the avenging eagle

nice staff...



chik ming sing (ti lung), is one of the thirteen eagles; a gang, raised by yoh xi hung (ku feng) to be ruthless killers. chik becomes disillusioned with his life, but finds leaving the eagles is harder than he thought. along his way, chik meets cheuk yi fan (fu sheng), a wandering loner, who joins him in his fight against his former gang...

the story is pretty simple, but they manage to cram quite a bit of character development into the 84 minutes, considering that most of it appears to be fighting. ti lung puts in the stand out performance for me; fu sheng, is okay, but ti lung and chik are just cooler than fu sheng and cheuk.

the action sequences are pretty cool, especially if you're a fan of weapon work. there's some very nicely executed, complex sequences, and a few nice stylistic touches thrown in during the editing.

good stuff.

the dvd is hk$79 from buyoyo.com

the hand of fate

holding a pipe...



jung-ae (yun in-ja) is a bar girl who, upon arriving home one evening, is presented with a young student, shin young-chul (lee hyang), who has been beaten by the police. she takes pity on shin and invites him into her apartment to wash his face. the two get talking and jung-ae takes a shine to the impoverished student, meeting him in a few days time to buy him clothes and treat him with the money she earns at night, slowly falling in love with him.

the thing is, jung-ae is a north korean spy, supplying information that she gains from her clients to her superior. when she discovers that young-chul is a member of the south korean authorities, she leaves him; only to be torn between her duty as a spy and her love...

this is han hyung-mo's second film as director, having worked as a cinematographer on such films as 'hurrah! for freedom'. his sense of visual style is in evidence, although the technical and stylistic advances that had been made between 1946's 'hurrah! for freedom' and this production in 1954 are huge. in particular, the editing, for which han is also responsible, is very tight and the cinematography is particularly accomplished.

the film itself succeeds in creating a tension, atmosphere and yun in-ja puts in a convincing performance as a young woman torn between the temptations of the south, her first love and her loyalties to the north.

the film, which precedes han's equally controversial 'madame freedom', caused a stir as it features the first on-screen kiss in the history of korean film. the development of the original story by han and his screenwriter kim sung-min is also acknowledged as developing a move from adapting novels, plays and traditional stories in korean cinema.

the dvd is another high quality disc from the korean film archive and contains a very good documentary about han; who's next production, the musical comedy 'the double curve of youth', introduced the trend (that is still in evidence today) of having a theme song for a film. han appears to be a true visionary of korean cinema.

good stuff.

the dvd is $13.99 from dvdfromkorea.com

helen the baby fox

what a sweetie...



a pretty standard, but nicely executed tale of a boy who finds an abandoned baby fox and attempts to raise it himself, like the fox, the boy's mother has left his to work overseas. the film is pretty sentimental, but not too heavy handed with it's messages about learning responsibility and the like.

any short-comings it does have can be excused, simply because the fox itself is so damned cute.

aww...

the dvd is hk$79 from dandan's blog

the banquet

how many lives have been consumed by this flame?



907 ad, china. the tang dynasty has crumbled, it is a time of treachery, power struggles, insurgency and rebellion, a period known as 'the five dynasties and the ten kingdoms'. in the imperial family, prince wu luan (daniel wu) has fallen in love with the maiden little wan (zhang ziyi), but the emperor chooses to take little wan as his wife. heart-broken, the young prince flees to the southern provinces, seeking refuge in the study of acting, music and dance.

our story begins three years later. the emperor's brother li (ge you) has poisoned the emperor, seizing the throne and, the now, empress wan. empress wan sends a messenger to wu luan, informing him of his father's murder and urging his return, unaware that the new emperor li has also dispatched assassins to snuff out the threat posed by the prince's return. evading this threat, the prince returns to the imperial palace, his heart set on avenging his father...

one's immediate thought when thinking of 'the banquet' is the comparisons to 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon', 'hero' and 'house of flying daggers' that it has already garnered. indeed, there has even been a spate of articles, following the lacklustre reception that chen kaige's 'the promise' received, declaring how chinese wu xia epics are no longer of much interest to anyone. that's an opinion that i, for one, would take issue with...

of the four films that i've just named, i'd say that 'the banquet' is most similar, in scope, style and substance to 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon', although that's not to say that it's anything like it. 'the banquet' is not a wu xia epic, it's a period drama, rich with character: the martial arts sequences, that it does contain, are secondary to the narrative drama.

