LoveHKFilm Best Hong Kong Film Lists

2000s
1. Infernal Affairs (2002), 879 points, 35 first place votes
2. In the Mood for Love (2000), 512 points, 25 first place votes
3. Shaolin Soccer (2001), 500 points, 10 first place votes
4. Kung Fu Hustle (2004), 281 points, 1 first place vote
5. Exiled (2006), 276 points, 6 first place votes
6. Election (2005), 267 points, 2 first place votes
7. Hero (2002), 251 points, 3 first place votes
8. One Nite in Mongkok (2004), 232 points, 1 first place vote
9. Infernal Affairs II (2003), 229 points, 4 first place votes
10. Running on Karma (2003), 220 points, 5 first place votes
11. SPL (2005), 218 points, 6 first place votes
12. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), 211 points, 8 first place votes
13. Red Cliff (2008), 202 points
14. PTU (2003), 201 points, 2 first place votes
15. Throwdown (2004), 174 points, 3 first place votes
16. Needing You (2000), 172 points, 3 first place votes
17. Lost in Time (2003), 162 points, 1 first place vote
18. Mad Detective (2007), 157 points, 2 first place votes
19. Ip Man (2008), 144 points, 2 first place votes
20. 2046 (2004), 143 points, 5 first place votes
21. Election 2 (2006), 138 points, 3 first place votes
22. Men Suddenly in Black (2003), 107 points, 2 first place votes
23. Fearless (2006), 100 points, 1 first place vote
24. My Life as McDull (2001), 89 points, 2 first place votes
25. Lust, Caution (2007), 80 points, 3 first place votes
26. My Name is Fame (2006), 77 points, 1 first place vote
27. Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002), 75 points, 1 first place vote
28. After This, Our Exile (2006), 67 points, 2 first place votes
29. Beast Stalker (2008), 67 points, 1 first place vote
30. Fulltime Killer (2001), 66 points, 1 first place vote
31. Sparrow (2008), 64 points
32. July Rhapsody (2001), 63 points, 1 first place vote
33. Juliet in Love (2000), 62 points, 2 first place votes
34. New Police Story (2004), 61 points
35. My Wife is 18 (2003), 58 points, 2 first place votes
36. Crazy ‘N The City (2005), 53 points
37. Love on a Diet (2001), 51 points
38. Just One Look (2002), 50 points, 1 first place vote
39. Protégé (2007), 48 points
40. My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002), 48 points
41. You Shoot I Shoot (2001), 47 points, 1 first place vote
42. Isabella (2006), 46 points
43. Funeral March (2001), 44 points, 1 first place vote
44. Love Battlefield (2004), 44 points
45. Perhaps Love (2005), 41 points
46. Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), 39 points
47. Flash Point (2007), 37 points, 1 first place vote
48. Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone (2000), 37 points
49. Hooked on You (2007), 36 points, 1 first place vote
50. Time and Tide (2000), 36 points
51. The Eye (2002), 29(38) points
52. Love Undercover (2002), 30(37) points

