I don’t have Mr. Cinema on my honorable mention list but I do agree that Hooked on You deserved a nomination. I’d give a nom to Exodus too.

Sanney, do you mind if I ask you a personal question? Just how much TV do you watch? You referenced Rome, American Ido, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Iron Chef and Law & Order: SVU in this post. In your old posts, I’ve seen references to Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, Law & Order, One Tree Hill, etc. That’s a lot of TV.

My ranking is:

1. The Mad Detective
2. Eye in the Sky
3. Postmodern Life
4. Warlords
5. Protege

I’d take out Warlords and Protege and replace it with Exodus and The Detective. Exodus is underrated. It deserves more love.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. Keep up the good work!

I think my disappointment with The Warlords was due to thinking it was going to be something other than what it was. On its own, it’s not bad. Jet Li can act. It’s not a martial arts or wuxia film, and that’s okay too.

The Mad Detective is a masterpiece, pure and simple. In a few years, people will be talking about this film the way people now talk about The Mission.

I thought Exiled was a masterpiece too but it was admittedly more of a guy’s film.

I am surprised Hooked on You was not nominated just for the sake of it.

Considering the star power and talent behind the camera, Protege was the biggest disappointment for me. Like an afterschool special on the evils of drugs.

I didn’t like Protegé that much and Eye in the Sky, even though a much much better film in comparison, lacked the weight and pathos (but then again it is his first film so I think it is understandable)

The Warlords is such a coulda woulda shoulda film that I was sorry for all the waste of money and talent when it could be much more than entertaining (I still think it will get best picture though)

Post Modern Life of My Aunt, I liked better than Sanney did, but then again I had a warning that the film most certainly is not lighthearted so I didn’t experince that sinking feeling when a film turns 180 on you (I know it because I had it in Pisces and Sex is Zero)

I thought THE WARLORDS was very average. Just another ancient brotherhood tale but with better cinematography and production values. Aside from that, I left the theatre disappointed after all the hype I had about it. Good director, international stars, potential interesting and unique story backdrop ended up being a very bland movie. Basically the sum did not equal the parts and all the acclaim it’s getting is due to its reputation. But even I think it’s unfair to compare it to the horrible SPIDER-MAN 3.

Aside from the uneven tone and Louis Koo, PROTEGE was pretty solid (lowered expectations). I do remember after some of the scenes thinking to myself, “what was the point of that?” Still Andy Lau was better here than overacting in THE WARLORDS.

MAD DETECTIVE did lack that final punctuation but the ending wasn’t so bad that it detracted from the film as a whole. But I did think the ending scenes of EYE IN THE SKY came very close to ruining what was a solid movie and even though I’m a big fan of Kate Tsui (future winner of Best New Artist), the ending was too much. That plus Simon Yam’s fake gut, I don’t see EYE IN THE SKY winning.

In the order I want to see win: MAD DETECTIVE, EYE IN THE SKY, PROTEGE, THE WARLORDS. Of the five, I think PROTEGE and THE WARLORDS are the weakest even though MAD DETECTIVE and EYE IN THE SKY are far from perfect.

But anyhow, I get the feeling HKFA will end up giving THE WARLORDS the Best Film. (Yes, giving. Not winning, because there are no winners if this happens… except maybe Peter Chan)