In the movie "White Vengeance,' director Daniel Lee once again ventures to give an alternative interpretation of an historical event. This time, he is greeted with no less sarcasm than with his previous films. More than two-thousand years ago after China's first empire collapsed, heroes rose up from among the commoners and reconquered the Middle Kingdom. Among them, Xiang Ji and Liu Bang were the most prominent emperor candidates. Xiang Ji, the more powerful of the two warlords, had an opportuni...
Mar 18, 2014•4 min
For Chinese audiences, "the Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn" is an appeal to nostalgia that doesn't register. Two weeks after hitting Chinese cinemas, the film has so far managed to secure a modest 60 million yuan at the box office; unusually low considering that the film is the product of two giants, director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson. It appears the duo is nonetheless quite enthusiastic about Tintin, with plans for two more sequels. Reportedly, they've already...
Mar 18, 2014•4 min
Every year at the Sundance Film Festival since 2003, an Alfred P. Sloan Prize has been given to a feature film that centers on science or technology, or depicts a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character. This year, the award was given to "Another Earth," a Fox Searchlight film which, despite a sci-fi sub-plot, is more about psychology and metaphysics than science and technology. Yet, the film is no less brilliant than to deserve the award it has snapped up. The fortune of a MIT...
Mar 18, 2014•4 min
White Deer Plain is a controversial movie. No doubt part of the controversy is inherited from the original novel written by Chen Zhongshi in 1993. The 1990s is an age when Chinese writers were testing the extent of the country's reform and opening-up in literature, and realist writer Chen, along with other writers who were equally bold with erotic descriptions, were believed to have pushed the limit. But there is more to Chen's work than lonely village wenches. In his voluminous novel the Shaanx...
Mar 18, 2014•4 min
"About Time" has got all the characteristics of a classic chick flick. For starters, it tells the story of a boy from a family of male time travelers, but the time travel part is pretty messy. In fact, it is so messed up that I don't even know where to start explaining, so let's just settle with "Yes, yes, it is messy but never mind". Secondly, it tells the story of the love, family and life of the time traveling lad. Now that combination could be a bit misguiding; as soon as the boy learns his ...
Mar 13, 2014•6 min
When the 69 year old film director Martin Scorsese decided that he needed a break from violence and pain, the world took note. His 2011 family film 'Hugo' sent many critics head over heels as they cheered its technical triumph. However, as we'll see, not everyone was intoxicated by the stunning visual display. Firstly, let's unveil the mysterious glamour that charmed the critics and the Academy. Scorsese was inspired by his 12 year old daughter who presented him with a copy of Brian Selnick's no...
Mar 10, 2014•5 min
For the last three weeks, we've been talking about some pretty serious movies. Watching Life of Pi, 1942 or The Last Supper is not the most cheerful way to spend an easy afternoon over the weekend. Well, the producers of "Lost in Thailand" couldn't have picked a better time. It is high time that Chinese viewers be presented with a decent comedy. I can't even recall the last time I shared a hearty laugh at a cinema, not since Men in Black 3 perhaps, and that was half a year ago. In this case, it ...
Mar 09, 2014•3 min
"Life of Pi" is the life of humankind. The mathematical constant represents men's attempt to understand the world through logic and reason, but the number itself is irrational and infinite – an apt symbol of human spirituality. About a decade ago, French Canadian writer Yann Martel impressed the world with this remarkable insight, yet it was only 10 years later that his powerful text has been translated into a spectacular format by an equally sensitive, spiritual and talented film director none ...
Mar 07, 2014•4 min
It's safe to say, Robocop will not make much of a dent in Chinese film market. Not because it faces strong competition against the new Hobbit film, but rather because it has its own disadvantages. Firstly, the original 1987 film of the same name is not very well known in China. Despite its one-time popularity which spawned a lackluster franchise, all I could vaguely recall is an animated TV series. There are some science-fiction fans who remember Paul Verhoeven's movie as a must-see classic, but...
Mar 06, 2014•6 min
About 80 years ago, when English author J. R. R. Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit," he might not have known that his art of symbolism would become reality on the other end of the Eurasian continent. He might not have known that the phantom of his imaginary dragon would loom over the world's largest population. Yes, since last weekend, Beijing residents have been seeing and living "The Desolation of Smaug". To those careless viewers, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's children novel, "The Hobbit," ...
Feb 27, 2014•7 min
Feb 24, 2014•6 min
Watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is like watching someone playing a video-enhanced game of Dungeons and Dragons. On the one hand, you can sit back and enjoy the beautiful visual effect and fantasy adventure story without having to bleed your fingers on the joystick. But from time to time you do wish to take control and hurry things up to face the big dragon. Ultimately you get somewhat disappointed when you don't get to see the big dragon because obviously you are just on level one. In...
Feb 24, 2014•5 min
China's huge market potential has encouraged many novice directors to join the film rush. These fledgling newcomers fall into two categories: smart ones like author and businessman Guo Jingming who use modern information technology to pinpoint their target audience, and the others, who waste no time on the trivial, but design their products to target people of all age groups. Chen Sicheng obviously belongs to the second category. His chick flick "Beijing Love Story" bears the same name as his po...
Feb 20, 2014•5 min
Of all the films at the 84th Academy Awards, 'A Separation' by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is perhaps the most worthy of the honor. The Best Foreign Language Film facilitates an understanding about modern day Iran better than any newspaper. The movie begins with a divorcing middle-class couple, Nader and Simin, fighting for custody of their daughter Termeh. The mother, Simin, wishes to leave the country with her daughter, because she doesn't want her to grow up in Iran in the current circums...
Feb 18, 2014•5 min
Feb 18, 2014•6 min
Korean movie 'Late Autumn' is very likely a record breaker. Three days after its release in mainland theatres, the film has raked in 28 million yuan in ticket sales, trailing behind the previous record holder 'Sector 7' which took some 30 million yuan from Chinese viewers. The success of this exotic chick flick is not surprising, as it stars popular Korean actor Hyun Bin and Chinese actress Tang Wei. This combination alone is enough to draw swarms of viewers who are always ready to embrace their...
Feb 18, 2014•4 min
Feb 17, 2014•5 min
The Academy must have lowered their standards, because this year an experiment with old fashioned cinema took home five awards, including best picture, best actor and best score. Yes, Michel Hazanavicius is doing it again. After his success with the 'OSS 117' films, he is now pushing his record further back in time, to the Hollywood of the late 1920s. To guarantee that his new spoof 'The Artist' attracted widespread attention, Hazanavicius referenced 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'A Star is Born' in...
Feb 17, 2014•3 min
Anchor: 'The Descendants' by Alexander Payne with George Clooney won the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 84th Academy Awards. It is the story of a man who survives a midlife crisis through solemn self-examination. Our movie reviewer Luo Laiming brings us his thoughts on 'The Descendants.' Reporter: For some people life is a nonsensical repetition of daily routines, only when they are thrust into a vortex of crisis do they really come to grips with their situation. Director Alexander Payne reveale...
Feb 17, 2014•4 min
I understand why "Les Misérables" set a new opening-day grossing record for musical films, but I don't understand why as many as 70 percent of the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a positive rating. I mean, it is common, if not inevitable, for crazy fans to swarm the cinemas for film adaptations of their favorite work of art, but it is not so common to see critics rate a movie purely based on emotional grounds. For example, they love the original musical or they enjoy some emotional si...
Feb 15, 2014•4 min
A Chinese critic divides Quentin Tarantino movies into two categories— remade movies in honor of old classics and original movies characterized by endless dialogues. "Django Unchained" is a bit of both. On the one hand, the spaghetti-western style is obviously a tip of the hat to Italian director Sergio Corbucci's original "Django" in 1966. Tarantino even has the original Django, Franco Nero, asking for the name of the new Django, Jamie Foxx, to which the latter responds: "Django, the D is silen...