1990s
1. Chungking Express (1994), 673 points, 24 first place votes
2. Hard Boiled (1992), 547.5 points, 9 first place votes
3. The Mission (1999), 412.5 points, 7 first place votes
4. A Bullet in the Head (1990), 370 points, 7 first place votes
5. Drunken Master II (1994), 350.5 points, 6 first place votes
6. Running Out of Time (1999), 342.5 points, 5 first place votes
7. Once Upon a Time in China (1990), 335.5 points, 4 first place votes
8. Once Upon a Time in China II (1991), 306 points, 2 first place votes
9. Days of Being Wild (1991), 304.5 points, 4 first place votes
10. God of Cookery (1996), 293 points, 2 first place votes
11. Comrades Almost a Love Story (1996), 276 points, 7 first place votes
12. Fong Sai Yuk (1993), 242 points, 1 first place vote
13. Happy Together (1997), 232 points, 3 first place votes
14. C’est La Vie Mon Cheri (1993), 227.5 points, 3 first place votes
15. Fallen Angels (1995), 218 points, 3 first place votes
16. A Chinese Odyssey (1995), 212.5 points, 4 first place votes
17. Ashes of Time (1994), 200.5 points, 4 first place votes
18. King of Comedy (1999), 190.5 points, 1 first place vote
19. Fist of Legend (1994), 187.5 points, 2 first place votes
20. Iron Monkey (1993), 180 points
21. A Moment of Romance (1990), 178 points, 5 first place votes
22. Police Story 3: Supercop (1992), 161 points, 2 first place votes
23. Swordsman II (1991), 156.5 points
24. The Bride with White Hair (1994), 148 points
25. From Beijing with Love (1994), 140.5 points, 1 first place vote
26. Young and Dangerous (1996), 118.5 points
27. The Blade (1995), 115 points, 1 first place vote
28. He’s a Woman She’s a Man (1994), 113.5 points
29. Fight Back to School (1991), 113 points
30. Full Alert (1997), 112 points, 1 first place vote
31. The Longest Nite (1998), 109.5 points, 1 first place vote
32. Beast Cops (1998), 108 points, 1 first place vote
33. Dragon Inn (1992), 104.5 points, 2 first place votes
34. Expect the Unexpected (1998), 98 points
35. A Hero Never Dies (1998), 96 points
36. Green Snake (1993), 88 points, 1 first place vote
37. The Storm Riders (1998), 84 points
38. Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1998), 83 points
39. Tai Chi Master (1993), 82 points
40. Made in Hong Kong (1997), 81.5 points, 1 first place vote
41. Love on Delivery (1994), 73.5 points
42. Forbidden City Cop (1996), 70.5 points
43. Centre Stage (1992), 69.5 points, 2 first place votes
44. Full Contact (1992), 65.5 points
45. The Untold Story (1993), 65 points
46. Once a Thief (1991), 62.5 points
47. The Heroic Trio (1993), 59.5 points, 1 first place vote
48. All for the Winner (1990), 56 points
49. Lost and Found (1996), 55 points, 1 first place vote
50. The Lovers (1994), 53 points, 1 first place vote
51. Bullets Over Summer (1999), 53 points
52. Young and Dangerous 3 (1996), 49 points, 2 first place votes
53. Gen-X Cops (1999), 46.5 points
54. The Longest Summer (1998), 42.5 points, 1 first place votes
55. God of Gamblers 2 (1990), 40.5 points
56. Summer Snow (1995), 38.5 points, 1 first place votes
57. Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998), 38.5 points
58. Royal Tramp (1992), 37.5 points
59. Sex and Zen (1991), 37 points
60. Flirting Scholar (1993), 36.5 points
61. 92 La Legendary Rose Noire (1992), 36 points
62. All’s Well Ends Well (1992), 35 points
63. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father (1993), 34 points, 1 first place vote
64. Tricky Brains (1991), 34 points
65. Wing Chun (1994), 33.5 points
66. Metade Fumaca (1999), 33.5 points
67. Little Cheung (1999), 33 points, 1 first place vote
68. Naked Killer (1992), 32 points, 1 first place vote
69. Big Bullet (1996), 32 points
70. Fly Me to Polaris (1999), 32 points
71. King of Beggars (1992), 31.5 points
72. City of Glass (1998), 30.5 points, 1 first place vote
73. Shanghai Grand (1996), 28.5 points
74. Dr. Mack (1995), 28 points, 2 first place votes
75. The Chinese Feast (1995), 27.5 points, 1 first place vote
76. Viva Erotica (1996), 27 points
77. Rumble in the Bronx (1995), 26.5 points
78. Task Force (1997), 26.5 points
79. God of Gamblers’ Return (1994), 26.5 points
80. Saviour of the Soul (1991), 26 points
81. Anna Magdalena (1998), 26 points
82. Hail the Judge (1994), 26 points
83. The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993), 25 points
84. High Risk (1995), 25 points
85. Casino Tycoon (1992), 23 points, 1 first place vote
86. Crime Story (1993), 23 points
87. Justice My Foot! (1992), 23 points
88. Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991), 22.5 points
89. Sealed with a Kiss (1999), 21.5 points
90. Swordsman (1990), 20 points
91. She Shoots Straight (1990), 20 points
92. Lifeline (1997), 19.5 points
93. The Odd One Dies (1997), 19 points, 1 first place vote
94. A Chinese Ghost Story 2 (1990), 19 points
95. Royal Tramp 2 (1992), 19 points
96. Ebola Syndrome (1996), 18.5 points
97. Tempting Heart (1998), 18.5 points
98. My Father is a Hero (1995), 18 points, 1 first place vote
99. Red to Kill (1993), 18 points
100. A Chinese Ghost Story 3 (1991), 17 points

