Jet Li Jet Li Capsule Reviews Martial Arts of Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung, 1986) — June 18, 2014 Of interest for the early Jet Li performance and the location shooting in China. A glimpse of things to come in the move out of the Shaws studios and into the big, varied world. Lau Kar-leung keeps putting Li in
Josephine Siao Josephine Siao Capsule Reviews Jumping Ash (Josephine Siao & Po-chih Leong, 1976) — July 7, 2017 The intersection between Hollywood exploitation and the Hong Kong New Wave, though the former may be the accidental byproduct of watching a cropped and dubbed version of this, apparently made for some kind of TV broadcast. Co-directed and co-written
Winners & Sinners Josephine Siao Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/josephine-siao/]: The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-legend-of-fong-sai-yuk-corey-yuen-1993/] (Corey Yuen, 1993) – January 23, 2022 The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk II [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-legend-of-fong-sai-yuk-ii-corey-yuen-1993/] (Corey Yuen, 1993) – January 24, 2022 Capsule Reviews: [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/josephine-siao-capsule-reviews/] Jumping Ash (Josephine
Wu Jing Wu Jing Capsule Reviews Drunken Monkey (Lau Kar-leung, 2003) — July 8, 2013 Lau Kar-leung and Gordon Liu together for the last time, passing the torch to a new generation. Lau ends his final fight by grabbing a sword with his bare hand to prevent the killing of the villain. He spends so much of
Yuen Biao Yuen Biao Capsule Reviews Dreadnaught (1981) — June 24, 2013 I want to spend a month or five just watching all the movies where Kwan Tak-hing played Wong Fei-hung. There's only like 80 of them dating back to the late 1940s. Should be pretty easy to find. Weird seeing Yuen Biao, who played
Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi Capsule Reviews House of Flying Daggers (2004) — August 6, 2014 Wife: Why are you watching House of Flying Daggers again? Me: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it. I’ve watched a lot of martial arts and Hong Kong movies in the last couple of years and I’m curious
Winners & Sinners Zhang Ziyi Reviews: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-ang-lee-2000/] (Ang Lee, 2000) — August 28, 2013 Hero [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/hero-zhang-yimou-2002/] (Zhang Yimou, 2002) — March 28, 2017 Sophie’s Revenge [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/sophies-revenge-eva-jin-2009/] (Eva Jin, 2009) — July 29, 2014 My Lucky Star [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/my-lucky-star-dennie-gordon-2013/
Winners & Sinners Yuen Biao Reviews: Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978) — July 14, 2020 Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983) — August 2, 2015 Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983) — June 4, 2013 The Millionaires' Express (Sammo Hung, 1986) – May 27, 2022 Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung, 1987) — May 24, 2013 Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)
Winners & Sinners Michelle Yeoh The Many Faces of Michelle Yeoh – April 8, 2022 Reviews: Yes, Madam! (1985) — July 2, 2015 Royal Warriors (David Chung, 1986) — December 19, 2013 Easy Money (Stephen Shin, 1987) – March 14, 2023 The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To & Ching Siu-tung, 1993) — August 1, 2015 Police Story 3: Supercop (Stanley Tong,
The Odd One Dies The In the Line of Duty/Yes, Madam Series Yes, Madam! (Corey Yuen, 1985) — July 2, 2015 Royal Warriors (David Chung, 1986) — December 19, 2013 Magnificent Warriors (David Chung, 1987) — December 20, 2013 A self-consciously Hollywood-esque period adventure with Michelle Yeoh as an Indiana Jones-inspired hero who helps a small town (set ostensibly somewhere like Bhutan) resist the Japanese
Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Capsule Reviews Drunken Tai Chi (Yuen Woo-ping, 1984) — December 12, 2017 Yuen Woo-ping spent the better part of a decade trying to make Donnie Yen a star, beginning with this period non-specific kung fu comedy. Donnie plays a badass rich kid who drives a bully insane with fireworks (in self-defense of course)
Winners & Sinners Donnie Yen Reviews: The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991) – August 25, 2022 In the Line of Duty IV (Yuen Woo-ping, 1989) – March 24, 2023 Once Upon a Time in China II (Tsui Hark, 1992) — Jan 17, 2017 New Dragon Gate Inn (Raymond Lee, 1992) — Apr 24, 2014 Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)
