the stool pigeon ( 2010 film )
his fellow hong kong director dante lam’s latest action film “the stool pigeon” shattered [ this suggestion ] .
a by - the - numbers look at my 2010 movie viewing yea ...
the stool pigeon is screening as part of the 37th annual seattle international film festival. for more details about the festival and screenings, please check out siff site .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the stool pigeon near you .
( left) nick cheung, and (right) nic tse and guey lun - mei in the stool pigeon .
link to trailer for “the stool pigeon” here. it doesn’t have english subtitles, but the action excitement is a universal language .
the…hong kong cops and gangsters film “the stool pigeon” was screened for the press in beijing recently, and [ despite scenes of intense mayhem ] the film had passed the mainland examiners and would be presented in its original form without any cuts .
for the creative team behind “the stool pigeon, ” making this film must have been a no - brainer. director dante lam previously collaborated with actors nick cheung and nicolas tse to great success with 2008’s “ beast stalker. ” that film earned nick cheung a hong kong film critics society award and a hong kong film award for best actor, and the screenplay and editing nabbed similar nominations. their 2010 follow - up “the stool pigeon” carries the feeling of a well - earned victory lap: it’s an entertaining if unremarkable hong kong thriller .
in this film, the director prefers to be more realistic when expressing his aesthetics of violence. when a stool pigeon is stabbed by a group of gangsters, the director zooms in to capture the facial expression of the stool pigeon. while an informer is escaping, dante lam cuts the sound and adds light music to augment the actor’s concentration .
the energetic driven, rock infused and pulsating soundtrack to the hong kong mega blockbuster film' stool pigeon'; composed by hong kong composer henry lai, who also composed the ost for' three kingdoms - surrection of the dragon' .
action thriller “the stool pigeon, ” which opens in theaters on august 24th, released its final trailer in order to catch audiences’ attention. sina. com reports .
“the stool pigeon” has a slick look with an earthy color palette that recalls christopher nolan’s two batman films. hong kong media outlets reported that nick cheung was unhappy with the amount of screentime he received in the film but cheung later said his words were taken out of context. the film does struggle to focus on two protagonists at once, with cheung and nicolas tse disappearing for periods of time, but i imagine that fans of either actor will go home happy. i personally would have enjoyed “the stool pigeon” more if the action quotient was a little higher but, regardless, “the stool pigeon” is a gutsy thriller from a region that could use more gutsy thrillers from filmmakers that aren’t johnnie to .
hong kong international film and tv market (filmart), organized by the hong kong trade development council since 1997, is the leading event of its kind in asia and one of the most important film markets for the global film industry .
hk action thriller “the stool pigeon” (线人) with nick tse, directed by dante lam – final trailer and 2 english reviews, including this blog’s exclusive [ crienglish. com / sweet & sour cinema / sweet & sour cinema exclusive film review ]
dante lam is one of my favorite working hong kong directors. a real pro, he doesn’t always score high with me; but in the case of “the stool pigeon” he does — with a predominantly authentic - feeling, and authentically thrilling, cops & robbers film .
the stool pigeon could make for a great double feature with another hong kong film about undercover police work, the excellent infernal affairs. whereas infernal affairs dealt with the complexities of undercover work and how twisted loyalties can become, the stool pigeon makes everything more personal, focusing on the moral and psychological effects of deceit and undercover work. the story concerns police officer don lee, who is in charge of undercover operations, he is tasked with bringing down a renown jewel thief and enlists the aid of ex - con ghost, jr .
police inspector don (nick cheung) works with stool pigeons - dangerous informants willing to rat on others for the right price. don is also wracked with guilt after the near death of his prior stool pigeon jabber (liu kai - chi), who is now insane and living out of cardboard boxes .
any film which rejuvenates the often - tired hong kong cops vs. gangs genre is worthy of praise, and i walked out of “the stool pigeon” feeling invigorated thanks to dante lam’s expert direction and some fresh casting choices. if this genre appeals to you, i expect you’ll enjoy it .
hk action thriller “the stool pigeon” (线人) with nick tse, directed by dante lam – final trailer and 2 english reviews, including this blog’s exclusive [ crienglish. com / sweet & sour cinema / sweet & sour cinema exclusive film review ] | sweet & sour socialism 糖醋社会主义
summer 2010 issue featuring an exclusive interview with alan moore. also features on mike paton, robyn, roky erickson, marc almond, chrome h ...
