Claustrophobia is not like the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong movies that I have seen. Where in your typical Hong Kong flick characters state implicitly and clearly what they are feeling so that the entire world and his dog can get behind it, in Claustrophobia our cast of bedraggled yet always immaculately dressed office staff keep their emotions a tightly guarded secret. As an audience the trick throughout this movie is to read between the lines, to catch a glimpse of human frailty lest you spend the entire movie wondering what the point of it all is.

The movie begins with Tom (Ekin Cheng) dropping his closest co-workers home at the end of a shift. They are essentially a motley crew of typicals; the old grumpy one, the office bimbo and the nervy geek. And then there is Pearl (Karina Lam) who is last to arrive home. Whilst sat in the car, Tom takes this opportunity to tell Pearl that she is a great employee and deserves a better job working for someone else. What he is really saying here is that she should take a hike because the mutual office flirting could screw his marriage up; Pearl doesn’t take too kindly to this. (continue reading…)

Sans Mike Banner, Stoo and Ken are joined by James Aylmore but before, Ken feels the need to spoil the entire plot of Scared Stiff (starring Eric Tsang, Miu Kiu-Wai and Chow Yun-Fat) so if you desperately want to avoid hearing about its ending (you should in some ways avoid the flick to tell you the truth), skip listening between 00:03:00 to the 00:20:00. We will then be back to discuss the latest development in the already old Edison Chen Sexy Photo Gate. Next development: You’re off the island, son!

Jims Links; FaceBook | Chocolate | Twins Effect II

Lam Ching-Ying.com Forum; Click Here

(continue reading…)

 

 Podcast On Fire 43: Urban Hong Kong Celebrity Survivor [01:10:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When a small time triad (Andy Lau) decides to take his girlfriend, Ling (May Lo) on holiday to Singapore, they end up catching the same flight as the Daka Lama (A famous Monk). When arriving in Singapore a group of suicidal Japanese terrorists attempt to assassinate Daka. They manage to shoot Daka, but Ling is also caught in the cross fire.

Doctors find out that both patients need a blood transfusion, yet to make things more complicated both patients require a certain blood type. They need blood type P and there is only three available donors in Singapore. Now both police officers Tai (Alan Tam) and Stone (Leung Kar-Yan) have only 12 hours to get the donors, but the suicidal Japanese ‘Red Army’ are one step a head of them. The group have killed off two of the donors and which leave them with only one person left, Fatty (Eric Tsang). (continue reading…)

One of the most well casted films I’ve seen to date!

Sammo Hung plays a petty thief who returned to his home town, Hanshui. Sammo returns with a group of prostitutes including Olivia Cheng, Rosamund Kwan, Emily Chu & Wong Yuk Waan. Sammo comes up with the idea to de-rail a train filled with Multi-Millionaires travelling to Shanghai.

His reasons be that his home town seems run down, nothing new, nothing to attract people. So stopping this train will flood the town with many rich people and hoping it picks up the towns business…

Yet on the train their is a group of Japanese led by Hwang Jang Lee, Yasuaki Kurata & Yukari Oshima. They are carrying a very valuable map which leads to the location of a very valuable Jade Buddha. Now a group of Bandits led by James Tien along with Corey Yuen Kwai, Dick Wei, Chung Fat, Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and a whole bunch of lackys.

Another Storyline is the Police Force, led by Eric Tsang, Lam Ching-Ying, Yuen Wah, Wu Ma, Mang Hoi & Chow Gam Kong. The town off Hanshui is so quiet, there isn’t any crimes. Yet the police force were so bored they decided to set fire to the one of the buildings, this is used as a distraction the police force rob the towns bank. Most of the group escape, yet both Wu Ma & Mang Hoi are caught by the Firemen, led by Yuen Biao, Hsiao Ho, Chin Kar-Lok, Peter Chan & Siu Tak Foo.

The Police Force plan that their only method of escape is hitching a ride on the Shanghai Express. Now the town without a police force is useless. So the mayor decides to make the Fire Brigade the new Police Force. Biao decides that the first plan of action is to foil Sammos plan on derailing the train and then arrest the fleeing bank robbers.

Richard Ng and Lynda Shum join the list A cast as a rich couple boarding the train although Richard Ng has a secret mistress which leads him into some sticky situations.

Now the action, you know its Sammo Hung Action, its got to be good don’t you think? Well it is. We get to see a great fight between Sammo vs. Yuen Biao, Sammo vs. Cynthia Rothrock and Yuen Biao versing Dick Wei in a very fast paced fight to the end.

Yuen Biao also does a excellent stunt, doing a cartwheel off a two story building and landing on the ground and then delivering a line of dialogue. Hsiao Ho also takes quite a jump, Sammo tricks Ho into following him to the roof of a hotel. Sammo confronts Ho and Ho decides to exit by jumping off the building. from the roof to a balcony and from the balcony to the dirt!!

The Millionaires Express is a great action comedy which I highly recommend to all.

Plot: After receiving a DVD from ‘Ninth Auntie’ (Sandra Ng) housewife’s and girlfriend of four rowdy men (Eric Tsang, Jordan Chan, Cheung Tat-Ming & Wong Yue-Nam) travel to Macau to fool around behind their partners back, going by the terms “Wife’s play so that Husbands stay”.

So fooling around behind your husbands back is the only way to maintain your marriage? As you can expect the men suspect something’s fishy going on and travel to Macau to catch them in the act! (continue reading…)

Men Suddenly In Black is one of the most original films I’ve seen in ages. With a complex, but amusing story of four men attempting to fool around as much as they could before their wife’s return from a 14 hour Buddhism trip to Thailand. After failed attempts in the past, Tin (Eric Tsang) ensures his three companions that they will succeed this time.

They have went to great lengths to ensure victory. Equipped with various types of Viagra, 9 flavored condoms (everyman has his limits), new SIM cards, Cash (instead of using credit cards, where traces can be found) and non attention seeking vehicle, aka Taxi! (continue reading…)

There’s always a price to pay when you hire an assassin, from 10 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recently a mysterious killer, known as the ‘Angel Of Death’ has appeared in Hong Kong. Asking no payment for his services because all of his targets are evil men and they deserve to die. The Angel of Death is considered to be The King Of Killers. Although no one knows the true identity of the Angel. This masked assassin is a force not to be reckoned with. The opening scenes of the film. The Angel of Death claims the life of a smutty billionaire, Mr. Tsukamoto. In Mr. Tsukamoto Will he mentions if he is killed by an assassin $100 Million US will be rewarded to the person who kills the assassin…This is where our Story begins. (continue reading…)