The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate - 龍門飛甲

The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (龍門飛甲) is an 2011 film out of Zhong Guo and Hong Kong. The movie stars Jet Li and Zhou Xun. The supporting cast include Chen Kun, Li Yuchun, Kwai Lun-mei, Louis Fan, and Mavis Fan. The movie is the "sequel" to the 1992 film New Dragon Gate Inn staring Tony Leung Ka-fai, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen. The movie is one of the first wuxia films in 3D.

Jet Li plays Zhou, the rebel that is causing trouble for the Ming Dynasty in the desert regions. Zhou Xun plays Ling, a wanderer in search of Zhou. The government is on the hunt for a boy and Ling saves him and leads them to the location of the Dragon Inn. The Ming soliders get there and the desert holigans are also there. All wanting a piece of the action. Zhou and Ling also make it there to bring some spice to the party.

The movie is a sequel to the 1992 version as Jet Li plays the main guy. The eunuch is now replaced by a version by Chen Kun. The movie is pretty slick in its effects and it's got a very complicated story, like the 1992 version. The two versions can and should not be compared. Why should you compare them? Tsui Hark is the reason. Why should you not. The movies are roughly 20 years apart and mainly a Zhong Guo production. You just don't have that HK silver era feel in this movie. The effects are different and the story is quite different.

I liked the movie for its bigger is better attitude. I like the fighting too. Very slick. The story on the other hand was weak and hard to follow. I think from an international level, the story is too convoluted to follow. However, a must watch for wuxia fans. A must watch for Jet Li fans.

第36個故事 - Taipei Exchanges

第36個故事 (Taipei Exchanges) is a 2010 film out of Taiwan. The film stars Kwai Lun-Mei, Lin Zaizai, and Chang Han.

Kwai plays Doris, a pastry chef that opens a cafe in an art district type neighborhood. Doris opens the shop with her younger sister, Josie, played by Lin Zaizai. Doris has grand dreams of her cafe where she can serve drink and desserts. For her grand opening, her friends and ex-coworkers give her a bunch of weird items. Instead of getting rid of the random junk, Doris decides to put the stuff around the store. Josie strikes up an bartering system one day. From that point on, its a exchange system. And the items are required to come with a story.

The movie's Zhong Wen title is actually "The 36th story". In the movie, there's a significance of that number. However, with or without that number, the movie will make sense.

I wasn't so sure about the movie, but it plays well as a story that tries to stay away from the usual. There isn't really a "love story" presented. But one does develop and you wonder about Josie's role in all this.

The Stool Pigeon - 線人

The Stool Pigeon (線人) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nick Cheung, Nicholas Tse, and Kwai Lun-mei. Supporting cast include Liu Kai-Chi, Lu Yi, Miao Pu, and Philip Keung.

Nick Cheung plays Lee, a police officer that uses informants to crack cases. The beginning story is Lee at an exchange and the informant is identified because the deal goes bad. The informant is subsequently tracked down and brutally beat up. To the point that the informant is not mentally challenged. Fast forward 1 year and another case comes up. Lee finds Car Ghost, played by Nicholas Tse, to be his informant. Car Ghost has connections to Barbarian, a jewel thief. Car Ghost gets in with his gang as the get away driver. Along the way, we find out more about both Lee and Car Ghost's background. How will this relationship end?

The movie was pretty intense and very very violent. I was actually taking back by the grittiness of the fighting. I wasn't expecting the fighting to be the way it way. The story was also very engaging. This time, its still the same cat and mouse game of cop going after the bad guy. But this time, it isn't a an undercover cop, but an informant. The movie explores that dynamic with an exploration between both the informant and the handler.

I highly recommend this film if you're into Dante Lam films. It was a little bit of a let down in comparison to "The Beast Stalker", but that movie was in a league of its own.

第36個故事 - Taipei Exchanges - Upcoming

第36個故事 (Taipei Exchanges) is a upcoming film being released in Taipei on May 14, 2010. The movie stars Kwai Lun-mei.

The movie is about a cafe that exchanges things. These things have stories behind them. Stories that take them beyond the small island of Taiwan.

Looks like a super interesting film. The atmosphere of the cafe looks inviting. Just hope the stories are worth the stay.

停車 - Parking

停車 (Parking) is a 2008 film out of Taiwan. The movie stars Chang Chen. The rest of the supporting cast include Kwai Lun-mei, Jack Kao, Leon Dai, Peggy Tseng and Chapman To.



