https://www.scmp.com/rss/318844/feed From Andy Lau to John Woo, from Jiang Wen to Tsai Ming-liang to Sylvia Chang, and from triads to kung fu to hopping vampires to costume epics, this is the place to go for features, interviews and reviews about Chinese-language movies from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Edmund Lee Edmund Lee Hailed as a triumphant reinvigoration of the Hong Kong police thriller, the star-studded 2012 film Cold War revolves around a high-stakes power struggle within the upper echelons of the city’s police force. Winner of nine prizes at the 2013 Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA), the action blockbuster notably aligned itself with an institutional slogan of pride: “Hong Kong is Asia’s safest city.” Yet just 14 years after its release, the cinematic landscape – much like the city itself – has drastically... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351683/how-hong-kong-crime-films-have-evolved-national-security-law-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351683/how-hong-kong-crime-films-have-evolved-national-security-law-era?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:25:03 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis The 1967 film The One-Armed Swordsman changed Hong Kong martial arts cinema forever. Its two sequels, while less influential, remain well-regarded and highly entertaining. Here is how those two follow-ups kept the legend alive. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969) The massive success of the original film made Chang Cheh a “million-dollar director” – and a sequel inevitable. Although leading actor Jimmy Wang Yu returned, this follow-up was a very different film. Screenwriting legend Ni Kuang... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351007/how-one-armed-swordsman-sequels-took-hong-kong-martial-arts-films-next-level?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351007/how-one-armed-swordsman-sequels-took-hong-kong-martial-arts-films-next-level?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 09:15:09 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee This is the 75th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. When Tony Leung Ka-fai took to the stage of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre on April 19 to accept the best actor prize at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA), he became the only person to win that honour across five consecutive decades. Yet for the 68-year-old veteran, his accolades are a by-product of his endurance – he has previously admitted to keeping his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351095/how-tony-leung-ka-fais-hong-kong-film-awards-record-caps-wild-journey-actor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351095/how-tony-leung-ka-fais-hong-kong-film-awards-record-caps-wild-journey-actor?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 23:15:07 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu According to the 2021 population census, Hong Kong is home to 619,568 people from ethnic minorities, making up 8.4 per cent of the population (the figure is 301,344, or roughly 4.1 per cent, excluding foreign domestic workers). About 13,000 to 15,000 asylum seekers also live in the city. One of the closest-knit outposts of non-Chinese communities in Hong Kong is Kam Tin in Yuen Long district, in the New Territories. In a city defined by its dense urban landscape and Cantonese heritage, the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350831/how-new-hong-kong-indie-film-uses-tea-bridge-citys-ethnic-minority-divide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350831/how-new-hong-kong-indie-film-uses-tea-bridge-citys-ethnic-minority-divide?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Danny Mok Danny Mok Ciao UFO, a sci‑fi drama inspired by a local urban legend of mysterious lights over a public housing estate, clinched the top honours at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night, winning best film and best director for Patrick Leung Pak‑kin. The dystopian crime thriller Sons of the Neon Night emerged as the biggest winner, taking home eight prizes out of 12 nominations. Among those sharing the limelight at the ceremony in the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui was veteran Tony Leung Ka‑fai,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3350651/ciao-ufo-takes-top-prizes-hong-kong-film-awards-sons-neon-night-glows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3350651/ciao-ufo-takes-top-prizes-hong-kong-film-awards-sons-neon-night-glows?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 16:12:07 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis It was not all John Woo Yu-sum when it came to Hong Kong crime films in the late 1980s – filmmakers were still making a variety of interesting cops-and-robbers movies. Here, we look at two hidden gems produced by Tsui Hark that were directed by Johnnie To Kei-fung and Kirk Wong Chi-keung, respectively. The Big Heat (1988) This skilfully executed police thriller features some gruesome violence – it opens with a dream sequence in which an electric drill rips through a hand – but the sometimes... