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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...

Film Review: Full Alert 高度戒備 (1997) - Hong Kong Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia) I rated it 9/10 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 Ringo Lam’s “Full Alert” is one of those rare Hong Kong crime pictures that feels less like entertainment and more like a tightening wire around your chest. Set in the jittery final months before the 1997 handover, it’s a cat-and-mouse thriller that understands something essential: the real suspense isn’t in...