movie: NEW WORLD, re-imagining INFERNAL AFFAIRS

[Contains spoilers] It’s not accurate to say that Korea’s NEW WORLD is a remake of Hong Kong’s INFERNAL AFFAIRS even though that’s how it was dubbed. It does pay tribute to the original but it offers new twists and angles.     It can’t be helped though, especially for an IA fan like me, to…

dream cast for CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Okay, let’s play producer. I have just finished reading CRAZY RICH ASIANS. It was for the most part a fun read with its tongue-in-cheek commentary on the lifestyles of the rich and richer in this side of the world, though I have beef on the ending. It gives the impression that Kevin Kwan is going…

look who are back together: Andy & Sammi

Hong Kong onscreen golden couple Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng are back… and in a Johnnie To film: BLIND DETECTIVE.       The trio worked together in NEEDING YOU, LOVE ON A DIET and YESTERDAY ONCE MORE. LOVE ON A DIET and NEEDING YOU were like my Asian Film 101 when I was just…

drama: BU BU JING XIN & some history lessons

With lack of something to watch aside from the Arashi variety shows, I finally succumbed to my first period drama, thanks to recommendations from aehyu and @GailT. I’m talking about BU BU JING XIN (also known as SCARLET HEART or STARTLING BY EACH STEP).     To be honest, I am not a fan of…

movie: THE THIEVES

Give me anything with Lee Jung-jae and I’d be a captive audience. So the mere fact that he’s in THE THIEVES, I’m in. Throw in Jun Ji-hyun, I’m sold. THE THIEVES is often billed as the Asian version of OCEAN’S ELEVEN. But really, it is a gross misrepresentation. It’s a Korean version with Hong Kong…

NEW WORLD: Korea’s version of HK’s INFERNAL AFFAIRS

It was really just a matter of time that South Korea will make its version of the highly successful and modern Hong Kong classic INFERNAL AFFAIRS. Did I hear someone say… oh no, not again?! Well, if the Americans and the Japanese can do their own film and drama versions, why not the Koreans? It’s…