Favourite hong kong movie titles

Here is a list of Hk movie titles which amuse me. They are in no particular order.

Half a loaf of Kung fu

The teacher without chalk

The doctor in spite of himself

Law with two phases

Ungrateful tink

The vampire who admires me

When tat fu was young

Chinese midnight express (I imagine the meeting when like this, 'what is this film like', 'well, it's a bit like midnight express but in Chinese'. 'so what shall we call it?'

A Hearty Response

Is Infernal Affairs II the gangster thriller counterpart to Highlander 2?

Infernal Affairs II is among Ann Hui's top 5 HK films of all time in a recently published list.
Does this mean I need to look back on a film I thought was pretentious mess the first time around?
A film that wants so much to the "The Godfather part 2" but doesn't realise that just because you are doing a prequel, when you don't have Robert DeNiro and have Edison Chen and Shawn Yue, the results won't quite be the same. "Infernal Affairs" was tight, compact thriller that had little fat and could have easily have told the story in 90 mins if we trimmed the superfluous love interest scenes with Sammi and Kelly. Even with those scenes, it was completed in 100 mins or so (101 in HK and probably just under 100 mins if you watch the Mainland edited version, also, if you did see the Mainland edited version then you will be wondering what IA3 was all about). Whereas IA2 was flabby and sprawling in a misguided idea that this equates epic.

Ambition shouldn't be dismissed wholeheartly even if it fails. However, the main problems with IA2 are the complete disregard for anything that took place in the original. It's as if the makers never even watched the original, which is unlikely since they are the same writers and directors.

There are a number of things that just don't make sense or fit right in the universe.

Chapman To's character is apparently Eric Tsang's "go to guy" in IA2. He is basically is right hand man and was with Eric in his rise to power. Whereas in IA, he just seemed to be a regular foot soldier. Just a dumb henchman, who doesn't seem to be that close to the boss. My theory is that Chapman's stock had risen considerably since the first movie and his character was an audience favourite so they just found a way to bring him back and give him a much more prominent role.

The Thai gangsters in IA2 are tight with Eric Tsang. They even help him in his rise to power. However, in the original, the opening scene of the drugs exchange there is tension and a level of mistrust between Eric and the Thais. This change in relationship in IA2 betrays what IA was trying to do in whole scene of Tony testing the drugs etc etc.

Tony Leung's half brother, Francis Ng is a major mob boss. This was never mentioned in IA. You would think that such a major connection might have be referenced unless of course, the prequel was an afterthought and you are making all this up as you go along.

At the end of IA2, Tony Leung's character hates Anthony Wong for killing his half brother. You can see it in Tony/Shawn's eyes. But in IA, they are mates. In fact, since Anthony is the only one who knows he is undercover, he is probably his closest friend. Funny how Tony never mentions the fact that Anthony killed his brother at all. Unless of course this never happened and you decide to make IA2 as an afterthought because of IA's success.

Those are the only major inconsistencies I can think of at the moment but there are other irritations like the characters quoting lines from the first movie like references to speaker quality or having a ugly masseuse in a sauna, which is a bit too "wink wink" and feels like they are a bit too pleased with themselves. It's not as bad as Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert coming from the planet Zeist even thought Macleod was born in Scotland and had parents and everything.

In conclusion, even though Ann Hui has made some great and varied films, such as "Boat People", "A Simple Life", "The Secret" and "Romance of Book and Sword". Infernal Affairs 2 is still pants.

The Dead Wives Club

In a time not too long ago, there was a trend in HK action movies.

If your hero needed some motivation, a quest or drive to spur him on and to create some kind of screwed up personality disorder that will make him singular and lacking in social skills, there was only one thing to do, kill his wife.

In the span of 2 or 3 years, it seemed, more likely or not, our protagonist would have one thing in common, his wife would be dead.

In films such as “Invisible Target”, “Fire of Conscience”and “Accident” , the hero’s wife is dead and this event is the driving force of our hero’s motivation.

Now there are no spoilers in this article as the death in all these cases take place within the first 5 mins of the movies and all these cases, dominate the main character’s actions throughout.

Now you may say that lots of thrillers have their leading man bereft of spouse, such as Harry Callaghan in “Dirty Harry”. But with Harry, it certainly adds colour to his character and explains why he is a loner and a bit surly. But his character’s driving force isn’t because his wife is dead. Her passing is mentioned in passing and it’s not dwelled upon as in the aforementioned movies. And it’s certainly not the life force (or dead force) that powers our hero.

Now I’m not saying that using this device negates the entertainment value of these movies. “Invisible Target” was a thoroughly enjoyable action and “Accident” is a tautly made and tense paranoid thriller. “Fire of Conscience” has Leon with a dodgy beard . However, Leon grew that beard because his wife was dead. So it’s a pretty serious thing to happen if it makes Leon Lai do the facial hair.

No much of a conclusion but I just thought it was an interesting coincidence. Not for me to say whether it’s a lazy plot device to create motivate, oh no.

Dante Lam directed 2 of the movies, so he must hate marital bliss.

