A Cinema City attempt to shake things up a bit without alienating their audience or jeopardizing their image. The attempt is a hybrid of thriller, inappropriate comedy, elderly romance and drama but there's times where Ronny Yu keeps Mummy Dearest afloat despite the mixed content. Alan Tam is the devoted son with the requisite abusive past that's now taking out his frustration via murder, albeit accidental at first. Feeling much like a vanity project for Tam during the MV style opening credits instead becomes a decent act for him as he displays fairly intimidating presence. In between the darkness, goofy cops roam wild but tricky investigator Bill Tung takes the film into a slightly worthwhile off-beat territory. It's a questionable end product but Ronny Yu completists should bring this obscurer film into their collection.

Lam Ching Ying has a supporting role in this ordinary yet dependably entertaining vampire busting effort from Wilson Tong. While Stanley Fung, Hung Yan Yan and company does ok for themselves in providing the requisite acting energy to the vampire busting set pieces (choreographed by Tong and Fung Hak On), the film does gain a whole lot more of a momentum whenever Lam appears. His purpose is mainly comedic before the final reel but true to form, Lam is a riot. The ghost language scene with the vampire at hand is inspired silliness despite surely being anchored in actual beliefs. The Musical Vampire certainly owes a lot to the structure set in stone by Mr. Vampire and also borrows a scenario straight out of The Shadow Boxing but it's nonetheless harmless, entertaining genre fun. Loletta Lee, Charlie Cho and Tai Po co-stars.

Interesting but too sparse psychological exploration of a woman leaving humanity for inhumanity, by choice. Candice Yu (Lust For Love Of A Chinese Courtesan) is Mabel, a social worker who faces one too many deaths of her cases and she's also stuck in a dead marriage. She resigns completely to instead favour a sexy and free side that results in her being the woman of wealthy Tsui. He moves in mysterious circles and dominates so Mabel moves on to what seemingly is not yet another rough man. He is Wing (character makes up his name and is played by Alex Man) who turns out to be an assassin for hire. Another rough (but loving) one but Mabel likes this, is even turned on and by this time director Wong Chi (co-director of Girls Without Tomorrow 1992) has argued fairly successfully that the story holds interest. Mabel and Wing seek cheerful bliss despite but the inhumanity by choice presents in particular her with a difficult choice: where to be scared, potentially unhappy or just plain unhappy? There's cinematic flourishes at times although certain choices approaches pretentious (a short sequence detailing the actual mind of Mabel's doesn't quite reach out) but the unusual, albeit merely fair intellect makes My Beloved a slightly worthwhile exercise. Veteran director and actor Ng Wui provides fine support as Mabel's father.

"Iiiiiit's.... THE KENNY BEE SING-A-THON! FEATURING SONGS BY KENNY, SUNG BY KENNEY IN BARS, ON MOUNTAIN CLIFFS AND WE'LL FIND TONS MORE EXCUSES FOR KENNY TO SING, SING, SING!" Actually, it's all trivializing yet another Lau Lap-Lap Taiwan romance, even though it reaches merely standard and watchable. Shirley Lui play Yi-Ching, a girl totally unhappy with her current family situation. More specifically she's pissed off at having a young stepmother in the house. Roaming the streets and possibly as an act of rebellion, she receives and accepts a proposition by Erh-Hsuan (Chin Han) to act as his diseased sister Sang Sang so that his grandma can go in peace and not worry. Along the way, Erh-Hsuan falls in love with the doppelganger. It's a setup for a farce certainly and feels rather unintentionally funny when the new Sang Sang enters the family. But the theme is of new family, a united family, starting again, which applies to the ex-boyfriend of Sang Sang's too, played by Kenny Bee. So with serious intentions and a gorgeous Shirley Lui, still director Lau never really clinches a realism to the proceedings. The way people talk and the dialogue that comes out is very theatrical and a stylistic choice of cinema that reeks a bit (as does some glaring plot holes, specifically about Yi-Ching's real family being discarded). Still, for all its pro's and con's, this type of Taiwan cinema is easily digestible and My Cape Of Many Dreams does have a set of moody tunes by Bee.

Cousin Big (Richard Ng) returns home from the UK in order to find a wife and settle down. He has previously driven out his illegal immigrant friend Ma (Wu Ma) from the UK and the scores aren't settled. That is all cast aside when not only one, not two but three ghosts are to be dealt with and one is Cousin Big who has fallen in love with one of the ghosts (Wong Man-Si)...