los angeles, ca, oct. 26, 2010 – the american film market (afm) and the hong kong trade development council (hktdc) have collaborated for “hong kong day” at the 2010 afm on thursday, nov. 4. throughout the day, events and activities will focus on the benefits of producing and co - producing in hong kong, the breadth of films and projects from hong kong sales companies and the 2011 edition of hong kong international film & tv market (filmart). afm managing director jonathan wolf and hktdc assistant executive director raymond yip made the announcement today .
despite not having the word
beast
in its title, the stool pigeon is a solid hong kong film and a fine recovery for dante lam after the underwhelming experience that was fire of conscience. it' s predictable and sags in the middle but the ride is a good one. nick cheung and nic tse are again pretty damn good .
the only film i have seen on the list is stool pigeon and i liked it very much despite the bad performance from nick cheung. nic tse on the other hand is a superbly talented actor. i wish he was in more films. thanks to you that now i have a good reference point to check others. i kind of entered into a voluntary hk film break after watching
murderer
.
los angeles, ca, oct. 26, 2010 – the american film market (afm) and the hong kong trade development council (hktdc) have collaborated for
hong kong day
at the 2010 afm on thursday, nov. 4. throughout the day, events and activities will focus on the benefits of producing and co - producing in hong kong, the breadth of films and projects from hong kong sales companies and the 2011 edition of hong kong international film & tv market (filmart). afm managing director jonathan wolf and hktdc assistant executive director raymond yip made the announcement today .
meanwhile, lam has made a subversive change to the cast. although the film is made by the same team that produced the action film, “the beast stalker, ” nick cheung, who won best actor at the hong kong film awards for his role as the kidnapper in that film, plays a cop in this one. and the sergeant nicholas tse from “the beast stalker” now portrays a recently released convict who becomes an informer for cheung .
to everyone’s surprise, the ending of the film is also included in the trailer, but it will take the viewer some time to find it .
: more, actually, than the number of hong kong movies made in other years that i viewed for the first time in 2010 as well as the number of movies from any other territory in the world (including the usa, mainland china or japan) .
it wasn' t so long ago - just back as the 2000' s rolled into double digits - that hong kong' s dante lam made the transition from being a journeyman jobbing director into one of the world' s finest purveyors of large scale, hyper kinetic action cinema. 2008 effort beast stalker led the charge with 2010 releases fire of conscience and stool pigeon seeming to seal the deal to the point that he was being regularly name dropped in the company of john woo and johnnie to and not feeling at all out of place .
the stool pigeon is a dante lam directed hong kong undercover action thriller starring kwai lun - mei, nicholas tse and nick cheung. it has a bunch of really sweet action set pieces, but it also takes every single element out of the beginner’s handbook for melodramatic filmmaking .
these changes within the film and the actors may not reform the current downturn situation of hong kong films, but at least it’s a refreshing break .
tai fung (tsu' s) co. ltd. (film stock supplied by )
viewers who are searching for the next great action movie out of hong kong may find themselves slightly disappointed by “the stool pigeon. ” the film is nearly two hours long but the script favors melodrama over action. towards the end of the movie, a subplot involving nick cheung and his ex - wife takes center stage and injects the film with an almost overbearing amount of emoting. the unpredictable plot twists that follow during the final thirty minutes attempt to recall the bygone era of early 90’s hong kong crime films, but what’s missing is an innovative or tensely - staged shootout. the story’s denouement is an exercise in brutal stabbings and bludgeoning that goes for a primal rather than choreographed feel .
hong kong - - smarting with as much psychological as physical bruising ,
the stool pigeon
is an action film with a grave, melancholic strain. it' s a conventional yarn, slightly dragged out and belabored by director dante lam, in which a beleaguered cop and his desperado informant develop loyalties in spite of themselves but are forced into betrayals against their wishes. nevertheless, the performances nick cheung and nicholas tse deliver make one agonize with their quandary .
in a prologue, police stakes out a factory to round up a gang of ice dealers. senior inspector don li (nick cheung) jeopardizes the life of his stool pigeon jabber (liu kai - chi) in his urge to nail the big boss marco. marco escapes anyway, but jabber, seriously injured and traumatized, has to go under .
one critic said the film wiped away the recent years of love stories, as it recalls the classic gang themes from hong kong crime films. there are definitely a few violent scenes which stimulate the senses and gets the adrenalin flowing .
don lee (nick cheung), a police detective in kowloon whose reliance on informants leaves him struggling with a guilty conscience. lee' s previous stool pigeon' s cover was blown and was attacked, leading him paranoid and driven from his wife and home. lee begins to doubt his own methods. lee recruits a street racer named ghost (nicholas tse) as his latest stool pigeon who is assigned to infiltrate a gang lead by the notorious armed robber barbarian (lu yi). ghost accepts lee' s offer so he can rescue his sister from a life of prostitution as well as help his father' s one - million dollar debt .
