Dickson Poon Movies
- 1989
Placed in a mental institution by her twin sister's unscrupulous husband, in this comedy the two sisters decide to trade places, and succeed in doing so. Once freed, the "mad" sister rapidly manages to put her slimy brother-in-law in his place, brings solace to the life of a lonely old man, has an adventure which puts her in the position of preventing some hired killers from doing their jobs, as well as falling in love with a government worker. In the meantime, her previously downtrodden sister finds love at the madhouse with a doctor who is unpopular with his colleagues. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cora Miao, Lam Kin Min, (more)
- 1987
Two Chinese girls, one from Hong Kong and the other from Taiwan, wind up living the ever more degraded lives of prostitutes in modern-day Tokyo. They wound up in this situation as a result of unrealistic hopes and dreams, which they persist in believing in even when the evidence of their situations should have delivered a wake-up call. They are unable to recognize that they will never get free from this life by any ordinary means even when they are moved from fancy Tokyo bars to a brothel on the northern tip of Hokkaido, the bottom of the barrel for a prostitute. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1987
In this comedy, when he returns from a prolonged ocean voyage, a sailor discovers that his wife has left and has rented their apartment to another woman. This new tenant is an "old maid" by local standards and is somewhat set in her ways. He has also been left with the care of his daughter. Despite his desire to strike out on his own, he must stay in his old apartment in order to take care of his daughter. The next blow comes when, in the divorce proceedings, it looks like he will lose custody of his daughter. Meanwhile, the old maid and the sailor have discovered a real tenderness for one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ng, Josephine Siao Fong-fong, (more)
Mabel Chueng directs this wildly popular romantic comedy featuring Chow Yun-fat. With two years worth of savings and starry-eyed ambitions of being an actor, Jennifer Lee (Cherie Chung) leaves her comfortable home in Hong Kong for more modest digs in New York City, above the abode of her bumptious cousin, Figurehead (Chow). When her effete longtime boyfriend, Vincent (Danny Chan), dumps her and heads for Boston, Jennifer is left thunderstruck and deeply lonely. Figurehead goes all out to cheer up his pretty relative by buying her Broadway tickets and redecorating her apartment. Soon he finds himself falling for the lass though he is self-conscious about his humble upbringing, compulsive gambling, and coarse ways. Jennifer loves being around Figurehead but cannot imagine being married to him. Things get worse for the earthy protagonist when Vincent returns to New York, hoping to patch things up. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung, (more)
Michelle Yeoh (billed as Michelle Khan) stars as Ming Ming, a bullwhip-wielding pilot and adventurer inspired heavily by Indiana Jones. Ming Ming gets involved in a rebel plot against the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s. Her efforts are confounded then later aided by a con man whom she mistakes for a spy she is supposed to contact (Richard Ng). This film showcases Yeoh's visually impressive martial arts abilities and also features the international intrigue of Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ng, Michelle Khan, (more)
- 1986
Filmed in Hong Kong, The Family is little more than a string of anecdotes tied together by the personalities of the leading characters. Said characters are members of a very close-knit family, who seemingly subsist on jokes. They play pranks on each other, laugh at the world around them, and in general have a corking good time. The dialogue is in Cantonese, but monolingual movie fans should be able to get the picture's drift. It is superfluous to add that this The Family bears no relation to another 1987 release from Italy, also titled The Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ng, Lui Fong, (more)
- 1986
- NC17
Noted art director Tony Au Ding-ping helms this acclaimed romantic fantasy featuring Chow Yun-fat and Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia. Sony Yu (Chow) is a famous orchestra conductor who recently suffers from a series of bizarre visions of a beautiful woman and a Qin dynasty era terracotta statue. When he ventures to a exhibit of such ancient relics, he meets Cheung Yuet-heung (Lin), who not only looks exactly like the woman in his dreams, but also suffers from similarly intense but decidedly more violent visions -- in one Yu gets garroted by the imperial guard and others are simply too gory to be divulged. Soon the two consult with a medium who takes them that they are the reincarnation of a pair of lovers murdered some 2000 years previous. Yu's girlfriend Wah-lei realizes that she has no part in this relationship and graciously bows out. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Cher Yeung, (more)
The first film role of the late Brandon Lee, this Hong Kong thriller is the story of Brandon (Lee), a hard-working young man who has an unfortunate friendship with Michael (Michael Wong), a gangster who has his eye on Brandon's girlfriend May (Regina Kent). Michael frames Brandon for the murder of one of his rivals, and Brandon is imprisoned. Many years later, Brandon's reunion with May and their son is cut short when Michael kidnaps the mother and child. Brandon must rescue his family and exact revenge on Michael. Although Lee had yet to reach the level of acting demonstrated in The Crow and Rapid Fire, this 1986 film provides a better showcase for his martial arts abilities than his later American films; each film would progressively de-emphasize his skills. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Michael Wong, (more)
- 1986
The Chinese title for this actioner means "unable to hear speech" and it's about Ah Yeung (Ma Sisan), a deaf-mute who leads a gang of equally mute pickpockets in Hong Kong. After an angry young man gets out of prison, he befriends Ah Yeung but their innocent relationship soon leads to violence and gang warfare. This bullet-ridden film, unusually bloody and claiming a high body count, bears a basic premise with a more noble intent than most Hong Kong action fare despite the many on-screen casualties. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Season Ma
- 1986
Billie (Irene Wan) is a beautiful model who falls for Tony (Tony Leung) in this engaging crime drama. The playboy son of a wealthy rice merchant, Tony has a penchant for nightclubs and drinking when his daily work with his father is complete. Jade Screen (Elaine Jin) is a starlet who comes home to find that her roommate, singer Jane (Tsai Chin), has been murdered. Sergeant Lau (Chop Yun Fat) is the methodical detective called in to unravel the twisted case. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Wan, Elaine Jin, (more)
- 1985
Leung Po-chi directs and Sammo Hung produces this grim horror flick about a school field trip gone horribly horribly wrong. Mr. Cheung (John Sham Kin-fun) takes a half-dozen high school students for a two-day outing on a remote island. Soon after they are dropped off, they realize that the supposedly deserted island is inhabited by three raving hillbillies and their paranoid mother. Though the two parties at first fashion an uneasy truce of sorts, mayhem ensues when one of the loonies decides to make a captive of one of Mr. Cheung's female students, for breeding purposes. With no way off the island and their boat not scheduled to return for two days, Mr. Cheung and his charges are forced to hunker down and defend themselves. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
This melodrama is one of many that have embraced the period setting of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation of World War II. Chow Yun-Fat, in an award-winning performance, plays a poor worker at a small rice shop. He befriends a rickshaw driver (Alex Mann) who falls in love with the shop owner's daughter. When the shop owner forbids the couple to marry, the trio decides to runaway to mainland China. However, their plan is interrupted by the Japanese invasion, and their friendship and loyalty is put to the test in the events that follow. Similar to films like Casablanca, Hong Kong 1941 is a good example of how Hong Kong cinema has made much use of this period and the theme of love in a desperate time. However, the film also depicts the brutality that occurred during the occupation, and the portrayal of the Japanese invasion force in this film reflects a deep resentment that parallels the representations of the German Nazis in Western film.
~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Cecilia Yip, (more)
