As the Light Goes Out - 救火英雄

救火英雄 (As The Light Goes Out) is an 2014 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nicholas Tse. The rest of the supporting cast include Shawn Yue, Simon Yam, Hu Jun, Bai Bing, and Andy On.



On the eve of Christmas Eve, a power grid station is determined to keep the energy flowing to the all of Hong Kong. When a factory near one of the pipes for energy is disrupted, its up the brave firemen of the Hong Kong fire division to contain it. The crew goes in to save the trapped people and have to fight their way out. On top of this drama is the political drama of promotions and hurt feelings from the fire station. Add to is kids of the firemen are also trapped, you got yourself a story.



This was a Hong Kong movie through and through. Even with the addition of Hu Jun and Bai Bing to give it a little "mainland" feel, it was still very HK. Which is why I liked it so much. I got me back to those days of intense HK movies with extreme situations that put our heroes mettle to the test. If the movie was to end on a sad note, it should. If it were to end on a happy note, it would. In the case of this movie, it ended the way it should have.

This movie was atop of the HK box office at the start of year. It did the same on the Mainland front a few weeks later. It's worth the ride.

神話 - The Myth - Broadcasting

神話 (The Myth) started broadcasting on CTV in Taiwan on April 7th.

From the long CTV trailer, it looks like the voices may be different than the China dub. I wrote a review of the China version about a month back.

The series is 50 episodes, so its pretty long and quite slow when the politics overtake the series.

The Myth - 神話

The Myth (神話) is a 2010 wuxia drama out of China. The series stars Hu Ge, Bai Bing, Ren Quan, Chang Chih, Zhang Meng, and Jin Sha.



This wuxia series is vastly different than the 2005 movie from Jackie Chan. Although the main elements of the movie do drive the series. The movie was based on re-incarnation of the Jackie character. The series is based on time travel.



The series starts around with the introduction of Yi Xiao Chuan, played by He Gu. Xiao Chuan is a photographer and adventurer. On this particular day, he's gone into a remote area to photograph stuff. But in a strange turn of events, he's stung by a snake and clinging on to dear life. But a magical amulet is nearby. When Xiao Chuan touches it, he is saved.



We than move on to the site of a dig around the Terracotta Army. Da Chuan, played by Ren Quan is a archeologist and the older brother of Xiao Chuan. Get it, Da and Xiao Chuan. How convenient. You don't need to think to know who's the elder. Xiao Chuan shows Da Chuan the amulet. Da Chuan says its a archeological find. At the same time, other things are found at the site, including a magical box.



But a group of bad guys burst onto the scene and steal the magical box. Da Chuan and Xiao Chuan gives chase. Xiao Chuan catches up with the guys and defeats them to get the box back. When Xiao Chuan opens the box, he's magically brought back 2000+ years into the past. Xiao Chuan is brought to the Qin Dynasty, roughly 210 BC. Xiao Chuan brings a friend with him, named Gao Yao.



From that point on, the story forks from ancient to present. About 70/30. Xiao Chuan makes his way thought the ancient times with his present upbringing. Along the way, he befriends many many historical figures between the Qin and Han dynasty.



The series is very playful for the first third of the series. Gets more serious during the second third. The last third brings back all the movie elements. The ending can be said to fit the movie quite well.

Call for Love - 愛情呼叫轉移

Call for Love (愛情呼叫轉移) is a 2007 film out of China. The film stars Xu Zheng and a host of women. Among these women include Fan Bing-bing, Eva Huang, Annie Yi, Ning Jing, Qin Hailu, and Bai Bing.

The movie starts with Xu Zheng as Xu Long getting a divorce from his long time wife due to boredom. As the divorce goes through, an Angel gives him a cell phone that will allow him to meet 12 women. Among these 12, he will find his next mate.

You guessed it, Xu dates twelve women that are all crazy in the head and hilarious situations ensues. Queue laugher and lol!

Xu didn't really fit the part, but very few men that originate from the China market have been able to do modern films well. Ancient films, no problem. Modern films in China, fail.

But all those women in the film. Most if not all are very easy on the eyes. I stayed around mainly to see who the next one was. And so should you. That can be your only reason.