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  1. Ping Pong (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) Ping Pong (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) Kubozuka Yosuke (Actor) | Sam Lee (Actor) | Takenaka Naoto | ARATA
    With the rapid evolution of the computer graphic technology, comic adaptation has become a popular trend for filmmakers all over the world. In Hollywood, there are comic-movies like Daredevil, Spider Man, and in Hong Kong, Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero and Mater Cute 2001 are also adapted from domestic comics. Japan, the kingdom of comic, wouldn't fall behind as well, the diverse comic market has provided unlimited choices for filmmakers. This time, the beloved Ping Pong has made its way to the big screen. The story centers on two main characters, Peko (Yosuke Kubozuka) and Smile (Arata). Both of them are talented ping pong players, and they also happen to be good friends. Peko is arrogant... [read more]
  2. Where is He (CD+VCD)(Special Edition) Where is He (CD+VCD)(Special Edition) Jacky Cheung | Sandy Lam | Coco Lee | Anita Mui
    Stressed? Have some "Coffee," with Jacky. Jacky Cheung hits on three major genres (soft ballad, acoustic rock, R&B) in this album and does well with all of them. The production is modern and thrusts Cheung's vocals into a more appealing fashion, no longer the overdone slow melodies of the mid-late nineties. Don't overlook, though, Jacky's work with acoustic rock of which a third of the album consists, and even though we know him as a crooner, he rocks out pretty well. The producers come well equipped with understanding of popular songs in other regions and cultures. Tracks 4 and 5's musical arrangement and main melody almost samples those of British/American Christian worship. Track 4 uses... [read more]
  3. Human Lanterns Human Lanterns Chen Kuan Tai (Actor) | Lo Lieh | Anthony Lau (Actor) | Tanny Tien
    Shaw Brothers made martial arts movies, and Shaw Brothers made horror movies, but when they made martial arts horror movies they really struck gold. Slowly, these shivery action flicks are being unearthed from the Shaw Brothers vaults and as each one is exposed to the light it gleams like pure gold. Human Lanterns (also known as “Human Skin Lanterns”) is a Technicolored marvel that looks like the kind of movie MGM would have produced if it had suddenly stopped making movies in the 1950’s and started making horror flicks: a lush, beautifully lit emotional epic that unfolds on a series of gargantuan soundstages. Chen Kuan-tai and Liu Yung play two tetchy noblemen locked in a long-running game... [read more]
  4. Sakuya - The Slayer of Demons Sakuya - The Slayer of Demons Nozomu Ando | Tsukamoto Shinya | Matsuzaka Keiko (Actor)
    Tomo Haraguchi is best known for his monster movie series. In fact, he started his career as a special make-up artist. Sakuya - The Slayer of Demon provides an excellent opportunity for him to experiment with this genre freely and explore its massive possibilities at will. The plot of the film is quite simple. Sakuya (Nozomi Ando) is the young daughter of a Samurai. She accepts a mission to travel to Mt. Fuji and annihilate the evil monsters there. Each of the monsters Sakuya fights is unique and powerful. At the end, she has to face a demon queen (Keiko Matsusaka). This is an entertaining and hilarious film. Lots of traditonal Japanese monsters appear in the film. For example, there are... [read more]
  5. Rainbow (Overseas Version) Rainbow (Overseas Version) Hamasaki Ayumi
    Ayumi Hamasaki is less a singer/songwriter than a full-fledged pop culture avatar. And if one accepts this premise, as I do, reviewing an Ayumi Hamasaki album without looking at her in this light fails to address the big picture. Much like Madonna, Hamasaki signifies something more culturally significant than her peers in the entertainment world, with her music being only part of the package. She has said that she is happy to be viewed as a consumer product, but she also realizes that she is an inspiration and role model for millions of fans throughout Japan and Asia. With her music accounting for around 50% of her label's total sales, and legions of fans hanging on to her every word,... [read more]
  6. Three - Going Home (Director's Cut) Three - Going Home (Director's Cut) Leon Lai (Actor) | Eric Tsang (Actor) | Kim Hye Su (Actor) | Christopher Doyle
    Going Home is not a brand new production, it is the extended version of the short story directed by Peter Chan in Three. Chan extracted Going Home from Three, added about five minutes of footage and released the movie for a theatrical run at the end of the year. It is said that Peter Chan was very satisfied with Leon Lai's outstanding performance, that he didn't want Lai to miss the opportunity to be nominated for best actor at the Golden Horse Award Ceremony and Hong Kong Film Academy Award Ceremony. Going Home was therefore released separately from Three as a result. The story starts off with Wai (Eric Tsang) and his son moving in an old building. There they meet Fai (Leon Lai), the only... [read more]
  7. All Men, Thank you! All Men, Thank you! Chen Ching Hsiang (Ah Niu)
