Sze-to Kam-yun

A Hong Kong adaptation of a Japanese manga, director Soi Cheang's follow-up to the dark 2006 thriller Dog Bit Dog stars Hong Kong teen idol Shawn Yue as a young sociopath sent to prison for the brutal murder of his parents, and determined to seek salvation by becoming a professional fighter. Upon being incarcerated for his unspeakable crime, Ryo is targeted for extreme abuse and humiliation by the more established inmates in the penitentiary. Under the approving eye of a warden who would sooner see Ryo dead than reformed, the timid teenager is humiliated, raped, beaten, and left for dead. But while no one expected that Ryo could possibly endure such abuse and live to see another day, it isn't long before he's back on his feet and mastering the martial arts under the tutelage of the prison karate instructor (Francis Ng). Ryo is determined to ensure that he will never be victimized again, and by the time he's released from prison he is a formidable fighter. Once paroled, Ryo sets out in search of his missing sister, whom he believes to be working as a prostitute on the streets of Hong Kong. But while Ryo's sister is nowhere to be found, his search leads him to a girl with the same name who just happens to know the main promoter of a prominent fighting league. Before long Ryo is in the ring and living his dream, but will he ever find out what became of his long lost sister? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Johnny To returns to the characters of his international success The Mission (aka Chueng Fo) with this action-packed thriller. It's 1998, and the Portuguese colony of Macau, a city along the Southern coast of China, is about to be handed over to Chinese authorities under a long-standing agreement. As the people of Macau ponder how their new leaders will deal with the criminal underground that's long been part of the city's support system, a pair of hit men from Hong Kong arrive in town to execute a gangster who has turned his back on the syndicate to make a new life for his wife and children. While the Chinese syndicate want to be sure he doesn't share anything he learned while in their employ, two strong-arm men also arrive in Macau, determined to see to the former gangster's safety. Starring Nick Cheung, Simon Yam and Francis Ng, Exiled received its world premiere at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An ailing veteran cop whose relentless determination to do away with an untouchable gangster has led him to employ a series of unethical tactics finds his investigation complicated by the arrival of principled new inspector and the death of a fellow cop in this explosive underworld tale from Skyline Cruisers director Wilson Yip. Facing an inevitable retirement, the beleaguered and cancer-stricken Detective Chan (Simon Yam) has grown desperate to put away Teflon-coated crime boss Po (Sammo Hung) -- so desperate that he even begins planting false evidence and tampering with video in hopes of making a charge against Po stick. As Detective Chan begins to grow accustomed to thoughts of retiring and make way for honest incoming Inspector Ma (Donnie Yen), the ongoing investigation hits a snag when an undercover cop who has infiltrated Po's gang is mysteriously killed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Soi Cheang's horror film Hunbo Yitsin Chi Dai Tau Gwai Ying (Horror Hotline...Big Head Monster) stars Francis Ng as the producer of a radio program that involves people sharing ghost stories. Ben (Ng) airs a call about a mutant killer baby. Intrigued by the story, he teams up with a reporter (Josie Ho) to investigate. He finds a person involved in the story on the verge of death, while Ben's nurse girlfriend, Helen (Niki Chow), is treating a man who has been attacked by the monster. Helen has a secret she has been keeping from Ben. This secret may have something to do with the monster. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In this action thriller from Hong Kong, Jack (Leon Lai) and Martin (Lau Ching-wan) are gunmen who work for two rival kingpins, Yam (Yam Sai-koon) and Fong (Fong Ping). Jack and Martin have been warring on their bosses' behalf for close to a year, but when the two factions declare a truce, the trigger men, who have both taken a physical and emotional beating, find they're now expendable and are cut loose. After a period of bitter poverty, the two men decide to join forces and take on the gangsters who used them and threw them away. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this "cops and robbers" film, a raid on a jewelry store staged by a band of amateur hold-up artists goes horribly wrong, leading to a shoot-out. The elite Organized Crime Bureau team, headed by Captain Ching King Gen, is poised to go into action at a moment's notice. Working as a unit, they bring law and order to Hong Kong streets, where they must rely on their courage and skills to survive. Expect the Unexpected is a perfect genre film showing everyday life and reflecting the current situation in Hong Kong after the hand-over to China. "Unexpectedness" is the underlying theme, which also applies to misdirected affections and miscalculations between the cops and the robbers. The favorite line of the film is "You never pay attention to what I say." Expect the Unexpected was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide