Johnnie To
We took a look at Criterion’s September releases, including Johnnie To’s Throw Down and Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films.
On the latest Video Dispatches, we take a look at recent releases from Eureka Entertainment, Lionsgate Films, and Well Go USA.
Chasing Dream has a lot of the trademark technical and narrative notes that seem fitting of a To-helmed Milkyway Image production.
Jake Tropila chronicles his top ten action films of the last decade.
If you look at the films of Hong Kong before and after 1997, there is a striking difference. The action films leading up the nineties were fast-paced, tough, gritty with an edgy quality that paralleled Hollywood’s assembly line modeled studio era. The years surrounding the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China around 1997 proved to be an uncertain time for Hong Kong’s bustling film industry.
The 1980’s through the years leading up the handover in 1997 were paramount in Hong Kong’s long-running series of action films. They have yielded some of the best titles to have emerged from the crown colony as it was in this era. The very words “Hong Kong” at this point in time stirs up images of hit men wielding two handguns, flying swordsmen, and an endless array of bright neon lights.
This is a continuation of “Beyond Hollywood’s Mafia” with more great gangster films from around the world. There’s a rich tapestry in this field to draw from, as films influence filmmakers, writers and directors making more and more fascinating movies about crime. Some directors may have already appeared in the first list, but all these titles are new and differ, one way or another from the first installment, enjoy!
Nowadays it’s fair to say “gangster films” are in a league of their own, no longer thought of as sub-genre of the action film. Thus freeing them to operate on an entirely new frequency in the model created by earlier classics such as The Godfather or Goodfellas. These movies are indeed classic but have you ever thought about organized crime outside of the United States?
The Hong Kong New Wave of the late 1970’s had diverted, and the benefit of this diversion was the short-lived, but prolific Cinema City in 1980. Founded by comedians Alan Mak and Wong Jin, Cinema City would be the jumping point for some of Hong Kong’s most prestigious directors. John Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, Eric Tsang, Ronny Yu, and Johnnie To found their way into the film business through Cinema City; these filmmakers would make some of the most innovative and energetic films ever.
