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| The Absurd Brave (1969) Directed by: Cheung Fong-Ha |
Sam Suet-Jan and Cheung Kwong-Chiu do a reprisal of sorts of their characters from Lady 9 Flower the same year (or vice versa, depending on which was released first). Sam Suet Jan is the deadly Lady 9 Flower on a revenge rampage with her sworn brothers since their sect leader has been killed. Cheung Kwong-Chiu is the Dean Shek-esque trickster who along with the son of one of Lady 9 Flower's victims fight back... Lady 9 Flower wasn't particularly exciting but had some minute thought behind it. The Absurd Brave on the other hand is an overlong, simple tale that manages to feel extremely incoherent and lacking in the area of excitement. A sadistic opening murder is the highpoint violence- and action-wise but not much else happens in the stiff choreography that follows. |
| Affectionately Yours (1985) Directed by: Wong Ying-Git |
Alan Tam plays a florist who is duped by his "friend" (Eric Tsang) to marry his sister (Maria Chung) and off they go to Japan for their honeymoon. Whilst there, he falls in love for real with a slightly intrusive Atsuko (Yamazaki Atsuko). Divorcing should be the easy part, convincing Atsuko's parents of his true love for her is a bit tricker... It's really quite hard to pinpoint why Affectionately Yours works on the levels it does. Alan Tam is his usual acting vacuum and doesn't strike up any pitch perfect chemistry with his Japanese co-star. Add to that not a thoroughly convincing and engaging story but somehow it gels into a watchable, pleasant and easily digested 90 minutes. Credit director Wong Ying-Git I guess, despite handling the film in a pedestrian way but he does capture the Japanese settings well. Billy Lau co-stars. Buy the DVD at: |
| Against All (1990) Directed by: Andrew Lau |
It's nigh on impossible NOT to think of A Moment Of Romance as the inspiration for Andrew Lau's directing debut here. While the similarities are not always the same in terms of the romance structure, having main characters also into racing clearly cements the aim of the filmmakers here. Lacking heart and power that the enduring Andy Lau classic always will have, what we're left with in Against All is a hideously uncharismatic Nick Cheung (acquired from the Dorks "R" Us store apparently) and rarely is there sparks flying between him and Ng Suet Man. Lau also pads out the running time by at least 8 minutes due to song numbers for Ng, creating little MV's in the process. Against All is not convincingly executed filmmaking but does possess some bearable traits, starting with the fact that Lau doesn't drench the film in cinematography tricks in favour of storytelling, which is something you see from time to time when directors of photography turns to directing. He also collaborates well with action director Tung Wai and the film has a fine amount of intense triad brawls, action and haunting violence. Danny Lee does done the cop role again (traffic cop actually) but plays more the protecting uncle. A role Lee is definitely very right for. Shing Fui On, James Ha, Wu Ma, Ha Ping and Barry Wong also appear. Buy the DVD at: |
| The Age Of Miracles (1996) Directed by: Peter Chan |
Lam Mei Kan (Anita Yuen) makes a deal with God to reduce her life by 10 years in order to save one of her young sons from death. Cut to the present and her children (played by Alan Tam, Jordan Chan and the sister by Teresa Caprio) are now grown up and Lam's time on this earth is beginning to come to a close as evident by the frequent sighting of the rather loveable angel of death (Roy Chiao)... A film for all ages and speaking to all ages, Peter Chan scored another UFO hit but it's a wildly inconsistent work. Buried under unconvincing make-up, Anita Yuen is still very good as Lam who haven't treasured her time enough and even manages to buy a few days more just to achieve proper closure. Her home still has children, despite their adult age (Jordan Chan's character is the most puzzling here, carrying with him a paper doll of Kelly Chen who also turns up for real of course), and time has come to send all on their way (emigration in this case). Great material looking at the template but Chan's blend of heavy-handed sentiments with interludes of otherworldly magic doesn't gel. Frankly, it's Chan thinking he's being more poignant than anyone has ever been before. Some reality within the magic lurks in a few scenes and interactions but The Age Of Miracles frustrates and falls very much short of its goals, despite the frame trying to convince us otherwise. Eric Tsang and Christine Ng co-stars. |
| Ah Ying (1983) Directed by: Allen Fong |
The Best Picture and Best Director winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards (honors that were bestowed upon Allen Fong's debut film Father And Son as well), Ah Ying tells the real story of its lead Hui So-Ying as she attempts to make it as an actress, gaining her creative flow through the bond with her drama teacher Cheung (Peter Wang, also co-writer). Same for him as he tries to get a movie project of his off the ground but being the artist is not a notion that belongs in the Hong Kong cinema the movie company is trying to produce. Allen Fong has created a compelling and curiously uplifting film considering he was part of and made this during the new wave of often dark and pessimistic Hong Kong filmmaking in the early 80s. Utilizing its real life aspect to create a documentary feel, it's not totally unlike what Fruit Chan did subsequently in movies such as Made In Hong Kong and Durian Durian. While it's equally a portrayal of the working- and living conditions of the poor, Fong's film focuses on a lead character very much worthy of respect. Ying wants to break free, pursue dreams but she is also obedient in helping her family make a living, without protest. Fong largely uses an amateur cast to great effect, getting the core chemistry between Hui and Wang right in the process also. The downer aspect of Ah Ying comes through a sub-theme talking about the dissatisfactory treatment of cinema, a sentiment that rings true both for how home video has treated Allen Fong's films but also generally today as companies like Celestial expects us to accept what's fed, even though it's highly disrespectful treatment of a legendary legacy. Allen Fong must look at this world today with the same kind of sadness. |
