FILM REVIEWS

FILM LISTINGS

Opening Soon

HK PICKS
Beast Stalker
(Hong Kong) A criminal, police sergeant, prosecutor and young girl collide with one another through a devastating traffic accident in this action-thriller from Dante Lam. Starring Nicholas Tse, Nick Cheung. Opens Nov 27.

Choke
(USA) Based on the novel by “Fight Club” author Chuck Palahniuk, this sordid tale of a perverse con artist who pretends to choke in restaurants in order to get sympathy and money is bound to have more than a few audience members gagging. Opens Nov 27.

Miao Miao
(Taiwan) A shy exchange student from Japan loses her innocence in Taipei in this artful coming-of-age film that proved a favorite at this year’s Asian Film Festival. Opens Nov 27.

Nobody’s Perfect
(Hong Kong) Former Cookies Kary Ng and Stephy Tang get all giggly in another ditzy romcom from director Patrick Kong. Opens Nov 27.

Opening

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
(USA) There’s been plenty of yapping about how Disney’s latest talking-dog movie managed to dominate the US box office for weeks. Don’t ask us. Opened Nov 20. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Cape No. 7
(Taiwan) See review, above. Opened Nov 20. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Nights in Rodanthe
(USA) Richard Gere and Diane Lane star in the latest sappy romance aimed at the baby-boomer generation. Bound to kindle plenty of warm and fuzzy mid-life-crisis adultery. Opened Nov 20. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Continuing

Bella
(USA) A chef and a waitress find their lives turned around one day in New York City. This romantic tearjerker is director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s debut feature. Starring Eduardo Verastegui, Tammy Blanchard. PP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Burn After Reading
(USA) The Coen brothers return to black-comedy territory in this spy thriller spoof with an all-star cast, about a CIA agent being blackmailed by two boneheaded gym fanatics. Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt. PPPP AMC, BC MCL

Champions
(China) Hot on the heels of “Wushu,”
this sports tale set against the 1936 Berlin Olympics stars Dicky Cheung as an ambitious martial-arts competitor trying to win the girl of his dreams. Directed by Tsui Siu-ming.
BC, MCL, UA

City of Ember
(USA) An adaptation of the kiddie sci-fi book by Jeanne DuPrau, it’s a tale of two high school kids who set out to solve the mystery of a glittering underground city ruled by Bill Murray. Directed by Gil Kenan. PPPP BC, MCL, UA

Death Defying Acts
(USA) Did Houdini have an oedipal complex? Director Gillian Armstrong would have us believe so with this supernatural thriller in which the famous escapologist falls for a psychic woman who claims to be channeling his mother. Starring Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Detroit Metal City
(Japan) Not a sequel to the Kiss tribute film, but look out for Gene Simmons as the American villain in this ear-shattering adventure about a wannabe pop star who shoots to fame as the frontman of a Tokyo death metal band. Directed by Lee Toshio. Starring Kenichi Matsuyama. PPPP BC, MCL, UA

High Noon
(Hong Kong) This local remake of producer Eric Tsang’s Taiwanese release, “Winds of September,” follows the sexual and violent coming-of-age of seven high school kids blessed with adorable names like “Smoothie” and “Sticky Dick.” Directed by Heiward Mak. PPPPP BC

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
(USA) In the final installment of the Disney trilogy, the main characters express their hopes and fears in more delirious singsong as they prepare to embark for university. Directed by Kenny Ortega. PP AMC, BC, MCL

The Magic Hour
(Japan) Director Koki Mitani takes on the mob in his latest comedy about a crime boss who hires a small-time actor to be his hitman. Starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, Toshiyuki Nishida. PPPP BC, MCL, UA

Make It Happen
(USA) Mary Elizabeth Winstead forgoes her usual scream queen roles (“Death Proof,” “Final Destination 3”) and plays an aspiring dancer in this booty-shakin’ flick by the people who brought you “Step Up.” Directed by Darren Grant. PP BC, MCL

Quantum of Solace
(UK) Daniel Craig returns as the most badass Bond in the franchise, this time out to avenge the death of old romantic interest Vesper Lynd, and somehow ends up getting naked with Olga Kurylenko along the way. Directed by Marc Forster. Also starring Judi Dench. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Scar
(USA) How do you get people to see a post-Halloween horror movie with a recycled plot, cheesy effects and a cast nobody’s ever heard of? Make it the first live-action film in HD 3D. Directed by Jed Weintrob. Starring Angela Bettis, Kirby Bliss Blanton. P BC, MCL, UA

Tropic Thunder
(USA) In a big-budget satire of big-budget action flicks, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. play three actors in a Vietnam War epic accidentally left behind to fight their way out of a jungle. Watch Hollywood’s most notorious egos get mercilessly napalmed. Directed by Ben Stiller. PPPPP AMC, BC, MCL

The Women
(USA) Annette Bening, Meg Ryan and Candice Bergen lock talons in this update of George Cukor’s 1939 bitchfest about how upscale New York gossip gals are awesome and men are pigs. Directed by Diane English. PP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Arthouse

BC Sunday
Weekly Sunday films at Broadway Cinematheque. Tickets $45 from Urbtix.

HK PICKS
Dancer in the Dark
(Denmark, USA, 2000) Bjork plays a struggling Eastern European mother in America in this original and unsettling musical by avant-garde filmmaker Lars von Trier. Sun, Nov 16, 12:15pm.

Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Through Dec 1. Tickets $60 from www.cinema.com.hk. Full listings at www.hklgff.hk.

The Times of Harvey Milk
(USA, 1984) An award-winning documentary about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, who was then shot one year later. Directed by Rob Epstein. Fri, Nov 21, 7:50pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Baby Love
(France, 2008) A progressive drama looking at the issue of same-sex adoption, described as a gay “Love Actually.” Directed by Vincent Garenq. Starring Lambert Wilson, Pilar López de Ayala, Pascal Elbé. Fri, Nov 21, 9:50pm. IFC

Words of Devotion
(Japan, 2008) A bittersweet love story based on a “yaoi manga” (gay manga). Directed by Satoshi Komatsu. Sat, Nov 22, 8:20pm, Broadway Cinematheque; Mon, Nov 24, 9:55pm, IFC.

HK PICKS
Otto
(USA, 2008) HKLGFF favorite Bruce LaBruce’s gay zombie film about a confused young goth addresses alienation and identity crises in a consumerist society. Starring Jey Crisfar. Sat, Nov 22, 9:50pm, Broadway Cinematheque; Sat, Nov 29, 9:50pm, Palace IFC.

Football Undercover
(Germany/Iran, 2008) This award-winning documentary follows its directors’ attempts to organize a match between a German and an Iranian women’s football team in Tehran, despite overwhelming local opposition. Directed by David Assmann, Ayat Najafi. Sun, Nov 23, 3:45pm, IFC; Wed, Nov 26, 9:40pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Derek
(UK, 2008) A tribute to the late influential avant-garde filmmaker Derek Jarman, written and narrated by his muse Tilda Swinton. Directed by Isaac Julien. Sun, Nov 23, 8:15pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Clapham Junction
(UK, 2008) A sexually graphic, gritty and violent look at gay men in London whose lives intersect during a 36-hour period. Directed by Adrian Shergold. Tue, Nov 25, 9:40pm. IFC

Squeezebox!
(USA, 2008) Documentary tribute to the now defunct Squeezebox, New York’s wildest drag club, with appearances from John Waters, Deborah Harry and Michael Musto. Directed by Steve Saporito, Zach Shaffer. Thu, Nov 27, 7:50pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Rising Stars of the Pear Garden
Screenings of the most celebrated Cantonese Opera films. Nov 21-30.  Tickets $30 from Urbtix.

The Dutiful Daughter Chu-Chu
(Hong Kong, 1966) An intimate portrait of young opera performers training and falling in love at school. Directed by Chun Man-to. Starring Connie Chan Po-chu, Lam Kar-sing. Fri, Nov 21, 7:30pm. Film Archive.

Eternal Love
(Hong Kong, 1966) Director Lee Tit’s revision of the classic “Why Not Return” famously introduced the huangmeidiao style of singing and threw in Western instruments. Starring Connie Chan, Josephine Siao. Sat, Nov 22, 5pm. Film Archive.

Ten Years Dream
(Hong Kong, 1961) The story of two blind lovers who become a couple and then begin bickering when they regain their sight. Directed by Fung Fung. Sun, Nov 23, 3pm. Film Archive.

Jewish Film Festival
Nov 15-23. Tickets $80/$60 from box office. All screenings at Palace IFC.

Lemon Tree
(Israel/Germany/France, 2008) A Palestinian widow goes to war against the Israeli Defense Minister to preserve the trees of her lemon grove. Directed by Eran Riklis. Sat, Nov 22, 9:50pm.

HK PICKS
Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
(USA, 2008) The first documentary feature about the World War II–era poet and diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan of Arc. Directed by Roberta Grossman. Sun, Nov 23, 1:50pm.

Maharal: The Secrets of the Talisman
(Czech Republic, 2007) Three adventurers set out in search of the legendary Golem in Prague in this fun-packed family film. Directed by Pavel Jandourek. Sun, Nov 23, 5:30pm

Praying with Lior
(USA, 2007) Documentary about a young boy with Down syndrome who asks whether he might be a “spiritual genius” or just a vessel for the projected wishes of others. Directed by Ilana Trachtman. Sun, Nov 23, 7:30pm.

It Happened.../Villa Jasmin
(Mexico, 2008)/ (France, 2008) Two short films by directors David Chernovetzky and Férid Boughedir. Boughedir will be in attendance. Sun, Nov 16, 9:15pm.

Need to Know

AMC Cinemas, 2265-8933
Pacific Place and Festival Walk
www.amccinemas.com.hk

Broadway Cinematheque, 2388-0002
Prosperous Garden
3 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
bc.cinema.com.hk

Broadway Circuit, 2388-3188
www.cinema.com.hk

UA Circuit, 3516-8811
www.uacinemas.com.hk

Agnes B Cinema, 2582-0200
Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
hkac.org.hk

Film Archive, 2739-2139
50 Lei King Road, Sai Wan Ho
www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/culturalservice/hkfa

Space Museum, 2721-0226
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Urbtix, 2111-5999
www.urbtix.gov.hk