the film's narrative is heavily influenced by shakespeare's 'hamlet', which stands it in good stead, but the story and characters have been sufficiently tweaked by writers, qiu gangjian and sheng heyu, and director, feng xiaogang, to dismiss any accusations of it being a simple adaptation. the basic premise is there, as is the sense that we are building to something akin to the bard's tragic climactic finale.

the main criticism of 'the banquet' seem to have been related to its pace, but i found it moved at a pace that suited its content; the brooding nature of the narrative and the development of character needs a gentler pace. people also seem to have been critical of zhang ziyi, questioning her casting (as a result of which the character of empress wan was made younger) and her ability to do justice to the role. quite frankly, i think she's done herself a lot of favours in this role.

zhang ziyi is an actress who's fallen beneath my radar over the last year or so; i've had very little interest in the projects she's been involved in. in her role as empress yang, she is simply stunning as a young woman, who's had her identity and lover taken from her, been thrust into the role of empress and is now torn by the return of her first love and the power she's become accustomed to, a power that remains in her grasp, whilst she is li's.

ge you is also great, conveying menace, weakness and torment, as he says arises as result of "the tug between power and love": a murderer, a usurper and a man enchanted by the charms of his new empress. daniel wu puts in yet another solid performance as the emotional young prince; like empress wan, his wu luan is torn between his feelings for wan, the pain of his father's murder and his relationship with the daughter of general yin, qing (zhou xun). alongside zhang ziyi, zhou xun is amazing; as qing, she represents something that none of the other characters do: innocence and truth. this often isolates her within the imperial court and her devotion to prince wu luan drives her through the hardship that it causes her.

it is at this point, that i now feel compelled to wax lyrical about the film on a purely visual level. the set of the imperial palace is almost a character itself. it has been dressed with astounding detail and the absolute beauty of almost every frame of the film, in which it appears, is a remarkable achievement; from the empress's chamber, the throne room, corridors and exteriors. besides the sets, the costume design is also quite beautiful. the combined effect of the costumes, their inhabitants and the world which they inhabit, make 'the banquet' one of the most beautiful films i've watched for a while.

finally, a word on the action sequences; they are, after all, the work of yuen wo-ping. there are three, relatively short sequences, all featuring daniel wu, alongside a larger sequence at the beginning of the film. they are all visually stunning but, while actually being quite bloody and violent, they are more balletic in their choreography and execution. personally, i love them but, if you're expecting something along the lines of what you've seen in 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon' or 'fearless', you'll probably feel let down. then again, if you're expecting action over drama, the same will be true.

over all, i have to say that i'm a big fan of this film. feng xiaogang has taken shakespeare's influence and crafted a solid drama, that has as much style as it does substance. that's not to say that it doesn't have it's faults, there's a few parts of the narrative that aren't as strong as others and the ultimate scene of the film raises a question or two but, with so many reviews choosing to dwell on any negative they can see, i thought i'd go the other way and be nice.

thumbs up...

the dvd is hk$92 from buyoyo.com

the super inframan

crappy-tastical!!!



if you're familiar with the japanese films / tv series of 'ultraman' and 'kamen rider', then you'll know what to expect with hong kong's 'the super inframan'. this is a campy sci-fi action film, that focuses on a group of evil, rubber suited mutants, frozen during the last ice-age: now they're back and, lead by princess elzibub (lau wai-yue), they want to take over the world.

luckily professor lui (wang hsieh) has been working on the design of an inframan and rayma (a young danny lee) is willing to have the professor's bionic implants inserted into his body, turning him into the super inframan!!! now, he's our only hope...

now, on one hand, there's some pretty cool effects, nice costumes and fancy set design, on the other hand, there's some pretty crappy effects, ridiculous costumes and cardboard looking sets. the film is short (84 minutes) and it manages to cram in three pretty long action sequences, along with the tiniest bits of story and little, to no, character development.

danny lee does some good work, especially when all his jumping around and fighting is done in a red rubber suit, that i can't imagine was particularly comfortable. a special mention goes to dana, who play's the evil princess's henchwoman, 'witch eye'; she's strangely foxy in an evil way...

silly, silly, fun, fun!!!

the dvd is hk$79 from buyoyo.com

the man who wasn't there

the barber...



