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CAST: Leon Lai, Maggie Cheung, Eric Kot
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Lau
HK MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://www.hkmdb.com/db/reviews/show_review.
mhtml?id=3623
DURATION: 95 minutes
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Romance
NOTE:  Reviewed Deltamac DVD version with removable English subtitles (All Region

Ellen ( Maggie Cheung ) and Mike ( Leon Lai ) meet and fall in love with each other at the most lovely and romantic city. San Francisco. However, due to their different personality and character, the relationship does not work out as smoothly as it starts …. After all that meeting, loving, braking up, it takes a little miracle and an earthquake for them to understand where their heart belongs to!

DVD EXTRAS:

*  English/Chinese removable subtitles

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of

DVD REVIEW:

It was a pleasure to see Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai together in this film.  Especially to see them in a movie filmed in the US (Bay Area).

The movie is really beautiful and was very entertaining to watch especially if you are involved in a dot.com.  Speaking of dot.com, how do you like how StarEast promoted their Website through the film?  Well, at least it was not bad as the advertising in “Juliet in Love”.

The story focuses on two characters who are totally different.  Maggie Cheung, plays a single mother who drives a cab, who wonders if she will find love again.  And the rich dot.com man played by Leon Lai who seems to be a party animal but that is where the problems lie in this movie.  For a mother who wants to make sure she doesn’t get screwed over by a man, why does she suddenly have a one night stand with a man she just met and that she knows is completely different from her and vice versa.

The movie is beautiful but it would have been nice if more was spent on the two characters.  The “forgive him” segment was pretty interesting!

Otherwise a cool DVD with cool video.  The audio is typical of dialogue and special features feature info. on the characters and nothing much really.

A cool movie worth checking out.

THE MOVIE: C+
THE DVD EXTRAS: C-
THE DVD OVERALL: C

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CAST: Leon Lai, Jordan Chan, Sam Lee, Shu Qui, Michelle Saram, Alex To and more.
DIRECTED BY: Wilson Yip
WRITTEN BY:  Joe Ma
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0272822
TYPE OF MOVIE: Action
DURATION: 89 minutes
NOTE:  Reviewed UNIVERSE DVD version with removable English subtitles (All Region)

Mac, a professional thief, shoots his partner who has killed his girlfriend in an operation. He is later caught and meets three then-small-time thieves in prison. They join together to become the best team of organized commercial thieves. During an operation to steal a cancer vaccine, they surprisingly find a pre-set bomb in the laboratory and figure out that it is a setup against them. A mysterious girl suddenly appears……

DVD EXTRAS:

I guess viewers may look at this as a HK version of “Mission Impossible” or a high-tech HK version of the A-TEAM.  Regardless of what you compare it too, I have to say that the action scenes and the James Bond/Mission Impossible type of gadgetry is pretty awesome.

The movie is very similar to the style of 1997’s “Downtown Torpedoes” but technology sure makes a difference in this film.  If anything, the technology is the eye-candy of this film.

The plot of the movie is similar to the films just mentioned.  Team is given a certain amount of money to take on a mission.  You have two hero’s and two computer hackers.  The team led by Mac (Lai) and his original team partner, Bird (played by Chan) still cannot forget the past of a mission gone wrong.  Betrayed by a former teammate.  With 89 minutes of movie and the majority is focused on the action, the focus of this movie is on that and not the character development.

In a way, that kind of hurts the film because you are left clueless about the past of these two men.  Even their computer hacking partners want to know about their past but if they don’t know, the audience won’t surely know.

In a way, watching this is like watching a second part of a movie series.  Did we miss something in the first?  Well, perhaps a prequel will be made.  It’s too bad we don’t really get director’s commentaries in HK films.  We would know what was in the mind of the director.  Is there a reason for the more action, less character development?  Is this movie planned to be a series?

But despite the character development, it’s not all that disappointing.  In a way, although Wilson Yip’s previous movies “Bio-Zombie”, “Bullets Over Summer” and “Juliet in Love” has it’s many fans, some may feel this is a step back for Yip but I view it as a step forward.  I see a potential similar to Steven Soderbergh and with each movie, you can see Yip grow as a director, especially with the different style of movies that he is involved in.

So, if a series is planned for this movie, I won’t hesitate to say that I look forward to seeing the next because it has potential.

As for the DVD, Universe did a good service by adding the 10 minute making of.  If there was something that sucks is that you can’t select the English subtitles for it.  The quality of the movie is pretty nice, I wish this movie was released in DTS but I’m being picky.  So, for $17, the movie is worth the rental or worth buying if you dig the technological parts of this movie.

So, if you are an action fan and lack of character development and knowing the history of the characters don’t bother you, then check this movie out. 

THE MOVIE: C+
THE DVD EXTRAS: C
THE DVD OVERALL: C+

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CAST: Leon Lai, Carina Lau, Shu Qui, Lee Ann and more.
DIRECTED BY: Jing Wong
TYPE OF MOVIE: Romance
DURATION: 98 minutes
NOTE:  Reviewed Universe DVD version with removable English subtitles (All Region).

Loosely based on a popular Japanese TV series Lover Generation HK star Pop supper-star Leon Lai and Bill Kay, A white collar office worker with no future who decide to break up with his equally caret-less girlfriend Maggie . Six years later, bill becomes a billionaire, with a celebrity gal Joey and a loyal secretary Moon, but then bill met Maggie by chance in Tokyo and their love is rekindled. Adding this complex love triangle is the fact that Moon is also in love with Bill, between Maggie Joey and Moon, who will Bill choose at the end.

DVD EXTRAS:

DVD REVIEW:

For those who don’t watch Japanese dramas, “Love Generation” was a popular drama that aired back in the Fall of 1997 featuring Kimura Takuya and Matsu Takako. A complicated love story and a crystal apple.

The crystal apple makes its return in the movie “Love Generation Hong Kong” which is marked as a symbol by the character played by Carina Lau as a gift of remembrance to Bill (Lai) after the couple broke up to focus on their lives and careers. Who ever knew that Bill will meet his ex-girlfriend six years later in Tokyo.

The movie is about relationships and a complicated love square. Ex-girlfriend, current girlfriend and beautiful assistant and Bill. Who will he pick?

As the summary says on back of the DVD, it is loosely based on the drama series. If anything, the crystal apple is the symbol of LV used in this movie and not much else. Also, the drama series was 12 or so episodes long and this one is 98 minutes. But it was an entertaining 98 minutes that I enjoyed watching.

The movie looks great on DVD and the audio is typical for a dialogue movie. Some parts the women’s dialogue seems a bit muffled or low but only people who are picky will know this.

As for special features, aside from the usual on HK DVD’s, you get the NG (Not Good blooper) scenes.

Some may be offended by Bill’s prejudice views in the movie.

If you want a break from action and violent HK films, “Love Generation” is a pretty entertaining romantic movie.

THE MOVIE: B+
THE DVD EXTRAS: B-
THE DVD OVERALL: B