The Prosecutor (2024)

Donnie Yen makes an awkward stab at being a regular actor in a weird hybrid of court room thriller and action movie.

The plot has Yen playing an unhappy police man who retires and becomes an attorney and prosecutor. He figures that he will be able to get justice done. However there are forces at work which are corrupting the judicial process. This is brought to light in his first case, the story of a young man arrested for drug possession after he receives as package that has drugs in it. The package was really for a friend who is connected to a drug cartel. As Yen digs deeper things get deadly.

This is a film that doesn't quite work. The mix of action and drama is doomed by a script that never weaves them together. While there are some great fight scenes that fit nicely in the film, there are several more that feel shoe horned in, as if director Yen didn't trust his acting chops. He should have since it was his acting ability that has made his turns in films like BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, The IP Man films, ROGUE ONE and JOHN WICK 4 so memorable, (It's also something I discussed with him both times I interviewed him)

The action itself is a bit uneven, owning in part to the randomness of a couple of bits and to the fact that it lifts too much from first person shooters and the John Wick films. Yen needs to realize that the Wick films were stealing his best stuff, he doesn't need to riff on the borrows.

Reservations aside. I did like the film. It's not bad, it's just wildly uneven. It also points to the possibility that the next time that Donnie Yen mixes action with drama something truly special might result.

WHO’S AFRAID OF NATHAN LAW? (2023)

The answer to the title question is the government of China. They fear the young man and his friends as if he were the boogeyman. There is a very good chance that if the Chinese could remove him and other pro-democracy protesters with out it causing an uproar, they would do so in an instant. 

This is the story of Law and his fellow protesters who decided to fight the Chinese draconian rule of Hong Kong.  They didn't want to live in a city where dictators ruled with an iron hand.

This is one of the best docs I've seen on the uprising in Hong Kong. While there have been many others, some being biographies of people involved, some filled with on the ground footage, this is the first one that I've run across that has managed to be both in the moment and a step back. Its a film that puts us in the fight and gives us a bit of context so that we can understand what happened and what is happening and why. 

This film is so good that even if you've seen other films on the Hong Kong Uprising you need to see this one.

Recommended.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024) NYAFF 2024 Fantasia 2024

 

In the 1980’s Lok,a refugee from elsewhere in Asia, arrives in Hong Kong looking to make enough money to buy an identity card. Fighting in an underground match he is propositioned for a job by Mr Big (Sammo Hung) . He declines and Big said that he will use his winning to get him a card. When Big scams him he steals a bag of drugs and flees ending up in Kowloon the walled city.  Finding a home in the dark corridors and watched ober by Cyclone (Louis Koo)  he plans on staying. However Hong Kong wants to tear Kowloon down, Lok's hidden past comes to light and bad guys want to use both to their advantage to take over the walled city.

There is way more to the story but that’s enough to get you going. The only other thing you need to know is that the film is filled with bone crushing action. From start to finish heads are being broken in some of the most amazing ways. Sure it’s all classic Hong Kong wire work, but it’s spectacular and makes you sit up and take notice.

The reason that the film works so well is that the film largely focuses on the characters. We have real people fighting to stay alive and forming  friendships based on mutual respect. As Nate Hood said to me after the film the character relationships are such that you want to see the them and life in the walled city more than the fights. (Could someone make a compelling film like this one minus the fights?)

I had a blast going along with Lok however I wish there was one thing I wish they could have done away with and that Mr Big's second in command, King (Philip Ng) is literally unkillable. King has an out of left field spiritual shield that makes him invincible. While it kind of fits with the fact that everyone gets the snot beaten out of them and still survives, the whole thing that King can’t be hurt is brought in so late into the film that it feels out of place. It feels like a cheat brought in so King could stand up to the heroes.  While I’m guessing it made more sense in the source comic, in the film it feels out of place and over the top, which is not something you want to hear in a film already over the top with it’s violence.

Quibble aside TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS is a spectacular action film and very highly recommended.

TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS plays Fantasia August 1 and opens August 9 in the US

Very Brief thoughts on SHANGHAI BLUES (1984) NYAFF 2024

Tsui Hark's classic film is getting a special screening in a super restored edition.

The plot has a a couple falling in love under a bridge during the Japanese occupation. They never learn each other's name. A decade later their paths cross and a love triangle is formed.

One part romance, one mart melodrama, one part comedy and with a dash of musical delight added in this is a film that transcends time in a way that few films ever manage. There is a reason that we are talking about the film four decades on.

If you've never seen it- you want to make an effort to do so. If you have seen it you'll want to see this newly restored edition.

A world cinema classic.

(I can't believe I never wrote this up until now.)

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE (2024) NYAFF 2024

 I saw the North American Premeire of CUSTOMS FRONTLINE at the New York Asian Film Festival. It was a crazy screening where people kept popping off the line to take pictures of the guests who where going on to the red carpet. When star Nicholas Tse was arriving things got completely out of hand as a good chunk of the ticket holders and standby lines ran to take pictures- just as they were letting people in.

The film concerns a bunch of Hong Kong customs agents who are dropped into a battle to stop an illegal arms dealer named Dr Raw who is running her weapons through the port of Hong Kong. After Interpol gets involved things turn deadly as several officers, including Tse's ex wife, are killed. Soon after they learn that there is a trader in their midst.

Tse called the film a throw back to the old style Hong Kong action films and it is, complete with nonsensical plotting and crazy ass action. This is like watching an old film but done with today's technology.

The plot is a gawd awful mess. It makes no sense. Outside of Hong Kong there are no real places. Things just happen because. Everything is soap opera, with everyone being motivated by dead people.It results in everyone having one facial expression- very serious and emotionally broken. 

And then just as the plot is going on there is a left turn about mental illness which gives us plot line that one of the characters is bi-polar and doesn't want to be on his meds. The introduction was so bad and out of left field the audience roared. And then it's exploited mercilessly. The villain is a non-entity and simply shows up to yell at her minions  to do something from various locations. She's clearly left alive for a sequel.

The film also shows signs of Mainland China's interference with so much of it Rah Rah for our side, with everyone outside of the traitor doing their duty to the end.

The action is what you'll want to see and there are some spectacular sequences. There is fight in an inflatable boat, the stealing of the weapons from the custom agents, a wicked car chase, and a final battle on a container ship, all of which will leave you with your jaw hanging open. (We'll not talk about the bombing of the village in the war sequence because it's very silly) It is almost all fantastic, but there isn't enough of it and there is a lot of dead time where we are stuck in a story that has plot holes the size of an ocean (seriously on the train home we were discussing how the film simply never address all sorts of plot threads)

I loved the action but the plot is so bad. 

ONPAKU (2022) NYAFF 2024

Real Estate investor from Hong Kong travel to Japan on business and ends up stuck between this world and the next.

Head scratching supernatural thriller has me uncertain as to why this film brought Josie Ho to the United States, couldn't they have picked a better film? This is a messy film where the narrative thread seems to be broken and so little is explained that there is nothing to really hold our interest. Worse it's a tale that begs borrows and steals from any number of other, better films.

The images are creepy and their marriage to the aggressive soundtrack makes for some scary moments, but they are few and fleetingly far between.

Honestly if this film didn't have Josie Ho attached to it this film would never have escaped to these shores.

A huge disappointment.

Love Lies (2024) NYAFF 2024

A older widowed doctor begins an on-line relationship with an engineer  through a dating app. She begins to help him out financially unaware that he is a scammer a fraction of her age. As the relationship deepens the scammer begins to have second thoughts.

One of a growing number of films about online scammers LOVE LIES is a good, if unremarkable film.  Buoyed by excellent performances the film still manages to flounder around thanks to an uneven tone. It wants to be serious and at times heartbreaking but the infusion of humor cuts against the emotion. Additionally  because there are so many similar films being made now the film doesn't seem to have enough to give us that isn't new.