now, i've seen this films a few times an it's one that i like a lot. sure, it's not the best thing the coens have done, but it's still bloody good. anyhow, i recently discovered the existence of a colour version of the film; the film was initially shot in colour, but lit as if it were being filmed in black and white, it was then processed, so the version that was released was black and white.

anyhow, i was intrigued to see what this would look like, so i picked up the hong kong disc, which is very cheap. i did intend to just watch a few selected scenes and see how they looked in colour; needless to say, the opening credits began rolling, i remembered everyone who was in the film and ended up watching the whole thing again...

billy-bob thornton is great as ed, frances mcdormand, james gandolfini and scarlet johansson (who i'd forgotten was in the film) do some good work and i absolutely love michael badalucco, tony shalhoub and jon polito. of course, the real star of any coen brothers film is their dialogue; where apparently every stutter and pause is scripted. excellent stuff...

so, the colour. well, the world the film takes place in hardly drips colour; there's lots of very plain, almost dour clothing and washed out colours aplenty. now, i'm not sure if this a result of the lighting design being for its eventual conversion to black and white or not. still, as interesting as it was to watch in colour, it loses a little of its atmosphere as a result; heavy shadows, black blacks and the constant wisps of smoke, just look better in black and white.

a very good film...

the colour version is available on dvd, for hk$23, from buyoyo.com

casino royale

crying tears of blood...



now, let me add a little context: i like bond. i really like the connery films and connery. i really like 'o.h.m.s.s.', although lazenby isn't great, it's a great bond film and almost the distillation of 'easy listening' in film form. i don't particularly like moore, but he's in some very good bond films as well as a couple of stinkers. now, i liked dalton, i liked the films he was in and i thought it was a shame that they weren't deemed popular enough to continue.

now, brosnon. i don't like brosnon and i don't like the films he's in; they attempt to be too clever, too self-referential and far too knowing. for me, the only time self-reference has ever worked in bond, was at the start of 'o.h.m.s.s': "this never happened to the other fellow"...

now, 'casino royale'...

i like daniel craig; he's got the look just right. on one hand he's utterly charming, magnetic and could probably melt the pants off any lady he so desired. on the other hand, he has the look of a bastard who'd kill you without a second thought. that is what you need to be bond and he has it.

as for the transposition of bond's beginnings to a modern setting, with dench as 'm', no 'q' and the award of '00' status; that all works well. i have absolutely no complaints.

so, that's the logistics out of the way; how about the film?

well, things do start off in a very promising fashion, after a nice introduction to bond, (pre-credits, of course) a reasonable binder-esque title sequence (albeit, with a dreadful chris cornell song). our baddie, le chiffre (mads mikkelsen), is introduced; he's a maths genius and banker for various international terrorist organisations. i like him, just the right amount of menace and implausibility, that's needed in these situations.

then we get to see, what is a pretty stunning action / chase sequence, with bond pursuing a bomb maker, who is also pretty skilled in the art of parkour. this is very impressive stuff but is, unfortunately, the highlight of the film. the result of this pursuit is bond's discovery of a connection to le chiffre, which eventually leads him to a card game, where the two meet, at montenegro's casino royale...

so, what about the bond girl? well, as enchanting as vesper lund (eva green) is, it is her introduction that ultimately sowed the seeds, that grew into my dislike of the film. her introduction, although playing out in a quite amusing fashion, marks the beginning of the film's descent into a big mess. the card game that people seem to be waxing lyrical about isn't particularly engaging or tense, despite it's best efforts and what follows is just rubbish.

so, as much as i liked the first half of the film, i disliked the second half. hopefully, craig will continue in this role and, now that his bond has been established, the subsequent films will exhibit the quality of the first half of 'casino royale' and steer clear of what it becomes in it's final third.

hmm...

the film is on general release.

the adventure of sherlock holmes' smarter brother

the clue obviously lies in the word "cheddar"...



gene wilder writes and makes his directorial debut with this silly, comedy mystery, in which he also stars. sigerson holmes (wilder) is the younger brother of shelock or, as he refers to him; "sheer luck!". holmes (the elder) gets his brother involved in a case, where an important document has been stolen from the foreign secretary, leaving him to investigate from afar...

