Ann Hui’s Night And Fog A Disappointment

Star Trek (2009) – I was really looking forward to the Star Trek reboot given the raving reviews stateside and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. J.J. Abrams imbues this 2009 version with great energy less all the cheesy dialogue that made the previous movies quite cringe-inducing at times. Without any A-list stars in the leading roles works in the film’s favor and in fact the relatively unknown cast delivers solid performance – we can see how they grow into the characters. The movie never really slows down as crisis after crisis hits the crew of the Enterprise and I must say the space fleet battles are the best yet in any of the Star Trek series. My pick for the best blockbuster for the summer so far! Highly recommended.

Terminator Salvation – many film buffs probably squirmed at the idea that McG was going to direct this 4th installment of the Terminator franchise but the casting of Christian Bale in the leading role as John Connor gave some hope. Terminator Salvation isn’t as hopelessly boring as Terminator 3, but fails to generate the excitement of T2 or the original. We’ve seen robots bashing each other around in the Transformers two summers ago, there aren’t any new jaw dropping special effects … and the plot fails to deliver any surprises either. The film remains a passable popcorn movie but won’t be crowned top dog among this summer’s blockbusters.

Duplicity – Hollywood has run out of ideas (and new stars) for successful romantic comedies so they created a new genre – the romantic thriller. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star as ex-CIA and ex MI6 operatives who have fallen in love, and given up their secret service jobs in order to make a quick buck in the world of corporate espionage. Alternating between romance and thriller, Duplicity should provide enough serpentine plot twists and romantic interludes to keep both guys and chicks happy. Recommended.

Night And Fog 天水圍的夜與霧 – I found Night And Fog a disappointment as part 2 of acclaimed Hong Kong director Ann Hui’s probe into life in the working class Tin Shui Wai 天水圍. Her earlier film followed the mundane life of a blue collar mother working to support her son – that movie never succumbed to melodrama and delivered a slice of life about making a living in one of Hong Kong more troubled neighborhoods with honesty and a lot of heart.

Night And Fog, however, although based on a real life tragedy, quickly falls into genre movie territory with Hui adding an overt layer of social commentary on top of the proceedings. The film focuses on an unemployed construction worker played by Simon Yam – his distrust of his significantly younger Szechuan wife ultimately leads to the tragic slaughtering of his wife and two children. Although Yam has really blossomed into a subtle actor in many of Johnnie To’s movies, here he is reverting back to the “madman pervert” role he played so often in exploitation movies back in the 1990s.

To’s Sparrow soars – Kwok’s The Moss fails to excite

Sparrow 文雀 – Much publicity surrounded this Johnny To film as it made its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Sparrow is supposed to be an elegy to the old Hong Kong – but I’m not sure it works well at that. It is however a very entertaining film – very little dialogue yet totally engrossing. Kelly Lin cons Simon Yam and his pickpocket colleagues into helping her regain her freedom by stealing her passport locked into her husband’s safe. To’s usual ensemble of actors are present here, from Simon Yam to Lam Ka Tung and the ubiquitous Lam Suet. Kelly Lin is also given more to do than most actresses in To’s crime capers. For me, Sparrow resembles Jean-Pierre Melville’s Bob le Flambeur in its insistence on being light-hearted at the core despite the presence of a few unsavory characters. Very good and highly recommended.

The Moss 青苔 – Director Kwok Chi Kin’s previous film The Pye Dog 野‧良犬 won some accolades at the Hong Kong Film Awards this year and Kwok was nominated for a Best New Director Award (though he lost), so I became interested in his latest film. The trailer looked interesting – Shawn Yue is a cop who will do anything to survive on the streets. Make no mistake Yue’s character is not likeable. Trouble starts when the son of a gang’s leader is missing and Yue is “assigned” the task of locating him. Shit piles up quickly . . . and the plot breaks down! The 2nd half of the film falls back on cliches like a reclusive assassin, betrayals within the various gangs etc. I did not find the film particularly intriguing.

2008 Summer Blockbusters : Round 1

Speed Racer – From the directors of the Matrix Trilogy comes this eye candy adaptation of a classic 1960s Japanese cartoon about racing cars (which I watched as a kid). Targeted at young kids, the film is ridiculously colourful, offers non-stop action, and rather juvenile comic relief. For some reason, I found the film enjoyable for the laughs more than the action or special effects! My 9-year-old nephew enjoyed it, especially the low-brow comedy. Also, the movie IS better than the trailer, which is a rarity these days. Recommended, but viewers who dislike music video style hyper editing ought to stay away.