Uneven and unscripted, Wu Ma keeps up a solid pace to make up for that and uses the genius Richard Ng well. Part of the dark and at times gross sight gags, Ng plays his confused self by simply being Richard Ng. That's all some of us need. Wu Ma also lovingly re-creates a scene from Mr. Vampire, gives the Ray Parker Jr. theme from Ghostbusters a showcase, all wrapped in an 80s package with more than enough light charm to overcome obvious flaws. Also with Kenny Bee, Tai Po, Mang Hoi, Teddy Yip, James Tien and Sai Gwa-Paau.

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Cheng (Derek Yee) finds a genie (Cherie Chung) in an umbrella at the construction site he works at. It is granting wishes left and right for both him and his possible future father in-law (Stanley Fung) who's in debt to gangster boss played by James Yi... another character who also knows of the genie's power...

80s fluff from Shaw Brothers that charms and delights with a good amount of the RIGHT energy of silliness throughout the various scenarios involving the cute, sexy and sometimes rebellious genie. On a date with James Yi's character, she makes him and his environment actually see a far uglier girl at dinner with him. Pretty low-brow but the whole package is harmless and also kept afloat by the absolutely stunning Cherie Chung. Appearing in a variety of outfits, many of which are sexy when worn by the bonafide movie star presence Chung is. Her career as noted actress would thankfully take off sans being saddled with the pretty, sexy image in subsequent movies such as Peking Opera Blues, An Autumn's Tale and Wild Search. Not that we minded it in 84. Also with To Siu-Ming, Alan Chan and Charlie Cho.

Cheung (Jacky Cheung) lives poorly with his street musician dad (Bill Tung) but the son has landed a prestigious office job and seems to be on the way to upgrade the family social status. However hanging with the wealthy can't co-exist with being up front with your actual origin and Cheung soon goes on a collision course with his father...

David Chiang takes on the valid social issues concerning class differences and by stroking gently for his first half, My Dear Son is a down to earth, light hearted drama kept buoyant by a warm lead performance by Bill Tung. However things turn a little too predictable when the film goes ultra pessimistic on us (bringing in a triad angle that Lau Ching-Wan's character is part of) and it's unfortunate sledgehammer techniques are used to enhance the escalating darkness. Still, My Dear Son is solid enough filmmaking from a very underrated filmmaker. Maggie Cheung co-stars as a hostess stuck in development while Kathy Chow, Paul Chun and Ricky Yi also appear.

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Coming from primarily an action director (Corey Yuen) and producer Wong Jing, it's surprising that My Father Is Hero (the title on the Hong Kong print but normally the film is referred to as My Father Is A Hero) tries to be equal amounts family drama and action. The former actually registers as slightly admirable, much having to do with some flashes of warmth between Jet Li and Tse Miu (in the last of four movies he made during this time). Also the gorgeous Anita Mui is on board to lend actual dramatic acting credit and despite heavy handed melodrama, viewer care is there at a basic level.

Of course, a humane story in combination with over the top action and equally overblown villains (Yu Rong Guang in such a cartoonish turn, it becomes genuinely funny) can't really gel together but that's ok. Corey Yuen and Yuen Tak gives us plenty of exciting and wonderfully staged action, all culminating in a creative finale. As henchmen and rather underused, we see Ngai Sing and Ken Lo. Damian Lau, Blackie Ko and Corey Yuen also appear.

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A clever, felt mixture of the triad movie and the ghost movie, leading to one of the better genre excursions in addition to containing a gravely underrated Sammo Hung performance. He plays triad leader Qun that gets a vengeance filled spirit (Yu Li) and her kid on his hands. In a previous life, he left her for dead so and after a failed reincarnation attempt for her son, she teams up with a triad rascal from the netherworld (Roy Cheung) to go after one of Qun's followers. Turns out though, there's more truth to what really happened those many moons ago...

Making sure the appropriate moods are employed when suitable, O Sing-Pui (An Eye For An Eye) has a terrific sense of what makes genre entertainment fun. While we have seen the sort of corporate structure of the reincarnation business on screen before, O Sing-Pui crafts several fun scenarios out of the concept. One being that the waiting is akin to going to the bank! An officer in charge of dealing with all this is a flamboyant one played wonderfully by Shing Fui-On while Roy Cheung gets to spin and twist his usual on-screen triad persona. But the film is undoubtedly Sammo's, in a performance in tune with the structure of the film, best displayed when he comes to the realization of what responsibility he owes to his previous life. Leading him in the Taoist rituals is a blind priest essayed by a fun Tommy Wong (who uses English language rock 'n' roll lyrics in his rituals), a role Lam Ching Ying could've taken had he not been busy? Fennie Yuen, Frankie Ng and William Ho also appear.