holmes teams up with sgt. sacker (marty feldman), a man with a photographic sense of hearing and jenny hill (the fabulous madeline kahn), an opera singer who's being blackmailed, but has a link to the stolen document. the trio struggle against the dastardly plot of moriarty (leo mckern) and a blackmailing opera star, eduardo gambetti (dom de luise)...

now, this isn't as hilarious as it was when i was 10, but it's still got some very funny lines and set-ups amongst the absurd silliness. there's some great songs thrown in for good measure, including 'come on do the kangaroo', which is something that i often find myself humming, to this day...

great goofiness...

the dvd is $8.97 from dvdpacific.com

princess d

oh. i'm just a fly...



the wonderful sylvia chang, writes and directs, along with alan yuen; together they create a rather unexpected hong kong drama.

joker (daniel wu) is a computer programmer. he works for a software house who are developing a female character to star in a games and averts; he is not a fan of the pixel perfect creation and sets out to produce something with a bit more life, depth and reality. when he meets ling (angelica lee), he finds his muse, even if she is initially reluctant to have anything to do with him. ling works in a club, selling drugs on the side, to pay for the debts that her wannabe gangster brother has accumulated, her father is in prison and her mother is suffering from an alzheimers like illness.

joker's father (anthony wong) runs a dance school and his brother, kid (edison chen), is a young courier, although he actually doesn't really seem to take any interest in his job. when joker's company reject his idea for an aspirational, rags to riches, 'princess d' character, he quits, assembling a team to work on the character. all the time he is falling in love with ling, ling is getting deeper into trouble as a result of her brother's debts...

daniel wu, who i always seem to like, is good, as is angelica lee. edison chen, anthony wong and pat ha (ling's mother) are also very good. i'd say that chang and yuen must take a lot of credit for this; their script and direction gets subtle, rich performances from their actors. they also manage to employ cgi in a very restrained, yet effective fashion, especially during the nightclub scene, which is followed by a triad battle in a back alley, that a drugged up daniel wu stumbles in to.

different stuff for hong kong. good stuff though...

the dvd is hk$25 from buyoyo.com

always : sunset on third street

building...



a small street in tokyo, 1958, the 'suzuki auto company's newest employee arrives, her name is mitsuko (maki horikita). mitsuko is hoping for a glamorous job as the company president's secretary, instead she is the new trainee mechanic for the suzuki family's tiny garage, that dreams of future greatness...

opposite lives ryunosuke (hidetaka yoshioka), a man who makes a half-assed attempt at running a sweet shop, whilst writing 'boys own' style stories, harbouring dreams of becoming a famous writer. his nights are spent in a small bar owned by hiromi (koyuki), a woman with a chequered past, who gets the child (kenta suga) of an old friend thrust upon her. she persuades a drunken ryunosuke, with whom he is enamoured, to take this boy, junnosuke, under his wing. he agrees, but is not so sure when morning arrives...

now, i liked this a lot. the relationship of the two new members in their respective family units are played out quite beautifully; especially that of ryunosuke and junnosuke. sure, there's a touch of sentimentality to the film, but this is kept in check (on the whole) by a bittersweet edge that runs through the film. it's not without it's flaws, but it's very easy to forgive...

the film's backdrop of tokyo (and indeed japan), almost fully recovered from the wounds of world war two, provides a rich atmosphere. the aspirations of the suzuki family and their acquisition of the golden triumvirate; television, refrigerator and washing machine, contrast with ryunosuke's struggle to create a household with a father, a mother and a son.

a really nice slice of film...

the dvd is $11.50 from ethaicd.com

on the edge

teetering...



harry-boy (nick cheung) is a cop who's been working undercover, as a triad, for the last eight years. the film begins with him busting his boss, don dark (francis ng) and his subsequent re-introduction into the police force and his new partner, lung (anthony wong). harry now finds himself trailed by internal affairs officers and uneasy with lung's strong-arm tactics, which he'd experienced first hand when he was operating on the other side of the law. needless to say lung isn't overly comfortable with harry's company...

on the other side of the coin, cat (rain li), harry's karaoke hostess, former lover and mini b (derek tsang), his former partner in crime, turn their backs on a man who has betrayed their trust. as harry and lung try to deal with the aftermath of don's removal, their paths cross and harry has to cope with the identity crisis he's now experiencing.

