Ip Man 葉問

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by 叶伟信 Wilson Yip

Casted by:

甄子丹 Donnie Yen as 葉問 Ip Man

池內博之 Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as 三浦將軍 Miura

任達華 Simon Yam as 周清泉 Chow Ching-chuen

熊黛林 Lynn Hung as 張永成 Cheung Wing-sing

樊少皇 Louis Fan as 金山找 Kam Shan-chu

林家棟 Gordon Lam as 李釗 Li Chiu

釋行宇 Xing Yu as 武痴林 Master Lam

黃又南 Wong You-nam as 沙膽源 Yuan

 Story: 

In the 1930s, Foshan is a hub of Southern Chinese martial arts, where various schools actively recruit disciples and compete against each other. Although the Wing Chun master Ip Man is the most skilled martial artist in Foshan, he is unassuming and keeps a low profile. As an independent wealthy man, he feels no need to accept any disciples and instead spends his days training, meeting with friends, and spending time with his family. However, his wife is often resentful of the time he spends training and discussing martial arts with friends and colleagues. Though not a professional martial artist, Ip is respected in Foshan due to the abilities he displays in friendly, closed-door competitions with local masters. Ip's reputation is further enhanced when he defeats an aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern Chinese martial arts master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow Southern stylists and others in Foshan.

The Japanese invasion in 1937 adversely affects the life of everyone in Foshan. Ip's house is claimed by the Japanese and used as their Foshan headquarters. Ip and his family lose their wealth and are forced to move into a decrepit house. Desperate to support his family, Ip accepts work at a coal mine. The Japanese General Miura, who is a Karate master, establishes an arena where Chinese martial artists compete with his military trainees. The Chinese earn a bag of rice for every match they win. Li Zhao, a former police officer and Ip's acquaintance, is now working as a translator for the Japanese and is making the offer to the martial artists working at the coal mine. Ip at first declines to participate in the matches. However, when his friend Lin goes missing, he agrees to take part in order to investigate. Ip arrives to see fellow Foshan martial arts master Liu executed by Miura's lieutenant, Sato, for picking up a bag of rice from a prior victory after conceding in a second match against three karateka. He also comes to understand that Lin was killed in an earlier fight. Barely able to contain his rage, Ip demands a match with ten karateka at once. Despite having not practiced Wing Chun since the invasion began (in order to conserve what little food his family had to survive), he proceeds to mercilessly crush each of them with a brutal barrage of his martial art mastery, showing none of the restraint he exhibited in previous engagements. His skill arouses the interest of Miura, who seeks to learn more about Ip and see him fight again.

Ip later visits his friend Chow Ching-chuen, who owns and runs a cotton mill in Foshan. Chow tells Ip that a bandit gang led by Jin Shanzhao is harassing his workers and trying to extort money from them. Ip trains the workers in Wing Chun for self-defense.

When Ip does not return to the arena, Miura grows impatient and sends Sato along with several soldiers to find him. The lieutenant then gestures at Ip's wife, prompting Ip to incapacitate them. When the bandits return to the cotton mill, the workers fight back using the techniques that Ip taught them. Ip himself arrives midway through the battle to take care of things personally and defeats Jin Shanzhao, warning him never to harass the workers again.

The Japanese soldiers eventually find Ip at the cotton mill. Miura tells Ip that his life will be spared if he agrees to instruct the Japanese soldiers in martial arts. Ip refuses and challenges Miura to a match, which Miura accepts, both because of his love for martial arts and because refusing the challenge would be a humiliation to the Japanese. The match between Ip and Miura is held in public in Foshan's square. At first, the two fighters seem equally matched, but Miura soon finds himself unable to penetrate Ip's impeccable defense and becomes overwhelmed by his relentless and direct blows. He is helpless to defend himself as Ip effortlessly uses him as a wooden dummy, inflicting a severe beating on him and clearly winning.

