Richard James Havis

1 month ago | scmp.com | Richard James Havis

Riley Ip Kam-hung began his career as a scriptwriter, but was praised for his sensitivity and innovation directing five films around the turn of the 21st century. Here we revisit the best of them. 1. Metade Fumaca (1999)Ip’s second film propelled him to the top rank of young directors working in Hong Kong at that time.

1 month ago | scmp.com | Richard James Havis

“Special effects” were simply scratched onto the celluloid in early martial arts fantasy films, and monsters were just men dressed up in funny costumes. Things got a bit better around the 1970s – but not much. Here, we look at four ghostly and monstrous wuxia films, from worst to best. 1. The Web of Death (1976)The main problem with this magical wuxia from Chor Yuen is that the monstrous giant spider depicted on the poster turns out not to be giant at all – in fact, it is tiny.

1 month ago | msn.com | Richard James Havis

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1 month ago | scmp.com | Richard James Havis

The 1977 film Broken Oath marked a change in style for kung fu legend Angela Mao Ying, who glammed it up in a Qing dynasty costume and a “princess” hairstyle to play a ruthless assassin hell bent on tracking down some corrupt officials. Here, we discuss one of Mao’s greatest performances with film historian Frank Djeng, who provided the commentary for the Eureka Entertainment release of the film. Broken Oath is a high-quality martial arts film, but it was fairly unknown until its recent release.

2 months ago | scmp.com | Richard James Havis

Although there were ups and downs, the golden age of Hong Kong cinema extended from the 1960s to the 1990s. But significant problems beset the film industry in the first decade of the 2000s, and it suffered a massive slump. We take a deep dive into its difficult decade. The way we wereLocal films used to rule the roost in Hong Kong, beating out Hollywood blockbusters. The decline set in around 1993, with the situation getting worse throughout the rest of the 1990s.