Tagged with chinese films

Review: Have a Nice Day, 2018, dir. Liu Jian

Review: Have a Nice Day, 2018, dir. Liu Jian

File Have a Nice Day under the “movies that I wish I liked more” tab in the file cabinet containing every review I’ve ever written. (Note: I don’t actually have a file cabinet. It’s a metaphor. Work with me here.) Honestly, if this film’s animation scheme actually embraced movement and didn’t feel so fucking stiff, I’d … Continue reading

Review: Angels Wear White, 2017, dir. Vivian Qu

Review: Angels Wear White, 2017, dir. Vivian Qu

We turn to movies, more often than not, for escape and distraction, for the promise of having our woes assuaged, if only for a couple of hours, in the calming glow of the silver screen (whether in large or small formats). Occasionally, though, the movies deny us, as in Angels Wear White, the new film by … Continue reading

Review: The Mermaid, 2016, dir. Stephen Chow

Review: The Mermaid, 2016, dir. Stephen Chow

I love Stephen Chow, and have since Shaolin Soccer helped boost his visibility and his reputation on an international scale. (Maybe that’s how you first got to know Chow as a director and as an actor, too, though if you have not already, I strongly suggest going back through his pre-Soccer filmography, as it is loaded … Continue reading

Review: Three, 2016, dir. Johnnie To

Review: Three, 2016, dir. Johnnie To

When you’re a master, you can get away with making “minor” movies because your status turns “minor” movies into “major” movies. Three isn’t the best To we’ve gotten in the last few years – that would be 2013’s stunning Drug War – but it’s still outstanding, an eighty or so minute masterclass in what a seasoned director … Continue reading

Review: Kill Zone 2, 2016, dir. Cheang Pou-soi

Review: Kill Zone 2, 2016, dir. Cheang Pou-soi

You don’t normally buy a ticket to an action movie for well-realized human sentiment or melodramatic storylines involving terminally ill (and terminally adorable) children. That’s certainly not why you might go in on Kill Zone 2, aka SPL II: A Time for Consequences, the sequel to Wilson Yip’s 2005 film SPL: Sha Po Lang. And yet it’s the maudlin … Continue reading