Customer Reviews

Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head: The Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-bending Films

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

From the first few words of the introduction, it's clear what the purpose of this work is: "...over-intellectualizing film denies the primary purpose of moviegoing: entertainment." This book reads more like a high quality trade magazine published by true fanboys, rather than a traditional movie-review book spun up by professional critics. This is a GOOD thing! It's the very reason I awarded it 5 stars; if your cup of tea is highbrow social critique, check out Stokes' and Hoover's City on Fire.

Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head is instead an unapologetic, unabashed celebration of Hong Kong cinema that waggles its tongue at the conventions of political correctness. The authors have also packed in fun trivia and interesting tidbits all fans ought to appreciate. (The sections on poorly translated subtitles floored me with laughter!) This is the book you want to purchase if you want a guided tour into the amazing world of Hong Kong cinema.

And to address the criticism of a previous reviewer, yes, this work does contain plot breakdowns and spoilers, but if you use a bit of discretion, this ceases to be a problem. In fact, in many cases this isn't a problem to begin with. The Jackie Chan-type films in particular aren't known for plot; you're riveted by the action, definitely not the melodrama. As any HK film fanatic can tell you, descriptions utterly fail to convey the overwhelming cinematic wonders these films possess.

I recently got really interested in HK movies again (after not really watching or buying any for about a year), and, after ordering a bunch of movies, dug out my copy of S&Z&ABitH. And then I remembered why I didn't love the book when I had originally flipped through it: instead of reviewing movies and recommending the good ones, the book offers complete synopsis of every movie it mentions. Yes, including details on the endings. It's very possible to spoil yourself with the book, which is odd given I'd think it would be aimed at the newbie to HK cinema -- at least, that seems to be its purpose.

Still worth it for the fractured subtitle listings, good pictures, bios, and other fun stuff scattered throughout.

If you are looking for an easy way to navigate around Hong Kong cinema this is it. These well researched, savvy movie commentaries cover it all from wholesome blockbusters to exploitation films, yet each film is in possession of that elusive Hong Kong element that makes these films irresistible. Not only will you find cogent reviews that can clarify a storyline in seconds flat, but the information in the sidebars is the sort of trivia that can make a diehard fan's heart sing. And don't miss the bilingual film index in the back -- a godsend for the American gweilo.

Got baptized under fire with A Better Tomorrow, Part 2... but then what? Especially now that Tower is starting to keep up a "Hong Kong" section, how in blue blazes do you seperated the phat from the fodder? This is a funny book; informative and hip without being slick. Hollywood, look out!

This is an excellent book for someone just getting into HK movies- it's populist and unpretentious, but it doesn't just dismiss the movies as 'fun trash.' It covers most of the classics, like Peking Opera Blues, The Bride with White Hair, Chungking Express, etc. and includes capsule reviews of slightly more obscure movies. There's also a good glossary explaining the durian (among other things) and compilations of choice bad subtitles. My main qualm about it is that it more or less neglects HK comedies- the authors even warn non-Cantonese speakers not to see them, because they won't understand 'em. This is NOT TRUE. But buy the book anyway and seek information about HK comedies elsewhere.^^

Now that there has been a lot of solid books on Hong Kong cinema since the release of this book like David Bordwell's Planet Hong Kong (2000; which will be going online in an updated version soon) and Stephen Teo's Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions (1997) (and many more) I think this book is of more interest to the hard core aficionado of Hong Kong film than individuals looking for a detailed discussion of this former colonies cinema or looking to start their journey. The primary focus of this book was on movies that were "less than ten years old" (1986-1996; though several older films are mentioned) that "encompass a wide range of settings, situations, and subject matter." This does lead to some discussion of films I was not that familiar with and that have not been written about a lot in other books.

