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Film Review: Permanent Residence 永久居留 (2009) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 6.5/10 Rating: ★ ★ ★ Support my reviews by buying me a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog Support our reviews by buying from official DVDs / Blu Rays at NeoFilmShop.com There is a quiet, stubborn courage in Scud’s Permanent Residence (2009) that I admire even when the film itself doesn’t quite land with the emotional force it clearly intends. Here is a Hong Kong filmmaker working in a commercial industry that traditionally prefers safer ground, choosing instead to tell a story about...

Film Review: City Without Baseball 無野之城 (2008) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 6.5/10 Rating: ★ ★ ★ Support my reviews by buying me a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog Support our reviews by buying from official DVDs / Blu Rays at NeoFilmShop.com There is a quiet melancholy in the image of young men playing baseball in a city that barely knows the game exists. Empty stands, the crack of the bat echoing into indifference, and lives lived in the margins of a hyper-modern metropolis like Hong Kong. “City Without Baseball” (2008) leans into...

Film Review: Utopians 同流合烏 (2015) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 7/10 Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2 Support my reviews by buying me a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog Support our reviews by buying from official DVDs / Blu Rays at NeoFilmShop.com There is a fearless, almost reckless sincerity to Scud’s Utopians (2015) that I found both disarming and occasionally exhausting. This is not a film that politely knocks on the door of your comfort zone; it kicks it open, removes its clothes, and invites you to join a conversation about desire, freedom, and...

Film Review: Century of the Dragon 龍在邊緣 (1999) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 8.5/10 Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ Support my reviews by buying me a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog Support our reviews by buying from official DVDs / Blu Rays at NeoFilmShop.com In the shadowed alleys and neon-drenched nights of late-90s Hong Kong cinema, where loyalty is currency and betrayal comes with a bullet, arrives “Century of the Dragon.” This is no mere genre exercise in triad shootouts and undercover angst. Directed with muscular efficiency by Clarence Fok, it is a...

Film Review: China Strike Force 雷霆戰警 (2000) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 7/10 Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2 Support my reviews by buying me a Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog Support our reviews by buying from official DVDs / Blu Rays at NeoFilmShop.com Stanley Tong knows how to stage an action sequence the way a chef knows how to flip an omelette — with confidence, flair, and just enough showmanship to make you forget the ingredients are familiar. In China Strike Force, his 2000 Hong Kong actioner, Tong brings that same kinetic energy...