Though he’s known today as one of Hong Kong’s most distinctive contemporary filmmakers, in the early 1990s Johnnie To was still a gun for hire. Having apprenticed for the region’s Tvb broadcasting network for most of the ’80s, he had only recently established himself as a reliable maker of action and comedy films. And chief among his early successes is 1993’s wuxia superhero film The Heroic Trio, which is at once indebted to his genre forebears in Hong Kong cinema and possessed of his own idiosyncratic skills.
Like so many wuxia classics, the film’s plot is at once unnecessarily convoluted and little more than justification for moving from one stunt set piece to the next. In the sewers beneath present-day Hong Kong’s bustling streets, an ancient court eunuch, Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), abducts newborns of imperial blood and raises them as potential new emperors in...
Like so many wuxia classics, the film’s plot is at once unnecessarily convoluted and little more than justification for moving from one stunt set piece to the next. In the sewers beneath present-day Hong Kong’s bustling streets, an ancient court eunuch, Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), abducts newborns of imperial blood and raises them as potential new emperors in...
- 2/18/2024
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
The tributes to the Filipino and Singaporean cinema in Vesoul this year were definitely among the most interesting aspects of the programme, particularly because both included movies that aimed simply at entertaining their audience. “Forever Fever”, a homage/remake of “Saturday Night Fever”, is definitely one of those films.
“Forever Fever” screened at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in 1977 Singapore, when the fever of “Saturday Night Fever” is taking over the whole world. For Hock, a young clerk in a supermarket however, life is still just a burden, as he is not particularly fond of his job, while in his house he has to face his mother's whining, his father's criticism, and the constant comparison with his younger, perfect brother Leslie, who is studying to be a doctor. Furthermore, he is essentially ignorant of Mei's feelings about him, a young girl who works...
“Forever Fever” screened at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in 1977 Singapore, when the fever of “Saturday Night Fever” is taking over the whole world. For Hock, a young clerk in a supermarket however, life is still just a burden, as he is not particularly fond of his job, while in his house he has to face his mother's whining, his father's criticism, and the constant comparison with his younger, perfect brother Leslie, who is studying to be a doctor. Furthermore, he is essentially ignorant of Mei's feelings about him, a young girl who works...
- 3/14/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
A pandemic and the closure of cinemas didn’t stop Cannes Film Festival-winning Nicolas Winding Refn from creating, the Drive filmmaker hunkering down with his family to make the new noir Netflix series Copenhagen Cowboy which drops on Thursday, January 5.
The six-episode series follows Mui, a lone wolf protagonist much like the crime crusaders in Refn’s repertoire, i.e. Ryan Gosling’s Driver in Drive and Julian in Only God Forgives, and Mads Mikkelsen’s Tony in the director’s Pusher franchise. Known to possess a gift, Mui is bought as a “lucky coin” to help cure a much older woman’s fertility problems.
You can listen to our conversation below:
Angela Bundalovic stars as Miu in ‘Copenhagen Cowboy’, courtesy of Netflix.
“As Mui sees, she’s all evil and she needs to clean house,” explains Refn as the protag is thrusted into a gangster underworld that spans Copenhagen...
The six-episode series follows Mui, a lone wolf protagonist much like the crime crusaders in Refn’s repertoire, i.e. Ryan Gosling’s Driver in Drive and Julian in Only God Forgives, and Mads Mikkelsen’s Tony in the director’s Pusher franchise. Known to possess a gift, Mui is bought as a “lucky coin” to help cure a much older woman’s fertility problems.
You can listen to our conversation below:
Angela Bundalovic stars as Miu in ‘Copenhagen Cowboy’, courtesy of Netflix.
“As Mui sees, she’s all evil and she needs to clean house,” explains Refn as the protag is thrusted into a gangster underworld that spans Copenhagen...
- 12/28/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The comeback movie of indie filmmaker and pioneer of Malaysian New Wave Cinema, Tan Chui Mui, after 10 years of directing hiatus, is an unpredictable, genre-fluid meta film. “Barbarian Invasion” was realised under the project “Back to Basics” by Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited and Heaven Pictures, that assigned a budget of Rmb¥1,000,000 to filmmakers and challenged them to produce a high-quality film without frills. Her work is doing rather well in the festival circuit, having won the Jury Grand Prix prize, one of the two top honours at the Golden Goblet Awards, in conjunction with the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival.
“Barbarian Invasion“ is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
The film follows Moon Lee (directress Tan Chui Mui) a well-respected actress who’s taken few years off after having a child and a painful divorce. She is immediately introduced as exhausted and barely coping with her...
“Barbarian Invasion“ is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
The film follows Moon Lee (directress Tan Chui Mui) a well-respected actress who’s taken few years off after having a child and a painful divorce. She is immediately introduced as exhausted and barely coping with her...
- 11/22/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Raging Fire, starring and produced by Donnie Yen, was awarded best film and best director for late action maestro Benny Chan at the Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa) on Sunday night. The ceremony took place at Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, the first time it had been held as a fully-fledged, in-person event since 2019.
Produced by Emperor Motion Pictures, Raging Fire was a rare pandemic-era hit in Hong Kong and China last year, and lauded as a welcome throwback to old school Hong Kong-style action movies. The film took four awards in total, also including best editing (Curran Pang) and best action choreography.
Benny Chan, one of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed action directors, was diagnosed with cancer while making the film, leading to Yen taking over during post-production. In a moving moment during the Hkfa ceremony, Hong Kong...
Produced by Emperor Motion Pictures, Raging Fire was a rare pandemic-era hit in Hong Kong and China last year, and lauded as a welcome throwback to old school Hong Kong-style action movies. The film took four awards in total, also including best editing (Curran Pang) and best action choreography.
Benny Chan, one of Hong Kong’s most acclaimed action directors, was diagnosed with cancer while making the film, leading to Yen taking over during post-production. In a moving moment during the Hkfa ceremony, Hong Kong...
- 7/17/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Actually the third installment in the series, since “No Risk, No Gain” followed the initial one, “Casino Raiders II” essentially uses gambling in order to present a melodramatic actioner, in a distinct Hk style.
on YesAsia
Chicken Feet, Kit and James were Uncle Fan’s apprentices in the past. When Uncle Fan brought them to Osaka to compete with Taro Yamamoto, James colluded with Yamamoto and betrayed Fan, but still lost to Kit. James killed Yamamoto after the latter berated him, in a series of events that led to Chicken Feet rescuing Fan, who is crippled after leaping off a high platform to escape from James, and Kit being beaten by James’s henchmen and framed for murdering Yamamoto, leading him to prison. Now, Chicken Feet assists, along with his girlfriend Mui, in running a gambling den with Uncle Fan, while training for the upcoming Asia Gambling Tournament.
on YesAsia
Chicken Feet, Kit and James were Uncle Fan’s apprentices in the past. When Uncle Fan brought them to Osaka to compete with Taro Yamamoto, James colluded with Yamamoto and betrayed Fan, but still lost to Kit. James killed Yamamoto after the latter berated him, in a series of events that led to Chicken Feet rescuing Fan, who is crippled after leaping off a high platform to escape from James, and Kit being beaten by James’s henchmen and framed for murdering Yamamoto, leading him to prison. Now, Chicken Feet assists, along with his girlfriend Mui, in running a gambling den with Uncle Fan, while training for the upcoming Asia Gambling Tournament.
- 6/28/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
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