The Japanese actor in question here is Sessue Hayakawa, who is going under the name of Chen Lee here. Hayakawa/Lee plays Chin Ho, a Chinese man who travels to Texas in the late 1800's with dreams of becoming a cowboy. As you might expect, the local rednecks don't cotton to the "chinaman", and so Chin must beat down the racists with his fists of fury. This attracts the attention of a land baron named Spencer, who sees Chin as a threat to his lucrative trade of selling Mexicans into indentured slavery. On the run with a huge price on his head, Chin must try to stay one step ahead of Spencer while at the same time freeing the captive Mexicans.

Many Asian film-makers were quite influenced by the classic US western films and directors, probably most notably John Ford's oeuvre. This becomes clear with releases like Yojimbo, which itself became a linchpin for Italian directors like Sergio Leone, who did his own tribute to the film with Fistful of Dollars. Despite this fairly straight-forward lineage, for the most part, Asian characters in these movies (when they were present) were often regulated to small supporting roles, with productions like this one, where an Asian character is the lead, being notable exceptions.

The end result, at least here, is surprisingly fun. Sure, when you boil things down, the whole "Asian in the Old West" thing is just a gimmick that films before and since have tried to pull off and failed. But it works here, mostly because Chin Ho actually ends up becoming a fairly well-rounded and developed character. Chen Lee isn't the greatest actor, but he manages to infuse Chin Ho with things like a sense of humor and compassion, which goes a long way into making the viewer develop some interest for what happens to him. Combined with strong supporting work from other members of the cast, including the deliciously over-the-top Klaus Kinski, and action scenes that have more than their fair share of severed limbs, My Name is Shanghai Joe is definitely worth watching, especially if you want to check out a different take on the martial arts genre.

The movie kicks off with a ridiculous sequence where "Bruce Lee" (whose gravestone was apparently bought at the same 99 cent store where you can get this DVD) being brought back to life via a lightning strike -- displayed, of course, via grainy stock footage. Apparently, zombie Bruce goes off to play pai gow poker, since we never see him again. The star here is Bruce K.L. Lea (real name Jun Chong) playing a guy named Wong, who heads to Los Angeles to meet up with one of the guys he used to run a school with. His former partner turns out to be dead, and Wong now has a series of racial stereotypes after him. Dragging a semi-cute and ditzy sidekick along for the ride, Wong sets out to find the "shocking" truth about who killed his friend.

The sidekick is played Debby Tebora, credited here as Deborah Chaplin -- I guess no one involved with this crud wanted their names attached. In fact, it was actually rumored at one point that the film was helmed by Italian horror director Umberto Lenzi. Nope, it's actually Doo-Yong Lee, a Korean director who surprisingly had a fairly respectable career in Asia before and since this cinematic turd. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast and crew, many of which have this as their sole credit on IMDB. Maybe they were all buddies of Doo-Yong's who got drunk on soju, wrote the script on cocktail napkins, borrowed someone's super-8 camera, and set about to make the worst Brucepolitation flick ever. At least that's what the end results make it seem like.

Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave is the sort of movie that's fun for about the first ten minutes while you quaff a beer and make fun of its' shortcomings. But then, after the first terrible attempt at putting a fight scene on-screen hits your eyeballs like an acid wash, the stark realization hits you that you have eighty more minutes of this garbage to sit through, and no amount of liquor will be able to numb the pain. Even the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 troupe, who have made a career out of making trash like Manos: The Hands of Fate at least somewhat enjoyable, would be hard-pressed to wring any sort of enjoyment out of this failed production. From start to finish, Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave is simply one of the worst movies this reviewer has ever had the displeasure of sitting through. Do your brain (and sanity) a favor and don't waste your time or money with this cinematic turd.

After killing the notorious Pai Mei (Lo Lieh), Hung (Gordon Liu) returns to his village and seems to be ready to finally settle down and marry. But the White Lotus won't let him go so easily. Led by the Chief (also played by Lo Lieh), the clan attacks the village and kills everyone except for Hung and Mei (Kara Hui).

Of course, Hung swears revenge and sets off to kill the Chief. However, Hung's kung fu is not good enough, and he is defeated. Downtrodden, Hung begins to study various forms of kung fu in the hope of finding one which can stop the Chief.

Like I said, the plot ain't exactly Vonnegut material here. The actors try and salvage what they can out of the exposition scenes, but they are hampered by a half-ass scripting attempt that relies way too much on comedy, especially at times in the film when tension should be building. In particular, the whole bit where Hung learns a feminine style of kung fu is just painfully unfunny and goes on for way too long.

