into Toyko’s Shinjuku district to attend school in a more relaxed, less competitive setting. However, they soon find themselves inextricably embroiled in the Yakuza underworld with little hope of survival.Read More »
The latest short film from João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata is a dreamy, experimental look at a deactivated fireworks factory in Macao.
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Macao, Taipa Island, 2014.
The word “panchão” was first heard in Macao. From the Chinese “pan-tcheong” or “pau-tcheong”, dictionaries define it as a Macanese regionalism also known as “China cracker” or “Chinese rocket”.
Who inhabits the ancient Iec Long Firecracker Factory?Read More »
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O (Takashi Sorimachi) is the number 1 assassin in all of Asia. Tok (Andy Lau) wants to dethrone him and become the premier hitman in the world. What these two have in common is that they are in love with the same woman, Chin (Kelly Lin). And Chief Inspector Lee (Simon Yam) wants to catch them both. Thrown into a gauntlet of razor blade shoot-outs and a feeding frenzy of warfare, this film is a story about two men of the most excessive lifestyles competing in a world where men die young and the victor not only walks away with the most money, but with the most valuable reputation. Bursting of style and pimp slapped with full on octane entrenched cinema, Johnny To presents his action masterpiece, “Fulltime Killer.”Read More »
Synopsis/Review:
In the ’80s and early ’90s, Hong Kong’s star-rich cinema was one of the most fascinating, fully evolved of national cinemas. Orgiastic violence and radical shifts from humor to romance to tragedy coexisted easily with themes of loyalty and humility in narratively rich films. Drawing equally from western and eastern models, these works spanned every genre, from classic ghost stories (Mr. Vampire) and historical epics (Once Upon a Time in China) to low-brow comedies (Wheels on Meals) and blood-drenched gangster movies (practically anything by Woo or Ringo Lam).Read More »
Ah Dik and Jean meet up in Japan to bury the ashes of Ah Dik’s brother and Jean’s sister, who were once lovers. Love soon blossoms between Jean and Ah Dik but their romance is shortlived when Jean’s father appears and abruptly takes her back to Hong Kong to be engaged to a doctor.Read More »
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Though John Woo’s lifelong admiration of Sam Peckinpah, Sergio Leone, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick are also evident in this stylish actioner, the film is essentially a tribute to Jean-Pierre Melville and his cult thriller Le Samourai. During a restaurant shootout, hitman Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat) accidentally hurts the eyes of a singer (Sally Yeh). Later he meets the girl and discovers that if she does not have a very expensive operation very soon, she will go blind. To get the money for the surgery, Jeff decides to perform one last hit. The cop (Danny Lee), who has been chasing Jeff for a long time, is determined to catch him this time. The film’s number of victims makes The Terminator or Rambo pale in comparison, but its brilliant visual style and bravura direction earned accolades even from non-action fans.Read More »
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An adults-only entry to Hong Kong’s new-wave film movement, House of the Lute is elegant and engaging. The classy production is accompanied at all times by sounds of a lute – a dynamic instrument adding audio punctuation marks and exclamation points throughout the course of the story. A television set features prominently in the second half and adds interest. Aside from providing the advertising spiel for the famed Darkie toothpaste brand, the TV also brings additional issues to the screen. It appears no coincidence that a forced sex scene between Shek and a less-than-willing Mrs Lui plays against a news report of Hong Kong’s rising social ills, notably rape and murder. Later, a local farmer brushes aside books and smashes away antique pottery to better view the TV – akin to how Hong Kong has bulldozed heritage in its hurtling drive for urban modernity. House of the Lute lends itself well to retrospective viewing.Read More »
Synopsis:
A lurid thriller that mixes the erotic with the fantastic, NAKED POISON is the story of Ah Man, a loner who has only one human friend, his coworker Ling, and who spends most of his time with his pet lizards and snakes. When Ah Man discovers how to harness his reptiles’ power to create serums that can…
A lurid thriller that mixes the erotic with the fantastic, NAKED POISON is the story of Ah Man, a loner who has only one human friend, his coworker Ling, and who spends most of his time with his pet lizards and snakes. When Ah Man discovers how to harness his reptiles’ power to create serums that can give him strange powers, Ah Man begins to grow obsessed. When his deranged obsession alerts Ling that something is wrong, she puts herself at risk to save him.Read More »