let the right one in

little kiss...



oskar (kare hedebrant) is twelve years old. he lives with his mother in a suburb of stockholm, is bullied at school, has no discernible friends and spends his time by himself, reading and playing. when eli (lina leandersson ) moves in next door, he suddenly finds himself with a potentially interesting and, even, mysterious companion. despite initial protestations, from eli, that the two could not be friends, a relationship begins to develop and grow.

eli is also twelve. she lives with an older man, hakan (per ragnar), who kills people and drains their blood, so that she may drink it, she doesn't go to school or, indeed, leave her flat during the day. she is a vampire...

'let the right one in' has been generating a lot of talk and people have been saying lots of positive things about it. having had the chance to see downloaded versions of the us dvd (with the dodgy subtitles), i'm glad i waited to see this at the cinema, predominantly, as it is a rather beautiful film to watch; from the prolonged shot of snow falling against a black, night sky, which accompanies the film's opening, the cinematography and lighting are never less than fantastic. it is one of the most prettily shot films i have watched for a while.

the film, itself, enjoys taking a slightly different slant on the vampire movie: sure, there are some of the usual elements of vampiric gore and lore, but the film is much more concerned with the day to day and, more specifically, with the relationship between two lonely twelve year old children, who are both marginalised, but for very different reasons, and how they bond. additionally, the ambiguous and suggested fill the periphery of this relationship; only minor hints and inferences about eli's relationship with hakan, the reasons for the separation of oskar's parents.

the characterisation, of both oskar and eli, is very well judged; with oskar being more than just a fleshed out stereotype and eli managing to exude both the world weary and child-like elements of her persona. both actors deserve a lot of credit for their performances.

having had a look at the differences between the film and the novel it was adapted from, one gets quite a different perspective on several elements of the film. i may have to read it...

any how, a very good film. go watch it...

the film is currently on general release.

what just happened

really, what the fuck happened?



when the test audience reaction to jeremey brunell's (michael wincott) new film is diabolical, its producer, ben (robert de niro), comes under great pressure to fix it and make it work. meanwhile, the star of his new film, a mr bruce willis, is being awkward and refusing to shave off the beard that he is currently sporting and lose some weight...

so, i was tired and i snoozed through a little of the film's finale, but i don't think that really matters. if i hadn't been on a long haul flight, and trying to eat up as much time as possible, i'd have stopped watching. this was a piece of crap. i really can't imagine how this film got past test audiences. having been immersed in the world of 'entourage' for the last few weeks, which deals with similar goings on, but is a million times better, this was just poop.

avoid, avoid, avoid...

out at cinemas, i think.

the sniper

now, hold your breath...



oj (edison chen) is a rookie in the sniper division (or whatever they're called) of the hong kong police. his mentor, throughout his training, is hartman (richie ren), but the reputation of an ex-sniper, lincoln (huang xiao-ming), hangs over both men. lincoln was one of the best, if not the best, but his maverick actions led to him spending four years in jail and hartman fears that oj is heading down a similar path. there's trouble brewing...

well, my second dante lam film in a three week period and, after thinking that 'the beast stalker' was pretty bad, 'the sniper' is another film that just kinda fails. my initial thoughts, whilst walking out of the cinema at the end, was that there were definitely a few sequences and moments which i enjoyed, but that dante lam was a hack. sure, there are a couple of bits which were a fun watch but, as seems to be the case, lam feels the need to throw every little trick and gimmick, that he has at his disposal, into the film. the same was true with the aforementioned 'the beast stalker', but there is just more of it here: narrative twists, flashbacks, cod psychological insights and some heavy stylisation.

it may seem crazy to say it, but perhaps the best thing about this movie is edison. i know, madness. yeah, he's not that bad as a cocksure, slightly annoying, kind of a guy, but then again, is it too much of a stretch for him to get into character for this one?

any how, in the end, the film just feels like an excuse to show some sniping sequences - some good and some poor - and for dante lam to dip into his well worn box of rather tiresome narrative devices. if the guy just made a straight up, character based piece, closer to 'beast cops', i'm pretty sure that he could pull of something good again; he just needs to stop trying to be too clever and falling on his face as a result.

probably best ignored...

the film came out a couple of weeks ago, in hong kong, i'm sure a dvd will be hitting the shelves soon enough.

don't fool me

vice versa...



the back of the dvd says more than i ever could...

