Yang Buting Movies

Mongolian Pingpong director Ning Hao weaves this tangled heist tale concerning a priceless piece of jade, and the bumbling thieves willing to do whatever it takes to assume ownership of the gem. The owner of a dilapidated factory has discovered a valuable piece of jade on his property, and now in order to keep a greedy real-estate developer at bay he's looking to find a buyer for the stone. Until that happens, however, the factory owner has determined to put the stone up for display at a run down temple so that potential buyers may admire its beauty. In order to protect the stone, the factory owner assigns hardworking assembly-line worker and former detective Bao (Guo Tao) as his head of security. Now, if Bao can only put his prostate troubles aside long enough to keep three thieves, a skilled burglar hired by the scheming real-estate developer, and the son of the factory owner away from the stone, he may be able to ensure that the factory remains open and he still has a job at the end of the day. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Love and war leads to conflicted alliances between two couples in this period romantic drama from China. In 1937, Lu Ping (Chen Kun) is a barber working in Shanghai as his nation is locked in a war with Japan. While Lu Ping is in love with a beautiful singer, Yu Mian (Wang Yajie), when he mistakenly kills a Japanese GI he is forced to leave her and hide from the law in a remote village. Song Fengnian (Ren Guangzhi), whose brother ran the shop where Lu worked, agrees to take him in, and he gets to know Song's daughter, an alluring young woman named Jiayi (Zeng Li) who is engaged to marry Ye Jiangtian (Liu Guanjun), a man on track to become a career military officer. Lu forgets all about Yu Mian when he meets Jiayi, and she seems to be taken with him. However, Ye can offer Jiayi a financial stability Lu cannot, and she cannot bring herself to break off her engagement. When the war comes to an end in 1945, Lu returns to Shanghai, and resumes his romance with Yu Mian. However, Ye and Jiayi soon relocate to Shanghai as well, and as Lu and Jiayi try to channel their mutual attraction into a friendship, Ye begins an affair with Yu. Lifashi (aka The Music Box) was the final feature film for Chen Yifei; he died before final work could be completed on the picture, and his friend and colleague Ng See-yuen stepped in to finish the project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

On the eve before the political handover of Macao to the Peoples' Republic of China, police officer Shing suffers a terrible career crisis: he has been involved in years of money laundering with Portuguese officials and is now facing extradition. Shing seeks comfort in the arms of a young woman, Yan, with whom he wants a one-night stand. Yan, on the other hand, has a different agenda; she confronts Shing with the unexpected news that she's his daughter. Shing didn't even know he had a daughter. And while Shing wants to carry on as a care-free bachelor, Yan has other ideas and, refusing to be shrugged off as an incidental accident, causes havoc in his everyday life -- she insists on moving into her father's apartment. Shing soon has to face up to the challenge of taking on personal and professional responsibility -- paternal responsibility for his daughter and professional responsibility for the money laundering he committed as an officer of the law. In the end, he decides to admit his crime, do his time, and plans to turn over a new leaf after prison for a life of responsibility with his daughter in Macao. ~ Heidi Philipsen, Rovi

Love and war conspire to create a romantic triangle in this lavish historical epic from director Chen Kaige. A young girl who has lost her parents to the violence of war bravely refuses to obey the orders of a warrior's son, and is approached by a spirit who offers her a life of wealth and power as a reward, but with a catch -- she will never know the love of a man unless she learns how to bring the dead back to life by turning back time. Two decades later, the orphaned girl has become Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung), the adopted daughter of The King (Cheng Qian), and her nation is yet again in the grip of war. During a long and bloody battle, Kunlun (Jang Dong-gun), a slave who has been ordered to fight, proves his skill and bravery in combat, and his commander, General Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada), rewards him by making him his personal assistant. When Guangming learns that the King is in danger, he and Kunlun set out to rescue him. Kunlun is disguised as Guangming as they prepare to fight the enemy leader Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse), who is out to assassinate the King, but when they arrive, they find that the strong-willed Qingcheng is in greater danger than the potentate as her father and his soldiers struggle to verbally and physically cut her down to size. Kunlun and Guangming impulsively rescue Qingcheng instead of the King, and as they look for a safe haven for the princess, both men fall in love with her, while both the King's forces and Wuhuan are determined to find them. Budgeted at 30 million dollars, Mo Gik (aka The Promise, Master of the Crimson Armor, and Wu Ji) was a major box-office success in China before receiving an international release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Hong Kong-based filmmaker Johnny To directed this fast-moving action drama that explores the role of the media in current events. The Hong Kong police force takes a beating in the court of public opinion after their unsuccessful attempt to foil a high-stakes robbery is broadcast on live television. Determined to turn the tables, detectives on the force discover where the five criminals who masterminded the job are lying low, and they stage a major siege at the hideout. The hundreds of police officers have also armed themselves with cameras along with their guns as they turn the ambush into a media event. The thieves prove to be a difficult quarry to capture and they use their own video equipment to send pictures to the press at the same time, turning the shootout into a battle of images as well. Breaking News stars Kelly Chen, Richie Jen, and Nick Cheung. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The work of international superstar Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous, special-effects-filled, action-packed martial arts epic set in early '40s China. A bumbling thief named Sing (Stephen Chow) desires to be the toughest member of the dreaded gangster hit squad known as The Axe Gang, but to completely join the gang he has to commit murder. When Sing attempts to rob a crowded run-down apartment complex known as Pig Sty Alley, the locals begin to defend themselves with some high-flying kung fu skills, and a tiny war erupts between the local masters and the axe-wielding gang. After the gang busts the ancient kung fu king known as The Beast (Leung Siu Lung) out of jail, tensions reach a boiling point as Pig Sty Alley's landlady (Yuen Qiu) leads an all-out attack against the gang and Sing discovers his true heroic fate. Kung Fu Hustle, which set box-office records across Asia during its December 2004 release, also stars Yuen Wah and Xing Yu, and features fight choreography by legendary masters of martial arts cinema Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo Hung. ~ Jason Gibner, Rovi

Chen Kaige's first Chinese film since the poorly received, Hollywood-produced Killing Me Softly is based on a true story of an adolescent violin prodigy coming of age in Beijing. Raised in a small town, Xiao Chun (Tang Yun) is brought to Beijng by his devoted single father, Lui Cheng (Liu Peiqi), who recognizes his talent and is determined to make him a success. After losing a rigged competition for admission into a prestigious music school, Xaio Chun is taken as a student by a brilliant but distracted teacher, Jiang (Wang Zhiwen), and begins to become distracted himself by his twenty-something party-girl neighbor Lili (Chen Hong). He eventually leaves Jiang for more rigorous study under a more famous teacher, Professor Yu (played by director Chen himself), which leaves him torn between his burgeoning career and the loving father who has sacrificed so much for his benefit. Woven throughout the narrative are trenchant comments about the changing face of modern Beijing. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

In this tense thriller, Ma Shan (Wen Jiang) is a Chinese police detective who awakes one morning after a night of heavy drinking at his sister's wedding reception to discover that his gun has been stolen. Since only police officers are allowed to carry firearms, Ma Shan is alarmed about the deadly possibilities of the theft, and he sets out to find his weapon; however, the memories of Ma Shan's friends are as hazy as his own regarding the wedding, and no one can tell who drove him home. The situation comes to a head when Ma Shan's former girlfriend arrives in town for a visit and is soon found shot dead with the bullets matching those used in his gun. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi