Cafe Setareh (2006) @ کافه ستاره

At a glance:
Almost a noir, this is yet another feministic foray into filmmakin from Iran, this time with bleaker consequences. Recallin storytellin techniques from 1994's Pulp Fiction (alright, I'm kiddin! and themes from The Hours, (2002) one finds the three women in the titular cafe to be at once interestin because they could be anybody in downtown Tehran - a old cafe manageress, a middle-aged landlady and a young, dreamy girl dyin for some excitement in her life. Story is told in three parts, each section headed by the three women's names; Fariba, Salome and Molook. Some melodrama is on offer but the progression in Cafe Setareh is captivatin if you are interested in how each of the embattled women deal with their problems in their very own way. Old hag Fariba (Afsaneh Baygan) is willingly extorted daily by her gangster husband, just so she could enjoy the dubious honour of lettin it be known that she is married - gulp! Fortysomethin Molook (Roya Teimourian), itchin to don a weddin veil, stoops very low to try and secure herself a young man for marriage instead of expandin her business. Virginal Salome on the other hand, contemplates marriage to a truly detestable man when her original lover is away in jail, just because she doesn't want to disappoint a father who wants to see her married. Bad, bad men!
Bad news on the doorstep:
Such is the slow-burnin oppression that pervades the drama. Are there solutions being offered? The women in Cafe Setareh hack it out in an urban jungle among disillusioned men, sometimes to carve some sort of meanin into their lives but often just to get to the next day. The film thankfully avoids didactic sympathy baits and can be commended for having the good sense to shock viewers with some unlikely turns. Yet, while bein technically accomplished, it rarely rises to the level of entertainment that can go down as truly memorable.
Perennial wonderment:
Can someone introduce to me an Iranian movie that's "American", so to speak?
Most memorable line:
Fariba: "Yes, let the neighbours know my husband is beatin me up. At least they know I have a man."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
I feel very unqualified and perhaps hypocritical for judgin this piece of work. I mean, who the fuck am I to judge a country and its standards, especially when I ain't stepped foot in it? However, as a film, perhaps the Iranian industry (?) can congratulate their movies for now havin equalled if not surpassed production standards of many non-first world countries. Cafe Setareh is a strong testament to that distinction. ★★★

Yoshino's Barber Shop (2004) @ バーバー吉野

Clearly you might have been born in the wrong generation
not to have known this tactile pleasure.

At a glance:

Masako Motai

In Naoko Ogigami's debut feature, we have one annoyingly low-key movie about small town sentiments against modern change. Told through a few central characters with the main plot device being a compulsory haircut on school children, one would not have expected the film to be such an effective, although slow, social commentary. In sleepy Kaminoe, the good people live a life of silent rigidity - people wake up, get hurried to finish their breakfast, go to work or school, come home to dinner and sleep by night - only to do the same thing again tomorrow. The social structure that enshrines their way of life is never better represented than by the Yoshino haircut - a ridiculous bowl-shaped style, forced into the minds (and onto the heads) of young children through tradition without question. Rattlin their universe of meanin is Yosuke (Hoshi Ishida), a student from Tokyo who waltzes in with his swanky J-pop hair. His refusal to accept the Yoshino haircut triggers an awakenin amongst the townsfolk - where does it say that we all need to be the same?
Bad news on the doorstep:
This movie projects a stubborn lack of urgency. Yet the quiet charm of the story may just win those who'd give it a chance after being initially interested by the colourful characters.

"With the right set of underwear,
I will win me a man."

Reminds me of:
Schoolin days. This film is gentle but very ambitious. The humour sits you down and not up, and sometimes borders on tasteless - but always believable because life is sometimes, exactly like that. Yoshiko's ball-bustin character (played by the wonderful Masako Motai) evoke memories of the strict woman discipline teacher in anyone who was ever a schoolkid, but colourful characters like these, especially the village madman who does nothin but chase people about, are visual representations of the central discussion - do we really need to conform to be accepted? Consider the retrenched father who is strugglin to be accepted for a job, yet when he sings in the bath out of a sudden unexplained joy, he's quickly told by his wife not to disturb the neighbours. Consider also the sexy sister, who buys the reddest, most attractive lingerie to be accepted by her boyfriend. These are the lives of people who are livin for others, more than for themselves. Yet director Ogigami provides redemption and wrote them all a way out - to first learn to accept themselves.
Most memorable line:
A father in the film would tell his son: "Bein an adult simply means bein considerate to others."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Go watch this movie but don't come back askin for me to be given a Yoshino haircut if you didn't like it.★★★

Trailer for the curious:

Kung Fu Cyborg (2009) @ 机器侠 Metallic Attraction

Alex Fong Lik Sun 方力申 and Hu Jun 胡军 in Kung Fu Cyborg (2009).