1980s
1. A Better Tomorrow (1986), 857 points, 14 first place votes
2. The Killer (1989), 794 points, 22 first place votes
3. Police Story (1985), 740 points, 9 first place votes
4. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), 616 points, 14 first place votes
5. Peking Opera Blues (1986), 613.5 points, 21 first place votes
6. Project A (1983), 431 points, 1 first place vote
7. God of Gamblers (1989), 405 points, 7 first place votes
8. An Autumn’s Tale (1987), 326 points, 5 first place votes
9. City on Fire (1987), 306.5 points, 2 first place votes
10. As Tears Go By (1988), 293.5 points, 2 first place votes
11. Mr. Vampire (1985), 281.5 points, 1 first place vote
12. Rouge (1988), 272.5 points, 2 first place votes
13. A Better Tomorrow II (1987), 259 points, 2 first place votes
14. Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), 249.5 points, 1 first place vote
15. Prison on Fire (1987), 227 points, 1 first place vote
16. Wheels on Meals (1984), 225 points, 1 first place vote
17. Police Story 2 (1988), 219.5 points
18. The Prodigal Son (1981), 210 points, 3 first place votes
19. Long Arm of the Law (1984), 204.5 points
20. Dragons Forever (1988), 198 points, 1 first place vote
21. Eastern Condors (1987), 166 points, 1 first place vote
22. Miracles (1989), 160 points
23. The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984), 150.5 points
24. Pedicab Driver (1989), 149.5 points, 2 first place votes
25. Boat People (1982), 148 points, 2 first place votes
26. All About Ah-Long (1989), 142 points
27. Chicken and Duck Talk (1988), 135 points, 1 first place vote
28. Project A Part II (1987), 129 points, 2 first place votes
29. Shanghai Blues (1984), 128.5 points, 1 first place vote
30. Armour of God (1987), 107 points
31. On the Run (1988), 97 points, 2 first place votes
32. My Young Auntie (1981), 92.5 points
33. Spooky Encounters (1980), 91 points
34. The Young Master (1981), 90 points
35. Dangerous Encounter - 1st Kind (1980), 87 points
36. School on Fire (1988), 81 points, 1 first place vote
37. Duel to the Death (1983), 79 points, 1 first place vote
38. The Millionarie’s Express (1986), 66.5 points, 1 first place vote
39. Tiger Cage (1988), 64.5 points, 1 first place vote
40. Tiger on the Beat (1988), 63.5 points
41. Winners and Sinners (1983), 63 points
42. Nomad (1982), 62 points, 1 first place vote
43. Hong Kong 1941 (1984), 61.5 points
44. Wild Search (1989), 58.5 points
45. In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), 57.5 points
46. Aces Go Places (1982), 56 points, 1 first place vote
47. Ah Ying (1983), 55.5 points, 1 first place vote
48. Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), 53.5 points
49 (TIE). Dreadnaught (1981), 51.5 points
49 (TIE). Shaolin Temple (1982), 51.5 points
51. My Lucky Stars (1985), 51 points
52 (TIE). The Diary of a Big Man (1988), 49.5 points
52 (TIE). Mismatched Couples (1985), 49.5 points
54. Security Unlimited (1981), 49 points, 1 first place vote
55. Happy Ghost (1984), 46 points
56 (TIE). A Better Tomorrow III (1989), 45.5 points
56 (TIE). Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986), 45.5 points
58. My Heart is that Eternal Rose (1989), 45 points
59. Legendary Weapons of China (1982), 43.5 points
60. Final Victory (1987), 42.5 points, 1 first place vote
61. The Big Heat (1988), 42 points
62. People’s Hero (1987), 42 points
63. The Iceman Cometh (1989), 39.5 points
64. Legend of a Fighter (1982), 36 points, 1 first place vote
65. Righting Wrongs (1986), 36 points
66. Yes. Madam! (1985), 34 points
67. A Fishy Story (1989), 31 points
68. Dragon Lord (1982), 28.5 points
69. The Sword (1980), 28.5 points
70. Love in a Fallen City (1984), 28 points, 1 first place vote
71. Love Massacre (1981), 27.5 points
72 (TIE). Heart of Dragon (1984), 27 points
72 (TIE). Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1986), 27 points
74. The Lunatics (1986), 26 points
75 (TIE). Kids from Shaolin (1984), 26 points
75 (TIE). Man on the Brink (1981), 26 points
77. The Truth (1988), 23.5 points
78. The Seventh Curse (1986), 22 points
79. Heroes Shed No Tears (1986), 22 points
80. The Miracle Fighters (1982), 22 points
81. The Victim (1980), 21 points
82. Painted Faces (1988), 19 points
83. The Imp (1981), 19 points
84. We’re Going to Eat You (1980), 18.5 points
85. Working Class (1984), 18.5 points
86 (TIE). Angel (1987), 18.5 points
86 (TIE). It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World (1987), 18.5 points
88. Ninja in the Dragon’s Den (1982), 17.5 points, 1 first place vote
89. Martial Club (1981), 17.5 points
90 (TIE). Bastard Swordsman (1983), 17 points
90 (TIE). Her Vengeance (1988), 17 points
92. The Boxer’s Omen (1983), 17 points
93. The Romancing Star (1987), 16.5 points
94. Opium and the Kung Fu Master (1984), 15.5 points
95. The Crazy Companies 2 (1988), 15.5 points
96. Human Lanterns (1982), 15 points
97. Magnificent Warriors (1987), 15 points
98 (TIE). Holy Flame of the Martial World (1983), 14 points
98 (TIE). Inspector Wears Skirts (1988), 14 points
100 (TIE). Killer Constable (1980), 14 points
100 (TIE). Royal Warriors (1986), 14 points