But you can throw most of that sort of stuff aside if you're a fighting fan. The brawls in Clan of the White Lotus are top-notch. They're not the best that the Shaw Brothers studio produced, but given the fact that this was made at a time when both the studio and old-school martial arts movies in general were in a bit of a downward spiral, one has to think that the film-makers did the best with what little resources they had to work with.

Perhaps because of those budgetary restrictions, there's not a whole lot of variety in the combatants; the vast majority of the fight time centers on Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh. That turns out to not be a bad thing at all, since they're two of the top movie martial artists, and make each of their clashes seem fresh.

Despite the strength of the action sequences, at the end of the day, this reviewer feels that Clan of the White Lotus is a bit over-rated. The exposition scenes really drag down the momentum the fights create. Nevertheless, it's a very good old-school flick that should definitely satisfy fans of the genre.

John Liu plays the film's hero, a kung fu master named Tien Lang, who becomes the target of the Kang family's (led by Phillip Ko and Stephen Tung) vengeance after Tien kills the Kan's patriarch in a duel. As per usual for this type of movie, Tien is brought down to almost nothing and left on the brink of defeat, until he goes back to train hard so that he can finally defeat the Kang clan.

Perhaps sensing that the script didn't give them much to work with, the film-makers set about to give The Mar's Villa a very epic and sweeping look. Unlike a lot of old-school movies that keep much of the action contained inside of cheaply-made sets, The Mar's Villa uses the Taiwanese countryside and historic buildings to great effect. Combined with some slick cinematography and editing, the production as a whole ends up looking a lot more expensive than it probably was, which really sets it apart from many similar kung fu entries.

Fight-wise, The Mar's Villa doesn't really do anything all that unique or mind-blowing, but the action is good for what it is. John Liu, in particular, looks tough and cool as he gets to show off a lot of fierce-looking kicks. One does get the sense that with the talent involved here, perhaps the film-makers should have tried a bit harder to make something that would end up being truly impressive, but overall, The Mar's Villa is worthy enough to satisfy your old-school jones.

The plot basically re-treads the first film. The Japanese, led by the insidious Miyamoto (Lo Lieh, who must have been hard up for beer money to be forced into taking a role in rubbish such as this) are trying to kill the spirit of the occupied Chinese by destroying their kung fu schools. Chen Shan (Bruce Li) heads to Shanghai to check out his brother's grave, sees what the "nasty Japs" are up to, and proceeds to kick their asses into submission.

I'm not a big fan of the first movie, and its' sequel does nothing to improve on it. In fact, as you might expect, given that the first entry's main draw (Bruce Lee, natch) isn't here, things become worse. Bruce Li is a decent actor and martial artist, but he's not given a chance to display either of those skills here.

The film-makers were obviously trying to make him into Bruce Lee v. 2, but it doesn't work. There's one scene where Li does his best Bruce Lee imitation of The Dragon's legendary nunchaku skills. Instead of exciting, it comes off as cheesy and hollow, and is a perfect example of why this should be left in the bargain bin and not put in your DVD player.

Veronica Yip stars as Mrs. Ng, who is left temporarily blind after an operation. Her husband (Anthony Chan), in a huge rudo heel move, takes off to Macau for a few days to take part in a doctor's convention, leaving the missus to fend for herself. Soon afterwards, a former patient, Sam (Anthony Wong) shows up at the Ng's door. Supposedly, he just wants to thank the good doctor for saving his wife's life, but it quickly becomes apparent that he has more sinister motives.

Upon Anthony Wong's entry into the proceedings, 3 Days of a Blind Girl seems to follow the exploitation formula to a tee, with a scene featuring the lovely Ms. Yip taking a shower (with her "two points" fully visible for the enjoyment of the audience) and then a later one where Anthony cooks up the Ng's dog and feeds it to Mrs. Ng.

But somewhere along the way, director Chan Wing-Chiu changes gears and decides to let the actors' performances, rather than sex and/or violence dictate the course of the movie, and it really works. Both Yip and especially Wong put in solid work, which compels the viewer into getting into the story itself, rather than waiting for cheap thrills via the next shocking moment.

Don't get me wrong -- there's a good amount of salacious content here and in no way is this a movie for the average viewer weaned on weepies and romantic comedies. On the other hand, if you're of the raincoater ilk looking for oodles of boobs and blood, then you might be a bit disappointed with 3 Days of a Blind Girl.

