Favorite films

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Pinned reviews

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  Three Love Affairs 1963

  ★★★★★ Watched by Jessica Yeung 18 Sep 2021

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Perfect rom-com documenting the changing cityscape of the independent and mid-scale film co (compared with MPGI and SB) film co Lan Kwong, my favourite. Starring my absolute fave Cantonese film actress Ding Ying. She is, as Dr Ng Chun-hung said in the post-screening talk, a talented, dedicated, diligent, virtuous, innocent, and loyal worker of the company until she moved to Canada until now.

  This film has a tight structure and intricate details, thanks to the director cum screenwriter Mok Hong-see,…

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  Fight Back to School 1991

  ★★★★ Rewatched by Jessica Yeung 21 Apr 2020 18

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Hong Kong cinema when it was still carefully crafted. Chow's films intertextual references (like the maze here echoing Chow's fave kungfu star Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon) and allegorical cues (like the communist graffiti on the walls of the abandoned building during the opening sequences) are brilliant.

  Part of 2020 Stephen Chow's marathon. Very good one but not his best.

  I want to write a book on Hong Kong comedy.

Recent reviews

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  Little Heroes vs. Two Masked Villains 1962

  ★★★★ Watched by Jessica Yeung 28 May 2022 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  This's a rather special wuxia flick for me, not only because it belongs to the Taiwanese-language cinema (think I subconsciously have got used to associating the Chinese period drama genre with Mandarin cinema), but also because of its occasional quirkiness/ cult plot and great screenplay - there is a surprise even at the last min of the film.

  The "Little Heroes" in the title are two commoners, Tsu-Kat Si-lang and Tsin-ping, who come to rival two masked villains, who turned…

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  Romance at Lung Shan Temple 1962

  ★★★ Watched by Jessica Yeung 27 May 2022 12

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  A musical comedy about the reconciliation of benshengren/waishengren (Taiwanese and Mainlanders arriving at Taiwan during 1940s) cultural differences that can be compared to the HK filmmaker Wong Tin-lam's North-South Trilogy (The Greatest Civil War on Earth, 1961; The Greatest Wedding on Earth, 1962, and The Greatest Love Affair on Earth (1964)), which was written by Eileen Chang the Shanghaiese writer and thematised the cultural differences between Cantonese and Northerners (Beijing people).

  The film has an interesting and perhaps unique mix…

Popular reviews

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  The God of Cookery 1996

  ★★★★★ Watched by Jessica Yeung 28 May 2021 33

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Rewatching the God of Cookery, I was amazed by its ingenuity. Yet this time I was both saddened and relieved that the iconic landmark Tai Pak Floating Restaurant's nearly mythical interior has been well-preserved by this film amply, as it has been closed on 1st March, 2020 until further notice. After watching this film, I also recalled how Stephen Chow's comedies have a similar "formula" as Michael Hui - just add a bit of mo lei tau (nonsensical humour). Both…

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  La Chinoise 1967

  ★★ Watched by Jessica Yeung 05 May 2022 10

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Quite stylishly shot but this is just a group of French bourgeoisie students who romanticised Maoism, and like its western peers eg the likes of Americans who worship Mao and put his posters in the sitting room as decor without realising how devastating Maoism and his aftermath have posed influences on the Third World, esp. China. One of these leading thinkers who are sort of rejected by non-western thinkers in sympathising Mao is Alain Badiou.

  This leads to a common…