ACF 940: Happy Birthday, Simon Yam!

Simon Yam in PTU: Police Tactical Unit

Veteran Hong Kong actor Simon Yam was born in that city on March 19th, 1955. His IMDb filmography lists 172 films and TV appearances, going back to 1977. He's played a wide variety of roles on both sides of the law. (Interestingly, his father and elder brother Peter Yam Tat-Wing were both law-enforcement officers.)

Yam as the serial killer in Dr Lamb

Some of his films that are better known in the West include:

Bullet in the Head (1990)

Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

Dr. Lamb (1992)

Full Contact (1993)

The Mission (1999)

PTU (2003)

Breaking News (2004)

Election (2005)

Kill Zone, a.k.a. S.P.L. (2005)

Election 2 (2006)

Exiled (2006)

Sparrow (2008)

Yip Man 2 (2010)

So, Happy 56th Birthday, Simon Yam, and may there be many happy returns of you to the screen in years to come

ACF 599: Simon, Sammo, and Me!

Last night, between the screenings of Eastern Condors and Echoes of the Rainbow at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, The Hong Kong Economic Trade Office, New York and The New York Asian Film Festival held an invitation-only reception to honor Sammo Hung, Simon Yam, and this year's line-up of Hong Kong films. And yours truly was one of the most-fortunate invitees. Not only that, but I got to meet and speak, albeit briefly, and get my picture taken with both Simon Yam and Sammo Hung. (The previous night, Friday, Simon received the Star Asia Award, while Sammo got the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by Angela Mao, to Sammo's utter surprise and shock.)

Both of these gentlemen and huge stars of Hong Kong Cinema were very gracious to all. Both posed for numerous photographs and signed both programs and DVDs that people had brought. Truly class acts.

Simon Yam and me

Simon arrived at the reception first, while Sammo was still at the Q&A following Eastern Condors. I told Simon how much I'd enjoyed him in PTU: Police Tactical Unit and so many other films. I also briefly described how I'd come to be interested in and write about Asian films. I was so touched when, a few minutes after we'd parted, he came over to me and thanked me for my interest in and love of Hong Kong movies.

Sammo Hung and me
(That's Joyce Mina Godenzi, Sammo's wife,
in the background behind my right shoulder)

Sammo arrived a bit later. I'm not a celebrity whore by any means, but I was in total awe of being in his presence. I mean, above and beyond his extensive credits as actor, director producer, action choreographer, etc. this guy went at it with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon!

My wife took two shots of Sammo and me. After taking the first, she told me that I should smile. When I later looked at the first photo, I saw that I looked like I was terrified, probably because I was so nervous just being next to a legend whom I admire immensely. So glad this second one came out as it did.

After thanking Sammo for all of his wonderful work, I told him that I was sorry if what I was about to say brought up any unpleasant memories. I then told him that I thought that his series Marshal Law was one of the greatest things that had ever happened on American TV, and that I was so sorry that it had been ruined by others. (By this I meant those who decided to turn the "fish-out-of-water" police actioner into a TV version of Rush Hour by bringing in Arsenio Hall, though I didn't mention this specifically to Sammo.) Sammo seemed to take this in stride, but in any case I just had to let him know what a great show it had been to watched initially.

The New York Asian Film Festival has been off to a great start this weekend, and I expect that it's going to be a phenomenal success this year. In the meanwhile, it's provided me with one of the most memorable evenings and photo mementos of my life. Thanks to The Hong Kong Economic Trade Office and to all those at SubwayCinema which presents the NYAFF.

P.S. - The food and drink were both plentiful and delicious!

ACF 598: The Storm Warriors - a NYAFF 2010 Preview Review

The Storm Warriors
Directed by The Pang Brothers (Oxide and Danny Pang)

Starring Ekin Cheng, Aaron Kwok, Simon Yam, Nicholas Tse
Hong Kong, 2009, 110 minutes
In Cantonese with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere

At the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater:
- Sunday, June 27th at 12:00 noon (Simon Yam is scheduled to be at this screening)
- Thursday, July 1st at 9:00 PM

As I sometimes like to do with films I'm reviewing (as opposed to one's I'm just putting out the word on), first I'll present the publicity statement, then my own take on the film. I especially feel the need to do this here to be as fair as possible. You'll understand when you read my review comments at the end of the post.