I suspect that the film will play better outside of a festival where there are certain expectations of quality. Even if I don't like a festival film I always want to think I know why a film was programmed, and despite this being a good film, I'm not sure why this film is at NYAFF.

Twilight Kiss (2020) NYAFF 2024

TWILIGHT'S KISS (aka SUK SUK) is about two older closeted gay men who meet and begin an affair in Hong Kong. 

It is a lovely little film about the perils of growing old and the realization that no matter how old we get we often are always struggling to be who we are inside. 

If you want to see a small gem it is recommended.

FOR ALICE (2024) NYAFF 2024

Tai Bo and Kuku So give performances for the ages in the tale of two lost souls who meet and become friends. It's one of the best films at this year's New York Asian Film Festival despite going a little banana shaped in the plotting.

The film has Bo's character going to stay for a brief time with his brother. He ends up running into a young woman who is trying to get the hell out of dodge because her mother's boyfriend is a creep. 

 A moody compelling film, this is a film where the the two leads give us everything by putting it on their faces and in their movements. It's an amazing film where you could watch it with the sound off and know what was going on because the leads are just so damn good.

I love this film a great deal. 

I love how it looks, which is stunning. It's a film where the images makes us feel we are in the rooms and on the streets with the characters.

I love how, for the most part, the film is all about the characters. I love how the film makes us belt in and go where ever the film is headed because we care about the characters on the screen.  I say this because as good as so much of this film is, there are moments in the last third where it takes a few less than organic turns. It's not fatal, but you'll wish the characters were give something better by the screenwriter. 

My quibbles aside, you need to see this. Tai Bo one again proves he's one of the best actors working today and Kuku So matches him stride for stride.

Highly recommended.

NAKED NATIONS: TRIBE HONG KONG (2024) IFFR Rotterdam

NAKED NATIONS: TRIBE HONG KONG is said to be filmmaker Scud's last film. If it truly is then it is ending his career with a bold provocation to the Hong Kong authorities.  Less a conventional film then a thumb in the eye to the city's rulers and their main land masters it is a giant FU to the draconian rules that have been put in place.

Nominally this is the story of a filmmaker and his circle who are buckling under the super restrictive covid measures that the Chinese government used to seize total control of the population. As the filmmaker decides to get the hell out of Dodge, his friends and colleagues must make the choice as well.

It's a long loud scream at authority that opens with bizarre sequence that echoes A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, but instead of the Beatles being chased by fans while the title song plays, we get a bunch of naked guys running around Hong Kong while Paul Mauriat's instrumental version of Blue Blue My World is Blue plays. It ends with another needle drop where one man walks on the beach alone.

I'm going to be completely up front and say this film is a mess. There are some truly great things in it, and some WTF things and even more  that spans the two extremes. It's one part documentary, one part narrative, and another part political manifesto. It breaks your heart one minute and makes you laugh the next and then scratch your head the next. It's as if Scud's mind didn't know what to do so it took some espresso and blew itself up on the screen. And  there are lots of buff naked guys running around for a large chunk of the film.

It's a film that is truly one of a kind...at least as far as recent films go. Truthfully I haven't seen anyone try to make anything remotely like this since the late 1960's when you would get experimental political films that went all over the place.

I don't know if it's good or bad. I don't know how to critique it. It's a film that is so personal and so not interested in being conventional or being anything other than a political statement, that you can't judge it on any conventional scale.

I love the audacity of the film, and the balls of everyone to  fart in the general direction of the Chinese government. But at the same time I don't know who is going to want to see this more than once? Yes there are some wonderful moments, but the rest is so all over the place.

Should you see it? If you want to give support and see a one of a kind film, absolutely, but don't expect it to play anywhere other than a festival, or a streaming platform that can handle something special.

Limbo (2023) hits theaters and VOD Friday

Two cops in Hong Kong chase down a serial killer killing women and collecting left hands.

This is a great film. Bleak, black and dripping with mood, it’s a film that echoes the darkest moments of films like SEVEN, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and ZODIAC, but without any hint of levity. Watching LIMBO you have descended into the lowest depth of hell and you can’t escape.

