Lan Yu

Starring:Ye Liu, Jun Hu, Jin Su, Fang Lu, Yongning Zhang, Shuang Li, Li Huatong
Director: Stanley Kwan
Studio: Strand Releasing
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Stupid, in cute way.......1999-02-25

This movie is a strange combination of slapstick comedy and soft porn. There are many "stupid" scenes, combined with nudity and simulated sex. The first few minutes are good example of this. The leading lady's boyfriend is continually accidentially abused, and then they have sex. However, putting aside its flaws (I am not a fan of sex scenes), it is generally a fun, mindless movie. For those interested, it does come with English subtitles.

5 Stars on the CUTE rating.......1998-10-21

To be sure, "Girls Unbutton" would not be considered an Academy award contender. However, the film is very cute, somewhat a more mature, Asian version of "Sixteen Candles". It is also a feel-good movie. Lots of nudity, but with lots of humor. Barring its excessive usage of nudity, it would be a good family movie. Too bad I won't be able to share the movie with my little cousins. END

Average customer rating:

Not perfect by any means, but an enjoyable kung fu movie
Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting
Old Skool Kung Fu!!
EAT DOGS
GOOD

The Shaolin Temple
Starring: Jet Li , Hu Jian Qiang , Cheng-Hui Yu , Du Chuan Yang , and Sun Jian Kui
Director: Chang Hsin Yen , and Xinyan Zhang
Manufacturer: Beverly Wilshire
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Martial Arts of Shaolin
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ASIN: B00005B31Y
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Customer Reviews:

Not perfect by any means, but an enjoyable kung fu movie.......2006-09-13

Now the story is decent. I laughed a few times but the drama didn't exactly stick with me. Jet Li starts out the movie as a young kid who has just had his father murdered by an evil Manchu general or something and Jet has been injured fighting with him trying to save his dad. So the monks find him and care for him in the temple and against some of the monks better judgement they make Jet a monk. When these evil guys end up storming the temple, all of the training scenes are very worthwhile. It was not the most coherent of stories but it didn't need to be. Watching Jet doing his solo training was amazing. Drunken style gets pulled out and there are some really cool moves in this fights. They did make a few of the shots look supernatural but it is still pretty good for all of these peoples first movie ever. Jet has talked about before how there was no martial arts choreographer for this movie and how everyone had to provide input and come up with the fights themselves. Jet's sifu in this movie can also be seen as his master in shaolin tepmle 2 and Twin Warriors(aka Tai Chi Master). So don't buy this movie for a gripping story abotu teh Shaolin Temple btu buy it for the sweet martial arts being displayed in Jet Li's first ever movie.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting.......2006-08-29

You've seen me complain about Westerners who portray the Chinese solely as stick figures and stereotypes. But guess what? Some Chinese are equally guilty of this crime. Including those behind this modern film.

Three outsiders kneel outside the temple for five days. One "must become Shaolin to have his revenge," which we know is wrong, and he will pay a heavy price. The temple has never let in outsiders, but finally the Grand Master ends his lengthy meditation and decides they must, lest they perish. So we get three new Shaolin kids with awesome sideburns. I think Chinese films mirror American films in this respect. Sideburns are naughty. Just ask Elvis. Thank you very much.

Meanwhile some soldiers come to the temple. They need help repelling those nasty Qing conquerors, which sounds like something I read somewhere. They're allowed in immediately, whereas those other guys who'd been kneeling for three days are not.

It's a test of their dedication. Well, 20 minutes of stereotypes, over-the-top unfunny physical humor, and babbling lunacy tested my dedication, and I failed. I didn't watch the whole DVD.

In minute 20, two guys demonstrated the five styles, same as the very first episode of KUNG FU, the TV series, that's about 25 years older, and which is itself far from original in this respect. Fine wushu, but this isn't new. Next, a bit of sparring. Admonishments not to be lazy. Old guy breaking firewood with his bare hands to overblown brass music. Oooooh.

I can predict the rest. We'll have a big fight, some guys will mature, some guys will die, and good will triumph. Or not. Nobody cares. I'm stopping now. We found this in the flat when we moved in, it's 120 minutes, I watched 23, life's short. Zaijian.

P.S. I just learned there is a sequel. Huh?

Old Skool Kung Fu!!.......2006-07-13

I'm not a Jet Li fan,,except in Leathal Weapon 4. However, I really enjoyed his performance in this flick,,,,,I though his performance was brilliant,,,he was simply outstanding. To keep it simple,,check this one out,,,you will not be dissapointed!!

EAT DOGS.......2006-02-09

I do not like the part where people eat dogs. So it getes one star. How can you eat a dog? Are you ..... ???

GOOD.......2005-07-20

Downloaded this movie, its fire. The scenes are mad nice. The fighting is crazy if you like kung fu movies this is one you HAVE to have now. Its really good and will keep you watching for sure.

I liked it

Average customer rating:

Okay if you're a fan of the series and Bridgette Lin
The Bride With White Hair 2
a sorry movie
Good on its own weird merits
A lovers' reunion you won't want to miss

The Bride With White Hair 2
Starring: Brigitte Lin , Leslie Cheung , Christy Chung , Yee-Man Man , and Ruth Winona Tao
Director: Ronny Yu , and David Wu
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Bride With White Hair
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ASIN: 6305020582
Release Date: 1998-07-22

Description

The BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR saga continues with the bloody massacre of the followers of the Eight Clans. Powerful, insane and obsessed with hatred, The Bride (Brigitte Lin) has gone on a killing rampage, and can only be stopped by the one person she loves (Leslie Cheung).

