Great Moments In Movie Staches

If you've looked at social media in the past two days you've no doubt seen everybody listing their "Top 10 movies since 2000" lists thanks to a feature in The New York Times making the rounds -- I'm not doing that! I'm not breaking my brain with that list right now. So don't get your hopes up. (Or the opposite I suppose since I don't know how you personally feel about my opinions!) What I am pointing out though is that I think a full 75% of the lists I've seen have had Wong Kar-wai's 2001 masterpiece In the Mood For Love listed on them, which is just and good and correct. And it reminded me that this movie is getting a theatrical re-release for its 25th anniversary! At least in NYC (on June 27th) and LA (on July 4th) but you can click here to check for other locations and times. And they'll also be screening alongside it the hard-to-see short film In the Mood For Love 2001! That one also stars most-beautiful-people Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, just in different roles -- apparently WKW had intended to do a entire trilogy of ITMFL films but didn't (unless you count the bits in his movie 2046 anyway). You can watch the trailer for both the main film + this short at this link, but as you can see here Tony Leung has a mustache and wears a pink shirt so your eyes might melt outta your head from the hotness. You've been warned!

Thursday's Ways Not To Die

This week's big news that a bunch of Hong Kong classics that've never gotten proper releases here in the U.S. are going to be getting just that thanks to Shout Studios new sub-label called Hong Kong Studio Classics made me remember that that there shamefully are a great big pile of early John Woo action flicks I've never seen. So I decided to rectify that and I began my journey over the weekend by watching Woo's beloved 1992 flick Hard Boiled, which stars Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung in a criss-crossy tale of cops acting criminal-like and vice versa, and wow wow wowee what an action masterclass! There's so much wildly over-the-top (in an entertaining way) violence in this movie that I could've chosen any of a number of scenes, but how could I resist a lightly homoerotic encounter between Tony Leung and a vibrantly-mustachioed mark in a library??? Tony Leung plus bookshelves plus bloodshed?? Are you kidding me? I'm in heaven. Hit the jump for the rest...

Yura To Warhol & Everything Criterion Between

I was just literally thinking, "Hey I get paid today," when an email arrived in my inbox (not a euphimism) that reminded me the smackdab middle of the month also indicates something even better -- it's Criterion Announcement Day! And it turns out that the drop for the forthcoming April is a hefty one -- seven titles strong! The big one being Sean Baker's extremely popular 2024 film Anora, which will assuredly get a bank of Oscar nominations come Oscar nomination morning (whenever that happens, since they keep moving it due to the wildfires). I have my issues with Anora (which I've mostly gotten into on social media) but I think it's a fun, fine piece of entertainment for the most part, and the three leads (Madison, Eydelshteyn, and especially our boy Yura Borisov) are all pretty excellent. Anora hits 4K on April 239th and the disc is loaded with special features, check them all at that link. Also being released from Criterion that same day -- Baker's 2008 film Prince of Broadway, which I've never seen. Any fans of that one? It's actually streaming on Criterion Channel right now so maybe I'll watch it this weekend.

The other big titles from the April releases that I haven't seen are Claude Berri's 1986 double-feature Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, which adapts Marcel Pagnol's book into two grand and grandly expensive movies starring an incredible French cast including Gérard Depardieu, Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, and Emmanuelle Béart. Nor have I somehow ever seen Kenji Mizoguchi's 1953 film Ugetsu, a wartime-set ghost story that stars  Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō (this one's also on Criterion Channel right now which I know because I've had it on my list for years and never yet gotten to it -- sighhhh). 

Then there are the usual 4K upgrades, which include Won Kar-Wei's masterful Chungking Express -- I have the WKW box-set already so I don't know if I'll get this but it is a masterpiece so we'll see. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro in 4K is awful hard to resist! Also getting the 4K upgrade is Billy Wilder's comic classic Some Like It Hot. Which, like,  what can I say about Some Like It Hot? It doesn't get better. It's, like, hot.

But wait -- there is one more! And this is my number one pick for the month. We're talking Julian Schnabel's 1996 film Basquiat, starring a maybe-never-better Jeffrey Wright as the famed painter making his way through the NYC art scene in the 1980s. I haven't seen this in literal decades but I remember really loving it, and it's been a difficult movie to get one's hands on for a good long while, making this upgrade extremely overdue. I mean -- David Bowie playing Andy Warhol! Come on now!

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Happy Together (1997)

Lai Yiu-fai: I didn't see Chang, but I saw his family.

I finally understood how he could be happy running around

so free. It's because he has a place he can always return to.

A happy 61 to the legend Tony Leung today!