As the beaten general lies down after his defeat, Ip looks over to the cheering Chinese crowd and spots his wife and child with Chow. Enraged, Sato shoots at Ip, sparking a scuffle between the Chinese audience and the Japanese soldiers. During the scuffle, Li Zhao kills Sato with Sato's own gun. Ip is taken away amidst the chaos. The epilogue reveals that he survives and escapes to Hong Kong with his family with the help of Chow Ching-chuen. There, Ip establishes a Wing Chun school, where his students come to learn martial arts from him, including Bruce Lee.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Sorry to all Ip Man's fans, but seriously this is only the first time ever I watch this movie :p This series of movie never really attracted me previously even though later on Mike Tyson was invited to play a role in the 3rd movie as well. But surprisingly this movie is not bad, as I thought i would have fall asleep half way through the movie but I did not... 

Few of the characters in this film which i think is overspend on the budget especially Simon Yam & Lynn Hung, i mean, the movie doesn't need to pay so much for them to be in the film as the character is not really important at all. The one whom is really good, I have to say is Gordon Lam, he really acted well in here; Ikeuchi is another surprise for me, as this actor doesn't have much movies or dramas on him, he might be choosy in selecting his character & film, but i think he definitely loves his part here as he is a Judo black belt master :)

CJ7 長江7號

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by 周星馳 Stephen Chow

Casted by:

徐嬌 Xu Jiao as 周小狄 Dicky Chow 

周星馳 Stephen Chow as 周鐵 Chow Ti
張雨綺 Kitty Zhang Yuqi as 袁老師 Ms. Yuen

 Story:

Chow Ti is a poor laborer working on construction sites. He lives in a partially demolished house with his son, Dicky. Chow is eager to save money so he can continue sending his son to private school. However, Dicky is often bullied by other children and his teacher, and he usually finds comfort with a young educator, Ms. Yuen.

One day, while at a department store, Dicky begs his father to buy him a popular robotic toy called CJ1. Chow cannot afford it, and the situation ends badly when Chow spanks the stubborn Dicky in front of other customers. Again, Dicky finds comfort in Ms. Yuen, who is passing by. That night, Chow visits the junkyard where he often picks up home appliances and clothes for Dicky. He finds a strange green orb and takes it home, telling Dicky that it is a new toy. Hesitant at first, Dicky agrees to keep it. The following evening, the orb transforms into a cuddly alien creature that befriends Dicky. After playing, he names the alien "CJ7", and then falls asleep. He dreams that the alien will help him gain popularity and good grades at school. Dicky takes CJ7 to school, but he receives a zero on his exam and is humiliated during physical education. Frustrated, Dicky tries to dispose of the CJ7, but realizes his mistake and later reconciles with it. The next day, because of his alien pet, Dicky begins to make new friends at school. However, when his father discovers that he lied about his bad exam result, Chow confiscates CJ7. The father and son fall out, so Dicky sticks close to Ms. Yuen, who promises she will look after him. This cheers Chow up somewhat, who fears he might lose his son's love. Dicky manages to pass another test with aid of Ms. Yuen,and is excited to show his father about this.

Later, while Chow is working on a skyscraper, his foot becomes entangled in a rope. He later dies at a hospital. CJ7 then sacrifices his life to revive Chow. The next morning, Dicky promises his father he will never give up school. At the last day of school, the kids field trip into a park where Dicky sees a UFO land nearby, from which run hundreds of little aliens, led by the resurrected CJ7.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Having insomnia again last night, so i decided to watch this CJ7 and have a good laugh while waiting for the sunrise. Stephen Chow's movie never failed to do so as always, this film had proven it once again by hitting the 1st top selling movie in the year 2008 at the blockbuster.

Putting the adorable Xu Jiao in the main place is a good choice, Stephen has been nominated to Best Supporting actor for the first time, he did not win but still a good try i think... Xu Jiao in another hand has won the Best New actor/actress by this film.

