Ninth Happiness 九星報喜

 Released Year: 1998

Directed by 高志森 Clifton Koh

Casted by:

张国荣 Leslie Cheung as 马麟祥 Xiang

吴倩莲 Jacklyn Wu as 紫云 Yun

钟镇涛 Kenny B as 阿Dup

黎姿 Gigi Lai as 阿香 Heong

黄百鸣 Raymond Wong as 马麟大 Dai

李蕙敏 Amanda Lee as 姣姣 Gao

周文健 Michael Chow as 马麟举 Gui

陈洁灵 Elisa Chan as 相国夫人 Madam

张达明 Cheung Tat Ming as 李老板 Lee

 Story:

In a peaceful village lead by Madam, the villagers are honest and sincere. But when come the new government Dai, he plans to destroy the peaceful of the village just to get more money for himself. Together with his brother Gui, they both created a lot of disaster and even challenge Madam on this.

Madam's niece, Yun met another brother of Dai, Xiang. She mistaken him as an angel and fall deeply in love with him. In the same time, lovely couple Dup and Heong are down to earth while Gao try her best to find her dream man which in the end turn out to be Dai.

Even though Dai & Gui manage to destroy the peaceful of the village, but quickly they realize they are wrong and together with Xiang, they manage the village well and with happiness.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

One of the Chinese New Year movie in 1998, i have watched it a few times before, but decided to rewatch it again as i kinda miss Jacklyn Wu lately. She has left the acting industry and own her own company now. This should be the only movie she acted with Leslie Cheung, kinda funny. Overall its still ok, but not gonna watch it again so fast... maybe few years later~

Miss Du Shi Niang Miss杜十娘

Released Year: 2003

Directed by 杜国威 Du Guo Wei

Casted by:

李嘉欣 Michelle Reis as 杜十娘 Niang

吴彦祖 Daniel Wu as 李甲 Jia

沈殿霞 Lydia Sum as 老鸨 Mamasan

 Story:

Du Shi Niang is the famous hooker but she fall in love with Jia, a useless guy who came for her beauty and not able to live based on his own ability. When mamasan challenge Jia to leave or buy back Niang, he felt defeated but Niang has her own way out. 

Following Jia back to his hometown, Jia sold Niang out to a rich man which make Niang disappointed. She show Jia how rich she was but dump them all into the lake. In the end, she herself jump into the lake as well. Later that day she swim back to find mamasan and promise herself that she will never fall in love again.

 L² Scored: 5.5/10

L² Comment:

Not a bad movie, its actually based on an old old novel last time. The only disappointing point is that both Daniel Wu & Michelle Reis don't really speaks good cantonese and their acting are not that good as well. Beside Lydia Sum, the whole movie is consider dull and boring. Luckily with Michelle & Daniel's look + Lydia good comedy skill, this movie is still watch-able~

Infernal Affairs III 無間道III：終極無間

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by 劉偉強 Andrew Lau & 麥兆輝 Alan Mak

Casted by:

劉德華 Andy Lau as 劉健明 Lau Kin-ming

梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 陳永仁 Chan Wing-yan

黎明 Leon Lai as 楊錦榮 Yeung Kam-wing

陳道明 Chen Daoming as 沈澄 Shen Cheng 

陳慧琳 Kelly Chen as 李心兒 Dr. Lee Sum-yee 

 Story: 

Infernal Affairs III uses parallel storytelling, flashing between the past and the present.

Six months before Chan's death

Undercover cop Chan Wing-yan seeks to uncover the link between Hong Kong triad boss Hon Sam and the mysterious Chinese gang leader Shen Cheng. Since Hon's ascension to the seat of triad boss was due to the death of his predecessor, Ngai Wing-hau, Hon is suspicious of all his men for fear they might usurp his position. He tests Chan's loyalty by ordering him to smash an ashtray on Shen's brother during a negotiation, resulting in Chan's arrest by Inspector Yeung Kam-wing. Yeung tells Chan that though Chan does not recognise him, he recognises Chan and he warns the latter to "be careful". Chan is released after both Hon and Shen fetch him at police headquarters.