At a glance:
Slap on the generic Chinese tag 'kung fu' to themes like mahjong, hip-hop, basketball, tootsie, cookin or even pandas - and you'll get a marketable movie title one way or another, the plot for which also never falls too far from the moniker. Don't be fooled by Kung Fu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction though. It really ain't HK's answer to Transformers no matter what you read. That trailer you watched and that poster you saw are red herrings as well. The Kung Fu Hustle director has reportedly said that the robot-human dynamics in this movie is more like Wall-E. Turns out the deceptively titled flick is actually a sci-fi rom-com with lead actor Alex Fong Lik Sun lookin like a cross between Astroboy, Andy Lau and Elvis. The Little Flying Fish, as he is dubbed in the Chinese-speakin entertainment world, plays a one-man Autobot named K-1 who's assigned under a kampung cop chief (Hu Jun) while actually servin undercover for a high-rankin government agent (Eric Tsang) to track down a kungfu-powered Decepticon named K-88 (Jacky Wu Jing). Meanwhile, the cop's sister (Sun Li) falls for Fonzie-wannabe K-1 and a resident nerd (Ronald Cheng) tries to ruins things.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Before Michael Bay could arrive on set to praise director Jeff Lau for makin an modestly entertainin CGI-heavy movie with reportedly just US$ 14 million (Revenge Of The Fallen has a US$200 million budget), the lot of them take us on a spectrum of genres and themes, from slapstick comedy and rural melodrama to extended robot animation and motion capture footages. There are some unexpected elements like redemption and sacrifice. However, it still feels like a hotpot of robot fun with insufficient thought put in on how to make a better movie.
Perennial wonderment:
How movie posters are such an important aspect of whether a movie makes it.

Reminds me of:
Suria Perkasa Hitam. Gaban. Voltron. What else?
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
If you're more inclined towards sittin at home to watch Ronald Cheng and Alex Fong on TVB's comedy cook show Beautiful Cooking, then that's alright too. Otherwise, give the flimsy but outrageous Kung Fu Cyborg a try, if only because the English subtitles are excellent and you want to watch a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.★★1/2
Bonus material:

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Kirsten Dunst as Lux.

At a glance:
Never read the book but this Sofia Coppola sure knows how to choose colours and music for her movie. Isn't she that bucktooth chick who was felt up by Andy Garcia in The Godfather Part III? What's she doin directin movies - and a damned decent debut at that? This melancholic movie is about a group of guys who become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their draconian Catholic parents, after one of them commits suicide.
Bad news on the doorstep:
There isn't any real social discussion here, just a very engrossin story with some brief reflection.
Perennial wonderment:
The naughty Kirsten Dunst. We all know she can act, even from the Interview With The Vampire days. I'm curious as to what kind of actress would she be when she's much older? Will she be Maggie Smith?
I can't remember if I cried:
To risk a spoiler - when the inevitable happened.
Reminds me of:
Dreamy goth girls who wanna die. Knew a couple in my time. Fakers.
Most memorable line:
A young Josh Hartnett as the hunk-tak-jadi Trip Fontaine: "You're a stone fox."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Gentle but shockingly disturbin, the poignant yet helplessly repressed flow of this movie is simply great direction. Havin no immediate source of sufferin or injustice (e.g. violence, rape, poverty) makes depression worse, you know. The depressed gets bonus guilt because they know others are worse off. Watchin this flick, I realise I love 70s suburban Americana. But most of all, love the Air OST. A comprehensively maudlin, hypnotic watch. I'm surprised I've seen this more than 30 times and still ain't successfully topped myself.★★★★

Murderer (2009) @ 殺人犯

Aaron Kwok 郭富城 must've hurt his head pretty bad to think Murderer was a good idea.