    If you want to hear street acoustic rock, then, well, check out this album by A-niu. It’s funny and entertaining, but not enough to make you groove in spite of the reggae and Hawaiian flavors. A-niu’s vocal is there, but it’s not strong enough as he often uses a chorus of singers to make his buildup larger. The sound effects and production is good and also bad at the same time. The arrangement is monotone but the breaks and pauses of sound effects are refreshing. These songs will make you happy though, and probably put you in a good mood. Jesse’s Journey into Selected Tracks: Track 1. This track is definitely creative with all those famous quotes and conversational breaks but the chorus... [read more]
  8. Ballads & Memories (Overseas Version) Ballads & Memories (Overseas Version) globe
    I don’t know if the album sleeve images and title “Ballads & Memories” is accurate to describe Globe’s new record. This record is filled with pop tunes and upbeat rhythms, not necessarily typical of ballads. But the production will leave a memorable melody in your head for awhile. The songs are wonderfully arranged, composed, and produced. Tetsuya Komuro is a phenomenal songwriter who understands the way lyrics must move in a melody and when they ought to pause for emphasis as in Track 13. The vocals are good but strange in the way they were mixed because they come across as brightened karaoke style recordings. The lead vocal sounds separated from the music and the reverb on her vocal is... [read more]
  9. Different Songs Of Alan Tam Different Songs Of Alan Tam Alan Tam
    Different Album Offers Same Strong Alan Tam! Beginning his musical career as a member of the popular Hong Kong group Wynners, Alan Tam later shot to incomparable fame when he made the wise decision of going solo. In the 80's he was so popular that he thought he had to give his peers a better chance of winning at the music awards presentations by not accepting any more prizes, which neither stopped his record sales from soaring up-wards nor did it lessen his popularity in any way. Now several decades after his debut, the musical genius that is deservedly called 'King of Canto-pop' by his fans all over the world and 'Principal' by other artists who frequently turn to him for advice returns... [read more]
  10. The New Option (US Version) The New Option (US Version) Shawn Yue | Michael Wong | Suki Kwan
    Who is the director of The New Option? Why is it not listed in the opening or end credit? Some people say the director is Gordan Chan, some say it is Wong Jing, some even say it is Bill Lee (one of the actors in this movie). There are rumors saying that Wong Jing didn't credit himself as the director because he was afraid that his notorious reputation would ruin the expectation of the audience as well as the box office record... Anyway, the fact now is that the real identity of the director is kept unknown to us. If you expect this movie to be a replica of Gordan Chan's "SDU" series in the early 1990s, then you could be on the wrong track. Yes, we still have Michael Wong, the icon of this... [read more]
  11. Moho Han (Hong Kong Version) Moho Han (Hong Kong Version) Kimura Yoshino (Actor) | Koike Eiko | Nakai Masahiro (Actor) | Yamazaki Tsutomu (Actor)
    Yoshimitsu Morita is a veteran director in Japan, to most Hong Kong audience, he is best known for his controversial work Lost Paradise (1997). Moho Han is his latest film in 2002. With a rather exotic narrative device, it is quite a surprise to hear that this movie was well received in Japan. The story of this movie is adapted from a famous novel. Since I haven't read the novel before, I am not sure how much Morita has added or subtracted, but from what I see now, the plot doesn't seem to be very intricate or hard to grasp. Actually, it is quite simple, Masahiro Nakai plays the role of an intelligent serial killer (which is a open secret as it is the selling point of the movie) who is good... [read more]
  12. Come Drink With Me Come Drink With Me Ngok Wah | Cheng Pei Pei (Actor) | Chen Hung Lieh | King Hu (Director)
    Come Drink with Me was made in 1966. It was King Hu's first attempt at Wuxia genre, as well as Cheng Pei-pei and Yue Hua's debut in a Wuxia movie. Before the release of this film, Wuxia was not a popular genre in Hong Kong. In some senses, it is not inappropriate to say that Come Drink with Me was the first movie to arouse the attention of Hong Kong audience to new style Wuxia film. King Hu was also known as a synonym of Wuxia genre later. The story begins with the kidnap of a government official by the notorious "Five Tigers". In response to this case, Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei), the sister of the government official, starts her rescue mission. Being pure and inexperienced, she does not... [read more]
  13. Funny Face Funny Face Gigi Leung
    Gigi Leung has improved in her dynamic vocal; it’s funny how her face doesn’t reveal to us that her voice is quietly powerful as in “Funny Face.” She doesn’t sing especially hard or airy, so her vocal lacks emotion and don’t expect too many wrong notes as “auto-tune” ought to do the job. But, her voice is sweet, soothing and digestible, easy-listening. Many of her slip-ups are covered by background voices, especially where her rhythm is a little funny and when she cuts her notes off. Some tracks are well composed while others are simply horrible. Too many of them lack a sensible lyrical beat, trying to fit too many characters within one line of the melody; this becomes a sloppy song as in... [read more]
  14. GOD vol.5 - Chapter 5 Letter GOD vol.5 - Chapter 5 Letter g.o.d
