Movie Reviews
Film Review: The Goldfinger (2023) Felix Chong
“Doing business in Hong Kong is lot of fun”
One of the most expensive Hong Kong movies ever made (HK$350 million or 41 million euros), “The Goldfinger” also brings together Felix Chong, Tony Leung and Andy Lau after “Infernal Affairs”, where the first co-wrote. Set in the 80s, the script is based on the story of Carrian Group, a Hong Kong corporation which rose rapidly before collapsing shortly afterwards due to a corruption scandal.
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The movie actually starts with Henry Ching’s arrest, who is based on Carrian Group founder George Tan, Lau Kai-yuen, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). A bit later, the timeline changes to the mid-70s, with Henry Ching arriving in Hong Kong and trying to get a job as an engineer. Considering the place is filled with people of the particular profession, he has no luck. Although so it seems, since he is eventually employed by K.K. Tsang, one of the heirs of a rather rich family, who has him posing as a buyer for his property, in order to convince Wu Reshong, an actual potential buyer, to increase the price he is offering. The plan eventually succeeds, and Tsang takes Ching under his wing, eventually giving him the capital to open his own company, which he ends up naming after his first hire, Carmen Cheung. Their luck, though, truly changes when Ching gets swindled in the stock market by Wu Reshong’s broker, Chung and decides to hire him. An initially reluctant to leave his employer Chung, is eventually convinced when Ching “offers” him Carmen, with the two eventually becoming a couple.
As they manage to manipulate the stock market and buy property by giving their stocks as contraband for increasingly bigger loans, the group, which eventually also includes Wu Reshong, starts becoming more and more successful. Eventually, they reach international level, with their stock being considered even more valuable than blue chips, but the handover changes everything. The second axis, of the present, also moves forward, showing Ching as a cruel man who does not shy from murdering his opponents, and Lau being continuously on his heels, despite his many failures and the strain his efforts place in his relationship with his family.
First things first. The classic style of Hong Kong cinema, with its permeating nonsensicality and the focus on individual scenes rather than the movie as a whole is not exactly ideal to present true stories. The fact becomes quite evident by the way the story progresses in a fashion that frequently does not make sense, with the back-and-forth in time not helping with the overall sense that the viewer is missing something. The scenes in the court, the presentation of the foreigners, and the ending suffer the most from this approach.
On the other hand, there are definitely enough elements here to make the film rise beyond its issues. First and most obvious, the cast and the acting. Tony Leung as Henry Ching gives another splendid performance, with the way he transforms through the years being a treat to watch. Andy Lau as Lau Kai-yuen is equally good as a character that is essentially the exact opposite of Ching, although the two share an obsession to achieve their goals against all odds. Simon Yam adds even more star quality as the benefactor who eventually becomes part of the group Ching heads. Michael Ning as Chung, and the way he falls for Carmen is one of the best aspects of the movie, while Charlene Choi, who plays her, is an impressive presence but in a role that is rather badly written. Lastly, Tai Bo as Wu Renshong, who will be forever remembered for eating two plates of spaghetti on his face in “Project A”, concludes the overall great cast, as an individual who is the top boss, but eventually is surpassed by Ching.
Furthermore, the comments about corruption, which actually start with the police in the first scenes in the movie, and the relationship between them, the capital, the stock market, and the crime world become quite evident. It is also worth noting that Ching was probably involved with people from the Philippines (Imelda Marcos), Indonesia and Malaysia, and the script actually includes them, giving the corruption an international scale. All in all, this is a great story and the fact becomes quite evident throughout the movie, even with the aforementioned shortcomings.
In that regard, what is actually equally impressive with the casting, is the amount of scenes presented through the 126 minutes of the movie, which is truly exuberant, highlighting both the big budget of the production and the amount of work that was put in the film. Occasionally, the audiovisual approach reminds intently of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, while there is a scene that will definitely make one think of “Sin City”. For the most part, though, “The Goldfinger” is its own animal, with the technical aspect finding its zenith in scenes like the one with the battle in the Golden Triangle, the one with the models dancing in glass cages, and the murder attempt on Lau. Overall, the visuals here, as captured by DP Anthony Pun are nothing short of impressive.
The Goldfinger is screening at UdineFar East Film Festival 2024

Again as usual in HK blockbusters, William Chang and Curran Pang’s editing results in a rather frantic face, which manages to hide the narrative issues to the point, also through the mixture of the timelines.
Overall, I am not sure how much the particular approach of HK cinema still applies here, particularly in real stories, but the fact remains that “The Goldfinger” is an outstandingly casted, audiovisually impressive film that offers entertainment aplenty.
Movie Reviews
I Know Exactly How You Die – Review | Indie Slasher | Heaven of Horror
Watch I Know Exactly How I Die on VOD
The director of I Know Exactly How I Die is Alexandra Spieth, who ensures a tight pace and some gorgeous shots. She previously directed Stag and created and starred in the web-series [Blank] My Life. The screenplay comes from Mike Corey, and I do really like the plot and evolution of this story.
