Three short adaptations of stories from Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai zhi yi): "The Fox's Prank" (狐諧), "Yingning" (嬰寧), and "Huagu" (花姑). Considerably better than the last Chinese ghost film I watched, but still a far cry from a masterpiece. Nevertheless, some interesting surprises for a film of its time. Most notably, a potent erotic charge runs through the entire film, which is exactly as it should be -- you really just can't hide that if you're working with the Liaozhai stories, so all the more power to filmmakers who give in to so-called prurience in spite of conservative regulations. Rather than feigning modesty, the scholar (same actor in all three stories) charges all too eagerly into the bedrooms of each of his three spirit lovers. The three lead actresses (plus a fourth, rather sultry badger, er, fox spirit) are nice to look at, but far too restrained in their performances.

Other highlights include some crude, but unusual special effects (stop-motion and other animation), elaborate sets (not bad for something entirely contained in a studio), a surprising sword-fighting sequence, and a great score composed by Yao Min (none other than Yao Li's twin brother). They obviously had quite a budget to work with at this time. Downsides include what appear to be actual animals harmed in the making of the film.

http://feeds.reference.com/click.phdo?i=2d6599e4f2789b960c16583df924abd1

http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/01/05.html

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Nah, just didn't really relate to this one...

Director Zhu Jie interviews taxi drivers in an impressive variety of Chinese-speaking locales - Taipei, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Singapore, Chengdu. Edited down to only 32 minutes, the most disappointing thing about this documentary is that the topic never strays far from money; it does, in fact, seem to be the one concern that every taxi driver has in common. Even when asked about their most amusing customer experiences, the drivers only remember those who paid extra or didn't pay enough or paid in terms of what money couldn't buy, like an old general's display of power. Money is the dominant frame imposed by the director, as every city is introduced via statistics - Taipei taxi drivers, for example, make 25-30,000NT a month, while the average wage is 30-35,000NT. Guangzhou drivers make considerably more than the average citizen, and all feel like they're struggling their damnedest for a meager existence. Population size and number of [registered] taxis are also enumerated for the benefit of the audience, which the drivers then break down in more concrete terms, in terms of competition. Unfortunately, this emphasis on money and statistics makes for a very monotone documentary. I left with a poor sense of the human diversity of drivers behind the wheel. Even gender differences are paved over; one would think that male and female drivers are rather evenly represented, given the director's interview pool, but this is clearly not the case.

It's worth viewing, but for a film that promises movement in its very title, it's actually rather static.

http://feeds.reference.com/click.phdo?i=773e07c5eee296b17ae6061f3cc2529c

http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/01/04.html

A filial son (Shih Chun) takes residence in an abandoned mountaintop retreat, in order to copy a Buddhist sutra in peace. Under directions of the head monk, he is not to let any outside disturbances interfere with his work, including the evil influence of women. However, the well on his rental home happens to be haunted by a beautiful female spirit named Su-su. It seems to be less a problem that Su-su lures men to their deaths, but that she's a woman, whose tainted presence will interfere with the copying of the sutra. Somehow, the filial son is too moral and upright to succumb to her seductions, so instead of killing him, she pledges to become his devoted servant (of course). She confesses that it wasn't actually her fault that all those men died, but rather, it's all because of an evil dragon spirit that occasionally possesses her to do such awful things. Sure, okay. Taking pity on her, he allows her to remain, as long as she doesn't interfere with his work. This doesn't go over so well with the filial son's mother, household servants, and other townsfolk...

A pity that this was such a shoddily put-together and downright boring film, despite the star power of the two leads. It's also a bit creepy how much Brigitte Lin really does look like Tang Pao-yun at times. I don't know enough about Sung Tsun-shou yet, but somehow I don't think historical costume ghost romances are his forte. There was little feel for atmosphere, passion, or mystery, and seemed like a bit of a waste.

http://feeds.reference.com/click.phdo?i=f18e6427f7a7fc17c77723ab8600c07c

http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/01/03.html

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At our local hipster video store, where titles are organized not by genre but by thematic similarities and staff whimsy (i.e. "Last Man Standing," "Girl Bonding", "So Bad It's Half Off"), this was filed under Philip Seymour Hoffman. This would probably be a disappointment to PSH fans, as his climactic sequences are some of the most half-assed that either the actor or the director have put together. But it's still the type of film that's better filed in a 'special' category than with the rest of the comedies or romantic comedies or dramas or whatever the hell this is. Seems that P.T. Anderson's filmography is still too small to merit his own shelf, but give him a few more decades and he'll fit more comfortably in line with Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese. This will rank quite a few notches lower than his other American epics, one for the completists.

Lung Sihung (I never quite figured out why his name is romanized that way?) is the best thing about Ang Lee's debut feature. He's basically an idealized vision of 'lost China', what with his pitch-perfect Beijing accent, culinary expertise, martial arts mastery, calligraphic skills, idiom and poetry-laced speech, Lu Xun-esque mustache, style, poise, and charismatic ability to make all sons and daughters bow in filial grace. Probably one of my favorite Chinese actors of all time.

http://feeds.reference.com/click.phdo?i=09b0dbffed840d181aa573d469f9c029

http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/01/02.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uclick/redmeat/~3/dkG6K9k1nD4/482066

http://feeds.reference.com/click.phdo?i=d87adc9175d88e52274a76a9518a0272

http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/01/01.html

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I don't really get British humour...