Action choreographer on Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, The Warlords and far too many others to mention, Tony Ching Siu-tung is back in the director’s chair for the first time in five years – but is this the triumphant return we were hoping for…? (more…)
Just another early 80s wire-fu movie – or at least it would be if not for the performances of leads Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh and some fine action from Ching Siu-tung… (more…)
Leslie Cheung leads an all-star cast in Wong Kar-wai’s sophomore film… (more…)
Derek Yee’s follow up to One Night in Mongkok, Protégé, is released on DVD today by Liberation Entertainment. You can read out review here »
And there’s still a chance to enter our giveaway competition to win one of three copies – but hurry, there’s just a few more days to go! Enter here »
A super slick thriller from Benny Chan (Heroic Duo, Gen-X Cops, A Moment of Romance) – but easy on the melodrama!… (more…)
Directed by Wong Ching Po (A Decade Of Love; Mob Sister) and starring Andy Lau (A World Without Thieves; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Jacky Cheung (Bullet In The Head), Shawn Yue (Dragon Tiger Gate; Initial D – Drift Racer; the Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Edison Chen (The Dark Knight; the Infernal Affairs trilogy), JIANG HU is a stylish gangster thriller.
Andy Lau stars as Triad boss Hung Yan-jau, whose celebrations to mark the birth of his first son are overshadowed by his having to intervene in an internal power struggle amongst his men. Despite the possibility of the situation exploding into all-out gang warfare, Hung is reluctant to take the extreme action advised by his long-time friend and closest ally, Left Hand (Jacky Cheung), who recommends the assassination of not only the troublemakers, but of all members of their immediate families. Claiming to have Hung’s best interests at heart, Left Hand takes it upon himself to order the elimination of those who threaten Hung’s position.
Meanwhile, a parallel storyline is unfolding involving two ambitious young gangsters, one of whom is hoping to climb the ranks within the criminal underworld by accepting a seemingly suicidal mission to murder one of Hong Kong’s most powerful Triad leaders…
A powerhouse cast of Hong Kong cinema’s finest actors helps propel Wong Ching Po’s dynamic thriller to a superbly stylised showdown on the city’s rain drenched streets and a climactic twist that brings the movie’s two plots together in a pleasingly dramatic finale.
JIANG HU (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Palisades Tartan on 30th November 2009. Special Features include: “Making of” featurette; music video; trailer; 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround audio options; optional English subtitles.
The new film by director Derek Yee (One Night In Mongkok) and starring Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers, Infernal Affairs) and Daniel Wu (One Night In Mongkok, Purple Storm) is released on DVD in the UK on 8 September by Liberation Entertainment.
Three undisputed masters of contemporary Hong Kong cinema – Tsui Hark (Seven Swords; Zu Warriors; Once Upon A Time In China), Ringo Lam (Full Contact; City On Fire) and Johnny To (Mad Detective; PTU) – join forces for the first time ever to apply their directorial skills ‘exquisite corpse’ style to Triangle, an “inventive, and darkly comic” (Mail on Sunday) crime thriller starring Louis Koo (Flashpoint), Simon Yam (SPL; Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life), Honglei Sun (Mongol; Seven Swords), Lam Ka Tung (Mad Detective; Infernal Affairs) and Kelly Lin (Mad Detective; Zu Warriors).