Good Morning, I Quit Smoking 15 Years Ago Today

Well it's that time again -- every May 5th I celebrate two personal things (and no neither of them are Cinco de Mayo, but if you celebrate that a happy one to you). One -- it's my anniversary with my boyfriend. And two -- I quit smoking cigarettes on this day in the year 2008, and I have been doing this post here on this website for fifteen straight years ever since. All year long I set aside a folder of images I stumble upon of our favorite sexy actors smoking...

... be it in film, photoshoot, or personal life. I might be happy I quit, and I don't encourage any of you to pick up the habit... but gosh if it can't be sexy to look at all the same. I don't make the rules! Some things are just the way they are. So this morning let's hit the jump and roll around like animals in filth in the hot bad habit of it all...

In the Mood For Infernal Power X

I'm jumping the gun on this a wee bit since Criterion hasn't hit up their social medias with this even yet, but they probably will have by the time I finish writing the post -- the November 2022 releases have been dropped on their website though, so we have see what they have in store for us there! First and foremost they hinted yesterday on Twitter that they were releasing Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and sure enough! Check out all the details and pre-order your copy of the best movie of 2021 right here -- it's in 4K and there are heaps of features! Hoo lil' doggy sign me up on that one. Next up...

... but hardly second-place is Spike Lee's Malcom X, baby! And also in 4K too. and I think this is already in the Collection on regular blu-ray, isn't it? I think I own it that way? But I'm sure it will stun in an upgrade. Check it out here. That hits on November 22nd. And also getting the upgrade to 4K treatment is one of the most beautiful films ever made...

... namely Won Kar-Wai's masterpiece In the Mood For Love. I was just thinking about this movie last night -- I mean there are many nights where I am thinking about ITMFL but I re-watched Everything Everywhere All at Once (what a terrific movie it is) and that film riffs directly on this one in all of those romance sections between Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. Anyway I imagine watching In the Mood For Love in 4K will be akin to shooting heroin into one's eyeballs, only, you know, just without putting needles into your eyeballs or whatever. All the highs, with none of the needly lows!

The final pair of November flicks ain't no slouches, but I'm pairing them up because I personally haven't seen them -- there's the Hong Kong crime saga of the Infernal Affairs trilogy also with Tony Leung (no I ridiculously haven't seen these films, but that will obviously be rectified now) which are hitting disc on November 15th. And then there is the Czech New Wave classic Daisies from director Věra Chytilová, which I have seen portions of, but never from start to finish properly. My friend Daniel had a party once that was themed to the film and it played on a loop on the TV, so I've seen big chunks that way. Now I can finally watch it the way Chytilová intended. It seemed like a stunner.

Today's Mood

Happy birthday, Tony Leung!

Quote of the Day

“Maybe it’s because of my childhood background, which made me distance myself from people,” he says. “Since then, I’ve learned to find something that I really enjoy doing whilst I’m alone. Because you cannot always rely on being with people to feel happy, right?”

The legend Tony Leung was interviewed by GQ magazine this month -- because of his role in Marvel's Shang-Chi movie, and also because he's Tony fucking Leung and don't you forget it. Ever the mystery man the quotes they get from Tony seem kind of few and far between in the piece but I have to admit I found the stuff about his lonely childhood, after his father left, pretty moving and relatable, especially the bit above. Go check it out! And I've got the full photoshoot for y'all after the jump...

Simu Liu Three Times

And speaking of Interview Magazine (they are on it this month) here are the photos of Simu Liu, future superhero, in their latest issue -- you can read the chat with him over here where he no doubt talks about superhero shit. I've only read the introduction to the chat so far but got annoyed when they said re: his superhero movie, "Shang-Chi features a mostly Asian cast, including Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, and the Malaysian comedian Ronny Chieng..." because how do you speak that sentence and not list the name "Tony Leung," who's playing the main villain in the film, and who is TONY FUCKING LEUNG??? You were doing so well, Interview! Come on.

Good Morning, World

Since the first trailer for Marvel's upcoming superhero flick Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will be introducing Simu Liu's titular Kung Fu master to the MCU, dropped this morning it seems a good time to check back in with Liu, it's been awhile. Annnnnd yup, still fine. If you follow him on Insta you're perfectly aware of this -- he's generous! But a reminder's  not unwelcome. Anyway the above gif is from a work-out video, which I will share down below, but first let's look at that trailer:

It looks fun? I think it looks fun. But what do I even know anymore. Anyway Tony Leung is in it (full stop). Okay and Simu seems to be shirtless a whole lot (no one flash wonder a la Paul Rudd here), so who can complain? Well yeah I'm sure plenty of people, as is their right. Honestly I find my immersion in the Marvel-verse somewhat inexplicable, I really do, but I've found in the past that it's good to have one mindless soap-opera going at a time as one's mental distraction, and the MCU has picked up that baton, I guess. From like Revenge, and America's Next Top Model, past entries in my soap pantheon. Blah blah there's a little more Simu after the jump...