Feb 14, 2014•5 min
Director Lone Scherfig's "One Day" is a challenge to the concept of a movie. It is very original in presenting a story that otherwise would have been rather flat. Somehow, the flatness of this movie turned out to be way beyond its originality. Adapted from author David Nicholls's novel of the same name, the movie tells a decades-long story between a man and a woman. Emma and Dexter, played by Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, respectively, find themselves in bed together on graduation day, July 15...
Feb 13, 2014•4 min
In North American and the international market, Disney's 3D animated comedy "Frozen" is commonly accepted as the second step on the company's journey to a renaissance. Step one was taken in 2012 with the family comedy "Wreck-It Ralph." But in China, the film has suffered a fate of obscurity and is only recently showing signs of an improvement in box office numbers. Built on the traditional fairy tale "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, Disney's latest princess story is a great boost fro...
Feb 12, 2014•6 min
Baz Luhrmann's movie Moulin Rouge could be a dazzling surprise. Ten minutes into the story, when the main theme of love is so obviously revealed, you might ask: what exactly does he plan to impress me with such common subject matter? Well, in just a few minutes, Luhrmann delivers his knock-out punch. In fact, you may already have readied yourself for the sensual expressiveness of this musical. The passionate conductor who waves his baton in exaggerated frenzies defines the film right from the op...
Feb 12, 2014•3 min
For those who take pleasure in classical music, the name Jacqueline du Pré is most closely associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor. The British cellist's passionate and energizing style made her "one of the most stunningly gifted musicians of her time." But for the average Joe, it's more likely that you would recognize the name as the heroine of Anand Tucker's 1998 film 'Hilary and Jackie.' The film is based on the memoir 'A Genius in the Family' by Piers and Hilary du Pré, brother and...
Feb 11, 2014•4 min
Shawn Levy's 'Real Steel' is a quasi-cyberpunk movie. I was searching for a time-killer when I found this film, but in the end, I found that it wasn't quite as bad as I had anticipated. Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman, used to be a promising prize fighter. As boxing fans demanded more violence, bloodshed and extreme fighting, his ascending career was cut short when robots replaced human boxers. With a rusty robot, Charlie travels to matches and exhibitions around the country, but barely m...
Feb 10, 2014•6 min
I have to say, I had a pretty good time watching "Love Is Not Blind," a locally produced low-cost chick flick that is trumping Hollywood blockbusters in the box office rankings. As much as I was amused in the cinema, I was perplexed when I left as I tried to determine what made the film so funny. Strangely enough, I found nothing. Anyway, the literal translation of the movie's title in Chinese is "33 Days After Being Dumped." It is about how a young women deals with the agony of the termination ...
Feb 10, 2014•4 min
Technically, 'You are the Apple of my Eye' is not a good movie, yet there is no denying that it is a successful one. Five days after its debut in Chinese mainland cinemas, it's now No. 2 of the week's top list on Mtime, a Chinese version of International Movie Database. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by author Giddens Ko, the movie is most sincere in presenting the love lives of adolescents, and that's perhaps the reason for its success. Ko Ching-Teng and Shen Chia-Yi had been classmates...
Feb 09, 2014•4 min
We Chinese are now living in an age of rapid urbanization. In most inland cities, this process is feeding on the development of resource-based industries, for example the mining and real estate industries. As cities spread their tentacles across the country, the force of urbanization inevitably flows over the rural areas and brings challenge to the lives and values of the locals. The movie ‘Mr. Tree’ is about this confrontation. The main character is a peasant farmer called Shu, or tree in Chine...
Feb 08, 2014•5 min
The weirdest thing happened when I watched the War Horse. Towards the end of the movie, I heard gentle sobbing and thought it must be some young girl with a heart of gold. I was surprised to find that the cries actually came from a man whose hair had turned a touch of grey. I became even more confused when I noticed tears on the face of another middle-aged man sitting beside me, shimmering in the light from the cinema screen. He too was weeping at Steven Spielberg's latest creation. I could not ...
Feb 08, 2014•5 min
