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Paul Fonoroff

New  Releases
The Muppets (I) (Cantonese and  English versions)
See review on this page.
All's Well, Ends Well 2012 (IIA) (Cantonese and Putonghua) 
See review on this page.
A Happy Event (III) (French)
Remi Bezancon's comedy-drama centring on a gifted philosophy graduate student who struggles  to connect with her baby.  Not reviewed.
The Flowers of War (IIB) (English, Putonghua, Nanjing Chinese  and Japanese)
Zhang Yimou's drama centring on a self-centred American mortician (Christian Bale) who finds refuge together with a group of Chinese prostitutes and convent schoolgirls in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937 - and while posing as a priest, attempts to lead the women to safety.  PF 
From Up on Poppy Hill (I) (Japanese and Cantonese versions)
Studio Ghibli  anime drama, set just before the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, about a spirited teenaged girl  who works with a schoolmate to prevent the demolition of their school's dilapidated student-club building. Goro Miyazaki directs. Not reviewed. 
I Love HK 2012 (IIA) (Cantonese)
Cameo-filled Lunar New Year comedy revolving around the antics of a family headed by a weather forecast announcer.  Starring Eric Tsang Chi-wai, Teresa Mo Shun-kwan, Bosco Wong Chung-chak  and Denise Ho Wan-see. Not reviewed. 
Journey 2: Mysterious Island (IIA) 
Stereoscopic family adventure follow-up to Journey to the Centre of the Earth (2008) has Sean Anderson reprising his role as an intrepid young man who, this time,  heads - with his new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson), a helicopter pilot and his daughter - to a mysterious island  after receiving a coded distress signal from it. Not reviewed. 
Puss in Boots (I) (Cantonese and English versions)
Dreamworks Animation's 3-D animated adventure comedy about a sword-fighting cat who teams up with Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws  to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs. Not reviewed.
The Viral Factor (IIB) (Cantonese, Putonghua and English)
 Dante Lam Chiu-yin's  action thriller centring on a Chinese security agent (Jay Chou Jie-lun)  who finds himself on the opposite side of a continent-spanning criminal plot to release a viral plague upon the world with his estranged elder brother (Nicholas Tse Ting-fung). Not reviewed.
General Releases
3 Idiots (IIA) (Hindi, Urdu and English)
Raju Hirani's Bollywood comedy about two friends (R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi) who embark on a journey to find their lost buddy (Aamir Khan). CT
3-D Happy Feet 2 (I) (Cantonese and English versions)
Animated musical comedy tale in which the hero of Happy Feet (2006) is now a father who has to contend with a new threat to his Utopian singing and dancing penguin community. CT  
3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (III) (Cantonese)
Stereoscopic reworking of Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen's 1991 soft-porn feature about the outrageous adventures of a scholar as he searches for the secrets of sexual pleasure. PF 
Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 (I) (Cantonese and English versions)
Animated comedy that has Alvin, the Chipmunks and Chipettes having fun aboard a cruise ship until they get shipwrecked and are marooned on a tropical island. CT 
The Darkest Hour (IIA) 
Stereoscopic thriller centring on five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. Starring Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby. Not reviewed.
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (IIB) (Putonghua version)
Tsui Hark's 3-D wuxia epic revolving around the mysterious saviour of a pregnant palace maid who helps her seek refuge at a desert inn, with imperial assassins in hot pursuit, and a righteous warrior following in their wake. Starring Jet Li Lianjie, Zhou Xun and Chen Kun. LKW 
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (III)
David Fincher's suspense-thriller take on Stieg Larsson's best-selling crime novel about an odd couple's investigation into the truth behind the disappearance of a teenager along with a string of unsolved serial murders that took place in Sweden in the 1950s and 60s. Starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. CT 
The Great Magician (IIA) (Cantonese)
Tony Leung Chiu-wai stars as the titular conjurer in Derek Yee Tung-shing's light-hearted romantic comedy in which there's more  than meets the eye with regards to many events and people, including a warlord (Lau Ching-wan) with many wives but is intent on winning the affections of the magician's fiancee (Zhou Xun).  PF 
Melancholia (IIB)
Lars von Trier's drama with sci-fi overtones about two sisters (Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) who find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with earth. CT 
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (IIB) (English and Russian)
The fourth instalment of the Mission Impossible action adventure-thriller series sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his new team going rogue to clear their organisation's name after they are falsely implicated in a bombing at the Kremlin.  CT
My Name is Khan (IIA) (English and Hindi)
Shahrukh Khan stars in a romantic musical drama about a South Asian living in the US who, after his stepson is accidentally killed in a racially incited assault, embarks on a journey to tell the US president that he is not a terrorist.  CT 
Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (I)
Film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's  romantic musical adaptation of French  writer Gaston Leroux's  story about a bitter man, deformed since birth, who lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House and the young woman he falls for.  CT  
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (IIA)
Robert Downey Jnr reprises his role as the legendary detective and Jude Law returns as his colleague, Dr Watson, in Guy Ritchie's period crime drama pitting the pair against criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). CT 
The Skin I Live In (III) (Spanish)
Pedro Almodovar's drama-thriller adaptation of French crime novelist Thierry Jonquet's story revolving around a plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas), haunted by past tragedies, who creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage - and his human guinea pig (Elena Anaya). CT    
Turning Point 2 (IIB) (Cantonese)
Michael Tse Tin-wah reprises his role as undercover cop Laughing Gor who, this time around, goes  snooping for information in a prison. YT 
You are the Apple of My Eye (IIB) (Mandarin)
Giddens Ko Ching-teng's adaptation of his autobiographical coming-of-age novel about a mischievous high school student, his friends and the girl he will never forget. CT
Art House
Remembering Ricky Hui (1946-2011)
The HK Film Archive presents a programme of four films featuring the late comedian-actor-singer Ricky Hui Koon-Ying, including the following two films. Until Jan 27. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$20 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139 
Plain Jane to the Rescue
John Woo Yu-sum's working-class comedy centring on a homely young woman (Josephine Siao Fong-fong)  who goes from job to job but whose latest undertaking sees her tutoring a genial gentleman whose son wants his father's inheritance all to himself. In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. Jan 20, 11am, HK Film Archive. 
