stmovies Reviews

Anita (2021)

A misleading and incomplete movie

[6/10 · 26 November 2021]

Those who gave it a score of 10 or 1 are rather strange.

I find the movie disappointing and rather overhyped or overrated from HK. The whole movie suffered from a poor script or editing, the trailer is far better.

Too much of real events are deliberately left out probably not to tarnish her image and to appeal to the government and her fans. Her fame as both an actress and singer wasn't felt in the movie and most hit songs at the peak of her career wasn't mentioned at all. Her mum and brother was totally left out, Leslie Cheung's success wasn't mentioned at all making him looked like an unsuccessful artist until after his death, her "slapped" scene by a gangster was shown but what followed all changed, the guy got killed wasn't mentioned at all. We can't feel or see Anita's character and spirit from the movie, can't really understand why in some scenes she felt unhappy or stressed. The best scene in the movie is when she and Leslie film "Rogue", very creative and some HK outdoor scenes of the 80s look realistic. Some said there will be a director's cut of 4 hours, hopefully it will rectify all the shortcomings.

May Jane (1994)

Liu Jia-Chang's last movie, a masterpiece.

[9/10 · 15 September 2020]

Don't understand why it received only 5.5 maybe because audience don't understand Chinese history and culture. Liu Jia Chang is better known as Taiwan's best songs composers with over 2,000 songs mostly composed from the late 60s to the mid-80s. He is also known as a singer and the film director brought Brigitte Lin to stardom with her 2nd movie "Yun Piao Piao" a big hit that broke all previous box office records of love story movies in Taiwan. In the made 70s, he made his most famous movie Mei Hua (Victory) after that most of his movies are acted by his actress wife Zhen Zhen(aka Chen Chen) but they are mostly poorly received by the audience. This 1994 Mei Zhen is his only movie since his last movie in the 80s and turn out to be his best movie ever and also his last. Good direction, acting, song and story. Music is excellent.

People in the Slum (1982)

Nice movie, great actress

[8/10 · 14 September 2020]

Watched it in YouTube nearly 40 later but don't feel outdated. You can't find such a film made anywhere else. Good direction, cinematography, song, music. The actress acted very well.

Bad Genius (2017)

100% thrilling, exciting, creative, intelligent, educational, family values and morality.

[10/10 · 14 August 2017]

Usually I won't watch a movie if I have read any spoiler or if I don't expect to see any surprise but its box office success in Thailand and Taiwan makes me curious what is good about it and what's common between these 2 countries that so many people liked it ? My title described all. Never have I seen a film that have everything mentioned in my title to such a maximum, from the first scene to the last minute, no chance for toilet break. I believe only Thailand, because of their culture could come out with such a great message. Initially, I think the script should be better without giving the ending away so soon but later I realize it's highly intelligent as it keeps the viewer more suspenseful and curious later. The acting is good too. The female lead don't have the usual pretty face like most Thai movie but she carried the scenes so well I don't think anyone else can replace her role. The male lead has everything that's needed to assure his popularity with this role and the 2 others are great potentials too. The ending song will be a hit. Do not miss. I give it a 10 although it will not win a best film award.

Train Station (I) (2015)

Big disappointment, low budget, poor script, nothing intelligent.

[5/10 · 23 June 2017]

Watching the trailer, I know this is not going to be an artsy or high value movie but out of curiosity, I wonder what's the idea of those "choices" and even if the movie is bad, I can still see 25 cities or train stations. It turn out NONE ! There are no major surprise in the plots or the "choices", nothing that ties up all the choices, some acting are horrible, especially the young Asian Chinese pair, hardly any outdoor scenes where I can see the cities, no train station scenes other than some close up ticketing counters. I give it a 5 just for its "idea" although there is nothing interesting or intelligent about it.

Master (2016)

Good to know such scams

[8/10 · 17 January 2017]

I watch it not because of the 3 top actors but I read that it's related to pyramid financial scam. For those who who haven't heard of such scams, they work like multi level marketing or network marketing except that instead of products, they give you a share of an investment that promised very attractive income without any need to do any work. On top of that, an "investors" will also receive good income if they do the marketing by recruiting new "victims".The module of the business is taking money from those newcomers at the bottom of the pyramid and pay those on top. Such schemes have been going on in Asia, especially in Malaysia, and I have personally heard of one in Korea 8 or 9 years ago. The movie did not go into details of how the scam works but they show the event, seminar and what the scam CEO said to their members and workers are very realistic. There is enough action and excitement in the movie and all the 3 actors did well, everyone with a different character and body language. I give it a 8 and I encourage everyone to watch it so that they don't get scammed by such a scheme !