Merrily Nightmare Flowers Go to Ridgemont High

Criterion Announcement Day is coming a little early here in February! It's usually on the 15th, but here on February 12th they've gone and given us our sweet sweet fix -- maybe they're taking advantage of February being the shortest month, I don't know, but I'll take it. There are five titles coming out in May -- the one that caught my eye right off the bat is the super sleazy 1947 Circus-Noir Nightmare Alley starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, which is one of our faves. It's currently being remade by Guillermo Del Toro (see our previous posts) with an insanely stacked cast -- Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, on and on. But the original is ace, crazy dark, and I recommend checking it out! Love the cover art too:

May's other four titles include a 2007 concert documentary about the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane called Trances, and then Hou Hsiao-hsien's dreamy 1998 whorehouse reverie called Flowers of Shanghai, which I just saw for the first time last fall thanks to the NYFF screening this lush new restoration included on Criterion's disc. It's a hypnotic thing but exceedingly molasses-paced so be prepared for that. But Tony Leung looks great, even with that period-appropriate but un-flattering hairline. (When doesn't he.)

The then the last two titles are Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling's classic 80s teen-comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which I doubt I need to explain to anyone reading this post, and then Dorothy Arzner's 1932 "open marriage" comedy Merrily We Go To Hell starring the great Sylvia Sidney and the great Fredric March. I've never seen MWGTH, and always meant to! Can't wait for the chance. Mr. March is such an underrated stud.

Lust AND Caution? In This Economy?

Lust Caution Hive, unite! It is finally our time! Okay I don't actually know if I have a full Hive to celebrate this with me, but if there is make yourselves known! Ang Lee's gloriously underrated 2007 erotic-thriller, which stars Tony Leung and Tang Wei (who should have won all the awards that year) as a pair of lie-tellers with hard-ons for one another during WWII, is getting a fancy blu-ray edition at last. It's one of Ang Lee's best films and did not get the proper attention it deserved at the time at all. Hitting on March 30th -- pre-order it right here! -- the fine folks at Kino Lorber have put together what looks like a premiere U.S. edition, loaded with extras, which I'll share right on after the jump...

It's Wong Kar-wai's World...

We've 99.44% known this was coming for months, since the start of 2020 really, but Criterion finally today announced their next big boxed-set will be of Wong Kar-wai films! The pandemic delayed this, no doubt -- it was always meant to coincide with the touring screenings of WKW's films that are currently screening online here in New York at my beloved Film Society and will be traveling around the country (virtually) for the next few months. But finally, the details -- it will include 4K restorations of seven films...

... including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. Eight films if you count the new version of his first, a short called The Hand, which has apparently been lengthened. ETA here's a trailer for the set, and yes you should get your body ready to swoon:

There was some drama online last week about how much WKW changed the movies from their original cuts for these new restorations -- apparently he made some quite large switcheroos having to do with their formats and frame-shapes and coloring, but he released a thorough statement explaining the changes which can be read over here.

Wong Kar-wai talks the changes he made in the new restorations of his films! Some of them seem pretty big! https://t.co/5YftrAJQpx

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) December 1, 2020

I haven't had the time to watch any of the new versions over the past couple of weeks -- although I did just re-watch In the Mood For Love a few months ago, and it remains utter perfection. But it doesn't sound like he did much to that one. Oh and I only saw Fallen Angels for the very first time over the summer! I try to meter out WKW's movies because I never want to run out of them to watch. It's such a vivid world to get lost unto every damn time.

It's Wong Kar-wai's World

This past Friday I told you that FLC here in NYC had finally announced that they were kicking off the long rumored and desperately desired Wong Kar-wai retrospective on November 25th with the 20th anniversary of his masterpiece In the Mood For Love -- read all about it here. Well today comes a little update in the form of the poster for the series seen above, and the gorgeous trailer for the series, seen below. Not that you could use footage from Wong Kar-wai movies and have it be anything but "gorgeous." They could've looped the Benny Hill theme music over Tony Leung staring longingly at Maggie Cheung and my heart still would've burst with swoon. You can see the entire schedule at this link, along with info about buying tickets. Now onto the trailer!

In the Mood For Wong

I'm having a pretty freaked out day about the plague numbers here in my fair city, which are on the rise again (especially in my own neighborhood), so this terrific news here couldn't come at a better time to distract me from gloom -- Film at Lincoln Center has finally announced the dates for their big Wong Kar-Wai retrospective! I mean announced them a second time -- I first posted about this series way way way back in January, and then... well, speak of the plague. No! I am not speaking of the plague! This post is for happy thoughts! 

