Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hong Kong cinema buffs rejoice!, May 3, 2000
A wonderful follow-up to Hammond's first foray into Hong Kong cinema, Sex and Zen & Bullet in the Head, Hollywood East is a more detailed account of Hong Kong cinema today. The book has a forward by Michelle Yeoh. The book is organized in the following manner: 1) an overview of Hong Kong, the city, where to purchase movies and memorabilia, where to see movies, and a funny aside of the top ten Hong Kong imagined dangers followed up by the top ten real dangers. Hammond seeks to dispel the mythical Hong Kong as porrtrayed by film and present briefly the real Hong Kong where millions reside. 2) An intro to the astounding work of Johnny To and Milky Way Productions. For those in the know, it will be a fun review and to the uninitiated, Hammond provides a starting point of these must see films 3) a similar overview for Wong Kar Wai 4) an overview of cop/triad films 5) an overview of martial arts films including an extensive review of Shaw Brother's filmography - a must read for Shaw Brothers junkies! 6) the Hong Kong horror genre 7) Jackie Chan and his films 8) sexy chick flicks and girls with guns 9) Jet Li and his films 10) John Woo and his films 11) crazy stunts and the stories behind them 12) extreme cinema, shock cinema for example: the Untold Story 13) other resources including web listings Also included are very funny inserts called "Hex Errors" that have outrageously translated subtitles for each section and a glossary of terminology. There is also a 16 page color insert of mini biographies of up and coming stars including: Michelle Yeoh, Shu Qi, Karen Mok, Michael Wong, Aaron Kwok, Pinky Cheung, Aimen Wong, Athena Chu, Christy Chung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Kelly Chen, Gigi Lai, Sam Lee, Wu Chien-Lien, Michelle Reis and Gigi Leung. One does wonder how Yeoh fits in this category though. The book is fun, easy to read and factfilled for repeated reading. A must for all Hong Kong cinema buffs!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everything You Want to Know About HK Films, February 20, 2000
Stefan Hammond's latest book expands on his last one. This book covers everything you want to know about HK film. I really enjoyed reading this book since it is both informative and funny. He writes much more about the people involved in making HK film what it is today. The new stars are covered and Stefan has been gracious enough to include a good selection of prints and photographs, especially of Shu Qi and Lee Kar-yan. One missing photo, though, was of Ponnie Logan. Perhaps in the next one. Overall, a great read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and Funny, February 24, 2000
This book provides fresh angles and insightful commentary on a much-talked about subject. He manages to stay away from most of the cliches associated with this subject matter and successfully take the study to a new realm. It is written with wry humor and distinctly personal viewpoints that can only stem from years of living in Hong Kong and watching HK flicks. Very cool choice of images and any book that features a profile of Shu Qi is my kind of book.As a Hong Kong film workers, I am impressed.
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