Wushu 武術之少年行

Released Year: 2008
Directed by 司徒永华 Antony Szeto

Casted by:
洪金宝 Sammo Hung as 李魁 Mei
刘峰超 Yongchen Liu as 杨耀武 Wu
王文杰 Wenjie Wang as 李一 Yi
汪亚朝 Yachao Wang as 李二 Er
王菲 Xiaofei Wang as 方芳 Fang
铁南 Nan Tie as 何乐 Le
何思融 Sirong He as 张婷 Ting
毛俊杰 Junjie Mao as 小怡 Yee
张晋 Max Zhang as 郭楠 Nan
刘泳辰 Yongzhen Liu as 小张 Zhang
Story:

Ten years ago, Mei brought his two kids, Yi & Er to study in the martial arts school. At there, Yi & Er get to be-friend with Wu, Fang & Zhang. The children do all their best to learn martial arts and hopefully can participate in the competition when they grew up.

10 years later, all of them grown big and they met Nan, who is a former student of Mei. Nan bring them out and introduce them to the entertainment line. Fang is interested and join the crew as a martial arts replacement for celebrities. In the meanwhile, Zhang fall in love with a girl, Yee who challenged him in martial arts.

When they went to a playground, they found out there's children kidnapper. They went after and ruined the kidnapper business. The kidnapper get frustrated. But they never know, Le, a former student of Mei is behind this business. Le found a chance to approach Nan and trick him to a place and ruined his hand. Later on they catch Yi not long after. Mei & Er went for rescue and Mei managed to defeat Le, but will have to sit his whole life in wheelchair. Luckily, Ting was there to take care of him.

Final competition starts, but Yi was hurt and couldn't participate. Er try his best to fight and use his mother (who has passed away) martial arts to win the competition in the end.

L² Scored: 5.5/10

L² Comment:

Not a bad martial arts film. Kinda fresh and nice. All the actors & actresses (except Sammo) are current China's martial arts competitor. They are well train and they really perform the martial arts well :) Of course we can't criticize on their acting because this is their virgin film anyway.

City Of Life And Death 南京！南京！

Released Year: 2008
Directed by 陆川 Lu Chuan

Casted by:
刘烨 Liu Ye as 陸劍雄 Lu JiangXiong
高圆圆 Gao YuanYuan as 姜淑雲 Jiang ShuYun
范伟 Fan Wei as 唐天祥 Mr Tang
中泉英雄 Hideo Nakaizumi as 角川 Kadokawa
秦岚 Qin Lan as 唐周氏 Mrs Tang
江一燕 Jiang YiYan as 江香君 Xiao Jiang
宫本裕子 as 百合子 Yuriko
木幡龍 Ryu Kohata as 伊田修 Ida
劉斌 Liu Bin as 小豆子 Xiao DouZhi
John Paisely as John Rabe
Beverly Peckous as Minnie Vautrin
Story:

City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, shortly after the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the capital of the Republic of China, Nanking. What followed is now known as the Nanking Massacre, a period of several weeks wherein massive numbers of Chinese prisoners of war and civilians were killed.

After some KMT commanders of the National Revolutionary Army flee Nanking, a Chinese Nationalist KMT soldier, Lu Jianxiong and fellow soldier Zhao attempt to stop a fleeing group of troops from leaving the city, but as they exit the city gates, they are captured by Japanese Imperial troops that have surrounded the city.

As the Japanese search the city, a Japanese soldier named Masao Kadokawa and other troops are raided by Lu and a small unit of KMT regular and irregular soldiers who attack from building tops. However, they are eventually forced to surrender as more Japanese troops arrive. Lu is captured and all the soldiers are marched out to the beach to be killed in a mass execution. Afterwards, Zhao finds Lu dead, but also sees that Xiaodouzi, a young boy soldier, has survived. Both of them flee to the Nanking Safety Zone run Dr. John Rabe, a German business man and Nazi party member as well as other Westerners. In this safety zone, thousands of Chinese women, children, elderly men, and wounded soldiers seek refuge from the killing. The safety zone is forcefully entered several times by bands of Japanese soldiers intent on raping female refugees. Due to the repeated intrusions, the women are forced to cut their hair and dress like men in order to avoid being raped. Xiaojiang, an attractive prostitute refuses to do so saying that she needs to keep her hair in order to feed herself.