well, on the plus side; it looks pretty good, its got a pretty tight pace, nick cheung and derek tsang put in good performances and there's a few very nicely executed scenes. still, it's pretty short, some of the narrative developments don't quite work for me, it has the tendency to slip into the realms of melodrama and over-eggs its pudding when it runs out of steam.

it verges on being pretty good, but it doesn't quite make it.

the dvd is hk$79 from buyoyo.com

europa

goodbye europe...



so, the third and final film of lars von trier's 'europe trilogy' again sticks with the theme of a young idealist, setting out into the world and ending up in a less than ideal situation. in 'element of crime', a policeman with an idealistic devotion to an investigative methodology sets out to find a killer; stylistically the film was beautiful if, as i commented at the time, a little vacuous. in epidemic, a young doctor flees the safety of a walled city in an attempt to combat a plague that is sweeping the country; stylistically, the film cuts between the telling of the story and a dogma-esque deconstruction of the film's scripting.

in 'europa', a young american or german heritage, leopold kessler (jean-marc barr), travels to germany a few months after the end of world war two. leopold avoided fighting in the war and now wants to contribute to the emerging nation. he arrives in germany and takes a job, alongside his uncle (ernst-hugo jaregard), as a sleeping car conductor for zentropa railways. he soon becomes involved with the hartmann family, owners of zentropa, and in particular with katharina hartmann (barbara sukowa), the daughter of the company's owner. colonel harris (eddie constantine), an american solider and friend of the hartmann family, approaches leopold, asking him to keep his eyes open for 'werwolfs'; partisan fighters, who are set on disrupting germany's newly found peace. slowly, leopold becomes entwined with the american army, the werwolf partisans and katharina, in a situation that seemingly spirals out of control...

visually, by von trier's admission, the film is again influenced by tarkovsky, as well as 'vertigo' and 'the night of the hunter'. the film is a stunning and technically incredible combination of black and white and colour cinematography, sitting together through the use of front and rear projection, double exposures and other techniques. the result is simply incredible. if i was dazzled by 'element of crime', i was practically speechless after 'europa'. in one scene, where leopold arrives at a cathedral on a snowy night, removing his hat as he walks though it's doors, only to walk through a congregation that is exposed to the falling snow, as the cathedral has no roof: a simply incredible moment amongst many others. the film is filled with long, extremely complex tracking and crane shots, either moving through buildings or the carriage where leopold works.

von trier crafts a noir, which has healthy stylistic doses of german expressionism, surrealist and, even, absurdist sensibilities thrown in; it is crammed with humour, symbolism and a rich group of characters. jean-marc barr makes leopold into a sympathetic, sweet character, barbara sukowa smoulders as a femme fatale, drawing leopold to her and into trouble. ernst-hugo jaregard is great as leopold's grumpy uncle, as is eddie constantine and udo kier. max von sydow also does some sterling work as the voice of the narrator; a hypnotist who guides leo through the new world that he's arrived in: 'europa'.

i have absolutely loved watching these three films. it's very rare that i'll watch films and then watch them immediately with their commentaries, but i have done this with all three of these films. i have warmed to von trier's lack of discourse, that relates to the films narrative's, he is far more focusses on the situations surrounding the films and the techniques used in their filming. it's quite unusual, especially when you consider his rejection of almost all stylisation during his dogma work.

all in all, these are three amazing films, collected together in the excellent 'europe trilogy' box-set, which is £24.99 from hmv.co.uk.

highly recommended.

triads : the inside story

chop, chop, chop...



now, i've read a few reviews of this film, where people seem a little pissed that nothing is explained. i can only assume that the old dvd had pretty terrible subtitles as, having watched the new joy sales disc, it's a pretty straight forward story. that's not to say that the subs are now perfect and to say that it has been remastered is surely stretching the truth...

the film focuses on the hung hing gang; when their head is killed, his son ho (chow yun-fat) returns to hong kong for his funeral. ho is not a triad, he's been living in america, where he was educated and is a businessman on the verge of success. lacking leadership, hung hing turns to the son of their fallen boss, persuading him to take the reigns, even as a temporary measure.

reluctantly, ho agrees and begins to make an attempt to stabilise hung hing; fending off other gangs, who want their territory and trying to keep kong (roy cheung), a young hot-headed gang member, in check.

