I watch a lot of movies. Not all of them are great.
Very few of them are this good.
Hi! Welcome to
There's not ten; there's eight.
Because 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture.
Or because I'm lazy.
Our lines are open you be the judge.
Some of these movies really surprised me.
Some of these movies will probably surprise you, either
the movie themselves or the fact that they're on this list.
Speaking of which,
whatever else we want to say about Dante Lam,
nobody can ever argue the fact
that he really knows how to direct a great action movie.
OPERATION RED SEA is two-plus hours of gunfire,
explosions, blood and human suffering.
It's like an Irish Catholic Christmas, but with subtitles.
Whatever may be wrong with this movie
is also wrong with a very big chunk of Hollywood films
and what's right about it
is exhilarating and very impressive.
Yeah, there's a weird propaganda epilogue,
but after, you know, almost 130 min. of carnage,
you're just too exhausted to feel anything other than
grateful no one's shooting at anyone any more.
Being pleasantly surprised
is an all-too-rare experience for me,
especially at my age.
So I was really pleasantly surprised
last Chinese New Year
when my favorite film of the season turned out to be
A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT.
Yeah, it stars Michelle Wai Si Nga,
but it was directed by Patrick Kong.
I've been more than slightly unfair
to Patrick Kong for a long time,
but I really like this movie,
I enjoyed myself thoroughly,
and I'm sincerely grateful to Patrick Kong
for making such a great new year's film.
I liked it not just for the story, but because to me
it was a very traditional Chinese New Year film,
and we don't get enough of that.
I'm not a big fan of Donnie Yen.
If you don't believe me, watch some videos.
I also haven't really been a very big fan
of the Ip Man films that he's done,
but MASTER Z: THE IP MAN LEGACY
was a late December movie that punched,
kicked, and entertained its way right into this list.
It helps that Yuen Wo Ping directed it
(and Wilson Yip didn't),
and that it stars Max Zhang
(and not Donnie Yen).
It's proof that we can still have good martial arts movies ,
and movies made for China that even I enjoy.
Speaking of which,
DYING TO SURVIVE is based on a true story
about a man who decides to help people find
affordable alternatives for the medicine they need.
It's a very serious film that's still watchable,
entertaining, and extremely well-made.
To be honest, I wish more socially conscious films
were this entertaining,
and I realize that probably sounds a little crass,
even for me. But this is the kind of movie that does that,
and as a consequence you might actually find yourself
wanting to see it more than once.
DYING TO SURVIVE
also isn't the only film like that on this list.
I found MEN ON THE DRAGON really remarkable,
because it's simultaneously a very sort of
obvious comedy, and a dead serious meditation
on their social realities of this city.
An honest look at working-class reality in Hong Kong,
MEN ON THE DRAGON
is a testament to the 'Lion Rock Spirit,'
Hong Kongers' indomitable will to continue,
even in the face of an objectively lousy future.
A lighter approach to looking at how strange,
unpredictable, and interesting life can be
that also happens to star Francis Ng
is SHED SKIN PAPA,
a local adaptation of a Japanese play
that's charmingly weird, refreshingly different,
and interesting enough that, well,
you'll wanna watch it more than once.
Hong Kong has always had a very interesting place
in history, and conversely history has always been
a very interesting idea in this city.
That's one of the themes of NO 1 CHUNG YING ST,
an ambitious film that tells two stories
set a half-century apart. Deliberate, measured,
and filled with very impressive performances,
NO 1 CHUNG YING ST
attempts to grapple with a number of issues
that have significant ramifications for Hong Kong.
It's not a perfect movie,
but it's a movie that more people definitely should see.
Filmmaker Jevons Au has very quickly emerged
as one of Hong Kong's most talented directors.
His segments in TEN YEARS and TRIVISA
already showed us he's an accomplished filmmaker,
but his first feature-length directorial effort
surpasses even those two films.
My favorite film of 2018 is Jevons Au's DISTINCTION.
If everyone in Hong Kong made movies this good,
we'd all be better off, and you know who you are.
DISTINCTION has a heart, a soul,
and a sharp eye for detail.
Its entire cast turns in admirable performances,
and that's especially important because
quite a significant number of those people
aren't even actors.
Everyone involved in making this film
deserves credit for making a movie
that we all need to see,
even though many of us might not want to.
It's not easy to make a film that shows us,
you know, an unpleasant truth
without resorting to preaching, cheerleading,
or making us depressed, but DISTINCTION does that.
It's a very serious, important film
that's also extremely entertaining and watchable
It's the best local kids-in-school movie since
LITTLE BIG MASTER,
and it's easily the best movie of 2018 for me.
So there you have it folks my favorite movies of 2018,
And remember, your mother may vary.
See you next time, and thanks for watching.