The first thing you notice with the cinematography. The monochromatic images of light and shadow pop. They aren’t really Black and white, but black and muted silver. It’s so stark and arresting it influences everything in the film. It is as big a character as the ones portrayed by the actors. It’s so key to the film that if this had been shot in color LIMBO would not have been even half as good. (Honestly this film should be put into the Oscar mix because I don’t think any film I’ve seen this year not only looks this good or had images that are this important to the success of the film.)

This film will depress you in the best sort of a way. It’s a film where you can feel the goodness sucked from the souls of the people on screen. We are in the realm of broken people and it hurts. The classic film noir films have nothing on this film.

I absolutely loved this film. I really wish I had seen it on a truly huge screen where I could get lost in the images. As it is this is one of the best crime thrillers of seen in the last few years.

A must see.

Mad Fate (2023) Fantasia 2023 NYAFF 2023

The life a fortune teller goes horribly wrong after he tries to change the fate of a young woman destined to die. It doesn’t work and he finds his life in free fall and connected to a young man with mental issues and a serial killer who is being hunted by a relentless cop.

Belt in boys and girls and prepare for a film unlike any other.  It’s the result of director Soi Cheang (ACCIDENT, MOTORWAY, LIMBO) collaborating with Johnnie To and screenwriter Yau Nai-Hoi (RUNNING ON KARMA, THROW DOWN, BLIND DETECTIVE) to make a film that is quite simply unlike anything you’ve experienced outside the work of the trilogy of filmmakers. A mix of genres including horror, action, drama, comedy and a few others, this is a film that doesn’t behave in any expected ways. If you hate predictable films this film is for you. I say that because twenty minutes in I stopped trying to second guess what was going on and just went with it.

This film may not always make perfect sense (the filmmakers are notorious for that sometimes), but God damn it is compelling. You simply will not be able to look away from the screen because you will have to know how this all plays out.

Wow. Wow and wow.

Easily one of the best films at Fantasia and NYAFF, not only because it’s a film that will have you on the edge of your seat, but also because it is a film that forces you to engage with it on multiple levels whether you want to or not.

Highly recommended.

White Storm 3 Heaven or Hell (2023) NYAFF 2023 Fantasia 2023

WHITE STORM 3 HEAVEN OR HELL is the third film in the Hong Kong film series and to me it’s the least of the trilogy.

Aaron Kwok and  Louis Koo play under cover police detectives who have infiltrated the operation of drug lord Sean Lau. When a the bust that is supposed to take Lau down goes sideways, Koo’s cover is blown and Kwok is severely wounded and carried off with Lau to Thailand, unconscious and still under cover.  As Koo tries to find his friend Lau begins making in roads into the drug trade into the Golden Triangle. Kwok slowly recovers and becomes emotionally attached to a Noon the girl who took care of him during his illness.

Beginning with the recovery of drugs in the South China Sea and a completely bat shit crazy shoot out on the docks of Hong Kong, WHITE STORM 3 begins spinning out it’s story  jumping back and forth through time to set up the  evens we are seeing in the present. It pauses periodically for some crazy action sequences and some heavy doses of melodrama that push the envelope toward silliness.

Lau, giving the only real performance in the film, happily dances back and forth between serious and silly creating a really bad guy who is fiercely loyal to his friends and seemingly devil may care. It’s the best thing in the film and deserves a better movie.

Actually the whole film seems to be stumbling over the line between seriousness and parody. There is lots of macho posturing, bad action tropes (bullets and explosions kill all the nameless figures and spare the stars), over done melodrama (like when Kwok must pry his lady love from hugging a post because she won’t leave the battle zone because she’s "used to the fighting"), to bad performances (one scene at the end between the 3 leads had  the people around me at the NYAFF screening roaring with laughter because of the ridiculous dialog and performances) and some WTF turns that provoke audible audience disbelief (a bomb to the head and a broach on a tire).  Most jaw dropping of all after the film essentially ends there is an  final thirty second sequence that looks like an ad for Hong Kong Airlines (I’m guessing they paid for product placement).