Customer Reviews:

Okay if you're a fan of the series and Bridgette Lin.......2007-05-07

The story line is direction is okay. Action sequences are good but not spectacular. Fast-paced and confusing at times. It took me 2-days to watch, since I fell asleep on it the first time.

The Bride With White Hair 2.......2006-10-19

I loved part 1 , but just to let everyone know before you buy it.The language says english and the cover is in english , but only the subtitle is in english.There is no where on the dvd to change it.

a sorry movie.......2006-09-08

I wrote a huge review for this and don't know where it is but let me give you the short version. They don't continue the story, that is until the end of the movie. AND THAT WAS THE PART TRHAT RUINED THE MOVIE FOR ME. The movie is about this kid from the wudang sword school and he is going to get married. Enter the Bride. She of course doesn't want anybody to be happy so...

The story is not really worth going over, it is just injected and there are no real emotions. Except of course for an ending that really PO'ed me. The only reason this movie gets a 2 stars and almost gets a 3 is for Christy Chung. Not only is she one of the most beautiful women on earth, she is a great actress. So I know of 2 movies now that are only worth watching for her, this and Red Wolf. It may be because the people she works with are so terrible, but to tell the truth, Christy Chung actually made me pop this dvd in for a second time. Not a big deal since it was only like a 77 minute long movie.

Good on its own weird merits.......2006-03-28

Forget that Bridgett Lin and Leslie Cheung were the stars of the first movie and just enjoy this one for its own bizarre standards. The plotline involves the Bride kidnapping another bridge, brainwashing her into trying to kill her fiance and fighting. Lots of fighting. The fiance is helped by his grandmother (who does kung fu better than anyone) and his female friend who is jealous of the whole arrangement but loyal to a fault.

And this also has the best payoff to the requisite canto-pop montage. It was also the first time I ever laughed aloud at the "this is a work of fiction, any resemblence to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental" tag at the end.

Beyond that, Leslie Cheung and Bridgett Lin do reunite at the end and it is wonderful, but the real story ended with the first movie. This is just an excuse to get Bridgett Lin with the white hair as a lethal weapon. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

A lovers' reunion you won't want to miss.......2005-12-30

The Bride With White Hair 2 followed quickly upon the success of the original movie, taking up the tragic story of Cho Yi-Hang (Leslie Cheung) and his forbidden love Lien Ni-Chang (Brigitte Lin). By betraying his sacred pledge that he would never doubt his beloved, Cho has unleashed a monster. Ni-Chang's fury over Cho's betrayal drives her completely mad, transforming her into the white-haired witch who lives only to destroy every living member of the Eight Clans, especially the Wu Tang clan to which Cho belongs. As for Cho, he has retreated to Mount Shin Fung, guarding over a mystical flower whose bloom (and it only blooms once every twenty years) can cleanse and restore the woman he still loves.

Ten years have passed since the deadly night that Ni-Chang went mad and almost single-handedly destroyed the Wu Tang clan. Only two members of the clan survive: Cho, who has stood guard at Mount Shin Fung under blizzard conditions all these years, and Cho's nephew Kit (Sunny Chan). With Kit's impending marriage to Lyre (Joey Maan), the opportunity to further the bloodline exists - and so it is that Ni-Chang crashes the party, kidnaps the young bride, and takes her back to her own private castle full of man-hating, deadly women. There, Lyre is indoctrinated in the witch's "See a man, kill a man" philosophy and programmed to kill Kit with her own hands.

The Eight Clans send their best warriors to try and kill the witch and rescue Lyre, but they are all almost defenseless against Ni-Chang, who uses her deadly hair as a most effective weapon (sounds weird, I know, but it works really well). It soon becomes clear that the only person who might be able to defeat the white witch is Cho Yi-Hang, and this sets the stage for a most unforgettable reunion between the two former lovers.

This sequel is a more direct, action-oriented film than the original The Bride With White Hair, and for that reason I actually found it more enjoyable on the surface. Still, though, it lacks the depth and beauty of the original, largely because the two lovers do not meet again face to face until the final scene - although that meeting is well worth the wait. Most certainly, if you've seen and enjoyed the original, you'll want to experience this sequel.

Average customer rating:

Amateurish early Scorsese offering that bores rather than thrills
Blown Away!! - A Film School Course in just 90 min.
What A Great First Film
AN EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT
We talking about pennies

Who's That Knocking at My Door?
Starring: Thomas Aiello , Zina Bethune , Philip Carlson , Anne Collette , and Paul DeBonde
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000286RPM
Release Date: 2004-08-17

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Martin Scorsese's debut feature, Who's That Knocking at My Door? contains many of the autobiographical elements that would inform Scorsese's work as became a director of world-class importance. This was Harvey Keitel's debut as well, and he plays a young New Yorker named J.R. (the name also served as the film's alternate title) as a tortured vehicle for Scorsese's own inner conflict between rigid Catholic tradition and initial forays into liberating sexual experience. Produced over a lengthy on-and-off schedule while Scorsese was a struggling New York University film student, and shot in the Little Italy neighborhoods where Scorsese was raised, the film (with a final budget of $75,000) is a boldly stylized, stream-of-consciousness experience, establishing Scorsese's passion for well-chosen rock & roll soundtrack songs while plumbing the depths of J.R.'s soul as he begins a tenuous relationship with an independent, sexually experienced young woman (Zina Bethune) who's at odds with J.R.'s seething repression. Incorporating fantasy sequences to further convey the young man's turbulent thoughts and emotions, Who's That Knocking at My Door earned favorable reviews, announcing the arrival of a bracing new talent and setting the stage, five years later, for the breakout triumph of Mean Streets. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Amateurish early Scorsese offering that bores rather than thrills.......2006-05-18

