Dragon - Wu Xia - 武俠

Dragon (Wu Xia/武俠/Swordsmen) is an 2011 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kanoshiro. The supporting cast include Tang Wei, Jimmy Wang Yu, Kara Hui, Li Xiaoran, Jiang Wu, Ethan Ruan. The movie was released as "Dragon" a couple of years after its Asian release. This movie is an suspense thriller action movie.



Liu is a quiet family man that accidently kills two robbers that come to his farming town. One of the robbers is a highly sought after by the government which draws the attention of investigator, Xu. As Xu investigates, he has to piece together the robbers, Liu, the villages, and many other things. Eventually finding that Liu is a highly skilled bandit, things start to get interesting.



This was one of the better movies of 2011. Donnie goes minimalistic for this role and shows his acting chops. TK does his thing well and takes on a accent that is quite good. The investigation is intriguing and the results come half way through the movie. The second half includes most of the action, but it's not without consequences for the main leads. In the Donnie cannon, this may not be the most action packed, but it is one of my favorites due to the story and his acting. Donnie is a star and he shows it here.

Coming back in a week or so....

I am trying to make 1000 post by the end of 2011. Looks like I will have an hard time doing that with this hiatus and prolly a couple more as the year goes on. Which leaves me at roughly 950-980 posts as the year ends. Just depends on how many breaks I take.

I wasn't planning on stopping this time around, but the 4th of July weekend wreaked my schedule and I started watching "Autumn's Concerto" again. Spawned mainly by the reruns recently on LA 18.8.

There's also a truckload of wuxia series that I have yet to get around to.

When I watch series, its a huge time sink that spans days. Movies are a one night shot.

I am looking forward to Wuxia with Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

K-20:Legend of the Mask - K20:怪人二十面相

K-20:Legend of the Mask (K20:怪人二十面相) is a 2008 film out of Japan. The movie stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, and Toru Nakamura.

The movie is based on an alternate reality. Where Teito is the capital of Japan, vs. Tokyo. In Teito, the aristocrats rule the country and the poor struggle to make ends meet. A thief label K-20 has been stealing artifacts from the rich, but is no Robin Hood, as he keeps it for himself. Endo, played by Takeshi, is a circus acrobat and performer. After being convinced to do a stunt, he's framed for being K-20 and captured. But the master plan of K-20 is to acquire the Telsa power plant. The secrects are in the hands of Yoko, played by Takao Matsu.

The movie was quite entertaining as it takes a 19th century feel and applies it to a 50s era Tokyo. The story was intriguing and the actors were quite easy on the eyes.

I highly recommend this movie.

Red Cliff - 赤壁 - US Release

Red Cliff (赤壁) is getting a one film US Release on November 18, 2009. It has also been available via VOD for the the past month or so in the US. The film was broken up into 2 parts for the Asian market. I wrote reviews for Part I and Part II in the past.



Red Cliff has a star studded cast of veteran Chinese actors including Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, and Zhao Wei.



The US version will have some additional "explanation" scenes and voice overs. Some of the secondary stories from the Asian version will be out right deleted.



I am not sure I'll be catching this anytime soon. I am not sure I can watch a "English" dub. That just sounds wrong.

Confession of Pain - 傷城

Confession of Pain (傷城) is a 2006 movie out of Hong Kong. It stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Hsu Chi and is directed by Andrew Lau.

Tony plays a cop named Lau and Takeshi plays a private investigator named Bong. Lau and Bong had been onetime co-workers. When Bong's girlfriends cheats on him and than commits suicide, Bong goes a little bonkers. Bong's girlfriend committed suicide because her secret lover dumps her. Bong is now on a quest to find this secret lover and quits the force to do it full time. Bong takes up PI-ing to survive. Bong visits the same bar everyday. The site of the last meeting between the secret lover and Bong's girlfriend.

Tony's part is that of a calm, collected, and very smart police officer. I won't go into much with Lau, because it'll give away the movie.

