# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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The Missed Date (1986) Directed by: Teresa Woo

The husband within a corporate world and the way he's agreed with himself to conduct himself, fooling around is something something much known of but meeting dedication with dedication is rarely seen within a marriage. That's the situation for May (Olivia Cheng), a devoted housewife who wants to echo other couple's deals of having days in the month where the wives are allowed to be free. Her husband Phillip (Henry Yu) appears conflicted in the way he can't join his wife for dinner as much as he'd like to but he's no saint either. May appears in the eye line of Peter (Chow Yun-Fat) who clearly wows to woo her but is possibly a confidant, a change of pace for a sheltered May instead...

A decent dissection of these facets within marriage, Teresa Woo's (Life Is A Moment Story) train of thoughts are noble but clearly we have a director working with a limited set of skills while also verging on greatness in certain scenes. Pretty flat direction, unnecessary subplots (the Pauline Wong/Melvin Wong couple is nowhere near as interesting and her being stalked by potheads is an odd inclusion without a payoff), Woo's best moment pretty much lies in one scene that cements strengths on more places in the flick. Juxtaposing lovemaking scenes of definite and possible nature, it's the latter that intrigues as the relationship between Olivia Cheng's and Chow Yun-Fat's characters is wonderfully defined. It's also all about just getting two people talking in a room. Techniques Woo can't follow up on in other scenes (especially when they contain montages set to Canto-pop) but ending in an unconventional way is welcome as Teresa shows us a sign of her best self again. Helena Law and Jamie Luk also appear.

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Missing (2008) Directed by: Tsui Hark

A noble attempt at mixing up the emotionally charged romance and familiar horror tactics of the post Ring-era but Tsui Hark doesn't run past the finishing line with grace nor having planted affection in the heart of his audience. Underwater photographer Dave Chen (Guo Xiao-Dong) dies under mysterious circumstances during a diving expedition with his girlfriend, psychiatrist Gao Jing (Angelica Lee). In the wake of the death and mystery, Dave's sister Xiao Kai (Isabella Leong) takes it especially hard and blames Gao Jing but that's the least of Gao Jing's worries. Slowly descending into a world of constant ghostly sights, one of which may be Dave but one vengeful spirit of a drowned girl doesn't seem to leave her alone either...

Establishing that our characters in love have a thing for the beauty of the ocean and expositional tangents about the mental state of mankind, that's subtle exposition compared to what we get in the almost entirely unsuccessful second half. After drawing us in through some involving visual representations of the horror and providing creepy (but not startling, thankfully) atmosphere, it may be Angelica Lee in yet another "I can see ghosts"-scenario a la The Eye but you have talent here in front and behind to eject such BAD feelings of familiarity. We're on board before Missing goes overboard with its reveal in the second half that instead leads into the romantic and again emotionally charged relationship. Lee can sell this but Tsui Hark painting the screen and soundtrack with emotions doesn't hook us. Missing could've benefited from less is more as at heart, Hark's script has heart. But emotions are beating way too much on the outside here. Tony Leung Ka-Fai also appears.

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The Missing Gun (2002) Directed by: Lu Chuan

Universally acclaimed after Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, writer/director Lu Chuan's debut feature The Missing Gun is a decidedly different beast, yet the equivalent of a talent making unique imprints on the cinema scene. Directed partially with a hyperactive sense, both in the visual- and audio field, as we follow cop Ma Shan's (Jiang Wen) quest for his missing gun, we're treated to a genre mish-mash. The rural community has its share of dopey and seedy characters and Ma Shan along the way unearths much about himself in the various confrontations. Past and current demons manifest themselves, heading towards a boiling point where the film takes a step down to reveal it's really a quiet journey for the lost man. However hard that sounds to take seriously, Lu Chuan gets fine affection out of the story after the welcome assaults. Ning Jing (Divergence, Set To Kill) appears briefly.

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Missing Man (1989) Directed by: Stephan Yip

Whodunit, murder mystery with 57 plot twists that means it doesn't have to follow logic, Stephen Yip (I Love Miss Fox, Mad Stylist and co-star of Disciples Of Shaolin) has a Joey Wong as Yan the abused wife of Alex Man's Cheong. After he goes missing, an investigation is launched but all of a sudden Cheong's back, making Yan doubt her sanity. But secrets and jealousy will trigger murders by a masked killer...

