Change Your Image
vplp
Reviews
Love/Juice (2000)
Cute, Funny & Sweet
Just came back from the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival. I really like this film. Wish I could buy it on DVD or VCD right now (with subtitles of course)!
The film is really cute! The close relationship between the 2 girls is dealt with very delicately - oh, & the funny moments of living together......!
Speak Like a Child (1998)
Masterly description of the relationship of the trio
I saw this film in Köln in the Verzaubert Film Festival. In the first 15 minutes or so, I was not very impressed by the film: Some scenes of Sammy's painful memories were too dramatic and they came before anything was told about him. But as the films went on, we saw the relationship between Billy and Sammy developed. The threesome felt natural, which was one of the best things the film achieved. The tension between the 3 when they met again 12 years afterwards was another. The hurt and the struggle inside the grown-up Billy really gripped my heart. The film may not be perfect but it is one of those films that makes you want to watch it again.
Megacities (1998)
Nice one
Nice one, though at the beginning of the film it's hard to keep up with the subtitles and the images at the same times.
The scene of the chickens being left to die brought shivers down my spine. It makes me think twice about eating chickens.
Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
Dead Funny
I watched it in the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The brief description on the brochure was very very vague, so I didn't know it's a comedy when I booked the ticket. But it's a nice surprise. It's both an effective comedy (The whole cinema burst into laughter throughout the film) and an interesting film (Well, it's got an interesting theme).
And, Hurt really deserves to win an Oscar.
The Full Monty (1997)
Fun (if you avoid reviews and fan sites)
It really is a hilarious film. But don't read too much about it before you watch the film. If you know too many of the gags, it'd be boring. And it helps if you know a bit about England or football (not the American one).
Chun gwong ja sit (1997)
Good introduction to Wong Kar-Wai's films
Most of Wong Kar-Wai's films were too arthouse for the average Hongkonger to stomach. He even managed to make a martial arts film (Ashes of Time) so slow and artistic that it's rather boring.
This one is just as beautiful as the others, but the story's simpler, and the film is easier to understand. Many who had no experience of Hong Kong films say they like Tony Leung after watching his films for Wong Kar-Wai. Hard to disagree with that.
Trainspotting (1996)
Masterpiece
Usually when a book is adapted to a film, the film can only be 80% as good as the book. Usually a book so loosely knit together like Trainspotting cannot be successfully converted to a screenplay. (See Fever Pitch) Usually hyped films disappoint.
But this is different. The film captures the essence of the book and adds some more (mainly the music). The grim life of Edinburgh heroin addicts is aptly depicted and the film is visually rich and loaded with humour.
So many parts of the films were great that it's hard to pick one particular point. But the music really stands out. Whenever I hear the songs which appear in the movie, the corresponding scenes come up in my mind (esp. "Perfect Day" in the OD scene).
Beautiful Thing (1996)
A really sweet film
I knew about this film only by chance (from ads before the Pillow Book video) as British films just don't get into cinemas here. I didn't expect I would watch it twice within a day, but I did.
Well, that does have something to do with the accents. I'm no native speaker, so I really struggled to follow in the first 10 minutes. It's only when I watched it the second time that I understood what they said.
But it's really a film that you are happy to watch it again. The actors are all great. They act so real. (The only exception was when Steve's brother hit him. That's a bit too light-handed)
Like many others have pointed out, the (60s?) music in the film enhances it. I really loved it, when in their first love scene, the song "Sixteen going on Seventeen" comes out. The end of the film was a bit too fantastic, but nonetheless romantic. It somehow reminds me of Melody. Not that they are related in any case.
The Pillow Book (1995)
Just watch Ewan's part. Skip the Rest.
I did not have high expectations when I watched the video (I was underage when the film was first released), but still I was disappointed. Sure the effect and colour were rather good, but it's weak in most other points except Ewan McGregor.
Never mind the main story, what really gets on my nerves was the absolute lack of effort in understanding what Hong Kong is like, despite the fact that a large part of the movie was set in Hong Kong. Sure enough Hong Kong seems to have nothing to do with the story, but that's where the story took place, so at least that can be portrayed a little like Hong Kong.
Some people go on about calligraphy or poetry combining with film. Maybe it's because I'm an Asian, I don't really see what the deal is. I couldn't help asking myself what the director was on, when there were spotlights of Chinese words beside Vivian Wu. If anything, it made me feel very detached from the film.
But I don't regret buying the video, and that's because of Ewan. Maybe it's because the part of the film he's in has a better plot, when he's there, there's more fun, which is a big contrast to the bore of the rest of the film.
It was loose, out of sorts, purely a display of technology.