I know they are supposed to be creepy, but Chinese child vampires are just absolutely adorable.
“Hello Dracula” was a Taiwanese trend chaser back in the mid-80s, when the vampire-movie craze blew up in Hong Kong after Sammo Hung’s “Mr. Vampire.” Instead of a middle aged, grumpy Taoist as the main hero, though, the heroes were kids.
“Lady General Hua Mu-Lan” (1964), the Shaw Brothers’ version of the Mu-Lan story. The Mulan story was filmed in China many times.
Though today it’s associated with manliness, war, and martial arts movies thanks to figures like he-man director Chang Cheh, or the white-undershirt loving manly superstar Bruce Lee, the Hong Kong film industry in the first few decades of existence was oriented mostly to women until the 1970s with musicals and love-story movies, as housewives were the only people with the free time to go to the movies. The biggest martial arts star of the 1960s was Chang Pei Pei, for instance.
An earlier version of the Mulan story was made in Shanghai in 1939, “Mulan Joins the Army.” Filmed in Japanese occupied Shanghai (the setting, incidentally, for Bruce Lee’s Chinese Connection), there’s no coincidence that they made a Mulan movie just then: it’s a story about a person joining the army to push out an aggressive invader and conqueror.
Oh, and fun fact, Mulan also exists in DC Comics as well, she was an ally of Arak, Son of Thunder (a historical book that was much more like Umberto Eco’s Baudolino than like the Conan ripoff everyone thought he was):
Win the Future 输赢 is hands down one of best workplace dramas I’ve ever watched
I’m halfway through and have been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the script, zero cliches/wasted lines, no bullshit main characters who are equals in every sense of the word, realistic business related scenes with believable side characters and an entire cast that can actually act! Also this script is phenomenal - the writers incorporated war strategy and use appropriate quotes from the Art of War to highlight key negotiation/strategy setting scenes. Some of the older more experienced actors are absolutely stellar, I had to rewatch their line deliveries for a couple of scenes because they were just so genius.
I must say that I love the main leads’ energy as business rivals and it makes their romance all the more tense and interesting they’re both cutthroat, decisive and action orientated… but have unique, flawed personalities. The actors portrayed that with class! If anyone here is already a Xin Zhilei or Chen Kun fan then be prepared to fall in love again!