All-Time
1. CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994), 636 points, 24 first place votes
2. INFERNAL AFFAIRS (2002), 573 points, 14 first place votes
3. A BETTER TOMORROW (1986), 489.5 points, 10 first place votes
4. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000), 475 points, 7 first place votes
5. THE KILLER (1989), 397 points, 10 first place votes
6. HARD BOILED (1992), 384.5 points, 5 first place votes
7. POLICE STORY (1985), 348.5 points, 3 first place votes
8. A CHINESE GHOST STORY (1987), 277.5 points, 5 first place votes
9. PEKING OPERA BLUES (1986), 275 points, 4 first place votes
10. SHAOLIN SOCCER (2001), 269.5 points
11. THE MISSION (1999), 248.5 points, 2 first place votes
12. DAYS OF BEING WILD (1991), 239 points, 4 first place votes
13. BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990), 236 points, 4 first place votes
14. DRUNKEN MASTER 2 (1994), 210.5 points, 3 first place votes
15. RUNNING OUT OF TIME (1999), 195 points, 2 first place votes
16. COMRADES, ALMOST A LOVE STORY (1996), 183.5 points, 1 first place vote
17. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991), 176.5 points, 2 first place votes
18. ASHES OF TIME (1994), 163.5 points, 2 first place votes
19. FALLEN ANGELS (1995), 162.5 points, 3 first place votes
20. KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004), 156 points, 1 first place vote
21. EXILED (2006), 155.5 points
22. A CHINESE ODYSSEY (1995), 147 points
23. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 2 (1992), 134.5 points
24. GOD OF COOKERY (1996), 133 points, 4 first place votes
25. THROW DOWN (2004), 128 points, 1 first place vote
26. A MOMENT OF ROMANCE (1990), 124 points, 1 first place vote
27. FIST OF FURY (1972), 122.5 points, 3 first place votes
28. CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (2000), 122.5 points, 1 first place vote
29. GOD OF GAMBLERS (1989), 122 points, 2 first place votes
30. PROJECT A (1983), 119 points, 1 first place vote
31. HERO (2002), 118 points, 1 first place vote
32. FONG SAI YUK (1993), 111 points
33. RED CLIFF (2008), 110 points, 2 first place votes
34. ELECTION (2005), 110 points
35. AN AUTUMN’S TALE (1987), 102.5 points
36. INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 (2003), 100.5 points, 2 first place votes
37. MR. VAMPIRE (1985), 96.5 points, 1 first place vote
38. COME DRINK WITH ME (1966), 95 points
39. HAPPY TOGETHER (1997), 88.5 points, 1 first place vote
40. FIST OF LEGEND (1994), 84.5 points, 1 first place vote
41. 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978), 82.5 points, 1 first place vote
42. ELECTION 2 (2006), 82.5 points
43. SWORDSMAN 2 (1991), 80.5 points
44. THE PRIVATE EYES (1976), 80.5 points
45. CITY ON FIRE (1987), 80 points
46. BEAST COPS (1998), 79.5 points, 2 first place votes
47. MADE IN HONG KONG (1997), 76 points, 1 first place vote
48. ROUGE (1988), 74.5 points
49. PEDICAB DRIVER (1989), 73 points, 1 first place vote
50. EASTERN CONDORS (1987), 71 points, 1 first place vote
51. 2046 (2004), 70 points, 1 first place vote
52. ONE NITE IN MONGKOK (2004), 68 points, 1 first place vote
53. KING OF COMEDY (1999), 68 points
54. IP MAN (2008), 67 points
55. DRUNKEN MASTER (1978), 65.5 points
56. SHANGHAI BLUES (1984), 64 points, 2 first place votes
57. NEEDING YOU… (2000), 63 points
58. RUNNING ON KARMA (2003), 62.5 points
59. ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1983), 57 points
60. MAD DETECTIVE (2007), 55.5 points
61. THE PRODIGAL SON (1981), 54.5 points, 1 first place vote
62. THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (1993), 54 points
63. A SIMPLE LIFE (2011), 53 points
64. PROJECT A II (1987), 53 points
65. IRON MONKEY (1993), 50.5 points
66. FULL CONTACT (1992), 50 points
67. DANGEROUS ENCOUNTER - 1ST KIND (1980), 49.5 points
68. FLIRTING SCHOLAR (1993), 48.5 points, 2 first place votes
69. THE BLADE (1995), 48.5 points
70. DRAGON INN (1992), 48.5 points
71. LOST IN TIME (2003), 48 points
72. LONG ARM OF THE LAW (1984), 48 points
73. BOAT PEOPLE (1982), 48 points
74. ON THE RUN (1988), 47.5 points
75. THE LONGEST NITE (1998), 47 points
76. HE’S A WOMAN, SHE’S A MAN (1994), 46.5 points, 2 first place votes
77. THE WAY WE ARE (2008), 45 points, 1 first place vote
78. CRIPPLED AVENGERS (1978), 45 points
79. DIRTY HO (1979), 45 points
80. LUST, CAUTION (2007), 44.5 points
81. PRISON ON FIRE (1987), 43.5 points
82. SPL (2005), 43 points
83. THE WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972), 43 points
84. CENTRE STAGE (1992), 42 points
85. LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE (2011), 41.5 points, 2 first place votes
86. FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE (1994), 41 points
87. THE BIG BOSS (1971), 38.5 points
88. THE MILLIONAIRES’ EXPRESS (1987), 37.5 points, 1 first place vote
89. THE LOVE ETERNE (1963), 36.5 points, 1 first place vote
90. BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS (2009), 36.5 points
91. ALL ABOUT AH LONG (1989), 36.5 points
92. HE AIN’T HEAVY, HE’S MY FATHER! (1993), 35.5 points, 1 first place vote
93. LOVE ON DELIVERY (1994), 35.5 points
94. THE WILD, WILD ROSE (1960), 35.5 points
95. TOO MANY WAYS TO BE NO. 1 (1997), 35 points
