Woddy (Jordan Chan from Big Bullet) and Bee (Sam Lee from Skyline Cruisers) plays two pirate vcd-sellers that late one night accidentally hits a man with their boss's car. With him, the man has a mystic bio chemical liquid that he, in pain, asks to have a zip of. Shortly after the man passes away and Woddy & Bee leave him in the trunk and drives back to the mallwhere they work. In the trunk however the man is rapidly turning into a flesheasting zombie and soon a night of terror begins...

The first half can almost be described as extremely boring. The actors almost scream out their dialogue (sorry I can't describe it any other way) but maybe they did that to compensate for the, I'm sorry to say, bad and flat dialogue. The attempts to comedy doesn't work at all and actors Jordan Chan and Sam Lee does not have very much chemistry between them. Their scenes during this part of the film are plain bad but maybe these scenes work better if you're a cantonese speaker, but I somehow doubt that.

Things get a bit better during the second half of the movie where we get all the zombie action. It's here that Yip lets loose some of his trademark creativity in terms of camera angles and direction. Some highlights include the scene where the movie uses game symbols from House of the Dead and some of the killings are fairly cool. But even here some of the zombieactionfalls flat and I felt the film dragged during some of these segments.

This was 1998 and Yip was probably still experimenting (and learning to make movies) with lightning and camera movement. He decides to have a lot more steady and shaky cam that is really neccessary and the green colour scheme the movie employs doesn't really work. In later movies Yip has learned a whole lot more when it comes to combining his kind of direction and his choice of cinematography to better effect.

In a zombie movie you don't really need a huge amount of character development but Yip and Chow do try to infuse some depth into them. Sadly it doesn't feel right in tone with the rest of the picture. I don't really mind tone changes in a movie but here it feels conflicting. They should've gone with the more serious and grim tone, that is present during the last third, throughout the entire movie. That would've made a more interesting experience in my opinion..

Out of the actors I can really only say some good things about Jordan Chan. His acting is really off in the comedic parts. Jordan has the kind of face and charisma that seems more suited for action and drama roles and we do get glimpses of that during the actionbits. They're far and between though and all in all he's average in this movie.

Sam Lee on the other hand is as annoying as ever. Maybe the Hong Kong movie audience likes him when he's shouting and doing funny faces, but for this swede it just feels like bad acting. Sam has proven that if he calms down he can be a good actor and he showed restraint in 2002, something I hope to see more of in his future roles.

In the end, what we have is a movie I really wanted to love but it's only worth one viewing really. Fans of Wilson Yip should check it out to see glimpses of what would be seen in his later movies. I think he's at his best when he does small character dramas but it's VERY evident that he likes to try out different genres. It does seem that a lot of people do like Bio Zombie but I can't see that anyone would enjoy anything but the second half.

A photoprocessing lab in Hong Kong have received and developed a role of highly disturbing pictures of murdered women. The police are called in and Inspector Li (Danny Lee from The Killer) quickly suspects that these may be the women that have been reported missing over the course of the year. They stage a trap to arrest whoever comes and pick up the photos and the man who does so is cabdriver Lam Gou Yee (Simon Yam from Bullet In The Head). After intensive questioning he starts to recap the horrible story of what he did to the women...

Personally I hesitated a long before I actually acquired this movie. I'm one of those guys with a mind that will absorb disturbing imagery and find it hard to get it out of there (the sole clip I've seen from Cannibal Holocaust is a good example). I did read a couple of positive reviews for Dr. Lamb and now afterwards I'm glad that I did watch it.

The events took place in 1982 and the real life killer was in the end sentenced to death but his story has apparently never quite left the minds of the Hong Kong people. The media also reported heavily on this and the details of the case which made an already horrible story, even more horrific. I won't go into details but the things done and shown here are very disturbing and shocking.

Danny Lee co-directed this movie with, another now Cat III veteran, Billy Tang (director of Run & Kill) and for the most part they succeed in making us feel horrified but I didn't think they crossed the line of being distasteful or anything. The camera rarely let's us see Lam cut directly into his victims but instead it cuts away to blood spraying etc. It's still chillingly effective and that can also be said of Simon Yams solid acting.

Simon has always shown that he is a versatile actor. Even if it's war-dramas like Bullet In The Head or a romantic story like Juliet In Love, he always brings his terrific natural presence and charisma. In Hollywood, an established actorwould never go for this kind of extreme role but Simon took a risk and through that he has created a memorable part. It's when he is calm but at the same time intense, that Simons finest acting takes place but he doesn't go over the top in my opinion, something that can easily be done with a performance like this. This characterarc has been seen in numerous movies before though, so there's nothing revolutionary original about it.

Danny Lee plays the part he can do in his sleep nowadays; a cop. He's not bad himself but it is the scenes with the police that is the weakness of Dr. Lamb. For some reason, someone felt the need to inject some silly comedy to lighten up the grim tone of this film. Hong Kong fans are quite used to this being employed but here the humour feels so out of place and isn't even funny.

Technically the movie is pretty good and first and foremost I have to mention Tony Mau's photography. Many scenes take place at night in a rainly neon-lit Hong Kong city and Tony manages to make it above average considering the cliché settings. Jonathan Wong's music is my favourite aspect though. He uses a electronic and very gothic score that is held back for the most time but kicks in when it has to.

Dr. Lamb will disgust a lot of people and is certainly not for the faint of heart but I could appreciate it on an artistic level as well while being disturbed by it's content. After all it's a decent and interesting film and it seems to be considered one of the better entries in the genre. Without Simon Yam though, it would've been so much worse.

In Dry Wood Fierce Fire we meet Alice (Miriam Yeung from Love Undercover) who writes for a ladies magazine in Hong Kong. She is also an expert in chinese herbal medicine and kung fu, something which was tought to her by her parents. The magazine is struggling though and the solution seems to be a merge with a mens magazine instead. It is here Alice meets good looking Ryan (Louis Koo from La Brassiere) and instantly falls in love with him. He doesn't like her from the start though but after an incident involving a sharp stick and Ryans behind they start to hang out more and more. It quickly becomes clear that Ryan only has eyes for a japanese author called Michelle and he asks Alice to help him win her over. She gladly helps out but inside her feelings for Ryan grows stronger every day...

One could argue that Wilson Yip isn't suited for this kind of lightweight material, since he has shown more style and depth in his past movies. Dry Wood Fierce Fire is filled with clichés and it's content is no different than other romantic comedies we've seen. What Wilson Yip does though is that he makes sure the material rises one notch above other attempts in the genre and what he has created here is a somewhat crazy but also a funny and sweet romantic tale.

Yip doesn't try to direct with a lot of flashy style but instead holds back just like the content of the script dictates. He does insert some brilliant touches of his including a funny kung fu-fight with a bum (or as the subtitles say: a bump) and Alice and a very funny Bruce Lee-homage. Other than those kind of things he lets our two leading actors carry the film.

I for one fell in love with Miriam Yeung after watching her performance here. In the beginning she feels like she's too much to take when you see her kind of crazy nature. It's when her friendship Louis Koo's character gets going that she finds a good balance between the craziness and the sweet yearning for love that Alice has. I was concerned that all this would lead to overacting from Miriam but she does very well and creates a simple but very sympathetic character.

Louis Koo was very funny in La Brassiere and continues to show that here. He plays a character that is self assured and handsome on the outside but in fact he's very unsure of himself. Without Alice he wouldn't have gotten close to Michelle but even when he is, he has to depend on her to make sure he does things right. It's not a very complicated character as such but Louis contributes what he needs to and the chemistry between him and Miriam Yeung really holds this movie together well.

Supporting players include the Wilson Yip regular Joe Lee as well as Law Kar-Ying and screenwriter of previous directorial efforts of Wilson Yip; Matt Chow. These people don't get a lot of screentime so you couldn't really praise them like Louis or Miriam. But the scenes they are in doesn't hurt the movie and they fit well as part of the supporting cast.

When our director finds people he likes to work with, he tries to hold on to them as much as possible. In the past producer Joe Ma has been a huge part in the success of Yip but in this movie it's the director of photgraphy from 2002 (Poon Hang-Sang) that gets to join the team again. In previous movies Yip has choosen a small bit of mixture between realistic lightning and different colour schemes. It wasn't always that the combination worked fully but here he chooses a simple and natural look all throughout the film instead. It's again a good choice because we don't want to be distracted by the photograpahy when we're trying to watch our characters act out their adventures on screen. One person I also noticed in the crew behind Yip is awardwinning editor Peter Cheung, who has worked on every one of his movies since Bio Zombie. When you have a solid team like this, it creates assurance but also a very professional feel to the project.

I admire Wilson Yip for taking this project on. His direction is sizzling with confidence and he again shows what great performances he can get out of actors combined with his talent for almost every genre of movies. It's nice to see him directing a small movie again and Dry Wood Fierce Fire will have you smiling after the final frame of the movie rolls by.

Director and writer Gary Tang have constructed a very cliché ridden drama with obvious nods to shows like ER and Chicago Hope but what I didn't know before I sat down to watch Healing Hearts was that it basically is a pilot movie for the tv series that followed. That fact actually drags the movie down in parts. The main problem is that too much is going on at the same time and reportedly several unfinished plot elements were continued in the tv series. It probably was a concious choice to leave certain things open but in my opinion Gary should've focused only on a select few or even only the two main characters. Instead a whole slew of side characters comes and goes without much logic or meaning to us and most of these startplot element that is never expanded on. So actors like Melvin Wong, Esther Kwan and Stephen Fung basically makes quick cameos and that makes more or less 1/4 of the movie completely useless for us who will never get a chance to watch the tv series. Also in the beginning of Healing Hearts I got a feeling that the movie had been going on for about 20 minutes already since we are almost in the story from minute one. The director should've let the movie be it's own episode and finished up things more properly.

Gary's direction is a little stiff but I have a feeling he may have a background in tv so that trait is not surprising coming from the small screen. That fact doesn't make the direction sub standard though. If a small love story is told in a movie I want to see and notice what the characters are doing, not the director. That's exactly what Gary does, he places the camera in a simple way and rarely moves around too much during the dialogue scenes for example. His script is a pure cliché-city and focuses on the obvious things like the doctor's everyday relationship to their patients and also their troubled lives outside of the hospital environment. He still manages to strike a weird balance between handling the clichés in a painfully bad way and in other moments, thanks to some fine acting, make well known material affects us more than we expect The latter aspect demands that the dialogue therefore is more interestingly written and performed. That happens when Gary chooses to focus all his energy into the love story between Lawrence and Jackie and it's in their scenes that the script delivers some both sweet and clever dialogue. It's not only the actors who makes average writing look and sound better but a very tender and sometimes humerous tone is present in there. The two characters are familiar ones from movies but they're made so much more interesting thanks to Tony and Michelle's acting.

If you ask someone to put together top 5 Hong Kong actor's list, I'll bet Tony Leung Chiu-Wai most definitly would be on it (he would probably end up being number 3 on mine). The man has the charisma and presence that very few Hong Kong actors are blessed with and he really does justice to the role of Lawrence. I'm sure that several actors could have pulled this role off in a good enough way but in the hands of Tony the character becomes as real as can be. He can say so much with his eyes and he never has to resort to tears or big emotional outbursts to convey the emotions inside of him. Lawrence is a bit of a quiet character but if we as an audience wants to get to know him, we will understand him and the things going on in his life.

By his side through large parts of the film we find one of many gorgeous looking Hong Kong actresses that have put in good performances lately. This time I'm talking about Michelle Reis who I've only seen with Jet Li in Fong Sai Yuk before. That was not an ideal film to judge acting performances so a lot of people probably don't strongly remember her from that film. When she first comes out of her coma Michelle plays Jackie in a slightly annoying way and I got worried that if it had gone on like that even this part of the movie would've been dead. It is when the relationship with Tony's character finds it's best flow that also Michelle pushes the charm button. With him Michelle finds a balance between a slight impulsiveness and a tenderness that needs to be there for the entire role to work. She has an infectious sense of humour and she brings both a nice smile to everyone's lips but also the latter part of the movie Michelle does quite well in the more sentimental scenes. Pleasantly surprising performance I have to say.

You can predict where things are headed with these two characters but if you have the right actors clichés stops being clichés and you just enjoy the chemistry between either the fictional people or the actor's playing them. It should be said that their story is nothing that will rival the greatness of Juliet In Love for example and one or two plot devices surrounding Lawrence and Jackie are again not fully finished and dealt with in my opinion. Among other actors I really liked the character of Paul played by Kenny Bee. While he doesn't rival Tony Leung he nicely brings forth some interesting traits of Paul's. He surprisingly doesn't protest against Lawrence and Jackie's growing friendship but instead he is basically only concerned for her health. It's nothing revolutionary but it's nice too see a character like that done a bit differently in a romantic story like this.

If you forget about the tv series and just focused on Healing Hearts as a movie, it would have trouble finding it's place on the cinema market. We're constantly bombarded with both dramas and comedies of this type but if you take a chance on this you'll find a fairly sweet romantic tale but with some huge weaknesses outside the foucs of that. You'll fell that you have seen this movie before but that's not always a negative thing.

It's kind of hard to believe that the directors of this charming movie have both previously worked with John Woo. Patrick Leung co-wrote the script to Bullet In The Head and Chan Hing-Kar co-wrote A Better Tomorrow. As soon as our male and female characters start to interact, it's pretty clear where this story is going. But what makes La Brassiere different from most romantic comedies is it's postive energy and heart. Furthermore the humour is top notch and the script (penned by Chan Hing-Kar and Amy Chin) is filled with snappy dialogue and funny situations, mainly concerning the bras. The absolute highlight comes when Johnny and Wayne themselves are attempting to wear bras in order to understand what women go through. It was probably very hard to get the actors to keep a straight face during the filming of this scene, so the directors used a take where the actors do break out into laugther. This makes it feel very real and it's an absolute joy to watch!

When you got a script that is quite predictable you need good actors to elevate it above the other movies in the same genre. As one of the male leads we find a well established action- and thriller actor; Lau Ching Wan. When I first saw that he was in this I got a bit worried since I only knew him from his serious roles. I could quickly let go of all that worry though. Lau Ching Wan is willing to make himself look silly while he, at the same time, shows an astounding talent for comedy. Again this isn't an original character but in the hands of this veteran actor, it's enhanced so much more.

Louis Koo has been in a number of different genremovies lately (his most recent role is in Wilson Yips Dry Wood Fierce Fire) and while he has made a good impression on me before, I didn't expect him to be as good as Lau Ching Wan. He manages, with good skill, pull off the often crazy humour and the human elements of his character. Both Gigi Leung and Carina Lau are solid in their roles also, as our male characters respective romantic interests. These are not weak women at all but strong independent ones and I'm glad to see that shown here. We don't see that too often in Hollywoood for example.

All the sets and costumes are really well made and also really reflect the positive energy and heart of this movie. The man in charge of photographing all this is Fletcher Poon, whose previous credits include the disaster known as Gen Y-Cops, among others. Here he shows that he's a terrific DP and I hope to see him getting more good films to work on in the future. The photography is so wonderfully sharp and vibrant without overdoing it in terms of style. Patrick Leung and Ching Hing-Kar directs with a lot of confidence it seems, but thanks to such a great team both behind and in front of the camera, your job must be so much easier.

You would think that a movie like this would only appeal to men but the directors and screenwriters manage to make a great point about the understanding between men and women. I think La Brassiere is definitly one of the most charming and joyful comedies to come out of Hong Kong lately!

After a bloody encounter with the italian maffia, Brother Lung (Alan Tang from Gun & Rose) is sentenced to a lengthly prison sentence in Canada.15 years later he is released and decides to go back to Hong Kong to find his daughter. He enlists the help of a teenager nicknamed Little Lung (May Lo from The Scorpion King). At the same time he and she gets into a conflict with the local triadgang. A conflict which escalates more and more each day...

Even if Wong Kar-Wai co wrote this script, you won't find much originality here. The whole movie bears quite an resemblance to the films of John Woo, in other words a lot of violent shootouts and a good dose of melodrama. The difference here is that director Joe Cheung (Flaming Brothers) is not quite as skilled in either department.

What about the positive aspects then? Well Alan Tang's performance is not too bad. He manages to handle the lackluster material with skill and creates a somewhat sympathetic and multi-layered character. The biggest surprise to me was May Lo. When she first enters the picture I feared that we were going to be stuck with an highly annoying teenage girl for the rest of the movie. But she is actually pretty good and she and her character developes rather nicely (considering the material) throughout the piece.

Simon Yam is one of my favourite actors but here he's not blessed with a great script, so his baddie role doesn't require much really. He is entertaining to watch though and it looks like he's having fun playing evil the way only Hong Kong gangsters can.