"it is a comedy about exchange of roles between two people. the persons involve this time are the well-known negotiator of the gangsters and the famous sales representative of life insurance."

so, yes, andy lau is hero wah; a triad negotiator, who has found himself in trouble and wants out. as coincidence would have it, he bumps into his old friend, ho kit (tony leung); a successful insurance salesman, who has just discovered that he has a "brain bubble", after falling down an elevator shaft. tired of their respective lives, wah joins the insurance company in central, whilst ho kit takes over his negotiating role. however, wah finds himself in trouble with the fierce female boss, miss mui (teresa mo), whilst ho kit finds himself in trouble after falling for fanny (fennie yuen), the triad boss's daughter...

well, after a slightly unintelligible opening, mainly due to the incoherent subtitles, this herman yau directed affair settles into something which could be described as reasonably entertaining. it's very silly, which is to be expected, but it did hold my attention and keep me entertained. still, when the most memorable laugh of the film comes as a result of spying a super-young-looking anthony wong, sporting one of the worst eighties perms you're likely to see: that's probably not a glowing recommendation.

daft and very average, but quite watchable...

the dvd is hk$29 from buyoyo.com

the crazy companies

three men and an andy lau...



kwai (andy lau) is living in new york, working as a film extra, when he gets the news that his father has died and left him and his brother, fu (stuart ong), the family business. fu isn't keen on giving half the business to kwai, so plots to sabotage his probation - a condition laid down by their uncle (hui ying-sau) - and gets three of his friends (stanley fung, nat chan and charlie cho) to befriend kwai, in order to lead him in to trouble...

more entertaining, than amusing, but a fun watch all the same. a pretty typical comedic romp from wong jing, which raises more smiles than giggles, but is a perfectly adequate way to spend ninety minutes. lau, fung, chan and cho work well together, plus hui, chingm yau and joan tong (who provide love interest), along with shing fui-on and sandra ng, make up a pretty good ensemble.

a bit of fun...

the dvd is hk$29 from buyoyo.com

all's well, ends well

kung hei fat choi!!!



foon (stephen chow) is a radio dj, who begins courting holliyok (maggie cheung); a slightly mad girl who is fixated on various hollywood films. moon (raymond chow), one of foon's brothers, is married to ching (sandra ng), but all is not going well and he's having an affair with sheila (sheila chan). foon, moon and ching al live in the same house, along with the decidedly camp so (leslie cheung), who seems to spend all of his time battling with leung (teresa mo). meanwhile, mama (lee heung-kam) and papa (kwan hoi-san) just want to watch tv...

this new year's film is a fairly typical; very silly, yet perfectly entertaining, comedy about troubled relationships. this is the kind of nonsense which i enjoy, but if you're not interested in entertainment which is as light as it is silly, then it's probably not for you. still, for me, it's great to see a stellar cast flexing their hong kong comedy muscles to good effect, producing the desired mix of head scratching and giggles...

good fun...

the dvd is available, along with 'all's well, ends well - 1997' and 'all's well, ends well - 2009', for hk$100 from buyoyo.com

legendary assassin

five more bowls of rice...



bo (wu jing) travels to a small island, off hong kong, to kill and decapitate chairman ma (kau chim-man), a leader of a criminal gang who is hiding there. after carrying out his task, bo finds himself stuck on the island, as a monsoon warning has been issued and the ferry, that has just arrived, will not be leaving. what's worse, is that fat wing (lam suet) and a bunch of men frm ma's gang have just arrived on the island. bo's attempts to keep a low profile take a dent when he saves hiu wor (celina jade), a lady cop, from falling out of a tree. still, surely hanging out with a cop should be pretty safe...

so, yet another attempt by wu jing to fulfill the "next big thing" tag that he's been burdened with for the last thirteen years. he is, without a doubt, a very talented martial artist and, bless him, he does try. still, despite numerous, impressive supporting roles, he has never managed to carry a film on his own and take the next step in his career. i'm pretty sure i probably typed the same paragraph of text after watching 'fatal contact', which was a diabolical film, with outstanding fight sequences. 'legendary assassin' is a much better film, narrative wise - although it's still only mediocre, on that front, despite the vast improvement.

