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Last Christmas DVD Box (Japan Version)
Oda Yuji
| Katase Nana
| Chiriko Sakashita
| Yada Akiko
Inspired by Wham!'s classic holiday anthem Last Christmas, Fuji TV's 2004 drama of the same name captured the original's lyrical presentation of bittersweet romance, catchy tune, and festive mood in a neatly wrapped package that viewers can easily groove to. Oda Yuji (Bayside Shakedown) had established his J-drama king status with Tokyo Love Story 13 years earlier. Last Christmas marked his return to the Gekku prime timeslot alongside producer Ota Toru and screenwriter Sakamoto Yuji. Like in Tokyo Love Story, Oda plays an executive at the Heart Sports company, specializing in winter sports equipment this time. Kenji (Oda Yuji) is still nursing his wound after being dumped by his fiancee. One... [read more]
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Bullets Over Summer (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Francis Ng (Actor)
| Louis Koo
| Wayne Lai
| Law Lan (Actor)
Compared with the explosive Chinese title that literally means "Cracked Cops", the more poetic-sounding English title Bullets Over Summer may be a better match for Wilson Yip's 1999 film, which ably mixes ingredients of romance, comedy, action, and thriller with the character-driven drama for a real winner. In typical buddy cop movie fashion, this movie stars the great Francis Ng and Louis Koo as a pair of cops of contrasting styles and personalities who often clash but complement each other perfectly, as exemplified in the convenience store robbery sequence that opens the film. Koo's Brian is the laidback, wisecracking rookie that seems more interested in wooing women, but is still dashing... [read more]
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Rule#1 (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Ekin Cheng (Actor)
| Shawn Yue (Actor)
| Stephanie Che (Actor)
| Fiona Xie (Actor)
On the upper deck of a bus sits a sexy and alluring woman. When her lipstick drops to the floor, the only other passenger, a man sitting across the aisle with desires raging in his eyes, picks it up and, slowly, reaches his hand out to hers. Just as their hands are about to meet, a guy with a gun (played by Shawn Yue) pops into the scene and bang! He shoots the woman right in the forehead. This opening sequence is crosscut with a scene showing a policeman chasing a man, overlaid by Shawn's narration saying, "the truth is not what it seems". Now when a ghost movie defies genre convention by starting more like a cop/killer actioner, the director is either very confident or just utterly... [read more]
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Legend of The Wolf (DVD) (Multi-audio) (US Version)
Donnie Yen (Director, Actor, Producer)
| Dayo Wong (Actor)
| Carman Lee (Actor)
| Edmond Leung (Actor)
Donnie Yen has forged a formidable directing partnership with Wilson Yip in recent years. With Yip taking charge of the drama and Yen focusing on action, the pair has made some of the most enjoyable action films of this decade with SPL (2005), Dragon Tiger Gate (2006), and Flash Point (2007). Their latest love child, Ip Man, is a highly anticipated biopic of Bruce Lee's martial arts mentor, even though Yen is credited only as an actor this time. So what about the very first film that Donnie ever directed? In 1997, he made his directorial debut Legend of the Wolf on a decidedly low budget, and although a flop in terms of box-office gross, it was overall a moderate success considering that he... [read more]
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Ironside 426 (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Jason Pai (Actor)
| Michelle Yim (Actor)
| Raymond Chow (Producer)
| Lam Kok Cheung (Director)
Undercover cop is an ever-popular sub-genre in Hong Kong films and long before Infernal Affairs and the likes, we had Ironside 426. Presented by Golden Harvest, the 1977 actioner stars the popular duo of Jason Pai and Michelle Yim, who were fresh off the television as the first-generation Guo Jing and Huang Rong in 1976’s The Eagle Shooting Heroes adaptation. It was the 1970s, when the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) was not yet in business. The crime rate of Hong Kong was escalating, which was attributed to the triad world, so the police were determined to spoil their party. Our hero Damon (Jason Pai) hooks up with old friend Doggie (Hon Kwok Choi). The two set up a stall... [read more]
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Journey To The Center Of The Earth (2008) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Brendan Fraser (Actor)
| Josh Hutcherson (Actor)
| Anita Briem (Actor)
| Wheeler Jane
Stripped of the 3D gimmicks that helped make it one of the most successful movies (boxoffice-wise) of summer 2008, Journey to the Center of the Earth inevitably has to endure harsher scrutiny as it becomes available on video. But let's go easy on the folks who made the flick. They knew what they could and could not do, and obviously, they didn't want to present too much challenge for themselves or the audience. The bottom line: it's a kiddie popcorn movie that works on an amusement park ride level, and it's always intended that way. With that in mind, one could find the movie easier to enjoy. The filmmakers wisely chose not to do a direct adaptation of Jules Verne's science fiction classic... [read more]
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Flaming Brothers (DVD) (Remastered) (Hong Kong Version)
Chow Yun Fat (Actor)
| Alan Tang (Producer, Actor)
| Wong Kar Wai
| Jenny Tseng
After A Better Tomorrow opened the floodgate to triad hero movies in 1986, Chow Yun Fat went on to star in numerous similarly styled movies, and Flaming Brothers was one of the more remarkable works that would make even John Woo proud. In fact, this flick evokes many gangster symbols made popular by the genre maestro: trench coat-donning, shades-wearing mobsters glorified with a strict code of honor, gun in each hand downing enemies without breaking a sweat, their ever-slick hairdo never getting messy in the process. Flaming Brothers is made in the grand tradition of heroic bloodshed movies. Director Joe Cheung obviously understood the material well enough to do a decent job. The story... [read more]
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