Contrary to what the cover suggests, Andy Lau only has about 20 minutes of screentime. But he's mostly in the movies highlights: the crazy and violent shootouts. It's not really the balletic kind of action choreography that John Woo does that's on display here, but it's still very entertaining. Fans of the heroic bloodshed-genre should be pleased after the final frame of the movie.

Return Engagement was made during an era I miss in Hong Kong filmmaking and I will consider it among the better John Woo-imitators.

Wisely (this time portrayed by Waise Lee from Bullet In The Head) is on the hunt for a mysterious black cat that seems to be behind a few mysterious occurances in Hong Kong. When he eventually finds it he realises that it and it's fellow companions are themselves hunted by an alien force...

We got ourselves a silly and barely serviceable plot but more is not needed in Lam Ngai-Kai's movie. Some movies are pure entertainment and not much plot is required, just enough to hold the movie together for 90 minutes or so. Do you recognize the two names behind the script by the way? It's no others than directors Gordon Chan (Beast Cops) and Chan Hing-Kar (co-director of La Brassiere). Although their work nowadays are of pretty good quality, their script for The Cat is very loosely written. I do have a feeling that most of it was made up as the shooting went along, something that was common for Hong Kong productions at this time (and to some extent even today it seems). If you want to break into any business, you have to start somewhere but I don't think the director's have to be ashamed of being credited on this movie. They've been part in creating a very entertaining and crazy Hong Kong movie.

As a director, Lam Ngai-Kai barely holds the thin plot together. My main complaint has to be that some elements are inserted (and never explained) almost out of nowhere and therefore the attentive part of the audience will be restless since they don't really know what is going on. The movie gets off to a very slow and bad start also. The first 15 minutes is basically the setup for the story and while it's made clear enough, it's soooo slow. After the first really wild scene at the museum, the director finds a nice pace that is thankfully maintained throughout the 80 minute running time. The directing succeeds in delivering entertainment but boy are the dialogue scenes painfully bad! They're badly performed and only serves to bring us some more info regarding the unfolding 'drama'. I was ready to fall asleep but then The Cat displayed what holds this movie together; a series of bizarre and insane effects set pieces. The first one in the musem, where the evil alien force reveals itself, is a very good indication of what we're going to see throughout the movie. The special effects aren't of very high standard but do somehow manage to work within the frame of this movie. The filmmakers and effects team seem to have just done the best they can with the limited resources and that comes off in the final product. It's charming I think. This is not a gory film as such though and it mostly relies on slimey and at times superimposed effects, in other words nowhere near the gorefest known as Story Of Ricky.

Everybody who's seen The Cat remembers one thing and that is hands down the cat vs. the dog fight-scene. It's handled like an elaborate fight set piece and I can't describe how much fun it is to watch. For the most part, the real animals are used (don't worry about animal cruelty, believe me) and through extensive editing and some stop animation work, this scene makes the purchase of the dvd a must in my opinion.

No actors were nominated for their performances here but they didn't deserve it. You can't help thinking how hard it must've been for Waise Lee and Philip Kwok (who also served as the action choreographer) to maintain a straight face while doing these often crazy scenes. Waise Lee is and probably will be most known for his bad guy turns in A Better Tomorrow and Bullet In The Head but he was kind of the weak link in those movies actually. In The Cat he is quite wooden and doesn't seem to be having any fun at all. On the other hand he had to act against nothing most of the time since a fair number of his scenes were ones were effects were added in post-production. Philip Kwok (Hard Boiled) however throws himself mercilessly into the possessed by the evil alien force-role he has here. It's just pure fun watching him unleash the weapons power he has gathered in his hunt for the cat and Philip sure is something people are going to remember from this movie also.

There's not much else to say about Lam Ngai-Kai's movie. With The Cat he created another entertaining entry in his fairly short filmography and in the b-movie part of the world of Hong Kong cinema.

Johnny (Lau Ching Wan from Big Bullet) and Wayne (Louis Koo from Dry Wood Fierce Fire) this time tackles the task of creating the ultimate product for new born babies, something which isn't all that easy especially since Wayne is terrified of babies...

The plot, as you've probably noticed, is very similar to the first movie only this time it's babies not bras. To be honest I could've done without a sequel to La Brassiere since it was so fun and endeering and it didn't need to continue further after the final frame had rolled by. Mighty Baby therefore is of course an attempt to squeeze a little bit more out of the romantic comedy formula. I'm not saying it's a complete failure but if anything I have to describe it as uneven. Even if it helps a bit regarding the understanding and relationships between the main characters, you don't have to have seen the first movie prior to this one. Directors Patrick Leung and Chan Hing-Kar structures the film in an almost identical way as the first one, which seems logic since it indeed was a quick sequel. We follow Johnny and Wayne through their more or less failed attempts at creating the Mighty Baby-product and in between we get to see the love complications they encounter. Through all this the director's do not draw attention to themselves. Their style is really no style at all but they make sure, like all directors should be doing, that the story is told right. It's only in the more crazy and whacky moments in the film that they play around with the camera angles and this was also something that was found and done very well in the first film (remember the leading men's entrance into the office?). Of course these scenes didn't fit into the logic of it all but they become part of the charm that was La Brassiere.

Much is the same in Mighty Baby but either due to lack of good ideas or commitment, Patrick Leung and Chan Hing-Kar can't make it click as well this time around. They have elements for some great comedic situations but I feel that were not much left to do in the sequel. Maybe the preassure to deliver the movie to the studio was also big so in the end certain aspects weren't all that polished. There are still a number of moments of sillyness that are very funny and creative but also at times quite a few comedic bits fall flat. In La Brassiere it was fun to follow Johnny and Wayne from being quite shallow to gaining an understanding of women. Here more or less the same things are adressed with the babies but it's not as clearly told by the guys in the director's chairs. They seem to have a hard time maintaining a thread and a solid pace throughout the movie and they almost lose the main plot when they try too hard to emulate the first film with the different comedy bits. I could say that the editing was a little off but Chan Kai-Hop probably did his best of the sometimes disjointed material. It's not that bad really but looking at how La Brassiere turned out, it's a little disappointing that Patrick Leung and Chan Hing-Kar kind of lost their flow in the sequel. Some of the humour that I found boring could be due to me not knowing cantonese and not getting the humour so to say. For example I was totally lost in most of the scenes involving the hypnotist Raymond Kim but someone out there perhaps can explain a little bit more if it was something I didn't pick up on.

Scenes that work the best are the ones with Cecilia Cheung (from King Of Comedy) and Rosamund Kwan (from Once Upon A Time In China) alone with our respective leading men. The love portion of the film kind of takes place here and a few moments are really nicely done and well played out. Especially Cecilia can make any man melt with her smile and her in a role as an expert in communicating with babies is a good choice. Always beautiful Rosamind Kwan has a pretty thankless and sloppily written role as Lau Ching Wan's all around confused secretary. However after she drops her glasses her role becomes more sweet. Rosamund still looks stunning but the role as written is far from consistent in terms of what the character goes through. Carina Lau (who merely has an extended cameo) and Gigi Leung aren't featured prominantly and therefore doesn't shine as bright as they did in La Brassiere, which is a shame I think.

Lau Ching Wan and Louis Koo (who still hasn't cut his hair or gotten less sun) manages, for most of the time, to bring with them from the first installment, the charm and playfulness of their characters and they certainly go all out to manage to hold together this film. But they have to act in most of the scenes that are slow paced and generally average and not even the best actor in the world can elevate such scenes every time. Talking about the technical side of things I remember La Brassiere being a real piece of eye candy thanks to DP Fletcher Poon and in Mighty Baby he doesn't disappoint. The stars look are very professionally photographed and the fun production- and costume design is nicely highlighted thanks to Fletcher's work.

I thought Mighty Baby was an ok film in terms of fun and entertainment. Maybe you shouldn't set the bar so high when it comes to sequels but I was still a little disappointed by some of the sloppy aspects of the production. Romantic comedy is a genre that works well in the cinema in Hong Kong right now so Mighty Baby probably isn't the first movie of that kind that feature unpolished traits.Watch La Brassiere first and then go into Mighty Baby with low expecations. It'll probably work for you that way.

Ninja movies excite people and the golden era of those was probably the 80s where we got some really hokey but fun productions coming out several movie making indusries (including sweden!). According to movies Ninjas had a wonderful array of useful and pretty much worthless techniques and some of the more worthless ones makes a movie like Ninja The Final Duel so much fun to watch. Four words: water spider assault unit.

This taiwanese production is actually a sequel to Shaolin vs. Ninja (also directed by Robert Tai) and for us who missed that a quick and funny recap is shown and told by, what seems, to be someone who dubbed old war propaganda movies (Let's hear it for the boys in blue!). The plot in this movie then goes a little something like this:

A japanese ninja master commits harakiri after a lost conflict with the chinese Shaolin monks and his followers decide to take revenge and destroy Shaolin for good. At the same time an newly graduated japanese shaolin monk (Alexander Lo who was also in Shaolin vs. Ninja) comes to Hong Kong and gets forced into the battle...

This is not high art and the plot has been seen and done dozens and dozens of times in martial arts cinema. There are movies though that don't need any more plot than this to be enjoyable and Ninja The Final Duel is one of them. The movie is a mess with pretty big plot holes and stuff thrown in for no reason other than to have action but despite all that Robert Tai manages to somehow keep the main plot going somewhat. Director's of your run of the mill kung-fu movie probably never wanted to be extremelty visual and that applies definitely applies to Robert Tai. He doesn't waste too much time on dialogue and of course the shooting of those scenes are not very inspiring. There's hardly time to think about that though since there seems to be new fight scenes each minute and frankly dialogue shouldn't be part of a hokey movie like this one. Robert does seem to like the wide angle lens though for either point of view shots or to create some sense of scope in an action scene. He's also said that he always wanted to try out something new and different and there sure are things in this movie that are different including:

The Water Spiders, Alexander Lo's big fight scene as part of his graduation to become a monk, the Black Monk (Played by Eugene T. Trammel) and for all the lads out there...Alice Tseng's nude fight!

The Water Spiders are part of the different assault techniques used by the Ninjas and not surprisingly they don't look too menacing. The low budget nature of the film doesn't allow for the flying effect in particular to be very effective so it just comes off as pretty silly (but fun). Wires are used for this scene and back then we hadn't witness how wire work could be used smoothly and fluently in films so what you're seeing most of the time here is bascially hoisting. I've said it before though that I admire asian filmmakers for at least trying stuff out no matter how crap it would look in the end.

Ninja The Final Duel only has it's fight scenes to rely on and while there's nothing really special about these, there is a certain energy about them that is quite contagious. The first really big set piece is the mentioned graduation fight scene where Alexander Lo has to face off against techniques such as The Swastika Trap. This scene and many others aren't a showcase for great skill but you will get the sense that there was some thoughts and innovation put into the choreography. They sure seemed to work hard to achieve their goals somewhat successfully. The takes aren't very long and a flow to the choreography isn't really well created through the editing. The editing also feels a bit choppy especially when it cuts to and from a wire stunt. Overall it's is the frantic pace and energy in the action that makes it bearable.

The, according to the Shaolin Monks, legendary Black Monk is a memorable character thanks to some seriously funny dubbing where we get to hear ghetto style jive talk used to the max. In one scene where The Black Monk has burned a decapitated woman (who the hell knows why he had to burn her) he says the following line to a protesting Alexander Lo:

'She's ash, now so don't give me this thrash.'

I'm speechless and speaking of that I wonder if the original language track had english on it because it didn't the hilarious nature of The Black Monk would be completely lost. Last but certainly not least Alice Tseng deserves some credit for getting her kit off and doing a nude fight scene with the ninjas.

It's a really varied character gallery on display in this movie and it's worth noting that the westerners get quite a bit of screentime and dialogue, something that wasn't very common in these types of movies I think. Another fun aspect about martial arts movies was the fact that they used to steal entire sections of scores and music cues from Hollywood pictures and in Ninja The Final Duel I spotted the theme from Das Boot (and they left the submarine sounds in!) being used frequently as well as a short cue from the Ghostbusters tune.

Acting wise there isn't that much to say. Alexander Lo plays our japanese hero of the piece and his character provides no surprises but he sure looks like he's trying his best and it seemed like a fun movie to be apart of. It's actually the different westerners that make the biggest impression in the movie like the mentioned Eugene T. Trammel and Silvio Azzolini who plays a californian monk.

Would I really recommend this movie to anyone? I would rather say that if you're out for a perfect saturday night kung-fu flick (in combination with beers) then it's a good choice. Also if you're curious about just how much insanity can be put into one movie, I think you should check it out. There's only one territory in the world that produced a movie like this...

The Mission centers around a mission (funnily enough) where 5 especially choosen bodyguards must protect triadboss Lung (Eddy Ko from Lethal Weapon 4) from attempts on his life. It's becomes clear though that a traitor is in Lung's organization...

Director Johnnie To made the terrific Running Out Of Time the same year and here again he's at his creative best even if this is a genre that has been done to death. We're immediatly thrown into a world that only seems to consists of triads and their followers and if you're not familiar with how Johnnie has choosen to tell this story, you're gonna feel a little bored and restless during the first 20 minutes. I did and was waiting for some indication as to where the movie was aiming for but I just couldn't figure it out. Johnnie doesn't give out any clues regarding that, the characters were lifeless, dialogue felt stiff and all in all everything was standing still...literally.

It's roundabout the 20 minute mark that a thing or two is made a lot clearer and I soon realised Johnnie's intentions with this piece. While the pace was still a bit slow, the first action scene reveals something quite wonderful. Many viewers were probably getting ready to be blown away by a ballistic and elaborate John Woo-esque shootout but what Johnnie and Cheng Ka Sang (action choreographer) gives us is almost a scene of carefully framed still shots. Shots are fired sparsly one by one and the camera isn't conveying the intensity we're used to seeing in Hong Kong action movies. May sound like a bad thing but I absolutely loved the approach taken here! It does feel a little bit more realistic (which isn't a word normally associated with Hong Kong movies) and it's a good thing Johnnie To didn't do a typical John Woo scene just because the latter defined gun play violence in Hong Kong films. Johnnie is far too much of a veteran and were not going to start emulating a guy like that at that point in his career. The rest of the movies, actually few, shooutouts can be described in the same way and it's not hard to to be sucked in and almost hypnotized in the way the action is presented. I thought of Takeshi Kitano for possible inspirations for Johnnie To but again he's done his own thing here.

While all this was established, I finally understood The Mission's structure directorally and was immersed into it more and more. The plot is very minimal, intentially so, and in between Johnnie injects a very subtle and layered development and bonding between the bodyguards. Their character's are extremely calm and cool (as well as the camera which is rareler ever moving) and more is suggested through looks rather than dialogue, kind of like, again, the works of Takeshi Kitano. Comedy for the most part pretty out there and not very low key in Hong Kong movies but as in Running Out Of Time, we're treated to a few very off beat and subtle comedic scenes that actually work in the context of the story. Especially the soccer sequence between the bodyguards is unexpected and could've just failed on so many levels. By maintaining his way of shooting one angle only and the stillness, the scene triumphs.

If it's something that doesn't work in this movie, it's the music by Chung Chi Wing. During the opening credits the main theme is played and while it was different, I didn't particulary care for the almost 80s computer game-music I heard. For me it just didn't fit well with what I was seeing on the screen and even though the theme is timed well in a few scenes, it's just didn't click for me. During the first shooutout there was music that could've worked very well WITHOUT the beats. Again it kind of took me out of the scene back and forth. Can't say it ruined an entire movie experience for me though.

Talk about a cool cast though! Francis, Anthony, Simon, Roy and friends! Even though very few of the characters get any kind of back story or arc, the performances work tremedously well. For Johnnie To and his casting director the goal was simple: get a group of cool guys together and you can never go wrong when one of them is Francis Ng (from Juliet In Love). Probably my favourite actor after Chow Yun-Fat, Francis does what he can do well on cue, act cool and convey the feeling that he is untouchable. That typical Francis Ng glare should not be forgotten also...

He and Anthony 'Bunman' Wong are the most interesting characters to follow and despite the age difference both are on the same level of wisdom and professionalism. When Anthony actually acts, he's amazing to watch as the calm and honourable bodyguard/barber. While the other cast is pretty good, I felt that this is Francis and Anthony's show and the old tired cliché of that they have magnificient screen presence is applicable here. They both shine the most when the script calls for nothing to be said and they just have to be there and convey everything, yet nothing. Only guys like Francis and Anthony can pull that off successfully.

The Mission I truly hope will for work for you also during a first viewing but I think the second one will be even more rewarding, especially the first part of the film. This movie takes it's time and rarely misses, just like our characters when guns are in their hands.