This is really one of those rare films that strikes a nice balance between the sick and the sublime, and is perfect viewing material if you want a little thought to go along with your scares. Even though it is a relatively minor entry in the filmography for everyone involved, 3 Days of a Blind Girl is one of the hidden gems of early 1990's Hong Kong cinema.

Anyway, the basic story is that JCVD plays Kurt, the trainer for his brother Eric (Dennis Alexio), who heads to Thailand to take on their kickboxing champ, Tong Po (Michel Qissi). Tong Po makes a fool out of Eric and paralyzes him, so of course Kurt swears revenge.

After pairing up with an nutty sidekick, Winston (Haskell Anderson), Eric begins training with the mysterious Xian (Dennis Chan). Eric becomes a very strong fighter, but will it be enough to defeat Tong Po?

If you don't know (or can't guess) the answer, then please shut off your computer, then go and tell mommy that your diapie needs to be changed because you just made boom-boom. Kickboxer is by-the-numbers stuff all the way.

But that's not really a bad thing. The acting, for the most part, is done really well, and the viewer doesn't mind watching the exposition scenes. Dennis Chan is especially good in a role that could have easily turned into the stereotypical "crazy sifu" stuff.

And the fight scenes (helmed by Van Damme himself) are pretty exciting. In fact, Kickboxer's main fault that there just isn't enough of them. While I enjoyed the film, it still fells like it need more punch -- literally.

There are a few very solid action scenes, most notably the final confrontation between Kurt and Tong Po, but Kickboxer really needed a couple of additions in the fight department if it was to be raised to the level of action movie greatness.

As it stands, though, Kickboxer's still a fun movie, and perfect for those nights when you're armed with a gutful of beverages and looking for some good old-fashioned brainless entertainment.

Taking place in the city of Foshan, an area renowned for its' martial arts, Ip Man is a man who enjoys the respect of everyone in town after beating down Jin Shan (Fan Siu-Wong), an outsider who comes to Foshan to try and take over all of the schools. After the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, Man is captured and asked to throw a fight against the local commander (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) to quell the townspeoples' rising animosity.

Ip Man was a major hit in many areas in Asia, and garnered twelve Hong Kong Film Award nominations. But all that is not without a bit of controversy. Most biopics are a bit loose in the area of truth, but Ip Man takes things to another level. Most historical accounts point to the fact that Ip Man actually left Foshan during the war, so, of course, there was no training of an entire city by Ip Man, nor did he deal a major blow to the occupying Japanese by fighting them.

There's also some very obvious jingoistic undertones present here. You're not going to see anything like the "no dogs or Chinese" scene from Fist of Fury, but for the most part, the Japanese characters are treated fairly poorly. The commander is painted in a somewhat decent light, but he's surrounded by cronies that subscribe to every ugly stereotype, most notably a colonel whose mousy looks and sadistic attitude seem to be ripped straight from a 1970's film. Overall, it's nothing too terrible, but one would think that maybe Chinese film-makers could move on from having to depend on such broad caricatures in this day and age to get reactions from their audience.

Some note must be also made of the acting, which really goes all over the map. Many of the young actors present, especially Li Ze, who plays Ip Man's wife, subscribe to the over-the-top melodramatic school, and threaten to derail the movie at points. But thankfully, the veterans supply an anchor that makes the exposition scenes all that much more plausible, and actually moving in parts. Donnie Yen himself deserves a special nod, making what could have really been a cardboard cutout into a interesting character.

What really sets Ip Man ahead of the pack are its' fight sequences. Sammo Hung's work has been really up and down over the past several years, but this definitely fall towards the upper end of the spectrum. There's a great mix of wire-assisted acrobatics and grungy, fist-pounding, brutatilty that will satisfy both old and new fans of kung fu action. Sure, there's nothing here that's totally mind-blowing, but there's a good amount of moments that will make you jump a little bit out of your seat.

Yes, Ip Man does have its' flaws. If you're a nitpicky viewer or someone looking for a sweeping epic, then you might be disappointed here. But for those looking for a kung fu movie that delivers a bit of pathos along with the ass-kicking, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Ip Man. This isn't the greatest film ever made by any stretch of the imagination, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do, and manages to actually please the audience in the process.

The Midnight Meat Train centers on Leon (Bradley Cooper), a photographer who is trying to break into the art world in New York City. Advised by an art dealer (Brooke Shields) that his work needs to be darker, Bradley decides to head to the subways late at night. During one of his trips, he manages to stop a gang of thugs from assaulting a woman, who later turns up dead. Heading back to the scene of the crime, Bradley sees a mysterious man (Vinnie Jones) skulking the subways, and begins to investigate further. What he turns up ends up to be a trail of blood leading all the way back to when the subways were first built.

