Kurosawa Kiyoshi Before We Vanish (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2017) The latest film from one of the most interesting directors in the world right now is playing at the Grand Illusion for week starting this Friday. Kurosawa Kiyoshi, director of such key Japanese horror films as Pulse and Cure, as well as award-winning dramas like Tokyo Sonata, was last seen
Soi Cheang The Monkey King 3 (Soi Cheang, 2018) The latest in director Soi Cheang’s saga inspired by the classic novel Journey to the West might be the strangest one yet. The franchise blockbuster has always been a weird fit for the former director of indie horror movies and slick crime dramas, and Cheang’s first Monkey King
Mabel Cheung & Alex Law Mabel Cheung & Alex Law Capsule Reviews An Autumn’s Tale (1987) — December 3, 2013 A romance without a single kiss. Great performances from its stars (Chow Yun-fat and Cherie Chung, never grungier and never cuter, respectively), great use of New York locations (I love how the pre-Giuliani city gradually turns from post-apocalyptic to quirky as immigrant
Fallen Angels Mabel Cheung & Alex Law Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/mabel-cheung-alex-law/]: The Illegal Immigrant [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-shaw-brothers-sisters-filmmakers-at-a-fallen-studio] (Mabel Cheung, 1985) — August 23, 2019 Painted Faces [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/painted-faces-alex-law-1988/] (Alex Law, 1988) —August 2, 2014 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/mabel-cheung-alex-law-capsule-reviews/]: An Autumn’s Tale (Mabel Cheung, 1987)— December
Fallen Angels Peter Chan Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/peter-chan/]: He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/he-aint-heavy-hes-my-father-peter-chan-1993/] (1993) — July 29, 2014 Comrades, Almost a Love Story [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/comrades-almost-a-love-story-peter-chan-1996/] (1996) — January 1, 2014 Wuxia [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/wuxia-peter-chan-2011/] (2011) — April 25, 2014 Capsule Reviews
Soi Cheang Soi Cheang Capsule Reviews New Blood (2002) — July 21, 2020 Extremely spooky low-budget ghost story about one half of a double suicide haunting the three people who donated blood and thus saved the life of the other half. Like an extremely fucked up remix of Rouge. Aside from the obvious craft, this may be
Fallen Angels Soi Cheang Reviews: Accident (2009) — July 29, 2014 The Monkey King 3 (2018) — February 18, 2018 The Monkey King 3 (2018) – February 28, 2018 Limbo (2021) — October 12, 2021 Mad Fate (2023) – July 18, 2023 Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) – August 8, 2024 Capsule Reviews: New Blood (2002) — July 21,
Peter Chan Peter Chan Capsule Reviews Perhaps Love (2005) — May 6, 2014 Kaneshiro Takeshi goes to China to make a movie for Jacky Cheung. It’s a musical and co-stars Zhou Xun, the story of the film being that she and Kaneshiro had been in love, but now she has amnesia and has forgotten him and
Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul Capsule Reviews Blissfully Yours (2002) — March 9, 2016 The first time I saw this, I was swept away by the languid happiness of the young lovers, the delicate rhythm of the 21st century A Day in the Country, where a single afternoon of happiness can define a lifetime. This time, I was
Devils on the Doorstep Apichatpong Weerasethakul Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/apichatpong-weerasethakul-capsule-reviews/]: Blissfully Yours (2002)— March 9, 2016 Tropical Malady (2004)— March 11, 2016 Syndromes and a Century (2006) — March 12, 2016 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) — December 11, 2019 Mekong Hotel (2012)— October 2, 2012 Cemetery of Splendour (2015) — January
Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang Capsule Reviews Passion (1986) — May 11, 2018 When George Lam’s mustache is so sexy that even a lifetime of friendship can’t keep Sylvia Chang and Cora Miao from both falling in love with him. Sisters of the World Unite (1991) — May 11, 2018 Very pleasant Lunar New Year style movie
Good Men, Good Women Feng Xiaogang Reviews: I Am Not Madame Bovary [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/i-am-not-madame-bovary-feng-xiaogang-2016/] (2016) — November 17, 2016 Youth [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-the-thousand-faces-of-dunjia-and-youth] (2017) — January 9, 2018 Only Cloud Knows [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-ip-man-4-and-only-cloud-knows] (2019) — December 27, 2019 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/feng-xiaogang-capsule-reviews/]: The