Alan (Alan Tang from Return Engagement) is the adoptive son of elderly triadboss Lung (Chen Feng from Fist Of Fury). Despite being adopted he is favoured most by Lung, something that doesn't sit well with his real sons Simon (Simon Yam from Bullet In The Head) and Bowie (Bowie Lam from On The Run). After an assasination attempt on Lung's life where Bowie was unable to protect his father, a series of events are set in motion. Simon is given the task of killing off his own brother because of his failings and he then goes after Alan to get some sort of revenge. He stages an attack during Alan's wedding where his bride Monica (Monica Chan from Full Alert) gets shot and is eventually paralyzed. Alan escapes with her to from Taiwan to Hong Kong in an effort to leave the triad life behind but as these things go, you can't leave your past behind that easily...

There have been pretty good attempts to cash in on the John Woo-trademark action (like the mentioned Return Engagement) but Gun & Rose is a total disastrous movie from beginning to end. The movie has hardly any time to start before events are taking place at a frantic pace and not much is explained to the viewer regarding backstory or how the characters relate to each other. There is also quite a number of plot holes and illogical events during the first 10 minutes, even before the main plot is adressed! One of the biggest leap of faiths is the love between Alan and the hospital nurse Monica. After being treated rather badly by Alan minutes before, she's seen in a few scenes later having dinner and falling in love with him. Nothing in the script or direction suggests any kind of motivation for this and because of this their love throughout the entire movie is completely unbelieveable.

During the beginning moments of the film there are also action scenes inserted without much rhyme or reason. Maybe the triads and Alan knows who they're attacking but the audience sure don't. If this was director Clarence Ford's way of getting some attention and hoping the audience wouldn't question certain things, he failed. The action are basically the only slightly good thing about this 1992 production. They're fairly creative but suffers from a few things, one of them being the fact that they're not very long. Also Alan Tang isn't much of an action hero and the main credit should really go to his stunt doubles. On the other hand, he was the producer so I don't think anyone was steepping up to comment his lack of ability.

The film almost does a total 180 when the plot is diverted and set in Hong Kong for almost the remainder of the film. It's here that the Andy character played by Andy Lau (quite convenient for this reviewer that the actors have the same name in the movie as they do in real life) is introduced. Actually his introductory scene I thought was unusual and quite cool. He is seen playing a daredevil game with another gang member onboard a burning and soon to explode bus. Alan Tang's character takes a backseat in the narrative and we're instead following triad wannabe Andy and his conflicts with another gang. Since Alan acts more weak as opposed to his gangster persona, Andy thinks he can teach him what it takes to be a cool gangster. This could've created some nice dynamic but god is it ever boring and slow paced. We didn't care about anything before and these new turns didn't generate any interest either. There's hardly any action either but all we get instead are lame confrontations with the rival gang with Alan as the main punching bag. Also the usual broad cantonese humour is evident (mostly in the scenes with Carrie Ng) but Stephen Chow need not worry about his status in Hong Kong comedy cinema.

Despite huge weaknesses in the beginning of Gun & Rose, Clarence still paces the movie fairly well but when we get to Hong Kong all that is gone and it's a long journey it seems til the end of the movie. Maybe he couldn't do much with Wai Ka-Fai's (director of Peace Hotel) script but he sure doesn't come off as a very competent director in this movie. Clarence went on to make Naked Killer which is bad but compared to Gun & Rose it suddenly ranks very high. I recommend watching Iceman Cometh instead to see some potential in Clarence Ford.

Alan Tang, Andy Lau and Simon Yam look like they went straight from the set of Return Engagement to make this one and they were probably under contract for Alan Tang, hence them appearing in this junk. Alan in the lead role is from the start a very hard and cool triad, at least that is what's written. Alan does not convey these traits very well and comes across as very bland when he's supposed to tough. He's better when he plays it more natural and subdued like we saw in Return Engagement so in the second act of this movie he becomes the character a little more.

Andy Lau has proven in the last few years that he can act (in A Fighter's Blues for example) but it's very evident in Gun & Rose that he was trying to mimic someone elses way of performing. Chow Yun-Fat springs to mind when all we is Andy trying to look cool and suave but he ultimately fails. It's a forced and annoying performance, one that Andy probably would like to forget about. Supporting cast includes Leon Lai and Carrie Ng with Leon as the hitman out to get Alan and Carrie as the woman in love with Alan. Leon tries his best but in the end doesn't seem like the right guy for the role. That has mostly to do with the youth and the little charisma Leon shows in this role. The hitman character needs a bit grittiness to him but leon can't bring that. Carrie has to perform the so called comedy scenes which as mentioned aren't very comedic. She looks sexy though.

Some movies are unfairly destined to be obscure forever but Gun & Rose is one that should remain unknown forever. Not essential unless you're an Andy Lau completist.

There are different ways to approach a project which has a familiar story like this one. You can take no chances and make a simple take on it without no surprises. Or do what Benny Chan did with A Moment Of Romance, inject a subtle depth combined with some really solid writing and performances. With James Yuen's script backing him up, Benny shows us an already very mature and style free directing, something which surprised me considering it was his directing debut. Benny has then gone on to directing more shallow (yet entertaining) movies like Gen-X Cops and if that is a bad career choice I can not say but A Moment Of Romance showed off great character drama skills.

He lets the technical side of filmmaking breath just a litte, which suits this human story more. There's only a few moments where for example slow motion is used but it's employed pretty much just right and does what slow motion should do, emphasize the moment. Some young directors don't know how and when this should be used but Benny has probably looked at some other directors who are skilled in that department and therefore pulling it off in his own movie. Other than that he concentrates on telling the story right and clear and even if the running time isn't very long, there weren't many moments that dragged. The movie offers a varied gallery of characters that are all given an opportunity to shine at some point in the movie. Everyone from main to supporting characters are important and that as well as mixing the two genres of romance and triad is done with great skill by the filmmakers.

If you could describe A Moment Of Romance as a still picture, I would say it's a dark and grim one which will stay with you for a little while. The movie is quite gory and violent, something that is enchanced so much more when it is someone we care about that is on the receiving end. Ace director Ringo Lam was one of the producers (and also Wong Jing!) and the violence presented is sort of similar to to grittiness present in some of Ringo's movies so maybe he influenced Benny and the production a bit (in a good way).

Cinematographers Horace and Joe Chan also play a huge part in painting the picture that is A Moment Of Romance. Another movie to compare the look of this one with i think is Riley Yip's Metade Fumaca, in other words we get a fairly natural lightning scheme with only the beautiful neon lights of Hong Kong creating natural atmosphere. Horace and Joe's work should be mentioned since in the movie we don't notice it very much. It's the story we care about and not primarily the way scenes are shot. That is in my opinion when cinematography is at it's best.

Law Tai-Yau's nominated score is a bit on the sentimental side but would've worked worse if the images it was scored too were corny and too sentimental. That doesn't happen and dark music passages and well inserted canto pop songs (some probably sung by Andy) makes this a nice music experience as well. For some reason I was reminded about the score structure and the songs used in All About Ah Long when I listened to A Moment Of Romance. They semmed eerily similar but you could 'steal' from worse movies than that one.

Andy Lau has been in a lot of movies and it's no wonder I keep bumping into him in these reviews. As mentioned in other reviews, I think Andy acts the best when he has a more subdued and maybe dark character to play and he has on a number ocassions proven that he can do good work with a well written and fleshed out character. The character of Wah Dee is probably one of his strongest performances even to this date. Wah Dee is a fairly complex guy but also some interesting traits come out when he's with Jojo. We as an audience don't really know how much he does or is going to care to care about Jojo and he comes across as very cold in a few scenes, which is probably due to him not knowing himself what he feels. Andy really makes this role his own and all the different sides of Wah Dee like his romantic and tough one comes across nicely in Andy's performance.

Wu Chien-Lin made her movie debut with this role and what an impression she made! She really looks the part of Jojo who's trapped rich parents girl but she is also a little bit mysterious to the audience because it's never really stated exactly why she is drawn to Wah Dee. Is it because he indeed is a triad or because she sees something in him that could be improved upon? That this is not made clear works for us for the most part and we can put all the pieces together in the end but I do feel that in some scenes and moments a little bit more writing was needed for her character. Not the most layered role ever in a movie but for a debutant Wu Chien-Lin really impresses.

The star of this movie is Andy Lau but the strongest performance comes from Stephen Chow-regular Ng Man Tat (from Shaolin Soccer). His very out there underdog character can at first be seen as a painfully bad attempt to have comedy in this serious film. During the course of the film though he still acts very wild but there's more sadness apparent in him. All in all Ng Man Tat very convincingly embodies this character. Although not the same role but in Portland Street Blues he played a similar underdog character.

A Moment Of Romance is a very well executed piece that to me is essential viewing for those of us exploring other genres than just action. I hope Benny Chan at some point will re-visit this kind of filmmaking since he showed here the depths he has as one.

The second section, called 'Training For Danger' has clips of JC, Ken Lo and the Sing Gar Ban doing rigorous training with weights and the punch bag. However this section really emphasizes on the falls in his films, such as the 360, 420, front fall, back fall stopping in mid-air etc. JC just explains that it's really just jargon and that he gets confused too! It just has the Sing Gar Ban demonstrating the fall and then clips of JC's film with people doing the same fall. This last for about 10 minutes.

The third section talks about the Police Story-series and the success of it and that it got Hong Kong into the modern era. He revisits the sites of Police Story 1 & 2, with the bus stunts in PS1 and the second floor break-in through the glass in PS2 getting emphasized on. Also explained is the Police Story shopping centre scene, with the infamous pole slide stunt. This section last for about 15 minutes.

Next, is a section on Who Am I?. This part mainly talks about the fight sequence on top of the skyscraper, using the wind and extra props to make the action as exciting as possible. Ron Smooenberg (the tall gwailo at the end of Who Am I?), as JC finds out, is quite useless in choreographed action and has to doubled by none other then respected Jackie Chan Stunt Team member, Brad Allen. Other topics include the other action sequences such as the car chase and the BMW drop from the skyscraper. This section last for a good 30 minutes or so.

The fourth section is where it REALLY begins! Enter, JC's Stunt Lab, where him and his people create and practise their stunts. Demonstrations in this section includes: How to make kicks/punches look more powerful, (with my favourite JC Stunt Team member, Rocky Lai from No Problem 2) how to kick someone in the head without hurting them and how to use glass properly. After all of that, the Sing Gar ban strut their arse kicking stuff to show us how stunts should be done. Also explained are guns, and how not to flinch when using them, and of course, explosions. This section last for about 25 minutes.

The fifth and sixth section has JC explaining throughly the use of props and how to use them to a comedic effect, such as using a shopping trolley's baby seat to hit people and the use of a fridge, where JC could, after a fight, eat an ice cream! The masterpiece of this whole disc is the JC choreographed fighting sequences, and the faulty outtakes that are narrated by JC himself, explaining what's wrong in each shot or piece of action. Highly informative, really makes you think about how much effort is put into a sequence like this when you watch something like The Young Master. +

The seventh section talks about Jackie on set of Rush Hour. The narrator explains about what is happening on the scene that is being shown and what JC is trying to achieve in the scene. After that, a short conclusion comes in, explaining what has been said to you, and a summary. The eighth, and final section, has JC talking about his future aims, what you have seen what has been uncovered by JC himself and what YOU can do to become a action chorographer.

Jackie, I feel has directed this piece very well, pointing at camera at where it should be, using a lot of different camera angle to focus on what he is trying to say. JC uses, most of the time, mid shots to film this, some times using a very panned out shot to show something like a fight. Jackie explains his views very clearly, even though I feel he has uses onomatopoeia too much, (too many 'BOOM!'s), and he does describe everything as beautiful, which explains his education and lack of vocabulary...

Overall, highly informative, well worth getting and very interesting, especially if you're a huge JC fan, (like me).

Lam Ching Ying plays a Taoist priest (again...) who in the Ming Dynasty gets the task to exterminate a Japanese ghost warrior. With the help of his understudies Tortoise (Gabriel Wong from Flirting Scholar) and Fung (Shing Fui On from The Killer) they manage to trap him but something goes awfully wrong at that moment. A time portal is opened and all of them are transported the present Hong Kong. Trapped and confused in an unfamiliar era they must now re-unite to again try and eliminate the ghost warrior...

To review directors and directing is not always the most easy thing for me to do. Guys like Wilson Yip has a very distinguishable style that is easy to discuss and analyze but then there are guys like Yip Shing Hong who doesn't bring a lot of attention to themselves as directors. Nothing wrong with that but in there you must balance between being straightforward and interesting as opposed to straightforward and outright dull. Yip Shing Hong does well though, mostly the most during the opening montage which is interspersed with the credits. What we get to see are slow and quiet shots of Joey Wong being prepared for a ceremony of some kind. We can basically add up ourselves how it's going to fit into the story but there's still a very nice sense of mystery around this very atmospheric opening. There's use of slow motion which have been seen and done before but nonetheless fits and enhances the mood quite a bit.

Unfortunately after this the main plot has trouble getting off the ground. On the plus side we get fairly good character introductions but Yip Shing Hong should've tried to get to the main plot point quicker than the 30 minutes it took. While the pacing isn't the most inspired, the movie does look very good photographically during the segments set in the past but I would've liked to experience a better sense of scope, something period pieces need to have. Even though it is a low budget production, the production values are quite high so it's a shame that an epic feeling wasn't fully there. When the film finally shifts to 1991 we've seen some lame comedy but when the situation for our characters radically changes, the comedy aspect becomes much more interesting. A whole slew of 'fish out of water' jokes are served up, which of course revolves around Lam Ching Ying and crew being totally confused about this modern world, and I'm happy to say that most of it is quite funny. Most laugh is generated when Lam Ching Ying gets sent to a mental hospital and have to deal with the severe whacked out people that inhabits his ward. Silly but fun.

The little plot that there now is flows pretty good at first but after a while it felt like it was almost forgotten by the team of filmmakers. Every scene was a small step forward but they also felt like just another comedy skit to pad out the running time with. Also the sub-plot involving Anthony Wong and his obsession with Joey Wong's felt really unbelievable and frankly unnecessary. Despite the negative remarks I think Yip Shing Hong did a fine job on this picture and he should feel like one of the reasons the movie does succeed on some levels.

We're also treated to a handful action- and fight scenes courtesy of veterans Poon Kwin Gam, Mak Fei Hung and Benz Kong To-Hoi, a team that has worked together, or in pairs, on quite a number of films. You could see their names in movies like As Tears Go By, Mongkok Story and Haunted Cop Shop. There's a high number of wire work used to create the action in An Eternal Combat but you won't see anything new in terms of that. There's one aspect I think the action works well together with and that is the editing. I've seen so many movies where people are flying everywhere while the camera doesn't capture any of it and the editor further ruins it by cutting every 1,5-2 seconds (watch Butterfly & Sword to see what I mean). In this movie however the action goes on for a sizeable amount of time before another angle is cut to and we still have a grasp of where we are and how the action scene is evolving. Very pleased with that considering the wire-fu craze had started to take off by 1991. In terms of fighting there's some basic swordplay on offer but nothing that really amazed me as such.

In 1997 Lam Ching Ying died of liver cancer, which came as a shock to many people. It was not just because he kept his illness secret from the industry but the fact that he was so loved by fans of Hong Kong movies. When I got the news, I had recently seen my first movie with him, which was Magic Cop, and it did affect and saddened me deeply. I think it was because Lam Ching Ying felt so interesting to watch no matter what role he took. After Mr. Vampire in 1985 he became synonymous with the Taoist priest character but even though he reprised it many times, he always made it a special experience for the viewer. As soon as he started practicing his magic on screen, the movie became good almost instantly and the same can be said for his work in An Eternal Combat. There's a sense of authority in his performance but he could tackle comedy in a very good way also. That latter aspect mostly involves his confusion with the world and situation he's in and it's a joy to watch him go through it. He's missed but lives on through the movies he made and that's a great consolation.

Joey Wong also experienced a similar thing like Lam Ching Ying after she appeared in the classic A Chinese Ghost Story. She also got typecast as basically the same character in that film in a number of other films but in this one she gets to play two parts, one in the past and one in the present. I've always thought that Joey Wong comes across better when she lets her beauty do the acting and especially in period wear she just eats up the screen. However when she gets to play the 1991-character in this movie, I have a more hard time accepting her as an actress. There's just not much talent there but nothing that brings the movie down. In supporting parts we see Gabriel Wong and Shing Fui On as Lam Ching Ying's understudies. They're not a reference example of THE great cinema comedic duo but in between the more or less unfunny scenes with them, they manage to display some chemistry and humor.

Chalk up another psychopath and rapist performance from Anthony Wong! As I mentioned, the plot involving him doesn't really work and Anthony didn't really have to be in this movie to be honest. He's strangely watchable though because of all the things he does without hesitation in movies. It's probably just work for him but he looks like he's enjoying it.

An Eternal Combat is quite entertaining but flawed in places. It's required viewing for Lam Ching Ying fans though and recommended overall.

