Movie Box Review

courtesy of takungpao.com

Aaron Kwok Fu Sing earlier worked with first time director Roy Chow Hin Cheung and promoted their film MURDERER on Cable. Some even claimed that this film would be another Kwok Fu Sing breakthrough work.

Sing Sing was asked when his passion for film started? Sing Sing expressed that although he came from artist training, in the past 10 years he started to focus on his acting. As his intelligence and life experience were enriched, he had different ideas of grasping characters. Chow Hin Cheung even pointed out that Sing Sing in recent years has made many different attempts in film and left him with a deep impression. He said, "Kwok Fu Sing's eyes are very strong, very amazing, but this time his eyes had to be very dark. He was able to do it."

Sing Sing also praised the director for being fully prepared before the shoot. "He gave me a lot of books to study, one included Humphrey Bogart. He hoped that my expression could be as complex. In the end I spent a lot of time to consider the looks and moods repeatedly. The result was satisfactory."

Movie Trailers. Love 'em or hate 'em they've been around longer than most of us and although the format and frequency of how we see them may have changed it is certain they are here to stay. We complain about them, look forward to them, have websites dedicated to them and now people even review them. Last week I put together a set of upcoming creepy trailer and plan on continuing to do so. We come to expect them as well. I'm flabbergasted when there is a new release out but no trailer for the film. I mean really - no trailer? None?

Trailers do put the movie buff in a bit of a sticky spot. In some ways, you do feel obligated to see them, and avoiding them can be tricky. I watched roughly 95% of the trailers for films released in 2008 to provide spoiler warnings and then decided in general the trailers shows too much. You can get a sense of the film usually in the first third of the trailer so often now I only watch that if I'm curious about a film. Otherwise, I've spent many moments in theatres this year covering my eyes and blaring my iPod during any Star Trek, Terminator Salvation and X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailers. Why? Because I'll see the film. I don't need to know anything about it. Ironically, these means I see trailers for films I'll never see over and over and over.

I think a perfect trailer gives the you a sense of the film including the tone, but doesn't tell you too much. For example, showing anything from the last 15 minutes of the film just doesn't seem right. Trailers that say 'You'll never guess...' has me instantly expecting that 'unexpected' twist from the word go. Romances with a kiss somewhere in the trailer let you know that the couple gets together, at least at some point of the film.

But, a great trailer can be a beautiful thing. IFC has recently posted their take on the 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time (thanks to Jandy at Row Three for sharing this article). It is a fascinating retrospective of trailers and was a treat to see trailers for older films that I'd never seen the trailers for like The Bishop's Wife. It also serves as a reminder that a great trailer doesn't always end up with a great film, for example the trailer for The Man Who Wasn't There shows the one and only scene I enjoyed from the film and I wasn't a fan of Watchmen but there is no denying it had one of the best trailers this year. Many of the really interesting trailers are the that break the mold like trailer for Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project. But, when it comes down to it the faves tend to be the perfect mold of images and music but no sound like their number one pick the trailer for Alien.

Went done right they can be awesome. But its a fine line to show enough, but not too much and also not to mislead. Anyone else spend time watching a film thinking "How come they haven't shown that scene yet from the trailer?", or is it just me? What is your take on trailers?

Life always has some impractical fantasy. The best mid air somersault performer of the Seven Little Fortunes, Yuen Wah once fantasized that he was Peter Pan. He did not just fantasized, he truly flew out of the ninth floor.

Ninth Floor Jump, Yuen Wah Lived

Then eyewitness Yuen Bun says, "That time Yuen Wah was doing flips. He said that he was Peter Pan, but he didn't notice that the window was open. Finally he flew out to the streets. It was the ninth floor, luckily downstairs a truck's canopy took some of the fall and saved his life. After he landed he darted back upstairs. Although Yuen Wah survived, his rear due to a scrap from the truck corner still has a dent to this date."

Yuen Wah was truly lucky to survive from this suicidal move. No one with a brain should follow suit, ultimately there is a price to pay for mischief. Seven Little Fortunes were arrested for fighting and were nearly thrown into jail. Fortunately finally a "heroine" came to their rescue.

A part of the fight, Second Brother Yuen Tai says, "That time Sammo, Yuen Bun and I were called 'baldy' on the streets so we fought. We even busted someone's nose. Finally the police dragged the whole lot back to the station and demanded to see our families. We called Yu So Chau! As soon as Sister arrived, the cop's eyes brightened. At the time Yu So Chau was already very famous. The cops saw her and worshipped her like a goddess. They chatted with Sister for awhile then released us. Sister didn't yell at us and she didn't dare to tell Master. She didn't want Master to get mad and hit people again."

Some people feared bald heads and hated bald kids for no apparent reason. Yuen Bun recalls, "Back then we went from the school to Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park. We would go one by one to catch a ride in Jordan. Every time we got to Jordan Road, someone would try a coin at our heads. We looked up and a group of long hair jerks were betting on the top floor to see who was more accurate. The winner would hit someone's head. Our skulls of course suffered, but they were so high up we didn't look for revenge. We picked up the coin and left!"

