Narrated by Chingmy Yau's character Bo Bo, a marriage counselor (taking on her subjects in groups), she and her independent friends Cola (Anita Lee), the one who lives off one night stands and prostitute YSL (Lily Chung) all meet love that will turn their views around on what is modern love. Cola expands her one night stand with a fashion designer (Sunny Chan) to something that begins to involve real feelings while YSL injects confidence into a timid businessman (Lawrence Cheng) but with her profession unknown to him, whatever they are building upon may come crashing down. Finally, the level headed Bo Bo takes the biggest risk of them all by falling in love with a wanted triad (Mark Cheng)

Akin to Andy Chin's Why Wild Girls, which means it's awfully flimsy, frank, a bit wacky and loud, David Lam (First Shot, Asian Connection) can't make his subjects jump off the page to a particularly good degree when keeping proceedings light. It's only when he begins treating his soap opera with some form of dignity and maturity that the actresses too become a fairly immersing part of The Modern Love. Lily Chung unfortunately is told to go broad way too often although she proves to be a fine comedienne in a scene where she's asked to use a typewriter. Chingmy Yau has a well honed presence for simple drama (would go on to acclaim in Stanley Kwan's Hold You Tight where she wasn't so much Chingmy Yau anymore) but it's probably the underrated Anita Lee who wins us over the most. Oh the beats aren't impressive or challenging but it's a credit to her dedication to director Lam's only fair skills for this film that we somewhat begin to care about the final fate of her (and these women). Modern love gets redefined expectedly and a likeable nature comes over the film in the end.

Unrelated sequels followed to the classic Andy Lau vehicle but this first follow-up skipped on his star factor and gave the audiences Aaron Kwok instead. A trade-off that is both good and bad depending on which camps of fans you talk to I guess. Wu Chien-Lien is back and elicits viewer sympathy easily but she's got a blank, pretty face to play against in the form of Kwok. True, Andy was not particularly tested by any director before A Moment Of Romance came along in 1990 but he rose to the challenge. Kwok doesn't and he's not aided by any of the subtle strength that came with the first film either. It's a minor moment of romance, not the chunk we loved so much 3 years earlier and this production clearly was green lit to cash in on a name only. To add further insult to injury, many opportunities are given to let Aaron "shine" with his singing talents on the soundtrack. Which is fine if it wasn't for the overload and when his character defies logic by walking away relatively unharmed from a major car crash, aggravation becomes an issue.

Some attractive Ardy Lam photography comes with the package however and at certain frames, excitement in the racing sequences. But with a camera speed in the lower numbers, the playback of death defying bike stunts register as more cartoony sadly. Good support by Paul Chun in a small role plus Anthony Wong (sporting a shaved head from his stint in The Untold Story), Roger Kwok and Kwan Hoi-San also appear.

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Utilizing the title of Benny Chan's classic once more, the Johnnie To helmed A Moment Of Romance III is a standalone effort but one that reunites Andy Lau and Wu Chien-Lien though (the sequel starred Aaron Kwok). Set during the second World War, Lau plays a pilot who crashes into the cornfield of a Mainland village. He befriends and falls in love with village beauty Siu-Woo (Wu Chien-Lien) and decides to take her back to his wealthy life in the big city. It all comes down to the classic, clichéd question; can you have love for your woman and your country at the same time or does fate only allow one of the choices?

Told in grand and heavy handed style by director To, it is some sort of valid choice here as he clearly is out to echo the classic Hollywood war romance. That means no complexity, no depth or subtle emotions but combining the high production values and the chemistry between the stars, A Moment Of Romance III goes fairly affecting places and sweeps you away for the moment. It's a shame it's branded as another entry in the series because it's not in the same league as A Moment Of Romance. At least it's a bit more perky. Alex Fong appears in support.

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Despite his apprentice under the late Chang Cheh and martial arts movies under his belt such as Hand Of Death and The Dragon Tamers, John Woo's trademark voice on the Hong Kong cinema scene was far off in 1977. Instead for several years, John Woo dabbled in comedy collaborations with Ricky Hui, starting with Money Crazy. Slow pace dominate from the start and the style of comedy, while universal, is often the pratfall accompanied by silly sound effect-kind, leading only to mild amusement. Ricky Hui is strangely distant which can be due to this not being a vehicle together with his brothers Michael and Sam but Richard Ng pretty much is responsible for any laughs in Money Crazy. Still, there's only a chuckle and a half to be found in Woo's film and even the inclusion of crude gunplay doesn't spark much interest. If you want to follow the man who gave us A Better Tomorrow and The Killer from the beginning, by all means do but you won't get much of an experience out of it. Turn to the Hui Brother's if you want the premium comedy of the 70s instead. Sam Hui sings the theme song together with Ricky though, the best aspect of the film. Law Lan, Lee Hoi San, Cheung Ying, Mars, Lam Ching Ying and Billy Chan also appear.

