Aftershock - 唐山大地震

Aftershock (唐山大地震) is an 2010 film out of Zhong Guo. The film stars Xu Fan, Zhang Jingchu, Li Chen, Chen Daoming, and Lu Yi. The movie takes place at the start movie with the 1976 Tangshan earthquake and ends with the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

A family of 4 live life in the summer 1976 in the Tangshan region of Zhong Guo. Mom, Dad, Older Sister, and Younger Brother make it go at life everyday. On the night of the 1976 earthquake, the mom, older sister, and younger brother survive. The dad is killed running into the building to save the kids. During the rescue, the workers ask the mom to decide whom to save as the stone on top of both of them would kill the other if moved. The mom doesn't choose. When the workers start to leave, the mom announces to save the brother. As luck would have it, the sister's body is laid down with the rest of the deceased bodies. But the sister wakes up and walks around, before being picked up by the military workers. The mom and brother make it through the end of the 70s and 80s in the general area of Tangshan. The sister is adopted and raised by a military couple. The brother also lost an arm in the earthquake. The story diverges into the lives of the three. The hardships of life and their eventual reunion during the 2008 earthquake.



This movie was well made. The fictional storyline seemed very plausible and the parallel lives apart showed a sense of lost and longing for family. Xu Fan and Zhang Jingchu really carry the emotional weight of the film. Zhang's rebel attitude and immigrant life harken to those that I might run into here in LA. The live of the ever faithful wife played by Xu is tragic and yet heart warming at the same time.

As a movie based on a tragic event, the movie does try to bring out some positives. The reunion of a family and the process of healing after mother nature speaks up.

City Under Siege - 全城戒備

City Under Siege (全城戒備) is an 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Aaron Kwok, Shu Qi, Collin Chou, Jacky Wu, and Zhang Jingchu.

Aaron Kwok plays Sunny, a orphan and an apprentice to the knife throwing star of a traveling circus. Collin Chou plays the main bad guy and main knife thrower. However, when they trick Sunny into finding buried treasure, they are all exposed to gas from an long forgotten WWII lab. They all inherit superpowers and start to mutate. With this mutation, Sunny becomes an star, but Chou's gang robs armored bank trucks. Jacky Wu and Zhang Jingchu play a couple that are also special agents set to bring in the Chou gang.

The movie was really full of action, but the action was way over the top. The mutations are at an extreme at the end of the film. I'll be honest, this wasn't a good film. But its one of those guilty pleasure films. Lots of action, cheezy dialogue, really hard to follow plot, a gazillion characters.

Jade Warrior - 玉武士

Jade Warrior (玉武士) is a 2006 film co-produced by Finnish and Chinese companies. The star of the film for me is played by Zhang Jingchu.

A half Finnish and Chinese warrior, Sintai, is on a quest to destroy the demon of the China. On his way toward the demon, he meets Pin Yu. Pin Yu is beautiful and has some mad skillz. Sintai is instantly taken back by Pin Yu. But their love is not to be.

That synopsis is about the story based in ancient China. The other 75% of the film is based in modern day Finland and the reincarnated Sintai and Pin Yu.

The only reason I watched was because of Zhang Jingchu. Pretty good reason as Zhang is amazingly beautiful in the film. The martial arts scenes are pretty impressive. But the film itself as a whole isn't and I actually fell asleep while watching this.

At the time of this writing, the movie has not made its release in the US. I watch a crappy version rented from a local Chinese video store.

Overheard - 竊聽風雲

Overheard (竊聽風雲) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The film stars Sean Lau, Louis Koo, and Daniel Wu. Supporting cast members include Alex Fong, Zhang Jingchu, Michael Wong, and Dominic Lam.

The movie is about a sting operation lead by Dominic Lam and Alex Fong. Sean Lau, Louis Koo, and Daniel Wu are the main operatives in the sting. Sean is in a relationship with Zhang Jingchu, who is in the process of getting a divorce from Alex Fong. Louis Koo is a father of 4 and his son needs special medical assistance.

The sting is to breakup a boiler room type trading firm. Louis Koo and Daniel Wu overhear a stock that will rise. And they get in on the action. Because of this, it leads to major problems down the line.



An intense triller and totally unpredictable. All three actors give an intense performance. One of the better HK films out in 2009.

This was a classic HK film. Dives into the heart of greed and the consequences. And if you know what classic HK means, you can guess how it ends.

Red River - 紅河 (綻碩)

Red River (綻碩) is a 2009 film out of China. The movie stars Nick Cheung and Zhang Jingchu. Danny Lee and Rachel Lee (Loletta Lee) have supporting roles.

The movie is centered around Zhang Jingchu's character of Tao. Tao had a normal upbringing, but witnesses her father's death via a land mine in Vietnam. Tao is special as she is a little mentally challenged. Tao sneaks into the China side of the Red River where she works as a cleaner for her aunt, Shui, played by Rachel Lee. Tao befriends Sha Ba on a visit. Sha Ba is also from Vietnam and takes a liking to Tao. Tao bumps into Xia, a Karaoke street vendor. Xia hires Tao to sing as people walk by. They strike up a good relationship as Tao thinks Xia really looks like her father.

The movie is quite slow but also quite amazing. This is a slice of life of the Chinese on the Red River that I've only heard about. To see it on film was quite something.

I wasn't able to find a trailer via YouTube.

Protégé - 門徒

Protégé (門徒) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Daniel Wu and Andy Lau. Supporting cast include Louis Koo, Zhang Jingchu, Anita Yuen, and Hu Mei-Tian.

