To watch director Linklater's "Before …" series is like watching an extended edition of "One Day": both attempt to depict a love that stands the test of time. The "Before …" series, however, are much more intellectual and spontaneous. Following "Before Sunrise" in 1995 and "Before Sunset" in 2004, the newest addition to the series is "Before Midnight", released after the same interval of nine years. 18 years ago, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy each played an American man and a French woman in their...
Jan 28, 2014•4 min
The strangest thing is going on in China's film market. The most criticized movie "Switch" made by Chinese TV producer Jay Sun now ranks the first in terms of daily grossing. Nine days after its release, the film has already secured 26 million yuan, in comparison, Hollywood blockbuster "Star Trek: Into Darkness", with higher ticket price on average, sold for just a little more than 33 million yuan in three weeks. It is an interesting phenomenon because "Switch" is widely considered an awful movi...
Jan 27, 2014•4 min
If Cate Blanchett were to win the best actress Oscar this year, I wouldn't be surprised. Her presence simply dominates and shines through Woody Allen's new film "Blue Jasmine". Hers is a stereotypical character: a woman who gets used to living on the love of her rich husband. When that love is taken away, her life plunges into a bottomless abyss. To be more precise, Jeanette was an orphan girl in third-year college before she met a rich man who swept her off her feet, married her and introduced ...
Jan 26, 2014•5 min
An unmatched couple is perhaps humanity’s longest-living fairy tale. By unmatched I mean a rich, good looking wife and a poor homely husband. This type of combination certainly was rare in the age of arranged marriage, but even in our time, the 21st century, we can still find few examples. Personally I’ve seen none, except for those written in fictions or faked on screen. Taiwan romantic drama film “Say Yes” is the latest addition to the on-screen make-believe. In the movie, Huang Bo plays an un...
Jan 26, 2014•4 min
"So Young" is Chinese actress Zhao Wei's Beijing Film Academy graduation assignment, and also her directorial debut. 15 years ago, Zhao Wei became a household name for her role in the Chinese TV series "Princess Pearl". The series, which has been extended overseas in recent years, was the most viewed Chinese TV drama of its time. Her popularity on screen has continued ever since and her first directed film has set a new opening-day box office record for Chinese movies. However, the film has not ...
Jan 25, 2014•4 min
When you decide to watch Tsui Hark's new film, "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon," don't be fooled by its title. The word "detective" doesn't guarantee a detective story, but a crime-action film packed with magnificent action scenes with the aid of upgraded filming gadgets and technique. In his latest outing, the Hong Kong director presents a prequel to his 2010 box office hit, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame". The story traces the footstep of Tang Dynasty official...
Jan 25, 2014•4 min
The romantic comedy film "Finding Mr. Right" could have been a lame chick flick, at least that's how I thought about it before actually seeing it. But after two hours in the cinema, I am now officially a big fan of its director Xue Xiaolu. Before this piece, Xue had already made her name in the movie industry with the 2010 Hong Kong drama film "Ocean Heaven." Her new movie is a tentative approach toward commercial production, and it has turned out to be a huge success, winning more than 400 mill...
Jan 24, 2014•4 min
"The closer you look, the less you'll see." The magicians reiterated this magic sentence in director Louis Leterrier's caper thriller, "Now You See Me." The magicians' audiences are warned of the performers' prowess, but still miss the critical movement every time. So is the same with Chinese moviegoers in front of the big screen. While the director tries desperately to convince audiences that magic shows are important because they make people happy, the majority of Chinese audiences are preoccu...
Jan 24, 2014•4 min
Chinese science-fiction fans and gamers must be excited at the release of Gavin Hood's screen adaptation of the celebrated futuristic thriller, "Ender's Game." On China's social network website, Douban.com, there have already been book reviews on the original novel of the same name by American author Orson Scott Card. Many of them were anxiously looking forward to seeing the Nebula Award winning sci-fi classic being brought onto the big screen. The movie's launch in China on January 7th is sort ...
Jan 24, 2014•4 min
Cute, lovely, adorable, how many words with the same connotation can you come up with? Well, you'd better start taking your vocabulary lesson now, because once you've seen the second installment of the Despicable Me series, you’ll be searching your brain for words to describe the irresistible charm that directors Pierre Coffin , Chris Renaud and their team have tried to instill in their latest product. In the first episode, super villain Gru realized his dream of stealing the moon and in the pro...