Iron Man – Marvel comics’ first full fledged film as production house, Iron Man delivers in spades and can perhaps be justly called the best comic adaptation to date. Robert Downey Jr. is impeccable as the arrogant Tony Stark (great casting!)and keeps the film fired up even when the titular armor is not on screen. The film features a solid script and decent action – none of the effects here are cutting edge, but they are well thought out and because viewers care about the characters, the fights generated excitement. Highly recommended.

Forbidden Kingdom – Most viewers in Hong Kong and China looked upon this bastardized tale with contempt but I had to see it to find out just how awful the movie would be. What the Hollywood studios have done is basically slap together various elements of Chinese folklore and incorporate it into a coming-of-age tale for an American teenager. Although the movie stars Jet Li and Jacky Chan with fight choreography by Yuen Woo Ping, the action and fights are stale by Hong Kong standards (though they might still dazzle the viewer with no experience of the classic kung fu films). And what is it with the eye shadow on the villains? This is totally reminiscent of bad kung fu TV dramas of the 1980s! Not recommended.

Winner of Round 1 is IRON MAN

Zodiac : David Fincher’s best work yet

Fantastic Four : Rise Of The Silver Surfer – pure pop corn fun with no pretence of any high brow themes (or moralizing), this Fantastic Four film is probably the shortest blockbuster of the summer, clocking in at only 92 minutes. This is a plus in my books, as it means we cut straight to the actions scenes, with a little bit of comedy serving as diversion in between the set pieces. The best sequence was the introduction of the Silver Surfer and the subsequent chase with the Human Touch; unfortunately, the trailer exposed this scene months ago. All in all the film was fun: the Silver Surfer was cool and I can accept the compromise of Galactus being a cosmic cloud rather than Jack Kirby’s purple armoured giant (which wouldn’t work at all on the silver screen). Special effects were decent but not groundbreaking.

Zodiac – I have waited for David Fincher’s latest critically acclaimed film for months and I would say this is one of the best non-action movies I have seen so far in 2007. Based on the real life unsolved case, the film traces how both the press and the police failed to pin the Zodiac killings to anyone. The murders took place in San Francisco from the late 1960s to the 1970s and the serial killer has fascinated the public – in fact, the original Dirty Harry movie imagined a scenario where the maverick cop managed to identify and kill the Zodaic killer. In real life, the case was much more complex and David Fincher gives us an engrossing look at how a reporter, an inspector and a cartoonist dedicate their lives to uncovering the man behind these murders. Of the trio of stars (Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr.), I thought Ruffalo was the most convincing one, though all three were outstanding. This is definitely Fincher’s most mature and controlled film to date. The film also features an excellent soundtrack. Highly recommended.

Eye In The Sky 跟蹤 – well received when it was shown abroad at various film festivals, I missed the Johnnie To produced, Yau Nai Hoi directed police thriller at this year’s HKIFF, but managed to catch it last week. Eye In The Sky follows the mould of most of Johnnie To’s thrilling police procedurals – I found the plot engaging, and the acting strong and generally subtle (in the case of Simon Yam and Tony Leung Ka Fai). Former Miss Hong Kong Kate Tsui makes her big screen debut and acquits herself with an OK performance. The production was partially financed by Cable TV – this means prominent product placements for many Wharf Holdings companies, from Cable TV to New T&T. Overall, not quite as good as To’s Election movies or Exiled but still above average.

Thumbs up for Pirates 3 and Ocean’s 13

Ocean’s Thirteen – Soderbergh plays fast and loose in this third outing. I didn’t bother to count if Danny Ocean actually had a team of 13 this time, and the plot seems very implausible to me – come on, surely the Nevada Gaming Commission and ANY casino in Las Vegas must recognize these guys on sight by now. So how can they keep on conning the people who run casinos? If you can suspend you disbelief, however, the film is very enjoyable, looks incredible (makes Las Vegas comes across as more glamorous than cheap) and even Soderbergh seems to be enjoying himself behind the camera (I particularly liked his use of old style pans and zooms). The film still belongs to George Clooney, but this timeMatt Damon grows more confident in his role as the new kid. Also features one of Al Pacino’s most restrained performances in ages. Recommended.