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350298/why-these-1980s-hong-kong-crime-movies-produced-tsui-hark-are-hidden-gems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350298/why-these-1980s-hong-kong-crime-movies-produced-tsui-hark-are-hidden-gems?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 03:15:07 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. “It’s one of your favourite fantasies, isn’t it: the submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man?” Chinese opera singer Song Liling (John Lone) says to French diplomat René Gallimard (Jeremy Irons) at the start of their metaphorically freighted affair. It is a cliché both explored and exploded in director David Cronenberg’s 1993 drama M.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349334/how-m-butterfly-jeremy-irons-subverted-western-fantasies-chinese-femininity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349334/how-m-butterfly-jeremy-irons-subverted-western-fantasies-chinese-femininity?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee This year’s Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) arrives under an unprecedented cloud of controversy, making Sunday’s 44th edition at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre one of the most heavily scrutinised ceremonies in the event’s history. The industry has been reeling ever since the pre-emptive disqualification of four eligible films in early January: Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vital Signs, Finch & Midland and Mother Bhumi. This opaque and as-yet-unexplained move by the HKFA effectively removed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350125/hong-kong-film-awards-2026-predictions-ciao-ufo-back-past-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3350125/hong-kong-film-awards-2026-predictions-ciao-ufo-back-past-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak In the historical drama A Foggy Tale, which won the best narrative film and best original screenplay gongs at the 2025 Golden Horse Awards, writer-director Chen Yu-hsun tells the emotional stories of everyday individuals who fight tirelessly to survive against a backdrop of intense political and social turbulence. Set in 1950s Taiwan during the early years of the White Terror – a time of rampant political persecution under Kuomintang rule – A Foggy Tale follows Yue (Caitlin Fang Yu-ting,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349843/what-taiwan-white-terror-drama-foggy-tale-taught-will-or-and-9m88-about-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349843/what-taiwan-white-terror-drama-foggy-tale-taught-will-or-and-9m88-about-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 04:45:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Kung fu and action comedies dominated Hong Kong’s comedy genre in the late 1970s and 80s, but the city’s film industry was also still making mainstream comedies at the time – and audiences loved them. We take a deep dive into three crowd favourites. Itchy Fingers (1979) Hugely popular upon its release, this odd-couple comedy might feel a bit tame for modern viewers. But director Leong Po-chih, a notable member of the Hong Kong New Wave, was a consummate craftsman. He delivers a well-paced romp... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349459/3-hong-kong-comedy-classics-1970s-and-80s-became-local-favourites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349459/3-hong-kong-comedy-classics-1970s-and-80s-became-local-favourites?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 74th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. When a young Joey Yung Cho-yee was dropped by her first record label for her supposedly ordinary looks, few would have bet she would one day stand atop Cantopop as one of its most decorated performers. Yet nearly three decades later, the 45-year-old Hong Kong singer has outlasted her critics and claimed, among other accolades, a dozen most popular female singer trophies from TVB’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349329/not-pretty-enough-joey-yung-became-one-hong-kongs-biggest-cantopop-idols-anyway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349329/not-pretty-enough-joey-yung-became-one-hong-kongs-biggest-cantopop-idols-anyway?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:15:07 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3.5/5 stars Shifting gears between careers as a writer, entrepreneur, rally driver and filmmaker, post-80s poster boy Han Han adds another accolade to his cluttered trophy cabinet, scoring the biggest hit of 2026 so far with the motor-racing sequel Pegasus 3. Having clocked up more than 4.3 billion yuan (US$625 million) at China’s box office since its Chinese New Year release, the blockbuster sequel finally brings the continuing exploits of former champion Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) roaring into Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349140/pegasus-3-movie-review-shen-teng-roars-back-han-hans-blockbuster-racing-sequel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349140/pegasus-3-movie-review-shen-teng-roars-back-han-hans-blockbuster-racing-sequel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:15:08 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee For an actress often hailed by the Taiwanese press as the “box office guarantee” of her generation, Gingle Wang Ching began her career with a startling lack of vocabulary: she had no idea what the word “action” meant on a film set. Her very first scene in her debut feature, 2017’s All Because of Love, required her to walk down a school corridor, open a classroom door and step inside. What should have taken minutes instead took 33 takes. “I didn’t understand anything at all,” Wang, 28, tells the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348889/how-gingle-wang-went-clueless-novice-one-taiwans-top-young-actresses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348889/how-gingle-wang-went-clueless-novice-one-taiwans-top-young-actresses?