Haunted Cop Shop
 Jeff Lau Chun-wai's  ghost comedy revolving around a pair of bumbling policemen (Ricky Hui Koon-ying and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau)  who find themselves upholding law and disorder in a zany world of twisted urbanity. In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. Jan 27, 11am, HK Film Archive.
M+ Bamboo Cinema
M+, the new Museum of Visual Culture in HK, presents the following outdoor screening programme of five Hong Kong films with Cantonese opera associations. Jan 24. West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre, West Kowloon Cultural District, free. Inquiries: 2200 0103
Princess Chang Ping
John Woo Yu-sum's Cantonese opera version of the Chinese legend about the  against-the-odds love affair between a Ming dynasty princess and a scholar. Starring Lung Kim-sung and Mui Suet-see. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Jan 24, 2pm, West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre.
Let It Be
Rex Ng Kwok-leung's  2004 experimental short film  cuts and weaves into  various storylines involving the fate of Cantonese opera luminaries Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin's  fictional characters and the fate of HK in 2003 after Sars. In Cantonese. Jan 24, 4pm, West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre.
The Spooky Bunch
Ann Hui On-wah's supernatural comedy about a Cantonese Opera troupe invited to perform on Cheung Chau who gets mixed up with a platoon of ghost soldiers seeking revenge. Starring Josephine Siao Fong-fong. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Jan 24, 4.45pm, West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre.
The Sorrowful Lute
Tso Kea's adaptation of Charles Vidor's Love Me or Leave Me about a Chinese opera aficionado yearning for stardom who attempts to exploit a triad boss' fascination with her only to find herself unable to escape his obsessive control. Starring Fong Yim-fun and Ng Chor-fan.  In Cantonese. Jan 24, 6.45pm, West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre.
The Dutiful Daughter Zhu Zhu
Melodrama showcasing Connie Chan Po-chu  as a teenage show girl who struggles to achieve her dream of becoming a Cantonese opera actress. In Cantonese. Jan 24, 8.45pm, West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre.   
The Weird, the Strange, the Beautiful
The Goethe Institut presents a programme of five German films about 'being beautifully different', including the following one. Until Mar 9. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$50 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2802 0088
I've Never Been Happier
Drama centring on a man with a passion for assuming false identities, who is undeterred from impersonating another man after a stint in prison  in his bid to free a woman from a brothel. In German with English subtitles. Jan 27, 8pm, HK Film Archive. 
Celebrating Chinese New Year
The HK Film Archive presents a programme of five Chinese New Year films from the 1960s to late 1980s, including the following two films. Jan 28-Feb 5. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$30 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139
Prince's Lovers
Chan Pei's 1964 period musical comedy about a crown prince (Lam Kar-sing)  who, bored by his assigned fiancee cousin, goes in search of a talented princess on a white horse. In Cantonese. Jan 28, 2pm, Feb 5, 5pm, HK  Film Archive.
Hire a Husband
Lo Yu-kei's 1965  comedy about a nerdy writer (Cheung Ying-choi)  who agrees to help out his kindhearted neighbour (Nam Hung)  by pretending to be her husband so that she can be the sole heiress of her billionaire tycoon father's fortunes. In Cantonese. Jan 28, 4.30pm, Feb 5, 7.30pm, HK Film Archive.
The Inspired Island: Ports of Mists 
Documentary about Taiwanese poet Zheng Chou-yu that makes use of his words, as well as imagery and music, to evoke a vibrant era of poetry. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Jan 28, 2pm, Mar 29, 9.50pm, Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, HK$55; and Feb 1, 8pm, Palace IFC, Podium Level 1, IFC Mall, 8 Finance St, Central, HK$75 www.cinema.com.hk. Inquiries: 2388 0002
100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies
The HK Film Archive presents a programme of 100 Hong Kong films from 1916 to 1999, including the following two films. Until 2014. Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, HK$55 www.cinema.com.hk; and HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$30 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 2900 
City on Fire
Chow Yun-fat stars in Ringo Lam Ling-tung's  crime drama exploration of an ethical struggle an undercover policeman undergoes when he gets too close to his prey. Also starring  Danny Lee Sau-yin.  In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. Jan 28, 7pm, Feb 1, 7.30pm, HK Film Archive. 
Let's be Happy (aka The Quarrelsome Couple)
Comedy revolving around a pair of good buddies (Patrick Tse Yin and Woo Fung), one rich monetarily and the other rich in experience, and the women (Nam Hung and Patsy Kar Ling) they  lose their hearts to.  In Cantonese. Jan 28, 9.30pm, HK  Film Archive.



Film