As already mentioned, the star Rushabh Patel is the executive producer. As a result, this movie is billed as “Rushabh Patel’s I Know Exactly How I Die“, which I am not a fan of. Unless Rushabh Patel is famous in ways I am not familiar with – nor is IMDb, as this is his first and so far only credit there.
This is like people wondering if Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is connected to Stranger Things, because the media keeps referring to it as a new show from The Duffer Brothers. Sure, they produced it, but Haley Z. Boston created the original story and wrote the screenplay. And she’s not even a newcomer.
Okay, rant over, but I just don’t understand the marketing and press decisions of it all.
Anyway, as already mentioned, the practical effects in I Know Exactly How I Die are gorgeous. Any slasher fan should enjoy the concept of the plot as well as those amazing practical effects. And yet, you will have to endure a little terrible CGI, but this is an indie production, so budget restraints come into play. Of course, so does choosing the best talent, and that did not happen for CGI here!
I Know Exactly How You Die is out on VOD from April 7, 2026. You can rent it on Digital HD from your preferred platform, including Prime Video and Fandango at Home. The film will also be available on DVD.
Movie Reviews
‘Super Mario’ fans ignore weak reviews and send sequel to $372.5 million global box office debut, biggest opening of the year for a studio film | Fortune
Mixed reviews didn’t dissuade mass audiences from buying tickets to the “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which scored the biggest opening of the year for a Hollywood movie. The Illumination and Nintendo co-production earned $130.9 million over the weekend and a massive $190.1 million in its first five days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Universal Pictures released the sequel globally on Wednesday, capitalizing on kids’ spring break vacations in the week leading up to the Easter holiday. With an estimated $182.4 million from 80 overseas markets, the film is looking at an astronomical $372.5 million debut — the latest hit for the PG rating. Mexico is leading the international bunch with $29.1 million from 5,136 screens, followed by the U.K. and Ireland with $19.7 million.
The animated sequel, Illumination CEO Christopher Meledandri’s 16th movie in 16 years, is the industry’s biggest debut since “Avatar: Fire and Ash” launched over Christmas. The Chinese movie “Pegasus 3,” which was not a Motion Picture Association release, has the slight edge for the 2026 global record, however.
It’s also a dip from the first film, which opened to $204 million domestically during the same five-day time frame in 2023 ($147 of that was from Friday, Saturday and Sunday). “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” went on to be the second biggest movie of 2023, with over $1.3 billion in box office receipts.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which features returning voice actors Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day, had a massive footprint in the U.S. and Canada, where it played in 4,252 theaters, including 421 IMAX and 1,345 premium large format screens. It made $15 million from the IMAX screens alone.
“It’s exactly the kind of broad, crowd-pleasing release that brings people into theatres,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.
It also cost around $110 million to make, not including marketing and promotion expenses. But it arrived on a wave of less-than-stellar reviews. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at a lousy 40%. Ticket buyers were more enthusiastic, however.
The family audience gave the movie five out of five stars according to PostTrak exit polls, while general audiences gave it four stars and an A- on CinemsScore. Audiences skewed male (61%) overall, although when it came to families attending there were slightly more moms (52%) than dads.
“These kind of audience reaction scores just point to a ridiculously strong run, not only throughout the spring, but likely into the summer as well,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” will open in Japan later this month.
Last year, the first weekend in April hosted the launch of another video game blockbuster, “A Minecraft Movie,” which had a bigger three-day debut ($162.8 million) but didn’t have a “Project Hail Mary” in a strong second place, meaning the weekend overall is still up around 5%.
As expected, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ended the two-week reignof the Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi hit “Project Hail Mary,” which landed in second its third weekend in theaters where it added $30.7 million, bringing its running domestic total to $217.2 million. Worldwide, it’s made $420.7 million to date.
Third place went to A24’s provocative new movie “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, which made an estimated $14.4 million from 3,087 theaters. The film’s stars have been on a massive and charming press blitz to promote their R-rated movie about a engaged couple grappling with an unnerving revelation, which cost a reported $28 million to produce. The reveal has drummed up a fair amount of cultural discourse. While reviews have been more positive than not (82% on Rotten Tomatoes), it got a less promising B CinemaScore.
“Hoppers” and “Reminders of Him” rounded out the top five. And the box office outlook looks bright overall, up around 30% from last year.
“There’s no better opening act for a great summer than a huge month of April powered by a mega blockbuster like the ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1.“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $130.9 million.
2.“Project Hail Mary,” $30.7 million.
3.“The Drama,” $14.4 million.
4.“Hoppers,” $5.8 million.
5.“Reminders of Him,” $2.2 million.
6.“A Great Awakening,” $2.1 million.
7.“They Will Kill You,” $1.9 million.
8.“Dhurandhar The Revenge,” $1.9 million.
9.“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $1.8 million.
10.“Scream 7,” 915,000.
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