Here's what SubwayCinema.com had to say:

In 1998 the Hong Kong film business was in danger of disappearing, but out of nowhere came THE STORM RIDERS, a special effects extravaganza based on a popular comic book and directed by Andrew Lau (INFERNAL AFFAIRS). A massive hit across Asia, it single-handedly saved the Hong Kong film industry. Now, 12 years later, comes THE STORM WARRIORS, based on the same Ma Wing-shing comic and with some of the same cast, but otherwise a standalone flick that is the closest cinema has ever come to putting Chinese martial arts comic books, with all of their surreal techniques and freaky superpowers, on the silver screen.

From the very first frame the choirs are wailing like a death metal concept album times infinity, and every shot is a blast-beat drum solo, every edit is a power chord and when the characters fight it's like two planets smashing into each another. Cloud (pop star gone supernova, Aaron Kwok) has been captured by Lord Godless (Simon Yam, playing an evil Japanese warlord) along with his master, Nameless (Kenny Ho, playing one of the original comic's most popular characters). Their armies are destroyed, their powers have been stripped and things look grim. Suddenly, Wind (Cheng) swoops to the rescue and the good guys take to the hills. Nameless informs Cloud and Wind that they're going to have to level up to defeat Lord Godless, and while he helps Cloud invent a new style of sword-fu, Wind is sent off to learn Evil Power from Lord Wicked.

With special effects layered so heavily they transform battles into dreamy, psychedelic abstractions, even the actors are digitally enhanced as Evil Power turns Wind into a brooding goth dreamboat that not even TWILIGHT's Edward Cullen can rival. Swords are so powerful they cut the weather in half, ultimate weapons are made from the spinal columns of dead gods and everything ends on a note of rock opera tragedy. What other summer blockbuster concludes with the hero traumatized and wounded, raving "Why didn't you kill me?!?" A happy ending? Happy endings are for sissies.

Won the 2009 Hong Kong Film Award for "Best Visual Effects."

AsianCineFest Review:

First, a couple of positive thoughts. There will certainly be those who'll really enjoy this supernatural martial arts fantasy which is based on the hit Hong Kong comic series Storm Riders by Wing Shing Ma. And many of the special CG effects are indeed top-notch.

On the other hand, I myself didn't care for the film much at all. The "story line"is really thin, even for this sort of fare, from which one doesn't tend to expect much. The directing is uninspired, which seems to be the way the Pang Brothers have been going lately, as in 2008's Bangkok Dangerous.

For me there wasn't any evidence of actual "acting" by anyone on the screen. And we all know that even when doing a film based on a comic book (or a video game, for that matter), and even when working in front of a green screen, it's still possible to "emote." I just didn't see any evidence of it here.

So overall I really can't recommend the film, which is a successor to 1998's The Storm Riders. (There's a Storm Warriors III currently in production, for which I don't hold out much hope of redemption.) But if supernatural martial art films are your thing, or if you simply can't miss seeing Aaron Kwok (Cloud) or Ekin Cheng (Wind), feel free to give it a try. You very well may enjoy it.

ACF 503: Happy Birthday, Simon Yam!

Simon Yam in PTU: Police Tactical Unit

Veteran Hong Kong actor Simon Yam was born in that city on March 19th, 1955. His IMDb filmography lists 172 films and TV appearances, going back to 1977. He's played a wide variety of roles on both sides of the law. (Interestingly, his father and elder brother Peter Yam Tat-Wing were both law-enforcement officers.)

Yam as the serial killer in Dr Lamb

Some of his films that are better known in the West include:

Bullet in the Head (1990)

Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

Dr. Lamb (1992)

Full Contact (1993)

The Mission (1999)

PTU (2003)

Breaking News (2004)

Election (2005)

Kill Zone, a.k.a. S.P.L. (2005)

Election 2 (2006)

Exiled (2006)

Sparrow (2008)

Yip Man 2 (2010)

So, Happy 55th Birthday, Simon Yam, and may there be many happy returns of you to the screen in years to come