Train to Busan (2016)

Highly Entertaining - Climax after climax, not a single minute is wasted.

[9/10 · 3 September 2016]

If I have not watched the trailer, I will give it a score of 10 for its entertainment value but having seen the trailer, a little is lost. I don't remember having watched any movie that is so damn engaging, so easy to follow, and so exciting right from the first few minutes all the way to the end. All the exciting moments end with a climax that's fit for a movie. The few minutes during each break for audience to catch their breath is not boring or wasted, perfectly used for characters development. I don't understand why someone commented the last 30 minutes is not as good. I find each climax better in the next. If they make a sequel to show some happenings elsewhere with the same plot and concept, I will still watch it.

Cold War 2 (2016)

Highly Entertaining and Suspenseful.

[8/10 · 27 July 2016]

I seldom watch HK police drama thinking they are all too predictable and I have not watched Cold War, without knowing that it's actually a continuation, especially on the part of Eddie Pang and the opening scenes. Nevertheless, I can still enjoy as an independent movie although it's better to see the original Cold War first. I will not spoil anyone's fun by revealing too much but just the followings: 1) There are not too much action scenes but more on intense drama and suspense which is good for me. 2) Tony Leung and Taiwanese Eddie Pang surprised me in their acting. They deserve a best acting award each for leading actor and supporting actor. Especially Tony, his role is tailored for a best acting nomination and he carried it well, flawless. I am sure no other actor could have done it so well. 3) Chow Yun Fatt obviously accepted this role all to his personal favour and likings. No surprise in his acting, just his usual self, a little overreacting and after something done to his face. 4) Aaron Kwok seems to be lost and undecided on what facial expressions to give, especially when facing his peers. Luckily, his role is easiest to understand. 5) Arif Rahman's part has no scenes to show off. Yang You Ling, a Taiwanese young actor gave a memorable scene. Veteran actor Zhang Guo Zhu(actor Zhang Chen's father) aged so much but surprisingly better than his younger days. 6) Of the actresses, Charlie Yeung as usual, still cannot act but looking tired in all her scenes like a younger Michelle Yeo. The other younger actress will be a great actress one day.

*****SPOILER***** This movie will surely succeed in the box office and one of the 2 Taiwanese actors I mentioned above will definitely appear in the next part, as shown lying on a hospital bed at the end, but which one ?

The Mermaid (2016)

Well made for China audience

[7/10 · 22 February 2016]

I started to like Stephen Chow's movies since Shaolin Soccer. In order to maximise my enjoyment, I go for this movie without reading any reviews, especially from those who are always quick to write a review like a book. Anyway, I can trust that a Stephen Chow movie needs no reviews and quality is guaranteed. So being impressed with the poster, I set my hopes high. In order not to spoil anyone's fun, I will not describe the story or details. Generally, one can see that Stephen Chow's aim in this movie is to smash all China's box office and he did it successfully, with some good messages as usual; about love, humanity and environmentally friendly here, filled with romance, comedy, action and even a good old song. What else do you need for a movie to sell well ? Nothing else. For China audience who have not seen too much of Stephen Chow and where people do not have too high demand on artistic values, they are sure to enjoy it very much. For me, I don't like this style of "mo-lei-tao" comedy and I find them too much here. Much of the jokes are also old and predictable, although done in a good way. The male and 2 female leads are good. Most of the other supporting casts are poor. The 2nd male lead just cannot act and his face just don't match the role. Using that great classic HK song from the 80s is obviously to please the Chinese but made the movie less creative. This movie don't deserve any awards unless they give it for the same reasons like Titanic. Overall, I find this movie not as good as his last 4 because it doesn't give me much surprises.

Interstellar (2014)

Good but Overrated !!

[7/10 · 7 December 2014]

I have no intentions of watching this movie not because it's a Nolan film. I enjoyed his Inception and think his movies are much intelligent than most other Hollywood movies which are mostly predictable or cliché in every department. After I watched this thriller, I decided to give it a miss until a new friend insisted I must watch and claimed it is a very special movie, and so I watch it just to see how reliable is my new friend. It's not up to my expectations. OK, the script is intelligent but that can be read from a book. A movie is everything visual and sound. Other than a few nice scenes and overall nice music, there is nothing much else. It doesn't give one the impact and surprise which Kubrick's 2001 did. This movie will not win anything from international film competitions. A score of 7 to 8 is reasonable. My conclusion is it is good by Hollywood standard but 8.9 here ? There isn't enough more room for a better movie then. Do IMDb members tend to rate new movies higher or mostly fanbois here ? Or maybe Hollywood moviegoers have better taste now so they think tthis is already so good ? Hopefully, this will be a good sign.