This is something of a made-in-my-garage early effort from Scorsese and accordingly has plenty of rough edges and little in the way of charm or transcendence. I would only recommend this movie to Scorsese obsessives and in particular aficionados of Mean Streets. As Mean Streets is my favorite film, I felt it a duty to watch Knocking which has often been described as a dry run for Streets. Although it has many of the elements that would later blossom into the classic Scorsese style, it doesn't quite come together here. In fact, strip out the curiosity factor and Keitel's maverick performance and it's a thoroughly tedious and self-indulgent affair. But then everyone has to start somewhere and if for nothing else, at least Knocking made me wish I was an Italian living in Lower Manhattan circa 1960.

I'd advise anyone reading this to proceed directly to Mean Streets, a film of kinetic energy, loud neon and operatic brashness that Knocking only hints at.

Blown Away!! - A Film School Course in just 90 min........2006-03-22

I love watching a director's early works and this 4-year film school graduate and post-graduate project by Martin Scorsese did not disappoint. Throughout this whole film I felt like I had discovered buried treasure. And as someone who makes short films, I felt the 90-minutes watching this crafted work was like getting an education in the art of filmmaking.

First off, the Scorsese camera work is fluid and dramatic. Here's one example: In one scene you see a butcher chopping meat and the camera is looking through a window. The camera pulls back and back and back until you realize it's placed on a tall building across the street. But then enter from stage right on the sidewalk far below, are two characters in the movie, the camera picks up on them then slowly zooms back to follow their actions - Brilliant.

Secondly, the dialog is beautifully crafted for the characters. In one scene JR (the Keitel character) is coyly trying to strike up a conversation with a young lady on the ferry. The are able to develop a conversation even though they figuratively speak different languages (him from the street; her a more cultured background).

Third and very important, is how Scorsese brings to life, what he saw growing up in the streets of Little Italy, NY. It's like an early version of how the characters actively engaged each other in his more recent 80's film "Goodfellas". And being an Italian-American from the East coast I can relate.

Also, It was really great to go back in time and see how it was to live back in the mid-to-late 60's. Those who criticize that the movie is amateuristic, dated or unpolished missed an opportunity to really enjoy a great American film.

For example: In the film, the idea that a man would get hung-up over whether a woman was a virgin or not would not work today, but back then it was relavent. And Scorsese in this his first film explored the idea of sin, confession and forgiveness. The church was a big part of his life as a boy and young man.

Scorsese's films reflect the world he knew and that was a few square blocks in Little Italy. That is YOUR window as the viewer of this film to see a slice of life back in a time that is now gone.

If you love film, give yourself a treat - Don't miss it!!

What A Great First Film.......2005-12-03

Scorsese as everyone reading this review or thinking about buying this item probaly already knows is one the greatest living filmmakers. Maybe its having lived in the Tri-State area my whole life and having close relatives of Italian decent, but I have always found the films of Scorese hitting close to home in many ways. The characters live and breathe on screen in such a way-its unbelievable. Okay that said let me move on to the movie at hand, Scorsese having made most of this in film school-its impressive beyond belief, it has so much raw energy to it, the scenes involving the guys just hanging out seem so real, and also as a director he shows some very stylish stuff-cinema stuff-its not as polished or as great as Mean Streets-but for anyone interest in film or Scorsese i say its a must see...

AN EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT.......2005-07-01

Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest filmmakers living today, not to mention one of the best filmmakers ever. He's one of the few directors in Hollywood to not be tainted by the system. He makes all his movies with his heart and soul. Who's That Knocking At My Door? is no different. This was also the acting debut of Harvey Keitel and he's as good then as he is now. A fan of Scorsese and movies should definately see Who's That Knocking At My Door?.

We talking about pennies.......2004-09-04

Harvey Keitel was a court stenographer and Martin Scorsese was an NYU grad student when they began the film that became "Who's That Knocking at My Door?" It took a good chunk of the 1960s to finish.

Low-budget? "We talking about pennies," says Scorsese's directorial assistant and classmate, Mardik Martin.

The black-and-white film concerns a young man's inner turmoil as he tries to reconcile religion and romance while boozing it up with his pals in Little Italy. Zina Bethune is the seasoned actress on the project, pretty and mysterious. Keitel visibly ages during the film, because it was shot over several years. Scorsese's music collection propels the film, as it would in "Mean Streets" and "GoodFellas."

The new DVD does what it can, but the movie looks like hell, with persistent wear and contrasts that threaten to simply fade to black. Fuggedaboutit. It's a compelling little film, crawling with tension and filled with creativity.

Average customer rating:

Really Enjoyed!
Ehh...
Liked It, But Not As Much As I Wanted To -- But I think you'll enjoy it
Surpised me
An incredible Chinese love story....between two men!

Lan Yu
Starring: Ye Liu , Jun Hu , Jin Su , Yongning Zhang , and Li Huatong
Director: Stanley Kwan
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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East Palace, West Palace
Fleeing By Night
Just a Question of Love
Taboo
Doubt

ASIN: B000094J7X
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Description

Hailed by NEWSWEEK as one of the best films of 2002, Stanley Kwan's groundbreaking, beautifully filmed adaptation of an anonymously published internet novel, Lan Yu is set against the Tiananmen Square uprising. Lan Yu tells the story of a young, gay architecture student and his ongoing relationship with an older, successful businessman. The handsome playboy-businessman must choose between his comfortable, yet closeted life in the straight world, or an honest, yet subversive life with the student. Lan Yu was selected in the opening/closing night slots for the San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles Gay Film Festivals inn 2002, as well as playing at the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Toronto Film Festival.

