Blog Archives

Hero (2002)

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Well it’s been about two years since I first saw Zhang Yimou’s Hero and, at long last, I am getting around to writing a review. Sure this has to do with finally seeing it on the movie screen and it finally receiving a general release but my point is that I am in no way vain-glorious enough to believe that whatever audience this may very well reach is in anyway exclusive to HC and it is likely that that those … (read more)

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2046 (2004)

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Astonishingly lush images lend 2046 a surface beauty unparalleled in previous Wong Kar-wai films, giving it a distinctive grainy ‘look’ that is difficult to faithfully describe. Production designer (and film editor) William Chang and cinematographers Chris Doyle, Lai Yiu-fai (Love Will Tear Us Apart, Infernal Affairs) and Kwan Pun Leung (Lavender, director of The Making of Happy Together) create textured, absorbing visuals that envelop the screen and make it shimmer, suffocating 2D space. This … (read more)

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The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993)

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Apparently, this one was made in a break in the filming of Ashes of Time, with mostly the same cast, and mostly the same characters, but absolutely none of the same seriousness. It’s more wacky than a firkin* of very wacky things, and will make your brain revolve at speed.

There’s no way to adequately describe most of this, except to say that the costumes are lavishly satinned, the performances are lavishly over-the-top, and seeing this will possibly answer … (read more)

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Infernal Affairs (2002)

Andrew Lau, director/cinematographer of this film, has previously brought us such classics as the Young And Dangerous series, and the special effects fest Stormriders. However, he should also be held responsible for films such as the confusing Bullets Of Love (which I can’t help thinking of as “Bullets Urve Lurrrrve”) and the utterly tosspottish Wesley’s Mysterious File, in which the only mystery was how such a respectable cast were persuaded to show their faces in such drivel.

So … (read more)

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Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002)

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Remember Chinese New Year 2002? I know for some going back two whole years might be a bit of strain but let me help you: an unprecendented three [count ’em!] Chinese New Year comedies came out battling for the top spot. Chinese Odyssey 2002, Marry A Rich Man and Fat Choi Spirit. Although the idea of Tony Leung and Faye Wong being lovers in a period comedy lost in the box office stakes to Andy playing mahjong and … (read more)

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Hard-Boiled (1992)

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There are two types of John Woo fan. There’s the John Woo fan who prefers The Killer, and there’s the John Woo fan who likes Hard-Boiled the best. Now, this is not to say that, in expressing a particular love for one film, the fan is immediately and necessarily prohibited from taking any pleasure from the Other Option – far from it! A fan of The Killer may still groove on Hard-Boiled and vice versa. But as much as … (read more)

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Happy Together (1997)

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This is the sixth film from Hong Kong arthouse director Wong Kar-Wai, and the one that netted him the Best Director award at Cannes in 1997. Wong takes two of Hong Kong cinema’s most handsome leading men to South America for a story of love lost and love endured. The script is partially based on The Buenos Aires Affair, by author Manuel Puig, whose non-linear narrative techniques were a seminal inspiration to Wong’s development as a film-maker and storyteller.… (read more)

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