Cantonese

  • Man Kei Chin – Shou xing xin ren lei aka Naked Poison (2000)

    1991-2000AsianExploitationHong KongMan Kei Chin

    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 »

  • Allen Fong – Boon bin yen AKA Ah Ying (1983)

    1981-1990Allen FongDocumentaryDramaHong Kong

    Summary
    A young woman, Ah Ying, works at her family fish stand. Discontented with her home life and neglectful boyfriend, she joins an acting class run by a professor who, as it happens, is at work on the script of a film that is supposed to document the lives of ordinary people. A friendship blossoms between teacher and student, and he begins to delive into her life for inspiration.Read More »

  • Kong Lung – Chuang aka The Window (1968)

    1961-1970DramaHong KongKong Lung



    Lung Kong’s first color feature (and 3rd film) expands on thematic concerns supplanted in The Story of a Discharged Prisoner made one year before, situating issues of social reform within an impassioned romantic melodrama. The relationship between a career criminal and a blind girl (a stunning performance by Josephine Siao) form a portrait of marginalized life in a rapidly-modernizing Hong Kong. The profound chemistry between Patrick Tse and Josephine Siao onscreen served as the primary inspiration for the famed hit man-blind girl pairing in John Woo’s award-winning film The Killer (1989). (description from Letterboxd)Read More »

  • Stephen Chow – Cheung Gong 7 hou aka CJ7 (2008)

    2001-2010AsianDramaHong KongStephen Chow

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    A poor Chinese laborer learns important lessons after his son gets a strange new toy.

    Plot:
    Construction worker Ti (Stephen Chow) lives in a ramshackle shanty and scavenges everything from shoes to toys from the trash dump. Despite his state of abject poverty, the earnest, lesson-spouting Ti is determined to send his son Dicky (Xu Jiao) to a posh private elementary school. Dicky, however, is a lot more interested in playing than studying, and he’d like nothing more than a CJ1 robot dog to show up his bullying classmate. Unable to afford a CJ1, Ti brings home “CJ7”, a curious rubbery green ball he found at the dump. His son isn’t impressed – until the ball shows its true alien form, morphing into a little green dog whose penchant for mischief gives even Dicky a run for his money. Stephen Chow has helped launched the careers of many a starlet, and this time CJ7 co-stars Mainland newcomer Kitty Zhang and talented child actress Xu Jiao who genderbends as Chow’s son. Chow was so impressed with Xu Jiao’s performance, he not only has more plans in store for the budding ingenue, he’s adopted her as his goddaughter. Other key comedy players include portly Stephen Chow regular Lam Chi Chung and the cuddly titular alien that serves as another testament to Chow’s ability to effectively integrate state-of-the-art CGI into his films.Read More »

  • Ming Zhang – Jieguo AKA Before Born (2006)

    Arthouse2001-2010ChinaCrimeMing Zhang

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    From wikipedia :
    Before Born (simplified Chinese: 结果; traditional Chinese: 結; pinyin: jiégǔo) is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Zhang Ming. Only Zhang’s third film in a decade, Before Born is a surreal mystery about modern Chinese life that has garnered comparisons to L’avventura, Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic 1960 film. The film tells the story of a private detective, Huang Guangliang, hired to gather evidence of an affair by a man named Li Chonggao. When he arrives in the coastal city of Beihai in search of his target, he discovers that he has disappeared and instead meets an enigmatic young woman who is also looking for Li.Read More »

  • Stanley Kwan – Yin ji kau aka Rouge (1987)

    1981-1990AsianHong KongRomanceStanley Kwan

    Fleur is the blue angel in one of Hong Kong’s “flower houses” – bordellos and night clubs of the 1930’s. A detached and beautiful performer, she falls in love with Twelfth Master Chan, heir to a chain of pharmacies. They agree to a suicide pact. Jump ahead 50 years to modern Hong Kong: Fleur’s ghost appears in Yuen’s newspaper office, wanting to place an ad to find Chan, who never arrived in the afterlife. Yuen, and his equally bewildered girl friend, An Chor, are captivated by Fleur and her story.Read More »

  • Kar Wai Wong – 2046 (2004)

    Drama2001-2010FantasyHong KongKar Wai Wong

    Synopsis:
    A train in a futuristic landscape takes passengers to a place where they can recapture their memories, a place from which no one has ever returned. This is the premise of a novel by the womanizing sci-fi writer Chow, who engages in passionate affairs with a series of intriguing women he meets at the Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. As Chow’s lovers offer him inspiration for his writing, reality blends with fiction, and the past commingles with the future.Read More »

  • Tsui Hark – Dao aka The Blade (1995)

    1991-2000AsianHong KongMartial ArtsTsui Hark

    After the master of the Sharp Manufacturer saber factory abdicates and appoints On, his least popular worker, as his successor, On, unwilling to lead his surly colleagues, embarks on a quest of revenge to kill the evil, flying, tattooed kung fu master who killed his father.Read More »

  • Chia-Liang Liu – Lo foo chut gang AKA Tiger on the Beat (1988)

    Comedy1981-1990ActionChia-Liang LiuHong Kong
    Lo foo chut gang (1988)

    Synopsis:
    Francis Li (Chow Yun-Fat) is a lazy, arrogant cop coasting on his badge, more interested in chasing women than catching crooks. His new partner is Michael Tso (Conan Lee, in his “first” role) a determined, ambitious cop who doesn’t hesitate to get reckless if it means closing a case. When a new shipment of cocaine comes into Hong Kong, and with it a corpse, the two are forced together to get to the bottom of it. Their only lead: a beautiful but naive drug mule (Nina Li)Read More »

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