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Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Love For All Seasons will be out on DVD later this week. The romantic comedy from co-directors Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai stars Sammi Cheng and Louis Koo. Streeting on the same day, Black Mask II is the latest film from Tsui Hark. It's already received a Region 1 release and has been universally panned. So that means all fans of the horribly bad and boring will want to buy the Hong Kong version! I haven't seen it, but one of these days the temptation to rent it will be too much... Coming next week to Region 1 is Akira Kurosawa's Dreams. Looks like a bare-bones release from Warner Brothers, reasonably priced (for R1) at $19.98 list. The upcoming DVD release page has been updated. Corrections and additions are welcome. Monday, March 10, 2003 The first action movie -- albeit a war rescue version -- to open in a while, Bruce Willis brought home Tears of the Sun to the #2 position at the box office this past weekend. Topping it was the Steve Martin / Queen Latifah comedy, Bringing Down the House. I don't think there's a Hong Kong equivalent... The film had very high per-screen averages, which is why it almost doubled the Tears take. Chicago performed extremely well, and, in view of the Shaw Brothers musicals that are now being released, it may be interesting to check it out and compare it. Shanghai Knights hung in there for another week, and it will clearly make more money than its predecessor. In limited release, Laurel Canyon had a very good per-screen average. It's a relationship drama starring Francis McDormand and directed by the woman who did High Art, if you're familiar with that title from a couple of years ago. Last night I was very happy to see King Hu's Dragon Inn and also Escorts Over Tiger Hills -- possibly the first showing ever in the United States of the latter film -- as part of UCLA's Heroic Grace martial arts series. One was excellent, and the other had a very interesting final third. Thursday, March 6, 2003 Golden Chicken stars Sandra Ng as a Hong Kong prostitute who looks back over the years. I've heard good things about it; the DVD is out today from Panorama. Five more Shaw Brothers re-releases are out today, including Big Brother Cheng, which was originally scheduled for release a month ago. By now you've heard about the Region 1 DVD release of The Ring, the Hollywood version which some people apparently love. My affection is quite muted. I prefer the original Japanese version, which was also released on Region 1 DVD this past Tuesday. I haven't seen any reviews of it yet, though, and am not sure I want to buy another copy after shelling out for a PAL edition a few months ago. The Hong Kong International Film Festival just released their schedule; you can check it out at their web site. The festival will be held April 8-23. Opening wide tomorrow in the U.S.: the war rescue flick Tears of the Sun starring Bruce Willis, the Steve Martin comedy Bringing Down the House, and a handful of limited arthouse releases, including the controversial Irreversible and the Academy Award-nominated Nowhere in Africa. UCLA's Heroic Grace martial arts series continues this week with Come Drink With Me, Golden Swallow, Dragon Inn, and Escorts Over Tiger Hills unspooling. Reviews of the films I've seen in the series will follow. Home | Upcoming | Reviews | In Cinemas | Links | Features | Editorials | Search |