Monthly Archives: October 2016

Yu Ta-fu chuan ji / Cherry Blossoms (1988) Eddie Ling-Ching Fong, Yat Sun Chan, Yun-Fat Chow, Tat Wah Fok, Drama, Romance

yu-ta-fu-chuan-ji-aka-cherry-blossoms-1988
In 1913, Yu Dafu goes from China to Japan to study. At that time, Japan is the nascent superpower of East Asia, while China, the “sick man of Asia”, is in turmoil. Dafu is forced to confront the formidable combination of challenging schoolwork, foreign culture, and a racist populace during his time in Japan, and, along the way, struggles with becoming a man, emotionally and sexually. Towards the beginning of the film, he meets, while bathing nude in a hot spring, Lung-erh, and falls in love instantly. Although Yu Dafu is unable to locate her after their brief encounter, he eventually runs into her again after having taken up his studies in Nagoya.
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Hellbound Train (1930) James Gist, Drama

hellbound-train-1930
Hellbound Train comprises a series of vignettes of “sinful” acts, any of which could book you a spot on that locomotive to perdition: Women deceiving their husbands; gamblers and tipplers; crooked men conducting illicit business; and insolent children disrespecting their parents make up the 20-minute silent film. At the end of each scene a character dies, and a round man in a form-fitting devil suit hops off a train and does a little jig as he accepts a new passenger.
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Angels and Insects (1995) Philip Haas, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patsy Kensit, Drama, Romance

angels-and-insects-1995
The movie is a study of a family of country gentry in Victorian England. William Adamson, a young scientist, is introduced into the Alabaster family by Reverend Mr Alabaster who is also fascinated by insects. William marries the older daughter of the family and studies the amounts of insects in the garden of the villa. His – for the gentry – strange behaviors reveal at the same time their own failures and passions.
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The Black Camel (1931) Hamilton MacFadden, Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, Crime, Mystery, Thriller

the-black-camel-1931
Movie star Sheila Fayne is seeing wealthy Alan Jaynes while filming in Honolulu, Hawaii, but won’t marry him without consulting famed psychic Tanaverro first. Tanaverro confronts her about the unsolved murder of fellow film star Denny Mayo three years earlier, and she decides to reject Jaynes’ proposal. When Sheila is found shot to death in her beach-front pavilion, Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police investigates.
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