Even the action sequences, outside of the opener, are not what they should be. They look kind of half assed and as if they wanted to just blow things up.  Things are confused and it almost never sure what you are looking at unless the stars are in the frame. Yea it’s fun to watch things explode but the truth is with out the context that is missing for much of the film it’s kind of like watching random bits on You Tube.

Honestly I don’t hate WHITE STORM 3, I’m just disappointed. The first two films  were really good thrillers, this is just a mess.  (To be honest  it didn’t help that Louis Koo didn’t appear on the screening and NYAFF only announced it via a small out of the way note on the door to the auditorium and on the stage of the theater right at the start- I didn’t see it on social media. Honestly I would not have schlepped in to see the film which opened the next day in local theaters)

Worth a look for forgiving action fans

A Light Never Goes Out (2023) NYAFF 2023

Sylvia Chang gives a wonderful performance as a woman mourning the death of her husband (Simon Yam). Her husband was one of the few remaining neon sign artists in Hong Kong. As she battles with her daughter about what is best, she decides, with the help of her husband’s apprentice, to finish one last sign.

Sweet charming and fuzzy in the right way A LIGHT NEVER GOES OUT is beautifully made drama that hits all of the right notes. While the film doesn’t do anything ground breaking, it does take the form and crafts a film of the highest order. Sure we’ve been here before, but the craftsmanship before and behind the camera are so good that we can’t help but have a grand time.

That the film works so well is do to Chang in the lead. We instantly like her and we root for her to finish the one big job. Additionally her pairing with Simon Yam makes as perfect a screen couple as we are likely to ever see. You feel the love between  them in the flashbacks and in the sequences where Yam comes to her now. Watching them together I realized that was the sort of relationship I want, I want to feel the way they feel for each other.

I loved this film a great deal.

Go see this at NYAFF- and stay through the end credits where they pay tribute to the artists who made all the signs that once filled Hong Kong

IN BROAD DAYLIGHT(2023) NYAFF 2023

Punch in the face film about an investigative reporter going undercover at a home for disabled people and finding that there is abuse going on. While her reporting results in public uproar sad truths continue to come out after the fact that shake her to her core

While this is an excellent film that's beautifully done all around the film scores bonus points by not taking the easy way out and showing us a happily ever after ending once the story is published. The film charts what happens next and it's just as riveting if not more so.

This is one you are going to want to watch and then revisit just because it's filmmaking of the highest order.

Recommended

WHO’S AFRAID OF NATHAN LAW? (2023) Hot Docs 2023

The answer to the title question is the government of China. They fear the young man and his friends as if he were the boogeyman. There is a very good chance that if the Chinese could remove him and other pro-democracy protesters with out it causing an uproar, they would do so in an instant. 

This is the story of Law and his fellow protesters who decided to fight the Chinese draconian rule of Hong Kong.  They didn't want to live in a city where dictators ruled with an iron hand.

This is one of the best docs I've seen on the uprising in Hong Kong. While there have been many others, some being biographies of people involved, some filled with on the ground footage, this is the first one that I've run across that has managed to be both in the moment and a step back. Its a film that puts us in the fight and gives us a bit of context so that we can understand what happened and what is happening and why. 

This film is so good that even if you've seen other films on the Hong Kong Uprising you need to see this one.

Recommended.

NIGHT ORCHID (1983) Old School Kung Fu Fest 2023

Bridgette Lin stars in a breakneckly paced film based on a 65 episode TV series about a Robin Hood like character.

I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what the plot of this film is.  Its just wild and crazy motion with lots of characters coming and going with the need for everyone to storm a trap filled temple.  I could follow who the good guys were and who the bad guys were but I really had no idea what any of the details were.  That said the battles are cool and if you love crazy Hong Kong period martial arts films give this a look.

Recommended.

Prying Eyes (2023)

 PRYING EYES is an incredible short horror film.

It’s the story of a young man who films people when they are unaware, who is told that someone died in his building and what happens after that.

While the actor playing the young man seems to be “acting” for the early parts of the film  he eventually falls into the role.  Actually any perceived short comings are over come by the strength of the story and the direction.Fan Ka-chun has made a killer film that has a genuine “oh crap” ending.

What makes the film work as well as it does is that the story doesn’t do what we expect. Yes, the images are creepy, but at the same time this is a film that is carried by the story. What is happening and why isn’t what you think and the shock at the ending is because of the final reveal, not because it’s a jump scare.  This is the way the best horror films work. Frankly I’m so enthralled by the plotting and construction that I want to see what Fan Ka-chun does with a full-fledged horror feature because the construction of this film is so good.

Highly recommended where ever you can find it.

Running on Karma NYAFF 2022

When I saw this film the first time I was left sitting slack jawed and wondering what in the hell these people were smoking or ingesting when they made this off kilter little film. To say that this film is unique is an understatement. In all honesty there is no really way to full explain or discuss this film, you really have to see it.

 With that in mind I'm going to make a stab at trying to give you an idea of the plot, but even so I know I'm leaving out a few twists: A body building ex-monk who dances as a male stripper and who can see the future gets mixed up with a police woman going after a killer. Mix in some laughs, comic book villains, some very bloody deaths, some serious action, discussions of the nature of the universe and predestination; shake well and perhaps, just perhaps you may get an idea of what this film by Ka-Fai Wai and Johnnie To is like. 

Then again you may not since this film operates in its own orbit, going from pillar to post on its own crazy course. I don't think I had any moment where I really knew what was coming next. Say what you will about the plot elements but on its own terms it's a great deal of fun. In its way its a more sedate version of the "crazy" films people think are the norm in Asia cinemas. 

 The nice thing here is that while problem with the film is thats so incredibly quirky that it never really seems to pull it all together, it doesn't matter. Under normal circumstances not pulling it all together will kill a film, but here you don't really mind simply because its not only being different from pretty much any other film ever made, it's also being very entertaining. Just don't watch this when you're looking for a movie that makes perfect sense. 

 I would love to say more about this film, but I really can't. This is one of those movies that you just have to take it on faith that is worth your time. If you want to see a movie thats certainly unlike any other film out there, this film is for you. But be warned its bumpy and imperfect and you may hate yourself for liking it in the morning.

Blue Island (2022) opens Friday at the Metrograph

Tze Woon Chan's BLUE ISLAND will kick you in the knees and drop you to the floor. One part recreation, one part documentary and one part essay, the film is nominally a look at the protests in Hong Kong from 2019 and 2020, but the truth is the film is a mediation on the city and it's inhabitants and how both are being crushed by the Chinese government.

I am not certain where to start. Perhaps with the fact I was uncertain at the start. The film begins with a recreation of an escape from Mainland China to Hong Kong in 193 by a young couple. Its a recreation, as much of the film is, but it sets the tone for the long reach of the fetid finger of the Beijing going back decades. I wasn't sure what the film was doing with the recreation but I soon fell into the notion of the people being interviewed giving life to the past and the events that helped to shape them and their view of the world. Quickly my apprehension drifted away as I got lost in the talk of their lives, of their hopes and fears and the reality of life under an oppressive government.

To be honest I am having a hard time putting my thoughts in regard to the film into words. This was a film I felt on a visceral level more than an intellectual one. It's film where the the thoughts followed behind the feelings. 

The power of the film is best represented by the long sequence at the end where Chan reduced the tragedy of Hong Kong down to a level on one to one. Tragedy is best understood hen it's personal and one on one. Chan achieves this by showing us the faces of the people arrested and their charges brought by the government. Its simply close ups of the people we saw in the film looking at us. It left me misty. It was a reaction that was earned, and reaction that burned the level of injustice deeply into my heart. Yes I knew it was bad, but in every other iteration it was distant-even if it was only arms length. In this final sequence, one that was built up to by the previous hour and a half the distance closes and we face to the face with the injustice because we are essentially reaching out to touch the a friend who is in danger.

I was rocked. 

And sometime on I'm still processing, still trying to put words together to really express the power of this film.