Concurrently, Chan is prosecuted for violent behaviour. His superior, Superintendent Wong Chi-shing, persuades the court to allow Chan to seek therapy, leading him to meet Dr. Lee Sum-yee. Hon asks Chan to deliver arms to Shen, but he and other triad members do not show up. When Chan delivers the cargo, Shen's men discover that the boxes are empty and open fire on Chan; Shen and Chan shoot each other in the limbs during the crossfire. Shen finds out that Chan is an undercover cop when Yeung unexpectedly arrives on the scene. Yeung tells Chan that Shen is also an undercover cop, working for Chinese authorities. Yeung also tells Chan that he gained top honours when he was in the police academy due to Chan's "expulsion". The three shake hands and wait for the chaos to subside before leaving.

Ten months after Chan's death

Lau Kin-ming, Hon's former mole in the Hong Kong Police Force, has been demoted to administrative duty pending an investigation into the deaths of Chan and Inspector B. He falsely claims that B shot Chan in the head while holding him hostage, and that he killed B in retaliation. After months of investigation, Lau is transferred back to Internal Affairs, where he struggles to whitewash his past and cover his true identity. Lau later learns that Hon had previously planted five other moles in the police force, one of whom might be a fellow Security Division Inspector, Yeung. A battle of wits develops between Lau and Yeung, as each of them tries to discover the other's secret.

Meanwhile, Lau suffers from an identity collapse as he loses track of reality, wrestling with guilt over Chan's death and grappling with his impending divorce from his wife, Mary. His psychological trauma deteriorates to the point where he begins to see himself as Chan. As "Chan", Lau makes it a personal mission to apprehend Yeung, whom he sees as his former self. After witnessing an incident where Lau suffers a hallucination, Dr. Lee conducts a hypnosis on him and finds out that he was Hon's mole. Lau realises his folly and knocks Lee unconscious before escaping.

Lau steals tapes from Yeung's office safe, using spy cameras to determine the code. He thinks he hears recordings of Yeung relating information to Hon, and leads his team to the Security Division to arrest Yeung just as Shen arrives. Lau plays a tape recording, which is actually the conversation between him and Hon. When Lau's second-in-command tries to arrest him instead, Lau panics and draws his gun, killing Yeung. He is immediately shot by Shen and attempts suicide by shooting himself in the neck. During a search of Lau's office, a tape is found in his safe and played. It is a recording of the song sung by Tsai Chin, given to him by Hon's wife.

Eleven months after Chan's death

A series of flashbacks play: immediately after Chan's death, Shen and Yeung meet. Shen suspects Lau. Yeung breaks into Lau's office to find tape recordings of his conversations with Hon, proving that Shen is right.

Yeung is buried next to Chan in the police cemetery. Shen and Lee visit the graves and Shen says to Lee: "Events change men, but men do not change events. But these two men are extraordinary because they changed events."

Lau ends up crippled and catatonic, lost inside his own mind, haunted by the spirit of Mary (Hon Sam's wife, whom he had a crush on in Infernal Affairs II) and locked in his own "continuous hell". His divorced wife Mary visits and tells him, "Our baby can say "papa" now." Before the picture fades into the next scene, the camera pans down onto Lau's fingers tapping out in Morse code, "H-E-L..." (and then the start of another 'L' as the picture dims).

Before the film ends, there is one final flashback to the hi-fi shop scene in Infernal Affairs, where Lau is buying an audio system from Chan.