unfortunately, the action sequences are not up to the standard of 'fatal contact': although very watchable, they're wire heavy, tamer, less exciting than 'fatal contact', and nothing that your average teen idol, action star wannabe, couldn't pull off. a shame.

another wasted opportunity. maybe next time...

the dvd is hk$79 from buyoyo.com

shinjuku incident

i just want to sell chestnuts...



it is the early 1990s and steelhead (jackie chan) is one of the many illegal chinese immigrants, who has arrived in japan. once there, he heads to tokyo and meets up with jie (daniel wu), a friend from back home, but he is not the reason he has gone to japan. xiu xiu (xu jing-lei), his former girlfriend is; it has been three years since she left and he lost touch with her a while ago.

along with jie and a clutch of others, steelhead begins to find bits of work and makes friends with lily (fan bing-bing), a chinese girl who has done well for herself in tokyo and now owns a hostess bar. as steelhead gets to know more about tokyo, he starts to make money through less than legal ways. one day, he discovers that xiu xiu is now married to eguchi (kato masaya), a powerful yakuza boss. when fate brings steelhead and eguchi together, steelhead and his gang begin on the road to bigger things, although there are plenty of japanese who resent this...

well, i find derek yee films to be hit-and-miss; for every hit ('the lunatics' and 'one night in mongkok') there are misses ('drink drank drunk' and 'protege') - this, however, falls somewhere in between. the first two thirds of the film, which deal with steelheads arrival and acclimatisation in japan, then the rise of his gang in the underworld of shinjuku, respectively, are both pretty strong. sure, it's not a particularly innovative or new tale and it has been covered in many films which chart someone's rise to power in the underworld, but the location and groups involved, along with yee's handling of them, make it a pretty good watch.

chan, although not redefining himself in any great way, does a good job, as does daniel wu (to be expected, really), whilst the support from fan bing-bing (swoon...), lam suet and chin kar-lok, amongst others, is solid. oh, and takenaka naoto, who i have always liked a lot, does some good work as the cop, inspector kitano, who keeps crossing paths with steelhead.

unfortunately, despite the strength of the opening, the final third is weak and kinda lets the film go out with a whimper. i'm sure you can probably guess where the film is heading, as there are plenty of signposts along the way and these films tend to follow a very similar arc, but it just isn't handled very well. perhaps, if more focus had been directed towards this element of the film, it would come across more strongly. still, without giving specifics about what happens, you could say that the narrative does, in a way, reflect steelhead's perspective on events, but maybe this wasn't the best course to take with it.

reasonable, but not good...

the film opened today, in hong kong, and i would imagine that further theatrical and dvd releases shall be along before you know it.

the inspector wears skirts

if you are a toilet, i will be the urine inside you...



after an attempt on the lives of some arab dignitaries, who are visiting a a movie set, is foiled, the aftermath focuses on the upset caused by the fact that male police officers bundled the wife of one of the arabs out of harms way. so, in an attempt to stave off such political turmoil in the future a female commando unit is approved. madam wu (sibelle hu), who was instrumental in the aforementioned foiling, along with madam law (cynthia rothrock), is placed in charge. and so, a soon to be elite unit, made up of the likes of sandra ng, anne bridgewater, kara hui, regina kent and ellen chan, is assembled, trained and put into action...

now, if one expects a girls with guns extravaganza, one may be disappointed. if, owever, you expect a silly comedy, with some pretty good action thrown in as a bonus, as did i, then you'll be very pleased with this offering. there's some dramatics, some very silly comedy and jackie chan's stunt team ensure that what action there is, is good.

very enjoyable...

the dvd is hk$35 from buyoyo.com

once upon a time in china

i'll wear western clothes when the rest of china does...



it is the late nineteenth century and china is in transition, although this is a far from smooth process; foreign powers are investing and exploiting in equal measure, whilst the chinese are either reluctant to accept change, are trying to make money from it or embracing a new era. in the middle of all this is wong fei-hung (jet li), a physician, martial artist, head of the local militia and folk hero, in waiting...