the trailer starts with [ scene clips from ] director dante lam’s last film “beast stalker” (《zheng ren》, 2008). it [ the new film ] features many fierce shootouts and car racing scenes and also the first screen kiss between taiwan actress guey lun - mei and hong kong heartthrob nicholas tse .
filmart attracts renowned producers, distributors, investors and professionals from around the world for launching full - scale promotions, networking with key industry players and negotiating deals. the 14th edition in 2010 was a record - breaking year with more than 540 exhibitors and some 5, 000 visitors from 51 countries and regions .
from hong kong cinema' s dante lam, we get the stool pigeon, a police / crime tragedy like only hong kong does them. the film splits the focus between an informant and his police handler, and perhaps loses itself in its subplots at times, but i tend to respect the effort to give each character an interesting (if melodramatic) background. but these do impact the story and fuel the theme of a cursed cop who changes the fortunes of those he meets for the worst, putting their lives in danger through his very function. the scenes are well played by the ensemble cast, the director makes every shot interesting, the car and fist action is well done, and the violence looks like it really hurts. hard to ask for more .
the afm is produced by the independent film & television alliance (ifta), the trade association representing the world' s producers and distributors of independent motion pictures and television programs. more information can be found at urltoken .
crime drama i viewed on a big screen in 2010, i felt a thudding in my head. although some might not consider it a good sign, i did - - because rather than being signs of a migraine or tension headache, what i took it to be was a physical manifestation that this film that reunited the two main stars (nick cheung and nicholas tse), scriptwriter (jack ng) director of
i have a love - hate relationship with every hongkong crime film that came out after infernal affairs but this one was great .
the china - taiwan - hong kong cast helps in varying degrees. oddly, lu yi is dubbed into cantonese while guey lun - mei speaks in her own mandarin. they, along with keung ho - man and miao pu (as inspector lee' s crippled dance instructor crush) deliver solid performances, and liu kai - chi chews scenery in his gloriously inimitable manner. this is really the nick and nic show, however, with both outshining the whole cast in screentime and performance. the action and acting carries the film such that it compensates for quite possibly stool pigeon' s biggest problem: the curse of the china co - production. more specifically, everyone gets what' s coming to them, making every character' s fate easy to guess. still, the filmmakers and actors infuse the situations with enough emotional resonance and kinetic surprise to make the whole package work. if the challenge facing hk filmmakers is how to work within sarft' s confines, then dante lam and jack ng succeed in a strong, if not completely stellar fashion. (kozo 2010 )
this is a big break for tse, and his performance will provide him with a good chance to win best actor at the hong kong film awards next year .
standard - issue undercover crime caper directed by dante lam (and not to be confused with fellow hong kong action maestro ringo lam). despite the tried - and - true premise, the film manages to be fresh and entertaining thanks to its hair - raising chase sequences (both on foot and on wheels) and slick production values. as its name suggests, the stool pigeon is a police informant movie along the lines of infernal affairs and reservoir dogs with nicholas tse as the mole and nick cheung as the investigating officer. tse, a career criminal recently released from prison, has been promised a hefty reward for his efforts to bring down a high - profile gang leader. but the plan backfires when tse falls for the gang boss’ trophy girlfriend, …
this entry was posted on september 7, 2010 at 7: 25 am and is filed under hong kong, nicholas tse 谢霆锋, sweet & sour cinema, sweet & sour cinema exclusive flim review. you can follow any responses to this entry through the rss 2. 0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site .
lam has stated he was conscious of trying not to repeat “ beast stalker’s ” formula with this film, however successful it was. “the stool pigeon” is almost the flipside of the popular “infernal affairs” series: instead of following a cop who’s undercover with the triads, we see what it’s like for criminals who decide to become informants for the police. nick cheung plays the main character, a hong kong supercop who is haunted by the mistakes of his past. his latest informant is a street racer named ghost jr. , played by nicolas tse. together they’re working to bring down a ruthless criminal named barbarian before he pulls of his latest jewelry store heist. in the meantime, nicolas falls for barbarian’s girl (kwai lun - mei) and cheung worries that another informant is about to die on his watch .
for all its violence, bloodshed and heavy combat ,
the stool pigeon
is less a hard - boiled cop thriller than a melodrama of human suffering, underscored by a crushing aesthetic of pain. every main character wear cuts, plasters, casts, limps or gets hospitalized. ghost jr. is more of a martyr than a hero, ennobled by his ability to endure bullying rather than power to fight back or defend his loved ones .