The movie is a thriller, suspense and drama. You're in for a ride if you can wait toward the latter half of the movie.

The movie is long, quite long. I was getting a little restless at the end. Does it pay off. Yes! Pays off. You have to follow all the details.

赤壁:決戰天下 - Red Cliff II

赤壁:決戰天下 (Red Cliff II) is 2009 film directed by John Woo. Starring Chen Chang, Lin Chi-Ling, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Wei Zhao. I had watched Part I last summer and had a first thoughts and review posts.

Red Cliff is based on the Battle of Red Cliffs. Because the storyline has so many characters and Kingdoms, I'll leave it to you to read up on wikipedia. I'll just be talking about what I thought of the film here.

Red Cliff Part 2 starts as Cao Cao's armies descend on the Red Cliffs. Zhou Yu and Zhugu Liang prepare for the coming onslaught. Some plot points that I thought were interesting. The plague victims from Cao Cao's camp are sent to Zhou Yu's camp. The plague plays a major point in the storyline. Cao Cao is reputed to be a wife stealer. Stealing the wives of his conquered victims. In this case, Cao Cao wants Zhou Yu's wife. There is espionage from both camps but Zhou Yu gets the better end of the deal. Zhuge Liang fortune telling turns the tide. Lin Chi-Ling is still hot in this movie.

The battle of the Red Cliff doesn't actually seem that intense. The graphics are good, but you can tell it is computer generated. The fighting incorporates wuxia elements for the generals. But supporting people do die. There's soccer?

Red Cliff Part 2 was awesome and it's a good sign for the Chinese movie audience and film makers. The sign that these kind of movies can be made and that the audience will support it financially.

赤壁 - Red Cliff Part 1

赤壁 (Red Cliff Part 1) is 2008 film directed by John Woo. Starring Chen Chang, Lin Chi-Ling, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Wei Zhao. Initially thought of as one film when filming began. It was split up into 2 movies. Having seen both, the split was logical and its better as two movies versus a long condensed version. I had watched it last summer and had a first thoughts post.

Red Cliff is based on the Battle of Red Cliffs. Because the storyline has so many characters and Kingdoms, I'll leave it to you to read up on wikipedia. I'll just be talking about what I thought of the film here.

Red Cliff Part 1 has the job of introducing the cast and their importance to the story. So, there's a lot of character development here versus Part 2. But there's just as much action, if not more than Part 2. Two major battles are shown. One in the beginning where Zhao Yun saves Liu Bei's son. The other being the initial engagement between the allied forced against Cao Cao.

Through it all, characters are popping up and right. You do need to have a general knowledge of that era to understand the movie better. But pop up they do. This film also introduces Lin Chi-Ling's acting debut. Lin's been a top model and spokeperson for over 10 years now. But finally making the turn to acting now. And a good roll it is.

Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the iconic Zhuge Liang. Zhuge is like the "sherlock" of the Chinese world. Known for being an expert strategist and intelligence beyond all those around. Zhuge Liang is a reference in Chiense pop culture all the time.

Tony Leung's character of Zhou Yu does creep to the top of importance and prominence as Part I ends.

In all, I thought Red Cliff Part I was a great introduction to the characters and the eminent battle of Red Cliffs.

Red Cliff Part 1 - 赤壁 - First Thoughts

Originally posted on xanga.



I just finished part 1 of John Woo's Red Cliff (赤壁). It was an intense movie with a lot of stuff going on.

Here are some thoughts:
I need to learn my Chinese history better
Lin Chi-Ling is pretty dang hot
Zhao Wei is looking like she shouldn't play early 20s rolls anymore
The Costumes are amazing
The special effects look real and fake at the same time
I can't wait to see part 2.
Too bad there's no part 3
I would want to play a video game based off this (in english, since my Chinese is useless)

Go see it. It won't blow you away, but its a good film.

Being sold for $3 in my local video rental places. Crazy cheap.