Vulgaria

The latest by prolific Pang Ho Cheung is breezy, fun but patchy and isn't quite as outrageous as it thinks or wants to be, even though it looks like it might live up to its threats in the first half hour. But it's a damn sight better than the similarly themed 'Viva Erotica' , which always seemed to look down on its subject matter.

The film has a good set up but descends into a series of random sketches of variable quality. The highlight comes pretty early with the meal with would be mainland investor Ronald Cheng. The scene builds up the level of dread and ickness to it's climax. To which point I would have opened now that a suitable level of depravity had been reached, it would be used as a sign to audiences that this is a movie where anything can happen. But sadly the movie seems so pleased with this event that it is continually referenced and seems to be shrouded in some kind of mystery or secrecy but it seemed quite obvious in the scene following the act that it most definitely did happen. After all, they even mention the use or non use of condoms for the occasion.

I can see comparisons of Dada Cheng's performance to that of Shu Qi's in 'Viva Erotica', and how it can be seen can be seen as a breakout performance for her. It's the simple tart with a heart role but hk is so lacking in decent female parts that I think a hk best supporting actress nomination is a shoo in. Speaking of nominations, Ronald Cheng is highly liked to get one for best supporting.

The film seems to revel in its use of obscenity, like a teenage who has just discovered the words. Which is fine as hong kong films have strangely found the use of swearing in films almost taboo and have only used it in a liberal fashion in a handful of films such as Pang's own 'Love in a Puff/Buff' and the early 90s award winner 'Cageman'. The amount of swearing in the film reminded me of the glory days of Eddie Murphy in the mid 80s, where the curses were almost punctuation and the use made you feel something because you didn't hear it being used so often and with such wild abandon.

The teenager aspects is keenly felt throughout with the wink wink themes of oral sex and masturbation. These jokes feel a bit dated but I guess these gags are new in hk cinema so it can almost be forgiven. But an extended monologue about masturbation which is basically 'the dead hand gang' gag from 'the inbetweeners' is a bit lazy and obvious. The concept is a bit old and urban lore even references prisoners using nail varnish to increase the illusion of a different hand. So to put a gag in like that with such a drawn out punch line just felt like a 5 year old saying "poo" cos he thinks he's naughty.
It's also a little disappointing that no clips of the film they were suppose to be making were ever shown, which seems almost a must for all 'making of' movies. Granted from what I have heard, the film was shot on the fly in less than 2 weeks, which is an achievement in itself and if we were judging it by these circumstances then the film has succeeded what it could have possibly hoped for.

I am pleased this film got made and receiving the kind of success it has been getting. It shows the hong kong audiences are looking for something edgier and different and not endless traditional epics. I see this as a step in a new direction for indie style hk movies and I think it will spawn a legion of lesser movies by much less talented directors. But that's not the fault of Pang and if we have learnt anything about hong kong films, we know they love a good copycat trend

The film seems to revel in its use of obscenity, like a teenage who has just discovered the words. Which is fine as hong kong films have strangely found the use of swearing in films almost taboo and have only used it in a liberal fashion in a handful of films such as Pang's own 'Love in a Puff/Buff' and the early 90s award winner 'Cageman'. The amount of swearing in the film reminded me of the glory days of Eddie Murphy in the mid 80s, where the curses were almost punctuation and the use made you feel something because you didn't hear it being used so often and with such wild abandon.

The teenager aspects is keenly felt throughout with the wink wink themes of oral sex and masturbation. These jokes feel a bit dated but I guess these gags are new in hk cinema so it can almost be forgiven. But an extended monologue about masturbation which is basically 'the dead hand gang' gag from 'the inbetweeners' is a bit lazy and obvious. The concept is a bit old and urban lore even references prisoners using nail varnish to increase the illusion of a different hand. So to put a gag in like that with such a drawn out punch line just felt like a 5 year old saying "poo" cos he thinks he's naughty.

It's also a little disappointing that no clips of the film they were suppose to be making were ever shown, which seems almost a must for all 'making of' movies. Granted from what I have heard, the film was shot on the fly in less than 2 weeks, which is an achievement in itself and if we were judging it by these circumstances then the film has succeeded what it could have possibly hoped for.

I am pleased this film got made and receiving the kind of success it has been getting. It shows the hong kong audiences are looking for something edgier and different and not endless traditional epics. I see this as a step in a new direction for indie style hk movies and I think it will spawn a legion of lesser movies by much less talented directors. But that's not the fault of Pang and if we have learnt anything about hong kong films, we know they love a good copycat trend

Local hk movies box office so far - aug 2012

No1: Love in the Buff - 27.9 million
No2. A Simple life - 27.6 million
No3. The Viral Factor 22.2million
No4. I Love HK 2012 19.1 million
No5. Nightfall 17.6 million
No6. Motorway 14.7 million
No7. Alls Well Ends Well 2012 12 million
No8. Painted Skin 2 9.1 million
No9. Romancing in Thin Air 8.9 million
No10. The Great Magican 6.8 million

With 2 decent sized local releases this week : Pang Ho Cheung's Vulgaria and Felix Chong/Alan Mak's The Silent War starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, it's likely "The Great Magican" will leave the top ten.