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billleung
Qualification: Chartered Accountant and Lawyer
Reviews
Yip Man chin chyun (2010)
A hidden masterpiece
Based on some of the reviews, I feel this film is misunderstood.
It is somewhat harsh to compare Yu-Hang (Dennis) To's to Donnie Yen's portrayal of Ip Man because Donnie has been an actor for a long time. From a martial arts standpoint, Donnie's portrayal of Wing Chun in his two Ip Man films were often not a correct rendition of the form, as he had no Wing Chun background, but took a crash course just prior to filming and his fights in the film were often not Wing Chun. What we saw on Donnie's Ip Man films were more arts than reality of Wing Chun combat techniques.
On the other hand, Dennis To is a Wing Chun champion in Hong Kong and is not an actor by background. He might lack acting prowess but he more than makes it up in Wing Chun abilities.
Dennis was correctly portraying Wing Chun techniques in the film, especially the lesser known Wing Chun moves, such as the high kicks, use of knives and staff. Dennis is the pupil of the director of this film, who himself is also trained in Wing Chun and is the pupil of Ip Chun and he wanted a true exposition of the real Wing Chun combat techniques in this film through his pupil Dennis To, and which Dennis loyally exhibited the form to his master's delight.
The Wing Chun sparring scene between Ip Chun and Dennis is a masterpiece, so was the sparring between Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (he was one of the doubles for Bruce Lee in Game of Death when he died). Incidentally, both Sammo and Yuen Biao are older pupils from the same master as Donnie Yen, so they are 'colleagues'.
One should view The Legend is Born: Ip Man in this context to appreciate what we saw in Donnie Yen's Wing Chun are often fancy moves and not real Wing Chun, while we saw a far more accurate rendition of its techniques here by Dennis To.
Hopefully, one can appreciate the finer qualities of this film which it truly deserves.
Drop Dead Fred (1991)
A comedy with a very moving end
Drop Dead Fred is a comedy which I really, really treasure.
It's about Drop Dead Fred, an 'imaginary friend' of a child Lizzie (ie, an adult's perspective of what they can't see because they are 'grown ups') and the adventures they have together.
The reason why it is a favourite of mine is that it has a very moving ending, where Lizzie finally grows up, and so Drop Dead Fred can 'move on' to be the friend to the next child who needs him.
Before Drop Dead Fred can leave Lizzie, Fred accompanied Lizzie on her personal journey one last time, and together they confronted Lizzie's personal 'obstacles' where she triumphs in the end. It was very sweet and sad.
The saddest and most moving part is when Lizzie saw through the gesture of another child (ie, after Fred has moved on), she gets to know that Drop Dead Fred is now befriending this child after leaving her. It is very, very sad and sweet. Especially now that Lizzie having finally 'grown up', she can no longer see Drop Dead Fred anymore, no matter how she wish otherwise. A bond that can no longer be continued once it's over (no matter how much she would like to), other than what's residing in Lizzie's memory. And you can sense from Lizzie's face when she was looking at the next child's interaction with Drop Dead Fred, that look of "Thank you for loving me once." It is a most beautiful ending.
Enjoy Drop Dead Fred as a comedy, and I hope that you also love the very moving ending.