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aka Monkey Fist, Floating Snake (English dub title) and furthermore, this indie should not be confused with the Shaw Brother's movie of the same name and production year.

Monkey Kung Fu expectedly comes off as a pale imitation of successful efforts in similar vein (most notably the Jackie Chan vehicles Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master) but due to that profitable concept, all that indie producers bothered with was making a quick buck on the movie title and content (whether good or bad). Shooting it on the cheap (with the outdoor locations being a dead giveaway) may just have been the concept and as you all know, it's the money that makes the world go round...

Bad filmmaking is still not an excuse however and despite veteran appearances (Eddy Ko, Yueh Hua, Chen Sing), the film gains nothing and when the monkey kung fu in itself receives a lackluster showcase, the movie quickly fades away from memory.

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The punishing life of a hostess gets another examination through the eyes of Michael Mak (Long Arm Of The Law II, Sex And Zen), with very unimaginative end results. Despite the fantastic lineup of Cherie Chung, Carol Cheng and Maggie Cheung, the Stephen Shiu/Johnny Mak script offers up nothing new whatsoever and Michael can't exactly bring a fine tuned touch to the various harsh treatment the ladies goes through either. Sure some excessive moments gets your attention, including Maggie Cheung being forced to lose her virginity to an obese gwailo and the rape of Cherie Chung amongst strobe lights is eerie. But it's never enhancing any previous developments in the characters. That's because Mak does nothing with the script outline and even though the very final shot reaches some form of downbeat poignancy, it really doesn't count as meaningful based on the jerking around we've experienced prior. Hu Chin, Shing Fui-On and a very intimidating Wong Chi-Keung also appear.

Lam's (Fung Bo Bo) son Man goes astray one day during a football match where he injures one of his bullies. Being an underdog with a very protective mom who's also a nurse, his stay at the hospital soon develops into extreme paranoia about possible jail time. He ends murdering one policeman but subsequently is shot and killed by superintendent Cheung (Lau Ching Wan). Not being able to cope or forgive, Lam goes on the path of irrational revenge, targeting those precious to Cheung...

David Chiang's last directed film to date, a thriller echoing Misery but thankfully not reenacting the James Caan/Kathy Bates vehicle completely. Chiang brings nothing new to the portrayal of insanity in the face of tragedy but has a thoroughly dedicated Fung Bo Bo at his disposal, a factor that makes Mother Of A Different Kind a highly chilling tale. Chiang and Fung takes advantage of the familiarity and even when going highly over the top (along with the plot), it not only seems logical but a veteran performer like Fung also makes it bearable. Lau Ching Wan backs up in a solid way as the victim nobody believes and Veronica Yip is annoying in the best of ways. A rare movie where comedic relief is welcome.

Sorry excuse for a gangster genre vehicle and not a Golden Harvest production Raymond Chow probably touted highly that year. Jason Pai is Piao, a disgruntled ex-worker at a car repair shop who goes into the trade of being a gangster together with low-life, hoodlum friend (Max Lee). Taking command of existing small gangs, forming alliances with newly found pickpocket chums, Piao and company set their sights on joining one of the big bosses. Probably consciously steered away from being overly nasty and dangerous, that's a major strike against Lam Kwok-Cheung's movie as it would've taken that to distract us. Some grit dammit! What we get is endless scenes of scheming and even when confrontations do occur, life is draining OUT of the overlong flick! Friendship prevails in the end and Mr. BIG continues to stick by the fact that it's lighter than expected.

A box-office success but in reality not a product Michael Hui can and should endorse as intensely as his prior classics such as The Private Eyes. Under Clifton Ko's rather lazy direction, Hui is allowed be lazy too but manages to get in a few solid laughs as a village Mainlander traveling to the big Hong Kong city to live with his sister (Olivia Cheng). On home turf, Hui's Ngan is a crafty fella who can jump between coconut trees and put out cigarette butts from a distance with his spit. When changing locale, he's more of a retarded, fish out of water country bumpkin. Shacking up with the sister, her husband (Raymond Wong) and a rather big family that also has the flower vase-role of the piece unashamedly assigned to Joey Wong, Ngan's innocence will generate annoyance but life affirming lessons about appreciating your loved ones. It's witty to no degree whatsoever as Ngan catches sights of the wonders of modern toilet flushing, find creative ways to not exhale cigarette smoke and accidentally travel to Africa where stupid Africans reside (enter rather poor taste from the filmmakers). Hui, in a role Stephen Chow would adopt at many times to great success, sells the silly gags well during quite few times but is not catering to the audience that liked his clever reason for doing comedy bits in the first place. No satire, no commentary, just a far cry off legendary celluloid and simple fun disappears to a dangerous degree as we move along. Ricky Hui and Mario Cordeo also appear while a host of stars make cameos including Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Fennie Yuen, Rachel Lee, Lowell Lo and Teddy Yip.

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