is about informants, with nick cheung playing inspector don lee, an expert at recruiting and using lower - level criminals to bust even more dangerous ones. but there’s a dark side to the biz, witnessed in an opening sequence where lee betrays an informant (liu kai - chi) when unexpected circumstances get in the way of a bust. flash - forward a year and lee recruits a new stool pigeon, jailed driver ghost jr. (nicholas tse) in hopes of bringing down jewelry thieves tai ping (keung ho - man) and barbarian (lu yi). as most criminals would, ghost jr. wants nothing to do with the fuzz, but lee has some powerful tools: money and leverage. he can help ghost jr. in ways that his old gang pals can' t, and if ghost jr. says
no
, lee can force his cooperation. eventually, ghost jr. has no choice but to become lee' s latest stool pigeon .
the first dante lam film i viewed in 2010 provided me with a real roller - coaster ride of a movie experience. filled with highs and lows, it opened with a scene that left me slack - jawed in amazement - - it was that astoundingly innovative and good. unfortunately (and this is a good part why it is only at number seven on my list), it ended with a whimper as far as i (and quite a few other people i know) are concerned. if only the last quarter or so of the film had lived up to what had preceded it... including some visuals that had excellent special effects and others that made use of the kind of stunt work and dedication to physical acting duty that contributed quite a bit to what made many of us fans of hong kong cinema .
as an observer of the hong kong cinema scene, it' s been interesting to see the reception that this nostalgia - tinged derek kwok and clement cheung movie revolving around an unlikely group of old school kung fu exponents and youthful followers has gotten in various spheres. at the hong kong international film festival screening that i attended (and which was graced by a number of its stars and derek kwok), the film received the kind of rave reception that many a filmmaker and actor can but dream of. but although it appears to have become quite the film festival favorite overseas as well, it had but a modest commercial run in hong kong - - indicating that this is the kind of movie that appeals only to a certain (as opposed to truly wide) audience .
first day of domestic release in hong kong bodes well with $ 112, 000 worth of tickets sold. overseas ancillary looks hopeful. reactions from major festivals however, have been lukewarm, possibly due to the emotionally overcooked ending and familiarity of the police - mole relationship in hong kong cinema. indeed, despite reuniting the same main cast and mapping out neat symmetries of character and plot with lam' s critically lauded
beast stalker ,
pigeon
falls short in tension and stylistic brio if judged as a sister film .
one thing that became very obvious over the course of the conversation (that took in the works of tsui hark and john woo as well as their own) was how much they really are film buffs (and not
just
filmmakers). and there' s a wonderful scene in
adheres more to the tried and true, with characters never breaking from conventional expectations. some details and subplots are more labored than they should be, with inspector lee’s backstory reaching particularly egregious heights (or depths, perhaps) in order to make his character exceptionally and unnecessarily tortured. furthermore, some of the film’s biggest twists are handed to characters who lack the same generous development as inspector lee and ghost jr. that uneven focus hurts the film' s momentum, but lam' s execution compensates nicely .
“hong kong offers an efficient and skilled environment for producers, a gateway to mainland china and filmart, the region’s only global film market, ” wolf said. “we are thrilled to have the hong kong trade development council join with us at afm. ”
don learns that a jewelry heist gang led by a man known named barbarian (yi lu) is back in hong kong and setting up for their next score. word on the streets is that the gang is in need of a getaway driver. don then attempts to recruit ghost jr. (nicholas tse), an ex - con supremely talented at street car racing, as his next stool pigeon. when ghost jr. discovers that his sister works as a prostitute to pay off their dead father' s debt, ghost jr. decides to work for don ...
film looks suitably large scale, but that is some terrible cgi. it seems that chinese movie companies are still using special effects that were available in the 90' s. sometimes they totally ruin an otherwise excellent action movie .
don' s story starts off promisingly as a police procedural, but then morphs into the most dire, wrong - headed kind of melodrama, complete with uncontrollable weeping, hysterical mental illness, and syrupy love songs. we learn a couple of things about the serious, incredibly straight - laced don as the movie progresses, but they fail to illuminate him in the context of the story in which he inhabits. the losses that he suffers outside of the job are so contrived, pulled so thoroughly from the
bigger emotions are better
playbook, that they effectively derail much of the stool pigeon' s third act in an orgy of unearned tears and drama. in particular, there is a revelation about his wife that we learn which is so dumb (there' s no better word for it) that you would suspect it was pulled from a script parodying this kind of silliness .