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:15:10 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Celebrated novelist Eileen Chang Ai-ling was not only a film fan, but she also worked as a film critic and wrote movie scripts. Chang’s own novellas were often considered difficult to adapt for the screen. “Her stories are beautiful because of their language and details, not their plots,” critic Paul Fonoroff wrote in the South China Morning Post. Nevertheless, the great Hong Kong director Ann Hui On-wah has tried three times, with Love in a Fallen City (1984), Eighteen Springs (1997) and Love... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348750/how-did-ann-hui-bring-eileen-changs-love-fallen-city-and-eighteen-springs-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348750/how-did-ann-hui-bring-eileen-changs-love-fallen-city-and-eighteen-springs-life?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen A student who featured in a controversial Hong Kong documentary has said she did not give her consent to it being shown at an Italian film festival, reiterating her objection to it being screened publicly. Ah Ling, one of six students who featured in the coming-of-age documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, said she was only notified by Ying Wa Girls’ School on Friday that the film would be screened at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, this month. The school also did not address her... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3349052/student-controversial-hong-kong-documentary-hits-out-planned-italian-screening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3349052/student-controversial-hong-kong-documentary-hits-out-planned-italian-screening?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:57:43 +0000 Theodora Yu Theodora Yu Fans and cosplayers flooded an intellectual property (IP) festival that debuted in Hong Kong on Saturday, featuring pop culture exports such as the hit franchise Godzilla as well as local designs and trademarks. Long queues formed at Con-Con Hong Kong 2026, a two-day event at AsiaWorld-Expo bringing together exhibitions, music performances, licensing showcases and IP business matching opportunities. Visitors stocked up on exclusive merchandise at booths and took pictures of the latest figurine... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3349040/hong-kong-ip-festival-con-con-draws-crowds-opening-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3349040/hong-kong-ip-festival-con-con-draws-crowds-opening-day?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 11:45:14 +0000 Edith Lin Edith Lin An award-winning documentary capturing the lives of six girls over 10 years by Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting will be screened at a film festival in Italy, three years after it was pulled from local cinemas due to a lack of consent from interviewees. To My Nineteen-year-old Self, which centres on Ying Wa Girls’ School, was one of the four special screenings revealed in the Far East Film Festival’s line-up on Thursday. The film festival, to be held between April 24 and May 2 in Udine,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348981/hong-kong-documentary-pulled-cinemas-3-years-ago-set-be-screened?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348981/hong-kong-documentary-pulled-cinemas-3-years-ago-set-be-screened?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:43:40 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh One of the highlights of this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is a collection of five animated short films from Taiwanese director Joe Hsieh Wen-ming. Awash with vivid imagery of an often erotic and violent nature, Hsieh’s work also channels a palpable sense of compassion, not least in its depictions of mother-child relationships. His latest film, Praying Mantis (2025), marks the animator’s second collaboration with celebrated Hong Kong art-house auteur Yonfan, following the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348633/why-fierce-mothers-and-violent-monsters-star-joe-hsiehs-animated-films?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348633/why-fierce-mothers-and-violent-monsters-star-joe-hsiehs-animated-films?