Winners & Sinners Wu Jing Reviews: Zu Warriors (Tsui Hark, 2001) — May 30, 2013 SPL: Sha Pol Lang (Wilson Yip, 2005) — October 1, 2016 Wolf Warrior 2 (Wu Jing, 2017)—August 5, 2017 The Wandering Earth (Frant Gwo, 2019) – February 27, 2019 The Battle at Lake Changjin (Parts I & II) (Tsui Hark, Dante Lam,
Winners & Sinners Jet Li Reviews: Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991) — January 16, 2017 Once Upon a Time in China II (Tsui Hark, 1992) — January 17, 2017 The Master (Tsui Hark, 1992) – June 7, 2022 Swordsman and Swordsman II (Ching Siu-tung, 1990-1992) — September 26, 2012 Once Upon a Time in China
Tricky Brains Tricky Brains Capsule Reviews Diao Yinan: Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014) — June 7, 2014 Any movie with sequences seemingly inspired by Kurosawa’s The Idiot, Campion’s In the Cut, and Denis’s Beau travail surely has something going for it. Vivian Qu: Angels Wear White (2017) — June 13, 2018 Vivian Qu’s Angels
Tricky Brains Evan Yang Reviews: Sun, Moon, and Stars [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/sun-moon-and-star-evan-yang-1961/] (1961)—December 27, 2017 Capsule Reviews: Mambo Girl [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tricky-brains-capsule-reviews/] (1957) — March 20, 2017
Good Men, Good Women Good Men, Good Women Capsule Reviews Chen Sicheng: Detective Chinatown (2015) — February 13, 2018 Maybe the closest a Mainland Chinese film has come to capturing the true spirit of classic Hong Kong action-comedy. The central mystery, a locked room murder, is interesting enough to ground the frenetic pace and goofy characterizations. Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran
Good Men, Good Women Derek Yee Reviews: The Sword Master [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/sword-master-derek-yee-2016/] (2016) — December 9, 2016 Capsule Reviews: Viva Erotica [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/good-men-good-women-capsule-reviews/] (1996) — April 14, 2016
Unknown Pleasures I Wish I Knew Capsule Reviews Wang Xiaoshuai: Chinese Portrait (2018) — June 12, 2019 The highest profile director in the 2019 Austin Asian American Film Festival is probably Wang Xiaoshuai, a key figure of the Sixth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, but nonetheless one whom I only know from his cameo in Jia Zhangke’s The World.
Unknown Pleasures Once Upon a Time in China Capsule Reviews Bu Wancang: Dream of the Red Chamber (1944) — July 29, 2014 Very different from the musical version Li Han-hsiang made in 1977 with Brigitte Lin and Sylvia Chang. Directed by Bu Wancang, a mainstay of the Shanghai film industry, sometime between 1943 and 1945 (I’ve seen multiple dates for
Jackie Chan Jackie Chan Capsule Reviews Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1978) — June 13, 2013 Much better subtitled than dubbed (obviously). Even still, the subs translate Jackie Chan’s character’s name as “Freddy Wong,” which kind of obscures one of the most interesting things about the film: that it’s a total subversion of the Wong
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee Capsule Reviews The Big Boss (1971) — June 28, 2013 Bruce Lee may be the most narcissistic movie star of all-time, but you can’t help but be entranced by him — he’s just as magnetic as he thinks he is. Immigrant workers in a foreign country, exploited by a rapacious capitalist as
Angela Mao Angela Mao Capsule Reviews Lady Whirlwind (Huang Feng, 1972) — July 8, 2017 Inferior in just about every way to the other Golden Harvest Angela Mao/Sammo Hung/Huang Feng movie paired on this new Shout Factory DVD release, Hapkido, but not without its charms. In particular it’s got a great opening fight between
Winners & Sinners Angela Mao Reviews: Hapkido [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/hapkido-huang-feng-1972/] (Huang Feng, 1972) — June 20, 2013 The Fate of Lee Khan [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/new-kinds-of-heroism-king-hu-s-the-fate-of-lee-khan-restored] (King Hu, 1973) — April 5, 2019 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/angela-mao-capsule-reviews/]: Lady Whirlwind (Huang Feng, 1972) — July 8, 2017 The Fate of Lee Khan
Sandra Ng Sandra Ng Capsule Reviews Golden Chicken (Samson Chiu, 2002) — July 25, 2014 Life of Oharu, but as the kind of Hong Kong comedy where Andy Lau walks out of a TV and teaches Sandra Ng how to properly fake an orgasm. 25 years of Hong Kong history and popular entertainment as seen in the
