≡ Category: Drama, Mainland China, Movie Reviews, 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, Drama, Mainland China, Movie Reviews, 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: Drama, Mainland China, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, 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: Drama, Mainland China, Movie Reviews, 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 Films, Drama, Essential, Loose Talk, Mainland China, Movie Reviews | ≅ 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 Films, Drama, Essential, Hong Kong, Loose Talk, Mainland China, Movie Reviews | ≅ 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 […]
≡ Category: Drama, Mainland China, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Drama/Martial Arts
Director: Xiaogang Feng
Year: 2006
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
The Legend of the Black Scorpion is a very odd movie. It’s a combination of leisurely and elaborately art directed set pieces, intricate and coded court intrigues, and surprisingly bloody kung fu battles of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon variety, courtesy of master martial arts choreographer […]
≡ Category: Art Films, Mainland China, Movie Reviews, Recommended | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: Zhang Yimou
Year: 2007
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Director Zhang Yimou used to make intimate and exquisite art movies when he was first starting out in China. I guess he decided that should make some money at some point. He directed the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games recently held in Beijing. Now […]
≡ Category: Mainland China, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Recommended | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: China
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Year: 1983
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I am not generally a big fan of the Shaw Brothers martials arts pictures, but I felt it was my duty to watch 8 Diagram Pole Fighter because it is considered an absolute classic of the genre.
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter has the heavily stylized, artificial […]