96. DRAGONS FOREVER (1988), 35 points
97. THE HEROIC TRIO (1993), 33 points
98. HERO NEVER DIES (1998), 33 points
99. SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW (1978), 33 points
100. WHEELS ON MEALS (1984), 32.5 points
101. GREEN SNAKE (1993), 31 points
102. PTU (2003), 30.5 points
103. NAKED KILLER (1993), 29.5 points, 1 first place vote
104. FULL ALERT (1997), 29.5 points
105. ONCE A THIEF (1991), 28.5 points
106 (TIE). POLICE STORY 2 (1988), 28.5 points
106 (TIE). SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS (1980), 28.5 points
108. ENTER THE DRAGON (1973), 28.5 points
109. THE ARCH (1968), 28 points, 1 first place vote
110. YOUNG AND DANGEROUS (1996), 28 points
111. FEARLESS (2006), 27.5 points
112. PERHAPS LOVE (2005), 27.5 points
113. AS TEARS GO BY (1988), 27 points
114. TIME AND TIDE (2000), 27 points
115 (TIE). JULY RHAPSODY (2001), 26.5 points
115 (TIE). THE FIVE VENOMS (1978), 26.5 points
115 (TIE). WILD SEARCH (1991), 26.5 points
118. SONG OF THE EXILE (1990), 26.5 points
119. OUR SISTER HEDY (1957), 26 points, 1 first place vote
120. HEROES OF THE EAST (1978), 26 points
121. CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (2006), 26 points
122 (TIE). CHICKEN AND DUCK TALK (1988), 25.5 points
122 (TIE). MY LEFT EYE SEES GHOSTS (2002), 25.5 points
124. FORBIDDEN CITY COP (1996), 25.5 points
125. POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP (1992), 25 points
126. DUEL TO THE DEATH (1983), 24.5 points
127. DR. MACK (1995), 24 points, 2 first place votes
128. ALL’S WELL END’S WELL (1992), 24 points
129. THE YOUNG MASTER (1980), 24 points
130. THE CHINESE FEAST (1995), 24 points
131 (TIE). LOST AND FOUND (1996), 23.5 points
131 (TIE). MEN SUDDENLY IN BLACK (2003), 23.5 points
133. FINAL VICTORY (1986), 23.5 points
134. MIRACLES (1989), 23 points
135. WU XIA (2011), 22.5 points
136. CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002 (2002), 22.5 points
137. PROTÉGÉ (2007), 22.5 points
138. A FIGHTER’S BLUES (2000), 22.5 points
139. ROYAL TRAMP I & ROYAL TRAMP II (1992), 22 points
140. JIANG HU: THE TRIAD ZONE (2000), 22 points
141. C’EST LA VIE, MON CHERI (1993), 21.5 points
142. THE BEAST STALKER (2008), 21 points
143. AH YING (1983), 21 points
144. THE DEAF AND MUTE HEROINE (1971), 21 points
145. THE EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES (1993), 20.5 points, 1 first place vote
146. THE BIG HEAT (1987), 20.5 points, 1 first place vote
147. METADE FUMACA (1999), 20.5 points
148. THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER (1979), 20.5 points
149. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED (1998), 20.5 points
150. ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967), 20 points
151. ALL FOR THE WINNER (1990), 20 points
152. JUSTICE, MY FOOT! (1992), 20 points
153. GOD OF GAMBLERS 2 (1991), 19.5 points
154 (TIE). MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE (1989), 19.5 points
154 (TIE). NOMAD (1982), 19.5 points
156. FUTURE COPS (1993), 19 points, 1 first place vote
157. BIG BULLET (1996), 19 points
158. WINNERS AND SINNERS (1983), 19 points
159. MAMBO GIRL (1957), 19 points
160. INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN (1972), 18.5 points
161. FULLTIME KILLER (2001), 18 points
162. BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972), 17.5 points, 1 first place vote
163. SCHOOL ON FIRE (1988), 17.5 points
164. MCDULL, PRINCE DE LA BUN (2004), 17.5 points
165 (TIE). THE TAI-CHI MASTER (1993), 17 points
165 (TIE). YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 3 (1996), 17 points
167. AIR HOSTESS (1959), 16 points, 1 first place vote
168. THE STOOL PIGEON (2010), 16 points
169 (TIE). A BETTER TOMORROW 2 (1987), 16 points
169 (TIE). SUMMER SNOW (1995), 16 points
171. THE BARE-FOOTED KID (1993), 16 points
172. YOUNG AND DANGEROUS: THE PREQUEL (1998), 16 points
173. ODD COUPLE (1979), 15.5 points, 1 first place vote
174. THE BLOOD BROTHERS (1973), 15.5 points
175 (TIE). ACCIDENT (2009), 15.5 points
175 (TIE). JUST ONE LOOK (2003), 15.5 points
175 (TIE). THE ODD ONE DIES (1997), 15.5 points
178. REIGN OF ASSASSINS (2009), 15.5 points
179. JULIET IN LOVE (2000), 15 points
180. THE TWINS EFFECT (2003), 15 points
181. SO CLOSE (2002), 14.5 points, 1 first place vote
182. THE 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER (1983), 14.5 points
183. MY YOUNG AUNTIE (1981), 14.5 points
184. SEX AND ZEN (1991), 14 points
185. SPARROW (2007), 14 points
186. GALLANTS (2010), 14 points
187 (TIE). CAGEMAN (1992), 14 points
187 (TIE). THE CASE OF THE COLD FISH (1995), 14 points
187 (TIE). THE MAGIC BLADE (1976), 14 points
190. KING BOXER (1972), 13.5 points, 1 first place vote
191. MY LIFE AS MCDULL (2001), 13.5 points
192. OUT OF THE DARK (1995), 13 points, 1 first place vote
193. STORY OF RICKY (1992), 13 points
194. HONG KONG 1941 (1984), 13 points
195. AFTER THIS, OUR EXILE (2006), 13 points
196. OVERHEARD (2009), 12.5 points
197. THE DIARY OF A BIG MAN (1988), 12.5 points
198 (TIE). LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1979), 12.5 points
198 (TIE). LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA (1982), 12.5 points
200. IN THE LINE OF DUTY 4 (1989), 12 points