Benny Chan Benny Chan Capsule Reviews A Moment of Romance (1990) — February 22, 2016 Nobody pops the collar of their denim jacket quite like Andy Lau. As Tears Go By told in the style of the last five minutes of All About Ah-long. Directed by Benny Chan, produced by Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and Wong Jing
Good Men, Good Women Benny Chan Reviews: Gen-X Cops (1999) – September 23, 2023 Gen-Y Cops (1999) – September 23, 2023 Meow (2017) — July 22, 2017 Raging Fire (2021) — August 11, 2021 Capsule Reviews: A Moment of Romance (1990) — February 22, 2016 A Moment of Romance II (1993) – April 24, 2023 Big Bullet (1996) — April 14 , 2016 Heroic
Jiang Wen Jiang Wen Capsule Reviews In the Heat of the Sun (1994) — December 15, 2017 Somewhat autobiographical story of coming of age during the 1970s from Jiang Wen, based on Wang Shuo’s novel Wild Beast. It’s some kind of a middle ground between a couple of Edward Yang films: the textures of teenage
Fallen Angels Jiang Wen Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/jiang-wen/]: Let the Bullets Fly [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/notes-on-filmspottings-contemporary-chinese-cinema-marathon/] (2010) — November 1, 2019 Gone with the Bullets [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/gone-with-the-bullets-jiang-wen-2014/] (2014) — June 15, 2016 Hidden Man [https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/contemporary-chinese-cinema-the-new-king-of-comedy-and-hidden-man] (2019) — April 29, 2019 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesec
Feng Xiaogang Feng Xiaogang Capsule Reviews The Dream Factory (1997) — December 10, 2017 Feng Xiaogang’s second feature, a light comedy in which Ge You and some ex-actor pals form a company devoted to fulfilling people’s dreams, for a little while. It’s told episodically, spending a little time with each dream. One guy wants
Johnny Mak Long Arm of the Law (Johnny Mak, 1984) The intersection of the Hong Kong New Wave and the crime movie. A gang of thieves crosses the border from China into the city to pull a heist, but everything goes wrong: one guy gets caught by dogs before he can get over the razor-wire border fence, then the jewelry
Lau Kar-leung Lau Kar-leung Capsule Reviews Challenge of the Masters (1976) — June 30, 2013 Gordon Liu as a young Wong Fei-hung, an origin story for kung fu cinema’s greatest folk hero. Lau Kar-leung plays the villain, as scared and desperate as he is merciless and dishonorable. The true climax though is a philosophical one, as
The 36th Chamber Lau Kar-leung Challenge of the Master: Lau Kar-leung at MoMA — July 5, 2018 Reviews: The Spiritual Boxer (1975) — July 15, 2013 Executioners from Shaolin (1977) — December 21, 2012 Dirty Ho (1979) —July 2, 2013 Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979) — December 27, 2012 Martial Club (1981) — June 11, 2014 The Tiger on the
The 36th Chamber John Woo Reviews: Princess Chang Ping (1976) — August 20, 2015 Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) — March 28, 2014 A Better Tomorrow (1986) — June 26, 2015 A Better Tomorrow II (1987) — November 21, 2013 Once a Thief (1991) — March 28, 2014 Twice a Thief (1991 & 1996) – June 13, 2024 Red Cliff (2009)
John Woo John Woo Capsule Reviews The Young Dragons (1973) — August 14, 2015 Kind of exactly what you’d expect from John Woo’s first film. A low-budget picture (Golden Harvest) with lofty aspirations, the influences are obvious: Peckinpah’s slo-motion, Chang Cheh’s doomed antiheroes, an unusually heightened (for a cheap genre film of the
Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang Capsule Reviews Walker (2012) — October 4, 2012 Walker is Tsai Ming-liang’s first film since Visage, which I saw back at VIFF 2009 (and which my wife almost walked out of due to both boredom and extreme dislike). It’s been awhile since then and I don’t quite remember how it
Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai Capsule Reviews Chungking Express (1994) — April 1, 2014 “Where do you want to go?” “Doesn’t matter. Wherever you want to take me.” “It’s still a very emotional towel.” Ashes of Time (1994) — February 25, 2016 Dug out the original, pre-Redux version. Having seen this in its two forms a total
The 36th Chamber Wong Kar-wai Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/wong-kar-wai/]: Days of Being Wild [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/days-of-being-wild-wong-kar-wai-1990/] (1990) — August 16, 2013 Ashes of Time (Redux) [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/ashes-of-time-redux-wong-kar-wai-1994/] (1994) — August 26, 2013 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/wong-kar-wai-capsule-reviews/] : Ashes of Time (1994)— February 25, 2016 Ashes of Time