there are a couple of well - staged and tense action sequences peppered throughout the film - - in particular a car chase through the city streets which ends in a more realistic way than many film car chases do, then becomes a pretty interesting foot chase through a market that works in spite of not really answering how the characters are finally able to make their escape. again, these scenes are part of a much more interesting movie that has a recognizable shape and would be easy to recommend were it not grafted onto the terrible other half which should be avoided like the plague .
nick cheung brings a heightened level of authenticity to his role, seeing as how he was an actual member of the royal hong kong police officer for five years; and the rhkp’s most beloved actor, danny lee, was the one who helped cheung get his start in films. nicolas tse delivers a dependable performance, even if the script calls for him to smoke more than act. the real revelation here is taiwanese actress kwai lun - mei. i was shocked to read online that lun - mei has a ‘good girl’ image in the press because in “the stool pigeon” she comes across as a smolderingly sexy and dangerous criminal who isn’t afraid to open fire at a moment’s notice. it’s a shame that the screenplay gives her character so little backstory or motivation; kwai lun - mei appears to have created this interesting but troubled woman out of thin air .
hong kong offers an efficient and skilled environment for producers, a gateway to mainland china and filmart, the region' s only global film market ,
wolf said .
we are thrilled to have the hong kong trade development council join with us at afm .
the upcoming edition is the 15th anniversary of filmart to be held march 21 - 24, 2011 at the hong kong convention and exhibition centre in the downtown wan chai district .
what with 2010 being the 70th anniversary of bruce lee' s birth, it was almost inevitable that there would be a hong kong international film festival programme commemorating the man who may well still be hong kong cinema' s internationally most recognizably personality even after all these years. less predictable - - at least to me - - was that there also would be a biopic made of the individual known to cantonese - speakers as lee siu lung (little dragon lee), that the biopic would actually have far more drama than action, and that it would turn out to be a watchable movie even for someone who' s not been that big a bruce lee fan for decades. (confession: as a child, i was a big fan - - and remember having been in utter disbelief as well as devastated at the news of his death. )
plays like a procedural on the cop - informant dynamic, with lam showing us the compromises and moral issues involved in using bad guys to catch other bad guys. inspector lee can apply police pressure to get his way, making the stool pigeon less of a partner and more of a pawn coerced into betraying his kind. then, if lee wants a little more, he can always change the deal. after all, who cares about the well being of a three - time loser when seeking justice? on the flip side, if you betray someone who trusts you for your own ends, what does that make you? these are worthwhile themes and dante lam and jack ng’s script tackles them smartly, making both inspector lee and ghost jr. into strong and involving characters. both cheung and tse are excellent in their roles, with cheung once again edging tse as the efficient yet tortured inspector lee .
having already reviewed this chan hing ka and janet chun movie on this blog, i don' t see much reason to write much more about the film. instead, here' s taking the opportunity to recount that some years back, i had the privilege of meeting chan hing ka and his frequent collaborator (including on this movie), producer amy chin. the official reason was to interview the director about a previous movie of theirs (
film fan, culture vulture, foodie, and independent travel and hiking enthusiast who has lived and worked on four continents. i moved to hong kong in 2007 and still do love it after all these years .
unbeatable was a pretty unmitigated success both critically and commercially. and i wouldn' t worry about zhang and peng: whether one likes them or not, they' re two of china' s most charismatic actors. the trailer does look a bit rough (kind of like footage quickly put together for early film market exposure), but it looks pretty enticing to me! to the fore was indeed a puzzling misfire (and i' m saying that only after having seen the film, mind you ^ ^), but this should at least be entertaining .
“given our long - time alliance with afm, we are honored to launch the inaugural hong kong day, especially as we are celebrating the 15 th anniversary of filmart next year, ” said yip. “through an interesting variety of activities, we hope that overseas film professionals at afm will discover hong kong as an effective trade platform for exploring the asian markets, particularly the vast potential of china. ”
given our long - time alliance with afm, we are honored to launch the inaugural hong kong day, especially as we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of filmart next year ,
said yip .
through an interesting variety of activities, we hope that overseas film professionals at afm will discover hong kong as an effective trade platform for exploring the asian markets, particularly the vast potential of china .
principals – actors nick cheung and nicholas tse, and writer jack ng – and an entertaining and involving hong kong film. as usual, lam combines morally complex characters and strong action beats into a hopefully potent mix, but unlike
a dutiful cop, guilt - ridden over saving the life of a gang leader, becomes obsessed with bringing down the crime syndicate of the man he saved .