2010s
1. THE GRANDMASTER (2013), 542.5 points, 21 first place vote
2. A SIMPLE LIFE (2011), 433.5 points, 10 first place votes
3. DRUG WAR (2013), 398.5 points, 4 first place votes
4. GALLANTS (2010), 364 points, 7 first place votes
5. WU XIA (2011), 341.5 points, 5 first place votes
6. TRIVISA (2016), 330 points, 10 first place votes
7. LOVE IN A PUFF (2010), 322 points, 6 first place votes
8. LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE (2011), 319 points, 6 first place votes
9. LET THE BULLETS FLY (2011), 227.5 points, 5 first place votes
10. THE MIDNIGHT AFTER (2014), 225.5 points, 4 first place votes
11. UNBEATABLE (2013), 218.5 points, 2 first place votes
12. THE STOOL PIGEON (2010), 209 points, 2 first place votes
13. STILL HUMAN (2018), 178.5 points, 4 first place votes
14. JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS (2013), 174 points, 2 first place votes
15. SPL 2: A TIME FOR CONSEQUENCES (2015), 171 points, 2 first place votes
16. DREAM HOME (2010), 164 points, 2 first place votes
17. MAD WORLD (2016), 161.5 points
18. THE MERMAID (2016), 151.5 points
19. VULGARIA (2012), 146 points, 1 first place vote
20. RIGOR MORTIS (2013), 138 points, 2 first place votes
21. DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART (2011), 134.5 points, 1 first place vote
22. THE WHITE STORM (2013), 133.5 points, 2 first place votes
23. BLIND DETECTIVE (2013), 131 points, 1 first place vote
24. DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME (2010), 121.5 points, 1 first place vote
25. ROMANCING IN THIN AIR (2012), 116.5 points, 3 first place votes
26. REIGN OF ASSASSINS (2010), 112.5 points, 2 first place votes
27. SOUL MATE (2016), 102.5 points, 1 first place vote
28. PORT OF CALL (2015), 94.5 points, 1 first place vote
29. MOTORWAY (2011), 91 points
30. IP MAN 3 (2015), 86 points
31. TEN YEARS (2015), 83.5 points, 1 first place vote
32. THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN (2014), 83.5 points
33. ABERDEEN (2014), 82.5 points, 1 first place vote
34. THE NEW KING OF COMEDY (2019), 81 points, 1 first place vote
35. PARADOX (2017), 77.5 points, 2 first place votes
36 (TIE). COLD WAR (2012), 77.5 points, 1 first place vote
36 (TIE). LOVE IN THE BUFF (2012), 77.5 points, 1 first place vote
38. IP MAN 2 (2010), 76 points
39. OUR TIME WILL COME (2017), 75.5 points, 2 first place votes
40. CALL OF HEROES (2016), 70 points, 1 first place vote
41. LITTLE BIG MASTER (2015), 69.5 points, 1 first place vote
42. IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT (2013), 66.5 points
43. FAGARA (2019), 65.5 points
44. CHASING THE DRAGON (2017), 64 points
45. THE BULLET VANISHES (2012), 63.5 points, 1 first place vote
46. THE WAY WE DANCE (2013), 59.5 points
47. DEAREST (2014), 58 points
48. ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW (2010), 56 points
49. SHOCK WAVE (2017), 54.5 points
50. DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART 2 (2014), 54.5 points
51. LITTLE BIG SOLDIER (2010), 51.5 points
52. OFFICE (2015), 49.5 points
53. OVERHEARD 2 (2011), 49.5 points
54. FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE (2011), 47 points
55. LOVE OFF THE CUFF (2017), 42.5 points
56. CROSSING HENNESSY (2010), 42 points
57. THREE (2016), 39 points, 1 first place vote
58. THE EMPTY HANDS (2017), 38.5 points
59. THE GOLDEN ERA (2014), 37 points
60. FIRE OF CONSCIENCE (2010), 37 points
61. KUNG FU JUNGLE (2014), 36 points
62. WILD CITY (2015), 35 points
63. PROJECT GUTENBERG (2018), 34.5 points
64. SUK SUK (2019), 33.5 points, 1 first place vote
65. COLD WAR II (2016), 32 points
66. SWORD MASTER (2016), 31.5 points
67. OPERATION RED SEA (2018), 31 points
68. JOURNEY TO THE WEST: THE DEMONS STRIKE BACK (2017), 30.5 points, 1 first place vote
69. MURMUR OF THE HEARTS (2015), 30 points
70. 29+1 (2017), 29.5 points
71. COOK UP A STORM (2017), 28.5 points
72. THE VIRAL FACTOR (2012), 28 points
73. YOUNG DETECTIVE DEE: RISE OF THE SEA DRAGON (2013), 27.5 points
74. NO. 1 CHUNG YING STREET (2018), 26 points
75. BETTER DAYS (2019), 26 points

