Monday, November 17, 2014

Canto-Mando Movie Reviews

Time to bring up some movie recommendations cause there are a couple recently that piqued my interest. The first is Kung Fu Jungle, its a badly titled movie in English, sounds so much cooler in Chinese. Its a great kung fu movie but its significant for a lot more than just entertainment. 

If you remember the comedy classic Kung Fu by Stephen Chow Sing Chi, where he tried (successfully) to incorporate the many popular kung fu techniques and "fantasy kung fu stuff" into a well woven comedy. In many ways its a great tribute and acknowledgement to the discipline in movie making.

Well, KFJ is like Kung Fu except that it took the more serious route, and the kung fu is a lot more realistic and authentic. Besides entertaining audiences, KFJ roped in as many as possible the HK kung fu movie stars from the late 60s, 70 and 80s and gave them roles in it. In many ways, its an excellent tribute, as the story goes about a guy wanting to be the ultimate kung fu master and he goes about it by seeking out the top masters in each genre of kung fu, but he has gone a bit cuckoo so he not only wants to beat them but kill them as well for no apparent reason.

Donnie Yen was amazing and so were his co stars. 






The second recommendation is a romantic comedy. Its part 2 of Don't Go Breaking My Heart, you need not have watch the first to watch this, but it would help a lot in enjoyment. When masters such as Johnnie To and Wai Kar Fai decide to ditch their usual gangster-police-shootout hats and go into rom-com, it usually leads to pretty watchable stuff.

The interlinking relationships between the main stars were fantastic. The energy and believability, the characters all fleshed out properly and you would feel for each of them. Gao Yuan Yuan was adorable and sublime. Koo Tin Lok, Miriam Yeung and Daniel Wu were great. Storyline was solid and layered. No kiddie mushy stuff here. Great movie, watch both parts.

There is a running theme and its more for those jaded but yet still looking for love in the modern world - love is not so much determined or predestined... its in your own hands, you have to take it, grab it, or let it go. I think I can use the word "satisfying" here for a really good romantic comedy.













































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