now, apart from a few points in the narrative being pretty hard to swallow (the fact that they want ho to be their boss, being the biggest), this is a pretty decent film. the production quality is high and there's some good solid performances, from some nicely rounded characters.

chow yun-fat is almost worth ignoring, but roy cheung is great, it probably helps that his character (a younger triad, who seems to have more of an understanding of the world he inhabits, despite his reluctance to adhere to it's conventions) is the most interesting.

not great, but worth a watch.

the dvd is hk$33 from buyoyo.com

zu : the warriors from the magic mountain

i'd forgotten...



yep, i'd forgotten, just how much i love this film, or that's what i wrote the last time i watched it. when the remastered dvd dropped through my letterbox yesterday, it went straight into my dvd player and i must say, it's looking pretty damned good.

tsui hark presents us with a fantasy adventure that kicks into action immediately and doesn't let up until the credits role. yuen biao is excellent as a young solider who stumbles into a haunted temple whilst fleeing from enemy troops. yuen is then rescued by a swordsman (damian lau) and the pair team up with two monks (damian lau and adam cheng), before running into more trouble and a setting off on a quest to find the twin blades in order to save the world from evil. along the way, they run into moon lee, brigitte lin, norman chu and sammo hung...

this really is a great film; it's exciting, funny and features an amazing use of optical, physical and editing effects that, when combined with the physical performances of the cast and the sets, are truly remarkable.

the second disc of this release features an interview with yuen biao, where he talks about the development of the film, it's special effects, working with tsui hark and the cast. it also features the alternate international beginning and ending, which i never even knew existed! i'm glad i never saw these and that the first time i watched this film was on the hong kong legends vhs of the hong kong cut. there's about forty minutes of footage, where yuen biao is living in canada, but is troubled by strange coincidences and a past life that seems to be haunting him. when he is involved in a car crash, his past life and the present collide and the story, as we know it begins: it doesn't really work for me...

excellent.

the dvd is hk$73 from buyoyo.com

saviour of the soul 2

more like silliness of the soul...



now, most people's complaints about the first 'saviour of the soul' film, seem to be aimed at the often uneasy mixture of dark fantasy and silly cartoon humour. in this film, they've solved that problem by ditching the darkness and embracing the silliness...

david lai and corey yuen continue their shared directorial duties, with yuen stepping in front of the camera into a starring role, as 'doctor'; the inventor side-kick of ching (andy lau reprising his role) and tim (lai chi-lam), a child version of ching. the three set off on a mission to find the 'virgin ice' and the mystical 'essence air', that can give eternal life.

along the way, they run into ruby (shirley kwan) a siren like bar owner, who takes the money from the men who are doomed to die in the quest for the virgin ice. ruby falls for ching, but he only has thoughts of his dream girl (rosamund kwan), who only lives in his dreams, or does she?

now, this is a very silly film, without much of the style that made the first film so watchable. it's entertaining enough, if you're in the mood for silly, but it'll disappoint if you're expecting something more. however, if you are in the mood for daft, you'll probably enjoy this; it's got a few funny moments, a few nicely inventive special effects, a couple of scenes that parody some other popular hong kong films and richard ng is pretty funny as the king of evil.

silly, very silly...

the dvd is hk$23 from buyoyo.com

the shoe fairy

a black sheep and a white sheep...



another product of andy lau's 'focus : first cuts' stable sees taiwan's robin lee make his/her (?) directorial debut. the film is a modern fairytale, narrated by lau, which tells the story of dodo (vivian hsu, who is never less than adorable).

dodo was born with a condition which meant she couldn't walk; confined to a wheelchair, her greatest pleasure was being read fairytales by her parents. dodo wishes to have normal feet, a wish that is granted by pioneering surgery. dodo now has perfect feet and, as she grows from a girl into a woman, indulges them with many pairs of beautiful shoes.

dodo seems happy and she even meets a man, dr smiley (duncan lai), whom she falls in love with. still, before she had her surgery, a fairytale witch told her she'd never be truly happy, until she had a black sheep and a white sheep in her home...

this is a very enjoyable, if at times bittersweet, tale of love and happiness. lee has crafted a shiny, colourful world for dodo to inhabit and vivian hsu is, dare i say, a delight. the narrative glides simply along with nice doses of humour, kookiness and a sweet, dreamy quality.

nice...

the dvd is hk$59 from buyoyo.com