Chinatown Video releases for November 1998
FORBIDDEN CITY COP (1996) Rated M. 96
mins. $29.95
All right! Stephen Chow is not merely the funniest man in Hong Kong
movies, he may be the funniest man in movies full stop. His films are always among the top
grossers at the Hong Kong box office every year, and his God of
Cookery is one of my Ten faves. Chow created his own comic genre, mo lai to - literally
"makes-no-sense". Anything can happen, as long as it's funny. Logic, shmogic.
Now at last Chinatown have released one of his films - and even better, it's a corker. You
must check this out! And then email Siren
Entertainment to demand more!
Forbidden City Cop is the story of Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow),
which is "007" in Cantonese. The Bond references pop up here and there,
particularly in the traditional dancing-girl silohuette credit sequence (except the girls
here are decked out in Imperial China garb). The emperor is protected by four Forbidden
City Cops - Iron Clothes, Unbreakable Armour, Five Shapes Fists and Fat, whose kung fu is,
to put it mildly, weak (however, at the end of the film he does perfect the "Flying
Fairy" stance). What Fat does is invent things, which is basically an excuse for him
to produce some wacky device at any point in the movie.Only his loving wife Kar-ling (Carina
Lau) has faith in him through thick and thin, even after his rat-powered marital
aid causes a catastrophic collapse in the nuptial bed. However, when the emperor is
waylaid en route to an ET dissection, it is up to Fat to save the day. Along the way are
plenty of gags, slapstick, indecipherable puns, movie send-ups (Bride with White Hair,
Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Hong Kong Film Awards!), and an end credits
collection of fluffed takes to finish it off. To quote someone's sig on the
alt.asian-movies newsgroup, "Stephen, Stephen, he's our man! If he can't save us,
no-one can!"
HITMAN (1998) Rated M. 104 mins.
Rental.
Jet Li's last Hong Kong movie maybe, at least since he's gone to
Hollywood to get his ass kicked by Mel Gibson (what's the world coming to, I tell you...).
This is a nifty action flick in which Jet plays a wannabe hitman. He has
an agent (Eric Tsang), he has a natty suit, he has a contract (to find
the King of Killers),he has a bad haircut; all he lacks is a single malicious bone in his
body, which makes him sort of underqualified. Check the Reviews
section for more, but note that my review was used as the basis for the text on the back
of the video cover. (Good thing I liked the film before Chinatown Video decided
to put it out, otherwise right now you'd be screaming "Weasel!")
MR CANTON & LADY ROSE (1989) Rated
M. 102 mins. Rental.