Chang Chun-Ning 张钧宁

At a glance:
In Murderer (2009) a.k.a. 殺人犯, preserved prettyboy Aaron Kwok (pic) had a go at some method actin and didn't sleep for days just to get into the role of Inspector Ling, the starrin role in this police action-thriller with a trailer to kill for. A cop wakes up from head trauma and finds himself suspect to the very crime he's investigatin. People are dyin because of a bloodlettin bastard with a power drill who loves to puncture human bodies in the design of a bunny rabbit. Feels a bit Seven, eh? How o how did it all go pear-shaped?
Bad news on the doorstep:
Fuck me four times and call me Susan. You're not serious about that endin, are you? First timer director Roy Chow Hin Yeung 周显扬 - can we blame him? Aaron Kwok has acted his heart out in a movie that's uncontrolled and preposterous, frayin at the seams by the third act. When you leave the cinema, consider how a less rigid execution might have saved the story but how you've just spent two hours on a thoroughly unrewardin experience. Supportin cast Eddie Cheung Siu Fai, Chin Kar Lok and the lifeless Chang Chun-Ning 张钧宁 as Ling's missus Hazel, all fail to add meaningful depth to the movie, except for maybe Josie Ho 何超仪 playing Ling's sister Minnie, who's always a little interestin to watch.
Perennial wonderment:
My friend Anrie says Aaron's ace in Divergence. The man did win two Golden Horses. Some critics say that you gotta respect his choice in projects, if anythin. It's supposed to build his credentials as a serious actor. I met the man once at HK studio - he had a clear undercurrent of a possibly genuine desires for human connection about him. I ain't no fan but that face skin does warrant some NASA studies when you consider he's 43.
Reminds me of:

What a disaster!

Guy Pearce in Memento and that Jap dude Koji Yakusho in Retribution.
Watch out for:
The mind-bendin twist, of course.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Okay, look away now if you don't wanna read a spoiler that I just have to write. I feel that it's my civic duty to let you lot know that I think the writers for Orphan and this Murderer ate a bad pizza after watchin Benjamin Button last year and came up with the script overnight. At least Orphan executed the twist convincingly. I think I'll go try the other Aaron Kwok cop thriller, C+ Detective. I read that it didn't take itself so seriously, unlike this craptacular effort.★★

Bonus material:
I have loads of hi-res movie stills for you.

Director Roy Chow Hing-Yeung 周显扬

Director Roy Chow Hing-Yeung 周显扬

Pulp Fiction (1994)

At a glance:
Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a movie can be? Oh well, so much for hidin my admiration for this flick. Tarantino's critically and commercially celebrated Pulp Fiction is one of the most iconic movies of all time. If you had to pick just one movie from the 90s to mail off to aliens in outer space to let them know about us, this unhealthy and highly addictive movie would be it. Centred around some unrealistically cool dodgy characters and a mysterious suitcase (lots of fanboy theories on the Net about what it actually contains), this is an embarrassin wealth of pop culture references, punctuated stylishly with plenty of movie moments that you can simply gobble up like a Big Kahuna Burger.
Bad news on the doorstep:
That it doesn't have a sequel or somethin to that effect? Any one of the characters in here couldda spawned a spinoff movie. Hell, that Big Kahuna Burger on the table couldda spawned a spinoff movie.
Perennial wonderment:
If Tarantino can ever make a better film. Doubt it. Well, actually I think Reservoir Dogs is a better film. It's just that Pulp Fiction is just so darn engrossin.
Reminds me of:
Melchiorre Conti, the Sicilian who couldn't stop sayin "Well, I'm a mushroom-cloud-layin' motherfucker, motherfucker!" Wotta man.
Watch out for:
Bruce Willis & Ving Rhames in a butt-rape and revenge scene, backed by The Revel's Comanche. I really enjoyed the weapon selection sequence.
Most memorable line:

Jules: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengence and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Top actors, top soundtrack, top screenplay. You can't ask for more. You give it and you hope that you can get a tasty beverage to wash it down with.