You understand the essence of the book with the statement in the Introduction "...over-intellectualizing film denies the primary purpose of moviegoing: entertainment." While they somewhat forgo this when reviewing several of the Wong Kar-wai films, you are not going to find anything from Ann Hui in here or even important dramatic fare like Center Stage (1992) or the Cantonese realist cinema from the 1950s. You are going to find action, cat-III, supernatural thrillers, HK film noir, martial arts and more action movies described here. You will also find specific chapters on John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan and Ringo Lam. There is also one chapter that combines Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah together.

The biggest complaint I have read on this book is the fact that many of the summaries are plot recaps that overdo discussing possible spoiler. While the reviews do offer more discussion than that and are penned by several contributing writers including Andy Klein, Chuck Stephens and others besides the two authors, the spoiler aspect can be upsetting if you do not know it is coming (the capsule reviews tend to have less of this). The best approach to reading those is to either avoid the last couple of paragraphs on the films you have not seen and want to see or just avoid reading that review all together. But there are some other bigger issues though including one of my biggest personal vexations - bad information.

The Shaw Brothers chapter is definitely outdated though part of that has to due with the fact Celestial bought out library and licensed them for release in 2002. But there is a lot of data that is just plain wrong like Chang Cheh is not the director of Human Lanterns that would be Sun Chung. TVB was not founded in the 80s (it was in 1967) and Run Run Shaw has his hands in that business at least since the 70s (on the official Shaw site he states he launched TVB in 1973 which contradicts what is written on TVBs site). The Shaw Brothers did not make "thousands" of films either (the real amount appears to be near a thousand). Jimmy Wang Yu does not play in Dirty Ho, which would be Wong Yu. I do feel this chapter can and should be skipped.

I did have fun with the book though. The authors and contributing writers do show a love for the cinema and it does show in their writing though sometimes they come up with hilarious statements like "There are two kinds of people in this world: those who like movies in which the with takes her head off and throws it at you, and those who don't." and "...ain't no Chuck Norris-style hairy-backed sleepwalking." The hex error segments, which are hilariously corrupted translated English from various films, are particularly fun and had me reminiscing of ones I have read in the past. And there is an introduction from Jackie Chan. If the book is inexpensive, you have seen at least some of the films in the book and you are not expecting "over-intellectualizing" sagacious content then pick this up. Otherwise, well there are many other books out there to choose from.

There are two different paperback releases of this book (1996, 1997). I did my review from the 1996 version. I am not sure if there are any differences between the two.

A book for those with an interest in the far-out from the farside of the globe. A well-written guide to films that are action-packed, sexy, and in several cases, just plain odd. Well worth the read for anyone looking for an introduction into the world of Hong Kong Cinema.

Read, enjoy, learn, then start trying to track down these films that range from classic to trashy.

I have been a Hong Kong cinema fan for years, and there was lots stuff in here I didn't know. The review style is short and to the point, plus there's a 10 Best section, as well as sections on Jackie Chan and John Woo. My favorite section is all of the hilarious quotes from bad subtitles. A definte must for anyone who has seen a few HK films and wants more, but doesn't know where to start.

Memo to the reader from Denver: did you read the same book I did? Yeah, I'll admit that I wish the authors hadn't gone into quite so much detail about the plots, but how can you say they didn't review any of the films? The authors' enthusiasm for this exhilarating subsection of filmdom permeates every sentence herein; everything they write is filtered through their opinions, which are mostly positive, because, as they explain in the intro, they put the spotlight on the films they loved the most. With the exception of the informative sidebars, there's nothing BUT reviews here.

I love this book. It's not meant to be an HK film encyclopedia, just a feet-wetting introduction to an unjustly overlooked body of work. As that, it's nearly perfect.

This book is only helpful for those with little knowledge of Hong Kong films. It's more playful than artistic, yet there are some helpful film reviews included. Some of the information is outdated: Web sites, where to buy HK films, etc..., but if your new to HK films and are interested in the pop culture gems that come out of Hong Kong, then check this book out. For those interested in a more in-depth look at Hong Kong films, I recommend City on Fire, by Lisa Stokes and Micheal Hoover.