Joe Dante

1. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
2. Gremlins (1984)

1. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
2. Gremlins (1984)

Hosoda Mamoru

1. Belle (2021)

1. Belle (2021)

Mona Fastvold

1. The World to Come (2020)
2. The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)

1. The World to Come (2020)
2. The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)

Panh Rithy

1. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003)
2. We Are the Fruits of the Forest (2025)

1. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003)
2. We Are the Fruits of the Forest (2025)

Ken Jacobs

1. Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies (2014)
2. The Guests (2013)
3. The Whirled (1961)

1. The Guests (2013)

Mark Jenkin

1. Rose of Nevada (2025)
2. Enys Men (2022)

1. Rose of Nevada (2025)
2. Enys Men (2022)

Ira Sachs

1. Peter Hujar's Day (2025)
2. Passages (2023)

1. Peter Hujar's Day (2025)
2. Passages (2023)

Kent Jones

1. Late Fame (2025)
2. Diane (2018)

1. Late Fame (2025)
2. Diane (2018)

Pierre Creton

1. 7 Walks With Mark Brown (2024)
2. A Prince (2023)
3. Go, Toto! (2017)

1. 7 Walks With Mark Brown (2024)
2. A Prince (2023)
3. Go, Toto! (2017)

Stranger Eyes First Draft

Complete first draft for Vinegar Syndrome/Film Movement.

