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233 results, page 1 of 5
Review: Enjoy Yourself (2024)
Enjoy Yourself 祝你幸福 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 111 mins. Director: Kang Bo 康博. Rating: 6/10. Relationship-cum-legal drama sports some good performances but is hampered by a messily constructed…
Review: We Are Forever (2024)
We Are Forever 我们永远是我们 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 100 mins. Director: Xia Meng 夏孟. Rating: 5/10. Good-looking distaff road movie sports good leads but lacks emotional depth and…
Review: Gone with the Boat (2023)
Gone with the Boat 乘船而去 China, 2023, colour, 1.85:1, 98 mins. Director: Chen Xiaoyu 陈小雨. Rating: 5/10. Family portrait centred on the wife’s dying mother is well played…
Review: Upstream (2024)
Upstream 逆行人生 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 120 mins. Director: Xu Zheng 徐峥. Rating: 6/10. A black but ultimately warm comedy, set among Shanghai’s community of food deliverers, shows…
Review: Evacuate from the 21st Century (2024)
Evacuate from the 21st Century 从21世纪安全撤离 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 1.55/2.1/2.4/3.77:1, 97 mins. Director: Li Yang 李阳. Rating: 6/10. Sci-fi fantasy-cum-VFX head trip is an eclectic spin on youth…
Review: Land of Broken Hearts (2024)
Land of Broken Hearts 负负得正 China, 2024, colour, 2:1, 99 mins. Director: Wen Shipei 温仕培. Rating: 5/10. Odd-couple rom-com between a young salaryman and his kooky flatmate is…
Review: Go for Broke (2024)
Go for Broke 重生 China/Hong Kong, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 113 mins. Director: Ma Yuke 马浴柯. Rating: 7/10. Another tough, twisty crime drama by Mainland actor-turned-director Ma Yuke, with…
Review: Decoded (2024)
Decoded 解密 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 155 mins. Director: Chen Sicheng 陈思诚. Rating: 8/10. Belated return to form by film-maker Chen Sicheng is a strongly written, subtly played…
Review: Mozart from Space (2022)
Mozart from Space 外太空的莫扎特 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 135 mins. Director: Chen Sicheng 陈思诚. Rating: 4/10. A way over-long, way over-blown yarn about a teenager, his naggy dad,…
Review: Welcome to My Side (2024)
Welcome to My Side 欢迎来到我身边 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 101 mins. Director: Song Haolin 宋灏霖. Rating: 6/10. An odd-couple rom-com with a goofy premise that only just makes…
Review: Water Boys (2021)
Water Boys 五个扑水的少年 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 110 mins. Director: Song Haolin 宋灏霖. Rating: 7/10. Very free re-make of the 2001 Japanese hit comedy about a male synchro…
Review: Mr. Zhu’s Summer (2017)
Mr. Zhu’s Summer 猪太狼的夏天 China, 2017, colour, 2.35:1, 87 mins. Director: Song Haolin 宋灏霖. Rating: 5/10. Light character study of a primary-school teacher with a chronic lack of…
Review: Love Life Light
Love Life Light 照明商店 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 98 mins. Director: Cai Erduo 蔡耳朵 [Cai Jing 蔡婧]. Rating: 8/10. Classy directing debut by former a.d. Cai Erduo, aka…
Review: Give Me a Ride (2024)
Give Me a Ride 出门在外 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 101 mins. Directors: Fan Chao 范超, Chen Yizi 陈一孜. Rating: 5/10. Blackly comic mystery centred on various shady characters…
Review: A Place Called Silence (2024)
A Place Called Silence 默杀 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 118 mins. Director: Ke Wenli 柯汶利 [Sam Quah]. Rating: 6/10. Serial-killer whodunit centred on a girls’ high school is…
Review: Life Hotel (2024)
Life Hotel 来福大酒店 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 118 mins. Director: Liu Bowen 刘博文. Rating: 7/10. A strong, characterful cast, led by Huang Xuan and Liu Yan, make this…
Review: Black Dog (2024)
Black Dog 狗阵 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 115 mins. Director: Guan Hu 管虎. Rating: 8/10. Elemental story of re-birth and renewal in a run-down town in northwest China…