Kwan (Jerry Ma) is a good student who seem to make friends in the wrong kind of crowd, most notably in the triad wannabe Kau (Yu Ip Sing). Kwan's main focus in life is making sure his mom gets the treatment she needs for her kidney disease. As time goes by he develops an unlikely friendship with Kau and to ease the health care of Kwan's mom, the two of them decide to pull off a dangerous scam...

It's always easier to write up a lengthy review when you have researchable background of most players involved in a certain production but with Fifteen Candles it was like starting from scratch literally. This is a low key drama and the directing style has to mirror that as well. Tan rarely uses any stylistic film tricks but instead lets it all play out in front of us, making the movie almost look like a documentary actually. That is a well worn cliché but I still felt that, in parts, that what I saw could've been real life moments caught by a film camera.

Tan and Jimmy Sin's screenplay doesn't offer a lot of new ideas but still feels fresh at certain times. First of all, I was glad that the triad part of the movie went out the door after a while. If it had stayed Fifteen Candles would've been too much of a conventional genre film I think. What makes this story more interesting is the fact that our main characters are only 15 years old and at a critical time in their lives. It's a time of choosing who you want to be and at a glance only one of the boys seem to have a future. Kwan has a dialogue with Kau where he plainly says that hard work will pay off even if you think you're at a dead end now. They then both take a chance that is up to debate whether it's necessary or not. Tan's message is spoken out but it is also subtle in it's own way. It's a thing where the audience needs to participate also and pick up the meaning of things. That's hard thing to do but Tan pulls it off mostly thanks to the natural abilities of the young actors.

The music is done by Lau Yee Tat who is either the actor we've seen in Juliet In Love and God Of Cookery or someone with the exact same name. Either way it's worth mentioning that it's not a movie with a huge amount of composed score cues but instead heavy guitar pieces dominate the audio. At certain intense moments it fits fairly well but mostly it just becomes annoying when the guitars loop the same piece over and over in several scenes. It is only towards the end that Lau Yee Dat shows off some traditional film score. It's a more tense part of the film and the score, combined with the editing of Yiu Tin Hung, does it's job ok. Probably the most famous name on the credits is Tung Wai (director of Hitman and action choreographer on Purple Storm) who provided the production with some small bits of action. Nothing too fancy, just your normal triad brawl in a restaurant and a similar scene in the school's toilet. Fifteen Candles doesn't need more and therefore I can't really say bad things about Tung Wai's work.

Among the actors there's a handful of new faces and only one veteran which is Law Koon-Lan (mother of Kwan). It's a very understated and warm performance which means no huge emotional outbursts but works all the better for it. She and Jerry Ma really looks like an actual mother and son couple and for Jerry I can't imagine it being hard to sink into his role with Law Koon-Lan in front of him. Jerry Ma's character was harder to understand fully and we don't always agree what choices he takes in his daily life. First we don't want to see him getting involved with someone like Kau since we fear he is going to go down hard and quick with him. After a while though their friendship doesn't involve the triad life anymore. Then Kwan finally comes off as very grounded and not only the written words makes the character interesting, it's the nicely detailed performance by Jerry also. He looks the part and only a few scenes bear the trait of a newcomer to the industry.

Yu Ip Sing grows both as a character and an actor during the course of the movie. His character arc is nowhere near original (troubled kid with a drub abusive father) but thanks to his natural acting and energy, it becomes a little more than just a tired cliché on-screen persona. His interplay with Jerry Ma feels genuine enough and ranks as the movie's second strength next to Kwan and his mom's relationship.

If there's something to complain about it's that Tan and Jimmy Sin has written too many characters. Some of them seem like they're going to have a huge part in the film but sort of disappears completely when the movie focuses more on the main characters only. Especially Kwan's girlfriend Ping just gets left out without any logical explanation.

Fifteen Candles isn't going to be seen by many people but for those seeking movies in all genres, I think it's worth a look. Certainly far from a classy film but interesting nonetheless.

An opera troupe led by Master Sheng (Lam Ching Ying) gets an a unwilling visit from a ghost who's main purpose and drive seems to be sabotaging the preparations and performance for the troupe. By drawing it out and making it talk it is revealed that the ghosts remains are buried under the opera stage. It's dug out and buried in a better place but something goes wrong a while after the burial...

Actor, action choreographer and director are all areas where Chin Yuet Sang has been working in over the years but despite a big list of credits, he's never become one of the industries high profiles. In Hocus Pocus he is both directing and acting and we'll start with the filmmaker Chin Yuet Sang. He chooses a nice 2.35:1-frame to show off this production and the sets and surroundings do their part in making us feel at home in the period setting. Many of the sets seem familiar and were probably standing sets at the Golden Harvest studious. The stairwell reminded me of the one in the brothel seen in Iron Fisted Monk to just give one example. You do save money that way but it doesn't make Hocus Pocus feel very unique in the already crowded genre of movies.

While there are flaws to be find the director keeps things moving along quite nicely. The main problem is a loose script that doesn't kick in the main plot element until very late in the movie. It can be argued that Chin Yuet Sang is trying to build up tension and excitement regarding the motivation of the ghost but he's not skilled enough to have a grip on an audience like that. While we wonder when something is going to happen, he fills out the movie with a handful of scenes where the troupe members are trying to scare each other through practical jokes and whatnot. These are sporadically amusing but doesn't elevate the plot and ultimately feels like padding of the running time. The only really stand out aspect of Chin Yuet Sang's direction is a couple of well executed point of view- and tracking shots, especially one towards the end.

The best aspect of Hocus Pocus is the various forms of choreography from Sammo Hung and his stunt group. It's mostly exhilarating to see the different scenes of Chinese opera being performed. Even though the singing may be hard to grasp for us westerners, the acrobatics are first rate and fun to watch. The standout scene is one where two performers are manipulated by the ghost while performing a complex fight scene on stage. Here the camerawork and the choreography triumph and it's shame this was the only awesome bit in the film. The finale is also fairly exciting (for a 1984 production) with some nice wire- and stunt work on display. There's no big end fight though but it wouldn't be very logic in terms of the little story that there is. Not Sammo's best work but certainly nice to see his touch on this production.

Stephen Tung is a respected action choreographer and he's also had time to sit in the directing chair on a few occasions (Hitman for example). As an actor, this movie is more known and he's also seen as Chow Yun-Fat's informer in Hard Boiled. I'm glad he decided to work behind the camera but he certainly doesn't hurt this film in the acting department. He isn't leading man material but displays enough charm and energy as well as adequate performing in the action moments in the film.

The late, great Lam Ching Ying has a supporting role in this pre-Mr. Vampire part and what's always a joy to see in his acting is the sense of authority he projects. He is someone to look up to and respect and even though he's not a Taoist priest in this one, there's still some good old magic he performs while fighting the ghosts. Director Chin Yuet Sang himself plays the naughty ghost under a great deal of prosthetic make-up. His performance results in a few laughs but, as with the movie itself, isn't too memorable.

Hocus Pocus is a passable time-waster but not really essential viewing in the Hong Kong horror-comedy genre.

King (Andy Lau from the first God Of Gamblers movie) is a professional gambler who ends up in prison after murdering a man, at the gambling table, in self defense. Behind him he leaves a pregnant wife that he's neglected almost totally in favor of the cards. 5 years later King is released and wants nothing but to re-unite with his wife and the child he's never seen. He enlists small time hoodlum Dragon (Nick Cheung, who also appeared in the subsequent Conman-movies) to help him locate his wife while also teaching him a thing or two about the art of gambling. King himself does not really want to return to the tables but is forced into action when the close ones to him are put into jeopardy...

A little bit into The Conman 1999 I started to see a movie I didn't expect from Wong Jing. I had in mind a very loud and flashy entry into the gambling-genre (with SEVERAL instances of bad humor inserted at every corner). While those traits are present it seems that the director wanted to surprise his audiences a little by making a slightly more warm and human movie. He does manage to maintain that idea almost all the way through and credit must also go to Andy Lau's presence that helps to realize some of Wong Jing's intentions. There are still a few things that does not work in this movie, mainly towards the end where the wacky and frankly annoying side of Wong Jing's way of filmmaking shines through. In terms of gambling scenes Wong Jing is a veteran and once again he creates some nice tension through editing and a nice array of stylish camera angles.

The script could be seen as a rehash of movies like God of Gamblers Return but that's being quite picky. However there are other flaws to be found in Wong Jing's script. There really is only one interesting and fairly fleshed out character in this and that is King. It's evident that a little time went into giving him some depth and sympathy without the character being overly complex. But no other character has an arc and comes off as rather flat and lifeless, making them pretty meaningless to the story. The movie would've worked so much better if Wong Jing had given the main characters around Andy a little depth at least. Despite huge flaws like this, actors like Nick Cheung and Waise Lee are rarely boring to look at, so the movie doesn't drag when they're on screen.

At 107 minutes, The Conman 1999 is too long and the final section in particular needed some trimming. Wong Jing divides his time between the big final gambling showdown and the World Cup Soccer final of 1998! In the movie that game is arranged so that the result will favor King and it's a fun idea at the beginning. The director does become very self indulgent (he makes an appearance himself in this part of the movie) and busy with the soccer bit that he almost forgets the card game. Therefore he does not reach triumphs in excitement and tension that similar showdowns in his previous movies have.

That Wong Jing loves childish and sex-related honor is no news to fans of Hong Kong Cinema. That it turns up in this movie is not really surprising either but he keeps it almost at a minimum and instead gives us some more human comedic moments between the characters. When his 'trademark' comedy does appear it's so outrageously out of place and incredibly non-funny that you can't help to wonder if he's the only one who finds it amusing. Having said that, I think he has the viewing audience in mind and in Hong Kong this type of broad humor plays well. If he had an international audience in mind, he would be better off trying out more of the subtle humor that he can pull off if he TRIES.

Star Andy Lau is the only actor that is given a chance to do good work since the mentioned script problems doesn't apply to his character. I always like it when Andy plays a more quiet and human character like in Running Out Of Time and A Moment Of Romance and we get to see some of that in this movie also. His journey as a character isn't something new but combined with Wong Jing's written character and Andy's performance, there's sympathy and humanity created in King. The other cast including Nick Cheung, Athena Chu and Waise Lee are your typical stock characters and is only really as good as the script allows them to be. I do think Nick did what he could and came off as less annoying in terms of wacky sidekicks to the hero.

The Conman 1999 was still a minor surprise coming from Wong Jing. I don't think he'll ever tone down the aspects that made him 'famous' so this is probably as good as we'll see him do these days.

Wan Tin-Sau (Stephen Chow) is a dedicated and aspiring actor but he has the habit of screwing up even small parts he gets. In between that he also teaches the art of acting and tries to put on plays in his local town. It's through his teachings that he meets club hostess Lau Piu-Piu (the lovely Cecilia Cheung from Legend Of Zu) who wants to learn some acting tricks in order to make more money from her male customers. She gets the desired effect and the two also fall in love along the way. If that wasn't good enough Wan Tin-Sau gets the opportunity to play a leading role in a film against megastar Sister Cuckoo (Karen Mok from God Of Cookery). Will he rise to the task or fail miserably again?

By now Stephen Chow and Lee Lik-Chi work very well together as directors. Over the years with him by his side, Stephen has really fine-tuned his comedy and directing skills, which resulted in him handling the latter duties all by himself on Shaolin Soccer. I can't swear that this is the truth but the ideal way of working between the two should be that Lee Lik-Chi focuses more on the style of filmmaking while Stephen does his own brand of crazy comedy.

After a strange opening shot by the sea the movie kicks into high gear almost immediately. Stephen's knowledge and great vision of comedy is quickly apparent in the scene where his character, as an extra, manages to screw up a long and demanding John Woo-esque shot (where Karen Mok also makes her first appearance). What makes this scene so awesome is that it's choreographed just like a big serious, balletic shootout, only with more doves. That fact makes the scene almost feel like it's taken straight out of a typical John Woo-film, despite that it's actually a parody. Truly excellent and not only Bruce Lee seems to be Stephen's idol in Hong Kong Cinema. Big credit has to go to action choreographer Bruce Law though who fires on all cylinders in this scene. I first saw his work on Kirk Wong's Gunmen and it's clear that his contribution to a project can mean a lot.

Throughout King Of Comedy I found that, by this point in his career, Stephen had the ability to make any comedy work, no matter how absurd it was. That's not at all easy to do and not something Wong Jing could do in his movies for instance. The visual humor dominates King Of Comedy and there's only a few moments where the humor is more dialogue based. The subtitles do their best at explaining but as a non-Cantonese speaker, these moments didn't really click for me.

From a filmmaking standpoint the 92 minutes fly by quite fast and the script manages to develop the things it should. Neither director seems to want to distinguish themselves stylistically, which of course is a good thing in a comedy. We do see some effective uses of dissolves to indicate time passing but even within those the directors can't resist to insert more silly (read: funny) humor. That works well though and neither the camera language and the joke feels forced or unwarranted, if there ever is such a thing in a Stephen Chow-movie.

The script and the plot within has a very basic structure and theme, in other words boy meets girl, boy gets chance to fame and fortune and so on. However, a simple structure does not generate a bad movie in this case. It has bugged me that in movies like God Of Cookery there's drama that the viewer doesn't fully know whether it's actually comedy or drama but in King Of Comedy there's no question that the drama is actually drama. I really liked this approach which leads us the structure of the second half of this film.

The more crazy comedy is toned down and we instead get to see a very sweet romance develop between Stephen and Cecilia's characters. Sure, that element is a familiar one but there's so much chemistry in and between the two that the word cliché never once popped up in my head. Structure-wise the movie has a fairly serious fault though. A more thriller oriented plot device takes place during the latter part of the film and it came too much out of left field for me to consider it a successful choice. It doesn't feel smooth or right to go from a sweet romance to a shootout and if I had to grade this movie I would've pushed it down a bit because of this.

Our leading man whom you'll know by know has not forgotten to develop his skills in front of the camera and King Of Comedy shows some very good acting from Stephen. It's of course the comedy that dominate the performance and it's the more subtle mannerisms (both in comedy and drama) that makes him so good. His facial expressions, his characters long rants on how good acting is done and the romantic side are all combined wonderfully. Certainly one of his better performances in my opinion.

I haven't seen his female co-star Cecilia Cheung do anything really challenging in movies yet but this role as a romantic interest to Stephen seems to suit her very well. She's not just beautiful, she also has full focus on her character and performs it very professionally. Her scenes with Stephen are really elevated thanks to their excellent chemistry and especially the kissing scene is a unique movie moment.

Karen Mok (who was made up as really ugly in God Of Cookery) doesn't have a lot of screen time and her character seems rather one-sided up to a certain point in the film. Through a simple moment of sympathy the character of Cuckoo becomes memorable though. Ng Man Tat (from Shaolin Soccer and most of Stephen's other films) also turns up but has a smaller and only partially whacked out character to play here. I've seen him do better work but he sure does belong in a Stephen Chow-production no matter what.

Despite one flaw in the narrative I can honestly say that King Of Comedy is very good. Stephen Chow breaks new ground for himself and he definitely is Hong Kong's King Of Comedy.

Cop Heung Ming (Yuen Biao from Prodigal Son) meets his ex-wife, a narcotics inspector, late on night in a restaurant to discuss whether they might have a future together. Afer he leaves the restaurant Yiu (Pat Ha from Princess D) , a hired assassin enters and brutally executes her victim, Heung Ming's ex-wife. A crushed Heung Ming decided to go after the woman but when he catches her he realises that both his and her life is in grave danger. The people who hired Yiu are out to silence them both and will do anything to achive that goal...

Alfred Cheung (director and star of Paper Marriage) has here directed a thriller that is quite faithful to the formula set by the genre itself. I often talk about clichés and how they can hurt a film and while there are a number of those present in this movie, they are handled with grace and don't bring the movie down at all. Alfred clearly had a clear vision of what this movie should be and one of it's greatest strengths is the element of surprise contained throughout. Ok, some moments you could figure out but combined with such a dark and grim tone, some scenes feels like you're being smacked in the face many times over. We are forced to absorb the events in this world and are taken on a journey that may or may not end happily.

The beginning is very moody and atmospheric but still done in a simple way by Alfred. Even though it's done that way, we're hooked from the beginning. The mood mentioned feels dark but when the brutal murder at the restaurant takes place, we're truly shocked and the movie has a firm grip on the viewer. This scene is indeed very graphic and the movie has, what seemed to me, a very realistic approach to the way violence is depicted (maybe not towards the end though). In other words, no John Woo-esque balletic shootouts here! Some viewers may feel slightly disturbed by the mood and the graphic violence and even though some characters come and go fast, their demise still packs quite a punch either emotionally or on the shock scale. Movies of today feeds ut with violence as entertainment but once in a while you need a dose of reality presented here in On The Run. It works as a reminder of the horrible nature of violent acts. Not that this movie should and will be used as an educational film to showcase my points but compare a light action movie like Gen-X Cops to this one and you'll see where I'm coming from. To close off the directing remarks I have to say that Alfred's simple but solid way of doing dialogue scenes also really elevates On The Run since we need to listen to what's being said, not run around our characters with the camera. His best work in terms of this is probably in most scenes with Yuen Biao and Pat Ha.

