Karmic Mahjong (2006) stars Francis Ng and Cherrie Ying (she was the reason I rented the film) as the attractive leads in this comedy (maybe) / thriller (maybe not) set in Chengdu, China.
Ng plays a loser mechanic, Wu Yu-chuan, who has disappointed his wife sexually, who runs afoul of a gang of thieves who have a car smuggling racket, and is being given some bad advice by a blind fortune teller.
Ying plays a good looking woman, Jia Jia, who sold her son to a gangster, but tells people he was kidnapped, and now is desperate to get him back. She too consults the fortune teller.
Can these two people who have seemingly run out of luck and are both beset by the ‘villians’ in their lives, find a way to leave all their bad luck behind them by teaming up?
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Back when your grandparents were dating – let’s make that era sometime in the 1950′s, a film star was known the world over for simply standing on a grating on a Manhattan street and having a wind draft from below lift up her skirt.
That would be the legendary Marilyn Monroe and the film was called The Seven Year Itch. Monroe’s career was already in high gear by that time (1955), and an iconic picture like what was used in the film’s poster (next image below), only added to her allure. Sadly, she died in her sleep in 1962, having made, in fact, only six more films after this one.
This film was a male fantasy of course. Tom Ewell played the male lead whose wife goes out of town for a period of time, and then, a dreamy, single, sexy blond bombshell moves into the apartment upstairs. Fantasies ran rampant through his head after chatting with her, when she said to him, “When it’s hot like this, you know what I do? I keep my undies in the icebox.”
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Isabella (Yi sa bui lai) is a 2006 Hong Kong film written and directed by Ho-Cheung Pang. It takes place in Macau and stars the beautiful Isabella Leong and Chapman To. The film begins abruptly with Chen-Shing Ma (Chapman To) attempting to pick up Bik-Yan Cheung (Leong) in some dark corner of a bustling club. It quickly cycles through a series of images including Bik-Yan smoking a cigarette down an unknown hallway, a close-up of a defeated Chen-Shing hunkered against a slot machine, and an ant’s eye view between some unfamiliar buildings before the title card appears.
The shots feel disjointed but not only do they give an idea of what is to come but they showcase the talented eye of cinematographer Charlie Lam and his excellent framing. The music is also introduced here with artsy guitar strumming and piano playing. Now while the score won best film music at the Berlin International Film Festival, I feel that it grows repetitious later as it never changes in tempo. Read more…
Today is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Millions of Americans will be getting together to enjoy some turkey and watch some football, then waking up early in the morning on Friday if they haven’t already went to wait hours in line so that they can spend their money on deeply discounted merchandise. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to take a moment to give thanks along with provide some updates. So continue reading the Thanksgiving edition of What’s New In ScanLover.
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You know, the Asian Beauty Appreciation Blog started about 4 months ago. We’ve had a series of great contributions from a number of people that included photo books, favorite gravure idols, Japanese television dramatic series, movies, gorgeous Asian actresses and models, reviews of AV and IV DVD’s, as well as just some nice articles from folks who just wanted to bring someone or something in the news to your attention.
I think the blog has gotten off to a terrific start and I wanted to thank every one who has contributed as well as to scanlover for deciding to have a community blog. Read more…
“Robotrix” is a 1991 Hong Kong film, directed by Jamie Luk, and starring Amy Yip. Billy Chow, Chikako Aoyama , and David Wu. It is a combination of genres: sci-fi, HK action, soft-core porn, and has even achieved “cult film” status.
What makes it so much fun is that it does not take itself seriously by trying to pretend it is more than it is: a Class III film, meaning grade B, but with sex, nudity, and soft-core elements.
I confess that the main reason I bought it was to see the beautiful Chikako Aoyama and her spectacular breasts in motion, and she does not disappoint. But it is such a quirky and action packed movie, that I found myself watching every scene, even the ones that did not include the charms of Chikako.
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Lost in Beijing (Ping guo) is a 2007 film directed by Yu Li about two financially opposite couples entwined in a greedy and selfish dispute over a yet-to-be-born child.
The film has been steeped in controversy due to the realistic tone and with its roots in a censor-heavy China.
Trouble started even before its premiere with Chinese censors demanding multiple cuts of the sex and gambling portrayed as well as scenes in slum-like settings. And despite the film acquiring international distribution, it still had problems being released in its own country. Read more…
Lust, Caution (Se, jie) is a 2007 film directed by Ang Lee based off a story by Eileen Chang. The setting is 1930-40s China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
It stars Wei Tang as the foolhardy young student Wong Chia Chi who poses undercover as Mak Tai Tai in a resistance effort to assassinate Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), a high-ranking official of the Wang Jinwei Regime. Read more…
I thought that it would be a great idea to have a regular column here on the blog that encompasses the latest news, updates, and recommendations on what to check out. With so much going on within the forum, it’s hard to keep track of it all. My goal is to post this column on a weekly basis, but depending on updates, it could be on a bi-weekly schedule. So here is What’s New in ScanLover for the week of October 18-24.
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Chinese actress and singer, Fan Bingbing’s star has been glowing brightly ever since she starred as Jin Suo in the ever popular TV drama series “Huan Zhu Ge Ge”.
And she became popularly known in the international film scenes after starring in the controversial Chinese film by director Li Yu, “Lost in Beijing” (苹果). The film was banned by Chinese authorities in January 2008, even though it was successfully released internationally by French company Films Distribution.
Bingbing has a very busy schedule this year filming several high budget movies. After “Shinjuku Incident”, in which she starred alongside Jackie Chan was released in April, she starred in director He Ping’s US$6 million historical drama film “Wheat” (麦田).
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