    Good songs attributed to strong efforts – G.O.D Chapter 5 Give it up for G.O.D. for a great effort in "Chapter 5" that will reap praise. They begin this album with a mediocre freestyle rap and then break into true artist standards with Track 2, a mix of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B with lots of conversational speech. The production for most of the record is grandiose and time-consuming. And from Track 2, it only gets better. Ranging from dance to urban hip-hop to sentimental R&B, the group proves that they have matured in their flavor, hitting mostly hip-hop/pop. The only criticism here is the retro-style. It's true that retro is trendy at the moment, but there's too much melody sampling when... [read more]
  15. You Hear You Hear Sally Yeh
    Simply stunning, Sally Yeh reinvigorates her presence and "You Hear" her voice that has been absent for so long. Without a doubt, the producers worked very closely with Yeh's style and did not attempt to overrun it. Take Track 2 for instance and you'll understand; this story ballad, as I call it, is such a long beautiful melody that switches chords and keys so smoothly that results in a bluesy feel similar to "Green Sleeves." Its mystery and "heat" as producers call it (the whirring organ-like sound) resonate in our ears and leaves us attached to the melody. Then Track 3 brings your spirits back up and proves that Yeh has another side of her vocal capability; although she's a bit stiff and... [read more]
  16. Hollywood Hong Kong Hollywood Hong Kong Zhou Xun (Actor) | Chan Ying Ming (Actor) | Wong Yau Nam | Ho Sei Man
    (Possible spoiler below) I always have mixed feeling about Fruit Chan's movies. While I like the raw quality of Made in Hong Kong, the blatant documentary approach in Durian Durian hasn't much appeal for me. Perhaps I had really bad experience with Chan's previous work Durian Durian, I didn't have any expectation before I watched Hollywood Hong Kong, and that's why I found it more interesting and entertaining than I thought. This movie features a fruitful plot, the boss of a roast pork shop and his two sons are attracted by a Shanghaiese girl, while a young pimp Wong has also developed some kind of sexual relationship with a prostitute from Shanghai. The two girls are in fact one single... [read more]
  17. Lai Man-wai Father Of Hong Kong Cinema (DVD) (A Feature-length Documentary Collector's Edition) (Hong Kong Version) Lai Man-wai Father Of Hong Kong Cinema (DVD) (A Feature-length Documentary Collector's Edition) (Hong Kong Version)
    Lai Man-Wai, a name that may be unknown to most general movie-goers in Hong Kong nowadays, was the most important contributor of Chinese cinema. As the pioneer of his time, Lai Man-Wai was the first person to actually make a movie in Hong Kong, he was also the founder of Lianhua, the biggest film production company in Shanghai in the 1930s. It was really a surprise to see that such an prominent figure of Chinese cinema history was often neglected, not only was his name seldom appear in related books, it's also very hard to locate any materials that cover his achievements in details. That's why when I knew that the DVD of this documentary was finally released, I quickly got myself a copy and... [read more]
  18. Oasis Special Edition Oasis Special Edition Sol Kyung Gu | Lee Chang Dong | Moon So Ri | Ryoo Seung Wan
    Oasis, along with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Chihwaseon, is one of the most anticipated Korean films in 2002. It won four awards at the Venice Film Festival and the lead actress Moon So-Ri is the winner of this year's Blue Dragon new actress award. For the general audience, the focus of this movie is usually the cast, with Sol Kyung-Gu as a young man who is just released from jail and is considered a shame by the family, and Moon So-Ri as a physically handicapped girl who is suffering from serious cramp. Jong-Du (Sol) comes across Gong-Ju (Moon) in an unexpected encounter and he soon forms a strange kind of affection for her. Without the awareness of their families, a clandestine love... [read more]
  19. t vol.2 - To My Love t vol.2 - To My Love t
    Tasha’s second R&B volume hits the floor with strong rhythmic beats, but despite the airy vocal, the album fails to deliver music that will score a memorable hit. This being said, the song writing is sub par, and the production is too common and uncreative to make a statement. The only thing that is grandiose is T’s voice, but even her vocal strains and emotion is a bit too much to endure. Aside from all this, the organization of the cd is too convoluted—too many songs in this album. And what makes it worse, is that there is no defining moment of the album’s strength. It lacks dynamics. For next time, I would recommend at least cutting the album down to 12 tracks, highlighting 3 or 4 tracks... [read more]
  20. Public Enemy Public Enemy Lee Sung Jae | Sol Kyung Gu | Kang Woo Suk
    When Public Enemy was released early this year, it was well received at the box office. The critical response was generally positive too. One of the major factors that leads to its success is probably the brilliant cast - Sol Kyung-Gu and Lee Sung-Jae. In fact, Sol did manage to capture the Blue Dragon best actor award with his outstanding performance in this film. Featuring a typical "catch the thief" storyline, the plot does not consist of too many surprising elements. Detective Kang (Sol Kyung-Gu) is a violent cop who prefers to investigate in an extreme manner. His enemy is Cho (Lee Sung-Jae), a witty and composed murderer who is terribly cold-blooded. The two characters are a total... [read more]
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