FullReviews Index

Dark Matter
DARK MATTER, the feature film directorial debut of renowned opera and theater director Chen Shi-Zheng, delves into the world of Chinese students living on their own in the United States. Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn and Liu Ye star.

Summer Palace
Ye Lou's "Summer Palace" uses recent events in China's history as a backdrop for an intimate story about young lovers. Full frontal nudity (both male and female) and off camera reference to the massacre at Tiananmen square prompted Chinese censors to slap Ye with a five year ban from filmmaking. The over long story, unfortunately, doesn't resonate like it should.

Lust, Caution
Ang Lee's erotic espionage thriller "Lust, Caution" tells the story of a young woman (Tang Wei) in Japanese occupied Shanghai during world war two who must lure a war collaborator (Tony Leung) to his assignation.

Curse of the Golden Flower
"Curse of the Golden Flower" promises to be Zhang Yimou's most colorful and biggest production to date fusing high drama and romantic intrigue with the best of contemporary martial arts. The film stars Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. Opens December 22, 2006.

House of Flying Daggers
Zhang Yimou has tasted blood. After his surprise hit "Hero," the first martial arts movie by the Chinese auteur best known for his tasteful dramas, Yimou is back with another wire-fu adventure full of gorgeously photographed fights and overblown melodrama. With Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Andy Lau.

Hero
Part "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" part "Rashomon," Chinese art house auteur Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern") gets in on the wire-fu action with the blockbuster "Hero," the martial arts sensation starring Jet Li, Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi that stormed American theaters last weekend.