The movie revolves around Chang Chen and his parked car. While buying a cake, someone double parks next to him, preventing him from leaving. Because of this, Chen gets involved with the happens of Chengde road, where his car is park. Chen patiently waits from late afternoon to sundown. The first is a one hand barber next to his car. The barber is played by Jack Kao and tells him that the car probably belongs to the people on floor 3. Chen goes up and finds an elderly couple with their granddaughter Nini. The grandfather calls him Xiao Ma, the nickname of their deceased son. Chen goes along with it and ends up having dinner with them. When he's done with dinner, the double parked car is gone. About to leave, Chen receives a phone call. Distracted by the phone call, he sits on the cake he bought. Now Chen's butt is covered in frosting and he goes back to the barber to clean up. After cleaning up, he finds that another parked car has blocked him via double parking. Chen goes to a nearby tailor store to ask for help. Chapman To is that tailor and doesn't help him. Chen calls the towing company to get the car towed. The towing company is busy from it being Mother's Day and a Sunday. The towing company tells him to take a cab. Chen finds a cab but the cabby refuses to take him to his destination. Leaving the car angered, he kicks the double parked car. The car is not empty and filled with triad members. Just as they are going to do something bad to Chen, To runs out being chased by triad members. The barber steps out and tells the triad head to let them go. The barber and triad boss are old buddies and chat about a little history and their current situation. Chen's car is still double parked, but by a different car now. Chen heads to the fourth floor to ask if its their car. Chen than gets into an argument with them and is beaten up and thrown into a park ditch.



The movie is a trip as there are many small subplots along the way. I didn't even bring up Peggy Tseng's character. One of the subplots revolves around Chang Chen and Kwai Lun-mei as his wife. There's also the subplot of tha barber that gets somewhat explored.



This was a slow moving movie, but for a purpose. The slowness in the beginning turns into lots and lots of things going on in the second half of the film. Peggy Tseng makes her movie debut. I've not seen Peggy before because she's in Taiwan commercials and appeared in a few MVs, two things I see very little to none of here in LA. I think she gives a breakout performance.

I highly recommend this film.

不能說的秘密 - Secret

不能說的秘密 (Secret) is a 2007 film out of Taiwan from Jay Chou.

The movie is a romance between Jay Chou as Jay and Kwai Lun-mei as Rain. The movie also features Anthony Wong as Jay's father and as the school master. Alice Tzeng makes her debut in this film as Sky. Alice was in many many things in 2008.

The movie is based on the senior year of high school for Jay. During the year, Jay bumps into Rain over and over again and they eventually fall for each other. Little does he know that there's something special about Rain.

Rain however disappears for awhile and Jay starts searching for her. A mystery starts and the movie's pace picks up.



The movie is very entertaining. It wasn't until the movie was over that the many plot holes started to introduce itself. But it didn't matter as the entertainment value of the movie was overwhelming.

Jay's movie star was rising in 2007 and Secret was Jay at his peak.

Alice Tzeng was both cute and sweet in this movie. Alice was quite busy in 2008 and hopefully makes more stuff in 2009.

Kwai Lun-mei has been on my radar since Blue Gate Crossing. At first, before I watched the movie, I wasn't sure she was right for the role. After watching the movie, I couldn't think of anyone else that would have been better. Lun-mei was also quite busy in 2007 and 2008.

All About Women - 女人不壞

All About Women (女人不壞) is a 2008 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Zhou Xun, Kitty Zhang, and Kwai Lun-mei as the female leads. Eddie Peng, Stephen Fung, and Godfrey Kao show up as the supporting male cast.

The movie follows the lives of 3 women who are all very different in personality and demeanor. In a strange twist of happenstance, all 3 get linked together mid way through the film.

All the people in this film are eye candy. Even in glasses and a bowl cut, Zhou Xun doesn't come across as disgusting or ugly as the film suggest.

It does expose us a little to the Beijing Rock and Roll scene and that there are mega-corporations left and right in China.

I didn't like the movie much and fast forward through 25% of it. Didn't skip a beat with the fast forwarding as the story was uniquely predictable.

The cast only includes a couple of HK stars, but is a HK film. Funny. Watch it for the pretty people, Beijing, and production value.

藍色大門 - Blue Gate Crossing

藍色大門 (Blue Gate Crossing) is a 2002 film out of Taiwan starring Kwai Lun-mei and Wilson Chen.

The story follows 3 high school age students as they try to figure things out. Meng, Lin, and Chang. Meng and Lin are best friends. Chang has an interest in Lin. Lin doesn't want to get involved with Chang. Chang uses Meng to get to Lin. Chang falls for Meng. BUT. BUT....Meng doesn't want Change, but Lin.

Yes. It's a lesbian based movie that isn't overtly lesbian as almost all screen time is with Kwai Lun-Mei and Wilson Chen.

A artsy fartsy film all the way and a simi reflection of Taiwan beginning its conversation with homosexuality in media. I first watched this film back in 2003 or 2004 so Kwai and Chen being so young wasn't a distraction.