Insulted For Bald Head, Ran Into Enemies

Even thought Seven Little Fortunes back then suffered, years later they ran into their enemies again. Yuen Bun continues, "20 some years later, one day I was working on YOUNG AND DANGEROUS (GOO WAT JAI) and talked about this incident with Ng Chi Hung and Lee Siu Kei. They said, 'You were those bald kids who made me lose so much money back then, have you not had enough beating?' What a small world this is!" (18)

Dir: Mike Newell (Pushing Tin, Donnie Brasco, Love in the Time of Cholera, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Regular Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis
Additional Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Stanislav Ianevski, Clémence Poésy, Robert Pattinson, Miranda Richardson, Robert Hardy, David Tennent, Bonnie Wright
UK/USA, 2005

Originally Seen: During it's theatrical release in 2005 at The Beach cinema

Revisited: June 29, 2009 *

In this fourth installment of the Harry Potter series, we are coming off a virtual high from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, one of the most loved of the series. But, apparently not the most loved as The Goblet of Fire narrowly claimed top standing in the Poll for the Best Harry Potter film (so far). We see quite a few changes in the world with The Goblet of Fire with Mike Newell directing this instalment before the reins get passed to David Yates who takes on from The Order of the Phoenix and then for the rest of the series. Also for the first time we are seeing a more truncated version as the book is twice the size of those which came before.

In my review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I noted that we start to see patterns emerge in the series but many of these do not persist in the fourth film. Another changes is seeing instead of one predominant colour scheme, The Goblet of Fire uses a combination of a cold as well as a warm colour story. This is in line with and strengthens unpredictable tone of the film and the themes deception and danger. Previously we had a gradual introduction of new things to the central trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron now in their 4th year at Hogwarts and 14 years old, this year we get a taste of the contrast of seeing how young by the introduction on several older, powerful and charming students Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) and Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy). Of course, this fits perfectly with being 14, a time where you can just start to get your footing and then can easily get thrown off again. A new turn for the film is to show scenarios where people are actively making choices, be that to go into a dangerous situation or even to be deceptive. This is quite the leap considering that up until this point we have mostly seen investigation and reactionary measures. Add all of this together and we end up with a lot of tension including inadvertant strain in the friendships and relationships.

This strain is completely believeble but as a viewer, it makes it a too little sad for it to compete as a favourite of the series. When I first watched the film I wasn't sure if I even liked it, although I eventually did come to love it. Watching it again this time I picked up more of what that was about. It is the only one in the series shows even a hint a gender imbalance. It isn't huge, but it is there if you look and this is a disappointment considering the series is otherwise devoid of anything like that. Perhaps it was used to highlight gender in general as this is the first of the series that introduces romance. It could also be more prevalent in the film due to being a more truncated version of the book. I haven't re-read it recently so I will have to research that more.

Ironically, with the sour comes the sweet. Even with this tension and imbalances the film has beautiful moments that may very well be my favourite of the series. So far it's the only time I've looked forward to repeat watching of the Quidditch scenes, it has fantastic seasonal celebrations and the beautiful progression in some of the smaller characters, specifically Neville Longbottom. There is also a continuation of more mature relationships between the teens and adults making them more eye to eye, not only with Dumbledore but with the introduction of Mad-Eye Moody, Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (Vol 4) played by Brendan Gleeson.

Overall, a lot of charm is adeptly snuck into a film that is preparing us for the dangerous downward spiral this world is taking. I look forward to jumping down the rabbit hole for the next instalment: The Order of the Phoenix.

Shannon's Overall View:
I love it
I own it in widescreen
I'd recommend to fans of magic, fantasy and adventure

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2009

* in anticipation of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Wednesday July 15, 2009, I am doing a weekly countdown to watch & review of the first five Harry Potter films

courtesy of takungpao.com

Stephy Tang Lai Yun yesterday appeared on a Metro Radio interview. Reportedly she recommended herself for the new film POKER KING and lead actor Ronald Cheng Chung Kei even helped her get rid of Kama for the female lead.

Stephy was completely clueless after reading the report. She said that this matter had nothing to do with "Prince Kei". She herself has been very busy as well. Earlier she and director Chan Hing Ka have worked together on a film. At the time they agreed to work together later. Did she stipulate that she had to be the lead at that time? She said that there was no script at the time, but POKER actually mainly lies with the guys. She expressed that she would begin work in two days but she still has not received the script. She did not know about the size of her role either. She did not know about Kama's performance in advance. She only knew about Josie Ho Chiu Yi and Cherrie Ying Choi Yi.

Would seeing Kama feel awkward? She said no, but she was displeased about being accused of taking something that belonged to someone else. She expressed that she has always worked hard and never took anything by force. She did not want to be rumored to be at odds with Kama because she already had a fear of such news. She stressed that she was easy to get along with and hoped no one would misunderstand.

courtesy of singtao.com

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