≡ Category: Action, China, Comedy, Fantasy, Ghost, Martial Arts, Not Worth Your Time, Romance | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Ghost/ Action/ Romance/ Martial Arts/ Comedy/ Fantasy
Director: Wilson Yip
Year: 2011
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
I would have expected better from Wilson Yip, who directed the awesome Ip Man. From the evidence of A Chinese Ghost Story, he hasn’t the slightest clue about what his strengths and weaknesses are as a filmmaker.
One of the things […]
≡ Category: China, Martial Arts, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: Sun Sha
Year: 1983
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
Let’s face it. The Undaunted Wudang is not a very good movie.
The editing is clumsy and the camera moves uncoordinated. Director Sun Sha has only the faintest grasp of narrative filmmaking. It’s a good thing that the plot of his movie is simplicity itself.
The evil […]
≡ Category: China, Highly Recommended, Martial Arts | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: Zhang Siu-Wai
Year: 1992
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Deadend of Besiegers is an unexpected delight.
Disgraced Japanese martial artist Wuwechimatao (a charismatic Yu Rong-Guang) travels to China to learn Dog-Fist style, but unfortunately, he has mistakenly boarded a pirate ship instead of a merchant vessel. When the pirates attack a coastal […]
≡ Category: China, Drama, Movie Reviews By Country, Not Worth Your Time | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Drama
Director: He Ping
Year: 2009
Rating:
Not Worth Your Time
Any discussion of Wheat has to start with the breathtaking cinematography (courtesy of Zhao Xiao-Shi) and art direction (Huo Ting-Xiao), which rise to the level of poetry. Cinematographer Zhao Xiao-Shi makes billowing wheat fields into a sensual experience. Watch the way he photographs a man’s face […]
≡ Category: China, Drama, Movie Reviews By Country, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Drama
Director: Jianxin Huang
Year: 1994
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
I regret to say that I can’t quite recommend The Wooden Man’s Bride. I’m sorry because the acting is superb, the cinematography is starkly beautiful, the orchestral score subtly underscores the emotional gravity of the events, and at about the halfway mark, the story picks up and […]
≡ Category: Action, China, Drama, Movie Reviews By Country, Recommended, Romance | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Action/ Romance/ Drama
Director: Tony Ching Siu-Tung
Year: 2008
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
An Empress And The Warriors is a modestly entertaining film, but it’s good enough that I wish that it had been even better.
Kelly Chen stars as Princess Yen Feier, of the Yan clan. In the beginning of the film, her father is injured […]
≡ Category: China, Drama, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews By Country, Recommended, Romance | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Martial Arts/ Romance/ Drama
Director: Zhang Yi-Mou
Year: 2004
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
For a while, it looks like House Of Flying Daggers is going to be a near perfect martial arts drama, with a scintillating blend of gorgeous costumes, sets and cinematography, gripping political intrigue and romantic entanglements, flawless martial arts choreography, and even excellent […]
≡ Category: China, Drama, Movie Reviews By Country, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Drama/Art
Director: Clara Law
Year: 1993
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
In Temptation Of A Monk, director Clara Law almost dares the audience to hate her film. Without any exposition whatsoever, we’re plunged into into byzantine court intrigues in which we don’t know either the rules or the players.
The first scene shows an elaborate ceremony involving what seems […]
≡ Category: Art, China, Drama, Drama, Essential, Movie Reviews By Country | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Drama
Director: Wu Tian-Ming
Year: 1996
Rating:
ESSENTIAL MOVIE
A couple of months ago, I told you guys about Lost In Time, the ultimate weepie/romance. Today, I’m going to write about what is probably the best family drama ever filmed, King of Masks. Like Lost In Time, King of Masks is engineered to squeeze tears from […]
≡ Category: Art, China, Drama, Essential, Hong Kong, Movie Reviews By Country | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong/Mainland China
Genre: Drama
Director: Chen Kaige
Year: 1993
Rating:
ESSENTIAL MOVIE
Continuing my reviews of art films with the impact of the most tawdry trash cinema, we come to probably the most wrenching historical drama ever made, Farewell My Concubine, starring the awesome trio of Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, and Zhang Feng-Yi, the last of whom holds […]