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 2.5/5 stars A bus blast on Valentine’s Day in 1998 that killed 16 and injured dozens in Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province, provides the blueprint for We’re Nothing at All, a trenchant drama that marks a rare rekindling of Herman Yau Lai-to’s passion for socially conscious storytelling after the veteran Hong Kong filmmaker’s mostly bombastic action blockbusters over the past decade. Anchored by visceral performances from a pair of singer-actors, who play the misanthropic gay couple at the heart of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348613/were-nothing-all-movie-review-herman-yaus-grim-social-critique-too-heavy-handed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348613/were-nothing-all-movie-review-herman-yaus-grim-social-critique-too-heavy-handed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Anthony Wong Chau-sang is generally known as a character actor who specialises in crazed and outlandish roles. However, long before the Hong Kong cinema veteran became associated with these extreme stereotypes, he spent the early 1990s proving his expansive acting range, as showcased in these three films. 1. Full Contact (1992) Wong plays second fiddle to Chow Yun-fat in Ringo Lam Ling-tung’s hyperviolent actioner, but it is a meaty supporting role that links Chow to his would-be nemesis, played... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347937/3-anthony-wong-films-early-1990s-show-hong-kong-actors-wide-range?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347937/3-anthony-wong-films-early-1990s-show-hong-kong-actors-wide-range?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 03:15:07 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 73rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. In the golden age of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing was a star so bright that he rewrote the rules of conservative Asian society. Affectionately nicknamed Gor Gor – Cantonese for “older brother” – the Cantopop legend’s talent spanned disciplines and extended far beyond the city’s borders. Even now, decades after his death in 2003, fans from around the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:15:13 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis The late Hong Kong action maestro Benny Chan Muk-sing made his name with the hit triad love story A Moment of Romance (1990) and the acclaimed police thriller Big Bullet (1996), before going on to direct popular action extravaganzas such as 2013’s The White Storm. Bridging these two eras are two pivotal films from the early 2000s that demonstrate Chan’s unique flair for action – Heroic Duo and Invisible Target. Heroic Duo (2003) Shot before 2002’s mega-hit Infernal Affairs fully rejuvenated the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347240/how-two-benny-chans-2000s-films-bridged-old-school-stunts-and-modern-hong-kong-action?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347240/how-two-benny-chans-2000s-films-bridged-old-school-stunts-and-modern-hong-kong-action?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:15:11 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. In the early 2000s, long before China began opening up to the commercial possibilities of Western cinema, the idea of filming a potential blockbuster in the country seemed nothing short of revolutionary. Previous efforts were either prestige pictures, such as 1987’s The Last Emperor or tiny indies like A Great Wall (1986). But anyone who could mount an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346728/how-doa-dead-or-alive-tried-create-new-kind-blockbuster-amid-chaotic-china-shoot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346728/how-doa-dead-or-alive-tried-create-new-kind-blockbuster-amid-chaotic-china-shoot?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 09:15:07 +0000 Gavin Yeung Gavin Yeung After the dust settles following the March madness of Art Basel, Art Central and the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is due to celebrate its semi-centennial this April – a milestone that serves as a retrospective of the city’s storied cinematic output. Despite arriving at a difficult time for the local film industry, amid a slew of cinema closures, the 50th edition, which runs from April 1 to 12, strikes a hopeful note with a strong showing of the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3347107/see-chen-kaige-and-juliette-binoche-hong-kong-international-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3347107/see-chen-kaige-and-juliette-binoche-hong-kong-international-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 4/5 stars Life rarely turns out the way one may have hoped – that is the core idea behind Ciao UFO. The engrossing drama takes a sci-fi-tinged urban legend as its launch pad for a nostalgic trip through instantly recognisable scenes from recent Hong Kong history, as experienced by three former childhood friends who find their dreams slipping away as adults. Having premiered at the 2019 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, this delicate tale of longing and regret by director Patrick Leung Pak-kin... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347002/ciao-ufo-movie-review-charlene-choi-leads-nostalgic-trip-through-recent-hong-kong-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3347002/ciao-ufo-movie-review-charlene-choi-leads-nostalgic-trip-through-recent-hong-kong-history?