https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/329180/feed From Jackie Chan's action comedies to Stephen Chow's mo lei tau classics, from Wong Kar-wai's swooning romances to Donnie Yen's martial arts epics, and from the time where hundreds of movies were being churned out every year to the current market completely dominated by Louis Koo, this is the place to go for features, interviews and reviews about movies both classic and new from Hong Kong. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 2.5/5 stars In Bird of Paradise, a dutiful middle-aged Hong Kong woman takes up pole dancing and shatters her thankless routine of cooking and cleaning for her family. Marking the feature debut of writer-director Joey Wu Chui-yi, this perfectly pleasant family drama offers an easy watch for viewers seeking light-hearted domestic quibbles. More sophisticated audiences, however, will find it slightly shallow and naive. Crucially, the film provides a rare leading role for Catherine Chau Ka-yee. She... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3371368/bird-paradise-review-catherine-chau-takes-pole-dancing-light-hearted-family-drama https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3371368/bird-paradise-review-catherine-chau-takes-pole-dancing-light-hearted-family-drama Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:15:04 +0000 Zhu Wenqian Zhu Wenqian US-born Hong Kong actor and filmmaker Daniel Wu Yin-cho has launched a furniture brand as the latest endeavour to cash in on his long-built fame in the Chinese market. Wu, 52, has stepped back from acting in recent years and Arox, the name of his furniture brand, marks his latest business foray. The actor’s previous ventures include an English course launched last year to teach fans spoken English, a coffee brand named Whatever, and a cycling helmet design project. Raised in California, Wu... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3371356/english-courses-furniture-actor-daniel-wu-expands-his-business-interests-china https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3371356/english-courses-furniture-actor-daniel-wu-expands-his-business-interests-china Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:00:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Grace Chang, also known by her stage name Ge Lan, died in August at the age of 93. She is widely remembered today for her lively performance in Mambo Girl, the 1957 Chinese-language musical that made her a star. Famed for pure roles expressing the aspirations of would-be middle-class Hong Kong girls, Chang initially played characters who were hip, popular, socially adept, conscientious and relatively well-off, possessing no hint of sexuality; her character in Mambo Girl is almost... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3370576/why-1960-film-wild-wild-rose-late-grace-changs-greatest-cinematic-triumph https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3370576/why-1960-film-wild-wild-rose-late-grace-changs-greatest-cinematic-triumph Fri, 16 Oct 2026 04:45:06 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars In Good Trip, a father and daughter’s impromptu final excursion unfolds as a deceptively playful comedy road movie. It tackles one of the most agonising subjects a family can face – the impending death of a parent – with surprising, life-affirming levity. Co-directed by Norris Wong Yee-lam (The Lyricist Wannabe) – who also wrote the screenplay – and Wong Hoi (Let It Ghost), and produced by the acclaimed filmmaker Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting, the film avoids unbearable sentimentality; it... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3370541/good-trip-review-nick-cheung-chung-suet-ying-play-father-and-daughter-road-comedy https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3370541/good-trip-review-nick-cheung-chung-suet-ying-play-father-and-daughter-road-comedy Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:15:06 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 2.5/5 stars A seemingly deranged rubbish collector makes for an unorthodox cinematic sleuth. Yet this is precisely the conceit of The Mage, a supernatural whodunnit that pairs the pungent outcast with a cynical police detective to make sense of a spate of gruesome deaths in Hong Kong. Beneath the grime is Josie Ho Chiu-yee. The billionaire heiress has long exhibited a fascination with the wealth spectrum’s lower end in the stylised horror films produced by her own studio, 852 Films, having... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369798/mage-review-josie-ho-scavenges-lost-souls-supernatural-detective-thriller https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369798/mage-review-josie-ho-scavenges-lost-souls-supernatural-detective-thriller Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:15:05 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak While cinemas worldwide have suffered waves of closures over the past decade, Hong Kong’s longest-running art house theatre has bucked the trend. As Broadway Cinematheque celebrates its 30th anniversary, shifting audience preferences appear to be playing to its strengths. In November 1996, Broadway Cinematheque (often simply called BC) opened in Kowloon’s Yau Ma Tei district as one of Hong Kong’s few cinemas screening international films that would not otherwise make it onto the city’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369767/how-broadway-cinematheque-hong-kongs-longest-running-art-house-cinema-thriving-30 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369767/how-broadway-cinematheque-hong-kongs-longest-running-art-house-cinema-thriving-30 Tue, 06 Oct 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 1/5 stars A fine line separates a labyrinthine murder thriller from an infuriatingly fragmented mess. With Mastermind, emerging Hong Kong writer-director James Hung Ling-ching (The Seventh Lie) crosses it with reckless abandon, delivering a detective mystery with such irredeemably awful plotting that genre fans will rarely have felt so insulted. Set over a single, relentlessly storm-soaked night in H City – a fictional, dystopian metropolis of 5 million starved of proper rule of law – the film... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369912/mastermind-review-louis-koo-plays-detective-ludicrously-bad-hong-kong-mystery-thriller https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369912/mastermind-review-louis-koo-plays-detective-ludicrously-bad-hong-kong-mystery-thriller Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:15:05 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu During a whirlwind September press tour in Thailand, Josie Ho Chiu-yee cuts a glamorous figure at the centre of the Bangkok International Film Festival, where she even receives a royal souvenir from Thailand’s Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, a prominent patron of Thai cinema. But what Ho, a daughter of the late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun, has come to promote is much darker and grittier: her latest feature, The Mage. As both lead actress of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369749/why-josie-ho-diving-back-macabre-her-new-horror-crime-thriller-mage https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369749/why-josie-ho-diving-back-macabre-her-new-horror-crime-thriller-mage Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:15:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis It is easy to misremember the Hong Kong New Wave of the late 1970s and 80s. Nearly five decades after its inception, that iconic chapter in the city’s cinema history is generally thought of as a socially inclined art-house movement that addressed everyday issues – a stark contrast to the martial arts films that dominated the local box office at the time. While partially true, viewing New Wave films merely as local iterations of 1960s and 70s rarefied European art-house cinema misses the mark.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369332/how-hong-kong-new-wave-directors-hijacked-martial-arts-and-crime-films-make-art https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369332/how-hong-kong-new-wave-directors-hijacked-martial-arts-and-crime-films-make-art Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee Japanese director Sabu’s Arrested Memory leads the race for the 63rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan with 11 nominations, including best picture, best director and acting nods for Ethan Juan Ching-tien and Akira Huang Guan-zhi. The crime thriller, which recently premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, is closely followed by Girl. A coming-of-age drama marking the feature directorial debut of Taiwanese actress Shu Qi, the film secured 10 nominations, including best picture and best new... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369500/golden-horse-awards-2026-nominations-full-arrested-memory-and-girl-lead-race https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369500/golden-horse-awards-2026-nominations-full-arrested-memory-and-girl-lead-race Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:08:23 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars Philip Yung Tsz-kwong’s Cyclone is an alternately transgressive and lyrical drama charting the sexual escapades of a transgender woman fleeing her traumatic past. The film takes its name from the protagonist’s chosen alias – a literary allusion that may enlighten and confuse audiences in equal measure. It references Cyclone Mei, a fabled villainess from Louis Cha Leung-yung’s wuxia epic The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Forged by a tragic childhood into a ruthless killer, she is the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369188/cyclone-review-philip-yungs-transgender-drama-bold-lyrical-and-utterly-divisive https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3369188/cyclone-review-philip-yungs-transgender-drama-bold-lyrical-and-utterly-divisive Wed, 30 Sep 2026 10:15:05 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 86th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Few figures are as synonymous with Hong Kong horror films as Helena Law Lan, who has been a household name for over half a century. Unlike the typical “scream queens” who gain popularity playing damsels in distress, 91-year-old Law has been the city’s on-screen spirit medium for over three decades and for years served as Hong Kong theme park Ocean Park’s Halloween... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3368350/how-91-year-old-helena-law-lan-became-hong-kong-cinemas-grand-dame-horror https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3368350/how-91-year-old-helena-law-lan-became-hong-kong-cinemas-grand-dame-horror Fri, 25 Sep 2026 04:15:06 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh Few cinematic stories are as life-affirming or tug as effectively at our heartstrings as those exploring the bond between humans and dogs. The unwavering loyalty and adoration of a faithful pup can melt even the hardest of hearts, making it little wonder that filmmakers continually return to the subject. This week sees the release of David Ayer’s Heart of the Beast, starring Brad Pitt as a retired US Special Forces officer stranded in the Alaskan wilderness alongside his loyal dog, Odin –... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3368251/loved-heart-beast-10-best-dog-movies-where-canine-takes-lead https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3368251/loved-heart-beast-10-best-dog-movies-where-canine-takes-lead Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:15:05 +0000 Jing Zhang Jing Zhang I WAS BORN in Hong Kong in 1964. My parents came from Shandong province, in mainland China, arriving illegally, later legalised – a common story for that generation. I went to the all-boys Salesian School, in Chai Wan, and was not a good student. I spent all my time messing around with friends. Then, at 17 or 18, I watched a film called Boat People (1982) and there was a character holding a camera who looked cool. Something happened in me. “I want to be that,” I thought. Not the actor – the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3367439/wing-shya-photographer-wong-kar-wai-working-great-and-good-hong-kong-cinema https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3367439/wing-shya-photographer-wong-kar-wai-working-great-and-good-hong-kong-cinema Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Hu Chao Hu Chao In late August, I took my parents to see Once Upon a Time in the Middle East in their small-town cinema on the mainland. Built around an unnamed conflict widely understood to be the US-led Iraq war, the film has become the kind of phenomenon no marketing budget could buy, projected to reach 2.5 billion yuan (US$372.5 million) largely through word of mouth. Its Hong Kong and overseas release will revive geopolitical arguments over a Chinese commercial film entering a narrative world long... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3367565/what-hong-kong-cinema-can-take-away-popular-chinese-war-film https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3367565/what-hong-kong-cinema-can-take-away-popular-chinese-war-film Sun, 20 Sep 2026 01:30:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis For decades, Hong Kong’s film industry has cultivated an extraordinary roster of female screen warriors, defying the city’s historically conservative gender roles. From 1960s icon Cheng Pei-pei – known as the “Queen of Swords” – to the globally recognised Michelle Yeoh, the city’s male-dominated studios have consistently given women the chance to fight just as hard as the men in their fabled martial arts films. This offers an interesting comparison to Hollywood. The United States has produced... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3367658/cheng-pei-pei-michelle-yeoh-hong-kong-cinemas-history-action-heroines https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3367658/cheng-pei-pei-michelle-yeoh-hong-kong-cinemas-history-action-heroines Fri, 18 Sep 2026 04:15:05 +0000 Beimeng Fu Beimeng Fu The global landscape for LGBTQ culture has shifted dramatically since the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF) debuted in 1989. Over the past 37 years, queer art and media have stepped out of underground venues into a vibrant scene, immortalised locally by icons such as Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing. The festival’s enduring run attests to the community’s resilience, proving how the transformative power of cinema continues to push the envelope while creating a sanctuary for generations to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3367192/hong-kong-film-festival-celebrates-37-years-queer-cinema https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3367192/hong-kong-film-festival-celebrates-37-years-queer-cinema Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak Women are vastly under-represented in ancient Chinese literature. The few who appear, often in myth or semi-fiction, serve primarily to reflect that era’s moral expectations for women. From filial warriors to patriotic seductresses and femmes fatales, these women have one thing in common – they all trade personal autonomy for survival in a man’s world. Here are three fictional women in Chinese history and what makes their names live on to this day. 1. Hua Mulan The only historical record of Hua... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3366929/famous-chinese-women-folklore-hua-mulan-consort-who-brought-down-dynasty https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3366929/famous-chinese-women-folklore-hua-mulan-consort-who-brought-down-dynasty Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:15:04 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Veteran Hong Kong actor and filmmaker Simon Loui Yu-yeung, better known to fans as the “King of Ghosts” for his prolific work in horror films, has died at the age of 62. Long-time friend and fellow actor Frankie Ng Chi-hung revealed to reporters on Friday that Loui’s wife, TV and radio personality Ma Li, had confirmed the filmmaker had died in a hospital in Guangzhou on Monday after losing his battle with gastric cancer. “The family hoped to stay low profile. There was no big announcement,” Ng... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3367244/rest-eternal-peace-veteran-horror-actor-filmmaker-simon-loui-dies-age-62 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3367244/rest-eternal-peace-veteran-horror-actor-filmmaker-simon-loui-dies-age-62 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:21:11 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung This is the 85th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. For lovers of Cantopop music, Wyman Wong Wai-man is a pre-eminent architect of modern Hong Kong’s emotional landscape. Through the classic songs he has written for top singers from Eason Chan Yick-shun to Miriam Yeung Chin-wah, the 57-year-old has chronicled the loves and heartbreaks of a generation. Yet to define him strictly as a lyricist is to ignore a sprawling, multi-hyphenate... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3366866/how-cantopop-lyricist-wyman-wong-pushed-hong-kongs-lgbtq-style-and-emotional-boundaries https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3366866/how-cantopop-lyricist-wyman-wong-pushed-hong-kongs-lgbtq-style-and-emotional-boundaries Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:15:06 +0000 SCMP SCMP This article was published on September 12, 2011. Veteran Ip wins best actress in Venice by Adrian Wan Veteran Hong Kong movie star Deanie Ip Tak-han was named best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of an ageing domestic servant in Ann Hui On-wah’s film A Simple Life (Tao Jie). The award, a first for a Hongkonger, was a crowning achievement for the 63-year-old Ip, who returned to the big screen for the first time in a decade to take the film’s leading role. The movie also... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/article/3366212/hong-kong-star-deanie-ip-wins-best-actress-venice-film-festival-scmp-archive https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/article/3366212/hong-kong-star-deanie-ip-wins-best-actress-venice-film-festival-scmp-archive Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:30:06 +0000 Brian Wong Brian Wong Hong Kong film actor and director Louis Koo Tin-lok’s production company has rejected allegations that it owes HK$149 million (US$19 million) in outstanding debts to an offshore firm, saying the claim is incomplete and violates confidentiality principles. In a statement published on social media on Friday, One Cool Film Production said the civil lawsuit lodged by Sino Hero Ventures on Wednesday had concealed crucial details about a HK$70 million loan extended to Koo’s film production business in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3366380/louis-koos-production-firm-disputes-hk149m-lawsuit-says-claim-incomplete https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3366380/louis-koos-production-firm-disputes-hk149m-lawsuit-says-claim-incomplete Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:09:40 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis While Western exploitation films of the 1960s and 70s – gory, sex-crazed shockers such as Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast (1963) and Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) – were largely confined to low-rent drive-in cinemas, Hong Kong took a decidedly different approach. The introduction of the Category III rating in 1988 gave rise to an adults-only genre that did not just lurk in the underground – it conquered the mainstream. Although local martial arts films had been marketed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365830/how-hong-kongs-category-iii-adult-films-made-sex-and-gore-mainstream-1990s https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365830/how-hong-kongs-category-iii-adult-films-made-sex-and-gore-mainstream-1990s Thu, 03 Sep 2026 23:15:06 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Behind every action film – be it a biopic on wing chun kung fu master Ip Man or a Hollywood sci-fi flick – there is someone who choreographs the fight sequences and coordinates the stunts. Los Angeles-based actor and martial artist Alfred Hsing has been one of these masterminds for more than a decade. The 42-year-old worked as a member of the official Jackie Chan stunt team on the 2015 historical epic Dragon Blade and served as Jet Li’s assistant in 2010. More recently, he performed stunts in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365403/hes-worked-jackie-chan-jet-li-martial-artist-alfred-hsings-rise-film https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365403/hes-worked-jackie-chan-jet-li-martial-artist-alfred-hsings-rise-film Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:15:05 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu This is the 84th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Josie Ho Chiu-yee has spent her career dismantling assumptions and forging her own identity through unbridled creativity. When it came to pursuing a music career, the daughter of the late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun rejected the easy path of Cantopop ballads and blockbuster fluff, instead favouring 1980s-inspired punk rock and genre movies. Today, at age 51, Josie Ho is... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365132/how-josie-ho-rejected-her-billionaire-heiress-destiny-punk-rock-and-indie-filmmaking https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365132/how-josie-ho-rejected-her-billionaire-heiress-destiny-punk-rock-and-indie-filmmaking Thu, 27 Aug 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 2.5/5 stars A sun-kissed sports film that rather awkwardly tackles wakesurfing and cyber-shaming in the same breath, Wakesurf Lovers offers a fluffy excuse to gaze at beautiful, muscled torsos – if you can squint past the paper-thin characters, their nebulous motivations and a romance that barely registers. A well-regarded screenwriter who has worked with Hong Kong film titans such as Stephen Chow Sing-chi, Fung Chih-chiang is notably less reliable as a writer-director of his own films,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365007/wakesurf-lovers-movie-review-jeffrey-ngai-renci-yeung-defy-haters-uneven-sports-drama https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3365007/wakesurf-lovers-movie-review-jeffrey-ngai-renci-yeung-defy-haters-uneven-sports-drama Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:15:07 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis When Jet Li Lianjie declared that Fearless (2006) would be his final wushu film, the martial arts superstar noted that it summed up everything he felt about the discipline, leaving him with nothing more to add. Although Li returned to the genre a few years later, his initial sentiment feels entirely justified: blending thoughtful philosophy with exceptional combat sequences, Fearless remains one of the finest Hong Kong martial arts films ever made. Directed by Ronny Yu Yan-tai, who emerged as... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364502/how-ronny-yu-and-jet-li-turned-2006s-fearless-hong-kong-martial-arts-film-classic https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364502/how-ronny-yu-and-jet-li-turned-2006s-fearless-hong-kong-martial-arts-film-classic Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:45:05 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3/5 stars A trio of slightly anthropomorphised insects look to survive the big city and return to their natural habitat in A Mighty Adventure, the latest effort by Hong Kong director Toe Yuen Kin-to, best known for a pair of local classics: the 2001 hit My Life as McDull and its even better sequel, McDull, Prince de la Bun (2004). Remarkably for one of the city’s most acclaimed animation directors, Yuen’s new feature is his first not adapted from existing material; previous works include... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364390/mighty-adventure-movie-review-wordless-animation-mcdull-director-breezy-if-flawed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364390/mighty-adventure-movie-review-wordless-animation-mcdull-director-breezy-if-flawed Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars Trading the sun-drenched treks to some of Hong Kong’s most far-flung corners that featured in his idiosyncratic romantic comedy Far Far Away (2021) for the nocturnal intimacy of private domestic spaces, writer-director Amos Why (real name Wong Ho-yin) has created an ideal companion piece in The Dating Menu. If the dates between Sham Ka-ki’s IT professional and five attractive women in that earlier film were quirkily amusing, the encounters between Lo Chun-yip’s free-spirited drifter... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364289/dating-menu-movie-review-drifter-chef-looks-connect-wistful-romantic-drama https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364289/dating-menu-movie-review-drifter-chef-looks-connect-wistful-romantic-drama Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:15:06 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee When Lo Chun-yip turns 40 this December, he will celebrate the milestone as one of the most recognisable faces of a new generation in Hong Kong cinema – an unthinkable development when he shifted his focus to acting 11 years ago. Yet for a performer whose melancholic gaze has anchored several of the city’s most poignant recent films, his breakthrough as a leading man feels decidedly different from those of many of his contemporaries, who tend to be either natural-born comedy actors or... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364261/how-hong-kong-actor-siuyea-lo-chun-yip-went-indie-film-director-leading-man https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3364261/how-hong-kong-actor-siuyea-lo-chun-yip-went-indie-film-director-leading-man Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:22:52 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 83rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Long before he packed out the Hong Kong Coliseum for his 40th-anniversary Get Up concerts last October, Alex To Tak-wai was busy changing the fundamental rhythm of the city’s pop music. Emerging from the nightclub circuit in the mid-1980s with a kinetic, Michael Jackson-inspired stage presence, To eschewed the standard ballads of his contemporaries to introduce R&B and Western funk... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363724/alex-tos-40-year-cantopop-career-rb-origins-defiant-comebacks-acting-triumphs https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363724/alex-tos-40-year-cantopop-career-rb-origins-defiant-comebacks-acting-triumphs Thu, 13 Aug 2026 23:15:05 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram For Chee Keong Cheung, a cinematic education came not from the local cinemas of his native Lancaster in England’s northwest, but from the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong. “I was probably a bit young to be watching them, but the John Woo films were a big inspiration. The Killer, A Better Tomorrow … had a real effect on me,” he tells the South China Morning Post over a video call. Films from the so-called “Heroic Bloodshed” era of Hong Kong action cinema, of which Woo was a key figure, lit a fire in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363502/how-british-chinese-filmmaker-chee-keong-cheung-aims-build-blumhouse-action https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363502/how-british-chinese-filmmaker-chee-keong-cheung-aims-build-blumhouse-action Tue, 11 Aug 2026 08:15:05 +0000 Chris Tsang Chris Tsang Peng Chau Cinema, an Instagrammable spot for tourists on an outlying Hong Kong island, will be auctioned off in mid-August at a valuation 30 per cent below estimation after almost 40 years of abandonment – a dormancy lengthy enough to fuel dark rumours among some residents. The former cinema is currently owned by Far East Hotels and Entertainment Limited, whose major shareholder is Derek Chiu, the sixth son of Deacon Chiu – founder of Far East Consortium. After its opening in 1978, the site was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3362983/derelict-cinema-scenic-hong-kong-island-auction-us1-million-price-tag https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/article/3362983/derelict-cinema-scenic-hong-kong-island-auction-us1-million-price-tag Sun, 09 Aug 2026 08:30:07 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis As Stephen Chow Sing-chi’s latest directorial effort, Kung Fu Soccer, prepares to open in Hong Kong cinemas on August 13 following a lucrative but critically divisive release in mainland China, many fans are finding themselves nostalgic for the 1990s version of the “King of Comedy” they once loved. While martial arts icons Jackie Chan and Jet Li Lianjie are often cited as the biggest stars of Hong Kong’s filmmaking “Golden Age”, it was actually Chow who dominated the era after his breakout role... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363044/how-curry-and-pepper-showed-stephen-chows-comedy-genius-superstardom-arrived https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3363044/how-curry-and-pepper-showed-stephen-chows-comedy-genius-superstardom-arrived Fri, 07 Aug 2026 04:45:15 +0000 Emma White Emma White A de-stressing sound healing session, an “eco-carnival” featuring second-hand clothing markets and a workshop that delves into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are just some of the events taking place this hot weekend in Hong Kong. Read on to find out more. 1. Floating Gong Bath with Malbert Lee This Saturday you can enjoy a sound healing session with Malbert Lee, a sound alchemist and yoga teacher. Organised by Tune In Wellness, the session is designed to help people relax, de-stress and release... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/diversions/article/3363116/5-best-things-do-hong-kong-weekend-august-7-9 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/diversions/article/3363116/5-best-things-do-hong-kong-weekend-august-7-9 Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:46:04 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh As blockbusters like The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Toy Story 5 continue to dominate cinema screens across Hong Kong, adventurous film-goers desperate to escape the incessant downpours can take comfort in the eclectic line-up unveiled for this year’s Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival. This concise seasonal companion to the Hong Kong International Film Festival boasts a focused selection of 37 features. These range from regional premieres of festival highlights to new 4K... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3362804/hong-kongs-summer-international-film-festival-2026-10-must-see-movies-and-programmes https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3362804/hong-kongs-summer-international-film-festival-2026-10-must-see-movies-and-programmes Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:15:06 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Hong Kong audiences have always preferred their horror mixed rather than straight, with local producers traditionally combining scares with action, kung fu and comedy, or softcore sex and bloody violence – as seen in the adult Category III shockers of the early 1990s. Consequently, surprisingly few pure horror films have been made locally. Since the 1998 mega-success of the J-horror sensation Ring in Hong Kong, viewers have largely looked to Japan for their Asian scares. This is why 1981’s The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3362382/what-makes-1981-cult-classic-imp-one-hong-kongs-most-terrifying-horror-films https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3362382/what-makes-1981-cult-classic-imp-one-hong-kongs-most-terrifying-horror-films Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:15:11 +0000 Kate Chan Kate Chan Tucked in a corner of a hi-tech industrial estate in Yuen Long, a cluster of cluttered flats has been designed to evoke a gritty Hong Kong slum. It is the main set for the sequel to the nostalgic blockbuster film Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. The set, constructed on an empty factory site at Yuen Long InnoPark, recreates the iconic Kowloon Walled City, featuring details such as a banner hanging outside the building that reads: “Pleading to give our home a way to survive”. Set in the late... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3362678/kowloon-walled-city-action-film-sequels-gritty-nostalgic-set-draws-residents https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3362678/kowloon-walled-city-action-film-sequels-gritty-nostalgic-set-draws-residents Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:00:14 +0000 P Ramakrishnan P Ramakrishnan At its best, Hong Kong cinema has always been about more than the box office. It’s about a city showing the world what it is – tough, funny, romantic, contradictory and alive. What Hong Kong cinema is not, however, is inclusive. It never has been. Three young men working on the margins of the industry are quietly trying to change that and, in the process, prove that the city is more colourful than its films have been letting on. They might be taking a long shot, but fortune favours the bold in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3362525/3-south-asian-actors-challenge-hong-kong-cinemas-casting-rules https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3362525/3-south-asian-actors-challenge-hong-kong-cinemas-casting-rules Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:00:17 +0000 Daniel Eagan Daniel Eagan Daniel Wu Yin-cho’s recent return to Hong Kong cinema ends a years-long hiatus that caught even the actor by surprise. Before shooting Cold War 1994, which opened in the city in April 2026, he had appeared in just one local production – 2020’s Caught in Time – since his 2016 thriller Sky on Fire. While he spent the intervening decade focusing on Hollywood projects like the Into the Badlands series and Tomb Raider (2018), this recent absence was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3361932/why-daniel-wu-swapping-broken-hollywood-hong-kong-films https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3361932/why-daniel-wu-swapping-broken-hollywood-hong-kong-films Tue, 28 Jul 2026 04:45:06 +0000 Enid Tsui Enid Tsui Head up to the third floor of JC Contemporary at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun arts and heritage centre and the first thing that hits you is a set of stage lights trained directly on the gallery entrance. For a few seconds, visitors are caught in the limelight, like performers walking onto the stage for a production they did not know they had been cast in. It is a fitting prelude to An Intimate Surrender, artist Isaac Chong Wai’s first solo live-art commission in the city he grew up in. The 36-year-old... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts/article/3361734/hong-kong-artist-channels-leslie-cheung-film-farewell-my-concubine-intimate-live-show https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts/article/3361734/hong-kong-artist-channels-leslie-cheung-film-farewell-my-concubine-intimate-live-show Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:15:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Hong Kong director Jacob Cheung Chi-leung has long been celebrated for his sensitive approach to local social dramas. Below, we look back at two of his most memorable works: the award-winning socio-realistic comedy Cageman (1992) and the sweeping lesbian romance Intimates (1997). Cageman Cageman was an unexpected hit upon its release in 1992. Its success was especially surprising as it was a social-realist drama arriving at a time when the industry was busy churning out flashy commercial... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3361548/why-jacob-cheungs-cageman-and-intimates-became-hong-kong-directors-most-memorable-films https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3361548/why-jacob-cheungs-cageman-and-intimates-became-hong-kong-directors-most-memorable-films Sun, 26 Jul 2026 04:45:06 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf Ackbar Abbas, a Hong Kong-born scholar whose influence extended beyond academia to shape artists, filmmakers, writers and many others, died on July 13 at the age of 84 after a brief battle with cancer. Over decades of teaching at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Abbas did not simply analyse Hong Kong – he altered the way Hong Kong could be described. His 1997 book Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance was particularly influential.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts/article/3361422/how-scholar-ackbar-abbas-changed-way-people-thought-about-hong-kong https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/arts/article/3361422/how-scholar-ackbar-abbas-changed-way-people-thought-about-hong-kong Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:15:06 +0000 Vivian Au Vivian Au A Hong Kong woman has paid tribute to the late screen legend Patrick Tse Yin, revealing that he saved her brother from drowning decades ago on a boat trip. Veteran actor, director and producer Tse, nicknamed “Brother Four”, died on July 16 at the age of 89, marking the loss of one of the last remaining icons from the golden era of local cinema, when the city’s film industry held sway across Southeast Asia. A social media user called “Maykeung46”, the daughter of the late veteran character actor... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361636/screen-legend-patrick-tse-saved-my-brother-drowning-woman-recalls https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361636/screen-legend-patrick-tse-saved-my-brother-drowning-woman-recalls Thu, 23 Jul 2026 14:21:54 +0000 SCMP Style Reporter SCMP Style Reporter Imagine if you could taste Hong Kong’s cinematic history. That’s the idea behind Regent Hong Kong’s new culinary concept, A Cinematic Taste of Hong Kong. Working with the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild, executive chef Calvin Choi has devised a menu at The Lobby Lounge that takes inspiration from scenes in local cinema. It’s the opening chapter of a broader hotel programme to introduce guests to Hong Kong’s culture, one experience at a time. The setting couldn’t be more cinematic. Perched on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/style/lifestyle/travel-hotels/article/3361165/style-edit-regent-hong-kong-brings-local-cinema-life-harbourfront-dining https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/magazines/style/lifestyle/travel-hotels/article/3361165/style-edit-regent-hong-kong-brings-local-cinema-life-harbourfront-dining Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:00:12 +0000 Ambrose Li Ambrose Li The death of veteran actor Patrick Tse Yin at 89 marks the loss of one of the last icons from Hong Kong’s cinematic golden era, a time when the city’s movie industry held sway across Southeast Asia. Charles Cheung Chi-wai, an associate professor at Baptist University’s department of humanities and creative writing, said the glittering cohort of stars in the 1960s helped cement the city’s reputation as the “Hollywood of the East”. Tse’s son, Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, and daughter, Jennifer Tse... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361310/patrick-tses-death-marks-fading-hong-kong-cinemas-golden-era https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361310/patrick-tses-death-marks-fading-hong-kong-cinemas-golden-era Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:34:33 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Veteran Hong Kong actor, film director and producer Patrick Tse Yin has died at the age of 89, with his son, pop star Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, asking friends and fans not to be sad, but to “keep his forever charming and smiling image in our hearts”. His children announced the death of Tse, affectionately known to film fans as “Brother Four” or “Sei Gor” in Cantonese, on social media on Monday, suggesting the star had been in poor health for some time. His daughter, model Jennifer Tse Ting-ting,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361199/unmistakable-spirit-veteran-hong-kong-actor-patrick-tse-dies-89 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3361199/unmistakable-spirit-veteran-hong-kong-actor-patrick-tse-dies-89 Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:57:53 +0000 David Ho David Ho This year, Tai Kwun’s annual summer show puts the spotlight on a specific aspect of Hong Kong cinema: partnership. Running until October 4 at Tai Kwun’s Duplex Studio, the exhibition, titled “Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies”, is run in association with the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers. A portion of this year’s ticket sales will go to the federation to support the local film industry. “Tai Kwun’s annual summer show has become a kind of love-letter to this city as we... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3360941/tai-kwuns-better-together-8-hong-kong-film-classics-celebrate-cinematic-partnerships https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3360941/tai-kwuns-better-together-8-hong-kong-film-classics-celebrate-cinematic-partnerships Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:09 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Between 1984 and 2010, Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung Man-yuk appeared in 79 films – though, by her own admission, she disliked many of them. She often felt at odds with the city’s commercially driven cinema industry, yearning instead for serious art-house projects. “I have nothing against commercial films, but if you’re in a movie [and] you feel the script and everything else about it has no meaning – it’s just another production that the boss can add to his list – I don’t think you should... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3360793/how-hong-kong-actress-maggie-cheung-went-commercial-film-eye-candy-art-house-legend https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3360793/how-hong-kong-actress-maggie-cheung-went-commercial-film-eye-candy-art-house-legend Sun, 19 Jul 2026 04:45:05 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu This is the 81st instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Celebrities who reach their mid-nineties have usually long since traded the spotlight for a rocking chair, but not Bowie Woo Fung, who, at 94 years old, is likely still practising his footwork. On June 7, 2026, he took the stage for his sixth concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum, and in doing so set the Guinness World Record as the oldest Chinese artist to hold a solo concert. It is a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3360737/how-bowie-woo-94-became-hong-kongs-ultimate-evergreen-entertainer-over-7-decade-career https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3360737/how-bowie-woo-94-became-hong-kongs-ultimate-evergreen-entertainer-over-7-decade-career Thu, 16 Jul 2026 23:15:04 +0000