John Woo's melodramatic tragicomedy The Time You Need a Friend (1985) stands at the crucial crossroads in the director's career. Woo had been churning out innocuous comedies for more than a few years, and after establishing the "heroic bloodshed" genre, he'd never look back. But this tale of two comedians - estranged former pals who bury the hatchet for one last show together - blends the pathos and male-bonding of Woo's later dramas with the silliness and pratfalls that marked his early works. At their peak, Ku Ren and Shem Bien were an unstoppable screen comedy team, the undisputed stars of the silent era. But a major falling out has kept the duo offstage for decades. Despite the urgings of family and friends, Ku and Shem refuse to reconcile. As both men approach their twilight years, one last chance for a reunion presents itself in the form of a televised charity benefit. Ku Ren and Shem Bien struggle to come to terms with years of bitterness, and bring the house down once again.
(archive footage)
"Cut-and-paste" transformation of Taiwanese movie "The Anger" (1982; directed by Richard Chen Yao-Chi) with new Hong Kong footage.
Taiwanese horror film.
Taiwan / HK co-production centers around a haunted house and has never been outside of Asia.
Lulu
An ambitious country boy gets a job as a security guard in Taipei.
After studying drama in the UK, Tan-feng returns to Taiwan to investigate her sister's death. She suspects that her sister committed suicide because her boyfriend, Huai, jilted her. Out of bitterness, Tan-feng begins to plot her revenge by seducing Huai and his childish brother. However, things don't go to plan as she falls crazily in love with the enemy.
Brigitte Lin is Sung Hsiao Yu, a young girl in love with Wen Hsing Yu (Charlie Chin), a botanist who's trying to cross-fertilize flowers to create a perfect breed of rose. But Hsing Yu has a rival, Tsui Wen Lun, who despises Wen Hsing Yu for being on better terms with his father AND capturing Hsiao Yu's heart. But when Wen Lun gets in with Hsiao Yu's father, that may be all she wrote. Can Hsiao Yu safely choose her preferred man - Wen Hsing Yu - if it ends up leaving her father in trouble? Or will Hsiao Yu sacrifice love for family?
Ting You
The martial world is now awash in one-armed knights, who aren't inclined to make any permanent alliances among themselves.
Charlie Chin is Cheng Chieh, an engineer obsessed with flying. Brigitte Lin is Liu Yen-mei, a rich girl who has to choose between Chieh and a rich man's son who stoops to manipulation to separate the 2 lovebirds.