To be honest, I wasn't too excited to check out The Midnight Meat Train, since most of the exported Japanese directors coming to Hollywood nowadays seem to just churn out the same old safe but boring PG-13 "I see dead people" ghost stories. This is about as far as you could get from that. Kitamura's style still snugly fits in with his and other Japanese directors' work, especially in the sense of using the sets and locations to the fullest advantage. The mise-en-scene contained here, from the gritty city streets, to the almost too-clean interior of the subway cars, lends a great atmosphere, placing a fine feeling of dread into the viewer, as they begin to fear what will be coming around the next corner.

However, unlike the fairly squeaky-clean treatment most J-horror gets once it hits western shores, The Midnight Meat Train doesn't hesitate to throw out a bit of the claret when called for. Actually, scratch that -- it's more than a bit. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a gore-fest, but let's just say there are certain scenes (notably one where Vinnie "cleans" one of his victims) that you probably shouldn't watch if you're very squeamish or perhaps eating greasy Ramen noodles. Sure, a lot of the blood and guts was probably thrown in for shock value. But, overall, it works, in that the gory scenes manage to tread that line between shock and outright "torture porn" very well.

If there is fault to be found with The Midnight Meat Train, it's with the ending. Following the template of Barker's short story, it tries too hard to explain the motivations of Vinnie Jones' character, and comes off as convoluted and a bit ridiculous. Sometimes, the boogeyman just needs to be the boogeyman -- that monster who could be hiding in any shadow, with no explanation as to when and where they'll strike. The film-makers should have been a little more confident in the audience's ability to fill in the blanks about the story, which no about would have resulted in a better last impression than The Midnight Meat Train's slightly silly conclusion leaves viewers with.

Okay, sure, so perhaps I'm not the target audience for this type of movie, but the happenings here are pretty ridiculous even by weepie standards. The whole reason Edward wants to go to into the cholera-infected town is because Naomi cheated on him. Personally, I'd just go for a divorce, but apparently, the risk of having to crap and puke your guts out is much more of a punishment. And, of course, it allows Edward to be the great white savior to the yellow people, who are still making themselves sick by burying their dead right next to the river they use for drinking water.

I wouldn't go so far as to call The Painted Veil outright racist, but it is really goddamn ignorant and lazy when it comes to its' portrayal of Chinese people and culture. They're alternatively shown as superstitious and unreasonably violent, where Edward Norton's whiskey-sotten and bull-headed character is shown a heroic because he manages to determine that Naomi Watts is a hot piece of trim that's worth tapping, shortly before -- oh, snap! -- he gets cholera himself. Somebody get me a hanky -- I'm crying my eyes out over here.

Again, I'm certain that someone like me is not in the target demographic for a picture like The Painted Veil, but I think there are much better things you can do with two hours of your life rather than watching this movie. Serving meals to the homeless. Studying classic philosophical texts. Sending random semi-stalkerish messages on Facebook to your exes. Pretty much anything would be a more constructive use of your time than wasting it with a viewing of this slice of colonial pseudo-propaganda disguised as a love story.

The film begins with the discovery of the aforementioned slaughter, and a dim-witted cop (Liu Kai Chi) trying to solve the case. His, shall we say, "unconventional" methods include having all the men in town masturbate into pots and his buxom deputy getting a vaginal exam so he can rifle through a doctor's files. As you might guess, this consitiutes the comedy portion of the movie. It's very loud, obnoxious and over-the-top; I normally don't like this style of comedy, but for some reason it works in Daughter of Darkness II and I found myself chuckling along.

Around the half-hour mark, the movie switches into the softcore porn portion, as Liu discovers a mysterious stranger (Cheng Yim Lai) burying her husband, and she begins to tell him a story. Like a lot of softcore porn stuff, this part of the movie begins to wear thin after a while. Even though Cheng is pretty good-looking, once she takes off her clothes for the third or fourth time, the thrill starts to lose its' effect.

Thankfully, at about a hour into the movie (despite how low-budget Daughter of Darkness II is, it does have some good pacing and editing), the slasher part of the movie kicks in as Cheng (ala I Spit on Your Grave) is kidnapped and raped, and then takes revenge on her attackers. There is some truly brutal stuff in this part; things that I had a hard time sitting through. Most notably, a scene where Cheng's privates are violently cleaned after the rape, and a shocking part where she performs an abortion on herself are some of the few scenes in cinema that make me cringe. It's stuff like this which makes recent so-called "horror" movies pale by comparison.