Review: Moments We Shared (2024)
Moments We Shared 云边有个小卖部 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 130 mins. Director: Zhang Jiajia 张嘉佳. Rating: 8/10. Return-to-roots light comedy is an impressive second outing as a director by…
Review: Reversed Destiny (2024)
Reversed Destiny 沙漏 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 109 mins. Director: Wen Jing 温婧. Rating: 7/10. Good-looking, well-played story of two high-school BFFs would have been even better with…
Review: I Miss You (2024)
I Miss You 被我弄丢的你 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 111 mins. Director: Han Yan 韩琰. Rating: 6/10. Promising odd-couple two-hander is let down by a weak, uninvolving script, and…
Review: Crisis Negotiators (2024)
Crisis Negotiators 谈判专家 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 119 mins. Director: Qiu Litao 邱礼涛 [Herman Yau]. Rating: 8/10. A cracking, Hong Kong-set re-make of US drama-thriller The Negotiator that’s…
Review: End Game (2021)
End Game 人潮汹涌 China/Hong Kong, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 119 mins. Director: Rao Xiaozhi 饶晓志. Rating: 6/10. A remake of the Japanese Key of Life, this swapped-identities crime comedy…
Review: Awakening Spring (2023)
Awakening Spring 温柔壳 China, 2023, colour/b&w, 16:9, 103 mins. Director: Wang Mu 王沐. Rating: 5/10. Drama centred on two young people with mental problems has strong lead performances…
Review: Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a HotPot (2023)
Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a HotPot 没有一顿火锅解决不了的事 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 128 mins. Director: Ding Sheng 丁晟. Rating: 6/10. Mainland director Ding Sheng rediscovers some of his…
Review: Walk the Line (2024)
Walk the Line 扫黑 决不放弃 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 114 mins. Director: Wubai 五百 [Guo Shubo 郭书博]. Rating: 7/10. A seemingly conventional drama of high-up corruption is given…
Review: Viva la vida
Viva la vida 我们一起摇太阳 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 129 mins. Director: Han Yan 韩延. Rating: 6/10. Offbeat, odd-couple rom-com between two people with life-threatening diseases has terrific playing…
Review: Strangers When We Meet (2024)
Strangers When We Meet 朝云暮雨 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 107 mins. Director: Zhang Guoli 张国立. Rating: 8/10. Fan Wei and Zhou Dongyu show terrific screen chemistry in this…
Review: Formed Police Unit (2024)
Formed Police Unit 维和防暴队 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 100 mins. Director: Li Dachao 李达超. Rating: 6/10. Mainland flag-waver, with Chinese Blue Helmets keeping the peace in Africa, is…
Review: Three Old Boys (2024)
Three Old Boys 三叉戟 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 109 mins. Director: Gao Qunshu 高群书. Rating: 7/10. Gruff, northern-style buddy-cop movie has no shortage of colourful characters but too…
Review: The Last Frenzy (2024)
The Last Frenzy 末路狂花钱 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 105 mins. Director: Wu Rina 乌日娜. Rating: 5/10. Black comedy about a penny-pincher who goes on a spending spree before…
Review: Godspeed (2023)
Godspeed 人生路不熟 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 99 mins. Director: Yi Xiaoxing 易小星. Rating: 5/10. A comedy road movie centred on a dysfunctional family is strongly cast, starts promisingly…
Review: Super Villain (2024)
Super Villain 大“反”派 China, 2024, colour, 2.35/1.85/1.33:1, 97 mins. Director: Bao Bei’er 包贝尔. Associate director: Zhang Zuofeng 张作峰. Rating: 4/10. Painfully unfunny comedy about an ambitious actor who…
Review: The Killing Performance (2024)
The Killing Performance 戏杀 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 129 mins. Director: Niu Zhaoyang 牛朝阳. Rating: 6/10. Traditional period whodunit, with suspects seated round a table, looks good but…
