Infernal Affairs kicks ass. Delightful mix of megawatt star casting plus excellent story and production values. Just don't seem to get all that in one hollywood movie much these days. I've only seen the first 2 movies.

This has been languishing at the bottom of my netflix queue for a while - I'm going to have to bump it up to the top.

And I can't wait to see 2046. I've only seen a few screencaps for the movie, but it looks freakin' gorgeous. Although I have heard that it's a bit of a disappointment after the wonderfullness of ItMFL.

Ugh, God of Gamblers II made my friend Claudine lose her Chow Yun Fat lust. Nobody wants to see him being a doof.

Renting a HK movie based on an actor is a bit of a dicey business though.

That's why I used to read Asian Cult Films religiously. Next time you're in SF, Nutty, we'll watch On The Run. It's the cooooolest darkest HK noir. Pat Ha - my alltime favorite cool girl assassin.

Cool HK movies I saw at the Pagoda Theater in Chinatown: Project S (Michelle Yeoh in a ferocious fight with a huge mauler), Bride With White Hair (Brigitte! Leslie Cheung! Tragic Romance! Magic scarf attack!) and Green Snake (Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung and Joey Wang - that's a lot of pretty).

Oooh, I just watched the trailer for Bride With White Hair (though IMDB). Still great. God, I love Brigitte Lin so much. Candy! Brigitte Lin Film Festival Stat!

I confess, I'm not a fan of the HK/Chinese historical epic. Just, does practically nothing for me. I'm very much of the opinion that if you've seen one Once Upon a Time in China, you've seen them all.

(I also think that the genre constraints may have historically encouraged fart-smelling acting, which is so painful to watch and so rife in historicals. Jet Li, I am looking at you. )

2046 will make you love ItMfL even more.

Ugh, God of Gamblers II made my friend Claudine lose her Chow Yun Fat lust. Nobody wants to see him being a doof.

I blame Wong Jing, the director. His movies mostly suck, often very watchable because of the actors, but not that good. But turning CYF into a doofus? A crime.

Candy! Brigitte Lin Film Festival Stat!

I had a mini-one over the Holidays. Deadful Melody, Bride with White Hair, and Dragon Inn.

I had a mini-one over the Holidays. Deadful Melody, Bride with White Hair, and Dragon Inn.

::checks through mail pile for invitation. Fails to find one. Looks questioningly at Candy, tears welling up in eyes...:

I confess, I'm not a fan of the HK/Chinese historical epic.

That's why I'm pimping the HK noir to you. How'd you feel about Black Cat?

Also, Candy, can you explain the title of Deadful Melody to me? Because...you know, it looks like a typo. Is "Deadful" supposed to be like "fatal"?

Raquel, could it have been The Legacy? That's what I thought of at your description. But they haven't inherited the mansion, they're guests of the owner.

Sorry, DavidS!

Yes, fatal. As far as I can tell.

I am mclargehuge with love for all those period kung-fu/wuxia movies from the 90's.

Love the noir triad movies too. I just love HK/Asian movies.

It's been tough lately with the HK movie industry having a bad time trying to recover from SARS and whatnot.

That's why I'm pimping the HK noir to you. How'd you feel about Black Cat?

Haven't seen it. I've plowed through a number of crime-family gun-battle melodramas from the late 80s, early 90s, but I have a powerful OTT-o-meter, and have been mostly unsatisfied.