The movie feels like a low budget project but Alfred uses that fact and creates, together with cinematographer Wong Wang Kei, a very gritty look to the film. There are strong colours in there but they are mostly courtesy of the bright lights of Hong Kong. I'm nog big fan of shooting with distinctive colours in a contemporary and modern setting but when they are part of the environment it works better. Other than that it's a dead and colourless palette on display and the movies theme and mood are nicely enhanced by the work of Wong Wang Kei. The score by Violet Lam is used sparringly but also creates great tension and excitement whenever it kicks in.

Yuen Biao will always be known as one of the kung-fu brothers of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. While Jackie aand Sammo have managed to break into the market as leading men, Yuen has not been as lucky. It's nothing wrong with his presence and charisma but not all cinema audiences appreciate real talent. In On The Run he really showed that he had what it took to carry a movie set in the modern day. He only relies minimally on his kicking and punching skills and instead brings to the screen a marvellous performance. Heung Ming is a pure victim and is unwillingly drawn into this hunt with the killer off a loved one of his. We as an audience know he's hurting but he has to prioritize certain things in order to survive and one of them is not to take revenge on Yiu. Heung Ming is written with enough depth for a thriller and through the words and Yuen Biao's acting, the character is allowed to breathe more. This is THE best role I've seen Yuen Biao undertake outside of the kung-fu genre. Many thinks Yuen's best scene is the heartbreaking one with his daughter towards the end but I loved the scene when he's talking on the phone and realising who is after him and Yiu. Just watch his face as it goes numb when he realises...

Pat Ha's role is also fairly complex and well performed. From the beginning we think Yiu is totally devoid of emotion and while that's partly true, the pairing with Heung Ming and his daughter really brings out the sympathetic side in her character. She is still determined regarding her reasons for doing what she did but since she has drawn innocents into the web of violence, she must defend them and herself. Pat Ha is a great looking woman but has a tough aspect to her character that makes it believeable when she goes into action. That's not an easy combination to pull off but Pat Ha does so. Charlie Chin (from My Lucky Stars) is the main villain of the piece and I was unsure of whether he was going to work as a menacing threat to our main characters. No need to worry, Charlie finds, in his acting, what is needed to express the pure coldness of his character and creates quite a memorable role here.

As part of Charlie Chin's gang of henchmen we see some familiar faces to fans of Hong kong cinema, namely Yuen Wah (bad guy from Eastern Condors), Lo Lieh (who had a nice role in Miracles) and Philip Ko (also in Eastern Condors and several other prolific productions of the 80s). While this gang in certain scenes are scary, I mostly laughed whenever they turned up on screen. Why? Somehow I found it funny that they always turned up in group. I can't explain it really well so just watch the film and see what I mean. Sadly this trio almost kills the ending of the movie due to some horrendous overacting (particularly from Yuen Wah) but this is soon forgotten when the climactic end fight scene takes place between Yuen Biao and Charlie Chin. It's not a stylized and choreographed fight as such but more a 'fight for your life' and a really brutal one. Due to what the characters have been through, there lies genuine emotion in the air which makes it more plausible that it's executed the way it is.

This and many scenes are in short very brutal and that is what you could say of On The Run as a movie also. Alfred Cheung's movie should be watched by any fan of Hong Kong cinema but don't expect going away from it being overcomed with happy feelings.

Wong Chi Hang (Anthony Wong from Hard Boiled) runs the Eight Immortals Restaurant in Macau. There lies an aura of mystery behind him and why he owns the restaurant though. The previous owner and his family suddenly vanished and according to Wong he was handed over the establishment. Soon a bag of chopped up human body parts are washed up on the shores of Macau...

The year before this wave of Cat III true crime-films started with Billy Tang and Danny Lee's Dr. Lamb. The structure of The Untold Story reminds more than just a little of the one in Billy and Danny's movie which isn't completely odd since Law Gam Fai wrote both. It may not be fair to criticize though since both movies are based on real life events and what we see is fairly close to what happened in both cases. For director Herman Yau it was the first venture into horror/thriller-movies and nowadays that is what he is mostly known for here in the west. There are qualities to be found in Herman Yau the director (he has also acted as cinematographer on a few films including Legend Of Zu) but they're always not apparent. As I noted in my review of Ebola Syndrome the director couldn't quite find a good pace and rhythm to the film. Here however things flow better but it feels like we have two movies trapped in one. One good and one bad.

The Untold Story is of course famous for it's very graphic depiction of violence. We're rarely spared the details of the acts and the various murders committed by Anthony Wong's character are right up in the face of the viewer to a pretty high degree. Effects wise this production ranks above the standard for a 1993 production which means we get to see a lot of the effort by the effects team. What Herman does though is sometimes turn away from the bloodletting by placing the camera and utilizing different angles without fully showing what is going on. The overall effect of disgust and shock is still made clear though, believe me. This way of handling some of the violence made the whole experience less disturbing for me though.

Since it's extreme violence that's being shown it's important to not make it entertaining, especially since this is based on true events. To me, nothing in The Untold Story is glorified. The killings are horrible, the killer is horrible and we get to witness such a cold and cruel side of reality that we wouldn't dare to dream of even. Then the argument arises that out of respect to the victims families you shouldn't be so graphic. That is a valid argument but I would rather have the whole film unmade than to shy away from exactly how disgusting the murders were. It happened and can happen again somewhere else in the world. I have full respect for what the filmmakers did with these sections of the film and it feels like Herman's intentions were realized.

Chow Wai Kei provides some solid cinematography in this film. The murders take place in the restaurant which itself is seems up and painted to give the impression of a slaughterhouse. Chow Wai Kei then makes it looks even more cold and bleak which works effectively with Herman's direction. Jonathan Wong's (also composer of Dr. Lamb) minimal score doesn't break any new ground but kicks in nicely during the intense moments in the film. The music has an eerie doomsday-feeling over it and is another aspect that the movie benefits from.

That's the parts of the movie that does work, now time for the parts that doesn't. Whenever our 'hero' police force are on screen the movie almost turns into a slapstick-comedy. These contrasts between violence and comedy are in every other Hong Kong film but it's rare when the humor inserted actually is funny! Same with The Untold Story and the constant below the belt jokes, like the police men teasing Emily Kwan because they don't find her pretty, gets old even before they start. I have a strong feeling that Wong Jing may have been lurking behind the scenes. It's my understanding that Hong Kong audiences quite like this type of humor even if it's an ultra serious film. In this film however the gap between violence and comedy is so large that I just can't understand why the filmmakers insisted on so much comedy-attempts. The only time the humor does work is in the first murder scene where the victim dies with a firm grip on Wong's foot. Very darkly humorous but still a touch of humor that seems more appropriate if you must have it.

Another aspect of the movie that is shown in full detail is the high level of police brutality. Wong Chi Hang does get caught eventually and the cops waste no time giving him a physical hell. Again, this may be true to the real life events and it's been seen in movies before. Sure, Wong deserves severe punishment but in this case it's should be up to the justice system and the prison itself to punish him. At moments we do feel sorry for Wong but I think Herman balances that line of not letting him became fully sympathetic. We still see enough signs of him being the monster that he is even amidst the punishment he is the subject of.

I must say that I think the supporting cast of this movie deserve some praise (especially Julia Lee) for the courage they display throughout. It couldn't have been easy or fun to shoot these intense and violent scenes, whether you were behind or in front of the camera (actually Herman says that there was a light atmosphere on set so...). Especially the rape scene and the finale are incredibly strong. That cast and Anthony Wong himself are the movies true assets. There's no doubt that Anthony performs his role well here. We're completely convinced of the evil in Wong Chi Hang and he literally is embodied by this terrific actor. The only quibble I have was during a moment or two outside of the violence Anthony's performance feels ever so slightly too intense.

As written the character isn't fully realized though. We do get some back story to him in the movies opening flashback but then when the movie jumps ahead a few years we're supposed to believe he is evil straight of the bat. But what truly made him that way? Was he shaped over the years to become this killing machine or what? It's never made totally clear but Anthony's acting is so strong that you tend to forget to question the lack of proper character arc.

Danny Lee plays a cop (again...) and it's really evident that he has taken full advantage of being a producer of The Untold Story His character almost always enters the police station with a beautiful woman with him (although he admits that they're hookers) and for any particular reason or purpose? Well, Herman explains on the commentary that he wanted to change the typical cop image Danny has in movies but it doesn't become any better, only worse.. Danny can act when he tries to but in these Cat III-productions he's been really average. As someone once told me about a Danny Lee performance in another movie: 'He could've phoned his performance in'.

Herman Yau's The Untold Story is a good film despite my problems with the humor. As they say, it's not a movie for the faint of heart but for those who can stand it, it's not a waste of time at all.

Peter (Eason Chan from If U Care...) meets June (Shu Qi from The Transporter) at a rave party and despite her odd mood swings, Peter can't help but to slowly fall in love with her. As they get to know each other June tells him that she can see wandering ghosts, a revelation Peter doesn't take too seriously. As time goes by more and more strange things start to happen and Peter realises that he have to take June's claims seriously. The question is whether it's him or June who lies in grave danger...

That Ann Hui took on this project felt exciting from the start since she's more associated with dramas like Boat People, Story of Woo-Viet and the recently acclaimed July Rhapsody. One thought I had though was that Ann would go for a full on commercial movie with Visible Secret but you soon realise that she's hidden a much smarter movie than that under the glossy surface. With Abe Gwong's carefully structured script Ann creates a very low-key and slowly unveiling ghost/romance story which seems to have divided fans into two camps. The 100 minute running time requires your full attention since this movie isn't really over until it's over.

We get a taste of the supernatural elements of the movie during the opening and some sections to follow but to give the characters and the love story between Eason and Shu some depth, Ann consciously concentrates on them for a while. Her experience really shows since she maintains interest and commitment from the viewer during this quite slow paced part of the film. Much has to do with the performances and chemistry she carves out of Eason and Shu and to get good acting out of idols like those two isn't always a given thing. Real characters are in the end created in the two and makes this movie more special than other ones out there, albeit in a subtle way. Their relationship is therefore well established when the ghost part slowly takes over again. I say ghost because it's more of that than real horror like The Eye and Visible Secret deliberately doesn't try to score high on the fright scale because of that choice. There is a creepy atmosphere present at appropriate moments though which may result in something jumping out at you or perhaps not. Ann has fun playing with the audience and in some scenes we're kind of on the edge of our set only to be utterly fooled when nothing happens. As I mentioned, you have to really focus on what's going on and some viewers may not have been prepared for that or the slow pace.

Ann Hui seemed to have worked closely with DP Arthur Wong to combine her very straightforward way of directing with his knowledge of any way of shooting. If she'd chosen to make the movie more commercial then we might have seen a visual style akin to an MTV-video for 100 minutes but thankfully she holds back and only use a distinctive visual style when needed. The viewer has to get a good look at the events to take it all in and thanks to the restrained camera language the plot is made clear throughout. In the ghost scenes the level of intensity is higher and here the choice of angles reflect that also. What that means is we often get tilted angles in combination with camera push in's and they're used quite effectively.

Master-cinematographer Arthur Wong (Purple Storm and the upcoming Highbinders) has no small part in making this movie work the way it does. Some of you may know that I'm no fan of photography that uses one strong colour in the entire frame to reflect and set different moods. Visible Secret do look very stylized but at the same time is devoid of strong colors, making the entire world look bleak and slightly surreal. Now and then we get scenes that are totally blue or green and to be honest I didn't find any choices to fully serve the story. However, after a while I ignored it and was sucked into the story and it's a real testament to our director and DP to make someone like me forget about what I criticized before. Even in Gen-X Cops I didn't mind Arthur's photography-choices and I think in a lesser cinematographers hands, that and this movie would've seemed worse.

Eason Chan made his debut in my DVD-player with this movie. Abe Gwong has written a character that sure feels realized and fleshed out but you can't judge that 30, 50 or even 80 minutes into the film. It's only right at the end you can start doing that. Eason plays it fairly low-key without resorting to huge hysterics like other characters in the same situation would. His rough-look also suits Peter very well and he's stumbling his way through life not really knowing what to do even if he has skill to do things. If Eason has any more range beyond this remains for me to see but it was a good introduction to him.

Shu Qi has shown that she isn't just a pretty face after award winning turns in movies like Portland Street Blues. Her almost gothic look in this film doesn't make her less beautiful or less of an actress either. She sees ghosts and has to examine that further making her feel very disjointed and even frustrating in Peter's eyes. This is played in a effective and most importantly professional way by Shu Qi and while the role doesn't elevate her status, it doesn't hurt it either. Also in nice supporting performances we see James Wong, the nominated Kara Hui and Wayne Lai.

Visible Secret is wrapped up nicely towards the end and it is that far you have to go with this movie before deciding what you thought of it. I don't guarantee that you will be satisfied but for me this was a very enjoyable and fairly chilling tale from Ann Hui.

Tong (Lau Ching Wan from La Brassiere but billed as Sean Lau in this movie) receives a bomb in his mail of the more emotional kind. It's his wife April's (Teresa Lee from Big Bullet) wedding ring. She lives and works in Canada and have for the last three years wanted Tong to come and settle down with her. He has not been willing to completely quite his aspiring musical career and now April has decided she don't want to wait no more. He now realises how serious this is and boards the next plane to Vancouver in order to perhaps save his marriage. He's too late however since she has begin driving to the town of Banff where her advertising agency is arranging a concert in association with a beer company. Tong now has to get himself and his bare grasp of English to Banff.

Without knowing it both April and Tong stay at the same Bed & Breakfast inn, run by Matthew (Nicholas Lea from The X-Files) and his wife Natasha (Bif Naked). They never realise they're in the same house and when Natasha decides to leave after an argument with her husband, Tong tags along since she is going to Banff to sing at the concert. April is still at the inn however and talks Matthew into going with her to Banff, in order to perhaps save HIS marriage. Now the mixed couple are both on roadtrips and starts to bond with each other...

Got all that? Michael Parker's romantic comedy only seems difficult to follow on paper so don't worry. Lunch With Charles follows a straight and recognizable formula that wouldn't have stood out as much if it was set in Hong Kong or America for that matter. We don't get a new take on the rom/com-genre but the movie is greatly enhanced by it's Canadian setting and scenery. Michael chooses story instead of visual flare and the only time the camera draws attention to itself is during the road trip where magnificent views of Canada and it's landscape is on display. It's the photography that makes Lunch With Charles so much more noticeable than other romantic comedies.

The script breaks no new ground but manages to throw in some points when it comes to the culture clash between the westerners and the Hong Kong people. Interestingly enough it seems that the Hong Kong people are those that gets the most frustrated when dealing with the, as they call them, gwailos. Whether or not that is a true or exaggerated critique of the Hong Kong people I honestly can't say but Michael never turns the issue into one where the movie chooses sides.

You've probably guessed that with a character in a foreign country and poor language skills, the fish out of water-gags are not far away. It's set up that Tong has resisted the idea of emigrating but now suddenly has to confront the country head on. It's a new land, new language and also, to some extent, a new culture for him. What makes these different situations with Tong, not knowing anything or the language, funny is the fact that he thinks he's doing and saying things correct enough. His surroundings react but make little noise about it which, to me, seems more real and accurate. In other movies, the character would've ended up beaten or in trouble so kudos to Michael for going against the clichés. The second half of the movie lays low when it comes to the humour and concentrates more on the emotional aspects of the bonding between the couples. Dialogue is simple but still snappy in parts without coming off as cool. That fits certain movies but not this one.

The music by Simon Kendall draws it's inspiration from Ireland (the band featured in the movie plays Irish flavoured music) and is beautiful and well integrated. Even Lau Ching Wan gets to sing with Bif Naked on the track that rolls over the end credits that combines Tong's canto-pop influenced music with the Irish sound. That he does that feels kind of out of place since he's never really exposed to that music in the movie but it sounds nice anyway.

Lunch With Charles came out quietly and I just happened to bump into it while browsing Lau Ching Wan's filmography. I don't think you could say that this is an attempt by him to break into the international market (it's just a small film) but he does prove that he can be as good in an English speaking part as he is when acting in his native tongue. His English is very good and even if they have dumbed it down for the sake of character, it's miles ahead of the delivery by Andy Lau and Simon Yam in Fulltime Killer for example. Here the emotions needed to be conveyed in English gets through and that sure didn't happen in the above mentioned movie. Neither he or any other actor have complex character arcs but since the movie doesn't aim that high, the characters are kept simple. We get a backstory to Tong and through the writing and acting, his development is very accessible throughout. The majority of Lau Ching Wan's scenes are with Bif Naked (a singer in real life) and they work well together as two people who are from different worlds both on film and reality. As Natasha, Bif displays more of a wildflower aspect and a view on life that is more of the liberated kind. Through their bonding they both learn from each other and the movie doesn't have to offer any more deep meaning, between the two, than that.

