Xu Pengle Movies
- 2008
Traditional basketball and the practice of kung fu intersect with startling and surprisingly humorous results in Chu Yin Ping's martial arts comedy Kung Fu Dunk. Jay Chou stars as Shi-Jie, a child bereft by his parents as an infant but ceremoniously adopted by the master of the local kung fu school. Unsurprisingly, growing up in this environment, Shi-Jie trains aggressively in kung fu and develops an intuitive ability to predict his opponents' moves before they occur - an ability that translates effortlessly to skills on the basketball court. In time the youth catches the eye of Chen-Li, a businessman who sees Shi-Jie's potential for monetary exploitation and convinces him to play basketball for a nearby college. Chen-Li buries his real motives beneath his phony expressed desire to help the young man regain contact with his family, and unfortunately, Shi-Jie fails to see through it. He's far more fixated on achieving team stardom for personal reasons that involve wooing the sister of team captain Ting-Wei. Meanwhile, the entire team must face the prospect of squaring off against a rival team so vicious and brutal that their on-court tactics have caused them to be banned in the United States. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Chou, Charlene Choi, (more)
Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee adapts this Eileen Chang story set in World War II-era Shanghai that details the political intrigue surrounding a powerful political figure named Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Spanning the late '30s and early '40s, the movie introduces us to Hong Kong teen Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a shy college freshman who finds her calling in a drama society devoted to patriotic plays. But the troupe's leader, Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom), isn't just a theater maven -- he's a revolutionary as well, and he's devoted to carrying out a bold plan to assassinate top Japanese collaborator Mr. Yee. Each student has an important role to play, and Wong puts herself in a dangerous position as Mrs. Mak; she befriends Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen), and slowly gains trust before tempting him into an affair. While at first the plan goes exactly as scripted, things suddenly take a deadly turn and Wong is emigrated from Hong Kong. Later, in 1941, the occupation shows no signs of ceasing and Wong is simply drifting through her days in Shanghai. Much to her surprise, the former actress finds Kuang requesting that she resume the role of Mrs. Mak. Now, as Wong again gains intimate access to her dangerous prey, she must struggle with her own identity in order to pull off the performance of a lifetime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tang Wei, (more)
A veteran of China's Civil War rails against modern bureaucracy in hopes of finally receiving recognition for his bravery and to honor the memory of his fallen comrades in director Feng Xiaogang's big-budget war drama. The year was 1948, and the fighting between the Nationalist KMT and the Communist PLA is raging. In a small, northeast China town, Captain Gu Zidi (Zhang Hanyu) leads the Ninth Company in a fierce skirmish against the a rapidly weakening KMT unit. His blood boiling over the death of a political officer in battle, Captain Gu vengefully kills a KMT soldier despite the fact that the leader and his unit have just surrendered. Imprisoned for a few short days as a sort-of token gesture, Captain Gu makes the acquaintance of imprisoned political officer Wang Juncun (Yuan Wenkang, who has just been accused of cowardice and will likely receive the death penalty. Later, when Captain Gu is ordered to take the Ninth out on a dangerous mission, he requests that Wang join the brigade in battle. Unfortunately for the majority of the squad, the KMT forces are much more substantial this time around, and though a few men claim to have heard the signal for retreat, Captain Gu commands them to stand their ground: In the aftermath of the slaughter, Captain Gu is the last man standing. Still, the valiant soldier stages a remarkable recovery, and goes on to save the life of North Korean Er Dou (Deng Chao) during a battle against the Americans and South Koreans. A few years later, Captain Gu enlists the aid of Er Dou and Wang's widow in regaining his honor, and ensuring that his fellow soldiers didn't die in vain. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhang Hanyu, Yuan Wenkang, (more)
- 2007
A mentally handicapped woman from a remote mountain village in southern China adopts an abandoned baby girl as her own, only to discover just how demanding motherhood can be in this rural-set family drama from director Zhang Jiabei. Cherry is a mentally handicapped woman who is happily married to the hard working Ge Wang - a dedicated laborer with a pronounced limp. Despite the fact that Cherry's handicap limits her official duties to tending the hogs and feeding the chickens, her maternal instincts are much the same as any healthy woman her age. When Cherry happens across a helpless infant girl, she instinctively adopts the foundling in hopes of starting a family. But Ge Wang quickly grows jealous of the attention lavished on the baby, and soon thereafter he hands the child to a kindly looking couple from the city. Upon realizing just how devastating the loss is for the inconsolable Cherry, Ge Wang reluctantly travels back to the city in search of the child. Later, as young Scarlet grows to become a gifted young student, she gradually grows to appreciate her mother's unique qualities. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miao Pu, Tuo Guoquan, (more)
