恭喜發財! It’s gonna be a short one because it’s the 3rd day of LNY and I want to eat.
- Missbehavior (2019)
Pang Ho Cheung’s return to form after a couple of films that weren’t really up to his usual quality (Women Who Flirt and Love Off the Cuff). Missbehavior (the Cantonese title 恭喜八婆 literally translates to “Congratulations, Bitch”) features the raunchy humor that marked his standout works like You Shoot, I Shoot, Love in a Puff, Vulgaria, and Dream Home and is also hinted at in his more serious works like Isabella and Aberdeen. Centered on the character June played by June Lam, an actress woefully underused for lead roles in HK cinema, the trouble starts when a special guest is visiting her company for a presentation. He prefers low fat milk in his coffee, and June is sent by her boss Luna Fu to make a cup with specific instructions to use low fat milk. June finds milk in the fridge in a container marked “LF” but only after the presentation is over is it revealed that it was boss Luna Fu’s breast milk. June then sets out to reunite her gang, most of whom have remained friends but stopped speaking to other members of the group due to rivalries and betrayals, in order to procure a bottle of breast milk before the mistake is discovered and she gets fired.
If you’re still with me here, just know the breast milk gag defines much of the humor for the film. This is one hell of a good time, although there is an extended gag involving feces and a toilet that doesn’t really work. Apparently there are people over the age of 17 who find clogged toilets inherently funny, but it does provide an outlet for the talented Dada Chan to interact humorously with a slightly mischievous child. As it is a LNY film, it has a happy ending and a message, but the gags are equal stars with the cast here. There’s an extended gag involving a reference to “Anyone” which, if you’re not from HK, it would take too long to explain, so just know I had to pause several times because it was so funny.
- Let’s Eat! (2016)
Chapman To’s directorial debut is a Singaporean-Malaysian comedy about a traditional chef who resists the efforts of the restaurant owner’s daughter to modernize the menu and lower prices for customers. Listen, you can’t expect LNY films to go avant-garde, OK? Yes, there is predictability and feelgoodness and heartstring tugging, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t watch Blade Runner all the time, lah. This film was suspected to be partly a response to Chapman To’s being shut out from Mainland/HK co-productions because he expressed sympathy towards people advocating for independence, which gives me even more reason to promote it. Let’s Eat! isn’t going to change the way you think about this mortal coil or anything, but it’s well shot, well acted, showcases some great food, and hits the right notes. It even throws in a bit of romance at the end because why not?
- It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World (1987)
Classic LNY comedy. A dysfunctional family wins the lottery and, well, you can guess. If you like Cantonese humor, you’re in for a treat. A double treat, actually, because it’s worth the price of admission alone just to see the legendary Lydia Shum handle the comedic material. Bill Tung plays her husband and the two of them are firing on all cylinders, but Lydia Shum in particular is a highlight. In fact, I don’t feel I have to justify the inclusion of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World any further. Lydia Shum is in it. Good enough for me.
The Seeming and the Meaning 