IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
(2001)
Directed by Kar-wai Wong
Writing by Kar-wai Wong
Studio: Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Prod. Co., Paradis Films
Distributors: Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production Co. Paradis Films
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Rebecca Pan, Lai Chen, Ping Lam Siu, Chi-ang Chi, Man-Lei Chan, Kam-wah Koo, Hsien Yu, Po-chun Chow, Paulyn Sun

SYNOPSIS: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE centers around two neighbors (Chow Mo-Wan and Su Li-Zhen) who are living in a crowded apartment building in 1962 Hong Kong. Both married to people who are always away, they spend many nights home alone. As they come acquainted with other, they find that they have a lot in common: Both enjoy martial arts, frequent the same noodle stand--and eventually discover that their spouses are cheating on them. (Mo-Wan's wife is having an affair with Li-Zhen's husband.) Hurt and angry, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates.

LOST EMPIRE  
(2001)
Directed by Peter McDonald
Studio: Artisan Entertainment
Writer: David Henry Hwang
Producer: NBC
Cast: Thomas Gibson, Ling Bai, Russell Wong, Ric Young, Kabir Bedi, Eddie Marsan, Randall Duk, Henry O, Stiven Liang, Burt Kwouk, Hossan Leong, Kwong Loke, Terence Beesley, Simon Bernstein, Picasso Tan, Hon Ping Tang, Gregory Teo, Hua Chung Ting, Turbo, Ozzie Yue, Sai-Kit Yung, Jeremy Zhang, Cecil Cheng, Anthony Chinn, James Faulkner, Pik Sen Lim, Olga Sosnovska, Chia Suan, Yuka Uto, Teo Wa, Jacqui Chan, Inday Ba, Annette Badland

This unfortunate three-hour made-for-television epic loosely based on the classic Chinese story Journey to the West is a mix of fantasy and martial-arts adventure with special effects. The program's plot involves an American China scholar and is magically transported into other dimensions by terra cotta warriors who come to life. He found himself face to face with a wisecracking Monkey King, a mystical wise-cracking warrior. Mysteriously, they have only three days to find an ancient manuscript and thereby save the world from destruction. The meandering and misguided plot places them in contact with tigers, dragons, evil giants and other assortment of creatures till they attain their goals.

Despite the participation of David Henry Hwang, visit the Jeff Park articles that describes the many miscalculations that the producers made in this production.

YI YI
(2001)
Directed by Edward Yang
Studio: Fox Lorber
Cast: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen, Su-Yun Ko, Michael Tao, Shu-shen Hsiao, Adrian Lin, Pang Chang Yu, Ru-Yun Tang, Shu-Yuan Hsu, Hsin-Yi Tseng, Yiwen Chen

The plot of this oft-acclaimed 2 ½+ hours film deals with the members of an extended Taiwanese family who celebrate their cultural traditions from birth to death while overcoming jealousies, disappointments in love and business, and ongoing family feuds that result from growing up and growing old. Many American film-goers have compared this film to "American Beauty," but provides you with a spring of eastern culture that may give you some fresh air. In fact, many people think that the answers in this film are to questions posed in Edward Yang's previous films - Mahjong and A Confuscian Confusion.

The title (Yi Yi) means "one, one" in Chinese, which represents simplicity. "Simplicity" is the key-term of both the style and the story of the film; the simplicity of the quiet, static long takes that allows this gineous filmmaker to capture the complexity of life, and the simplicity of philosophy with which we can re-discover what life is really all about.

This film is included because the film is being marketed heavily within the United States and internationally while being another film to satisfy the fast-growing thirst for great films from Asia.