The movie is about the drug empire run by Andy Lau. Andy Lau plays Quin whos had a long and successful run as the king of drugs in Hong Kong. The police have been trying to bust him for years. Quin is getting up in years and wants to find a successor. Quin takes Nick, played by Daniel Wu, as a protégé. Quin likes Nick so much that he even sets him up with his oldest daughter. And Quin's last step in the process is taking Nick to Thailand to speak directly with his source to do the "hand off". Little does Quin know, Nick is actually a undercover cop. Nick has finally got enough evidence to crack the case. Little by little, Quin's empire starts to crumble. And they find out its Nick in court.

A side story to this is Nick's relationship with Fan, played by the extremely lovely and talented Zhang Jingchu. Fan's husband is played by Louis Koo. Fan has run away from him to start living clean, because of her elementary age child. Nick befriends the child and eventually Fan. Little by little, Nick falls for Fan, but tragedy strikes when the husband finds her again.



I mention that I loved this film back in the day. The film did well at the 27th Hong Kong movie awards as well. It was well deserved recognition for a very well made film.

I watched a China version from back in the day. I need to make time and rent the Dragon Dynasty one.

Beast Stalker - 證人

Beast Stalker (證人) is a 2008 film out Hong Kong. It stars Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung. The film was nominated for 5 awards at the 28th Hong Kong film Awards and walked away with 2.

The story revolves around the life of Nicholas Tse playing Tong Fei. Fei is the head of a narcotics group. The film starts with the group eating at a breakfast joint and than heads for a drug bust. During the bust, a few things go wrong and Fei vents on a few people. After the bust, Fei with Sun, played by Liu Kai Chi, find a getaway car. They spring into action and eventually capturing the guys in the getaway car. Fei stops them by firing a few rounds into the trunk and another hitting the driver. Little does Fei know, there's a little girl in the trunk and he inadvertently kills her. Deemed an accident, Fei transfer to another group and goes into a long guilt trip and befriending the little girls younger sister.

But things turn for the worst, the mother of the two sisters is the main lawyer seeing the case against the head of the criminals in the get away car. The criminals kidnap the younger sister and demand that the mother switch the blood samples. Fei is there as the kidnapper, played by Nick Cheung, appears. The chase is on.

The movie was a wild ride. Very intense and at the same time, very trilling. I was drawn in right away and didn't want to stop. Zhang Jingchu was amazingly beautiful as the protective mother and torn lawyer.

HK cinema at its peak in 2008. Don't miss this one.

Seven Swords - 七劍

Seven Swords (七劍) is 2005 movie out of Hong Kong. The movie is based off a Liang Yusheng novel. The movies main stars are Donnie Yen and Leon Lai.

The movie is based on a group of Ming swordsmen that help refugees fend off oncoming Qing forces. The refugees seek help from a master swordsman and sword maker. The sword master gives the group 7 swords and sends some of his students to help. Among the pupils is Donnie and Leon. Along the way, some of the refugees are given swords and are part of the Seven. They have to learn to trust each other and learn to use their swords.

The fighting was a little disappointing and the story was way too fast paced. I was losing track of people and what they need to accomplish.

I did watch a china dub of this movie. China dubs can come with non standard mandarin sometimes and this was the case with the one I watch. Maybe if I have time, I'll rent the Dragon Dynasty version to watch the extras.

There was a whole lot of hype with this film. With Hero and House of Flying Daggers making a splash internationally, this was to be Tsui Harks's return to prominence. The film was successful, but had to struggle to get there.

At the time of this writing, the movie website is still up here.

Rush Hour 3 - 尖峰時刻 3

I watched Rush Hour 3 (尖峰時刻 3) via Netflix about a year ago now. I remember the movie being entertaining, annoying and ultimately a letdown.

The movie is based off an investigation that all the Chinese triads in the world are ultimately centralized. There is someone that controls it named Shy Shen. To keep it out of corrupt hands, only a few know this super sensitive information. This leads them ultimately to Paris. Where hijinx ensues and Chan/Carter defeat the goons at the end.

The Rush Hour trilogy looks like it ends here, but you never know. It did make $$ and that's why Chan/Carter signed up for this installment anyways.

張靜初 (Zhang Jingchu) plays the grown up daughter of Ambassador Han. Zhang spends only about 5-10 minutes on screen so you can't really even count her as a force in this movie. Quite sad since Zhang's beauty is completely wasted.

If you've got nothing else to do and really like Jackie Chan, check it out.

Stuck at 220 and other random stuff

Originally posted on xanga.

So I started my quest to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese better and to start learning how to write Chinese about 6 months ago.  I've been stuck at 220 or so characters for the past 2 months.  I got to 220 characters at around Valentine's day.  Since around than, I took a month off and have spent most of this month catching up.  Just the last 2 days, I've started to learn 2 or 3 new characters.  The first in a long time.  Part of the reason is that I have a very bad review process.  It was taking 2 hours a day to do everything  But this week, I've figured out a way that I only need to review the beginning characters once a week and the new ones daily and the middle ones 2 or 3 times a week.  This cuts my review time to about 30 minutes a day!  I started cue cards  at the beginning of the year, but the stack is huge now and I don't have time to really review with my busy lifestyle.

I recently watched the much hyped Andy Lau and Daniel Wu movie called, Protégé.  It was a really interesting film that had a focus on the drug trade and something many HK movies have nowadays.  An undercover cop.  I was actually struck by a stunning Zhang Jingchu.  Zhang Jingchu will also be in Rush Hour 3.

I also like to congratulate Lau Ching-Wan on his win for My Name is Fame at the HK movie awards.  I've been a fan of his since his TVB days in the 80s and C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri is one of my all time favorite movies.  C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri also stars my favorite HK actress of the 90s, Anita Yuen.

I've also been watching this Blood Sword Clan series.  I think I fast forwarded through 80% of the series.  Not very good.