Jacky Pang Movies
Legendary filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directs Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, and Norah Jones in his first English-language feature film -- a romantic road movie detailing the cross-country journey of a woman who sets off across the United States in hopes of mending her broken heart. Elizabeth (Jones) has just been through a particularly nasty breakup, and now she's ready to leave her friends and memories behind as she chases her dreams across the country. In order to support herself on her journey, Elizabeth picks up a series of waitress jobs along the way. As Elizabeth crosses paths with a series of lost souls whose yearnings are even greater than her own -- including a troubled cop (David Strathairn), his estranged wife (Rachel Weisz), and an embittered gambler (Natalie Portman) -- their emotional turmoil ultimately helps her gain a greater understanding of her own problems. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jude Law, Norah Jones, (more)
Three of the world's most gifted filmmakers offer their own unique perspectives on love and lust in this omnibus film. The initial episode, "The Hand," was directed by Wong Kar-Wai, and tells the story of Zhang (Chang Chen), a young, virginal dressmaker's assistant who finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of Hua (Gong Li), a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. Steven Soderbergh directed the film's second story, "Equilibrium," in which Nick Penrose (Robert Downey Jr.) spends a session with his analyst (Alan Arkin) discussing a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, but he keeps wandering off on tangents about alarm clocks and hair loss. Finally, Italian virtuoso Michelangelo Antonioni brings his short story The Dangerous Thread of Things to the screen, a story of a jaded couple, Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloë (Regina Nemni), whose relationship comes to a crossroads when both husband and wife become infatuated with the same woman, Linda (Luisa Ranieri). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gong Li, Chang Chen, (more)
- 2004
The budding romance between a girl blinded in a childhood accident and a dating agency owner who has inexplicably lost his own eyesight is contrasted against the tender relationship between a heartbroken young woman and the man who was mysteriously guided to her by forces he cannot comprehend in this life-affirming romance starring Tony Leung. As a young girl, Cheung (Miriam Yeung) was left blind following a tragic accident. But although she has since led a contented life with her doting father, it's obvious that she still longs for true companionship. One day, when Cheung's father happens across an ad for a dating agency, the girl decides to take a chance and sign up. Though scheming agency owner Ho (Leung) remains doubtful that he will ever find Cheung a date, he accepts the challenge regardless and tries every means at his disposal to find the girl a suitable mate. Despite his repeated failures, however, Ho gradually feels himself growing closer to Cheung over time. Then, one morning, Ho awakens to realize that he has suddenly lost his sense of sight. Though no doctor he talks to can explain why Ho has suddenly gone blind, sympathetic Cheung does her best to help him adjust to his sightless new world - her optimism proving an indispensable source of support for the once swaggering matchmaker. Meanwhile, across town, a young man faces his own set of romantic hurdles as he makes his way to a woman with a broken heart. Perhaps, somehow, both couples will find the strength to overcome their fears and finally make love work. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Miriam Yeung, (more)
Chinese Odyssey 2002, produced by Wong Kar-Wai, is writer-director Jeff Lau's energetic parody of Chinese kung fu epics, with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in. Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays the Emperor, who, desperate for the free-spirited life of a wanderer, tries to escape from the royal palace with his sister, the Princess (Faye Wong, little seen since starring in Wong's Chungking Express). He's caught and returned to his angry mother by the royal guards, but the Princess, disguised as a man, manages to escape. Meanwhile, King Bully (Tony Leung, who also starred in Chungking Express) has returned to his hometown, where he is widely despised for his bullying ways, to run a restaurant with his tomboy sister, Phoenix (Vicki Zhao of Shaolin Soccer). They have a very close relationship. In fact, King Bully mistakenly believes that he can read his sister's mind. When the Princess arrives in town, King Bully finds himself drawn to her, but, believing she's a man, decides that his attraction is some kind of empathy with Phoenix. King Bully and the Princess spend a night eating and drinking together. In the morning, the Princess leaves. King Bully, determined that the Princess will marry Phoenix, vows to bring the charismatic young "man" back. She does return, but soon realizes that the royal guards are following her. Meanwhile, the Emperor convinces his mother to let him leave the palace to go look for the Princess. By the time he gets to town, the Princess has been carted off by the royal guards, with King Bully in hot pursuit. He's immediately attracted to Phoenix. More confusion ensues. Chinese Odyssey 2002 had its U.S. premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was awarded Best Film, and Faye Wong Best Actress, by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong, (more)
- 2000