Vengeance (2009) @ 復仇

At a glance:
Johnnies Hallyday and To combine as French rockstar meet HK art film auteur, with mixed results. It's a revenge story (to risk overstatin the obvious) washed in Western themes, about a French ex-hitman arrivin in Macau to avenge his daughter. Milkyway's fave cast Simon Yam, Lam Suet, Lam Ka Tung and Maggie Siu are all also here but like all of To's flicks, they only need to be, never mind act. That goes for Monsieur Rockstar (pic) as well, who apparently landed the role after producers Michèle and Laurent Pétin failed to sign the even more iconic Alain Delon. I've only seen him in L'Homme Du Train (The Man On The Train) to be honest but he does cut a great figure to simply sit down and watch, especially in noirs. He looks like a demonic, unnaturally blue-eyed beast, really. New Moon could use him.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Obviously I'm not happy Maggie Siu didn't do much here but perhaps the greatest lament is that of Triangle - a lot of glossy gunfire but very skint on some meaningful cinematic glute. There's even that umbrella motif again that To already referenced in Sparrow, in tribute to the '64 Les Parapluies De Cherbourg (The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg). The Guy Pearce-Memento bit doesn't look necessary either, especially when the academic discussion on a revenge-seeker's 'forget v remember' dilemma is brief.
Perennial wonderment:
Waheyyy - can I go a day without talkin about Anthony Wong? Here he's the leader of the assassins that befriend Hallyday's dogged character. You can read that life does imitate art because Hallyday told in interviews that Tone's the only guy who spoke English so they both naturally talked more on set and they felt comfortable with each other throughout the shoot.
Reminds me of:
Taken, Election and No Country For Old Men - but told in a decidedly style-over-substance manner.
Watch out for:
The outdoor stairway chase. That's organisation for you.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?Johnnie To gets my three and a half stars and remains the international choice for a HK director to watch, despite every other movie from him seemin like a playthin. It's captivatin cinema you can't dismiss as hollow. That Lo Ta Yu music (who scored To's Election and All About Ah Long as well) didn't hurt one bit either and looks like they flew in the Frenchman to town for a good reason after all.

Up (2009)

At a glance:
Ebert has compared its characters to Jap animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki's, in that it uses a special touch to bring out the human best in a subject, rather than going for the usual cute cartoon animals. Also, instead of robots or teens, the movie features a very old person and a very young person, and a Japanese-American at that. You can't say Disney's resting on its laurels here. They're always trying to do somethin new.
Bad news on the doorstep:
However, as the critic expounds, the current 3-D trend in animation filmmakin will diminish the colour range, which are particularly complimentary in Up, as it were in Toy Story and Shrek. Although Disney's stories have always gone for substance anyway, it makes you wonder why 3-D is necessary for a non-action type film. Perhaps the very young need. Funny how somethin more advanced can actually be less rewardin.
I can't remember if I cried:
During the early Ellie-Carl sequence. In Up, themes of abandonment and death are visited in the most tender and tactful way; pavin way for cartoons to do more for kids, instead of just pushin colourful balloons in their faces. This is a step up from Wall-E, which marked the turnin of the tide where more mature content are now being presented (and accepted) in cartoons these days. Another pattern one can observe is that Disney is shiftin away from the big chorus of full soundtracks in their movies. Some old time nostalgia might have been lost with this move but the compensatin newfound maturity, realism and diversity in content are most welcome.
Reminds me of:
...
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Dammit it's gotta be innit! Variety Online notes: "Michael Giacchino's full-bodied, traditional score is superlative, developin beautiful themes as it sweeps the action along on emotional waves." I find the music a most empowerin narrative that is singularly responsible for evokin many of the feelings this movie wants you to get. Up might even get you down at some point but rest assured Disney always keeps everythin afloat, in more ways than one.