Premonition – since the Sixth Sense, this is the type of crap that gets passed off as thrillers; I’ve seen better twilight Zone episodes. Sandra Bullock tries yet again to play a non-romantic comedy role but continues to disappoint. This time the entire film is at fault – the plot doesn’t hold up at all if you play any attention to it. Basically, Bullock is a wife who wakes up to find her husband dead and then alive and then dead again. The idea is that sometimes it is a “premonition” – but the film remains totally illogical and Bullock’s memory about events, real or imagined, is controlled by what the plot needs. Dreadful.

Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End – the last instalment of the Pirates trilogy ends with neither a bang nor a whimper. It delivers alot of excitement but is too convoluted and long. What keeps it unique from other blockbusters, I feel, is the quirkiness of Depp’s Capt. Jack Sparrow. Some may find the scenes with multiple Jack Sparrow’s indulgent, but I am going to give director Gore Verbinski credit for it in this age of committee driven studio productions. The film may be overlong but has more character than most Bruckheimer productions (working with Bruckheimer, I think Verbinski produces less anonymous and more original work than Michael Bay). The special effects are dazzling with a nice sea battle and the actors are all pleasant enough. Chow Yun-fat’s doesn’t really have a crucial role and I am sure it was a marketing move to cast him to appeal to the Chinese market (and promote HK Disneyland). While Keira Knightley looks real fetching in Chinese armour, Depp remains the prime reason to see the show. Recommended, but convoluted plot means viewing previous films is a must.

Local horror more shocking than modern zombies

Gong Tau – Herman Yau’s latest gore-feast is an entertaining romp. I have not watched a similar local film like this for ages; with fewer released these days, HK cinema has seemed to abandon financially risky films like these for a few big-budget star-studded film. Anyway, Gong Tau’s unoriginal plot goes like this : HK man goes to Thailand, gets hooked up with a woman, abandons her to come home, and woman puts a curse on him. What elevates this film from dull to fun is the sheer amount of offensive material, from loads of internal organs during an autopsy to roadkills, full frontal male genitals, etc etc. The flying head vampire is abit silly though.

28 Weeks Later – Inferior to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, though not horrible. 28 Weeks Later begins promisingly with the rebuilding of London after the catastrophic events of 28 Days Later but the subsequent action didn’t really engage me. Once the zombies (or infected people) started appearing, the film collapses into a simple chase and kill scenario with very few surprises. The social / political commentary about the failure of US forces in re-establishing order and their general ineffectiveness felt heavy handed. As recent zombie revival movies go, I much prefer Land Of The Dead.

Black Book – Paul Verhoeven’s first Dutch film in decades, this is a solid WWII drama about a Jewish woman trying to survive during wartime. I found the film engaging as the protagonist transformed from hating the Germans to falling in love with a Gestapo officer. Discarding the bombast of his Hollywood films (like Starship Troopers), Black Book is much more drama driven and although it contains a few scenes of sex / nudity, this is not the same kind of exploitative film like Basic Instinct.

Marky Mark in another solid action thriller

The Reaping – When I first saw the trailer online, this film was scheduled for a Halloween 2006 release. After many delays, it finally came out in March 2007 in the US. Normally, delays mean production problems, or worse yet, a lack of faith on the studios part. I went to see the film wondering which it would be and my guess now is the later. The Reaping starts off strong – Hilary Swank as a university professor out to debunk miracles with scientific explanations. The plot thickens when she is asked to explain a series of events the resemble the 10 plagues documented in the Old Testament. Unable to provide a plausible outcome, the final act comes out of nowhere and is extremely hokey. What a disappointment.

The Shooter – This movie reminds me of the no nonsense macho action movies of the 80s. Back then, they didn’t need convoluted plots. Compared to the current crop of actioners, The Shooter is fairly straight-forward and I think it is more entertaining precisely because of this. Mark Walhberg stars as an ace sniper, a role that is very familiar to gamers who play tactical FPS games. He is framed for an assassination he did not commit and needless to say he wants to clear his name. I didn’t find the action too bombastic and it was engaging enough as simple pop corn fun.