in a recent talk, hong kong filmmaker derek yee shared his experience about how to deal with mainland film examiners. as for advice when shooting action films, he concluded that directors had better use a panoramic view to shoot violent scenes .
founded in 1981, the afm quickly became the premier global marketplace where hollywood' s decision - makers and trendsetters all gather under one roof. unlike a film festival, the afm is a marketplace where production and distribution deals are closed. in just eight days, more than $ 800 million in deals will be sealed - - on both completed films and those that haven' t started shooting yet - - making afm the must - attend industry event .
a gritty tale of a police detective' s internal struggle to cope with the sacrifices his informant must undergo for the big bust. the flow of the story is captured with an urban crime ridden atmosphere and filled with violent action. the gorgeous gwei lun - mei plays dee who fleshes out the story wonderfully adding a touch of humanity and retribution to the overlying bleak tones .
in the 1970s, the hong kong government enacted a policy that granted each male heir of new territories villagers the privilege to build a house without paying any dues to the government... . see full summary »
there’s plenty of excitement for action fans. a desperate chase which turns into a running battle of brutal hand - to - hand combat showcases dante lam’s capacity for action set - pieces that are deceptively simple yet devastating. it is worth noting, as the above reviewer does, that this film’s violent scenes passed the mainland censors completely; which itself illustrates the dynamics between ultraviolence and restraint which lam skillfully utilizes .
inspector don lee often works with informants to solve his cases, with stool pigeons. in a ploy to convict the notorious jewel thief barbarian, don smuggles ghost jr, recently released from jail, into his gang. lee is plagued with scruples; an informant from an earlier case whose cover was blown now leads a destitute and traumatized life on the streets. lee has also ruined his wife’s life with a slip - up. when ghost enters dangerous waters, lee decides to step in. with his most recent film, dante lam, whose
beast stalker
was shown in the 2009 forum, presents a sophisticated genre piece that successfully lends its characters emotional depth. the tragic love stories of three couples appear against the backdrop of surveillance and wild chase scenes, giving the plot a crucial change of direction. but above all lam uses real - life places in hong kong for his visually stimulating scenes. the modern architecture plays just as important a role as the small labyrinthine markets with their wooden sheds and an abandoned classroom piled up with tables and chairs .
could this just be a bad trailer for a good film? i certainly hope so because i' d like nothing more than crazy - ass dante lam back throwing hand grenades at the screen again. but all i know right now is that it' s a pretty bad trailer. take a look below .
). but the icing on the cake came after the interview ended and chan hing ka and i hung out and talked movies for fun for a couple of hours, with amy chin joining in at some part during the conversation .
thanks for the list. i know someday i will start catching up on hk films from the past 2 years and this is a good starting point. i get the sense from the comments that i am not the only one who has drifted away from hk films for other interests. why was dream home banned in singapore ?
the business of independent motion picture production and distribution - - a truly collaborative process - - reaches its peak every year at the afm when more than 8, 000 industry leaders converge in santa monica for eight days of deal - making, screenings, seminars, premieres, networking and parties. participants come from more than 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, the world' s press and all those who provide services to the motion picture industry .
a tycoon' s daughter playing a woman so desperate to get her dream home down to an affordable price that she will kill to make it happen. only in hong kong and only josie
daughter of stanley
ho? the fact that she not only plays the role with such gusto but also pulls it off - - and is the pang ho cheung - helmed film' s producer - - is a real credit to her. and it is a real credit to the cinematic work that its horror credentials didn' t take all that much away from the seriousness and validity of much of its commentary about hong kong real estate prices, related housing issues and average people' s salaries in the territory .
for female audience members, some of the violent scenes may be tough to swallow; but rest assured most men will enjoy the action .
put another way: i found this work which centered on a physically unassuming police inspector whose job is to make use of low level criminals to bust higher level ones and one of his selected stool pigeons to be absolutely thrillingly intense and emotionally involving - - the latter not least because i found the main characters to be so satisfyingly complex and believable, however dramatic the situations they found themselves put in. additionally, while its two main men were indeed superb, i' d like to give a shout out to kwai lun mei for impressively investing a scene she was in with amazing fury borne out of a desperation that felt all too real .
champion competitive marksman ken comes across an armored van robbery. he sees a policeman held hostage and shoots and kills four of the robbers. one of the robbers escapes and the... see full summary »
in the awesome climax, barbarian tracks down ghost jr. and dee to a disused classroom. his brutality is so pitiless and the couple' s desperation so vivid even desks and chairs seem as menacing as knives and spears. the action is partly shot from the point of view of li, who watches from a window across the classroom but cannot get over to their side in time. it mirrors the prologue when jabber is stabbed by marco .