Johnnie To’s triad epic may not offer anything new to the gangster genre, but his ensemble cast are a delight to watch… (more…)
There’s something in the air all right… but Beijing Olympics or not, haven’t we seen it all before? (more…)
Another rather convincing slice of the Hong Kong triad gang world from Election director Johnnie To – with an ensemble cast to die for!… (more…)
Lau Ching Wan (Mad Detective, The Longest Nite) and Francis Ng (The Bride With White Hair, 2000 AD) star in this superbly paced thriller from writer/director Ringo Lam (Full Contact, City On Fire)… (more…)
They don’t come much slicker than this – Tony Leung and Andy Lau shine in this classy thriller… (more…)
The beginnings of Superintendent Wong and Sam’s feud are revealed in this solid, enjoyable prequel to a modern classic. It’s far more than just a re-run of the original… (more…)
Hong Kong’s most successful trilogy finally runs out of steam with a disappointing (and frankly rather pointless) finale – those Godfather comparisons continue… (more…)
The Fast and The Furious gets the Hong Kong treatment, but will this appeal to anyone other than boy racers?… (more…)
Peter Chan’s take on the historical wuxia drama is far grittier and more grounded than we’re used to, with a fine performance by Jet Li that will surprise his critics – but do we really need another film like this? (more…)
Director Park Chan-wook’s follow-up to Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is an even better twisted tale of revenge… (more…)
One of the first films from the newly relaunched Palisades Tartan label – reborn from the legendary Tartan Films label, which went bust last year – is A World Without Thieves. Written and directed by Xiaogang Feng (Assembly; The Banquet), one of the most successful film directors in China, and starring Andy Lau (Three Kingdoms; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Rene Liu (Double Vision; The Personals), You Ge (If You Are The One; Legend Of The Black Scorpion), Baoqiang Wang (Assembly; Blind Shaft) and Bingbing Li (The Forbidden Kingdom; The Knot), the film is billed as a thrilling crime caper with plenty of action and more than a hint of romance to spice things up.
Lau and Liu star as a master pickpocket from Hong Kong and a femme fatale grafter from Taiwan, respectively. Partners in crime and passion, they swindle their way across China until one day she suddenly decides to call it quits, both to her egregious lifestyle and to her entanglement with her lover. It is at this crossroads in their lives that they run into a humble peasant with a very large consignment of cash. It’s an encounter that will alter their fates forever…
A World Without Thieves (cert. 18) is released today on DVD (£17.99) by Palisades Tartan.
Director/action choreographer Ching Siu-tung’s solid if slightly disappointing movie An Empress and The Warriors is released on UK DVD today.
Starring an under-utilised Donnie Yen, Leon Li and Kelly Chen, it’s an historical melodrama. Yep, another one. And sadly it doesn’t delight in the way you might hope from the director of Hong Kong 80s and 90s classics like the Chinese Ghost Story and Swordsman series of films, or from his collaborations with Zhang Yimou – Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Curse Of The Golden Flower.
You can read our full review of An Empress and The Warriors here »
Peter Chan’s The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kineshiro, is released in the UK on two-disc DVD and Blu-ray today by Metronome.
A worthy successor to director Derek Yee’s One Night In Mongkok with a fantastic performance by Andy Lau, but a lack of true menace in the film stops this just short of being a classic… (more…)
Protégé, the latest film by One Night In Mongkok and 2 Young director Derek Yee, is released on DVD by Liberation Entertainment on 8 September. To celebrate its release we have THREE copies to giveaway…! (more…)
Yet another historical drama, over blown, over acted and over long – but it’s still easily the best thing John Woo has done in a long time…! (more…)
Say what? Another two hours to find out how the Battle of Red Cliff actually goes? Is it worth it? Oh yes, all you John Woo fans out there, it really is… (more…)
Director Jingle Ma (Silver Hawk) and star Tony Leung (In The Mood For Love, Infernal Affairs) re-unite for a belated but rather disappointing follow-up to Tokyo Raiders… (more…)
Peter Chan’s The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kineshiro, is on limited release in London and around the UK by Metrodome.
Solid horror anthology with three very different takes on life after death from three different Asian countries and directors… (more…)
Hong Kong actor Tony Leung has married long term partner Carina Lau in a Buddhist-inspired ceremony in Bhutan, according to reports.
Tony Leung came to the attention of Western audiences in Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood For Love, and Infernal Affairs, which was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed. He also appeared with Carina Lau in Kar-wai’s 2046. He most recently appeared in Ang Lee’s controversial Lust, Caution.
Three of Hong Kong’s most respected directors – Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To – each take one half-hour segment of the same plotline, each with complete creative control – but is it any more than an self-indulgent experiment? (more…)
Zhang Che’s landmark film – a bitter tale of revenge and the template for every kung fu movie of the seventies… (more…)
Palisades Tartan, the reborn imprint of the Tartan Films label, are offering a chance for two to attend their UK premiere of Park Chan-wook’s Thirst and meet the director in person… (more…)