Anthony Wong and Isabella deliver solid performances

The Painted Veil - A project produced by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil is adapted from W. Someret Maugham’s novel. In Shanghai, Bacteriologist Walter Fane decides to head out to a cholera stricken village after he discovers that his wife has an affair with a British diplomat. During their stay, the couple discover more about each other and a genuine love develops between them. But this all comes too late. The Painted Veil is a well-made film but retains that exotic China (only found in films, perhaps) that fascinates foreigners. Hong Kong’s very own Anthony Wong has a secondary role as a KMT officer and he delivers a subtle but effective performance. I found the film so-so, but a few ladies in the cinema were crying. So I suppose the movie works for some.

Spider Lilies – This homosexual romance features local star Isabella and Taiwanese mega idol Rainie Yang. I was expecting a sappy and sentimental weeper, but the film turned out to be much more restrained. I never really listened to any of Isabella’s pop songs and have always been sceptical of her acting chops. On the basis of this film, however, I would say she is more natural than any number of “actress” (like Miriam Yeung and Fiona Sit among others) that command more box office potential in HK. At around 95 minutes, the picture doesn’t overstay its welcome and I found it decently watchable. The much publicized lesbian sex scene is brief and not explicit.

2007 HKIFF : Part 3

After The Wedding (Cultural Centre) Director : Susanne Bier / Cast : Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgard – Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is probably best known to the world as the villain in last year’s 007 blockbuster Casino Royale. I became aware of the actor when I watched The Pusher Trilogy and I find the actor VERY versatile. In After The Wedding, Mikkelsen stars as an organizer of a charity operation in India who has to travel back to Denmark to secure fundings from a wealthy businessman. During this trip, he is reunited with his ex-lover and a daughter of which he has no knowledge. I normally don’t find these sentimental movies too entertaining, but this one features strong acting across the board.

A Few Days In September (Cultural Centre) Director : Santiago Amigorena / Cast : Juilette Binoche, John Turturro, Nick Nolte, Sara Forestier, Tom Riley – Dangerous spies and powerful businessmen trade information in the critical days that lead up to 911 in A Few Days In September. While that’s the premise, the film appears to much more interested in relationships than espionage and thrills. Nick Nolte delivers a short but sweet performance as an American spy. Recommended.

Black Sheep (City Hall) Director : Jonathan King / Cast : Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney – Instead of Zombies on the rampage, in this hilarious gore-comedy we have mutant sheep devouring humans on the green pastures of New Zealand. The audience in City Hall roared with laughter during the showing and I found this an enjoyable and light-hearted romp compared to some of the more artsy fair at the festival. Easily the most entertaining film I saw at this year’s HKIFF.

Days Of Glory a.k.a. Indigenes (Cultural Centre) Director : Rachid Bouchareb / Cast : Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Boujila – Yet another WWII movie, but this one concentrates on how the minority population from French colonies in North African made major contributions to the French war effort yet suffered discrimination and were denied basic rights. While the film is well made, I found it way over-long and not particularly striking or original when compared to other WWII films. Still, Days Of Glory highlights a chapter of history few pay attention to.

2007 HKIFF : Part 2

The Boss Of It All a.k.a. Direktøren for Det Hele (City Hall) Director : Lars von Trier / Cast : Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler – Lars von Trier shows he can do top-notch comedy as well as he does depressing art-house films. The owner of an Danish IT firm is on the verge of being acquired by a Icelandic corporation, but he must present his prospective buyer with the company’s president, a man who doesn’t exist. His solution is to hire a self-important actor to fill in for the president! The Boss Of It All mocks the corporate hierarchy of modern tech firms and even makes fun of the process of filmaking and Dogma 95 movement. Recommended.

Bugmaster a.k.a Mushishi (Cultural Centre) Director : Katsuhiro Otomo / Cast : Odagiri Yu Aoi, Makiki Esumi – directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the seminal cyber-punk animation Akira, Bugmaster has alot of expectations to live up to. Adapted from a manga, Bugmaster traces the story of a druid type character who helps farmers and villagers fight off supernatural creatures. Despite saving the lives of many, however, he has no memory of his past. I liked Bugmaster although the film unfolds rather slowly, and offers very few gripping action or special effects scenes. The period picture boasts none of the immediate thrills of Akira but is nonetheless a rewarding picture if you can sit through the lengthy 131 minute duration.

