The Movie Emperor (2023) Poster

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5/10
Ironic but very boring
tiffanylss17 September 2023
I respectfully agree with the other reviewer who gave it 3 stars, but I chose to gave a 5 for some (but very few) highlights/funny bits in this movie. I understand that Ning was trying to be innovative and creating something new however this is not a fun or compelling story at all. The whole script is boring and dreadful and we very much indeed agree that we couldn't wait for this movie to end. Ning is one of my favorite director but this is just not a good piece of him.

My partner said it's a total waste of time and it feels like Ning merged lots of different story lines into one movie however he can't even tell one story right and just didn't finish any of them properly.

Andy Lau is great actor, as always, although this character isn't too difficult for him to play I guess.
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6/10
2.10.2024
EasonVonn11 February 2024
In all honesty, Mr. Red Carpet didn't give me a bad first impression. After all, if you compare Mr. Red Carpet to other Chinese New Year films, or even recent films, the audio-visual and even the subject matter of Mr. Red Carpet can be described as superior and eye-opening.

In the many static shots, and long shots with qualified actors scheduling, inevitably see a little art film posture, but the reality is contrary to the wish, when I walked out of the cinema, a lot of viewers around the audience began to complain that "I have never seen such a boring movie," but I still very much like the film's approach to this era! It's quite brilliant in this day and age.

The core of the movie, however, is not worthy of the tone of the movie. The lack of spirituality and inner philosophy puts the movie in a very awkward position, like a spilled paint bucket. It seems like the work of a recent film graduate with a big budget, and still lacks polish. However, there are still some good points in the film, such as the discussion of modern cinema, which fully proves what Pang Zhang, the handbook of proletarian cinema, said, "Cinema can't be separated from the circle", and we can feel that the director, as if he has been hit by the festival many times, spits out his own bitter water.

However, he focuses too much on his own subjective expression and neglects the balance of the overall structure, for example, many of the stream-of-consciousness moments seem a bit redundant with such a dull story, and the showmanship is intentional.

Compared to its contemporaries, the film raises a number of questions about the movie industry that are quite valuable and worth thinking about; the content has potential, but the work lacks polish.
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9/10
Andy Lau was superb in this excellent satire on film industry and celebrity culture!
savalai-116 September 2023
I respectfully disagree with the other reviewer who gave it paltry 3 stars.

The central theme of this film was to make fun of our celebrity obsessed society. How this in turn leads to near constant narcissistic behavior of the celebrities.

Meanwhile it also shows how an entire industry has developed around such people! We see it in real life in the US!! The spin masters, PR firms, promoters endless talking heads on TV especially for political leaders!!

Andy Lau is the central character who plays this conflict laden personality superbly in my humble opinion. Never seen any of his films before. (Shame on me!) Every single subtle move, expression is exquisitely executed. Again my humble opinion.

I congratulate TIFF snagging this film as their World Premiere. Kudos to them.

Photography and music score were superb. Some of the shots were almost picture frame perfect! Supporting cast were impressive.

Just as a disclosure I am not of Asian descent. So very little bias in this review!

This gets an easy 9 stars from me.
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3/10
Very slow, meandering storyline...seems never ending
pjtrules16 September 2023
This was a bad movie in short, saw it at TIFF and it was painfully slow. It felt like it went on for hours. My friends who also came along also thought it was awful. It had some nice visuals at times but nothing to make the movie worth watching.

It has some scenes which are supposed to be funny, but they weren't funny at all...maybe it's an acquired taste but it was like a throwback to old slapstick comedy wxpcept not done well...the acting was OK but the storyline was really not worthy. It didn't flow and the characters you felt no attachment too whatsoever.

We couldn't wait for it to be over.
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8/10
A thought-provoking and mirroring pseudo biopic
u-1330910 February 2024
It's been highly promoted already, with super movie star Andy Lau playing an in-movie movie star that's modeled after himself. He finds himself successfully in his career peak but with insatiable ambition needing a well-recognised award to fill. His plan to make it big comes back to bite him, in contrast to what he thought. The complexity of the role network: stake-holding parties, his vanity-partially-driven ideal, his self-centred personality, broken relationships would all impress me. A nice insight into the scene of business and movies is offered to lay audiences, and online criticism caused by a tiny issue is definitely aligned with reality. Overall, Andy Lau's long-honed acting and the story's realism make this work an ticket-worthy one. Highly recommended.
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