Teresa Lee annoyed the hell out of me in Big Bullet but thankfully displays very little of the goofiness in her role as April. She fits the character well and shows an acting style that suits her more I think. April is a career woman that has become very alone and forgotten about the beauty of life without someone by her side over the years. Matthew is the one that makes her smile again and again this pair also learns about each other and themselves over the course of the movie.

Nicholas Lea has a face and presence that is more suiting for tough guy-characters, as proven through his role in The X-Files and in the John Woo produced (but short-lived) series Once A Thief. His character has built up some frustration since he senses his marriage is falling apart and while Nicholas still delivers his some of his lines in tough guy-mode, it's still a compelling and gentler side of him we see in this movie. Nicholas also acted as an executive producer on the film.

At the end of the film, the characters have all made a critical choice and Michael Parker's choices are going to be questioned. It's still his choices and we have to accept that. For me it didn't fully feel like the right choice but that has more to do with the fact that it was unexpected. You tend to expect a Hollywood feel to the end of certain movies but Canadian cinema doesn't seem to want to rehash old tired clichés. The other main complaint I have is that the main characters only meet through one hell of a coincidence but you buy it for the moment and move on. Such things can destroy a movie for me but this one didn't.

Michael Parker's Lunch With Charles is a pleasant and sweet little romantic tale. It does not make a huge impact but what it does have is a great performance by Lau Ching Wan and a look at a country rarely seen in movies.

The Group in the movie refers to the 6 men and woman who all grew up in an orphanage run by their beloved Father Martin. Now grown up they all live by his life philosophy that you should do one good deed every year, even if the methods used aren't good. One day they get the shocking news that Father Martin have been killed, while doing volounteer work for the starving people in Somalia, and now they decide to gather together money for that cause. They go through with a armed robbery but run into complication when another gang robs the money truck they are after. They eventually get 'their' money back but more problems arise...

The Group offers more bad things than good so let's good the good out of the way first. As a director Alfred didn't stand out stylistically in On The Run and 12 years later he seems to be doing the same thing (which should be seen as a good thing). There's simple setups and a basic camera language combined with his use of scenes with colours that is most dominant but it doesn't intrude on the overall viewing experience. The action scenes were a little heavy on shaky cam though, which I'm not a fan of. An ok job technically but narrative wise this movie falls almost flat.

The opening shows off some promise though. After being subjected to a brutal baseball bat murder that turns out to be part of a movie shoot within the movie, Alfred moves on with separate character introductions. Each character get a minute worth of intro which is good since main characters often needs some background for us to relate to them through a movie. It's also soon made clear that The Group isn't going to be a gritty and violent movie but instead a lighthearted crime-film. The jokes aren't constant (some jokes are rather macabre actually) but still outnumbers the bloodshed. The group in the movie is supposed to be a mixture between what Robin Hood did and a Mission Impossible type of gang (we even get a reference in one scene to the latter) but, frankly, I didn't buy that these people could be all this. That they from orphans have grown up to become different things in life is plausible but the whole thief aspect of their characters seemed unbelieveable to me. Much have to do with the presence of the actors or rather non-presence since no one truly embodies and brings life to their respective character. The actors and actresses just seems to go through the motions and were probably only looking forward to the paycheck at the end of filming. Of course the script wasn't that strong to begin with so I'm not solely blaming the cast for their non-commitment. The script isn't that focused either and throws us into situations we know should probably happen but we still get confused as to what is going on.

All this happened quite early in the film and any hope that the movie could save itself was basically lost at this point. There lies a small serious tone to the film which I hoped would take over but when we again hear the 'funny' music underneath a scene, The Group is back in failure-land. What this movie needed was more edge and a sense of real danger. Even though Alfred's intentions are not that, I still think it would have made the movie ok at least. The whole Robin Hood-theme is well meant and the message is delivered, it's just not that interestingly done.

There's a fair amount of gunplay in the film that also feels rather dull but I should stress that it's hard to come up with new ways to present that each time. Gunplay is still gunplay and if you go into the John Woo-style of doing it, you'll probably be labeled as a copycat. With the light tone in the movie, the action never seems dangerous and we're never convinced that our main characters will get hurt, something that doesn't create any tension. However, in the finale we see a much better combination between humour and gritty violence.

The ensemble of actors was, as mentioned, something that drew me to this film. While Francis, Anthony, Christine and Miriam looks like they're having half of a good time, they still act on autopilot but we do get some amusing moments between veterans Francis Ng and Anthony Wong. Francis does reach the passed-level in terms of acting through his performance during the finale. Here he pretends to be totally crazy while shooting (with blank bullets) anything he sees and we see glimpses of that great versatality Francis possesses. Too bad there wasn't more of that.

Alfred Cheung can do better and while I respect where he wanted to go with this film, it still becomes a poor feature in the end. There were moments that seemed promising but this reviewer was honestly waiting for The Group to end!

Uncle Jet (Francis Ng from The Mission) leaves his Hakka village for an apartment in the city. One day he finds, sutffed away in the closet, 99 unopened letters that are adressed to his neighbor Lok To (Michelle Reis from Healing Hearts). The letters turn out to be from Lok To's boyfriend Gala, who lives in France, who in his 100th letter broke up with Lok To since he never received any replies (the previous tennant stole the letters for stamps). Rather than just telling Lok To about the letters the super nice Jet decides to try and bring the two back together again. He approaches Lok To about opening a bakery and since she has experience baking bread, she accepts. It's a success and when Gala returns to Hong Kong, he looks up the talked about bakery to reunite with his girlfriend. Mission accomplished for Jet but during the course of befriending Lok To, he has developed feelings for her...

Bakery Amour's entire content is all executed according to the romantic comedy-blueprint but now and then you get a movie that doesn't try and reinvent the genre and just tell a familiar story in a compelling way. I enjoy most of these Hong Kong romantic comedies and while this one doesn't rival the great An Autumn's Tale, it's still noticeable amongst all the romantic comedies of late. It's a simple story about a nice guy who falls in love with a girl and simplicity sometimes works wonders for movies.

There are positive aspects but I'll start talking about some of the bad ones. First the movie starts off rather shaky and doesn't connect with the audiences like it wants to. It does quickly introduce the plot surrounding the letters but the overall flow is more jerky than anything else. There is more comedy in the beginning which feels a little out of place and forced but I did enjoy the shameless toilet humour. Uncle Jet always dictates his plans into a tape recorder while on the toilet and every time he flushes, something different happens. As expected the flow is found when our main characters get to know each other though. Surprisingly a plot device, that one would expect to occur much later, is dealt with pretty early on. That could've stopped the movie dead but Stephen keeps us interested in the story almost all the way. It's when he, for a section later in the film, tries to flesh out the relationship with Gala (Conray Chan) and his new girlfriend (Stephanie Che) that the movie becomes uninteresting and flat.. We do realise in these weaker moments what the strength of this movie is; the developing bond between Jet and Lo Tok as portrayed by Francis Ng and Michelle Reis.

Screenwriter Leung Chi San hasn't written two inredible complex and multi layered character, which is a good thing.. We get sufficient background and more is not needed since we're following their friendship, not a life's worth of experience. Francis arc is the most compelling in combination with his acting. He's an older man almost trapped in a younger boy's body after an entire child- and manhood in a village and while his dreams of being a detective seems naive, it's plausible to him. You just have to have the right mindset and Uncle Jet has that. Michelle's Lo Tok is less layered but, again, what we know is enough for us to care and want to follow her.

Francis Ng is the veteran actor here and I don't think he would've accepted the part if he didn't feel he could do something with it. He just nails everything from Jet's subtle mannerisms (like not looking anyone in the eyes) to his boyish charm. You do think of Tom Hank's Forrest Gump as possible inspiration for the acting and like him, Jet is not dumb, just slightly eccentric. Michelle Reis is, as always, gorgeous looking but I'm not sure if she has the range to pull off more complex characters like this. That's not totally bad because she has, like in Healing Hearts, good chemistry with her the leading man and proves to be a true asset to this story. In supporting parts we see Helena Law Lan (who also acted with Francis in Bullets Over Summer) as Jet's mother and Beast Cops's Stephanie Che.

Director Stephen Lo also deserve some credit for his work. Directing a romantic comedy may seem like an easy ticket to success but to tell a simple story like this must be equally hard and challenging. This genre doesn't require a lot of flashy style so here directing actors is a prime concern. Francis and Michelle can't do it on their own and Stephen has done well with churning out the performances out of these two (and the rest of the cast). His work won't be remembered through this but it seems like a step forward for him in the directing department.

Director of photography Chan Chi-Ying (Just One Look) makes sure this movie looks great but simple. The location work around Hong Kong is very nicely captured and especially the village scenes stand out. Music also plays a huge part in creating the very pleasant tone in Bakery Amour. Composer Leung Wai Kin scores many scenes with happy and joyful melodies which will further bring a smile to your face after seeing this.

Stephen Lo's movie isn't at all unique among all the romantic Hong Kong comedies. It's a perfect movie for the moment but you won't immediatly forget about it after the end credits. What I'm always going to remember about Bakery Amour is the wonderful performance by Francis Ng and that is enough for me to recommend this film.

Athena (Kelly Chen) is lonely and depressed. Her life is empty and she is desperately longing for someone she loved deerly that is now gone. The days and nights come and go without much surprises until one night when an angel crashes into her apartment terrace. He explains to her that he can't return to heaven until the Holy Door is opened plus he must gather love to be able to fly again. After a while he seems to easily get what he wants but he sees that Athena is missing something. He decides to try and help her...

One should not compare Metade Fumaca and Lavender because that would be unfair to Riley and secondly it's not a sequel. They do share some similarities when it comes to their respective running themes though. Metade Fumaca was about holding on to your memories while this movie talks about letting go off them and moving forward in life. What's good with Riley's writing and direction is that it doesn't truly spell out the meanings for us so we must invest some time in the film to grasp the whole. Lavender is more of a drama but Riley also makes comedy a well integrated aspect. Drama and comedy aren't elements that can't be mixed but the combination doesn't always succeed. Riley doesn't however join the gang of directors who mix and mash however they want and care less about the end result. By injecting the humour with human touches he nicely ties and connects it with the drama without it feeling out of place.

The sentimental and dramatic aspects does take over more and more as we along and from what I read people think Lavender is too sentimental. I can only speak for me personally when I say that I think our director kept it pretty mellow and soothing up to a certain point LATER in the film. When there is emotions projected on screen I think it's suits the story and knowing the characters, we're also affected by this. There lies a pretty odd mood over some scenes with drama that also has to do with the music choices.

Composer Ronald Ng has put together a pretty big and varied score that for example consists of angelic choirs, which is of course suiting for a movie like this. Having listened to Metade Fumaca and now this, I'm convinced Riley involves himself greatly in the scoring process. In his previous film there was a lot of diverse music heard which at times felt a bit overused. Same statement is also true for Lavender that has a great variety of tracks that will pull you in all kind of different directions. It is fun and refreshing that such a wild mix of music from all around the globe finds it's way into Hong Kong movies and in Riley's special movies especially. What about that odd mood I was talking about then? In some silent but dramatic character moments Riley totally goes against convention and uses an almost wild and big emotional score that many would argue should be in a big emotional scene instead. This caught me off guard but I can't say I disliked it, it's a choice that makes Riley's movie even more noteworthy. Lavender is not perfect pace wise though. Things just seem to go nowhere for a little while and therefore the movie drags. This is repaired pretty quickly though and up until the end no problems are really evident.

In my opinion, Riley shares one specific thing with two of Hong Kong's other really cool and great directors, Wilson Yip and Derek Chiu. That is the ability to come up with small genius touches to their narrative structures and to tell a story in an alternate way than people are used to. With Lavender, Riley's skill is most prominent during the movies first 5 minutes (including a pretty short credits sequence). We follow Athena during a normal and eventless day in her life and without a single line of dialogue being spoken, almost her whole character is set up for us. All Riley does is show some simple and beautiful moments and we know what we need to know about Athena. This must be a sign of a director having a high confidence level but also knowing his material so well that he can execute it like this. He doesn't have to play with the camera either to tell the story. It seems sufficient that he just places the camera and does everything in the frame, not with the frame. Riley also seems to love small jumps ahead in time through editing and uses that to create some of the comedy. Cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung deserves a mention also. Most of the time this is not a big visual film but there are a select few scenes that rely heavily on the ability of the DP from a visual standpoint. It's hard to describe so I'd rather advice you to see for yourself.

Lavender can be seen as a small reunion for the crew of the movie Anna Magdalena. The director of that film, Hai Cheung Man, worked as an art director on this film and two of his main actors star in Riley'sfilm. Those two are Kelly Chen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. I did have my complaints regarding Kelly's acting in Anna Magdalena. I didn't think she pulled off the character fully but since then she looks more sure of herself and confident in her acting. It doesn't hurt that she's backed up by a director who managed to bring to the screen, Nic Tse's best acting role to date. Even if it's a pretty simple journey Kelly's character goes through, there's still some complex scenes that need to be performed carefully. Kelly rises to that task and I hope to see Riley use her in the future.

Takeshi Kaneshiro continues to impress in these drama roles and in Lavender we see him display his curious and playful side as opposed to the shy guy he played in Anna Magdalena. Angel knows what life in heaven is like but earth is very much different. He's actually a bit deceived and corrupted at first and gets the wrong impression about the love he needs. But when his focus is more on Athena he starts to realise what is correct and manages to figure out what's he's really looking for. It's a very sympathetic aura around Angel and Takeshi really plays this like it should, neither over the top or too understated. Eason Chan (from Visible Secret) plays Athena's gay neighbour and ever so slightly he's also starting to grow as an actor. A surprising performance from him.

What Riley Yip proves with Lavender is that he's an asset to Hong Kong cinema. Dramas certainly isn't the most commercial genre there is but I'm hoping Riley can do wonders in a variety of genres in the future. I'm not saying he's a saviour of Hong Kong cinema but if his output becomes better and better, then we're in for a treat.

Ah Sau (Poon Chan Leung) leaves his life and girlfriend Jing (Flora Chan from Dry Wood Fierce Fire) to become a monk. He's been increasingly frustrated with his life and need a break to find himself. He does turn up at his friends Mila (Annie Wu from Winners Take All) and Lam's (Andrew Lin from 2000AD) wedding though but Lam seems to be affected by Ah Sau's presence and hesitates a little answering the all important wedding question. This makes Mila cancel the whole ceremony and Lam joins Ah Sau back to the buddhist temple to contemplate his current situation in life. It's not long before the two women also turn up and under the watchful eye of Master Chi Yuan (Ko Ho Man), the two couples must come to a new understanding about their lives and the love within it...

Writer Raymond To and director Derek Chiu conveys a lot with complicated words during the 96 minute running time. The title and plot doesn't suggest it but Love Au Zen is almost like an abstract web of words and wisedom and we need to follow the characters all the way til the end to fully untangle it. The story is easily set up to get all our characters in the same place and have them try to find their way back to love. Then the movie really hit it's stride.

The pair of Mila and Lam doesn't seem to have a lot of troubles in their relationship until the groom almost chickens out at the altar and goes on the path of buddhism. In actuality neither Mila or Lam really needs this enlightment but it serves as one way to get them going on the right path again. That creates a nice contrast to Jing and Ah Sau's situation. When we hear about his departure, he seems very cold for leaving his loved ones behind without much explanation. That is indeed cold but one must understand that he probably was so desperate to get out, that drastic action had to be done. Even if it isn't mentioned in the film, their relationship couldn't have been very stabile either. In the end the people come to a conclusion after a complex journey through a new religion for them. It's a pretty heavy movie thematically speaking but dialogue also plays a huge part of Love Au Zen. Much of what Raymond To has written is discussions revolving around the thoughts and beliefs of buddhism so you have to pay real close attention to how it all applies to the men and women's lives. Love Au Zen is well suited for re-watching even if I understood the movie during the first viewing.

To define director Derek Chiu's style is not easy but what's obvious is his great feel for storytelling. He takes this quite complex story and makes it very clear for those who are patient enough to follow it to the end. It's delibaretly very slow paced which is needed to cover the entire content and meaning of this movie. Buddhism plays a huge part but Derek doesn't turn it into a 96 minute lecture but effectively makes it an integral part instead. It's not forced down our throat but it's there if we want to embrace the ideas ourselves. He sucks us into this environment without going overboard with the camera and we can also quietly sit back and absorb the commanding presence of Master Chi Yuan. It's all very accessible and despite the often heavy dialogue, Derek has his focus well on the story.

