Movies
Director Jacob Cheung too made the jump to China, like so many of his Hong Kong compatriots. He comes with a rather classic drama that digs into the history of China's traveling stage troupes, a topic China likes to revisit once in a while. Not my favorite material, but Cheung's attempt isn't all that bad. Cheung has an eye for beauty, which is a big asset for a film like this. Add some very nice martial arts scenes and you have a good, solid basis for the drama to thrive on, even when it's all quite predictable. The soundtrack isn't too overbearing and performances are decent, it's no true masterpiece though as there's not enough to set it apart from similar films.Read all
The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom
When I first watched this film I was still orienting myself in Asian cinema. I remember liking films that mixed different languages, so this one stood out for obvious reasons. Looking at it now, I can still see the appeal, but there were too many things that kept me from fully enjoying it. The lead performances are solid, the rest of the cast isn't quite on the same level. The film is also a bit too reliant on farfetched coincidences and the second half could've been slimmed down. Still, the styling is proper and the story is pretty intriguing, it's just not as good as I remembered it to be.Read all