'once upon a time in china' is an undeniable classic, one of the finest moments in the careers of its star, jet li, its director, tsui hark, and of hong kong cinema. the narrative and characters are both rich, and a little complex at times, reflecting the china in which the film is set. one one hand we have wong fei-hung, a busy man as previously noted, but he a man who is struggling with his thoughts on the effects that these times are having on his country and the little people who are simply trying to live their lives. we have the likes of porky (kent cheng) a member of the local militia, who is brash and thinks only in terms of the present. there is leung fu (yuen bioa) who wants to better himself and wants to become a student of wong fei-hung, but finds himself getting caught up with the goings on around him. then, on the other hand, there's aunt thirteen, who has embraced the west after traveling, and an american born chinese, bucktooth so (jacky cheung), who has learned about western medicine, but traveled to china to learn bone setting. if i had the time and the inclination, i suppose i could write something about how every character in the film represented an aspect of this period in history, but i shalln't...

beyond this, the film is an entertaining and comic affair, although i'm sure i didn't give that impression in the last paragraph. then, or course, there's the action. jet li is in quite sparkling form and the fight sequences, be they aerial one-on-one battles or group brawls, are never less than very entertaining. when i spied that they were showing a bunch of hong kong classics at this year's hkiff, although disappointed to miss seeing a better tomorrow' on the big screen in hong kong, i eagerly snapped up ticket for this and thoroughly enjoyed watching it once again.

great stuff...

the dvd is available, as part of the 'once upon a time in china' box-set, for hk$215 from buyoyo.com

legend of the owl

rock around the clock...



the owl (?) is a mysterious character, who steals and kidnaps, then holds an annual auction where a select group of people get to bid on his spoils. one year, someone is't too impressed with his offerings and says that he wants the king's 36th concubine to be available at the next auction. never one to turn down a challenge, the owl swiftly obliges and whisks her from the palace. after an lacklustre search, the king turns to one of his most trusted royal guards for help; unfortunately, he's dead, so he sends his son, fan shik ling (david chiang), in his place...

fan then turns to two men his father told him that he could always count on, only to discover that they have retired, but their sons, hsiao li (barry chan) and shark (eric tsang) reluctantly agree to join him. and so their quest begins...

watching this, it seems strange that david chiang, who has starred in many, many films, wasn't more prolific behind the camera. on the evidence of this (and 'double fattiness', which i also remember enjoying) he seems to have quite a good hand, when it comes to directing comedy. for 1981, even if it does steal a couple of jokes directly from 'airplane', it's a pretty slick production; the use of music is handled really well and the mixture of physical, visual and dialogue gags works well. chiang, chan and tsang also have a good onscreen rapport and there's even some decent action as well as the more slapstick fare on offer.

good stuff...

the dvd is hk$35 from buyoyo.com

mismatched couples

dancing and diarrhea...



eddie (donnie yen) lives with his big sis (wong wan-si) and stella (may lo), who is secretly in love with eddie. eddie is, seemingly, oblivious to stella and has his sights set on the glamorous anna (kamiyama anna), and is trying to impress her with his break dancing, when he meets mini (yuen woo-ping). mini is a down on his luck cantonese opera performer, who eddie takes under his wing and tries to set him up with sis, hoping that he will also be able to learn from him. meanwhile, kenny (kenny perez) has his eyes on anna as well, whilst a nutty fighting champion (dick wei) is on the look out for eddie, but for different reasons...

i think i added this of my list of films to buy, primarily because it had woo-ping in a starring role, as well as in the director's chair. to be quite frank, i loved it. sure, it is a very, very silly film, at times - well, mainly when donnie, kenny and their break dancing punk friend (mandy chan) are n screen - but the relationship between woo-ping and wong wan-si is handled really well. woo-ping is really good in front of the camera and everyone seems to be having fun, with a movie that is already pretty good fun, that it rubs off on the viewer.

be it the breaking, the comedy, the romance or the final fight sequence, everything pretty much hits the spot and the role of eddie is perfect for a big cheese-ball like donnie yen. i think i was smiling or laughing from start to end. oh, and i liked chyna's canto-electro-disco-pop soundtrack as well...

a whole lot of fun...

the dvd is hk$35 from buyoyo.com

burn after reading

i thought you might be worried... about the security... of your shit.



