Now here's a story you don't see everyday, portrayed like this. A Taiwanese fishing village is struck with a disease that makes the men's testicles grow bigger and bigger and bigger (women and their breasts are inflicted too to some degree). Theories are thrown out, such as that it's the anger of the gods due to all the sex going on or that the village has a sanitation problem of sorts. While the medical community continues to ponder, the village quickly loses its fishing status as the men can't physically go out and do the work. Solutions may be on the horizon but since the disease has progressed this far, castration is the only option for those who wishes for the village to prosper again...

A crazy setup with many wacky interludes as well as dark and highly melodramatic ones, director Hsu Chin-Liang indeed juggles many balls in the air but keeps splendid track of each mood the movie employs. Possessing no fear in letting this story go into serious territory, when eventually there, it's not a mockery of drama. Instead it's a full on sincerity attack that talks of how the medical community ultimately uses the little people in this case and the villagers are also drawn apart when faced with the decision of castration. The movie is barely done at this point as it goes deeper and deeper into its examination of the effect this disease will have on life in a larger perspective while also having no problem bouncing into comedic elements on occasion. It's all perfectly pitched humour, used suitably, with subtlety and one shouldn't resist saying that Boss Noballs has balls because such an unexpected, unpredictable gem deserves the pun. With Ma Yue-Fung, Luk Siu-Fan and Chan Chung-Yung.

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Produced by the company The Media Evangelism Limited, The Boss Up There indeed injects a religious message. What could've been the more intrusive parts of this shot on video feature actually turns out to be the most noble and the TV-soap melodrama instead is what drags the film down. Tung (Athena Chu) and friend Cat (Wong Mei-Man) start to hang with the wrong crowd and are soon on a path towards drug addiction and prostitution. As Tung finds love in triad hoodlum Fung (Paul Wong), here's a kid who actually confesses his love and means it but is on a downwards spiral anyway...

The storybeats right out of TV melodrama (set to Canto-pop... in montages) greatly detracts from the noble message as mentioned. As Athena Chu's Tung goes through hell in a juvenile home, being homeless and drug addicted, saints are out there for her but there's only one time and place where this character is receptive to the word of Jesus. Remarkably unforced by the filmmakers despite being a message shoved down Tung's throat eventually, this message is balanced as sometimes saving a soul isn't about forcing beliefs on them. It is suitably mentioned that Tung doesn't walk alone but it's her that have to take control of her life. A helping hand and off you go. Via Athena Chu's dedication, the above remains a little less cheesy as well and we hope for her character to get above the surface again. Otherwise, matters are too on the nose, lacking engagement and amateurish. It does indeed look like TV.

This....is criminal. You shouldn't be able to get away with this but creating so much of his patented wacky Hong Kong cinema trying to disguise itself as feature filmmaking, sometimes Wong Jing just has to succeed. Boys Are Easy is the flick and it's not even due to gathering up a terrific cast but simply managing to time his often tired and silly gags well. Making light genres collide head on with a gunplay opening and a gunplay ending, in the middle is an unscripted mess about the daughters (Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung and Chingmy Yau) of Richard Ng's character finding their respective men. Against all odds, Lin manages to find the bad man she wants in Tony Leung Ka-Fai's gigolo (bad meaning she is touched by the thought of being beaten and raped. Thank you, Wong Jing), Cheung goes after a low-life triad (Jacky Cheung) that does awfully well during the annual (?) Triad Olympics (close to brilliantly staged, the highlight of the film) while Chingmy Yau tricks Ekin Cheng's virgin character that she's a prostitute so all matter of complications are jammed in there. Naming a character after action director Ching Siu-Tung and inserting a parody of A Better Tomorrow represents Wong Jing's usual tired routines but mostly hitting his mark otherwise, all cast is for Wong. Especially Tony Leung who at one point hypnotizes himself into becoming a bad man (the Lunar New Year greeting "Kung Hei Fat Choy" makes him go normal again), take part in a bowling alley dance number and turns into Bruce Lee towards the end. Screwy. Also with Jimmy Lin, Wo Fung, Shing Fui-On, Helena Law and Sandra Ng.

Approximately 12 minutes of footage went missing on Mei Ah's vcd and dvd releases. Despite the running time suggesting otherwise, Tai Seng's dvd is uncut.

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A sedated revenge story considering it's from the mind of Jimmy Wang Yu post-Shaw Brother's. He does let his imagination run fairly wild eventually but it's a slightly tedious wait for fans who took to heart The Chinese Boxer and The One Armed Boxer. Jimmy's action directing overall leans more towards the trend of its time with the swinging arms and legs combat but he does amp the weapons tactics during the long climax. The Brave And The Evil here takes on a very watchable ferocious aura but it's not thoroughly easy to forget that the film is not as distinguishable as one has come to expect coming from Jimmy. Fans certainly should tune in and you always easily see why Jimmy turned into such a big star prior to Bruce Lee's entrance onto the scene. Also with Polly Shan Kwan.