Customer Reviews:

Really Enjoyed!.......2007-05-27

I really enjoyed this movie. The cover sparked my interest immediately, and the film did not disappoint. I was all smiles from the start (until the very end, naturally). How anyone can look upon the love shared between these two men in disgust (or homosexuals in general for that matter) is beyond me. It's sexy and real and beautiful and sad all in one. And like the director says in the interview available on the disc, it's a story no different than one that can be told between a man and a woman as well. Love is love. Anyway, it's also interesting to learn that the director can relate to both lead characters himself from his own personal experiences with love. And can't we all?

Ehh..........2006-11-29

I read many reviews saying this was one of the best gay love stories ever. great gay movies are extreemly hard to come by. most are d-movies with horible acting and silly plots and bad filming. i was told by many that this one was "different" its "fantastic". I didnt really like it. It hardly could keep my attenchion for 5 minutes. I didnt care if they stayed together at all. break up? make up? be together forever? more like whatever...will true love conquer all? maybe in a better movie...

Liked It, But Not As Much As I Wanted To -- But I think you'll enjoy it.......2006-02-11

There are plenty of things to like about this movie, but my expectations for "Lan Yu" were several levels higher than any point this flick ever reached.
I do like the "treatment" of the female character the older man left Lan Yu to marry -- it was easy to see why a gay man would try going straight to be with her. Alas, the poor guy was no match for her intellect, and this was made very appparent so that without showing any scenes of their married life I knew why the relationship was doomed from the start, and it wasn't due to his being gay, but due to the fact that he wasn't as astute as was she. I'm glad she was cast as some pathetic fag hag so desperate for the company of a man that she knowingly tried to swim upstream. Looked more like she figured a moderately rich but dumb guy who knew he needed her interllectual skills to get them both to wealth was better than a poor man who shared her intellect but would never acquire any of the material things so appreciated by a woman with good tastes. She would have been age-appropriate for him if not for the fact that he was an adolescent in a middle-aged man's body. She was certainly better-looking than Lan Yu!
Happily, and unlike with that loathesome "Eban & Charlie", things connected up well in Lan Yu, so that little things touch upon early on turned up meaning a lot by the end. I won't be specific so you will have to enjoy watching it yourself.
I was expecting a more attractive actor for Lan Yu. Yeah, I know, you say I'm too shallow. Well, I think if I were an older guy spending money on young bed bunnies, I'd get the prettiest ones my money could buy. Having adjusted to his seeming penchant for the "hardworking young student" type, I was puzzled by his clumsy attempts to make-it with the "young athlete" type. Tell you what though, I got plenty of laughs looking at the body of the guy cast in the "young athlete" role: he looked ridiculous! Like a little mini-Michelin-man! Whenever they pick guys with big-yet-soft-and-flabby-features where there should be hard, well-defined muscles, I think the casting woman must have been using too much heroin that day.
The movie was far too sterile for my liking, which is to say that it needed sex or violence to make it interesting. On the other hand, the men weren't especially attractive, so the lack of sex is a good thing, but they should have made up for it with violence. Show us the accident, for example. In fact, show us such an accident early on, then later we'll already know something like that could happen.
Also, I wonder if there's any benefit to showing one side of a phone conversation with a person who is inconsequential to the plot.
The ending put an interesting twist on everything that preceded it, just as it should.
ENJOY this movie by not having high expectations. In fact, if you want to guarantee you will love this movie more than any other, watch it right after viewing Eban & Charlie. JOKING -- Only Osama Bin Laden should be made to see that piece of crud.

Surpised me.......2003-10-09

I had no inkling what was in store for my viewing experience when I picked up this DVD out of curiosity at my local public library. Someone had stolen the case cover, so I was trying to figure out what this movie might be about. Alas, I can tell you that I didn't expect at all to see full frontal nudity of a man... in a film from China!

Well, strictly speaking this is a Hong Kong production, I suppose, and I'm sure this is an underground cult in Communist China. I can't imagine "the butchers of Beijing" would let this film run publicly, not only because of its homosexuality theme, but because of the backdrop of corruption among the party elite (what's the Russian word for that?) and the Tiananmen Square protests.

Anyway, the movie is surprisingly good. Some may find the story melodramatic or simple-minded. But as a non-gay person, I find the plot very easy to follow, the emotions very easy to believe in, and the acting superb. The actor who plays the title character is simply outstanding. He exudes both some kind of countryside manhood and yet at the same time a lot of feminine sensitivity. OK, seriously, I'm not gay, but I was totally drawn into the story and into the characters. The death of Lan Yu at the end is just very, very sad.

I'd always thought HK movies were cheesy, low-budget flicks aimed at pleasing the after-hour drunkards. Now I know better. Stanley Kwan has a masterpiece in Lan Yu. It's a movie that will touch the hearts of both gay and non-gay viewers.

