Member the moose Posted August 29, 2012 Member Share Posted August 29, 2012 I think it has to be Johnny To for me, his gangster thrillers are top notch. He gets the best performances out of the actors and you know you're watching a Jonny To movie when you can see his trademark quirky style. I think soi cheang is also a great director with such films as Love Battlefield, Dog bite dog and the accident. Wilson Yip is hit and miss, he's great when he has been on form but has also made some below parr efforts. His best are: Bio zombie, white dragon, SPL and Ip man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted August 29, 2012 Member Share Posted August 29, 2012 Johnnie To kinda lost me after the Election flicks. Didn't really like Exiled, Mad Detective, Vengeance etc. Though Blind Detective does look interesting. Soi Cheang has a cool style, but i've only seen Dog Bite Dog and Accident (Motorway is in the mail), so I can't really judge. Wilson Yip is pretty interesting to follow. Liked Bullets Over Summer, Juliet In Love, 2002 and all his Donnie Yen collabs, so I always watch for new stuff from him. Derek Yee is hit n miss in my book. Liked The Lunatics, People's Hero, Full Throttle, One Nite In Mongkok and Protégé but not the others i've seen from him. The Felix Chong and Alan Mak team is always worth checking out, though not always satisfying. I usually check out Andrew Lau Wai Keung's work on face value too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted August 29, 2012 Member Share Posted August 29, 2012 I would have to say Johnnie To since I really liked Exiled, Mad Detective, Vengeance etc. Sparrow was one of my favorites from recent years as well. As much as I have liked the varied outpout of Wilson Yip and some of Derek Yee, To has been my favorite director from Hong Kong (and one of my favorite directors of all-time). He has a style with his quirky humor, thematic elements and style that almost always intrigues me. I still have to see his recent mainland romance flicks (I've seen most of his Hong Kong ones) though. But one director I really need to get caught up on (and only have seen a few films) is Ann Hui. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted August 29, 2012 Member Share Posted August 29, 2012 That would easily be Johnnie To. I think out of all New Wave veteran directors he's one the most prolific after Wong Jing, Sammo Hung and Tsui Hark and - amazingly - the most consistent one. While he spends most of the time exploring his preferred ground (crime, thrillers, action), I think he manages to bring something new and refreshing. In addition, I would say Peter Chan is another strong contender though with a somewhat smaller output compared to his peers. Bodyguards & Assassins is epic and overall a film with all-round quality to its' content and Wu Xia is simply a masterpiece. Other great directors of this age are Soi Cheang and the Mak/Chong duo. Wilson Yip has exceeled greatly in directing actors in later films like the Ip Man films but I miss his visual flair presented in films like Bullets Over Summer and SPL. As for Derek Yee, he completely lost it after Protege imo and hasn't recovered from the commercial crap he moved on to since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted August 29, 2012 Member Share Posted August 29, 2012 Originally Posted by DiP Derek Yee completely lost it after Protege doing commercial crap and all that.. Oh dear... couldn’t disagree more! Yee’s SHINJUKU INCIDENT was an absolutely riveting film in my books (and unfortunately not half as commercially viable as it should have been!) and even though THE GREAT MAGICIAN was somewhat disjointed and looked like it was compromised way too much to meet SARFT criteria, purely for the spectacle and also as an A-class actors vehicle it was definitely worth seeing. For sure, Johnnie To is still up there, even though more recent “crime” films like VENGEANCE and LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE were a bit underwhelming. I did enjoy unashamedly commercial, China-friedly Milkyway-fluff like DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART though. Soi Cheang’s MOTORWAY didn’t grip me like LOVE BATTLEFIELD but it was still the expected damn' solid, albeit predictable Milkyway fix. I also have a deep-rooted love for anything Sylvia Chang directs and RUN PAPA RUN was one of the most satisfying films I saw in the last five years or so. But top of the list would be Pan Ho Cheung, probably the most consistently inventive filmmaker in HK today. To me LOVE IN A BUFF remains the movie to beat in 2012 and I can’t wait to see VULGARIA next month... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member jmungus Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 Johnnie To kinda lost me after the Election flicks. Didn't really like Exiled, Mad Detective, Vengeance etc. Though Blind Detective does look interesting. Soi Cheang has a cool style, but i've only seen Dog Bite Dog and Accident (Motorway is in the mail), so I can't really judge. no "favourite hk director" for me out there my regular fave one, tsui hark, is workin on reestablishing his good name these days and johnny to, a director who probably does deserve the throne, while not exactly havin lost me, hasnt always been all that in my book. motorway is finding u, thats a good thing. im rather sure u`ll like it. good flick! (good direction too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member the moose Posted August 30, 2012 Author Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 I think Herman Yau is also worth a mention here. He is known mainly for directing The untold story back in 93, but is still active and done some damn fine work in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'm gonna have to go with the guy who directed both the Ip Man flicks and the guy who directed The Viral Factor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 Loved Herman Yau's On The Edge, but haven't seen much else from him that I remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'm gonna have to go with the guy who directed both the Ip Man flicks and the guy who directed The Viral Factor... Oh, damn... I forgot my man Dante Lam!!!!! How embarrasing! Didn't really dig The Viral Factor, but Beast Stalker, Stool Pigeon and Fire Of Conscience were all great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 I think Herman Yau is also worth a mention here. He is known mainly for directing The untold story back in 93, but is still active and done some damn fine work in recent years. Co-sign! Herman Yau is another director I almost blind-buy – THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE and THE 1st SEVENTH NIGHT are favourites of mine, as well as ON THE EDGE. HK-centric film buffs should also give Yau’s recent LOVE LIFTING a try, a finely tuned, incredibly charming drama with a distinctly local ambiance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 Oh dear... couldn’t disagree more! Yee’s SHINJUKU INCIDENT was an absolutely riveting film in my books (and unfortunately not half as commercially viable as it should have been!) and even though THE GREAT MAGICIAN was somewhat disjointed and looked like it was compromised way too much to meet SARFT criteria, purely for the spectacle and also as an A-class actors vehicle it was definitely worth seeing. To each his own. While I enjoyed the film for being a different vehicle for Chan, there's was nothing about the story or the character I felt was riveting at all. It's far from having the usual look and feel of a Derek Yee film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted August 30, 2012 Member Share Posted August 30, 2012 To each his own. While I enjoyed the film for being a different vehicle for Chan, there's was nothing about the story or the character I felt was riveting at all. It's far from having the usual look and feel of a Derek Yee film. I believe JC’s dramatic performance in SHINJUKU INCIDENT was possibly the best in his entire acting career, so yes, since the film centered on his character I’d call it “riveting”. Some of Derek Yee’s best works tapped masterfully into the darker recesses of the human psyche and I felt SHINJUKU INCIDENT wasn’t different in that respect. It had very much the “feel” and the flair of a Derek Yee venture. I believe its a lil’ more difficult to speak of a customized or generic “look” of Derek Yee films though (as opposed to, say, certain Milkyway productions). But talking about THE GREAT MAGICIAN and SHINJUKU INCIDENT, one should bear in mind that both benefitted from bigger budgets that Yee was ever able to command – 25 million US for the latter! – and you can really see where the funds went! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member pratty Posted October 14, 2012 Member Share Posted October 14, 2012 Johnnie To get's my vote too, with PTU, Throwdown, The Mision and Exiled being big faves of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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