osbourne cox (john malkovich) has lost his job at the cia. his wife (tilda swinton) wants to divorce him; she's having an affair with harry pfarrer (george clooney). harry doesn't want to leave his wife, but he does want to sleep around. a lot. linda litzke (frances mcdormand) wants surgery that will give her the new start that she wants and, hopefully, help her to find a man. when her colleague, chad feldheimer (brad pitt), finds a disc which seems to be filed with classified information, she sees an opportunity to make some cash decides to call it's owner: osbourne cox...

well, i'd heard some mixed reviews of this; some people loved it and found it hilarious, whilst others seemed to bemoan it as being over complex and unsatisfying. i really didn't know what to expect.

after the intensity of 'no country for old men', 'burn after reading' marks the coen brothers flexing their comedic muscles. it doesn't, upon a first viewing, appear to have the intricacies and depth of some of their previous works (although i'm sure i said something similar about the former and soon revised my opinion after a second viewing), but it is a heap of fun. the characters and cast are universally great and there's a few big laughs, as well as plenty of tittering to be had along the way.

great stuff...

the dvd is £8.49 from hmv.com

the day after tomorrow

there's a whole section on tax law down here that we can burn...



climatologists jack hall (dennis quaid) and terry rapson (ian holm) disocover that the northern hemisphere is on the verge of a climatological catastrophe - a new ice age! and, almost instantly, it hits, causing a massive freeze and incredibly violent storms. jack's son, sam (jake gyllenhaal), is on a trip to new york, so he sets off to save him...

essentially, this film is absolute junk. although, the scene of a tsunami hitting new york is very impressive and emmy rossum is kinda cute - the only two reasons to watch this film, apart from a couple of hours of mindless entertainment.

dumb and fluffy...

the dvd is £2.99 from hmv.com

the homeless student

a shower!



ooh, not much information about this one and i can't remember any of the character names...

after being turfed out of their home and deserted by their father, three siblings are left to fend for themselves. the youngest decides that he is going to go it alone and goes and lives in "turd park"; an affectionate name, given as a result of the large brown slide which sits in its centre - the slide which is now his home. and so, a struggle to survive begins...

yeah, so it doesn't really sound great, from my description, but it was a very enjoyable little movie. at times funny, at others, a pretty solid drama; well performed, well written and well presented.

good stuff.

i saw it on a plane and there doesn't seem to be any cinematic (apart from japan and taiwan) or dvd releases on the horizon as yet...

the beast stalker

ooh, that graffiti is by graphic airlines...



when a bust goes a little wrong, sergeant tong (nicholas tse) ends up killing a little girl during the pursuit which follows. the little girl just happens to be the daughter of a prosecuting attorney, ann gao (zhang jing-chu), who is later charged with trying to nail the crook, chuen (lao kong); the man tong was chasing. with the case against him looking strong, chuen gets his hung (nick cheung) to kidnap gao's other daughter. can tong save her, before gao has to sabotage her case against chuen?

after making a name for himself with the excellent 'beast cops', dante lam has struggled to re-create anything of a similar standard since. unfortunately, 'the beast stalker' is not a welcome return to form. a lot of the film just doesn't feel right - for a start, nicholas tse still retains his teen idol looks, which make it very difficult to take him seriously as a police sergeant (and his melodramatic antics don't help either), then there's a lot of hackney cliches, which add to the generally clunky narrative.

that's not to say that the film is complete junk, there's a couple of nicely executed sequences and a couple of good ideas amongst the bad ones, but not enough to drag the film up to a classification of 'average'. also, i wish zhang jing-chu would start choosing some better roles for herself; she has the potential to be very good, but is threatening to embrace mediocrity if she's not careful.

pretty poor...

the film is hk$93 from buyoyo.com

the transporter

you don't need your mouth to pee...



frank martin (jason "the stath" statham) is a special forces operative, who has retired and now runs a less than legitimate transportation business in the south of france. he has three rules; one of which - don't look inside the package - he breaks, discovering that he is transporting lai (shu qi). needless to say, he finds himself in a bit of bother...

written and produced by luc besson, directed by corey yuen, the film is a pretty lightweight, but fun, slice of action. the stath is very good at kicking people, shu qi is very good at being cute and corey yuen knows how to string together the threadbare narrative, whilst injecting a heavy dose of action, in a way that makes for fun viewing.

good fun...

the dvd is hk$79 from buyoyo.com