Jan 23, 2014•3 min
Between the summer and winter of 1942, nearly two million lives perished on the battlefield of Stalingrad. One of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, the battle of Stalingrad has been immortalized in movies by Germans, Russians, British and American filmmakers. The latest of such efforts is the work of Russian director Fedor Bondarchuk. The story by Ilya Tilkin revolves around two Russian girls with starkly different fates. Young Katya is protected by a group of Russian soldiers who...
Jan 23, 2014•3 min
Have you ever stared into the blue sky and reached out with your imagination, only to find yourself intimidated by the magnitude of the galactic bodies and the fear of being alone amongst all that vastness of space? If you haven't, go watch director Alfonso Cuaron's space disaster film Gravity, and you'll understand what I mean. The story envisioned by Jonas and his father director Cuaron is quite simple. A team of spacewalking astronauts servicing the Hubble Telescope are caught in a shower of ...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
When I was young and ignorant, I could never figure out why adults so often failed to understand their younglings. I mean, they've all had their youthful years and must surely be able to recall how their own adolescent minds once worked. But the truth is, as years pass, I find myself losing the ability to process teenage fun. This revelation dawned on me after the screening of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." It was a Friday night in a fully packed cineplex. As the closing credits emerged, hal...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
After watching Hong Kong director Barbara Wong's movie "The Stolen Years", a question occurred to me: is there such a thing as an overcooked chick flick? Well, I guess for most men, all chick flicks are overcooked, but this one, "The Stolen Years", is particularly so. He Man is a young divorcee who is lucky enough to get a second chance at her failed marriage and her ex-husband loves her enough to let her. But this only happens after a car accident which causes her to lose her memories from the ...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
Sometimes development is made through compromise. About four years ago, director Ning Hao's black comedy "No Man's Land" was denied release in Chinese cinemas due to its allegedly exaggerated and unrealistic depiction of the dark side of human nature. Now, after four years of repeated alterations, it is finally being shown in cinemas across China. It is difficult to tell whether the release is a victory for the film industry or its watchdog. On the one hand, the movie watchdog rejected the film ...
Jan 23, 2014•3 min
For viewers who aren't too fond of action films, Firestorm can be a bit intense, but there is still much to appreciate. Upon walking out of the cinema, I remember the numerous gunshots and explosions; I remember being dazzled by the flashing images; and I vividly remember the aftermath of the lethal struggle between the Hong Kong police and the most vicious villain in recent cinematic history. Veteran megastar Andy Lau starred in and produced the film. He goes up against Ray Lui, Lam Katung and ...
Jan 23, 2014•3 min
Personal Tailor is definitely the most topical film of the week. First of all, its director Feng Xiaogang also helms this year's New Year gala on China Central Television. The show used to claim the attention of all Chinese people around the world, so Feng is getting a lot of media attention. Secondly, Personal Tailor marks Feng's return to comedy, after his two previous attempts at the disaster genre in the form of "Aftershock" and "Back to 1942". With the amount of promotions on his odyssey, t...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
The key to making a box office hit in China is controversy. "Police Story 2013" may not have provoked as much discussion as Feng Xiaogang's latest movie "Personal Tailor", but there are still many issues that have got filmgoers talking. The police action thriller stars Jackie Chan as a Chinese police officer caught in the machinations of a criminal gang. The owner of a nightclub kidnaps a group of partygoers, including the officer's daughter, played by Jing Tian. Chan must play along with the vi...
Jan 23, 2014•3 min
"American Hustle" is a faint crime drama and a flat comedy; however, it features the perfect atmosphere for its actors and actresses to present their skills. Based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the 1970s, Eric Singer and David O. Russell's screenplay reconstructs the experience of conmen Irving Rosenfeld, Sydney Prosser and FBI agent Richie Di Maso, as well as Irving's wife Rosalyn. These roles are shared by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence respectively. The story...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
There is so much about this year's Golden Globe winner "12 Years a Slave" that shows why it deserves universal acclaim. First and foremost, it is in itself a fairly good movie to begin with. Story-wise, it is based on, and strictly faithful to, Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir of the same name. The book offers an account of 19th century America's slavery system, from the perspective of a free Negro sold to slavery. Unlike Quentin Tarantino, in his 2012 film "Django", director Steve McQueen doesn't ...
Jan 23, 2014•4 min
