Angelica Lee’s DVD Selection

Angelica Lee (also known as Sum Kit Lee or Lee Sin-Je) is a Malaysian songbird, who has become a successful pop singer in Taiwan. In 1999 she made her feature film debut in the Hong Kong film “The Sunshine Cops,” followed by 2001’s “Betelnut Beauty” & “Princess D”. What made her then become an internationally-acclaimed actress is after she starred in “The Eye” (a.k.a. Jian Gui), the hit Asian horror film by the Pang Brothers. She won the Best Actress awards for “The Eyes” in 2003 at Hong Kong Film Festival, Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Awards and Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, making her one of the rare triple winning movie awards winner. She is also among the very few Asian artists to be awarded as Berlin Film Festival Best Newcomer Awards in 2004 for her role in “Betelnut Beauty.” Angelica who has a capability of speaks five languages and dialects which are Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese and English, is now engaged to director Oxide Pang, they have been together for the past seven years and are currently staying together in Hong Kong. Get in to the real subject; here I will preview two of the latest films of this talented beautiful actress which have released on the home cinema version, Pang Bros’ “Re-Cycle” and Tsui Hark’s “Missing”.

Re-CycleAfter stand out with their biggest hit together, “The Eye,” the identical twins director Pang Bros reunites with Angelica
Lee in this film. “Re-Cycle” is quite easily the strongest film from them since their breakout hit.
With great visuals, decent scares and a fresh concept, Lee is giving a performance that is every bit as great as what she has done in "The Eye". The film depends on her reactionary skills and Lee doesn't disappoint with her very convincing performance. The direction goes from the slow-reveal to a heart pounding chase sequence and the actress does a great job in conveying the needed emotions.
Lee stars as Ting Yin, a successful romance novelist struggling with a new genre, stricken with a case of writer's block so severe that she can't even get out of the starting blocks on her new supernaturally themed novel, doing little more than scribble rough character ideas on a sheet of paper to just crumple it in disgust and throw it away. The pressure is mounting on her thanks to her publisher announcing the book prematurely and the re-emergence of a long gone boyfriend - the motivation for her previous romance novels who she has tried hard to forget - so when she begins to experience a string of strange phenomena she is tempted to put it down to simple stress. But as the strange events continue to escalate she begins to notice striking similarities to discarded ideas from her novel Petrified, she takes leave of her apartment, only to find herself in a post-disaster Earth – Crumbling buildings abound, and devoid of all humans, bar a horde of zombie-like figures. Soon it is revealed to Ting-yin that this world is not her own, but a world of the abandoned; a world in which discarded things reside, and are thereafter taken by an occurrence known only as ‘the Re-Cycle’. Ting-yin befriends a young girl along the way, who says that she will accompany her to ‘the Transit’, a place unseen by the girl, but of which she is sure exists. The Transit (Ting-yin’s only passage home) is difficult to reach however, and many-a-problem is encountered during the girls’ pilgrimage.
Angelica Lee had plenty of room to showcase her acting skills - being frightened to her wits end, sharing emotional scenes, smelling of desperation or be it in a state of bewilderment, she carries the movie forward aptly, despite slower moments during certain sequences.Re-Cycle DVD
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating:
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Release Date: September 23, 2008 (Pre-order the DVD)
Run Time: 109 minutes

Also available on Re-Cycle [Blu-ray]