Stand-up comedian Eric Kot directs and stars in this drama about love and artistic originality. Produced by auteur Wong Kar-wai, the film shares both a similar sumptuous look, thanks to Christopher Doyle's brilliant cinematography, and a familiar bifurcated narrative as that of the Hong Kong master. The first half concerns Kot who, after getting the green light from Wong, is trying to direct a film called First Love in which a love-smitten garbage collector (Asian heartthrob and Wong veteran Takeshi Kaneshiro) follows around cute young kleptomaniacal somnambulist (Lee Wai-wai). Realizing that he is too influenced by Wong, he quits that production and starts another film called After Love, in which a spurned girlfriend (Karen Mok) stalks her ex-boyfriend. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Takeshi Kaneshiro, Eric Kot, (more)
- 1995
Like a fine soup, this Hong Kong film offers a deft blend of several film genres to tell the story of an unlucky ex-con and the woman he loves. Having just been released from prison, Wu returns to the home of his widowed father. He is the classical angry young man; much of his anger stems from his disappointment in his father who failed to protect him when Wu was a child. The boy soon became a delinquent. When the adult Wu gets home he is not welcomed as his arrival interrupts his father's plans to remarry. As the aimless ex-con wanders about the city looking for action, he encounters Jo-Jo- who a mobster's moll who also is looking for fun. The two are drawn to each other, but are torn apart by Jo-Jo's boyfriend's henchmen who beat Wu and warn him to stay away. Back home, the daughter of Wu's father's fiance wants to stop the wedding. She forces herself upon Wu and then screams "rape." Wu continues to see Jo-Jo, but during one secret meeting encounters the scene of a murder. He is accused and sentenced for the crime. Wu escapes and heads for Jo-Jo. His father realizes that Wu was innocent and tries to help him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A Hong Kong fast food restaurant acts as the link between two unusual stories of police officers in love in this eccentric, stylish comedy-drama. Director Wong Kar-Wai plays freely with traditional narrative structure, dividing his film into two loosely connected segments. The first centers on a depressed cop struggling to come to terms with a recent break-up. His sad isolation is transformed when he encounters a beautiful, mysterious femme fatale, whose involvement with the criminal underworld proves troublesome for both. The second story explores the odd relationship between a female restaurant worker and another recently jilted police officer. The strange woman decides to regularly clean and redecorate the man's apartment in his absence, allowing the two to form a close intimacy without meeting face to face. Both stories present a beautifully atmospheric look at modern urban life and romance, with its combination of isolation and casual, unexpected meetings. Chungking Express came to the attention of American audiences thanks to the efforts of director Quentin Tarantino, whose own brand of fractured storytelling and urban cool owes a debt to Wong Kar-Wai. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, (more)
- 1994
Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directed this lyrical, dream-like martial arts epic. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce (a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with low-budget quickies) and features a virtual who's-who of the Hong Kong film world. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero by Jin Yong, the movie is less a straightforward action thriller than a visually striking meditation on memory and love. It nominally centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who ekes out a lonely existence as an itinerant hired sword. Getting on in years and tormented by memories of a lost love, he also works an agent for other mercenary assassins from his remote desert abode. Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-fai, who starred in the The Lover) drowns his lovelorn misery in a magical wine that makes him forget. Later, a mysterious young man named Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) hires Ouyang to kill his sister's unfaithful suitor, Huang Yaoshi. The following day, that spurned sister, Murong Yin (Lin again), hires Ouyang to protect her dearly beloved. Meanwhile, Hong Qi (pop star Jackie Cheung) finds some redemption for a life of killing by accepting a poor girl's offer to avenge her brother's death -- a task that Ouyang brusquely shunned. In another subplot, a master swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is slowly going blind. He agrees to defend a village from horse thieves so that he can afford to go home and see his wife before his eyesight fails completely. This film is one of the most celebrated examples of 1990s Hong Kong cinema: it won multiple awards in its native Hong Kong, along with a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, (more)
- 1993
Jeff Lau Chun-wai spins this wild and woolly parody of Wong Kar-wai's martial arts epic Ashes of Time, which was actually produced by Wong himself and features many of the same cast members as Ashes. This loosely plotted film centers around the misdeeds of a pair of royals (Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Veronica Yip) looking to usurp the throne. Also appearing in this film is the bubble-headed Third Princess (Brigitte Ling Ching-hsia) who martial arts ability is dubious at best, a mysterious flying head (Tony Leung Kar-fai), and the dreaded kung fu form "Toad Has a Pee Pee." Because of Ashes' notoriously difficult production, Dong Cheng actually beat the film to the theaters. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung
