Xu Haofeng, an accomplished fight choreographer, writer and director and first-time director Xu Junfeng delivers a period piece set in 1920s China, specifically, Tianjin, where the master of a wushu academy has just died and has passed on its leadership to his apprentice, Quan Qi (Andy On) instead of his son, Shen An (Jacky Heung)…
Tag: china
Rush Hour 2 (2001) – Brett Ratner
So the racism, sexism and homophobia are back on display in the follow-up to the break-out hit, Rush Hour. Rush Hour 2 brings Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker back into action as Lee and Carter in a sequel that looks worlds better than the first but is still steeped in the same racist issues as…
Rush Hour (1998) – Brett Ratner
I wasn’t a big fan of Rush Hour when it first came out. I didn’t see it in theatres or take it home on video (despite the countless free rentals we got working in a video store) and I was a little bothered to hear that Chris Tucker got paid more than Jackie Chan did…
Kung Fu Hustle (2004) – Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow not only directed Kung Fu Hustle, but he starred in it and had a hand in the script. And what he delivers is a wild action-comedy seasoned with some pop culture references as well as seeming to exist in a Warner Brothers cartoon. Set in 1940s China, the story follows a troubled man,…
Empire of the Sun (1987) – Steven Spielberg
Spielberg’s next project was an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s memoir of his time as a boy growing up in Japanese occupied China during World War II. Christian Bale, in one of his earliest roles, plays young Jamie Graham, an arrogant young English boy who is fascinated by planes, and whose life is upended in the…
The Replacement Killers (1998) – Antoine Fuqua
Antonine Fuqua’s 1998 actioner The Replacement Killers has quite the pedigree, it not only has Fuqua in the director’s chair, an executive producer credit for John Woo, but also stars Hong Kong cinema icon Chow Yun-Fat, the fantastic Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, Jurgen Prochnow, Danny Trejo, Til Schweiger, and Clifton Collins Jr. John Lee (Chow…
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson’s second 007 novel was an adaptation of the second Pierce Brosnan film, Tomorrow Never Dies. And while he seems to have some trouble adapting some of the more over the top action beats of the film, his take on the story actually works really well, and is one of the strongest film adaptations…
9th Annual Old School Kung Fu Film Fest : Joseph Kuo Edition – Return of the 18 Bronzemen (1976)
Screening right after The 18 Bronzemen today at the Museum of the Moving Image, Subway Cinema in conjunction with the Museum present the follow-up film, though it was released first in most countries, Return of the 18 Bronzemen. This tells a similar story to that of the first film, but from a different perspective, that…
9th Annual Old School Kung Fu Film Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition – The 18 Bronzemen (1976)
The 9th Annual Old School King Fu Film Fest continues in Queens today at the Museum of the Moving Image in conjunction with in Subway Cinema. Screening at 1pm is writer/director Joseph Kuo’s The 18 Bronzemen, a fast-paced film that delivers a story of vengeance and the wishes of the father carried out by the…
Zero Minus Ten (1997) – Raymond Benson
While I may not have cared for Raymond Benson’s 007 short story, Blast From the Past (to be clear I liked everything but for the Penthouse Forum ending of the story) I was more than ready to return to the world of James Bond, and see what Benson could deliver with his first novel featuring…
The Mind Reels 