Ahem. Sooooo happy thoughts -- the series will open (virtually, of course) up on November 25th for the 20th anniversary of In the Mood For Love, which.... I mean I always want to say that ITMFL is WKW's undisputed masterpiece but I'm sure there are people who dispute that and love like I don't know 2046 more or something. I think those people are weird, but bless 'em, we love the weirdos. You can read the full details on films and dates at FLC's website here, but they follow Mood up with "Chungking Express, Happy Together, Fallen Angels, Ashes of Time Redux, Days of Being Wild, 2046, As Tears Go By, and a never-before-seen extended cut of The Hand." 

There are more than one of those that I have never seen -- specifically As Tears Go By, Ashes of Time Redux, and The Hand. Needless to say this is a thrill, but this would be a thrill even if I'd seen all of the films before, because Wong Kar-wai's movies are a fucking thrill one of a hundred times in. We're still waiting to hear what's happening with Criterion's boxed-set, which they teased also in January -- I assume they wanted to release it alongside this screening series, which was meant to be "a traveling roadshow" of sorts. All that remains a question mark, and with today's announcement of their February releases it would appear that won't be until March of 2021 at the soonest.

Lust & Caution With Park Chan-wook

As mentioned a few times recently I've been on a real "re-watch all of the Park Chan-wook movies" kick lately, and so it's nice that the Universe has replied in kind with news of a New Park-chan Wook Movie, at last! He's just announced he will begin filming a murder-drama (what else) called Decision To Leave (although IMDb has the title as The Decision to Break Up, which I actually prefer?) next month in South Korea, and even more excitingly it will star Tang Wei, who you should know from Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, in which she gave a phenomenal performance for the ages. 

She's worked here and there in the 13 years since that movie -- she was in Michael Mann's Blackhat (never saw it) and she was in Bi Gan's hypnotic half-3D flick Long Day's Journey Into Night in 2018, amongst other stuff, but nothing that I've seen of her has tapped in like that amazing turn right at the start of her career. Let's hope PCW is giving her another great role! He hasn't steered an actress wrong so far that I've seen. The film will also star Park Hae-il (who's worked a lot with that other South Korean directing dynamo Bong Joon-ho), and here's the very Noir-sounding plot:

"The story involves a diligent and serious detective (Park Hye-il) who is investigating a possible murder case in the mountainous countryside. He begins to suspect the man’s widow (Tang), whom he also develops romantic feelings for."

To Wong Kar-wai, Thanks For Everything

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On New Years Day Criterion released their annual drawing of cryptic clues about what they'll be releasing this year and per usual they got figured out pretty fast -- they'll be dropping four big boxed sets including one of Bruce Lee, one of Agnes Varda, one of Fellini, and most exciting for me one of Wong Kar-wai films.

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A Wong Kar-wai boxed set will be 2020’s saving grace https://t.co/wIkGkpwIsQ

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) January 1, 2020

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Well today we have some adjacent news to that last one, because Janus Films has just announced there will be a touring roadshow of the same new 4K restorations of Wong's movies that will be collected on that boxed-set that will open on June 5th here in New York at the wondrous Film at Lincoln Center! Titles included as follows:

As Tears Go By (1988)

Days of Being Wild (1990)

Chungking Express (1994)

Fallen Angels (1995)

Happy Together (1997)

In the Mood for Love (2000)

The Hand (2004)

The Hand (which I've never seen) is billed as a "director's cut" not a restoration. Anyway they note that this year is the 20th anniversary of In the Mood For Love -- it was released in Hong Kong on September 29th 2000 -- which makes me wonder why we haven't just shut down the entire world to celebrate that perfect perfect movie all year long, it is so so worthy of that honor. 

What's your favorite WKW movie? 

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Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Chu: Men die for money,
birds die for food.
It's not worth dying for food for a man.

I don't recall whether I've ever seen Eat Drink Man Woman or not but I think I might have to watch it this weekend after seeing Ang Lee's Gemini Man in order to remember the time when he was into making stories about people and not camera wizardry. Every person who fell in love with The Ice Storm and Sense & Sensibility and, sigh, Brokeback, all of us should be depressed here watching Ang get hung up on shit nobody's asking for. He's practically become a symbol of the mess Hollywood's in the state of.

The last truly great film Ang made was 12 whole years ago with Lust Caution -- I did like Taking Woodstock pretty well but I don't know that I'd call it a "truly great film" like I would that steady string of them Ang was slamming out for a good chunk of time. I know a lot of people love Life of Pi but I'm not one of those people. Come back, Ang! Human People need you!

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