Rare is the film, like Yeo Siew Hua's Stranger Eyes, whose primary lines of artistic interest can be traced to two distinct points, individuals with specific backgrounds and means of expression whose paths had never intersected. I'm sure that you, the reader, have a much greater familiarity with one of them, who I'll get to in due course, but first I'd like to turn to the more conventional auteur at work here. The history of Singaporean cinema on the world stage is relatively short and too often lumped into a broader wave of Chinese cinema without regard for the sociopolitical (not to mention geographic and linguistic) separation of the island. One of the newest and most prominent Singaporean directors is Yeo Siew Hua, who started out as a member of the nation's 13 Little Pictures collective. After his experimental debut feature In the House of Straw (2009) and the music documentary The Obs: A Singapore Story (2014), Yeo unexpectedly broke out with A Land Imagined (2018). It won the Golden Leopard at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival, from a jury chaired by the legendary Chinese director Jia Zhangke and which happened to include Sean Baker among its ranks. This award registered as a significant achievement on multiple fronts. For one, it was the first top competition prize won by a Singaporean film at any of the four most significant European festivals. For another, it was the final winner of Carlo Chatrian's celebrated tenure as Locarno artistic director, which began in 2013 and saw a renaissance in both programming and awarding, with Yeo joining a formidable group of winning directors that included Albert Serra, Lav Diaz, Hong Sang-soo, and Wang Bing. That Yeo's win capped off Chatrian's tenure felt rather fitting: a new but already formidable auteur with a film that bent the rules of genre to his own ends, just as surely as his predecessors did with their own forms of slow cinema. A Land Imagined is a film commonly described as a neo-noir but which—entirely for the better—only fits that description in the barest of outlines. Though it begins (after a short, enigmatic pre-credit sequence) with Lok, a police officer, investigating the disappearance of Wang, a Chinese migrant construction worker on a massive land reclamation project, Yeo spends fewer than 20 minutes on this thread before moving back in time to Wang's point of view in the weeks before the present day. Though the film eventually circles back to Lok in its final third and a gun is actually fired, the mystery is beside the point, with the emphasis firmly upon central questions of identity, for both the two main characters and the soil they trod upon. The former is baked into the narrative—the ostensible explanation for the central, half-film-long flashback is that the two men are dreaming of each other—while the latter emerges at crucial junctures: during one of Wang's nocturnal outings, he goes to the beach in an area that used to be part of the sea, noting that even the sand he lays on is imported from Malaysia. The land reclamation project that Wang works on, as one of the overseers mentions to Lok, is continual with no particular end goal in mind. It eventually becomes clear that every character exists within a continual state of both stasis and change, one that rhymes with the slipperiness of the genre narrative they eventually inhabit. Yeo himself commented upon this in the second issue of Cambodian film magazine MARG1N, reflecting upon his own recent rewatch of his film. He laments that a key cybercafé has been consumed by gentrification, the migrant workers were largely replaced, and even the reclaimed land has been taken over: "What appear as desolate wastelands in A Land Imagined are in fact sites of grand potential, the sandy foundations of national imaginations. These sites of construction, of works in progress, of transformations, no longer exist. They never existed in the first place, remaining stillborn." What happens to the contested ground once it's disappeared, and to the psyches of the people living on it, forms a crucial part of Stranger Eyes. -- It's likely that no actor has ever been more inextricable from their director's body of work in the cinephile consciousness than Lee Kang-sheng and Tsai Ming-liang. While everyone from Setsuko Hara to Marcello Mastroianni to Gena Rowlands to Kyle MacLachlan to Kim Min-hee made significant films outside of their main directorial collaborations, it would appear to practically any viewer that Lee exists solely in relation to Tsai. Their director-muse collaboration has now lasted for about thirty-five years without stopping, such is the watchfulness of Tsai as he has filmed Lee aging with the most loving of gazes. But Tsai himself would be the first to refute the idea that Lee is exclusively "his" actor. In his lovely documentary Afternoon (2015), a filmed real-time conversation between the two in their shared home, Tsai actively encourages his friend to work with other directors, clarifying that he's not worried that such experiences would change Lee. Indeed, during the first decade of their collaboration, Lee appeared in five non-Tsai films—including two for Lin Cheng-sheng and one for Hong Kong treasure Ann Hui, where he was disconcertingly dubbed into Cantonese—which generally existed in the vicinity of Taiwan New Cinema's second wave. But from 2003 to 2014, during some of the most fruitful years of their collaboration, Lee only appeared in Tsai's films, aside from Help Me Eros (2007), the second of Lee's own two feature directorial works, both intriguing twists on Tsai's style. Since then, however, Lee's acting roles in non-Tsai films have ramped up considerably, especially since 2020. He has appeared in at least 16 such movies, most of which bear no resemblance whatsoever to the slow cinema that Tsai is so famous for: schlocky horror fare (The Rope Curse 2, Abyssal Spider), erotic Taiwanese-Japanese dramas (Sashimi, Hotel Iris), triad gangster thrillers (Everything Is Unknown, Lost in Forest). The prominence of these roles varies, from mere cameo appearances to full-fledged leading roles, but for anyone even remotely invested in Tsai's cinema, the sheer incomprehensibility of what is unfolding never fully goes away. Each of these roles, considering the genre variety at play, pulls at limits, less of Lee than of our expectations of what he is capable of as an actor. Judging from both Afternoon and my own Q&As with him, the closest cinematic analogues to his normal temperament are, in fact, his performances across Tsai's narrative films. He may be more voluble and behave more expressively, but the same world-weary affect is present the majority of the time. So, it is a shock to see him spouting generic dialogue, getting in fights, or acting terrified of a CGI ghoul, and doubly so to find that he's perfectly functional in those roles; if it wasn't for the cinematic baggage he brings, it'd even be possible to imagine him as "just" a moderately talented studio film mainstay. However, that baggage simultaneously holds him back and makes him pop every single moment he's onscreen. For all the pro forma busywork he communicates, there is no getting past two essential parts of his screen presence: his physicality—short-statured, weathered, ever-watchful (especially facially)—and his voice, slightly halting and labored in a manner that's instantly recognizable. It might be most helpful to regard those as baseline traits, impossible to disentangle from Lee no matter what role he plays onscreen. In Tsai's films, the strictures of conventional filmmaking that often seek to tamp down actors' idiosyncrasies are absent, and thus his muse's most distinctive qualities are magnified. He's certainly capable of acting normal, but the collision between mere competence and pensive transcendence projects a continual double image, making "ordinary" actions much more fascinating than if performed by any other actor. Though you could guess that Lee's cinephilic allure has been harnessed in even some of his most generic films, the three recent films he's appeared in that have actually made an impression outside of Taiwan—of which Stranger Eyes is the latest and greatest example—all near-explicitly cast him as the embodiment of a certain ideal of contemplative cinema. The two that preceded Yeo both happened to be feature directorial debuts. Chinese director Wu Lang's Absence (2023) offers the most direct recreation of Tsai's style and channeling of Lee's established persona—all moodiness and minimal dialogue—but places it in a mainland seaside context that's somewhat airier than cramped Taipei. American filmmaker Constance Tsang opted for an entirely different side of Lee in Blue Sun Palace (2024), casting him as a lowkey lothario who comes to tentatively romance two women consecutively in Queens, New York; though they are the focus, it is his face over which the end credits roll, a return to his "normal" state after he is seen singing karaoke and living out an ordinary American immigrant life. -- Any markers of normalcy are crucially absent from Stranger Eyes. In an odd coincidence, Lee Kang-sheng's debut feature The Missing (2003) prefigured both it—one plot strand follows a woman who loses her grandchild in a playground—and A Land Imagined—the other tracks a young man who plays Counter-Strike in a cybercafé—but while Lee's film followed the frenzied mania of someone flailing to correct a tragic situation, Yeo's explores the long aftermath. His characters have been locked into the rhythms of obsession over the missing daughter for so long that their affect, behavior, and even physical movements have taken on a narcotized sensation, as if A Land Imagined's insomniacs were reincarnated into our newfound protagonists. Like A Land Imagined, Stranger Eyes doesn't have one singular focal point, opting for hand-offs between multiple characters. But while that film had two fairly clean pivots from cop to worker to cop, Yeo roughly divides the film into four parts, with the second and longest from Wu's point of view and the third and fourth cleft by the return of Junyang and Peiying's daughter. While the other three segments deal overtly with mystery and tend towards the oneiric, Wu's part is a flashback that deliberately offers no resolution to the central disappearance, with the security camera dates delineating a forty-day period well before Xiaobo goes missing. What transpires instead is an extended, matter-of-fact observation of an observer, one at once familiar and alien. The average Lee fan would never mistake this as a performance that would comfortably fit into a Tsai film—and the novelty of seeing him tune into a Twitch DJ set or go ice skating is delightful—but his performance lacks the more extroverted tendencies of a standard thriller he would have starred in around this time. The main distinguishing factor between this and Tsai, oddly, might be a slight relaxation, a relatively secure economic position and a remove afforded by his technological apparatuses that is eroded by the lines on his face, the recognizable worry that takes over at crucial junctures. Stranger Eyes takes place in much more sophisticated, privileged, and ostensibly permanent settings than its predecessor's migrant dormitories, but the same feeling of unbelonging is there. It's worth noting that three of the four main actors—including Wu Chien-ho and Lee's The Rope Curse 2 co-star Vera Chen as the grandmother—are Taiwanese, while Anicca Panna is from mainland China, though the precise national origins of the characters are kept unclear: Lee's mother speaks Hokkien, a variant of Chinese commonly spoken in both Taiwan and Singapore, while he and every other character sticks to Mandarin. Though there are interactions with English-speakers, mainly confined to Junyang's flirtations, the dislocation feels most acute when Yeo focuses on the technology that enables the complexity of his characters' interactions. Obsolescent media lingers like a ghost from the land's past: DVDs and handheld camcorders coexisting uneasily with iPhones and panoptic hi-def police surveillance. It's certainly no accident that the closest moment of connection in all of Stranger Eyes—the conclusion of Wu's segment as Peiying dances in his store—is done remotely, Wu watching through security cameras as he plays Tsai Chin's "Unforgettable Love" off his iPhone. The original Chinese title, roughly translated to "silent video recording," is instructive here: the cameras and their operators watch, but they can't come close to divining the true meaning behind a particular action or sequence of events. Stranger Eyes thus acts as a series of inversions, with each member of the central trio following another—on foot or via video—in an effort to not only discover a pattern of behavior, but to attempt to come to an understanding of their psyche. Even Lee Kang-sheng himself, in his final audio-only scene, speaking as if he was a still-breathing ghost, can only bridge the gap by explaining that he has no explanations for the meaning behind the images he is capturing. All that can be done is to keep watching, not for signs of criminality as the police are content to do, but as a form of foolhardy yet truthful dedication.

Tiffany Sia

1. The Sojourn (2023)
2. Never Rest/Unrest (2020)

1. The Sojourn (2023)
2. Never Rest/Unrest (2020)

Tacita Dean

1. Event for a Stage (2015)
2. JG (2013)

1. Event for a Stage (2015)
2. JG (2013)

Robert Nelson

1. Hamlet Act (1982)
2. Hot Leatherette (1967)

1. Hamlet Act (1982)
2. Hot Leatherette (1967)