Review: Remember Me (2024)
Remember Me 灿烂的她 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 115 mins. Director: Xu Wei 徐伟. Rating: 5/10. Light drama between a selfless fisherwoman and her grand-daughter who went missing has…
Review: The Victims (2024)
The Victims 黄雀在后！ China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 98 mins. Directors: Xu Wei 徐伟, He Wenchao 何文超. Rating: 7/10. Richly cast, this well-mounted whodunit is 100% plot and procedure…
Review: YOLO (2024)
YOLO 热辣滚烫 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 128 mins. Director: Jia Ling 贾玲. Rating: 7/10. Mainland comedienne Jia Ling’s second feature as writer-director-star hits the bell again, if not…
Review: Pegasus 2 (2024)
Pegasus 2 飞驰人生2 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 120 mins. Director: Han Han 韩寒. Rating: 6/10. More of the same and with knobs on, plus another effortless lead by…
Review: Article 20 (2024)
Article 20 第二十条 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 139 mins. Director: Zhang Yimou 张艺谋. Rating: 6/10. Comedy-drama, set among a city’s public prosecutors, is entertaining enough due to its…
Review: Rob N Roll (2024)
Rob N Roll 临时劫案 Hong Kong/China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 96 mins. Director: Mai Qiguang 麦启光 [Albert Mak]. Rating: 7/10. Strongly cast down the line, this wacky Hong Kong…
Review: Time Still Turns the Pages (2023)
Time Still Turns the Pages 年少日记 Hong Kong, 2023, colour, 2:1, 94 mins. Director: Zhuo Yiqian 卓亦谦 [Nick Cheuk]. Rating: 6/10. Psychological drama, sparked by an unknown student’s…
Review: Wolf Hiding (2023)
Wolf Hiding 怒潮 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 105 mins. Director: Ma Yuke 马浴柯. Rating: 7/10. A hard-driven, stygian tale of gangsterly ambition, deceit and murder is a striking…
Review: Raid on the Lethal Zone (2023)
Raid on the Lethal Zone 绝地追击 China/Hong Kong, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 110 mins. Director: Qiu Litao 邱礼涛 [Herman Yau]. Rating: 7/10. Half drugs-busting thriller, half disaster movie, this…
Review: Hidden Blade (2023)
Hidden Blade 无名 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 128 mins. Director: Cheng Er 程耳. Rating: 9/10. Cracking WW2 spy drama set among collaborationists in Japanese-controlled Shanghai is challenging but…
Review: What’s in the Zoo? (2024)
What’s in the Zoo? 动物园里有什么？ China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 94 mins. Director: An Xiaoman 安小满 [Bao Bei’er 包贝尔]. Rating: 4/10. Comedy centred on an ailing zoo in which…
Review: The Hotel (2022)
The Hotel 旅馆 Hong Kong, 2022, b&w, 1.33:1, 104 mins. Director: Wang Xiaoshuai 王小帅. Rating: 5/10. Sleekly-shot chamber drama about characters stranded in a hotel during the Covid…
Review: Leap (2020)
Leap 夺冠 Hong Kong/China, 2020, colour, 2.35:1, 134 mins. Director: Chen Kexin 陈可辛 [Peter Chan]. Rating: 8/10. Celebration of women’s volleyball in China’s modern development is shaded by…
Review: Us and Them (2018)
Us and Them 后来的我们 China, 2018, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 118 mins. Director: Liu Ruoying 刘若英 [René Liu]. Rating: 8/10. Long-limbed story, spread across 11 years, is an engaging reflection…
Review: Full River Red (2023)
Full River Red 满江红 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 156 mins. Director: Zhang Yimou 张艺谋. Rating: 6/10. A top cast, led by comedian Shen Teng, initially makes this costume…
Review: Shining for One Thing (2023)
Shining for One Thing 一闪一闪亮星星 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 105 mins. Directors: Chen Xiaoming 陈小明, Zhang Pan 张攀. Rating: 4/10. Good-looking but nonsensical teenage romantic fantasy spun off…
Review: If You Are the One III (2023)
If You Are the One III 非诚勿扰III China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 118 mins. Director: Feng Xiaogang 冯小刚. Rating: 6/10. Belated finale to the on-again/off-again love affair is made…