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Movie reel

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-26 11:49

This year's Christmas releases include a horror flick, a comedy and a movie about gambling and gangsters in Macao. Meanwhile, Zhang Yimou's A Simple Noodle Story and Hong Kong director Teddy Chen's action drama Bodyguards and Assassins continue to do brisk business at the box office.

Zhang Jiangnan's Midnight Taxi narrowly squeezes in as the first and only horror movie to hit Chinese theaters in 2009, with film critic Zhang showing the influence of Japanese classics such as The Ring on his directorial debut. Despite some minor plot holes, the movie, adapted from an online novel of the same name, is engaging and shows the director's adroitness at balancing blood and suspense, darkness and light, and reality and illusion in this story of a Beijing taxi driver's encounter with a mysterious woman and the accidents that ensue.

Midnight Taxi stars Hong Kong actor Jordan Chan and mainland actress Deng Ziyi in the lead roles. Chan, famous for playing comedic losers in Hong Kong gangster movies, still manages to evoke a few laughs despite the atmosphere of fear and tension, especially when he learns of the death of his girlfriend. Meanwhile, newcomer Deng proves she is more than just a pretty face by acquitting herself in the schlock horror stakes.

Hong Kong has a long tradition of churning out gambling movies, with God of Gamblers one of the hits of the 1990s. Now the same filmmakers are returning to their favorite subject with a new project, Poker King, set in the gambling enclave of Macao.

Directed by Chan Hing-ka and Janet Chun, Poker King is full of nostalgic gambling scenes and overacting. Louis Koo stars as rule-breaker Jack Chang, the heir to a massive gambling empire in Macao. After his father passes away. Chang is called back to Macao by Uno Cheuk (Lau Ching-wan), who plans, by fair means or foul, to inveigle his way into Chang's rightful position as president of the company.

The movie is bursting with trashy commercialism and star power, but wins by not taking itself too seriously and throwing in plenty of slick card-dealing scenes to maintain the tradition of Hong Kong's top gambling movies. While fans of Chow Yun-fat and Stephen Chow in God of Gamblers may be disappointed, Poker King does more than enough to satisfy its populist audience.

Deng Zhiheng's Da You Cun Bright Future may be the funniest movie of the season. Centered on a group of impoverished villagers trying to improve their lot and make their dreams come true, the movie engages - courtesy of its funny characters and smooth storytelling.

Keen to improve his community's living conditions, village head Li Biao encounters a Taiwan boss who promises to invest in Da You Cun's real estate market. Needless to say, things go awry and the village sinks deeper into debt, forcing each of its residents to pull together to make back the money they need to survive.

Other movies now showing in Shanghai include:

A Simple Noodle Story

Zhang Yimou's new comedy thriller A Simple Noodle Story concerns the owner of a noodle shop who plans to kill his cheating wife and her lover but sees his plan spin out of control as guns, knives and swords get involved. The movie, filmed in northwestern China's Gansu province, was adapted from the Coen brothers' Blood Simple (1985). Comedian Xiao Shenyang and television actress Yan Ni star along with mainland actor Sun Honglei.

Bodyguards and Assassins

Directed by Teddy Chen Tak-sum and produced by Peter Chen Ho-sun, the movie is about Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen's life in Hong Kong in 1905 as a group of people protect him from an assassination attempt.

The movie has an all-star cast, with Tony Leung as a revolutionary and Eric Tsang Chi-wai as a policeman, Nicholas Tse Ting-fung as a rickshaw puller, Simon Yam Tat-wah as a fugitive and Donnie Yen Ji-dan as a gambler. Mainland actors Hu Jun, Fan Bingbing and pop singer Li Yuchun also feature.