, the 1973 shaw brothers production credited with playing a major part in reviving cantonese language cinema. but due to such as it being graced by a lot of faces who are most associated with that era (notably anita yuen), this work directed as well as starring eric tsang also got me thinking of hong kong cinema' s most recent golden age - - that of the period between the years 1985 to 1994. to be sure, the nostalgia factor played a part in my enjoyment of this movie that essentially revolves around two rival families headed by men in love with the same woman but the film also possesses plenty of sight gags and in jokes that hit the spot (i. e. , my funny bone). additionally, i can definitely imagine that people who watch plenty of contemporary tvb shows as well as decades of hong kong movies would have a lot of extra fun spotting the multitude of stars that appear in this work !
as a detective is ordered to turn a recently release convict into an informant in order to bring down a high profile criminal, the film takes a surprising turn in becoming a much more powerful story about a guilt and the desire from both leads to make things right, by whatever means they can, even as it takes them on a path that could ultimately risk everything and endanger everyone around them, inevitably leading into a violent conclusion. its an emotionally gripping story and the performances are superb with a development that is unexpected but adds to its depth. definitely one worth recommending .
the narrative could benefit from more tautness. as if worried about the audience' s attention span for drama, action scenes are intermittently inserted through out but they don' t build to one big momentum. some become run - of - the - mill. still, the main set pieces have a thrilling ferocity .
the leakers (hong kong - mainland china, 2018) - 6. 5
however, this is not the case with the other half of the movie which deals with police inspector don lee (nick cheung), who drafts ghost jr. into becoming an informer in spite of his own reservations about endangering another snitch. the opening of the movie shows us an operation gone wrong with jabber, another informer who is nearly hacked to death after the criminals he exposed track him down and decide to teach him a lesson. wracked with guilt from this as well as the incredibly ridiculous circumstances of his own personal life, don nonetheless does what he can to get ghost jr. to help him take down the gang .
has a number of strong, kinetic action sequences, with the climactic school - set chase / beatdown proving surprisingly brutal. at its most powerful, the violence in
established in 1966, the hong kong trade development council (hktdc) is the international marketing arm for hong kong - based traders, manufacturers and service providers. with 40 offices worldwide, including 11 on the chinese mainland, the hktdc promotes hong kong as a platform for doing business with china and asia. the hktdc also organises trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in hong kong and the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. for more information, visit
the camera is fixed on the iron - gate behind which jabber is trapped, and nothing else is shown except his frightened howling off - screen. the audience is made to share li' s frustration as an impotent spectator of the horror. other mise - en - scenes also exude a prison or cage like atmosphere, such as the hellishly grubby and labyrinthine housing estate where li and ghost jr. have their secret meetings .
the problem is the same problem with all hk movies now. the producers think they must cover ever base, every character must have a love story etc etc if they want ppl to see it in hk. the sad thing is that it is true, people only go to the movies here to watch celebrities and hence want to see them all get their screen time and want to see them in some cheesy romantic situation .
tse plays the informant for cheung’s police detective and infiltrates a gang. hooking up with the leader’s girlfriend played by kwai lun - mei isn’t the smartest thing, at least when it comes to his own chances of survival but there’s certainly enough action and on foot and car chases to make for an entertaining two hours. but every attempt at character depth and emotional scenes becomes an exercise in over the top eye - rolling for the…
want to share imdb' s rating on your own site? use the html below .
which brings us to operation mekong. based on the true story of a chinese / thai / laotian joint operation to investigate the killing of 13 passengers and crew aboard a merchant vessel working the mekong delta in 2011, this promised to be a return to the sort of large scaled action that had people so excited not so long ago. and he has certainly tried to do that but the recently released trailer leaves me with more concern than excitement .
a statutory body established in 1966, the hong kong trade development council (hktdc) is the international marketing arm for hong kong - based traders, manufacturers and service providers. with more than 40 global offices, including 11 on the chinese mainland, the hktdc promotes hong kong as a platform for doing business with china and throughout asia. the hktdc also organizes trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in hong kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. for more information, please visit: urltoken .
nick chewing is as solid as ever and it' s another decent role for nicholas the but the whole thing gets dragged down by a somewhat unnecessary romantic subplot that comes out of nowhere .
sign up for the cd baby newsletter your email address will not be sold for any reason .