Daughter of Darkness is disgusting and filled to the brim with gratuitous sex and violence. It's also quite funny and parts and quite chilling -- one of those few movies that is truly unique and a one-of-a-kind viewing experience, though only viewers with strong stomachs and twisted senses of humor will be able to enjoy it fully, if at all.

The movie follows the template of the "true crime" genre, in that we know about a horrible crime (and who committed it) from the beginning and then we piece together the story through flashback. Like many films of the genre, there is a good amount of dopey comedy featured here. In fact, the first half is very much played for laughs as Anthony Wong plays a bumbling and sleazy cop investigating a grisly murder. If you don't like the manic Hong Kong-style comedy, then most likely you'll be holding your head in disgust, but I found the stuff here pretty funny, mostly due to Anthony Wong's performance. Believe it or not, there was a time when he actually cared about his work (even in low-budget fare such as this) and he brings a nice bit of depth to a stock character.

As Anthony puts the puzzle together and brings his main suspect (Lily Chung) in, Daughter of Darkness switches into exploitation mode as Lily relates her story of abuse at the hands of her family -- which means we get to see a lot of the lovely Ms. Chung. Of course, many of the scenes in this part are brutal in nature and quite unsettling, but there are a couple of parts which are nicely erotic. Normally, sex-filled movies are quite boring to me (once you've seen a boob, you've seen them all), but the film-makers did a good job of balancing eroticism and exposition... and hey, Lily Chung does look awfully good naked.

The last part of Daughter of Darkness switches into full-on slasher mode, which is the one area where it falls a bit short. Sure, it's violent and there are oodles of blood and guts, but it's really not all that inventive. People get shot, people get stabbed, people get strangled, but there's nothing like, say, the bear trap in the face from the sequel. I would have liked the movie to take up the climax a notch to match the rest of the movie, and the Friday the 13th-esque antics just didn't cut it.

Overall, though Daughter of Darkness is a alternatively brutal, sexy and funny movie that's well worth your while if you want to explore the darker side of Hong Kong cinema.

At first glance, however, this would not seem to be the case. The first scene has Michael (Shawn Yu), a rich heir who became a cop against his father's (Danny Lee) wishes solving a hostage situation by literally throwing money at the crook. It's done with Ma's trademark slickness, and leaves the viewer wondering if Playboy Cops is just another Hong Kong production that is an extended music video trying to disguise itself as an actual movie.

Things aren't helped by the introduction of the other main character, Lincoln (Chan Kwan), himself a heir who has become an officer. Lincoln's been brought to HK from the Mainland in order to assist in the investigation of his brother's murder. Even though Michael has been suspended for his tactics, he offers to help Lincoln, on the condition that Lincoln leaves HK afterwards, so Michael can get back together with his ex, Lisa (Linda Chung), who Lincoln is now dating.

For the first hour, Playboy Cops plays out like a lot of newer HK productions. The ridiculous nature of the plot (which was probably not helped by the fact that six people worked on the screenplay) threatens to take the movie off of the rails at times. But things are brought back via the performances of the lead actors that lend creednece to even the more ludicrous plot twists (think terminal illness) and some solid fight sequences helmed by veteran action director Stephen Tung.

Where Playboy Cops really gels together is during the final act. In an unexpected turn, Playboy Cops becomes not the promo material for its' young stars most HK productions seem to be nowadays, but a throwback to the "golden days" of 1980's HK film-making, with a violent confrontation between Michael, Lincoln, and the movie's "real" villain, culminating in a dark ending that has been sorely missed over the past few years.

It's a shame the rest of Playboy Cops couldn't match the passion and intensity of the finale, but as such, it still remains one of the better action/drama pictures to come out of HK in a while.

This Cat III flick treads pretty close to the realm of pornography -- there are times when the plot only serves to get the film to the next sex scene -- but it's not overly smutty. However, the horror aspects of the movie (which kind of come across as a combonation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eastern mysticism) are done so well -- the movie is quite creepy in parts, especially during the last 20 minutes or so -- that the sex scenes become almost an annoyance after a while. If this movie had concentrated more on the horror rather than the humping, it might have been more effective.

Sadly, though, most everything else falls flat, starting with the film's pacing. Clocking in at over two hours, The Myth feels much too long for a Jackie Chan movie, especially since there are several scenes and characters that could have easly been lost in the editing room. There's also some really lousy CGI displayed here, most noticeably during some of the stunts, which tend to kill both the excitement of the stunt itself and the momentum of the scenes surrounding it.