One of those rare ventures in suspense by a Hong Kong filmmaker (also see David Chung's excellent Web Of Deception), some nicely designed cinematography and flirts with slasher territory makes one raise an eyebrow or two but the fact that Missing Man decides to do whatever it wants, feature clearly told but ultimately not rewarding twists along the way just makes it stand out as yet another in the long line of made up on the spot-flicks (tac that on occasion generated classics). Yip's final revelation does nothing for effect although during this climax, and a few times before in the flick, the level of vicious and grisly behaviour increases to make Missing Man watchable in pieces. Lead Wong neither embarrasses or furthers herself while Alex Man presents some well-honed instincts in his critical role. Walter Tso appears in his well established Inspector gear while Carrie Ng and Leon Lai supports.

Mission Inferno (1984) Directed by: Raymond Kim

Set during the Korean war, this presumably Korean production pours it on with big war scenes, prison drama, espionage and surely in original form, it's as boring as IFD's dubbed presentation here. Mission Inferno is a case where Joseph Lai should've cut up the action and inserted his stable of Western actors. Heck, even ninjas could've fit within all this because at least it would be partially lit up. The canned melodrama and lack of characters creates a boring, at times loud movie that only manages to come off as entirely incoherent. A bad pick up by Lai.

Mission Kill (1991) Directed by: Lee Chiu

Also known as Mission Of Condor, Moon Lee's Rose helps bust a big drug syndicate but key players in the operation are subsequently assassinated by Simon Yam's Lion who has every intention of keeping his drug business going. Rose is the target of assassin Antelope (Eddy Ko) but when he fails at his mission and is captured, the police has the advantage of manipulating the situation to lure out Lion's group of assassins. Stripped of most elements, like comedy, that would stall a simple narrative such as this, Lee Chiu (A Punch To Revenge) instead goes for the necessary darker beats to make Mission Kill stand out. As shaved if you will compared to many Hong Kong movies, it's very well paced and entertaining with both fine showcases for Moon Lee's fighting skills and Lee Chiu's action team staging basic but intense (and bloody) gunplay. Also with Max Mok, Ken Lo, Kwan Hoi-San and since director Lee Chiu worked at IFD, some of its regular turns up here such as Jonathan Isgar, Kenneth Goodman and Bruce Fontaine.

Mission Kiss And Kill (1979) Directed by: Lee Tso-Nam

Twists, tricks and deception populate Lee Tso-Nam's martial arts movie with the lead in to the escort mission involving almost killing off Lu (Lee I-Min) as a test of bravery being one of the more far fetched ones. It is a fair delight to follow Lee, Blacky Ko and the daughter of the Chin Jing castle carrying the 8 Jade Horses and having ambushes come at them left and right though. Leading to both quality martial arts but also creative scenarios such as a fight on top of empty wine jars. Light but not dominated by comedy is a plus too. Also with Lung Fei.

Mission Of Justice (1992, Wong Jan-Yeung)

Out of the plentiful action-efforts from director Wong (Dreaming The Reality, The Dragon Fighter etc), here's one of the duds. Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima go undercover in Thailand to catch opium smuggler Somi (Tommy Wong). Low budget aside, this aspect would often be defeated thanks to quality action directing across the board. None is present here, creating a flat and dull frame. Select moments of martial arts exchanges and gunplay are exciting (even Tommy Wong gets to participate) but Mission of Justice is decidedly low in frequency when it comes to action strangely enough. Not even the ending can boost matters, with a center piece fight with Yukari Oshima and Chan Lau taking place in boring slow motion demonstrating this firmly.

Mission To Kill (1983) Directed by: Huang Ha

A movie where the biggest are credited LAST, Mission To Kill does have the personnel and action personnel behind it to make it interesting. But despite Melvin Wong, Kent Cheng, Wong Chung, Wong Ching, Wilson Tong, Fung Hak-On, Simon Yam, Lily Li and Norman Tsui all involved, the film is a limp, simple actioner (concerning robbery of jewels that might be an inside job) that because of its vast character gallery quickly falls into incoherency. A few scenes of gritty action are quite extensive and compelling but it's merely action highlight reel material viewable out of context because viewers of Mission To Kill can't grasp any context either.

Miss Magic (1988) Directed by: Fung Hak-On

A jealous wife (Pauline Wong) kills herself after THINKING her actor husband (Norman Tsui) is cheating on her. Coming back to haunt him and the film crew, they have to battle back with the help of Uncle Fok (Chung Faat) and Master Wong (Bill Tung). Fung Hak-On isn't working with a lot and seems to engaging the higher gear in grating performers such as Billy Lau initially but when the switch in Miss Magic happens, Fung mixes light, energetic and dark confidently. Neither side annoys, truly surprises but confidence in energetically conveying the facets of the production does.

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