Meanwhile, Kadokawa develops feelings for a Japanese comfort woman named Yuriko, and struggles to come to terms with the omnipresent violence around him with his own conflicting impulses. Despite his feelings of alienation, Kadokawa brings Yuriko candy and gifts from Japan and vows to marry her after the war.

Mr. Tang, a longtime assistant to Rabe, and Ms. Jiang Shuyun, a young female teacher, manage the daily operation of the safety zone. Although in a privileged position, Mr. Tang is unable to protect his child daughter from being killed by a Japanese soldier, and his sister-in-law from being raped. When the Japanese commander Osamu Ida requires 100 female refuges to work as "comfort women", Dr. Rabe and Ms. Jiang tearfully make the announcement to the refugees. Xiaojiang and other attractive women volunteer to be comfort women.

Kadokawa meets Xiojiang and brings her rice but witnesses another soldier rape her as she lies almost lifeless. Later, many of the volunteer comfort women including Xiaojiang die due to the non-stop rape (non-fictional event which happened at Ginling College, Nanjing). Kadokawa feels further alienated when Ida shoots Mr. Tang's sister in-law May who has apparently lost her mind singing opera.

Dr. Rabe is ordered back to Germany because his activities with the safety zone are harming the relationship between Nazi Germany and Japan. As a personal assistant to Rabe, Tang and his wife are allowed to leave Nanjing with Rabe. Although Tang is about to leave, he changes his mind and stays in order to search for May. He trades places with an officer pretending to be Dr. Rabe's assistant which Ida allows despite knowing he is actually a soldier. Mrs. Tang's is revealed to be pregnant before saying goodbye. As soon as Mrs. Tang and Rabe leave, Ida orders Tang shot by firing squad.

The Japanese disband the safety zone and begin to hunt down any men that look like soldiers. The Japanese claim that soldiers should come forward promising work and pay and will not be executed. However, all males deemed to be soldiers are put in a truck to be executed. Zhao, the soldier who survived the initial mass execution, is physically checked along with his hands and is initially deemed to be a non-combatant, but is noticed by a Japanese soldier and gets put in the truck of men believed to be soldiers.

After a plea is made by the remaining Westerners, Ida allows family members to select one male to be saved. Ms. Jiang rescues one male by claiming that he is her husband and then returns for Zhao. She also tries to claims him as her husband along with Xiaodouzi pretending to be his son. Kadokawa looks straight at Ms. Jiang but does not reveal her ruse. However, another Japanese soldier points her out to Ida and has all three of them captured. Zhao is again taken away along with Xiaodouzi this time. Ms. Jiang, knowing that she may be raped to death asks Kadokawa to shoot her. He grants her wish and shoots her much to the other soldiers' surprise.

Afterwards, Kadokawa looks for Yuriko but finds out that she has died traveling with the Japanese troops who have left Nanking. He says the she was his wife at one point. Celebrating the conquest of Nanking, the Japanese perform a dance where Kadokawa reveals his emotional turmoil over what he has done and witnessed.

Zhao and Xiaodouzi are marched out of town by Kadokawa and another soldier. Zhao and Xiaodouzi are surprised when Kadokawa releases them. Kadokawa tells the other soldier that "Life is more difficult than death." As the other Japanese soldier walks away, Kadokawa weeps before shooting himself to escape from his guilt. Zhao and Xioadouzi walk away delighted to still be alive.

In the ending credits, it is revealed that Mrs. Tang lived to an old age as well as Commander Ida. Xiaodouzi is shown to still be alive today.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Awards winner in San Sebastian Film Festival 2009 in Spain, the director and actors are nominated in few other awards as well. Lu Chuan cleverly chose to film this movie in black and white which match the scenery, sadness of this movie.

By the way, this japanese hot stud Hideo Nakaizumi is definitely hot :)