I picked up one stylistic that Derek seemed to love to do with this movie at least. In a handful of scenes throughout, there's always noticeable action both in the fore- and background, especially in the café-scenes with Flora and Annie. Very nicely captured and Love Au Zen has a lot more beautiful and clever touches that reminded me also what Wilson Yip does in his best moments. If there's one thing to complain about it's the beginning stages of the movie that feels rather dull and Derek doesn't seem to get himself or the actors going until the wedding scene. After that, it's a captivating experience all the way.

The genre Love Au Zen can belong to is romance but it also contains elements of low-key drama and a little comedy, the latter mostly courtesy of Annie Wu. Hong Kong comedy can take you out of a movie because it can sometimes not fit at all with the rest of the content of the movie. For once the loud comedy seem to fit since it's more than often is coming from the loudmouthed Mila. It's well placed and definitly not forced onto the production. The drama isn't played out in a sentimental way but is more in the line of the movies setting; very moody and calm. It is taking place inside the characters and in quiet moments in between them. Not many directors have that talent to convey a message without dialogue but Derek seems to have great faith in himself and his actors when directing these moments.

Cinematographer Peter Cheung's work also is a key to why this movie reaches the heights it does. We are seeing more of the buddhist setting than the urban Hong Kong and it's the former that gives Love Au Zen an edge over other similar movies. The green scenery and the temple environment are beautifully captured and first and foremost gives a very natural look to the film.

The cover art of the dvd only has four people but it really centers around five. Nevertheless, this small ensemble is very well choosen for their respective roles. Andrew Lin and Annie Wu won't rival any of the great character actors in Hong Kong but does bring much life to their performances. It was especially nice to see Andrew in a nice guy role. The more layered characters are played by Flora Chan and Poon Chan Leung. We don't get much backstory to this couple (only that they've been together for 5 years) but what we know is enough to carry us forward. It's two very restrained performances and that's a difficult balance to maintain without a director supporting you properly. The spiritual and the movies leader is Ko Ho Man who nicely embodies the relatively young but wise Master Chi Yuan. Much is depending on his delivery of the more crucial dialogue and if he had failed, so had the movie.

Derek Chiu's Love Au Zen is not for the average movie goer (which could explain it's low box office earnings) but for those seeking hope and depth in Hong Kong cinema, it's worth more than just one look.

In 1985 Cheung Yau Ming (David Lee) was involved in a brutal rape/murder of tho british youths. Because of his young age he was senteced to 'Detention under Her Majesty's Pleasure' while waiting for a definite judgement. Cut to 1997, 6 months before Great Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China, and Ming is still under the same detention, together with 22 other prisoners, waiting for his sentence. The fear of what's going to happen to them after the handover grows and they desperately write letters to people who may help them but no one bothers. That is until Cheung Yue Ling (Ai Jing) visits Ming in the prison after mail corresponding with him. She wants to help him and she enlist human rights activist Leung Cheung Kan (Stephen Tang) to organize it all. Together with the prisoners families the struggle begins to get the definite sentences carried out...

Director Herman Yau's behind some of the more talked about Category III movies out of Hong Kong (The Untold Story for example) and after seeing those, who would've thought he was capable of bringing to the screen, a poignant drama like this. It shines through in the direction that he himself was very interested in the topic and that he really put his heart and soul into this film. He also acts as cinematographer on films but that trait rarely carries over to his directed movies. What I mean by that is that he rightly seems focused on story when directing and the look of a film when shooting one. This story is told very straightforward and Herman really makes sure that the plot is completely understandable for the audience. Almost every scene is infused with a great attention to detail from everything in the surroundings to the dialogue and acting. Nothing is hard to follow despite the, at times, political dialogue and that's so important to achieve. If you want the audience to pay attention and feel this kind of story in their hearts, you can't rush things. That doesn't mean the movie is boring though. It's paced just right and we've understood all plus created an opinion on the subject after the movie is over.

There's only small glimpses of a very stylized camera language but it's well applied in moments like the highly disturbing rape/murder scene that's seen in flashback from time to time. Here Herman combines frenetic camera work with hard hitting sounds that just creates the mood of disgust at the meaningless act commited. Also scattered throughout is a few character moments where Herman pushes in the camera really close and it's something that, remarkably enough, doesn't take you out of the movie. That's signs of a competent director that's also blessed with a well defined Elsa Chan script. The three main characters all have their similarities in some ways and they all get their moments outside of the struggle, which just makes them alive and much more human. This is hardly a Hong Kong film were everything was made up as the shooting progressed.

Activist Leung Cheung Kan is so dedicated to whatever cause he fights that his relationship with his wife and son are falling apart. Cheung Yue Ling left her mother as a teenager (after an act which I will not disclose here) and prisoner Ming is an orphan. So they all share problems in their family situations in a way. That may, here in writing, sound cliché but it comes full circle in the hands of these actors. Much of that has to do with the fact that they're all newcomers to films (David Lee have appeared in smaller parts in such films as Bullets Over Summer). Not having the familiarity factor there makes this true story as real as you can get on film. They're all in tune with their character and aside from some slight overacting in sentimental scenes, they're all memorable in their roles.

As mentioned, From The Queen To The Chief Executive is based on a true story and it's themes must be conveyed without having to speak to the audience all the time. Herman knows this and gets us interested right from the start. The movies does take side but not against the british rule who initiated the use of the 'Detention under Her Majesty's Pleasure'. It's against the violation of human rights and it's the meaning of the law that the movie criticizes. At the same time, there lies an aura of opposition against the activists from the people in Hong Kong. The movie shows that and the audience may also disagree without the film being ruined. After all, it's youths who have commited serious crimes and they should be punished. They should not be kept waiting for that though. If they know what they were facing they could either better their lives inside for the preparation when they go outside again. To sit and wait without knowing like that must be torture and one prioner even says he would prefer to be shot by a chinese execution squad than endure any more of what he's in. Herman does this way create sympathy in the prisoners but importantly not in the crimes they committed.

From The Queen To The Chief Executive is a real eye opener for a grave injustice. Even if you feel like you can't do anything about it, do yourself a favour and learn of it. For Hong Kong movie fans this is a real powerful movie that needs to be watched, just to see if it's really true that Herman Yau is capable of this. It's definitly one of stronger movies of 2001.

James Yuen's thriller-comedy is very recognizable. The plot has been used and seen before in world cinema, the execution of the movie doesn't raise any bars and the twists in the story are easily figured out even by the most casual viewer. Doesn't sound good at all, right? In my opinion, you CAN make a typical genre movie that holds no surprises and still receive good grades in the end by critics and fans. It's not hard to notice that in many movies there's no real effort behind the scenes but it feels different in Clean My Name, Mr Coroner! It's evident that James is aware of the limits of how high he can aim with this production and I must say that he seems to have achieved what he set out to do.

As the writer of this been there, done that-plot , James doesn't make things difficult for himself in the directing department. The pace is set pretty much right and things move smoothly from scene to scene with plot exposition inserted without stopping the movie completely. Since I didn't know much about the content and how the movie was going to turn out, I thought the beginning seemed a little disjointed. The main plot kicks in fast though and is dealt with in a clear manner. There is even a short shootout for us action junkies that felt way too shaky camera wise but exciting enough still.

When Fred and Ko eventually start to dominate the movie, the familiar buddy movie aspect enters. Nick Cheung and Francis Ng's banter won't rival pairs like Nick Nolte-Eddie Murphy or Mel Gibson-Danny Glover but their contrast in character make for some amusing scenes. It's especially fun when Ko has to let Fred, a real slacker compared to the tidy Ko, take refuge in his home. You can almost feel Ko panicking inside when he's very planned out way of living is disrupted by the less tidy cop. Again, the sitautions and themes regarding these characters has been done before but I won't complain when it's well done. There's a few thriller moments inserted and James Yuen moves professionally between that and the comedy. He creates a good tension with dramatic lighting and tilted camera angles in combination with a simple but effective score. I would've been more happy if he had choosen to straighten up the camera for certain dialogue scenes though. It draws far too much attention to itself when we're watching dialogue in a 45 degree tilt. There's also some uses of steady cam in the street chase for example but the way it's done here just annoys me. I don't feel that blurry motion is the right choice in this case and I'm betting the chase could've been better if we had gotten a good look at what was happening. Director Wong Kar-Wai makes it work in some of his movies but it's there for a purpose which certain directors doesn't seem to get.

To make Clean My Name, Mr Coroner! and it's main core, the comedy, to work you have to have actors that can generate the chemistry needed. Nick Cheung provides a solid turn and displayed the anger needed for his character. When he went in his comedy mode, he handles it calmly which works with what's written. There's a few scenes where shouting is employed to create comedy and it's just not something I find funny. The character lacks some things in the writing but as an actor Nick Cheung does his job well on this movie. Whether there's room for improvement remains to be seen.

One of my favourite actors from the Shaw Brother's era, Ti Lung, is still going strong. During the 80s he proved once and for all that he had crossed over from martial arts actor to character actor through such films as A Better Tomorrow and People's Hero. There's not a lot of surprises to his character Lau in this movie but Ti Lung never gets dull to look at, no matter what movie he's in. Stephanie Che is nice eye-candy for the production but her inclusion as the romantic interest for one of the characters does feel out of place. We could've lost that character and still had a movie but I guess there have to something there for us guys. Wilson Yip fan's should also keep an eye out for the charismatic Joe Lee.

Not surprisingly the biggest shining star of Clean My Name, Mr Coroner! is Francis Ng. He's been on a roll now for a few years, making only a few bad movies along the way, and has also directed two movies (9413 and What Is A Good Teacher?). Here he adds another layer to his already present versatility in his portrayal of the slightly odd coroner Ko. He's born into a rich family and has a very scheudled way of living his life. When Fred comes along that all breaks down though but he's smart enough to eventually adjust since he's also in danger. His odd nature could've been something that had been shaped through his profession but it's just who he is. Smart, methodic and good at what he does are traits that the character have but that also applies to Francis Ng's acting skills.

In the end James Yuen's Clean My Name, Mr Coroner! is a good thriller-comedy. It doesn't aim high in terms of originality but instead hits the level of quality it's after. Whether or not you're a Francis Ng fan, this movie will provide you with solid entertainment.

Jack (Eason Chan) and Ching (Jo Kuk) are newlyweds and have just moved into a new apartment. Everything is great until a fateful night when Jack gets hit by a car. Luckily he escapes with an injured leg but after the accident he starts to have strange visions of an old fashioned dressed woman lying dead on the sidewalk. His wife has hard time believing in him and his claims that the house may be haunted but soon she starts to act strange, almost like she's possessed...

Abe Gwong showed off some good writing in Visible Secret and as the director and co-writer of the second installment, he doesn't copy Ann Hui's movie. You shouldn't compare the two since they feature different story structure as well as filming techniques but one thing Visible Secret II fails in doing is avoiding certain genre-clichés. Certain plot points and setups we've seen in American and even Hong Kong productions and it was something the first movie managed to stay away from.

Visible Secret II therefore doesn't come across as good as the first one but it's still good film on it's own. Abe Gwong has crafted a less complicated and more straightforward ghost story and he turns up the scare-factor a few notches while we watch the plot untangle. The character of Jack believes his apartment is haunted and that of course results in some well executed haunted house type of scenes. They don't feel lifted from other movies and feels unique for the moment at least. Thanks to some very good camerawork we too feel almost stuck in Jack's situation while the camera slowly movies through corridors and such. I also really liked the static setups used by Abe and the way he lingered on object or even persons. Hard to describe but you could almost call it silent directing. When the story doesn't have tense moments it follows our main characters slowly through the urban- and country side of Hong Kong and the camera rarely feels like it's there, which is a good thing. Visible Secret II takes it's fair share of time to fully reveal the story, something the first part also did. It was slower paced though and the viewers who found that bad, may feel more positive towards the sequels pacing.

They ghost like scenes are at times creepy thanks to the fact that so many aspects of filmmaking comes together to create movie magic. Directing, camera work, lightning, editing and sound design are combined nicely to make something, that probably didn't seem special when filming, tense and creepy. The script lets the ghost presence take a bit of a backset during the middle section where more facts are revealed about the characters but the intensity is turned up quite a bit during the climax of the movie. Going into it, it felt like Abe was trying to squeeze in way too much information and reveals in the end but he manages to stand straight and not overly confuse the audiences. Abe delivers a fairly powerful ending that scores high on both an emotional level as well as the fright one. The final twist of Visible Secret II will probably be debated but to me no rules are laid down as to what can or can't happen so I didn't have a problem with the ending.

With Mark Lee (Princess D) as the cinematographer, Abe further distances himself from the first movie and the look created by Arthur Wong. It's a new scenario, new characters and therefore a new look. Inside Jack och Ching's apartment strong bold colors dominate but it works as a contrast to the pitch black also present there. That does seem simple but if you have skill, much isn't needed to create an eerie feeling to an apparently haunted house. Outside of that's setting the photography is natural or rather uncomplicated, which may be a conscious choice since the movie is also that.

Eason Chan plays this time a married man but the character isn't that far off from Peter in Visible Secret. As with that movie, he gets fired from his job but being a slightly older man, he has more visions of what he wants to do. Whether or not he can or will realise them is a different matter. As written, the character goes through some familiar (read: cliche like) situations like when his close ones doesn't believe him and what he's experiencing. It's in those scenes and moments that Eason tends to overact but he does carry this movie well enough. I did like some of his acting in the emotional climax and he shows nice chemistry with Jo Kuk. Certainly not the most interesting actor working today but it shows he's striving to gain respect in this profession also (Eason also enjoys a successful singing career).

Jo Kuk does steal the show from the leading man though. She was of course the female subway train ghost that was cut out of the first film and she partially reprises that character here. After Jack's accident, you could almost touch the tragedy present in her face but where she shines the most is when she shows her dead, stone cold face (both in and out of ghost make up). Extremely chilling and a true homerun in terms of casting. I think there is still room for development of the ghost character she plays and I hope she will return to it an eventual Visible Secret III. . Also in a crucial supporting part we see Cherrie Ying (from Fulltime Killer).

Visible Secret II is a competent piece of work that stand well on it's own as the so called sequel. It isn't as interesting as the first movie but it's still an enjoyable well above average horror/ghost-story.

Kong (Francis Ng from Juliet In Love) is a newly examined teacher and he has high ambitions to reach his pupils better than anyone else has ever done. At the beginning though his insecurity is much too evident for the students to relate to him. The elderly teacher Wan (Kwan Hoi San) explains to Kong that today's school system is out of date and new ways and blood is needed. Kong takes this advice and slowly starts to get the attention of the students through his teachings...

Francis Ng's film is not entirely easy to understand despite the simple plot synopsis. You do think of american movies like Stand And Deliver and Dangerous Minds when approaching this story but the structure of What Is A Good Teacher is very much it's own. It doesn't resemble Francis first directed movie, 9413 visually, but one aspect does show up here and that is his deliberate slowness in getting the movie going. 9413 found it's identity in the end and what we have in What Is A Good Teacher is a movie with a message but done in a disjointed way.

As a viewer you do get a bit frustrated when a 90 minute movie really hasn't started properly after 20 minutes. After that minute mark, when Kong starts to mingle more with his students, the interest level rises. From here we're trained to expect a by the book teacher turns bad students into good ones-movie and it is that, but not in a convential way. During some passages the movie is done more straightforward but what makes it almost abstract is the way Francis decides to deal with the narrative. We're thrown head first into certain scenes that does contain information and subtle meaning regarding the characters but the impression we get is one of confusion. I'm pretty convinced that it's a concious choice by Francis in the way that he's challenging the audiences more. I'm one of those that likes to get the full experience on the first viewing but certain movies has more to offer when you come better prepared a second time around.

I was left a little disappointed after this first viewing but once you start to think and analyze what you've just seen, some things and intentions become more clearer. The entire content of this movie cannot be digested at once so you either sit down and think hard about it or scheudle another viewing to pick up what you MIGHT have missed. Speaking again of narrative structure, I always welcome new ways to express yourself in movies and Francis sure isn't set out to follow conventions. Scenes in What Is A Good Teacher that seem out of place becomes more meaningful as I write this and that's a great power of cinema, that a movie can still be absorbed after it's done.

Following Kong and trying to figure out his intentions is pretty interesting. Surprisingly there are very few scenes that takes place in the classroom but instead on the streets of Hong Kong where Kong hangs out with his pupils. He may seem a bit odd but in fact I believe he's very much running the show and making the students themselves realise the shortcomings of the educational system. Kong's philosophy is that everything must be taught not memorized but the students around him don't buy that initially. They're not hoodlums or triads but they still don't see any big future for themselves. Kong has to sink to their level in order to steer them in the right direction. All this that I've mentioned, Francis doesn't spell out for us clearly so we have to watch and listen in order to appreciate what's actually being said.