More damningly, there's just no soul displayed during the proceedings (which is a bit ironic, since the plot concerns an archeologist who keeps having dreams about a past life). There's just simply very little of the fun or thrills one expects from a Jackie Chan project. After seeing this and efforts like The Medallion and The Tuxedo, one has to seriously wonder just how long Jackie Chan can keep working in the business. For someone that has long been promoted as one of the toughest guys working in action films, it seems like an injury wonit kill him, but the embarassment of appearing in sub-standard efforts like The Myth just might.

All that being said, Lust, Caution simply didn't work for me. I know what a lot of you are thinking: "that's not surprising for someone who likes Wong Jing's movies, drinking beer, and playing video games." But, dear reader, I can appreciate a good "arty" movie. Just take a look at the review of Ashes of Time for an example.

Don't get me wrong. Lust, Caution does a lot of things right. The set design is fabulous; you really get a sense that you are looking at Shanghai in the 1940's. The music, cinematography, and editing are nearly flawless. Simply put, Lust, Caution is a gorgeous picture to look at, and with solid performances from the leads, you would think there would be some weight to the proceedings.

Sadly, there's not. At the end of the 240-minute running time, one doesn't really feel like they learned anything new about the characters and their situation. Sure, I appreciated how Lust, Caution expressed both the power and shame of sexual relations in Chinese society, especially for females. But that sort of thing could be gleaned from any number of other books or films.

The term "jade vase" is used to describe actresses who are paid to look pretty and not do much else, and I think that could be applied to Lust, Caution as a whole. Honestly, if it wasn't for the buzz generated around this movie's fairly explicit sex scenes, would Lust, Caution have caught as much critical acclaim as it did?

The stories revolve around an isolated inn in the depths of the desert run by Ouyang Fang (played by Leslie Cheung), who came seeking solace after his love Maggie Cheung married his brother. Ouyang also runs a murder-for-hire business out of the inn, and the impetus for the stories comes from the missions he does (and does not) take. The first has male and female twins (both played by the impeccable Brigette Lin) hiring Ouyang for competing jobs. Yin, the male, wants Ouyang to kill his best friend (played by Tony Leung Ka-Fai) for jilting his twin sister Yang, who wants Ouyang to kill Yin for trying to make her marry Leung in the first place. Secondly, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai plays an assassin losing his sight, looking for one last job so he can return to his hometown. The last story features another assassin, this time Jacky Cheung. He stands at a crossroads at his life and must decide whether to go all they way and become a cold-blooded killer or accept his feelings for drifter Charlie Yueng.

Now, that is a pretty simple story, but Wong's techniques have created a movie that may be too confusing for some people. The movie depends heavily on flashbacks, which are one of my least favorite film devices. And while I will agree that the flashback-heavy structure makes the film perhaps a bit too dense, the flashbacks and playing with the timeline (much like Pulp Fiction) gives Ashes of Time an unexpected flavor that warrants repeated viewings. It is the exact reason why many people don't like this movie -- "it's too confusing" -- that gives it some weight compared to many of its anorexic counterparts. Even the mighty juggernaut of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (though it has a lovely story that depends on flashbacks itself) doesn't hold up as well to repeated viewings as this movie. Because Ashes of Time is one of those rare films where you take in something new each and every time you watch it.

The other sticking point for many of this movie's critics is Wong Kar-Wai's (via cinematographer Christopher Doyle) visual style. Sammo Hung took great pains to stage the fight scenes in a classical style, but Doyle's "stop-printing" technique renders the scenes near-incomprehensible. While I will agree that I may have like to see these grand fights staged in a typical fashion, the unusual style (once again, after repeated viewings) creates an aura around these scenes that will make them stick in your mind. The fleeting images -- swords going off the edge of the frame, twirling and blurring fighters, isolated spurts of blood -- provide an intense sense of close sword combat near unmatched by any film before or since. And Doyle's style outside of the action scenes provide some striking images as well. I don't think I've ever seen shots in a movie as beautiful as in Ashes of Time. In particular, two shots stick in my mind, one with Brigette Lin highlighted by a lantern inside the inn, and, most strikingly, near the end, where a relatively simple shot of Maggie Cheung contemplating the events that have gone on makes her look simply gorgeous, almost angelic. Again, it is in the way Wong carves his own niche with his particular visual style that Ashes of Time rises far above not only just other wuxia movies or other Hong Kong movies, but most films (regardless of where they were produced) in general.