MissingAngelica Lee continues seeing ghost in this eerie effort of Hong Kong Cinema master Tsui Hark. Half of the filming process that has been done under the ocean, made Lee found new play area to showcase her delightful acting.
Inspired by a documentary about an amazing Yonaguri lost city that sank into the sea 10,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. The film was shot on location at the sunken city that lying between Taiwan and Japan and was discovered in 1986.
Noted underwater photographer Dave Chen (Guo Xiao Dong) plans a romantic rendezvous. He’s taking his beloved Jing Gao (Angelica Lee) to the mysterious ancient ruins which are 10,000 years old. These ruins, located off Yonaguni Island, at the westernmost tip of Japan, are Dave’s passion, his life’s work. Many years ago, Dave had hidden an engagement ring there, vowing to return someday to propose to the woman of his dreams. His dream comes true. He’s about to propose to Jing Gao underwater in the mysterious ruins. Dave’s sister, Helen (Isabella Leong), a neighbour and friend of Jing Gao’s is present to share their happy moment. But instead, she implores her brother to reconsider, to wait... Undeterred, Dave dives into the ruins after Jing Gao...Just then, a freak accident befalls him; he disappears without a trace. Shortly afterwards, a decapitated corpse of a man is found. His identity – inconclusive despite DNA matching. Dave’s disappearance unleashes a train of events...Heartbroken and shattered, Jing Gao rapidly spirals off into another world, haunted by phantoms, apparitions and the eerie appearance of a glass numbered 1016. In desperation she turns to Simon and at his suggestion resorts to some unusually extreme means to find Dave. Meanwhile, Helen believes Dave’s remains have been swept by the currents to nearby Turtle Island, Taiwan. She searches for his remains there and discovers Helen’s camcorder and a head in the surrounding waters. Helen brings them back to Hong Kong. To her horror, the camcorder contains footage of that fatal dive. Jing Gao holds the key to Dave’s disappearance. As the pieces of Dave’s disappearance emerge, the truth slips further and further away...Missing (Hong Kong Version DVD Region 3)
Audio Format: Dolby Digital EX(TM), THX Surround EX(TM), DTS-ES Discrete 6.1
Video Format: Widescreen 1.85:1(Anamorphic)
Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese
Subtitles: English, Chinese
Region Code: 3
Year Made: 2008
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Release Date: July 31, 2008 (Order the DVD)
Publisher: Deltamac (HK)
Special Features:
- Commentary
- Trailers
- Making of
- Shooting Diaries
- Interviews

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The DVD is In Love With The Dead

Here comes another feature from the most productive sibling director in Asian film, the Pang Brother. After Oxide goes solo with “The Detective”, now is Danny who’s take the turn with his latest solo effort away from his brother. “In Love With The Dead” also his solo project after the not so working “Forest of Death” last year. In this new film, it seems that Danny has trying something slightly different from the usual ghostly themes for which he and his brother are well known. Even the movie title is still pointing to some supernatural things, but actually the film will goes more to a character driven drama, anyway, consider that this is a Pang Bros film, so the dark atmosphere, some creepy factors, and the twisted part definitely still be the main menus of the show. The Hong Kong version DVD of the film is now available on the market, packed in 2 disks set that feature both English and Mandarin subtitles. Also included are 5 printed postcards as a fold out card sheet with perforations to separate the postcards with key scene film stills.Ming (Shawn Yue – Invisible Target, Infernal Affairs 2) and Wai (Stephy Tang – Love is not All Around) are a couple living together happily. When Wai is diagnosed with a fatal pancreatic cancer, Ming swears to take care and does everything he can do for her. But then it proves to be a not easy task, because as long as Wai’s health that slowly deteriorates, she soon start acting very strangely, her temperament becomes volatile, and she begin to do an odd action by lurking around in their dark flat all day. Wai’s strange behavior also reminding her little sister Ping (Zeng Qiqi) with a ghost from the scary comic she loves reading. Disturbed and depressed, Ming having a passionate fling with his attractive colleague, Fong (Yoka Yue) when he’s under the influence of alcohol during a business trip. The fatal attraction turn to be a painful triangle for all involved, one night Wai suddenly disappear and at the same time both Ming and Fong have a car accident. Afterwards, unexpected things are happen to each of them, Wai is suddenly appears next to the door of their flat and she quietly has a better changing with her body and behavior. The worse thing now is happen to Ming, he’s begin to smell like a corpse, his hair falls out like Wai’s, and the most terrible thing is when he vomits a dozen of living worms.Story: 6/10 – Ending: 6/10 – Actors: 7/10 – Overall: 6/10

Product Details:
Product Title: In Love With The Dead – Hong Kong Version DVD
Actors: Shawn Yue, Stephy Tang, Yoka Yue, Zeng Qiqi, Patrick Tam
Director: Danny Pang
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1
Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese
Subtitles: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Region: 3
Number of Discs: 2
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Distributor: Universe Laser (HK)
Release Date: January 25, 2008 (Order Your Copy Now!)