  L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Years before this film, it has been quite sometime we cannot find so many superstars to act in one Hong Kong movie, this movie did it and it comes to an end for the infernal affair series. The movie is still lead by Andy Lau & Tony Leung and in the meantime added in Leon Lai and Chen Dao Ming to spice up the whole movie. Not sure why they chose Kelly Chen as the only main actress, but her acting skill is kinda fake but luckily it did not affected much of this movie. Happy to see that Carina Lau and Sammi Cheng appeared again on the closing part. Both of them appeared less than one minute but u can feel that their acting is way way way much more better than Kelly. Anyway, this movie also won Andy Lau his Golden Horse Best Actor Award...

Death Trance デス・トランス

Released Year: 2005

Directed by 下村勇二 Yuji Shimomura

Casted by:

坂口拓 Tak Sakaguchi as Grave / Coffin Man

Honoka Asada as Girl

剣太郎セガール Kentaro Seagal as Sid

須賀貴匡 Takamasa Suga as Ryuen

 Story: 

In an unknown place at an unknown time, a swordsman named Grave yearns for the ultimate battle. Legend tells of a black coffin kept at the Tougan Temple which has the power to grant any man's deepest desire. Hoping to utilize the coffin's ability to fulfill his wish, Grave infiltrates the temple and steals it. Accompanied by a mysterious young girl, Grave travels across the land towards a desert oasis, a place the tales indicate as being linked to the coffin's power.

Contrary to the popular legend, the Tougan monks believe that the coffin holds the Goddess of Destruction, who was banished from Heaven for trying to destroy the world, and whose release will bring about the apocalypse. Fearing the implications of Grave's actions, the monks dispatch Ryuen to retrieve the coffin and prevent it from being opened. But many other forces are also searching for Grave and his prize, including treasure hunter Sid, and an all-out free-for-all ensues as they all struggle to discover the secret power of the coffin.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

One thing good about watching this kind of Japanese fantasy movie (based on Kana Takeuchi's manga), no logic needs to explain on the whole thing. In this (illusion) world, anything can just happen and it is darn exciting to watch it actually. Love Takamasa Suga, he is so fucking yummy~ how i wish i can see more of his body in this movie lol~

Curse of Chucky

Released Year: 2013

Directed by Don Mancini

Casted by:

Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce

Danielle Bisutti as Barbie "Barb" Pierce

Brennan Elliott as Ian

Maitland McConnell as Jill

Chantal Quesnel as Sarah Pierce

Summer H. Howell as Alice

Story: 

Set twenty-five years after Child's Play, a Chucky doll, arrives in the mail of the family home of paraplegic Nica and her mother, Sarah. That night Sarah is found dead from a stab wound and her death proclaimed a suicide.

The next day Nica's older sister Barb arrives, accompanied by her husband, Ian; daughter, Alice; live-in nanny, Jill; and Father Frank, a priest. Alice finds Chucky and keeps him. Nica and Alice cook chili for dinner, and Chucky secretly pours rat poison into one of the bowls. Father Frank eats the poison, and after leaving the house, is beheaded in a fatal car crash.

After everyone else has gone to their rooms to sleep, Nica attempts to track down the origins of the Chucky doll. She looks up "Chucky Doll Evidence" on the internet, where she finds news articles of the unsolved Chucky murders and the doll's link to dead serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Chucky sneaks out of Alice's bed and kills Jill by kicking a bucket of rain water over onto the floor's power outlets. Jill is electrocuted to death, which also causes a blackout. Barb gets up to check on Alice, and finds Chucky sitting on the stairs that lead to the attic. Thinking that Alice is in the attic, Barb goes up to look for her, but she is killed by Chucky with a kitchen knife. With the elevator unusable due to the blackout, Nica crawls up the stairs to the first floor. Barb is already dead by the time she gets there, and Chucky reveals himself to Nica. Nica wakes up Ian, who takes Nica to the garage before going back into the house to find Alice.

Chucky enters the garage and starts the car, trying to kill Nica with carbon monoxide poisoning. Ian returns to the garage and, believing that Nica is responsible for the murders, disarms her. There is a hidden camera on Chucky, which Ian had planted to get evidence of Barb's affair with Jill. Ian reviews the footage, which shows that Alice is locked in a closet and Chucky is alive. Before Ian can act, Chucky uses Nica's wheelchair to run Ian over and kills him with a hatchet. Nica manages to break out of her restraints and decapitates Chucky with the hatchet, but he survives and reattaches his head.

Chucky pushes Nica over the balcony and she falls to the ground floor. Bleeding heavily Nica asks why Chucky is doing this and through flashbacks, Chucky explains that he was a friend of the family a long time ago and was in love with Sarah. Chucky killed Nica's father and kidnapped Sarah while she was heavily pregnant. When Chucky realized Sarah betrayed him by calling the police, he stabbed her in the stomach, which caused Nica to be born paraplegic, and fled. Chucky's flight from the police lead to his death as a human, setting off the events of the franchise, which is why he came back to Sarah for revenge. A police officer arrives at the house, but when he enters he only sees Barb's body upstairs and Nica holding the bloody knife. Chucky watches, unmoving, from a nearby chair.

Sometime later, Nica is found guilty of the murders and sent to a mental asylum. The arresting officer takes Chucky away in a plastic bag to be delivered to an unknown person. While in his car, Tiffany pops up in the backseat and slits his throat. Tiffany holding the bag, asks Chucky "Who's next?". Then, she mails Chucky to his next target.

Alice, now living with her grandmother, comes home from school to find Chucky waiting for her. Alice asks where her grandmother is, to which Chucky replies "In the cellar". Afterwards, Chucky persuades Alice to play "Hide The Soul", starting a chant that is supposed to transfer his soul to Alice's body. In an unexpected jump-scare, Alice's grandmother pops up outside the cellar door with a plastic bag over her face, revealing Chucky tried to asphyxiate her.

In a post-credits scene set six months later, Chucky is delivered to the now adult Andy Barclay. When Andy turns his back to answer a phone call from his mother, Chucky cuts his way out of the package with a knife. Andy, having anticipated Chucky coming after him, holds a shotgun to Chucky's head and quotes, "Play with this", before pulling the trigger 

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

After 9 years, Chucky is back and this time he attacks the whole family of Pierce. The poor wheelchair girl defeats Chucky and is the only survivor (except the small girl Alice)... Overall the storyline is ok and kinda exciting and spooky as well...Hopefully there will be new Chucky movie coming out soon

Brick Mansions

 Released Year: 2014

Directed by Camille Delamarre

Casted by:

Paul Walker as Damien Collier

David Belle as Lino Dupree

RZA as Tremaine Alexander

Catalina Denis as Lola

 Story:

In a dystopian Detroit, abandoned brick mansions left from better times now house only the most dangerous criminals. Unable to control the crime, the police have constructed a colossal containment wall around this area to protect the rest of the city. For undercover cop Damien Collier, every day is a battle against corruption. For ex-convict Lino, every day is a fight to live an honest life. Their paths never should have crossed, but when drug kingpin Tremaine kidnaps Lino’s girlfriend, Damien reluctantly accepts Lino's help and together they struggle to stop a sinister plot to devastate the entire city. 

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Love Paul Walker in this movie, his crystal blue eyes are so pretty and it definitely take my breath away... This is the second last movie before he passed away. The whole storyline is kinda exciting but there's a few part that i find its kinda difficult to believe haha~

Cleopatra 1999

Released Year: 1999

Directed by Franc Roddam

Casted by:

Leonor Varela as Cleopatra

Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar

Billy Zane as Marc Antony

Rupert Graves as Octavius 

Story: 

The film begins in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII, Egypt's rightful Queen, in exile, while her sister Arsinoe and younger brother, Ptolemy have stolen the throne. Roman soldier Julius Caesar comes to collect Egypt's tax debt. After conversing with a courtesan, Cleopatra smuggles herself into the palace wrapped in a carpet; a gift from her to Caesar. He accepts the gift and the twenty-year-old queen is revealed to the 52-year-old man. The two spend the night together, and the next morning, Cleopatra and twelve-year-old Ptolemy are betrothed to marry by Caesar. Shortly after the siblings are wed, Cleopatra is proclaimed Queen of Egypt, forcing Ptolemy to join forces with Arsinoe and drive their sister out of Alexandria.

A war breaks out between the Romans and Ptolemy's Egyptian forces, and in the process, Alexandria's great library is burned to the ground. Even with this loss, Cleopatra soon celebrates the return of her Roman lover, and the capture of her traitor sister, Arsinoe. The two take a 2-month journey down the Nile aboard one of the Queen's elegant ships. Upon their return, Caesar breaks the news that he must leave for Rome. Unbeknownst to him, Caesar leaves Cleopatra pregnant with his child. A son is born to the queen roughly nine months later; he is named Ptolemy Caesar, in honor of his father.

Back in Rome, believing that he should hold the same status as his Egyptian lover, Caesar demands he be declared King of Rome. Although they are hesitant to do so, the senate eventually grants Caesar's request. Now having been declared king, Caesar invites Cleopatra to stay at one of his villas, just outside Rome. With her, she brings the couple's infant son, whom the Egyptian people call 'Caesarion', meaning 'Little Caesar'. In front of his people (including wife Calpurnia), Cleopatra declares that Caesar is her son's father, publicly forcing his hand, and demanding that her son be allowed to rule both Egypt and Rome invoking the consternation of Brutus and Cassius.

Although he accepts Caesarion as his child, Caesar denies the queen's request, explaining that Egypt is only free from Rome because he wishes it to be. Just before her return to Egypt, Cleopatra soon learns that Caesar has been assassinated at the hands of Brutus, Cassius and other senators. The burdens of ruling fall on the shoulders of Caesar's Roman heir and grandnephew, Octavian; a teenage boy who hates Cleopatra. With his ascendancy, Octavian has Brutus killed while Cassius kills himself.

Octavian also plans to rid himself of his rival, Cleopatra's baby boy, Caesarion, who, as Caesar's only child, threatens his reign. Renaming himself Caesar Augustus, Octavian sends soldiers to Egypt to find and kill Caesar's son. In the meantime, Caesar's boyhood friend and cousin, Marc Antony is sent to Alexandria to protect Caesarion and Queen Cleopatra. In spending time with together, Antony and Cleopatra fall in love. Although they wish to marry, Antony reveals that he wed Octavian's sister, the submissive Octavia, in order to strengthen his alliance and co-ruling with the new emperor. Defying his Roman beliefs against polygamy, Antony marries Cleopatra in Antioch, claiming that her son, Caesarion, is heir to not only Egypt, but also Rome.

Upon hearing of Antony's claim, Octavian wages war against the two lovers, trapping Cleopatra in her own city. Threatening suicide if Octavian does not let her son go, Cleopatra learns that she has lost Antony, killed in battle against Octavian's army. Octavian arrives in Egypt, demanding that Cleopatra join him in Rome as his prisoner. She refuses and demands that her son be allowed to rule Egypt. Octavian does not agree to this, but allows Antony to have an Egyptian burial. After sending her children to India, Cleopatra's plan goes through, as she has a basket of figs brought to her heavily guarded tomb. There, she lets the asp bite her, and dies shortly after. Her handmaidens quickly follow their queen's example. Octavian's men break through the doors, only to discover that the queen is dead. After they discover that Cleopatra is dead, Octavian then takes over Egypt about two years later after Cleopatra's death.

 L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

Based on the fiction of Margaret George's "Memoirs of Cleopatra", of coz its the same as every legend of the famous queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. For me, this movie is still ok, not as good as the Elizabeth Taylor's version. The cleopatra is not wild enough even though she's a sexy latino~