chinese cinema

YOLO Review: The path of seeking the best version of oneself

On this past Chinese New year, “Yolo” came out triumphant as a Box-Office knockout becoming the second highest grossing film on the international box office, and the first on the chinese market turning into a sensation for chinese moviegoers. Actress comedian Jia Ling puts herself in front and behind the cameras for an impressive deed in which she exposed herself undergoing into a surprising physical transformation that is worthy of admiration, going from an obese unhealthy body to a slim phisyque on perfect boxing shape, losing 50 kilos in the process, throughout a filming that lasted for a year and that is summarized during the final credits, showing that there were no artifices in the process to which the actress underwent, beyond a lot of discipline, a lot of training, an appropiate diet, and even getting into the ring competing in amateur boxing matches in order to prepare for the […]

A LEGEND Trailer: Jackie Chan Returns In Sequel To The Myth

Shaun Williams

If you’d have asked me “Shaun, what sequel do you think Jackie Chan will make next?” I would have answered with “Another Police Story” or “Are we finally getting Rush Hour 3?” I did NOT see Jackie making a sequel to his less-than-stellar 2005 trip-through-time film, The Myth. Alas, it’s 2024 and here we are. Jackie returns to Chinese big screens on July 7th with A LEGEND, a collaboration with long-time friend and frequent Director, Stanley Tong. Distribution Workshop has the international rights and has the official synopsis as: A LEGEND sees Professor Chen, an archaeology expert, notice that the texture on the artifacts discovered by his students during a glacier expedition, is strikingly similar to a jade pendant he had seen in his dreams. The pendant is connecting the realm of dreams to reality. Filled with curiosity, Chen leads a research team on a journey deep into the Glacier […]

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BAN DRUGS (破冰) Review: A full-packed action cop thriller that comes short on reaching the intended spectacularity

Mike Garcia

Starring Sammy Hung, son of HK movie deity, the one and only Sammo Hung, this police action thriller of very simple international title (although its original Chinese title is no better, “Break the Ice”, however both titles are related with the plot), follows the adventures of a workaholic police officer (Sammy Hung) with marital problems and obsessed with catching a dangerous elusive drug dealer, that risks his integrity and his dear ones to have the job done. The final result is a small low budget VOD production in the wide and vast chinese streaming service world, that presents a non-stop action feature full of repetitive and anodine ballistic action and brief glances of fighting sequences, so brief that we can´t barely appreciate whether are worth it or not. Besides that, the director even attempts to innovate with POV sequences videogame style that only ruins the rythm of the sequences. The […]

CLIFF WALKERS: Chinese Spy Thriller Comes to US Theaters in April

Cathy LaFrance

Set in 1930s China, acclaimed director Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller CLIFF WALKERS will come to US and international theaters on April 30. CLIFF WALKERS is director Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving training in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a secret mission code-named “Utrennya.” After being sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides from the moment they parachute into the mission. Will the agents break the impasse and complete their mission? On the snowy grounds of Manchukuo, the team will be tested to their limit. Zhang Yimou’s work has been seen in the United States since 1990, when his film Ju Dou was the first-ever Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award […]

Blackmail, a Cover-up, and More in SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD: Watch the Trailer Now

Christina Ortega

How far would you go to cover up an accident? Could you trust the people around you to lie for you? SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD follows Li (Xiao Yang, Detective Chinatown) and his wife A Yu (Tan Zhuo, The Bravest) who run a small business in Thailand and are happy with their two daughters. Their eldest daughter is violently assaulted and blackmailed by another student. When Li and A Yu try to help their daughter, the result is a dead body. The body needs to be hidden and the very existence of the boy needs to be buried to cover up the accident. Nothing can be so simple though; the boy’s parents, a detective, and a mayoral candidate push the local police to stop at nothing to find him. This film is San Quah’s directorial debut which, according to the press release, “boasts incredible performances and a tense and emotionally […]

A BETTER TOMORROW Gets The 4K Treatment

Lee B. Golden III

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker John Woo is quite expressive nowadays regarding his hopes of reinvigorating his old partnership with fellow film legend Tsui Hark, years after lighting the Hong Kong action genre for the world to see with the 1986 smash hit, A Better Tomorrow. Two more films within that franchise followed apart as the two parted ways years later (with the Korean remake of the first film arriving in 2010), and with Woo wanting to build that bridge, it would certainly revive the glory days for fans longing to see another masterpiece from the famous duo. Fortunately such admirers also happen to represent 181-year old Swiss watch brand and manufacturers, Jaeger-LeCoultre who took to this year’s events at the 17th annual Shanghai International Film Festival to auction off their products to help fund the 4K restoration of up to nine classic Chinese films since the two parties partnered in 2011. […]