An incredible Chinese love story....between two men!.......2003-09-02

I didn't expect the emotional involvement that I developed during this film. The only other Chinese directed film I've watched involving a love story between two men was "The Wedding Banquet", which I enjoyed tremendously. This movie, however, I bought on a whim and it payed off! The story centers around a young architecture student who begins an affair with an older ,successful business man. Lan Yu, the student, is wooed with dinners, money and many superficial things (none of which are important to him) but eventually has his heart broken by Hangdong, who can't commit to a relationship that he thinks will never last. He feels that he must commit to a proper marriage with a woman, and after meeting a smart, beautiful woman that fits the bill as the perfect wife, he marries her and ends his relationship with Lan Yu. Fate, however, brings the two men together some time later after Hangdong has divorced his wife and the two become lovers again but not before Hangdong's job and personal freedom are threatened. Lan Yu, at this time, proves how deeply he loves Hangdong. I won't go further into detail about what happens from there nor will I give away the ending.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful movie!.......2006-04-18

I bought this movie on clearance because it was very cheap (I never read the book, so I can't compare) but I admit having seen it, this is one of my all time favorite movies! Sure the storyline is pretty predictable but so what? This is a beautiful movie (it's also a tear-jerker) with gorgeous scenery and really shows the viewer about chinese culture. The actors are great too! I highly recommend this movie.

Don't attempt filmmaking..........2005-04-26

...it you have no skill at it. What was lacking? An excellent and thoughtful plot? Well-developed characters? A moral conundrum that has falls into shades of gray and is not black and white? Pearl Buck provides all of these in her skillful novel. The lady of the house does not fall in love with the American priest because her husband is as disgusting as he is portrayed in this film. In the book, he is a common, simple man, whose greatest fault is stupidity.

I watched only the early part of this film and then trashed it. The first analogy that came to mind, like another reviewer, was the rendition of Mansfield Park on film where there is a similiar obsession on the part of the filmmakers with sex and violence (together in the same scene), thereby denoting that they always go together. PLEASE, spare us your excessive imaginations. DON'T mess with a classic. If both Pavilion of Women and Mansfield Park are classics and have survived through so many years and are beloved to so many readers, consider this fact. Their authors know MUCH MUCH more than you do, are FAR more sensible people, have a MUCH greater sense of how humanity functions than you, (quite obviously with your record here) will EVER have.

Kapish? Don't mess with greatness, and don't add your own seamy and dirty version of what you consider to be reality to it. If you do want to make films like this, join another branch of the film industry and leave the greats alone.

Modern view of oppressive traditional Chinese way of life.......2003-07-31

I remember reading Pearl Buck's "Pavilion of Women" as a child and loving it. I've forgotten the details of the plot long ago. But I do remember it was about Madame Wu, a wealthy Chinese woman who, on her 40th birthday, decided to stop marital relations with her husband and find him a young concubine. At that time 40 years old seemed very old to me. Now it seems quite young.

This 2001 adaptation of the novel is set in 1937 and was filmed in China and partially financed by the Beijung Film Studios. The Chinese actress Yan Luo not only stars as Madame Wu, but also helped write the screenplay and produce the film. She's beautiful and stately and gives a fine performance. Willem Dafoe is cast as a village priest who runs a local orphanage. They are attracted to each other and the inevitable happens. But that is only part of what the story is about. Basically, it's about the oppressive world of the old-fashioned traditional Chinese family. And the future promise of communism. I read the book a long time ago and don't remember such a strong emphasis on communism. But this film is, after all, produced from a modern Chinese point of view.

Many critics hated this film, called it too slow and too romantic. And all of them objected to the fact that the characters spoke English. I usually would agree with all those objections. It IS an overblown soap opera after all. However, I found watching this film a delight. I loved the opulent world of pre-communist China that I remember so well from Pearl Buck novels, including the acceptance of the concubine. And I liked the fact that the bedroom scenes were much more explicit than what was hinted at by Pearl Buck. I just relaxed and let myself be part of this fantasy world for a little while. And even though the film was a full two hours long, I never was bored.

Taste is personal, of course. And even though I can't understand why I enjoyed Pavilion of Women so much, I do recommend it.

Beautiful people, glorious photography, and romance........2003-05-29

This film is one of those movies you like to watch with your better half on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a large couch and a bowl of popcorn. Don't expect a lot from this particular movie (loosely based on Pearl Buck's book). It would never win an Academy Award, but not every movie is made for such shallow recognition. The Chinese women characters are stunningly beautiful, the location photography is breathtaking, and even Willem Dafoe is pleasant enough to watch in this film. This is one of those movies guys love because it has enough story to keep the girls interested, and enough slow periods where you can get a lot of hugging and kissing in. For that reason alone, I should have given this movie 6 stars!

So bad...it's good!.......2002-12-16

'Pavilion of Women' is an unintentionally hilarious film. The movie is set in China, all the dialogue is in English - stilted English at that (including Willem Dafoe's as a matter of fact) - though it is meant to be in Chinese.

The characters are incredibly broadly drawn - husband's a sex-addicted lying cheat, wife's a saint, son's a rebel, etc. Watching this film, we turned to each halfway through and wondered "Why haven't we turned this off yet?" The answer: the movie was so bad that watching it had become fun - just *how bad* could it get?