SPL collaborators Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip join forces once again for this high-energy adaptation of Wong Yuk-Ling's popular manga Dragon and Tiger Heroes. The Dragon Tiger Gate is a Hong Kong martial arts dojo co-founded by the descendents of Dragon (Yen) and Tiger (Nicholas Tse). Separated as children, Tiger fights for the cause of good and Dragon goes to work for fearsome drug smuggler Ma Kun (Chen Kuan-tai). As the action gets under way, Tiger gets into a scrap with Ma Kun's gang and ends up in possession of the Lousha Plaque - a sacred icon of immense value to the powerful criminals. Though Ma Kun and Dragon allow Tiger to abscond with the Lousha Plaque for the time being, Dragon soon sets out to recover the object as nunchaku-spinning warrior Turbo (Shawn Yue) makes his presence known. As Tiger attempts to lure Dragon away from the dark side, the pair is forced to work together for the first time in years in order to defeat formidable Lousha Gang leader Shibumi (Yu Kang), whose penchant for one-on-one fights sets the stage for an explosive climax. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, (more)
Jia Zhang Ke's haunting minimalist drama Still Life (aka Sanxia Haoren) takes as its focal point the real-life construction of the Three Gorges Hydro Project and it accompanying massive dam over the Yangtze River in China (allegedly the largest manmade dam in the world) -- a project that required engineers to flood the surrounding territories, including the two millennia-old city of Fengjie. Jia interweaves two stories in connection with the geographical transformation of that area. In the first, Han Sanming (Han Sanming), a miner from northern China, revisits the vicinity after a 16-year absence and attempts to find his wife and his adult daughter -- trying to locate them at addresses that now exist underwater. In the second story, nurse Shen Hong (Zhao Tao) also returns to the site of Fengjie and scours the area for her husband, who has been estranged from her for two years, and who, it seems, has become consumed by the work and lifestyle of an executive. The marriage, it turns out, is irreparable. Meanwhile, as a documentary-style backdrop to these stories, the old structures of Fengjie are continually destroyed -- walls brought to crumbling heaps, towers blown to bits -- and new, makeshift structures installed as replacements. The film thus becomes a sad-eyed meditation on the nature of social change and progress, but it is one that requires the audience to extract these deeper themes and tropes on its own, via inference and deduction. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhao Tao, Han Sanming, (more)
- 2003
Peng Xiaolian's Jiazhuang Mei Ganjue (Shanghai Women) is a drama about a mother and daughter. A teacher (Lu Liping) takes her daughter (Zhou Wenqian) and moves in with her mother (Zheng Zhenyao) after discovering that her husband has been having an affair. The teacher tries a second marriage, but that falls apart as well. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lu Liping, Zhou Wenqian, (more)
- 2003
Directed by Wu Tiange, Nuandong (Warm Winter) centers around Gou Qiang (Wang Xuebing), a workaholic detective who lives by himself in an apartment littered with enlarged photographs of his current suspects. At the heart of his projects is Lu Hanqing (Wang Ji), a woman put under surveillance in the hopes that her former lover (and professional con-artist) would return. While her middle-aged ex does, indeed, come back, an unforeseen attack leads him back into obscurity. Lu, now aware that she is being followed, initially thinks Gou is a stalker, and threatens to alert the police. Once she realizes he is the police, a mutual attraction between the two slowly develops. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wang Xuebing, Wang Ji, (more)
- 2003
Jiang Cheng's debut feature, Xiao Ti Qing (Violin), tells the tale of a man who finds happiness for the first time in his life. Wu (Gu Jing Lin) is a sad sack that lives with his mother and works a go-nowhere job. After a truck nearly runs him over, Wu discovers a violin. He begins taking lessons and develops romantic but unrequited feelings for his teacher. His growing obsession with the instrument causes consternation from his neighbors, and gets him committed to a mental institution after he gives up a good-paying job in order to spend more time practicing. Inarticulate by nature, Wu is finally able to express in words his feelings about his playing. Violin was screened at the Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gu Jing Lin, Annie Wu, (more)
