Movies
There's a whole lot of U Turn in here, a bit of Coens maybe, a dash of Western flavour and topped off with plenty of Chinese touches.
Entertaining crime comedy with a solid dark edge that adds plenty of fun. Hao Ning would go on to perfect this style in No Man's Land, Silver Medalist was a clear stepping stone to get there. It's one of those film I might have given a higher rating if I'd seen it upon release, 10 years down the line it's just difficult not to compare this with the director's other films. The film follows Geng Hao, a cyclist with notorious bad luck. After winning the silver medal in a race, a sleazy businessman exploits him and Hao gets banned from cycling for use amphetamines. It's the start of a series of unfortunate events that involves serial killers, drug dealers and a couple with serious marital problems. The film looks very slick and stylish, Bo Huang is perfect for his role here and even though quite a few people die, there's plenty of comedy to keep it light. I really have nothing bad to say about this film, except that Ning did everything just that little better in No Man's Land. Recommended if you like dark comedies.Read all
It was a smart move to cast Andy Lau playing an aging actor wanting to go out with a bang. There are some fun cameos at the start of The Movie Emperor (hello Jing Wong and Tony Leung), giving the film even more meta appeal, but that's all just a prelude. The real film starts when Lau moves to the countryside. Hao Ning delivers a decent comedy, but one that starts to drag a little around the halfway point. Two hours is a bit too long, even though the performances are pleasant and the presentation is fine. The setup is stretched thin and the second half is too repetitive. Still, some nice ideas with a couple of smirks along the way.Read all
Decent Hao Ning blockbuster, but not his best work. It's another Chinese film trying to find an audience oversees (some semi-famous American actors were hired), these rarely turn out too well. Some cheesy CG and questionable jokes keep the film from its best form, but it's still quirky and weird enough to make it worth a try. This is a pretty typical Bo Huang comedy, meaning it's all very overstated and farcical. The American delegation is a bit annoying though, and the jokes are rarely funny. It's the concept that makes this film stand out, and while there are some funny ideas and neat departures, it's never quite as out there as it could've been.Read all
There's a lot of flag-waving and chest-thumping going on here, but look past that and you'll find a decent anthology celebrating the achievements of the little people, helmed by some of China's prime directors. It was a little too sentimental and overdone in places, but it wasn't as terrible as I had initially feared it would be.
A decent romantic road movie by Hao Ning, sporting a solid comedy foundation. That's not a big surprise knowing Bo Huang was cast for the lead role. Together with Zheng Xu he forms a nice duo, as they undertake a haphazard road trip to take Huang's mind off of his messy divorce. It's not unlike Zhi's Love Speaks released just a year earlier, which also featured two people stuck in the Chinese countryside. Breakup Buddies focuses more on male bonding and trying to get over a busted relationship though, not so much on forming a new one, which makes for a slightly different dynamic (though less than you might expect). The comedy is only so-so and the film's a bit long, especially since the material isn't all that special or deep. But the cinematography is very slick and Ning made excellent use of the setting. Performances are also pretty decent. This isn't one of Ning's best films, but it's solid filler that passes the time quite effortlessly. Read all
Chinese pep talk. I think this is the second Chinese blockbuster anthology made with a single goal in mind: make China look good on the silver screen. It's no surprise these film have started to pop up over there now that their local market is booming, they're simply copying Hollywood's playbook. China's most familiar actors (Bo Huang, You Ge, Baoqiang Wang, ...) are all present, the cinematography is nice and colorful and there are some quirky stories, but there's not enough variation, there's no grit and all the film offer the same self-boasting fuzzy feelgood nonsense. I hope this will be the end of it, but since these films are doing pretty well at the box office I doubt it very much.Read all
Hoa Ning's early work. Before he started a string of kooky dark comedies, he directed a film that is little more than a look at Mongolian culture. There's a simple narrative that gets you from start to finish, but it's really just an excuse to take a peep at Mongolian people and how they live/what they do. The cinematography is very plain, the setting is pretty uninviting and the premise is too thin to support the runtime. I guess it's a nice film if you're clueless about Mongolian culture and you don't care about the technical/aesthetic aspects of a film, but then there must be documentaries that better fit the purpose. Not good.Read all