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:20:31 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh The Hong Kong International Film Festival returns in April, celebrating its 50th edition with a mouth-watering retrospective of classics from the last half-century of Chinese-language cinema. New and old works alike from masters of the art form, including Zhang Yimou, Tsai Ming-liang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, will play alongside a typically eclectic selection of some of the finest recent offerings from around the world. Acclaimed Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen’s latest work, We Are All Strangers,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346869/hong-kong-international-film-festival-2026-highlights-12-must-see-movies-and-programmes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346869/hong-kong-international-film-festival-2026-highlights-12-must-see-movies-and-programmes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Herman Yau Lai-to began his career as a cinematographer before transitioning to the director’s chair. He gained notoriety as a pioneer of Hong Kong’s Category III (adults-only) exploitation era, directing gruesome genre classics such as the 1993 serial killer thriller The Untold Story and 1996’s Ebola Syndrome. Since then, the prolific filmmaker – an academic with a PhD in cultural studies who is just as often recognised by his signature rock ‘n’ roll T-shirts – has worked ceaselessly. Known for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346304/how-hong-kong-director-herman-yau-went-gory-cult-films-action-blockbusters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346304/how-hong-kong-director-herman-yau-went-gory-cult-films-action-blockbusters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 04:45:07 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu This is the 72nd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. What do Chow Yun-fat, Timothee Chalamet and Doh Kyung-soo have in common? They have all had to keep up with the razor-sharp mind of Hong Kong actress and television host Carol “Dodo” Cheng Yu-ling. From teaching Hollywood heartthrobs Cantonese to hosting the city’s most prestigious galas, Cheng’s presence is ubiquitous. Anyone who has watched the TVB anniversary awards or the local... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346208/how-carol-dodo-cheng-went-acting-chow-yun-fat-interviewing-hollywood-stars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346208/how-carol-dodo-cheng-went-acting-chow-yun-fat-interviewing-hollywood-stars?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3/5 stars One of the most beguiling aspects of Gamer Girls is that it never acknowledges its characters’ gaming addiction for what it is. Too distracted by the craving for just one more match to function at your day job? Never mind. Needing to grind out another 500 hours of playtime within weeks to qualify for tournament selection? No problem. Despite its casual treatment of the gruelling, burnout-inducing realities of esports, and its light-touch approach to the toxic misogyny that often... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346211/gamer-girls-movie-review-angela-yuen-leads-ensemble-beguiling-hong-kong-esports-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3346211/gamer-girls-movie-review-angela-yuen-leads-ensemble-beguiling-hong-kong-esports-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Hong Kong martial arts maestro Chang Cheh’s legendary acrobatic fighters, the Venom Mob, have remained firm favourites of genre fans abroad since their screen debut in 1978. The bedrock of that enduring popularity is The Five Venoms (also known as Five Deadly Venoms), the cult classic that launched their iconic run. For the uninitiated, the Venom Mob are not a fictional movie team like Marvel’s Avengers, but a group of actors – brought together by Chang – who appeared in different roles in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345671/how-five-venoms-pioneered-superhero-team-chinese-martial-arts-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345671/how-five-venoms-pioneered-superhero-team-chinese-martial-arts-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 09:15:07 +0000 Salomé Grouard Salomé Grouard When filmmaker Elizabeth Lo is asked which questions she wishes she got more often, she laughs before answering. “I wish people asked more about my other projects, especially Stray,” she tells me, sipping a coffee in Hong Kong, hours before flying back to Los Angeles for a final round of awards season events. Point taken. The acclaimed documentary director doesn’t want to be defined solely by her latest work, Mistress Dispeller, which follows a Chinese couple through a turbulent time in their... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3345504/elizabeth-lo-her-oscar-shortlisted-film-about-chinas-mistress-dispellers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3345504/elizabeth-lo-her-oscar-shortlisted-film-about-chinas-mistress-dispellers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3/5 stars Macau filmmaker Tracy Choi Ian-sin revisits the tender, nostalgic tone of her directorial debut, Sisterhood (2016), for this semi-autobiographical lesbian drama. Girlfriends charts a young woman’s coming-of-age experience and ongoing quest to find her place in the world through three episodes from separate periods of her life, unfolding in reverse chronological order and under different names. It opens in 2024 Hong Kong, where the Macau-born director Lok (Fish Liew Chi-yu) has been... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345395/girlfriends-movie-review-fish-liew-and-jennifer-yu-reunite-tender-lesbian-romance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345395/girlfriends-movie-review-fish-liew-and-jennifer-yu-reunite-tender-lesbian-romance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 2/5 stars Viewers who like their cops-and-robbers thrillers loud, frenetic and illogical are in for a blast – along with car chases, bruising one-on-one fights and all too many extended shoot-outs – with Ultimate Revenge, an unabashedly derivative addition to Hong Kong’s once-feted action cinema tradition. While its gritty approach to action might excite diehard fans of the genre, this latest effort by emerging director Terry Ng Ka-wai (The Unwavering Brotherhood, 2024) has presumably blown most... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345268/ultimate-revenge-movie-review-hong-kong-police-and-robbers-drama-all-brawn-and-no-brains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345268/ultimate-revenge-movie-review-hong-kong-police-and-robbers-drama-all-brawn-and-no-brains?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Patrick Lung Kong, also known as Long Gang, is an anomaly among Hong Kong filmmakers. Working at a time when martial arts films ruled the local box office, Lung made socially conscious contemporary dramas that focused on Hong Kong issues and were highly didactic. Lung, who died in 2014, believed that society’s ills, rather than an individual’s failings, turned citizens to crime, and he was not afraid to express this explicitly in his work. But Lung also realised that audiences did not like to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344718/love-better-tomorrow-hong-kong-director-and-film-inspired-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344718/love-better-tomorrow-hong-kong-director-and-film-inspired-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung This is the 71st instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Back in the first decade of his entertainment career, which began in the mid-1980s, Michael Tse Tin-wah was a face you recognised but a name you might have struggled to place. He was a backup dancer hitting his marks behind Cantopop icons; a fiercely loyal triad henchman swinging a machete in the Young and Dangerous films; a dependable character actor equipped with a sinister,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344408/why-michael-tse-hong-kong-actor-behind-laughing-gor-lesson-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344408/why-michael-tse-hong-kong-actor-behind-laughing-gor-lesson-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 23:15:07 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 2/5 stars Produced under the guidance of China’s Ministry of State Security, Zhang Yimou’s hi-tech spy thriller Scare Out is the first contemporary Chinese film to tackle the issue of national security head-on. Slickly executed but narratively muddled, it stars Jackson Yee and Zhu Yilong as security agents who, while on the trail of stolen military secrets, learn there is a mole operating within their own unit. Shooting on location in the newly modernised metropolis of Shenzhen, Zhang seizes the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344534/scare-out-movie-review-zhang-yimou-tackles-national-security-chinese-spy-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344534/scare-out-movie-review-zhang-yimou-tackles-national-security-chinese-spy-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:15:08 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 4/5 stars Few events in life are more stressful than planning your wedding day given the myriad details and complexities to consider, from simple logistics to traditions, superstitions and even financial expectations. Hosting two ceremonies simultaneously might seem foolish, but to attempt to keep each one secret from the other, while being the centre of attention at both, could drive any bride and groom to the brink of madness. Yet this is precisely the outrageous premise of Double Happiness,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344313/double-happiness-movie-review-liu-kuan-ting-jennifer-yu-delight-clever-wedding-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344313/double-happiness-movie-review-liu-kuan-ting-jennifer-yu-delight-clever-wedding-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:15:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Legendary Hong Kong film director Li Han-hsiang is best known for stately historical dramas like the lavish Empress Wu Tse-tien (1963), but he also made important huangmei diao opera films. Originating in mainland China’s Hubei province, this folk opera style spawned massive 1960s box office hits. Notably, these productions were not filmed stage operas but fully formed cinematic experiences, akin to Hollywood musicals. Here we look at two very different huangmei diao films directed by Li. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344075/how-2-films-li-han-hsiang-became-classics-hong-kongs-chinese-folk-opera-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344075/how-2-films-li-han-hsiang-became-classics-hong-kongs-chinese-folk-opera-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 09:15:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Art-house movie trilogies are rare beasts, and even rarer when they are unintended. “I think it was completely accidental,” says Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen of the 13-year odyssey to complete his “Growing Up” trilogy. It began in 2013 with his debut Ilo Ilo, the sensitive tale of a boy’s bond with his domestic helper. The film won Chen the Camera d’Or at Cannes, the prize awarded for best first feature. He followed it six years later with Wet Season, in which a teacher finds herself drawn... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344024/how-anthony-chens-we-are-all-strangers-captures-beauty-working-class-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3344024/how-anthony-chens-we-are-all-strangers-captures-beauty-working-class-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 04:45:08 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. Sometimes seemingly modest films have the greatest making-of stories. So it is with the 2004 romcom Saving Face, the first American film about an Asian-American lesbian couple to get a cinema release. The story of New York surgeon Wilhelmina “Wil” Pang (Michelle Krusiec), her new love Vivian (Lynn Chen) and her pregnant – and, crucially, unmarried –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343990/why-alice-wus-saving-face-most-important-asian-american-lesbian-film-ever-made?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343990/why-alice-wus-saving-face-most-important-asian-american-lesbian-film-ever-made?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:15:08 +0000 Daniel Eagan Daniel Eagan It has been more than seven years since Yuen Woo-ping last directed a feature film. Opening for Lunar New Year 2026, Blades of the Guardians marks a return to the kind of martial arts blockbusters that the Hong Kong cinema icon helped define with works such as Drunken Master (1978) and Wing Chun (1994). Based on a popular comics series, the new film follows bounty hunter Dao Ma (Wu Jing), the “second most wanted fugitive” in the Sui dynasty (581-618), as he tries to lead a rebel leader across... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343880/director-yuen-woo-ping-revives-wuxia-blockbuster-blades-guardians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343880/director-yuen-woo-ping-revives-wuxia-blockbuster-blades-guardians?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 08:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars Fans of Chinese-language martial arts movies could hardly have asked for a more satisfying revival than this ferocious wuxia epic, directed by the legendary Yuen Woo-ping (Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy) and anchored by a visceral turn from superstar Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2) as a master swordsman haunted by his past. Adapted from a popular Chinese comics series of the same name by a quartet of screenwriters, Blades of the Guardians is, as expected, crammed with so many semi-developed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343820/blades-guardians-movie-review-wu-jing-leads-star-studded-chinese-martial-arts-epic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343820/blades-guardians-movie-review-wu-jing-leads-star-studded-chinese-martial-arts-epic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 09:01:18 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3/5 stars It has been just over a year since Jackie Chan unleashed upon us the execrable ordeal that was Panda Plan, an abysmal family-focused caper centring on his efforts to save a shoddily rendered CGI panda from a gang of incompetent terrorists. Since then, the 71-year-old action star has stumbled into a surprisingly rich vein of form, with Karate Kid: Legends, The Shadow’s Edge and Unexpected Family all outshining much of his recent output. Continuing this unexpected trend, Panda Plan: The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343714/panda-plan-magical-tribe-movie-review-jackie-chan-delivers-wholesome-family-fun?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343714/panda-plan-magical-tribe-movie-review-jackie-chan-delivers-wholesome-family-fun?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 07:15:07 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4/5 stars Following his lacklustre English-language debut Drift (2023) starring Cynthia Erivo, filmmaker Anthony Chen returns to Singapore for the sprawling, surprising and spot on drama, We Are All Strangers. Playing in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, it completes Chen’s “Growing Up” trilogy that began with his debut, Ilo Ilo (2013), which won the Caméra d’Or award at that year’s Cannes, and continued with Wet Season (2019) – a trio of films that, he has stated, reflects... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343664/berlin-2026-we-are-all-strangers-movie-review-epic-look-fatherhood-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343664/berlin-2026-we-are-all-strangers-movie-review-epic-look-fatherhood-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3/5 stars You cannot blame Jack Ng Wai-lun for trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice. The veteran screenwriter made history as the first Hong Kong filmmaker to gross over HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) locally – with his directorial debut, A Guilty Conscience (2023) – and the temptation for an encore must have been irresistible. Ng’s strategy is to revisit the golden formula of his previous hit. He once again depicts Dayo Wong Tsz-wah as a slick professional losing his footing in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343732/night-king-movie-review-dayo-wong-sammi-cheng-lead-enjoyably-fluffy-nightclub-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343732/night-king-movie-review-dayo-wong-sammi-cheng-lead-enjoyably-fluffy-nightclub-comedy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 09:12:59 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Hong Kong New Wave director Allen Fong Yuk-ping transitioned from television to filmmaking later than his contemporaries, but his neo-realist social dramas did prove immediately successful. He won best film and best director at the inaugural Hong Kong Film Awards in 1982 for his debut feature, Father and Son, and repeated the double for his next film, Ah Ying, two years later. He won best director again in 1987 for his third effort, Just Like Weather. Here, we take a deep dive into Fong’s first... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343267/why-hong-kong-new-wave-director-allen-fongs-father-and-son-and-ah-ying-are-true-gems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343267/why-hong-kong-new-wave-director-allen-fongs-father-and-son-and-ah-ying-are-true-gems?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 07:15:08 +0000 He Huifeng He Huifeng China’s box office presales topped 200 million yuan (US$28.9 million) by Saturday ahead of the coming Lunar New Year holiday, led exclusively by domestic productions – a decline of more than 60 per cent from about 600 million yuan over the same period last year, according to Taopiaopiao, the online ticketing arm of Alibaba Pictures. Presales are closely watched by distributors and investors as an early indicator of holiday audience demand. Long seen as a crucial pillar of China’s film market,... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342186/chinas-box-office-presales-fall-over-60-last-year-crucial-lunar-new-year-window?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342186/chinas-box-office-presales-fall-over-60-last-year-crucial-lunar-new-year-window?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 02:00:09 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 70th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. For many of her admirers, the defining image of Athena Chu Yan remains a single, fleeting moment from 1995. As the Zixia Fairy in the two-part film A Chinese Odyssey, she gazes at the Monkey King (Stephen Chow Sing-chi) and delivers a wink – playful, radiant and hopeful. That split second transformed Chu into not just an icon of Hong Kong cinema but also one of its most popular “sexy... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343404/how-hong-kong-actress-athena-chu-escaped-sex-symbol-trap-after-chinese-odyssey-fame?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343404/how-hong-kong-actress-athena-chu-escaped-sex-symbol-trap-after-chinese-odyssey-fame?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 09:15:09 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars A botched attempt to purchase a Mark Six ticket with the winning numbers snowballs into an emotional journey for a working-class family in The Snowball on a Sunny Day. Part sweet tear-jerker, part love letter to Hong Kong cinema and the craft of filmmaking, this Lunar New Year offering reveals an unexpectedly whimsical side of the writer-director Philip Yung Tsz-kwong. A radical departure from the gritty crime dramas that define his award-winning oeuvre to date (Papa, Port of Call),... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343193/snowball-sunny-day-movie-review-family-comedy-doubles-love-letter-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343193/snowball-sunny-day-movie-review-family-comedy-doubles-love-letter-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:15:07 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh Wealth and good fortune are the twin engines of the Lunar New Year film season, and Hong Kong filmmaker Philip Yung Tsz-kwong’s The Snowball on a Sunny Day is the latest festive offering to find humour in the hunt for millions. Boasting an ensemble led by Chung Suet-ying, Edan Lui Cheuk-on and Elaine Jin Yan-ling, the comedy-drama follows a working-class family living in a public housing estate who believe they have won the Mark Six lottery jackpot, only to discover that the responsible family... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343132/10-asian-movies-about-winning-lottery-and-why-jackpot-never-enough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343132/10-asian-movies-about-winning-lottery-and-why-jackpot-never-enough?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:15:09 +0000