Amazon.com

Director Wayne Wang is in his appealingly low-key groove with this wry comedy-drama, a precursor to his later success with The Joy Luck Club. It's set in the aftermath of World War II, when the restrictive U.S. immigration laws had finally been relaxed. WWII vet Russell Wong is a young Chinese-American hepcat, strong-armed by his dad (the wonderfully gnarled character actor Victor Wong) into an arranged marriage with a Chinese girl (Cora Miao). The trip to China, and the atmosphere of New York's Chinatown, are neatly mounted. The film's central joke, and metaphor, is the bridegroom's impotence after marriage; he's cowed by the expectations of his traditional culture, which don't necessarily match his own ideas. In its quiet way, Eat a Bowl of Tea examines the larger issues of ethnic identity while poking affectionate fun at its floundering characters--a distinctly modern attitude for a 1940s story. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Poorly Played.......2007-02-21

I had to watch this movie for a class, and I was sorely disappointed. You don't need to have read the book to see how abridged the movie is, condensing long periods of time into a few unconvincing seconds. This isn't helped by the fact that Russell Wong has the emotional range of Keanu Reeves. There were only two scenes in the film that I thought came together in every respect - both starring Victor Wong - but the fact that they were such good moments only made the poor quality of the rest of the film that much more apparent.

I felt the script was bland and unoriginal, and the actors seemed to lack any real personality on the screen because of this. It seemed exactly like a dozen other American movies, only this one starred Chinese actors. None of the decisions within the movie seem believable, and the ending feels tacky and schmaltzy and all those other things I can't stand in a movie.

It's definitely not the worst movie, but I had much higher expectations from it.

An original and poignant story.......2005-10-10

This film deserves a special place in the Chinese-American pantheon. It's not about the "clash" between old and new, East and West, a theme that too many movies and books have beaten to death. It's about family, love, relationships, and history, without any cliches. The story touches on subjects very rarely dealt with, such as impotence, brilliantly so. The love story is romantic and realistic. Everyone puts in wonderfully authentic performances. This is my favorite Chinese-American film. If you like it, you may want to read the book, which is even better.

Excellent movie.......2005-09-25

This movie provides audience with the discussing topic for cultural conflicts and interference. It reveals how a Chinese women immigrate to America on the basis of marriage, and how she represents the so-called Chinese virtue to masculism society in teh early time.

more emasculation of Asian-American men.......2002-10-19

This film is important and needed for three reasons. One, you get to see supa-fine Russell Wong. Two, rarely do you see a movie with so many Asian-American men. Three, this movie illustrates that Asians did live in the US before 1965's liberalization of immigration laws. Still, in this movie, when Russell is a gigolo for a white female client, he's sexually active. However, when he has a cute Chinese wife, he's impotent. This seems like some disturbing white-worshipping to me. It's kinda anti-Asian woman too. Haven't we seen and heard enough of historical stereotypes of Asian men as not true masculines?! Then, the end is too fast and illogical. This movie had so much potential that it did not meet.

Amiable counter-clash comedy with a dark undertow........2002-02-25

Although it never deadens itself with too much period detail, you can almost touch the 1940s atmosphere in Wayne Wang's film, the dark rooms and grey streets occasionally filtered by cold sunlight. 'Eat A Bowl Of Tea' recreates a crucial moment in Chinese-American history - the relaxing of inequitable immigration laws that had prevented Chinamen bringing their women into the country, and the subsequent influx of young female life into the sterile world of old men - with little historical fanfare, and maximum attention to human experience. Wah Gay is a successful club owner who hasn't seen the wife he left behind in 20 years, and who despairs at ever seeing his frivolous son, who served in the US Army during the war (the mass of Chinese who had done so causing the laws to be repealed) ever settling down and continuing his line. He sends him back home to marry a friend's daughter, bring her back, take a good job and start a family. All these pressures, unfortunately, make the young man impotent, and his frustrated wife is forced to take a lover.

As the film starts, with its wisecracking Greek chorus, its warm 40s look and its 40s jazz standards on the soundtrack, you might almost be watching a Chinese Nora Ephron film. The struggles of individuals against the community begins to take a starker turn as the film progresses, and characters become alienated from each other. The film is full of images and situations in which Chinese and American cultures confront one another, sometimes to harmonious effect, but just as often clashing. For instance, during the arranged courtship in China, the couple's first moment alone on screen is against the backdrop of an open-air projection of 'Lost Horizon', a famous American film about the Orient, whose English is translated by the village sage (the media and representations are important elements in 'Eat'). When the couple holiday in Washington to try and escape the pressures of community and finally make love, the familiar American landmarks are overlaid with Chinese music. The very real human problems - family, marriage, impotence, work - are shown to be indistinguishable from crises over identity; Ben Loy's impotence, his failure to continue the line and complete the Oedipal process, is a sign of his inability to unite Chinese and American, old wisdom and new entrepreneurialism, communal expectation and private desires.

Customer Reviews:

Riding off of the success of Shaolin Temple, the group gets together again to make a comedy this time.......2006-09-13

I actually liked this more than the first. There is a lot of singing and it is kind of a kiddie movie, but when the fighting begins, your kids will never watch another genre again. There is not really a good guy and a bad guy in this flick until the end.

The story is about a Shaolin master and his boys becoming friendly with the girls across the way. It just so happens that the girls father is a Wudang master. So of course they can't be together. Shaolin hates Wudang! Well, in the movies at least. So some plot gets injected with bandits they will have to fight. The final fight is spectacular. If you are looking for a movie that will at least make you giggle and has unbelievable action sequences, Kids from Shaolin is one you need to check out.

Not bad, pretty good.......2003-04-19

I'd say its the second best from the series, a must see also. You will enjoy seeing the great Kung Fu hear. Not only will you see Shaolin Style here but also another one.