Although low-budget, during the opening credits we see evidence of jungle action complete with machete killings and necks being snapped so hard heads turn backwards. A flashback, precursor or something desperate done to catch audiences attention? Latter is very correct as it's basically the best bits from the final, violent reel of Braveful Police, on display first! Soon the Japanese setting reveals a variety of Taiwan women being hurt emotionally, being stuck in prostitution or kicking butt from time to time (enter Kara Hui). It's enough of a bore but it wasn't enough content apparently for director Hon Bo-Cheung who adds gangster asides that really can't be viewed upon as comprehensible. The flirts the movie has with violence and even exploitation (including girl-wrestling) remains the sole worthwhile elements but sometimes, that's a sad thing. Pai Ying also appear.

Gong Li received the Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Actress via her performance in Sun Zhou's touching drama. She plays divorcee Sun Liying, a poor mother struggling financially and more importantly, to get her deaf son Zheng Da (Gao Xin, who actually is hearing impaired) into school. When he does not clear his admittance test, Liying has to quit her factory job to find one where she can be beside Zhang Da all the time in order to further his hearing and speech. Determined like few are, with the father mostly out of the way, help may lurk on the horizon in the form of kind teacher Fang (Shi Jing-Ming)...

Anchored beautifully by Gong Li's pitch perfect performance that no doubt is helped along by the innocence of Gao Xin's Zhang Da, director Sun Zhou (Zhou Yu's Train) knows that by mostly sitting back, you can translate real concerns into real cinema. Then again that's one of the hardest directing choices to pull off but he clinches subtlety (Shi Jing-Ming's performance as Mr. Fang representing this notion superbly), emotional beats and deservedly pushes with a melodramatic score by Zhao Jiping. It's an often tough watch to see Liying's devotion frequently not bearing fruit but she's a character that's convinced her son IS normal and her determination sometimes equals forceful too. Director Sun Zhou therefore have us slightly on the edge of our seats concerning the fates of the characters, not giving us final answers by the end but needed answers for Liying to move on. It's a beautiful solution.

Lung (Tony Poon), a rookie bodyguard falls in love with the first subject he's overseeing, May (May Cheung). She has come to Hong Kong with false hopes of being a singer but she's unwillingly set to enter the world of prostitution instead. Into this equation comes a model agency head (Margaret Lee - We're Going To Eat You) who's determined to conquer the love of Lung. Can a noble hitman (Eddy Ko) also fit into this film? Answer is yes.

Frequent erotica director Ho Fan makes no secret about his style of filmmaking. Gangster violence, soap opera drama and steamy sex are the pillars of his constructed narrative which is of course very promising on paper. Ho Fan does have a sexy lead in May Cheung and Margaret Lee proves to be a feisty one with the gun. However Tony Poon, one of the most unnatural "actors" I've seen in a long time plus a sluggish pace does Brief Encounter no favours. Fast forward material. Ho Pak-Kwong, Shum Wai, James Ha and Chan Ging (Long Arm Of The Law) also appear.

Gordon Chan brings back Leung Foon (Lawrence Cheng) and Ann (Carol Cheng) for a second go at trying to maintain a workable relationship. Now embarking on new careers in the yuppie world and their respective friends attempting to stick to one woman only, it's Leung Foon who's drawn into love for dual women. During a business trip to Shinjuku, it's the close working relationship with slightly loopy Wendy (Rosamund Kwan) that begins the emotional rollercoaster...

A sequel to The Yuppie Fantasia, on the surface more of a farce but director Gordon Chan still wants to portray the conflicts in a serious manner. Without as much of a through examination of characters this time, Brief Encounter in Shinjuku feels slighter yet very welcome since it's told with a straight face. Supporting characters played by Peter Lai, Manfred Wong and Chow Mei Fung returns in addition to Kenneth Tsang and Allen Fung (himself a director of films such as In Between Loves).

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The wife (Ho Mei) of a betrayed general gets sentenced to prison where she gives birth to her daughter Jie Lian. In need of revenge on the people that killed her husband, she asks her daughter to be taken care of and taken to Shaolin Temple. When grown up (and played by Angela Mao), soon pure buddhist thoughts are indeed ejected in favour of revenge and with her scorpions, Jie Lian attempt to start her killing spree...

Although melodramatic, the atmosphere echoing feelings of gloom and issues of the downbeat kind is actually well above average martial arts cinema from Jeng Cheong-Woh (King Boxer) that doesn't quite provide the same atmosphere once his revenge-tale is in full motion. The impulse of hatred is an interesting dissection taking place briefly in the film and there's nothing wrong with the movie being basic in its structure as Angela Mao tries to take out her opponent either via scorpion poison, kicks or fists. The movie eventually does get quite clogged up by characters and loses sight of a simplicity it needed. Broken Oath does have in its favour, hugely, the pure embodiment of female fury in 70s martial arts cinema in the form of Angela Mao and action-directors Yuen Woo-Ping and Hsu Hsia make sure the movements on-screen (especially when emphasizing the action with weapons) are very fluid, crisp and clear as well. Made at Golden Harvest and featuring the likes of Michael Chan, Dean Shek and Sammo Hung.

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Heavyset Master An (Got Siu-Bo) receives a message from a dying imperial messenger and finds himself to be the hunted due to the defining, powerful nature of the message. A reluctant hero and not a fighting swordsman at heart (his sword is bent and worn), he's defended by mainly a duo of females and a sneaky swordsman played by O Chun-Hung. The animated opening credits promises something different, something light but once the novelty of having a hero like An at center wears off (and it does so quickly), Broken Sword moves at the pace of a snail and has no exciting action to offer up as a distraction.

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