Born Into Brothels - 小小攝影師的異想世界

Born Into Brothels (小小攝影師的異想世界) is a 2004 documentary about children of prostitutes in Calcutta's red light district.

The movie documents the lives of a handful of children that started taking a photography class. The assignments were to take pictures of their surroundings. The movie than dives deeper into each children's lives and tells their family life. The movie than documents the photography class teacher's efforts to get these kids into schools.

Its a touching documentary as you see the kids take their pictures and share them with the class, teacher, and world. The other side of the story is that these kids are children of prostitutes and their lives are tough.

There's a lot of emotions when the ghetto parts of society are highlighted. A range of emotions that are both uncomfortable and helpless.

I guess, that's what documentaries are suppose to do. In that sense, this was a good one.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 神鬼奇航：世界的盡頭

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 神鬼奇航：世界的盡頭 is a 2007 film starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Chow Yun-Fat.

Chow plays a pirate warlord based in Singapore named Captain Sao Feng.

If you watched the previous two Pirates installments, this one is no different. The Chinese in Singapore are dirty and ugly and have no honor.

If you're Chow fan, this is not a memorable role or film. And if you're Chinese, this is not a depiction you'd like very much.

I vaguely remember that there was some controversy about the depiction of Singapore in the 18th century by the current 21st century residents. Unfortunately, a quick Google search didn't net any good results.

You can rent it on Netflix.

痞子英雄 - Black & White - Upcoming

痞子英雄 (Black & White) is a highly anticipated Taiwanese Police Drama starring Vic Zhou and Janine Chang.

The trailer looks pretty awesome and I look forward to what looks like the "Miami Vice" of Taipei.

Set to broadcast on Saturday, April 11 in Taiwan on PTS. I'll probably have to wait until the summer to get my hands on it here in LA.

The Departed - 無間道風雲

The Departed is a 2006 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Vera Farmiga. Based conceptually on the 2002 HK film, Infernal Affairs.

The high concept of the high is that the cops and mob send a mole into the others system at a young age. For the cops, a young recruit is asked to drop out and infiltrate the mob to relay information back to the captain. Vice versa for the mob. They get a young mobster to join the police department and pass information along so the mob boss can keep from getting busted.

Both "The Departed" and "Infernal Affairs" plays this concept.

But The Departed is based in Boston and with the Irish Mob. The undercover cop is played by Leonardo DiCaprio and the undercover mobster is played by the Matt Damon.

There are many many similiarities between the two films, but they are really different at the same time. Independently, The Departed can stand as a good film.

I however did watch Infernal Affairs back in 2002 and was completely blown away. I ended up watching the film with my wife and friends within a few weeks. It was one of those, we got to watch it together films so we can talk about it.

So, watching the departed and knowing many of the plot points, it wasn't as exciting and I wasn't in suspense.

However, I don't think you can watch both. You need to watch one or the other. Pick which one and don't compare.

Kung Fu Cult Master - 倚天屠龍記之魔教教主

Kung Fu Cult Master (倚天屠龍記之魔教教主) is a 1993 movie starring Jet Li. The movie is loosely based on an Jin Yong's novel, Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記).

The movie has to tell a 2 hour movie what a drama series can do in 40-50 episodes. Like "The Brave Archer", this movie is a mess. Characters are popping up left and right. People of friends, enemies, and for what reason? Super martial arts is obtained so quickly. Its a mess. But oh so good. The fighting is like a video game. The characters bounce around the screen, shoot fireballs, and the swords fire bolts. Its early 90s HK movies at its best. You don't have to expect a good story, but its gonna be super fun. It also features some actors that show up in the 2003 drama adaption.

If you know the novel's story or have seen the drama before, the story totally throws a lot of stuff out in order for events to happen. But the main plot points are followed. The characters are not "good" like they are in the dramas too. They are cut throat and show no mercy.

The movie stops when Jet Li saves Wu Dong school. Leaving you scratching your head going, "what, that's the end?" Do not fret, there's suppose to be a sequel to finish the story. But if you know the story, its only 1/3 into it. They would need a another 2 movies to finish the story, even by cutting out a lot of stuff. Its 2009 and no sequel in sight! I've given up. Due to its poor box office performance, no sequel was ever made. But someone else can try it again!

I watched a Taiwan version of this while washing the dishes recently. As it only has Mandarin and the original subs of Chinese and the English right under it. I occasionally check out the English subs and they suck. Haha. Or the translation may be truer to the Cantonese.