Shaolin vs Wu Tang.......2002-06-10

This is one of Jet Li's best of his earlier films. It tells the story of rivalry between two familes on either side of a river. One practices Wu Tang style, has only girls and is wealthy. The other is Shaolin, has only boys and is poor. The differences keep them apart and this suits well some riff raffs who want to steal the daughters and money from the wealthier family. The combination of humor, romance and fighting scenes make getting this movie worthwhile.

Interesting scenes.......2000-05-20

Lots of cute scenes, including when all the boy actors have to bend over for a caning.

This is the best movie!.......2000-04-11

This is my favorite movie. You should go see it. Especially if you are a Jet Li fan.

Average customer rating:

Not the Hot and Spicey Dish I Ordered
poignant
A comedy???
A Movie With No Ending = 1 Star
A Neo-Realist Flushing

Combination Platter
Starring: Jeffrey Lau , Coleen O'Brien , Lester Chit-Man Chan , Colin Mitchell , and Kenneth Lu
Director: Tony Chan
Manufacturer: KOCH LORBER FILMS
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0006A9I52
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Description

The story of a Chinese restaurant in the New York City area and its employees. One of these workers is Robert, an illegal immigrant, who is desperately seeking a green card. His best route to attain this goal, he admits, is to marry an American woman. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Customer Reviews:

Not the Hot and Spicey Dish I Ordered.......2007-05-31

Although the subject of the film is very timely and contemporary because it deals with illegal immigration, as a whole the film is rather bland. It deals with Robert a Chinese illegal alien trying to get his green card. Robert is a waiter at Szechuan Inn, a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, New York. He saves his pay and tips to send money home to his parents in China. He writes to them regularly and tells them what they want to hear: that he is dating a nice Chinese girl (which happens to be untrue). The restaurant occasionally gets unannounced visits from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services who inspect the premises to round up illegal aliens - so far Robert has managed to elude them. Eventually, Robert hopes to receive his green card so he can remain legally in the U.S. A good friend advises him of his only two options: either his employer needs to sponsor him or he must get married, even if it is a "marriage of convenience" [he pays someone to stay married to him for two years] so he can remain legally.

His friend introduces him to an American Chinese girl who is very outspoken and self-absorbed. She knows no Chinese. They negotiate for her to marry him for the sum of $25,000. Unfortunately, she senses his desperation and refuses, unless he will pay her $50,000. The sum is too large, he can not afford it. The friend provides him another option, date an American woman and try to marry her. Robert finds this choice uncomfortable but he has little choice so he goes along with the plan. He is introduced to Claire, an American young lady who works with computers. Their first date is to a movie, where Robert nearly falls asleep and Claire raves about the film, while Robert agrees with everything she says since he does not remember anything about it. Unfortunately, when Robert tells Claire he has no green card, she believes he is dating her only to obtain one and she drops him. In the whole film, there is just one ironic twist at the ending regarding the American Chinese girl to whom Robert was first introduced. Robert is asked to place a message in a Chinese fortune cookie by the American guy she is dating. Robert works very hard to remove the previous fortune and place the new one inside ... Unfortunately this last scene does not redeem the entire film.

There are definitely some funny moments in the film, for example, when Robert is asked by his American bus boy how to say, "Luck off" (substitute "F" for the "L") in Chinese, which he *does* teach him. Another amusing scene is when the waiters demand the food be ready quicker and they exchange vulgarities in Chinese which nearly results in a physical fight. Unfortunately overall, the film is rather mild and bland, not at all what I had expected since it won a Sundance Film Festival Award for screenwriting. I hoped to see some unexpected, out-of-the-ordinairy, surprise behavior in Robert's character or some complex turn in the plot but none of these occured. The film seemed to deflate. It ended on a rather flat note. While it is a film worth viewing, do not expect excitement or any falling off your seat laughter. It does however provide "a slice of life" [as stated by David Mills, Washington Post] from the point of view of a Chinese illegal immigrant but that is about all. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

poignant.......2006-10-24

I am amazed at the many reviewers who dont like it... then it strikes me,
that is precisely what the movie is about!

A Chinese illegal immigrant (Robert) who is seriously worried about survival and staying on in America - like all immigrants including legal ones like myself.

An American woman (Claire) for whom life is about self-fulfillment including a casual romance.

When these two worlds meet, grapple and try to come to terms, it comes apart.

The chinese man works as a waiter in a restaurant and there are true vignettes of chinese restaurant life.

Unwittingly perhaps, the director let on that many Chinese are not very truthful or in their culture it is not valued highly. When Robert (our hero) decides to come clean and honestly tell Claire what he wants, she doesnt recognize it because of the white lies he has told before.

Unfortunately the reviewers below are unable to appreciate the subtleness and some sadness - much like real life. They are like Claire in the movie.

Great movie - could replace Chinese with Indian, Hispanic etc and would in many places still be accurate.

A comedy???.......2005-10-26

Come on now, let's face it: This movie is awful! Another reviewer, trying to be kind, I think, suggests it might be enlightening for those who don't have the experience of living in an ethnic neighborhood. But really, there's nothing insightful about the situations in which these characters find themselves; they're boring, and offer no new aspects of a foreigner trying to make it in a foreign land. It's all cliches, and loaded with scenes with absolutely nothing happening! Okay, how about the positive aspects? Well, some of the characters are pretty likeable in my opinion--the main character and the hostess in the restaurant, in particular. That's the only positive thought I can muster for this one! And by the way, someone called this a comedy? I must have fast-forwarded through that part.