Special Features:
- Behind the Scenes
- Gala Premiere
- More Attractions
- Undeserved Love MVOther Review for the dead:
(By Kozo – LoveHKFilm)
Decent direction, half-baked story. That could be the epitaph of the Danny Pang-Oxide Pang duo, better known to the world as the Pang Brothers, whose work in the Asian horror genre has gone from accomplished to uninspiring to finally repetitive. Thankfully, the brothers are attempting new genres with their stories, dropping the usual "I see ghosts" plotlines for detective films (The Detective), sci-fi mysteries (Forest of Death), and now terminal illness dramas (In Love with the Dead). However, there still has to be a horror element, because if there wasn't, then what excuse would there be for loud shock scares, creepy production design, or pale, long-haired girls who look like they've not eaten in months? In Love with the Dead, directed by Danny Pang and produced by Pang and brother Oxide, changes up the Pang Brothers formula, and does so in a surprisingly involving manner. But in the end, despite any innovations to the usual Pang tropes, it doesn't really go anywhere, resulting in an underwhelming motion picture. You could score some laughs, though.
Box-office princess Stephy Tang stars as Wai, a sweet young thing afflicted with pancreatic cancer. The prognosis is not good, with only a 20% chance of recovery, but at least she has insanely loving boyfriend Ming (Shawn Yue), who lives with Wai and her little sister Ping (Zeng Qi Qi). While Wai stays at home in their poorly lit, borderline creepy flat, he's out there trying to make ends meet, but his insistence on knocking off early to race home to Wai results in his unemployment. His new job promises to be slightly more understanding because he's working for childhood friend Fong (Yoka Yue), but Fong is pretty damn attractive and apparently not so stable with her fiancé. She also had a thing for Ming back in grade school, and Wai is well aware of it, also having attended school with the two of them. Since she's dying, plus her condition makes intimacy difficult, and Ming may have a chance with a hot ingénue, perhaps Wai should consider some sort of noble sacrifice in order to ease her beloved's heartbreak. That is, before Ming is tempted into two-timing anyway.
Hold on, there's also a horror element to add to the mix. Little Ping keeps getting busted at school for reading horror comics, and thinks that Wai is starting to resemble the icky drawings in her pulpy reading material. Wai's battle with cancer comes with the appropriate mood swings, but there are odd details arising, including her growing disenchantment with Western medicine (she hates chemotherapy), and a growing belief in Eastern practices, including herbal medicine and practicing qigong, or the coordination of breathing patterns via poses and postures, AKA internal martial arts. No, this doesn't mean Stephy Tang will soon be kicking Shawn Yue's ass as the toughest terminal beauty around, but she may be able to walk via her hands, plus there may be side effects requiring the creepy stylistic touch of the Pang Brothers. The bigger question may be what's happening to Ming, because soon Ping starts to think that Ming looks like the drawings in her comic books, too. Since the title of the film is In Love with the Dead, we can only assume that someone is being kicked off. But is it Wai or Ming who's lacking the pulse?In Love with the Dead earns points for dabbling in other genres, namely the terminal illness romance, and Danny Pang's effort is surprisingly accomplished. He uses very few characters, few sets, and a maximum of breathing room (the film is glacially paced by Hong Kong standards), but there is something involving in his pacing and how he slowly digs into the characters to reveal their insecurities and fears. The cast turns in decent performances, and the film progresses effectively. The horror elements are introduced quite well, creeping up slowly, and building to a final revelation or discovery that will hopefully make everything that came before worthwhile. These elements do intrigue, adding anticipation to the film, and despite the overuse of certain techniques (shock sounds, montages, fadeouts), In Love with the Dead feels like it's heading somewhere. The film is patient, and forces the audience to be patient too. As the film nears its close, it's obvious that something is definitely up, and Danny Pang does enough to keep us around to find out.
But is the payoff worth it? I say no, and in fact, I also call shenanigans. Thanks to selective disclosure and an abundance of misleading details, In Love with the Dead goes from portentous horror-romance to red herring-filled disappointment. When the big reveal occurs, its handling can cause giggles, if not derisive laughter. Comedy was obviously not the final goal of the Pang Brothers, and indeed there's nothing truly that funny about what In Love with the Dead reveals in its final moments. But the film does not seduce or convince enough such that its climax elicits the desired emotion. One can only suspect they were looking to disturb or even horrify the audience, but it doesn't work here. For most of the film, Pang seems to know what he's doing, building the situations and the tension, but when the ending rolls around, the whole thing collapses. What's to blame here? A flimsy story? Uninteresting characters? Too many misleading details? Or does Pang Brothers + horror genre = not working anymore? It's probably all of the above, and the quickest fix may be to try something completely, totally different. I still believe that the Pang Brothers have the talent to do a lot more. However, given their recent run of films, that belief has begun to waver.