Read My Lips (2001) @ Sur Mes Lèvres

At a glance:
Vince Cassel (pic) can't put a foot wrong since La Haine (1995) and doesn't seem to be turnin on his trademark villainous roles anytime soon. As he walks into the first scene with his prison scars and dishevelled hair, all the old movie charm of Parisian disenfranchisement comes crashin in, like waves of twisted energy he so often ebbs. Story follows that deaf social retard finds roguish convalescent ex-con. They meet, they talk and they have every reason to fall in love but never really do. Pretty well contained flick with careful cinematography and an excellent score to boot. Sexiest advantage lies in the reluctant yet real chemistry between its two stars, adversaries and friends in equal measures.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Could get slow for some but take consolation that this is a more universal type of French flick.
Perennial wonderment:
In perhaps 20 odd films I've seen Cassel in (count not the Hollywood by-products like Ocean's Thirteen) this movie is one of the few rare ones in which his female co-star actually matches his talent. As the uncomfortable secretary of a property development firm, Emmanuelle Devos (pic, you might remember her if you've seen The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2005 who was directed by the same man) is at once urban ugly and yet awkwardly beautiful - the sort of uncomfortable character that drives a mystery-thriller like this to another level of entertainment. She won a Best Actress César for this performance.
Reminds me of:
The 1994 Captives situation where bad boy prisoner Tim Roth romanced nerdy dentist Julia Ormond on the toilet floor. Read My Lips explains why things will never be the same for people who cross paths this way.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Happy to give four stars for the stark and sometimes sensual. There's dirty love on decadent Parisian streets and escape for the two characters remain a romantic possibility for the entire duration of the film. In Read My Lips, the soundlessness of sex is louder than ever.

Orphan (2009)

At a glance:
Deceptively non-supernatural psycho-thriller about a kid named Esther who goes into a home and starts kickin shit up. Observe some pretty cool creepy camerawork. Don't know if this will ruin your viewin experience but someone who told me that there's a big twist made me overly conscious about it and it didn't catch me as I would've liked it to.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Various Christian and nonsecular adoption groups went ape shit about this movie because its murderous child theme promotes negativity about adoption. You can read that there's a Facebook group called I Am Boycotting Warner Bros. ‘Orphan’ Movie and that Warner has changed the initial voiceover from the trailer that ominously stated: “It must be difficult to love an adopted child as much as your own” to “I don’t think Mommy likes me very much.” Fuck this shit, I say. If you're gonna make a big decision like adoptin a kid and you get swayed by a movie, then the kid's better off without you, you suggestible cunt. Besides, it's already rated R so what's the big fuss?
Perennial wonderment:
If kid actors like Isabelle Fuhrman (in white, pic) ever make it big. Anyone hear anythin about how Haley Joel Osment is doin? Only thing I heard of since The Sixth Sense is Pay It Forward. He's too fat now to get any jobs now, right? That's probably why he's mostly doin voiceovers, right?
Reminds me of:
The Omen of course. The '76 original, not the recent cock crap remake with Liev Schreiber. It's not his fault though, so don't blame him. Also, reminds me of a straight-to-video C-grade movie called Glass House: The Good Mother. It had that guilty mother theme.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Yeah there's somethin wrong with Esther alright - and it's entertainin enough to wanna know it. The film's two-hour runtime might not have been necessary but this is still a movie with decent rewards.

American Psycho (2000)

Patrick Bateman.
Single-handedly decimating prostitute populations
since the turn of the millenium.

At a glance:
Never read the '91 book from which it's adapted but this sure makes some compellin viewin. On the surface, a story about a sick fuck narcissistic investment banker named Patrick Bateman who kills people, for example, a colleague with a better business card than his because it has a watermark. Historically, it has gone down as an important psychological thriller that attracts academic interest due to its surrealist presentation of white collar rat race socio-dynamics. Long monologues on fine food and beauty products by lead actor Christian Bale (pic) expound a complex story with plenty of rewards, cerebral as much as visual.
Perennial wonderment:
Batman or Bateman, this Christian Bale couldda easily played Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) with equal aplomb, if you examine the emotional breakdown in the telephone scenes.
Reminds me of:
Myself, of course. You're a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood. I want you to clean your vagina. I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?
Watch out for:
All the pop culture commentary by Bateman are actually great reviews on the subject. You just find it hard to capture it all because he's sayin it while he's choppin some guy or whore up. With an axe. Shiny one, even.
Most memorable line:
"Don't just stare at it. Eat it."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Cara Seymour & Krista Sutton in a butt-eatin competion

Pin this one down at four full stars for intellectual entertainment that lives on today due to its unusual delivery. Check out this excerpt I got for you from a Universal Studios site - The characters are captive to 1987 fashion, which costume designer Isis Mussenden describes as "much bigger than now - shoulders with lots of pads, big glasses, big earrings and necklaces, and clothes that used large quantities of fabric. It's a general rule of thumb that when times are affluent, the clothing becomes voluminous." Mussenden's challenge was threefold. "As a costume designer, my first job is to interpret the script and build characters off the clothes," she says. "Clothing not only conveys character and mood visually, it also tells the story. When Bateman is feeling powerful, he wears a red tie, a shirt with bold stripes. But in weaker moments he appears in a lighter suit and a less flattering yellow tie.

