Don’t be swayed by the man’s innocent act. He’s dangerous. And, uh, young, too.

[Periodically, Ronin on Empty will be taking a look back at some Hong Kong cinema classics, albeit with a specific emphasis on “Great Moments” — i.e. classic scenes that no Hong Kong cinema fan (old or new) should miss. Of course, “classic” will not only entail super-cool, gobsmacking moments, but also the downright ridiculous stuff, too. The numbers — #1, #2, etc. — are not indicators of ranking, but merely a way to keep a running tally of how many “great moments” we can list here. Readers are welcome to send in their own fave scenes as well.]

While studies say we’ve become increasingly numb to movie violence in recent years, I would argue that there are some filmic displays of violent acts that stick with you long after the film has ended. Perhaps Joe Pesci’s demise in Casino (1995) really got to you. Maybe the torture porn gore of the Saw and Hostel series was too much for you. Or maybe you even flinched at what that carpenter had to suffer in Mel “I’m not racist, I’m insane” Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).

No matter. All of those violent scenes pale in comparison to what poor Shing Fui-On (RIP: Big Sillyhead) had to endure in the first installment of the Young and Dangerous series. In the film, LoveHKFilm.com’s favorite actor, Ekin Cheng, plays a young and dangerous (naturally!) triad member named Chan Ho-Nam who has a bone to pick with Brother Sau (Shing Fui-On). For reasons I’ve never particularly understood, Ekin is absolutely obnoxious as Ho-Nam in this first film. Thankfully, his character improved in the sequels. Still, it was this first film in which we were introduced to his altogether unconventional triad weapon of choice — a plastic chair. Prepare to wince at the ferocity!

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For reasons I am at a loss to explain I have been on a Western kick for several months now. I’ve read Louis L’Amour’s A Man Called Noon (meh), Ernest Tidyman’s High Plains Drifter (ok), Forrest Carter’s The Outlaw Josey Wales (good), and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian (awe-inspiring). In terms of films, I started out watching Spaghetti Westerns I’d never seen before — Death Rides a Horse, The Big Gundown, Django the Bastard, My Name is Nobody, If You Meet Sartana Pray for Death, Keoma, and The Stranger and the Gunfighter. I then proceeded to revisit some American Westerns like Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, Silverado, Tombstone, and The Quick and the Dead. I even treated myself to the highly entertaining PS3 game Red Dead Redemption, of which I’ve finally completed 100% of the various missions.

Now, I know none of this has anything to do with Hong Kong cinema. And I probably should have been spending all that time watching the HK films gathering dust on my shelf (Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is still waiting for me), but when I have a passion, I follow it through to the very end — and in a very thorough fashion.

To tell you the truth, I also wanted to watch something that had nothing to do with my research — Asian American lit and film/detective fiction — and nothing to do with my quasi-professional interests either — Hong Kong and Asian cinema. But wouldn’t you know it? Both of those interests seeped into my pursuit of a good Western.

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Which one is the real one?

After misplacing my driver’s license and harboring a belief that I needed to get some exercise, I walked to SF Chinatown three days in a row. During those trips, I browsed a number of DVD shops. While certain locations carried legitimate Hong Kong DVDs, I was struck by the number of stores that carried bootlegs. I guess that shouldn’t have been too surprising a fact in itself, but I have to say that the sheer quantity was astounding. After closer investigation, I realized every single Hong Kong film available on a licensed DVD was bootlegged. No official versions in sight.*

The prices, too, were pretty astonishing — 4 for $20 at one store or $4.99 each with a pricing deal based on bulk. I realize people just illegally download them for free, but for Bay Area HK cinema enthusiasts (and Chinese folks) who aren’t hip to technology or don’t want to go to the trouble, this seems like a real temptation. At sci-fi and comic cons you see bootlegs of hard-to-find or out of print films, TV shows, and Holiday Specials, but they aren’t usually that cheap. I’ve seen Chinese bootlegs side-by-side with official DVDs in certain San Jose DVD shops, but the prices weren’t that drastically different. How can legitimate DVD companies compete with this kind of piracy?

In the old days, a bootleg meant a third generation VHS tape at best or a shaky cam version of a movie still-in-theaters, but now the bootleggers just rip them from an officially licensed DVD. The image looks identical…because it is.

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For the viewer thirsting for old school Shaw Brothers kung fu with a dash of vintage 90s Tsui Hark-style action, Yuen Woo-Ping’s True Legend is like an oasis in the desert. There’s only one problem — Hong Kong martial arts film fans are so parched that there’s a danger of lapping it all up unquestionably, despite the fact that the last 1/4 of the movie is complete backwash.

Let me explain: True Legend has a structural problem. If you don’t want to know the vague outline of the major story points, skip past the following list.

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A few days ago, I posted about a recent Korean drama ludicrously entitled A Man Called God, which I saw in a DVD bin while hanging out with LoveHKFilm.com forum moderator, Wongsaurus. During our misadventures in Chinatown, we stopped at Red’s Place, and I was introduced to Helen, the bartender.

According to Wongsaurus, she said I looked like Takeshi Kaneshiro, and I heartily thanked her for the compliment.

“Whatever. I’m totally better looking.”

And when it comes to comparing a person to someone famous, that’s really how you’re supposed to do it. If you think a person you meet resembles a celebrity, I’ve always believed you should only mention it if that celebrity is generally considered to be handsome/pretty.

Believe me: “You know who you look like? Jabba the Hutt” is never a good icebreaker.

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Jacky Cheung and Tang Wei in Crossing Hennessy

Ivy Ho has written screenplays for a number of Hong Kong films, two of which — Comrades, Almost A Love Story (1996) and July Rhapsody (2001) –  rank amongst my favorite Chinese films of all time. I haven’t had a chance to watch Ho’s directorial debut, Claustropobia (2008), but when I heard that Jacky Cheung and Lust, Caution’s Tang Wei would be starring in her second film, Crossing Hennessy, I just had to check it out.

And now I have.

To be honest, I really wanted to love Crossing Hennessy, but in the end, I only kind of liked it. The premise certainly intrigued me. In the film, two people are forced by their respective guardians to meet up, albeit with the added expectation that maybe the two of them will get hitched sometime in the near future. One problem — both the man and the woman are “involved” with other people. Forty-year-old bachelor (but not virgin) Loy (Jacky Cheung) lives at home and is still hung up on his childhood ex (Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee), while Oi Lin (Tang Wei) has a hot-tempered boyfriend named Xu (Andy On) who’s biding his time in jail. With Loy’s ex now single again, and Xu soon to be released, it’s no surprise that our protagonists’ hearts are elsewhere.

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“He’s gotta kick the habit before he can kick ass.”

– FUNIMATION Packaging for 2010 DVD release