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The Detective Solved DVD Mysteries

No Doubt if Pang Brothers are the productive and busiest filmmakers in Asia right now, just count how many movies they had produced lately. After Danny Pang solo project “Forest of Death” released in the home cinema market, now it’s time for the brother, Oxide Pang, his new movie “The Detective” which has just open widely in Asia last October, now is getting packed to home cinema version and “The Detective Hong Kong Version DVD” has scheduled to release this November 22, 2007. The movie was made a strong opening when its release in Hong Kong and other Asian country cinema, it does also get quite good reviews from some of the film critics. Starred by Hong Kong romantic pop idol for many years, Aaron Kwok, who’s now turn to be a characterize actor, started when he get best actor award for his best performances in “Divergence” and “After This Our Exile”.

The story moves around Tam (Aaron Kwok), a broke private detective. One day, a man with nickname Fatty requested Tam to spy on a lady named Sum who wanted to kill him. This guy left Tam a picture of the lady and his offer with less of information. Tam could not refuse to accept the enticement of Fatty’s offer and then he begins the investigation. First Tam tries to collect some clues of Sum’s whereabouts from store keepers where Sum was appeared on the photograph. Tam is told to looking for Sum’s mahjong playmate, which may be able to help him. When he arrives at the first playmate’s home named Ming, Tam is dazed to find out that Ming hung himself at the living room.In Ming’s cell phone he finds a few photos and recognized Ying, another mahjong playmate in the store. Tam believes Ying is innocent but gather clues that Ming’s business associate, Fong may be involved. Tam goes after the clues and found Fong’s address, but Fong also found dead in his house. Tam’s friend, police officer Jack verifies both deaths are suicide cases due to huge debts. But the most contradicting and puzzling part which Tam has found that large amount of cash are establish at the two victims’ residences. Becomes more intrigued with this complicated case, his investigation finally bring him to Fatty who’s actually the two victims’ common business partner and his real name was Choi. Choi who strike with panic wanted to kill himself and before he leaps off the building of his apartment, he uttered ‘leave me alone!’ with a frightened face. Tam gathers that all these suicides are not normal with more and more victim falls in the hand of the “invisible murderer”. The detective must run against the time to protect the next target and uncover the mystery or curse behind the recent deaths, with the photo as the only clue.

Product Details:
Product Title: The Detective (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Actors: Aaron Kwok, Liu Kai Chi, Jo Koo.
Directors: Oxide Pang
Format: Widescreen (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitle: English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of discs: 1
Country Made: China (Hong Kong)
Genre: Suspense-Thriller
Feature Film Running Time:
Distributor:
Release Date: November 22, 2007 (Order your copy now!)Another Theory of The Detective:

I've said before that the works of the Pang brothers are hit and miss, then again it's not always easy to think up of original creative work to wow an audience each time. I enjoyed their earlier film "Bangkok Dangerous", and in between they did the popular Eye franchise movies. While recent works like "Re-cycle" and "The Messengers" for Hollywood were mediocre at best, I can never forget "Diary" which was below par at best. Sometimes in trying to hard to surprise an audience with smart twists, it ends up backfiring and dragging out the final act, and unfortunately that's what happens to The Detective, essentially an Aaron Kwok vehicle in an almost one man show for the most parts. If you think he didn't deserve his acting award for “Divergence” then this other detective role provided him the necessary platform for him to show off his range of skills in handling dramatic material. Not since Inside Man did the opening credit sequence song got me grooving to the beat. Thai song Me Panda provided the perfect start to The Detective, accentuating the Chinese title that Kwok's character is a C+ grade private investigator at best, as he operates and lives in a grimy home office in the gritty streets of an unnamed Thai city, definitely not having made it big. The introduction plays out like typical detective noir, where potential business comes knocking, and provides the catalyst and spark to everything else that follows in the investigations. Kwok's Tam is obsessive in his doggedness to get to the bottom of mysteries, though often his theories get debunked through very obvious and superficial logic. And as a reward to the audience, proving these theories is where the fun begins, as you get engaged in this investigative journey with Tam, and through his eyes, sieve through the multitudes of red herrings, courtesy of the numerous supporting acts, that get thrown your way. Most times it involves some pursuit, and I felt that the repetitiveness of it all within the same sequence took away some of its shine. But what was top notch was the building up of anticipation. Here's where the Pang bag of tricks gets dipped into again, with tight camera angles complimenting the gorgeously gritty, dirty surroundings, and punctuated with excellent sound design that builds perfect tension. You might identify these tricks as the usual from their horror movies, but when translated over for a crime thriller, they work just as well, if not better this time round. The mystery that plays out might be just plain straightforward and ordinary, if not for the sound to add an extra dimension. And here's where I found some issue with the billing of the movie as a supernatural thriller. On its own without any supernatural elements, it will probably still work, though that's not what you come to expect from a Pang brother(s) work right? However with the karmic and the spiritual worked in and for the most parts being absent from the narrative, it somehow lent itself to drag the ending a tad too long, and repeated some of the obvious just to reinforce, or in an extreme, force fitted these elements in. Without these references, I felt there were enough nice touches within the development and revelation of the mystery, though it did sag somewhere in the mid section before picking itself up again. The Detective is still recommended for the visuals, sound design and Kwok's charismatic one man show, and I must add it does have a pretty nifty special effects shot during a revelation which impressed me. It tied up the loose ends pretty much, and while I don't see there being a sequel, there certainly is much potential to the character. (Review by Stefan Shih which taken from Moviexclusive)

Source: YesAsia

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Forest of Death goes to DVD

There’s a notorious forest that for some reason is a popular place for many people to commit suicide, those who come are not only from the surrounding city but also from far away. One day, a criminal has abducted, raped and murdered the prime minister’s daughter in the forest. But the new in-charge detective Ha (Shu Qi) believes that there is something behind, she heads out to the forest where the girls were found killed and quickly realizes that there’s something mysterious about this forest. When desperately looking for clues she meets botanist Steve Shum (Ekin Cheng), a student of botany who has written his doctorate paper on the theory that “Plants are Sentient Creatures”. He spends all his time and efforts trying to prove that plants have feeling and can even communicate, together their conduct an experiment which will analyze the signals collected from the crime scene to disclose the truth and to determine whether or not the suspect is guilty by obtaining eyewitness and evidence: the forest itself. However, Steven’s girlfriend Mary, who works for a major TV station, also heads for the forest to make the location report. Could the trees be the answer to this case, or is there something even more absurd lurking in the deep forest? And will the mystery of forest be disclosed to the public?

“Forest of Death” is supposed to be a horror movie about trees that are able to express their feelings, but this latest solo movie of Danny Pang is in fact more of a mystery-crime-thriller with a slight hint of horror in it, but not nearly enough to make it a horror movie. So this movie will disappoint you if you only decide to watch this movie based on their promotional posters, that probably can make you think this movie is about some creepy ghost girl roaming around in the bushes or about giant trees killing people.

It’s disappointing to see Danny Pang’s solo direction going a little off-track compared to his projects with his brother, Oxide Pang. This movie is slow-moving and lacks the element of horror, and as a science flicks, it never made any serious attempts to build up a strong case for audience to believe what it’s trying to tell.

Product Details

• Actors: Shu Qi, Ekin Cheng, Lawrence Chou
  
• Directors: Danny Pang
  
• 1 disc package
  
• English Subtitles
  
• Making Of
  
• Star Files
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Format: DVD Region, NTSC, Anamorphic, Widescreen, Subtitled
  
• Region: All Regions
  
• Studio: Universe Laser
  
• Run Time: 98 minutes
  

Source: Amazon Buy Forest of Death DVD

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