Perhaps no other movie in the Hong Kong fanboy community inspires such varied opinions as this one. Just look at any of the discussions that pop up on Usenet or other websites' reviews. Most critics of this film point to the way Wong Kar-Wai disregards many of the "rules" of the wuxia genre and creates a film that is too complicated and stylish for its' own good. However, it is exactly the way Wong breaks these rules that make it one of the most unique takes on the genre and one of the most well-crafted films to come out of Hong Kong in the last ten years. If you aren't a fan of Wong Kar-Wai's work, there's really no reason for you to watch this movie. But if you haven't seen any of his films, this is an excellent place to start. It's also an excellent place to expand your Hong Kong film horizons to include something other than guys running around with dual guns and toilet jokes.

The film stars Gordon Liu (who actually sports hair here versus his trademark shaved head) as a young man named Ah To, who has been arranged to marry a Japanese woman, Kung Zi (Yuko Mizuno). Ah To is hesitant at first, but perks up considerably when he sees that Kung Zi is a bit of a hottie. Despite their mutual attraction, things soon become rocky due to Kung Zi's love of Japanese martial arts. Ah To feels the Japanese style is too unrefined compared to Chinese kung fu, and so forbids Kung Zi to practice, which causes her to flee back to Japan.

Desperate to win her back, Ah To issues a challenge to Kung Zi to have a showdown between the Chinese and Japanese styles. This attracts the attention of Kung Zi's sensei and former lover, Takeno (Yasuaki Kurata), who heads back to China along with six other Japanese masters in order to demonstrate the power of Japanese martial arts to Ah To and gain the affection of Kung Zi.

As a director, Lau Kar-Leung has long been known for portraying a mixed bag of styles of martial arts and weapons in his movies, and Heroes of the East's plot is the perfect vehicle for his methods. Sure, this is a gimmick, but it never really feels like it. The various matchups never feel forced, and they're quite exciting, even with the aforementioned lack of bloodshed. This is just simply solid, no-frills action that was obviously done with a great deal of love and respect for martial arts, despite where they come from.

Speaking of which, Heroes of the East takes a refreshing tact on the whole Chinese versus Japanese conflict which forms the nucleus of many martial arts films, even to this day. Yes, as this is a Chinese production, there's never really any doubt that Ah To will prevail, but the Japanese people are treated as real characters, instead of the "nasty Jap" villain cardboard cut-outs far too many of these sorts of films feature. It's the seemingly little touches such as that which makes Heroes of the East a true classic of the genre, and mandatory viewing for any "old school" fan.

As far as I can surmise, there is supposed to be a tournament between the region's top swordsmen. But after one of them, Sam Siu (Andy Lau), is framed for murder and flees, the other two, Ming (Brigitte Lin, playing a male role complete with some atrocious dubbing of her voice) and Dao (Elvis Tsui), head off to find him.

Or something to that effect. There are just way too many characters and sub-plots thrown in, and making heads or tails of the proceedings is an exercise in futility. Matters aren't helped any by the poor subtitles on the Universe DVD, which are obscured by the actor's white outfits for much of the time, and pretty much incomprehensible even when they're readable.

Normally, the action scenes could save a film like this, and with Tony Leung Siu-Hung and Yuen Bun (two of the more under-rated action directors) at the helm, you might be right. The key word there is "might".

The fights are extremely silly stuff where sleeves can lop off limbs and people just generally bounce around for seemingly no rhyme or reason. Even putting aside the absurdity of the brawls (which are exaggerated even by wu xia standards) the editing is so haphazard that it's hard to tell exactly what the hell is going on.

Ultimately, even though The Three Swordsmen is a sub-par effort, it is salvaged somewhat via the personality of the leads. No one is going to mistake this movie for their best work, but they really seem to be trying, which at least makes the viewer somewhat interested to see their fate. It's too bad, though, that the ultimate payoff for the viewer investing ninety minutes of their time really isn't worth the effort.

So what's the movie about? Well, the slim plot has a group going to a remote island for a fashion shoot, where they run afoul of the local inbreds, who set out to kill everyone. Even though this is nothing Shakespearean, it might have made for a good slasher/gore film if it didn't take forever to get going.

The first half of the movie deals with one of the guys (all of the actors involved here are pretty low on the HK film food chain, so I'm not really familiar with them at all) banging the model for the shoot, which is shown in pretty graphic detail. Now, all you hairy-palmers out there might be getting excited -- but let me assure you, the nookie scenes are nothing great, because the girl has a total horseface. Seriously, she looks like the wrestler Chyna on a bad day.

