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darrengoh
Reviews
Shun liu ni liu (2000)
Brilliant, kinetic
I absolutely love this movie. It's action packed, great cinematography, good story, and stylish. Some of the shots are simply amazing. If you think this is just another action movie and you can leave your brain on the couch, you will come away really confused. The story is pretty intriguing but you'll have to pay close attention. I understand cantonese, so it's no problem. This movie have my attention from begining to end, totally entertaining. I'll watch it one more time, that's a high compliment.
The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998)
Charming.
I wrote a review for this movie, it got lost somehow and never showed up. I like this movie so much I have to rewrite it again. First of all, I do not agree that this is a depressing movie. It's rather charming and fun, the story is unpredictable, great acting and beautiful girls. Many of us have lost someone important because of our own mistake and wish to be given a second chance to make things right. This movie give me a new prospective, to move on with live with new enthusiasm and not to dwell on the past, as Victor said "I am not stuck anymore".
Fa yeung nin wah (2000)
Melancholy!
Beautiful, emotional, and subtle. I watch this movie at an art center with a smaller screen in a film room with 95% of senior citizens. I wish bigger cinema like Lowes around here would show it. Great cinematography by Wong and Christopher Doyle. Since I understand cantonese, it's a lot easier for me to understand the movie. As simple as the story goes, many English speaking viewers didn't get the whole story. Three old ladies next to me keep yapping and have no clues about the movie.
Spoiler; They were surprise when I mention that Mr. Chow did sleep with Mrs Chen and they have a son. She went to Singapore trying to tell him but didn't.
Spoiler
The mandarin translation of the movie title actually means flowery like moment or memory. The phrase usually used to describe beautiful and wonderful memory that was inpermanance and short. The whole movie pretty much fit the title. Not to mention the flowery "Cheung Sam".
My favorite scene was definately the street corner in the alley. It looks so beautiful, the sun shining on the old and faded wall, at night in the dark, in the rain, truely a poetic moment. I felt a strong sense of intimacy of their relationship seeing them standing against the wall and talk quietly. I felt a terrible heartache when Mr Chow was rehearsing his departing moment, and Mrs Chen cried on his shoulder.... Bravo Wong Kar-Wai!
As much as I like this one, Chungking Express still top my favorite. However, I'll give this one a 10 as well. As a point of reference, CTHD only got 7.
If you love art, you will love this movie. Don't miss it.
Wo hu cang long (2000)
my 2 cents
There are plenty of comments on this movie already, so I only have a few points to make. Many had commented how great this movie is and I agree with most of them. Great cinematography and great story. It truely capture the accent of WuXia's world, especially "WuDan" mountain.
1.) For those who think this is the "oriental Matrix", get real. Yo Peng's movies existed way back to the 80's. Bamboo jungly fight scene are very common in WuXia world, nothing ridiculous about that.
2.) From my Asian point of view, the fight scene only worth about 7/10. For a 10/10 fight scene, watch Jet LI's Once Upon A Time In China series. AKA Wong Fei Hung. There's difference between martial artist who fight and actors who pretends they can fight.
3.) Chow and Yoh's bad Mandarin bothers me a lot more than I think, I guess it doesn't matter for most of you.
Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
my top ten best movie
I rented this movie from Blockbuster out of curiosity since I do understand Cantonese, so I thought it would be fun to see a Cantonese movie. I end up watching this movie twice in one night, now that's rare and so far I only done it once. I bought the video tape from ebay cause I just have to own this one. I had seen this movie about 10 times since. For those in doubt, yes, that's how life in HongKong is like. If you are from new York city, then you wouldn't be surprise with the chaotic life style. There are plenty of comments already to give an idea what this movie is like. Just two observation, in the first story, the lady holding a big teddy bear toy outside the shop in one brief screen shot is actually Faye Wong. The teddy bear will come into picture later in the second story. Also in one scene when Takeshi running up the elevator after learning that May had a new bf, the air stewardess coming down on the other side is actually Tony Leung's ex-gf on her way to meet him. Pay attention and watch for small clues that patch two story together, it's fun.
The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997)
Gretchen Mol
The only reason I rented this movie is because of Gretchen Mol. She gave a great performance as a 16 year old teenager in the 50s. Definitely dreamy. Overall the movie was kind of boring, due to lack of story. I guess you can't develop much of a story from one letter. The mood of the movie however is excellent. It captured the accent of the beat generation. Killer sound track too. I actually thought I might even enjoy it more if the whole movie is in black and white.