District 9 (2009)

At a glance:
Catfood-chompin aliens, inter-species prostitutes, gangland riots and a hard-hittin, nail-bitin (literal) lead performance from a guy who ain't even a pro actor - that's what makes Peter Jackson's District 9 the thinkin man's action movie of the decade. When the game-to-movie Halo project fell through, the LOTR strongman producer got a white African man's short film turned into a heavily-marketed R-rated docudrama with exceptional CGI - the kind that makes you feel guilty for endorsin Transformers. Director Neill Blomkamp's days in apartheid Joburg, SA, inspired this alternate Earth where real-life immigration issues deceptively underpin a story about prawn-like aliens stranded on our planet with nowhere to go. Unlike other alien movies like ID4, they aren't exactly hostile but behave more like frustrated refugees with sanitation problems. Narrated through a shaky Blair Witch Project account of Wikus Van De Merwe, a gawky government aide who turns from law-abidin family man to one-armed national traitor when he's exposed to alien fluid that changes his DNA.
Reminds me of:
1998's Dark City and Rufus Sewell. However when lead Sharlto Copley steps into a robot suit to pursue justice, we're taken 30 years back to when Sigourney Weaver did the same and kicked alien ass in the celebrated landmark Alien. The feelin is even greater considerin that we're rootin for a hero who isn't exactly a likeable fellow!
Watch out for:In Malaysia, lead character's Afrikaans-accented English must be so otherworldly because his fucks ain't detected by local censors. Muppets.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
A sentimental sci-fi about how ordinary men (or aliens, for that matter) end up doin extraordinary things when pushed to the edge, exposin the global hypocrisy of having set right and wrong in legal or moral terms. There are CJ7 father-son moments in this movie, together with the character struggle of a pasty-faced pencil-pusher who just wants to see his wife again. If this doesn't force you to reconsider how we treat foreigners, then let's all pray for Peter Jackson and a District 10. ★★★★

Tracing Shadow (2009) @ 追影

At a glance:
Rare directorial project from one of HK veteran actor Francis Ng, where we're taken back to the Ming Dynasty and kungfu masters from different regions fight over a peculiar treasure map hidden inside the palace. Within the half-hour mark, the Painted Skin question arises - is this a wuxia comedy, an action movie or an epic mystery? Well, at least we can rule out horror. You can read that the CEO for Beijing-based entertainment conglomerate Huayi Brothers said the film is an affectionate tribute to the martial arts classics of the 70s such as King Hu's Dragon Inn, not that I've seen that.
Bad news on the doorstep:
If annoyin mainlander Xie Na (pic) and Taiwanese model Pace Wu are your cuppa (who the fuck calls themselves Pace?) then you'd find this movie to be of some value for money. Other than that, it's a 94-min start-stop affair.
Perennial wonderment:
That unendin puzzle of a man, Jaycee Chan (pic) in his recent films like The Sun Also Rises, The Drummer and Invisible Target. Granted life is hard when Jackie Chan is your father but this young fella just doesn't endear himself to anyone onscreen. His soft demeanour and poor charisma simply don't make for good viewin.
Watch out for:
Hilarious scene where multiple celebrity lookalikes get together. There's probably five Jackie Chans, Jet Lis, Andy Laus, Richie Rens and Jay Chous - all monkeyin about to good effect. Probably the most entertainin moment in a borin, slow and ineffective movie.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
How about ? You can read that Francis Ng donated the first copy of the film to the China National Film Museum in Beijing, joinin other cinema classics Shaolin Temple, New Longmen Hostelry and the epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. God only knows why he didn't just float it down the Yangtze.