| Air Disaster (1983) Directed by: Lui Kam-Fong |
Yep, it's a disaster all right but the actual one within the narrative takes its sweet time to occupy our senses. Doing the flick Airport-style, only much cheaper and injecting so called character depth via the variety of friendly, scheming and all out psychotic, panty sniffing characters (also seen in endless amounts of flashbacks), it's tedious, not in any way funny due to the crude nature of it all plus Hong Kong cinema simply didn't have the resources to pull off a movie like this on all fronts. Some basic suspense towards the very end and an unexpected conclusion of this apparently real life retelling means the flick had some balls after all but still no reason to exist. Ray Lui, Guan Shan, Wong San and Tin Ching stars. Buy the VCD at: |
| All For The Winner (1990) Directors: Jeff Lau & Corey Yuen |
Stephen Chow became a bonafide superstar with this parody of the successful God Of Gamblers-franchise. He plays the Saint of Gamblers and must with his supernatural powers save the day at the tables. Chow's trademark humour is very much on display with highlights such as the parody of the famous entrance scene from God Of Gamblers.Corey Yuen's action directing gives Stephen a chance to show a few moves as well. This movie has more untranslatable Cantonese humour than later Stephen Chow projects and that may lessen the experience a little for westerners. It did for me but All For The Winner is still worth tracking down... ...on dvd finally! Mei Ah realized their blunder in the exclusion of footage of the first remastered pressing and have now put out a new version (with a different cover showing only Chow) that reinstates the film to its full length. Buy the DVD at: |
| All's Well, End's Well 1997 (1997) Directed by: Alfred Cheung |
Lunar New Year comedies rarely means quality cinema but I have to give director Alfred Cheung credit for trying a little at least. He has way too many plot strands and not enough shooting schedule which results in the final film leaving you with a rather rushed feeling. Had he had the time it a simple and sweet comedy for that time of the year. Stephen Chow and Roy Chiao puts in effort but the rest of the cast just shows up and get paid. As per usual with Lunar New Year comedies then. Buy
the DVD at: |
| Always Be The Winners (1994) Directed by: Jacky Pang |
Having had representatives of the gambling families challenge each other for years, it's now Master Sha's (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Yam Tin San's (Ekin Cheng) turn. It's a game of tricks and deceit though, with Sha ending up on the losing end so he employs famed Mainland gambler Hui Man Lung (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) to help him learn the changing of card technique. Shacking up with Sha's family, including wife Lulu (Sandra Ng) and the nanny (Eric Tsang in a female role) that presumeably takes care of the adult and couch potato sisters (Charine Chan and Au Ga) of Sha's, Hui is in fact a doppelganger conman so the secret scroll of magic techniques Sha is hellbent on getting may not be so valuable after all... Alebit very low budget and shot in basically only two locations (the gambling table and the household of Sha's), Jacky Pang (Lover Of The Swindler) does offer up both fair tension at the card games and actual funny Lunar New Year wildness. The two Tony's various clashes that usually ends up with Chiu-Wai getting horribly hurt is pretty much the total of the few gags Always Be The Winners offers up. But it's in the spirit of the performers putting all manner of cranked up, silliness into the material that's the key for Pang's success. In particular, Leung Ka-Fai is on fire and sinks to a wonderful silly level when he reveals his skill in communicating with animals such as goldfishes and parrots. It will come in handy actually. Attempting to speak a little of a family and marriage in need of re-establishing itself, Pang makes sure it's with a wink at the audience he launches this serious mood and for once we get a representation of actual fun delivered at the Lunar New Year. |
| American Commando 2 - Hunting Express (1988) Directed by: Phillip Ko |
KENNETH'S REVIEW: Sans ninjas, IFD flicks didn't conjure up that much interest. A trait true for this cut & paste product that has narrative that divides itself between Hong Kong, Japan and expectedly, our original turkey has its roots in the latter. Because even without the IFD-created storyline, there seems to be little but cheesy filmmaking and harsh melodrama offered up originally. It's all a perfect marriage really as Joseph Lai presents his story of Tony and Lily who meet and fall in love. The shadow looming over them is the protective grip George has on Lily, even going as far as forcing her into prostitution. All part of a criminal syndicate tracking back to Hong Kong where our hero Hank does his best to help Tony, Lily and to actually interact with the source flick as best he can. There are heaps of hilarious dubbing, bad IFD acting and action but you have to be Kickboxer From Hell-bad in order to get the fanatics seal of approval. American Commando 2 - Hunting Express will make you smile but also miss Stuart Smith, Richard Harrison and the ninja headbands. |
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