Futute X-Cops -- 未來警察

Futute X-Cops (未來警察) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong staring Andy Lau, Barbie Hsu (大S), Fan Bing Bing, and Mike He.

In the future, 2080, Andy Lau is the chief of a team of cops set to protect a scientist. Fan Bing Bing and Andy are a couple but in the process of protecting the scientist, the wife is killed. But the bad guys find a way to go back in time. But in order to do that, you have to be a cyborg with limited human organs. Andy is transformed into a super cyborg and sent into the past to protect the young scientist.



The movie was pretty weird. It felt slapped together. There seemed to be gaps that just assumed you knew what happened. The acting from Andy felt early 90s when all he did was smile a whole lot and looked surprised. 大S and Andy's romance seemed way icky.

I had high hopes due to its sci-fi nature, but was ultimately let down.

Connected - 保持通話

Connected (保持通話) is a 2008 film out of Hong Kong starring Louis Koo and Barbie Hsu. This is actually a remake a Hollywood film called Cellular. I have not seen Cellular so I cannot do a comparison.

Connected starts by doing a little background feature on Barbie Hsu as Grace Wong and Louis Koo as Bob. We start with Grace as a single mother taking her daughter to school and gets kidnapped and finds a way to dial out. We than break to Bob as a collections drone who's a deadbeat Husband and Father. Bob's son is on his way out of the country with his sister. On the call, we find out the Bob's wife has left him and that Bob's not very good at keeping his promises. Grace can only dial out and her dialing is random, so she has to stay connected to the person on the other end or she will not be able to call that person again. Grace and Bob are connected via fate and via the call as Grace calls Bob.

The fun starts from there and its a pretty wild ride and I enjoyed it a lot. Louis takes up the majority of the screen time. Louis does a good job as a timid and un-action oriented Bob. Who's trying to see his son and save Grace's family.

I haven't seen Cellular before so I have no clue as to how much was taken from the original. But they only needed the main plot points to make a good movie.

You should check it out when it makes it to the USA on April 28th, but you can get an imported version via Ebay if you can't wait.

愛的發聲練習 - My So-Called Love

愛的發聲練習 (My So-Called Love) is 2008 movie out of Taiwan starring 大S, 彭于晏 and 張孝全. I had mentioned that I was looking forward to it last November, here.

The movie starts in the present time and than flashes back in time. Part of that flashback includes a flashback of 大S's mother abandoning her. Than the flashback moves to 大S in High School (I am predicting her Senior year in High School). 大S is looking for a place to stay and suddenly, gets a call from her mother. They reunite where 大S now has a sister and a step-father. But things do not stay sane and the step-father ends up being a peeping tom. 大S falls for Liam and they end up moving into a apartment together. 大S passes the exam for entry into a college, but not Liam. Liam ends up going to the army. Finances are not good. Loneliness creeps its way into everyone's lives. 大S cheats and the exploration into a self destructive life begins.

The movie was a major let down for me. There wasn't much hype about it, but I was looking forward to it. What was I expecting? I can only guess that I was expecting it to be good. Which it wasn't. It was slow, overly sensual (I didn't see a reason behind it), confusing, and generally morbid. 大S is the main star and her childhood paints a picture of her fear in dealing with issues and the ability confront things that would be considered "good" for her. On the verge of "happiness", 大S exhibits unexplainable self destructive behavior.

The movie has good music and is very stylish. But that can't make up for a slow plot, uninviting characters, and a morbid tone to the movie.

It's for import where you can find it and it comes with English subs.

詭絲 - Silk

Silk (詭絲) is 2006 film out of Taiwan starring Chen Chang with a supporting cast of 大S (Barbie Hsu), Wilson Chen, Karena Lam, and Janine Chang.

Chen Chang plays a cop with extraordinary vision. So good, he can see the feathers of the birds flying above him as well an expert lip reader and a sharp shooter. A cop with an extreme temper to go with it. Chen Chang gets re-assigned to a special paranormal division for all the previously mentioned skillz, but mostly for his keen eyesight. The time has trapped a ghost with a special technology called the Menger Sponge. The plot thickens as the guy that put this team together is a little tipsy and doesn't play by the rules. Rules fly out the window and the triller horror begins.

When I first heard about this movie back in 2007, I thought it was a Japanese movie. I didn't find much more back in the day, but when I saw it via Netflix in 2008, I realized it was a Taiwan movie. With the supporting cast a who's who of the "it" actors and actresses, I was pleasantly surprised.

The action, suspense, solving of the mystery, and the resolution all left me satisfied. Before I started the film, I thought it was going to be a movie like Ringu or The Ring or ghost with hair that covers the face, etc. type movie. Boy was I wrong. It was a mystery and the subplots revolving around the main plot made it all the more intriguing.

I highly recommend this film.

愛的發聲練習 - My So-Called Love - Upcoming

Originally posted on xanga.



I am looking forward to the new Taiwan movie 愛的發聲練習 being released on 11/21. I probably won't get to see until much later. It stars 大S, 彭于晏 and 張孝全.

Check out the trailer and the recent appearance on 康熙来了 on 11/10 to promote it.