A Movie With No Ending = 1 Star.......2005-06-01

This movie was a Sundance winner? I heard this was a great movie so I was very excited about my lucky purchase. But I'm not sure what bothered me more: the poorly lit sets or the wooden acting by some of the lead actors. Probably the most bothersome thing about this film was the lack of an ending to the story.

Did the writer forget to add on the final scene so the audience would have some sense of where the lead character's life would take him? Or did the director just decide to call it a night knowing the audience would be denied have a satisfying (good, bad or ugly)ending to almost 2 hours worth of watching and caring about the lead charcter.

A celluloid slice of life into the dilemmas of the expatriated maybe, but we still need some kind of conclusion.

A Neo-Realist Flushing.......2004-11-11

Some of the other reviews compare COMBINATION PLATTER to MARTY. I don't know where this comparison began, but it's not apt. Although both films have to do with ethnic characters, MARTY, by Paddy Chayefsky is more character-driven, while COMBINATION PLATTER, though it follows a single protagonist, works more like an ensemble piece, following the adventures and misadventures of the waiters, cooks, dishwashers, hostess, and owner of a familiar mid-scale Chinese restaurant that caters to a predominently white clientele.

That said, what is strongest about the film is when the filmmaker and camera take us out of the restaurant and into the streets. Anyone who is familiar with Queens will instantly recognize Queens Center, Main Street, and the coup de grace, the old DRAKE movie theater, which was on Woodhaven Blvd, before it went out of business. These settings in and of themselves don't make for a movie, but they lend the film an authenticity of place.

The lead actor is also very convincing and with his muted performance conveys the angst of an immigrant seeking his place in the U.S.

Although the major dramatic question of will this illegal immigrant find a way to stay legally in the U.S. isn't answered at the film's end--the question is actually just dropped and forgotten 2/3 of the way in, the film does a good job of sustaining viewer's interest by picking up various strands of the ensemble drama. Will the hostess learn Chinese? Will the waiter with the gambling problem get caught? etc.

The film works and is an impressive first feature. The question in my mind is, whatever to the director Tony Chan? Has he done other films since? Anyone know?????

Average customer rating:

Not happy with purchase
This is NOT Duel Of The Iron Fist
not bad for an early kung fu flick
CLASSIC KUNG-FU MOVIE
Only if you like old-school fu

Duel of the Iron Fist
Starring: Wei Lieh Lan , Chen Hsing , Lung Ti , Hsiung Chiao , and Kwong Chung Li
Director: Cheh Chang
Manufacturer: 303 Recordings
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001DMUUY
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Customer Reviews:

Not happy with purchase.......2005-08-05

Although the movie is decent, the quality of the dvd is not, it has problems with sudden freezes at times, que quality of the picture is below standards and the ending of the movie is cutoff so there's no ending scene. A very dissapointing dvd.

This is NOT Duel Of The Iron Fist.......2005-03-06

Do not be fooled by the change of title, this is NOT Duel Of The Iron Fist...not entirely.

The VHS version of this classic film is called Duel Of The Shaolin Fist, and is edited for TV, minus much of the fight scenes, especially the final one. It's at least in wide screen, which is a plus. It clocks in at 90 minutes.

This DVD version clocks in at 98 minutes, but is full screen (meaning that we get to miss the sides of it all, including half their faces, at times). In addition, the ending is once again cut out of the film.

When will we be able to get the full-length, uncut version, in glorious wide screen? I doubt that I'll live long enough to see it again.

Awful work on this fantastic film. Don't waste your money.

not bad for an early kung fu flick.......2005-01-13

Duel of the Iron Fist was made and released before Bruce Lee took the world by storm, so the fight choreography in this movie is not the best, not saying that it is the worst either. Bruce Lee would later provide the formula for martial arts choreography. Duel of the Iron Fist is still worth viewing. The story is great, the acting is great and the fights are entertaining. It stars both David Chiang and Ti Lung, who are 2 of the better actors in Kung-Fu Cinema and it's directed by my favorite martial arts director Chang Cheh. So if you love old school Shaw Brothers than view this flick, if your'e expecting something like Jackie Chan or Jet Li, look elsewhere

CLASSIC KUNG-FU MOVIE.......2005-01-03

A YOUNG STREETFIGHTER RETURNS HOME TO FIND OUT WHO KILLED HIS GODFATHER. GREAT STORYLINE AND GOOD FIGHT SCENES. IF YOU LIKE OLD SCHOOL MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES, YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS ENJOYING THIS MOVIE. IT EVEN HAS AN ENDING I DIDN'T SEE COMING.

Only if you like old-school fu.......2004-08-24

For those not in the know, this was the second martial arts film shown in America (Yes, even before the late, great Bruce Lee's Golden Harvest classics became available). Being a Shaw Brothers movie directed by the greatest HK director ever, Chang Cheh, this film has its merits, but considering the talent behind it, it's somewhat disappointing in the choreography department. It has a decent story with good performances by Ti Lung & David Chiang, arresting visuals by Chang Cheh, glossy cinematography by Kung Mu-To, but what is up with the sloppy choreography by The Pops~Liu Chia-Liang?! Being an old-school fan who saw this on a rainy Saturday afternoon as a kid, I can be forgiving (to be fair, it does have an action-packed ending including a bamboo pole duel between David & Lung in the rain), but I do NOT recommend this for younger fans raised on Jackie Chan or Jet Li. If you're a fan of Shaw Brothers (like me) and/or Chang Cheh (like me), then you probably already saw this movie and can decide for yourself. If you're not familiar with the aforementioned names, then I suggest you check out some later Chang Cheh films he made with the Venoms. They never disappoint!

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