The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt a.k.a. (City Hall) Director : Ann Hui / Cast : Siqin Gaowa, Chow Yun-fat, Vicky Zhao – this is perhaps the most entertaining film Ann Hui has made in well over a decade. Siqin Gaowa thoroughly convinces as an old-fashioned and eccentric old woman trying to survive in the metropolitan city Shanghai has become. Chow Yun-fat steals the show as her romantic partner while Vicky Zhao also delivers a captivating turn as her abandoned daughter coming to her rescue. The film offers plenty of A-grade comedy and it has been a very long time since we have seen Chow in these lighter roles. Highly recommended.

2007 HKIFF : Part 1

The Italian a.k.a. Italianetz (Space Museum) Director : Andrei Kravchek / Cast : Koyla Spiridonov – In a Russian orphanage, 6 year-old Vanya is adopted by an Italian couple. But when a mother turns up at their home looking for her son, Vanya begins to wonder about the whereabouts of his own mother. The Italian does not really deviate from the establish formula for “orphan” pictures first established by Dickens’ Oliver Twist. So no real originality here. But what we do have is a gruelling look at a poverty stricken modern Russia and a utterly convincing performance by child actor Koyla Spiridonov. Recommended.

Retribution a.k.a Sakebi (UA Times Square) Director : Kurosawa Kiyoshi / Cast : Yakusho Koji - I went to this film based on the synopsis in the programme guide, and it was a sold-out show. Best known for his role in Japanese romance Shall We Dance, Yakusho Koji stars as a detective who is assigned to a case where the evidence seems to reveal he is involved in murder. But behind the evidence lurks supernatural forces. Retribution seems to be a police drama cum horror thriller, but unfortunately it succeeds at neither. I found the film overlong and dull. Most of the viewers in the cinema laughed at several of the scenes; I don’t think the director meant for those moments to be comedy. Not recommended.

Love and Honor a.k.a Bushi no Ichibun (Cultural Centre) Director : Yamada Yoji / Cast: Kimura Takuya, Dan Rei – The final instalment of noted director Yamada Yoji’s samurai films exploring honor, relationships and class in feudal Japan, the Gala Presentation of Bushi no Ichibun was packed with female fans of Japanese heartthrob Kimura Takuya, who plays a samurai who tests his lord’s meals for poison. One day, his samples a toxic sashimi and loses his sight. As financial crisis looms over his household since he can no longer work, his beautiful wife is taken advantage of by a high ranking samurai, and the blind samurai decides to challenge his ex-superior to a duel to protect the honor of his wife. Compared to the director’s first film in the trilogy Twilight Samurai, Love and Honor seems more pedestrian and offers few surprises. Kimura Takuya is his usual self and is nowhere as convincing as Hiroyuki Sanada as a low ranking samurai. Still this is a very good drama with a nice touch of comedy.

2007 Oscar films capsule reviews

Many of the Oscar winning films only hit the screens in Hong Kong after the award ceremony was held in the US. I finally managed to see these films in late February and early March.

The Lives Of Others – In East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the secret police apparently keep loads of files on just about everyone. This German film follows a dedicated officer who is assigned to spy on a playwright. As the operation progresses, the police officer begins to sympathize with the writer and even ends up meddling with evidence. I found the movie abit too long, but very watchable. (Winner: Foreign Language Film)

Letters From Iwo Jima – Superior to Flags Of Our Fathers as a war film but much more traditional in treatment. Reflecting on the battle at Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective, Letters From Iwo Jima offers more action and makes the Japanese as human as viewers have seen in WWII films made by non-Japanese directors. Ken Watanabe gives a thoughtful turn that I thought was stronger than many Oscar nominated performances. (Winner: Sound Editing)

The Queen – As a piece of contemporary history-comedy, The Queen is quite fascinating. The success of this film stems from director Stephen Frears avoidance of making the film too uptight and arthouse. Watching it in the cinema, I found the film lightweight, but entertaining. I think Helen Mirren gives a stronger performance as Detective Inspector Jane Tennison in the Prime Suspect series, but her role in The Queen probably has more worldwide appeal. (Winner: Actress in a Leading Role)