nice list. i was really disappointed by ip man 2. i found the acting by the western actors to be pretty awful and the choreography doesn' t hold up to the first installment (maybe because sammo hung was taken ill half way through filming ?). also i think you are right about old jc. he seems to be the least popular actor in hk these days, but he seems to have brought it all on himself so i have little sympathy .
this is a heavily - mined genre in hk so to make it work and work well is highly laudable. the device that puts its over is probably the fact that star and matinee idol nicholas tse is playing against type as a the titular character, a somewhat grungy ex - con .
with jurassic world: fallen kingdom now in cinemas, we take a look at how imdb users rated the films of the franchise. plus, browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets, presented by lego .
disclaimer: urltoken does not own any of the photos contained in the blog. urltoken was made merely to pay homage to these films, directors, talent, etc. and not for any profit or commercial reasons. no copyright infringement intended. the photos are copyrighted and courtesy by their respective owners .
urltoken is a non - profit website for the private use and entertainment and / or parody purposes .
i could not agree with you more. the movie would have been much better had it just followed tse. wasn' t really into cheung' s side of things. i remember being really into the movie during and just after the car chase, but it then it lost me. don should have stayed to the side and they should have stuck with ghost jr. to tell a simple story .
hi ytsl, awesome list, i liked what you liked too! ! a pity that dream home will never see the light of day in singapore on the big screen as it' s banned. sigh: (
ghost jr. isn' t an especially deep character, and we more or less know where the story will take him: that he' ll be attracted to the pretty lookout dee (lunmei kwai) and that the feeling will be mostly mutual, and that between her and the cops, ghost jr. will find himself in over his head. there' s something to be said for taking basic material and simply writing it honestly and well, with an understanding of a script' s characters that is clearly articulated to the viewer .
dante lam has had an interesting career trajectory. during the early 00’s he seemed to be mired in comedy and action fluff, co - directing movies like “the twins effect” and “love on the rocks. ” ambition must have bit lam in the ass since as of late he’s attempted to become something like the hong kong analog to paul greengrass (“the bourne supremacy”) or michael mann. lam specializes in crime films that provide an in - depth look at their gritty characters. he delivers action scenes with a street - level, handheld - camera style. although dante lam hasn’t achieved the level of michael mann when it comes to intense character studies and kinetic violence, one senses that he does have at least one truly great movie in him, waiting to come out .
an old but serious miscarriage of justice clouds a current police investigation looking into the death of a mutilated corpse .
i wouldn' t have had such a problem with the structure being split between the two characters if don' s story wasn' t stubbornly just an entirely different movie with a wildly different (and silly) tone .
sign up for a fanalert and be the first to know when tickets and other exclusives are available in your area .
spotted at admiralty yesterday afternoon also seen at admiralty yesterday and today even beyond the designated study corners,...
the stool pigeon ( simplified chinese : 线人 ; traditional chinese : 綫人 ; pinyin : xiàn rén ; jyutping : sin3 jan4 ) is a 2010 hong kong-chinese action thriller film directed by dante lam and starring nicholas tse , nick cheung and gwei lun-mei . the film is about police detective , don lee ( cheung ) , who uses informants to gain information about gangsters . lee begins to feel guilty when his informants are caught , but sends out a street racer named ghost ( tse ) as an informant to gain information about a gangster name barbarian ( lu yi ) . the film was released in china on august 24 and two days later in hong kong . the film performed well in the hong kong box office , though it has received mixed reviews . 
the stool pigeon (simplified chinese: 线人; traditional chinese: 綫人; pinyin: xiàn rén; jyutping: sin3 jan4) is a 2010 hong kong-chinese action thriller film directed by dante lam and starring nicholas tse, nick cheung and gwei lun-mei. the film is about police detective, don lee (cheung), who uses informants to gain information about gangsters. lee begins to feel guilty when his informants are caught, but sends out a street racer named ghost (tse) as an informant to gain information about a gangster name barbarian (lu yi). the film was released in china on august 24 and two days later in hong kong. the film performed well in the hong kong box office, though it has received mixed reviews.
the stool pigeon (simplified chinese: 线人; traditional chinese: 綫人; pinyin: xiàn rén; jyutping: sin3 jan4) is a 2010 hong kong-chinese action thriller film directed by dante lam and starring nicholas tse, nick cheung and gwei lun-mei. the film is about police detective, don lee (cheung), who uses informants to gain information about gangsters. lee begins to feel guilty when his informants are caught, but sends out a street racer named ghost (tse) as an informant to gain information about a gangster name barbarian (lu yi). the film was released in china on august 24 and two days later in hong kong. the film performed well in the hong kong box office, though it has received mixed reviews.