And once the blood-letting starts, things don't really improve. The kills are pretty boring -- a guy gets stabbed with bamboo, another gets shot by a crossbow, and so on. There's little of the chutzpah and outrageousness which characterizes the best movies of this genre. Worse yet, there's almost no blood. I mean, come on, it's a Cat III movie -- I would rather see buckets of guts rather than a small glimpse of some ugly actress' nether regions.

Still, for some reason, I still had a fairly decent time with Torturous Adventure 2003. Maybe it was because Hong Kong cinema has been so dull lately, or maybe I'm just hard up for something better to do, but overall (despite this being yet another shot-on-video straight-to-rental "masterpiece") this isn't too bad of a movie, and most horror/exploitation fans will find Torturous Adventure 2003 at least worth a viewing.

Nicholas Tse plays a cop with psychic powers (say it with me, he sees dead people) who is the only member of a police squad called 2002. Along with his ghost partner Sam Lee, Nic manages to bust quite a few ghosts and send them to hell for good, with the aid of some unique weapons. However, it is Sam's time to reincarnate, and so Nic must find a new partner, who turns up in the guise of Stephen Fung. The problem is that to do Nic any good, Stephen must be dead, so Nic tries to set Stephen's life in order while still battling a fierce water spirit (Alex Fong), who wants revenge after Nic killed his girlfriend (Anya).

This would make for an interesting take on the ghost genre, but apparently the film-makers decided that this wasn't enough, and so they added in a romantic subplot -- well, actually two of them. The first has Stephen falling in love with a coma victim (Rain Li), and Nic falling for a nurse (Danielle Graham). Problem is, Stephen knowing he's going to die sours his relationship with Rain, and Nic's carrying of a "death star" marks bad things for anyone he gets close to (how then he can keep a relationship with Law Kar-Ying, who plays a sort of mystical Q from the James Bond movies, is a mystery or just a bad plot hole). I don't mind a bit of romance, but the stuff in 2002 is so heavy-handed, it really grinds the movie down. A good case in point is the climatic battle. It should be exciting, but the use of a cheesy Nic Tse ballad and musical montages really degrades the power of the fight.

On the positive side, the rest of the action in 2002 is well-done. Matrix was definitely an influence -- right down to the leather trenchcoats -- but the style of fighting fits in well with the film, and the CGI is integrated well enough that 2002 doesn't look as fake as some other recent action movies. The young leads also do a good job. Nic Tse and Stephen Fung display their usual winning chemistry, and the supporting cast does a good job as well -- especially Sam Lee, who even though he seems to be fufilling his quota for "goofy sidekick" roles, manages once again to create a very likeable character from next to nothing. Especially surprising is newcomer Danielle Graham. While no one is going to mistake her for Brigitte Lin anytime soon, she does a fine job, thankfully forgoing the Chinglish that seems to be in vogue for young actors in Hong Kong.

Overall, 2002 is an entertaining -- if forgettable -- movie that should satisfy fans of the stars, as well as provide a quick fix for action junkies.

The film begins with a naked woman crashing onto the roof of a car -- pretty good so far. The focus then switches to married couple Alfred Cheung and Irene Wan. As they are leaving their house, they are attacked by a masked man, and Irene and her baby are kidnapped. The kidnapper is none other than our boy Simon Yam. It turns out his wife is the lady who took a header because Alfred was having an affair with her. Since Simon is such a nice guy (he even takes the sick baby to a hospital and protects Irene from his perverted partner -- awww, how sweet) Irene decides to team up with him to get revenge. However, as time goes on, all three people grow suspicious of each other, leading to a bloody confrontation.

This kind of stuff might normally be the fodder for a good Cat III flick. Unfortunately, though, All of the Sudden is Cat IIB, and that seems to inhibit things a bit. There's some sweaty naked bodies and spurting claret, but not nearly enough of each. Frankly, most Category III flicks aren't known for their great stories or acting, and when watered-down pseudo-expoitation stuff like this tries to capture that audience, it fails nine times out of ten -- and All of the Sudden is another sad example.

If the film-makers had a little bigger balls, this might have been a really good movie. There are times when All of the Sudden threatens to show some signs of brilliance (such as a joting scene where a small baby is hit by a car) but for the most part, the film just feels like it's on auto-pilot. Die-hard Simon Yam fans might want to check this one out, but most viewers are probably better off going with some of his better efforts in the exploitation genre like Naked Killer or Dr. Lamb.