The things you do understand after the first viewing is the technical aspects of Francis Ng's direction. 9413 was more visual with small nods to Wong Kar-Wai's work but What Is A Good Teacher has something to say rather than relying on visual trickery. Having said that, there are a few wilder shots but mostly the camera just pans back and forth to draw us in that way. Not the most interesting stuff to watch but this is not a mainstream movie that uses visuals to cover up the lack of plot. This movie is a drama but not an emotional one as such and it's basically watching events unfold that is the drama of What Is A Good Teacher. Little moments of comedy are inserted but they don't feel out of place and the most extreme joke is rather calmy played. So you won't see a graphic rape followed by a breast joke in this Hong Kong movie.

On the acting side of things, Francis has gotten together a few familiar faces. Anthony Wong and Cheung Tat-Ming (from Big Bullet) appear in smaller roles as teachers. Anthony makes good use of the screentime he has but looking back at it, he has no real place in the structure of this movie. However, he doesn't feel like a character inserted to pad the running time either. He's just a touch for Francis to provide viewers with and that is not a negative thing at all. Anthony plays it low key and that is evident in the very funny scene where he catches most of his students cheating. Same goes for Cheung Tat-Ming that seem to do another job through his earpiece while teaching in the movie. He's not as interesting as Anthony but again, he's part of the movie in his own way.

Francis himself doesn't deliver a career best performance but there's some interesting traits to this character nonetheless, which makes it not a copy of previous roles. His slightly eccentric nature (that reminds a little of his portrayal of Uncle Jet in Bakery Amour) is well played out but the thing I really liked was how he blended in amongst the young people of the cast. As soon as he starts to spend time with them, his way makes him become one of them almost. The cast of students are a bunch of unknown faces to me but they immersed themselves in the roles fairly well. No one particular impressed or stood out though. Kwan Hoi San (from Hard Boiled) turns up in a pleasant role as well. His scenes with Francis are very good and seeing two veterans, one young and one old, is special in this film.

Francis Ng's What Is A Good Teacher is an odd experience. I felt disappointed afterwards but with this review I started to realize what Francis wanted. He's thinking and wants to distinguish himself from other directors, a trait that can only get better. As with 9413, this is not a great movie but it's interesting.

Liang Chen-Yu (Leung Kar Yan) meets up with his fiancee (Pat Ha) at the airport. While there he spots his childhood friend Wang Chien-Hung (Damian Lau from Last Hurrah For Chivalry) and invites him home to catch up on old times. Wang is in Hong Kong for a specific reason though and that is to kill jewelry tycoon Wei Chaio (Cheng Yi from The Victim), who had Wang's father murdered to avoid any competition in his line of business. The hit on Wei fails and he now sends his henchmen towards Liang Chen-Yu and his fiancee to clean up all tracks...

A word I'll probably use one time too many in this review is decent but that is what Leung Kar Yan's directorial debut is, decent. The revenge plot and theme of this 80s production doesn't require any high level of filmmaking and on cue, it's apparent that this isn't a movie to showcase poignant filmmaking but action and stunts instead.

The actual filmmaker Leung is more noticeable during the beginning parts of the film where the plot is set up. The direction is acceptable but never really interesting as such. He sets aside time to set up his relationship and to show the happiness within it. That is all well and good but what it generates are a couple of really cheesy scenes where Leung is being at his most silliest. Definitely not the image I want to remember him from his work after he's gone. What he does well in this section of the film is to surround Damian Lau's character and intentions with a slight aura of mystery. It's not revolutionary story telling but a decent stepping stone for the narrative. Leung, together with Hoh Hung Kiu also creates a likeable character for himself, at least initially. He's now a wealthy man that still treats his friends well but that's never dealt with again as soon as the revenge plot kicks in. Then again the movie isn't about how nice he was in the beginning, it's about his revenge on the bad guys for causing havoc in his life.

The pacing up till the personal tragedy of Liang Chen-Yu's is acceptable but never really becomes any better than that despite we being treated to many action scenes along the way. Take Michael Chan's opening scene scene for example which is quite atmospheric but drags on a bit too long, losing slight in the atmos department. Newbie director Leung Kar Yan probably didn't yet know the point when audiences were starting to get bored but filmmaking is a learning process after all. Test out things, see if they work and if they don't, you know next time around what not to do. Leung's career as director in the end never became a prolific one although he did step behind the camera for 5 additional movies.

The action directors for Profile In Anger were Leung Kar Yan himself along with Luk Chuen (also actor in Killer's Romance). Leung Kar Yan was co-action director (alongside Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying) on the 1979 movie The Incredible Kung Fu Master but Profile In Anger doesn't show off balletic and neatly choreographed battles. The movie takes place in modern day the emphasis is on shorter fights and fairly complex stunt work. There's a good variation between those two elements and the memorable set pieces to me are Leung Kar Yan and Michael Chan's first fights plus the bar room brawl with Leung Kar Yan against a gang of motorcycle thugs. The latter scene does lose a little of its impact thanks to some very obvious breakable props, like the very hollow piano. There's a sense of ferocity and power in the action that overall is well choreographed but won't match some of the best stuff seen before or after this movie.

I've always admired and had a delightful time watching the kind of things Hong Kong filmmakers put into their movies, no matter how insane they are. You can expect anything from a Hong Kong movie and particular from some 80s productions. One scene sees Leung Kar Yan confronting a totally whacked out motorcycle gang that acts more like zombies and Philip Ko's bad guy character is a piece of work also. Equipped with scar makeup over half his body and giggling almost like a monkey most of the time (even his behaviour resembles a monkey somewhat), I sincerely hope no one in the crew took this kind of stuff dead serious but it's played serious in the movie. It's fun to watch and so is the changing length of Leung Kar Yan's beard throughout.

I found no info regarding possible nominations at the awards that year but I'm pretty certain Profile In Anger was left out, rightly so. Even if no one excels in the acting department there are some popular faces cast in this movie. Pat Ha doesn't get to do a lot besides being the woman for our leading man and she would later reach better heights as an actress in Alfred Cheung's On The Run. The main bad guy played by Michael Chan (recently seen in You Shoot, I Shoot) adds power to the film. He doesn't get to display any crazy traits like Philip Ko's character but he's one menacing force. You may not agree with that at first but wait until he beats up a little child, her father and then runs over her pregnant mother (...only in Hong Kong cinema...). Leung Kar Yan has proven to be a good actor outside of the action but his role here is hardly reference material. He's a decent hero and performs the action pretty well.

Profile In Anger is not a movie you will rush out and buy, nor should you. It may be suitable only for fans of Leung Kar Yan but if you want a decent action-thriller to distract you for 90 minutes, then why not when you get a good amount of brutality and unique, jarring scenes that Hong Kong filmmakers populated their movies with at times.

With Ronny Yu's 1995 movie The Phantom Lover you have to discuss two specific aspects first and foremost; cinematography and direction. For once I'm starting with the former since it's that the viewer first will first encounter during the first frames of this movie.

Academy Award Winner (for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Peter Pau is the man responsible for the cinematography and what a marvelous job he's done here. Peter have always been able to make even the smallest films look great and a big costume drama like this is no problem for him either. There's a lot of challenges for him and it mostly has to do with the two distinct looks of the film. For the 1930s setting, that opens and closes the film, Peter desaturates the colours (almost creating a sepia tone look) and for the flashback to the romance 10 years earlier, the colours are bold and beautiful. In itself the desaturating wouldn't have worked in an entire movie but by having it as a contrast to past events, it become more powerful. The 1920s segment, where the romance takes place, is extremely colorful which matches the feelings of the main characters there.

In the flashback, Peter uses, in tune with the music and the romantic mood, a very sweeping camera work and it almost feels like you're on an moody amusement park ride. To contrast again, Peter shoots the 1930s segements more straightforward but still catches some amazing images. The cinematography doesn't take over the narrative despite so much going on which is a testament to Peter's skills. I would rank this among one of the best movies Peter Pau has ever shot and not many Hong Kong 90s productions were blessed with this professional look.

Director Ronny Yu went to Hollywood after this movie and while he hasn't done visual pieces up to the standard of this or The Bride With White Hair, I quite enjoyed his work on Bride Of Chucky (also shot by Peter Pau). Ronny is a very professional director who here faces the challenge to tell, on paper, a very clichéd love story. When we get to that in the movie, he doesn't give us more background to the lovers than needed. We meet Danping and Yuan at the height of their love and it's a story about forbidden love, which doesn't really need big expository dialogue to work. Their happiness is shown to us but it contains a good deal of cheesy dialogue and a big emotional score that somehow works in the hands of Ronny Yu. Since the film takes the themes from Romeo & Juliet and The Phantom Of The Opera, you can guess that a tragic turn will follow. It becomes a fairly painful experience to watch since we do care about these two and want no harm to come their way. I talk a lot about how the best filmmakers can take clichés and do them in a way that no one even mentions the word itself. Ronny Yu is definitly one of them, with this picture at least.

After 50 minutes, Danpin and Yuan's backstory is over and if the movie was predictable before this point, it's now very unpredictable. Ronny now has another challenge and that is to maintain the audiences attention while he develops this story even more. There's still romance in the movie but the desaturated look enhances the tragedy and sadness it now is about. Having talked about the movie, I do have to say that it's not the most refreshing love story ever told but a competent one nonetheless.

The score by Chris Babida (who worked on Operation Condor and Peter Pau's directorial debut Misty) meets the requirements of the genre. What that means is that it's a big emotional musical experience filled with violins to the max. That is also a challenge, to make yourself heard and Chris does that. He takes the emotions created by Peter and Ronny and delivers a diverse score that manages to stand on it's own feet. Leslie Cheung composed the songs and besides one overused number, his musical sequences didn't bother me at all. It may, or may not, be a little too connected to modern canto-pop but I feel it fits the period The Phantom Lover takes place in.

The work by the award winning art direction and costume & make up-team is pretty jawdropping considering it's a Hong Kong production. There's so much detail on and around the actors that makes you wonder where they found the energy to work on such a big movie. A lot of their work probably isn't fully seen but what they've done is taken us back many years and that is the sign of a job well done.

Leslie Cheung doesn't seem to have aged a bit since his impressive turn in A Better Tomorrow. He has to provide singing and music as well as acting and overall do a very nice job. There's not much to the character in the flashback but he becomes more interesting when he turns up in the 1930s segment. There's anger in the character that is played in a way that seems to suit Leslie more. He is upstaged though by beautiful Wu Chien-Lien. She still impresses after her debut in A Moment Of Romance and she and Leslie are a good couple on screen. Just like Leslie, she shines more in the later parts of the film and performs some truly sad scenes that ranks among the highlights of The Phantom Lover.

Huang Lei is does have to carry the movie at certain points and does that well in the end. At the start, the character seemed a little wimpy but grows as the film rolls on. Huang Lei displays maturity in his acting and is part of why the movie as a whole works. Philip Kwok (from Hard Boiled) has a cameo as well as being co-action director on the film.

Ronny Yu's The Phantom Lover is not a classic romantic drama but comes off as pretty terrific thanks to the thoroughness of everyone involved. This is what Ronny Yu is capable of...in Hong Kong.

Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau from Fulltime Killer) is working undercover, for the triads, within the Hong Kong police but the police themselves have also placed the police Yan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai from Hero) in the triads. After a drug bust that goes wrong, both the respective camps suspect that there is a mole amongst them. The job of finding these moles goes to the moles themselves, Lau and Yan. It's a preassure filled search that eventually brings the two opposites together...

Infernal Affairs does belong to the cop/traid-genre that's been seen and done before. However, no one is saying that that fact automatically makes Infernal Affairs a poor film. Even if it's the 1000th entry in a genre, the filmmakers have to remember one word: execution. Before you begin to doubt the movies quality I will say that Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's film is very well executed. In it we find elements that are highly familiar even outside of Hong Kong cinema but the thing that makes Infernal Affairs better than the rest is the mentioned execution and, to a great extent, acting.

The screenwriters Alan Mak and Felix Chong's construction of the story is clever but it's also a story that isn't hard to follow. They don't feel the need to write snappy and so called original dialogue, just as long as the story is well told you don't need that. The script is the blueprint for the film and not even the worlds biggest budget and awesome filmmaking technique can cover up a poorly written script, which again this isn't. The characters of Lau and Yan gets the most attention in the writing but I'm glad Alan and Felix didn't go overboard with their respective character arc. We get enough development when we see them in their undercover- and private life and to be honest no further development is needed. Wouldn't count them as fully fleshed out characters but for this movie and it's story we know as much as we need to know to carry on forward. At one point in the film I was ready to start criticizing Andy Lau's character arc but all great movie characters don't come full circle until the end or their end. Then I realised that no criticism was needed. The supporting characters are not forgotten and even though they're familiar characters of the genre, they play an integral part of the film. Again, it doesn't have to be new to be good.

This co-directing aspect of movies is an interesting one to me. Gordon Chan and Dante Lam (Beast Cops) and The Pang Brothers (The Eye) are good examples of very good films with multiple directors. Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer and has that credit on movies such as As Tears Go By and Wild Search. During the 90s however he moved more and more into directing (he still shot the movies though) which resulted in a a few, according to fans and critics, really bad films (The Avenging Fist for example). They're considered good on a visual level but not much else. He did score a huge hit with the Young & Dangerous series that seem to have gone over well with fans at least. I've only seen his triad drama To Live And Die In Tsim Sha Tsui which wasn't too bad if I remember correctly. Co-director Alan Mak have not earned as many credits as Andrew but notable movies of his seem to be Nude Fear and A War Named Desire.

The positive about their directing in Infernal Affairs is that it ultimately isn't style over substance and they make sure the movie comes off as storydriven. I don't know how it worked on set but you would think Andrew took more care of the technical side of things while Alan directed the story bit more. Either way they both do a great job in both aspects although I have to point out a few, to me, negative technical things. The movie just feel way too flashy at times. The opening flashback montage shows quite a bit of quick cutting and camera pans with an sound effect layered over it. That actually works in this sequence but we get to see it a few more times during the movie. I'm sure you all think: just relax and enjoy the movie! I am but I do not like when filmmakers inject this absolutely useless bits of flashiness when it's not needed! I'm totally convniced that it could've been shot in a normal way and turned out even better. Luckily, this camera work doesn't appear very often so it didn't affect my opinion about the film.

Besides that, Andrew and co-cinematographer Lai Yiu Fai shoots this movie in a very pleasing way. They like to keep the camera moving but in a more subtle and calm way which goes hand in hand with the mood of the different scenes. There's a lot of colours on display but rather than fill the entire frame with one colour, the DP's put different colour or different hues of the same colour in many scenes. Maybe not completely realistic but more natural than other movies where I've seen colours used in the photography. Andrew has always been a respected DP and with Infernal Affairs a Hong Kong Film Award doesn't seem to far off.

The music by Comfort Chan gave me a bitter taste in my mouth at first. During the police surveillance and subsequent drug bust we hear typical action/thriller music that just feels like it's there because it wants to strike a chord with the hip audience or something. Really bad but fortunately Comfort skips that totally after this sequence and delivers a score that's very diverse and rarely repeats itself, which is a very good thing.

Look at the cast & crew list and you'll see a bunch of recognizeable names, both in front and behind the camera. Director Wong Kar-Wai's cinematographer Christopher Doyle has a visual consultant credit and as co-editor we find Danny Pang (co-director and co-editor on The Eye). In front of the camera, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak have put together a real solid and experienced cast starting with Andy Lau.

10 years ago I wouldn't even dream of ranking him anywhere near Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's acting skills. When I first saw Andy Lau in movies he just seemed more annoying than talented but things have changed since the 1999 movie Running Out Of Time. Andy really showed restraint in that film and with that his charisma took many steps forward. In Infernal Affairs he again shows his cool and charismatic side and his presence doesn't really require him to say or do much. We're not supposed to really hate his character even though he's part of the bad guys. We sense that there may be something more to him (or not) and it's a very interesting character and performance to follow right up until the end.

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai on the other hand has impressed with his acting skills for years! He seems to be bad in very few movies and just like John Woo has said many times, Tony can say a lot with just his eyes. It's a understated performance but there are a few absolutely terrific emotional moments from Tony and he doesn't seem to get any worse as the years go by. He has lots more to give to the industry and I'll be looking forward to every moment of it. As the character of Yan, he displays a frustration of being undercover for long but he doesn't seem lost or too immersed in the world. He knows his job and carries it out with great professionalism. In two very good supporting parts we see Anthony Wong (as Super Intendant Wong) and Eric Tsang as the triad leader Sam. It's a joy to watch these two when they're actually trying to act and especially little chubby goofball Eric displays a nice menace in his performance.

Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs is not a masterpiece, nor is it terrific. After one viewing I consider it to be VERY GOOD but with time that opinion can grow into terrific. Let's just say that I'm planning to rewatch it very soon. This film also brought audiences back to the cinema and hopefully 2003 will be a big turnaround for the Hong Kong film industry.