Pan’s Labyrinth – I had high expectations for Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, especially since it received rave reviews from all quarters. The basic story follows a little girl who arrives in a farm during the Spanish Civil War and runs into a creature who tell her she is actually their lost princess. To reclaim her rights, she must perform three tasks. Del Toro mixes the harsh realities of war-torn Spain with the girl’s fairy tale fantasies. I found the script extremely well-written and the fantasy elements engrossing – particularly the monster with eyeballs in the palm of his hands. Highly recommended. (Winner: Art Direction, Cinematography, Make-up)

January capsule reviews

Babel – obviously a “serious” movie right from the first frame, Babel is more of the same from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Made up of 4 stories that initially seem independent of each other but eventually shows connection, Babel explores human relationships, the mis-trust between different races and mis-communication within family units. Like most contemporary films, I found Babel over long and abit too serious for its own good. Inarritu’s breakthrough film Amores Perros, by comparison, goes over the same themes but is much more vibrant and captivating.

Flags of Our Fathers – Clint Eastwood’s World War II film Flags of Our Father features earnest acting, solid and restrained directing, yet somehow comes across as abit flat. It does not dazzle with the visceral action of Saving Private Ryan or the surreal atmosphere of The Thin Red Line. The movie is nowhere near bad, but neither is it exceptional. It does not draw the viewer in – that is, we know where this is all going and the plot becomes very very predictable. I am hoping that Eastwood’s take of the battle from the Japanese point of view in Letters From Iwo Jima will be more interesting.

Marie Antoinette - panned across the board by critics in Hong Kong, I found Marie Antoinette quite watchable. It is not a “mainstream” period drama – in fact, I would say it is not really concerned with history at all. Sofia Coppola’s film shows how an aristocratic girl with nothing to do spends her time in decadence – the emphasis is on the loneliness of the girl. Much has been said about Coppola’s use of post-punk music (New Order, The Cure, Gang of Four) for the soundtrack and this makes it feel like a very personal film for the director. Maybe when she was young, when she was the privileged daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, she acted and felt like this take of Marie Antoinette.

Blood Diamond – although the film overtly criticizes the savagery present in modern day Africa and seems to be pointing the fingers at businesses in the west, what we are watching is really an action blockbuster masquerading as a message movie. As an action movie, I found Blood Diamond entertaining with a solid turn by Leonardo DiCaprio (better than is overwrought performance in The Departed).

2006 holiday season capsule reviews

Confession of Pain – Andrew Mak’s latest movie is a non-thriller in that the plot twist is revealed pretty much in the first half of the film. Technically brilliant and impressive acting is squandered by a sub-par plot. Unusual in being rather melancholic.
Verdict : watchable.

Happy Feet – George Miller’s latest family offering is an animation featuring singing penguins. My nephew remarked that it isn’t a movie, but a song-movie because there is too much singing.
Verdict : enjoyable but overlong.

Eragon – this is the type of juvenile crap that gives sword and sorcery films a bad name. The special effects are nothing to marvel at, Rachel Weisz doesn’t really work as the voice of a dragon and the action is semi-lame.
Verdict : definitely the worst film I saw this Christmas.

Spartacus – IFC cinemas showed the restored version of this Kubrick classic and I seize the chance to see this epic on a large screen. The film was indeed impressive, especially the early scenes where Kirk Douglas is being trained to be a gladiator and the climatic battle between the slaves and the Romans. By today’s hyperactive standards, the narrative is slow.
Verdict : now I know why they say it is a classic!

Rocky Balboa – The action, like all the Rocky movies, is quite laughable. No one boxes like that!! But as entertain and a look at how an aging actor / boxer gives it a final shot, it works. Stallone directs and it feels like a film from the 70s and 80s in pace and mood.
Verdict : Surprisingly watchable.

Curse of the Golden Flower – another Chinese epic, but at least it is by Zhang Yimou. The single reason to see this film is to watch Gong Li, who is entertaining and regal enough for the role. I didn’t find Jay Chou convincing at all, but many will disagree. The special effects were quite awful and there is not alot of martial arts scenes. I wouldn’t call this film great, and I think I prefer House of the Flying Daggers among Zhang’s marital arts films, but this is superior to The Banquet and The Promise.
Verdict : entertaining, and better than The Banquet.