I 'Participated' in CNY 28.2 Billion of Films

In 2018, I went to the cinema 27 times: 12 Chinese films and 15 foreign ones. I spent 3,481 minutes in theaters, and the films I watched collectively grossed 28.2 billion yuan at the box office.

I chose domestic films mainly for story and cast. Liao Fan’s two films — Hidden Man and Ash Is Purest White — were both fully inhabited. In Hidden Man, his turn as Director Zhu completely upended my impression of him. The moment where he poses with the portrait of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang feels like something only the maverick Jiang Wen would dream up.

Thanks to Jiang Wen I also came to appreciate Jiang Wu. In Wrath of Silence, Jiang Wu’s performance is taut and measured, though the film itself was buried and underperformed. I don’t know if investors recouped, but I hope to see more films with substance: thoughtful scripts, directors with ideas, actors with real chops.

I always watch Louis Koo, the so‑called “king of stinkers,” not for the duds but for his daily blogging habit and his long‑running donations to build Hope Primary Schools. Happily, the Anti‑Corruption Storm series doesn’t belong among his duds. 😀

Chow Yun‑fat, who cares deeply about script quality, has been appearing less in recent years. Project Gutenberg was a rare gem. I remember his previous great role being Huang Silang in Jiang Wen’s Let the Bullets Fly. There are a thousand Confuciuses in a thousand hearts; for Chow to take on such a household name was playing with fire — the 5.4 score for Confucius on Douban was hardly his fault.

I didn’t pay much attention to the newly “anointed emperor” Chen Jianbin until A Fool. Then I watched A Cool Fish for Chen Jianbin and discovered Zhang Yu, and later sought out An Elephant Sitting Still for Zhang Yu — you can hardly believe it’s the same actor. Respect.

Once actors reach a certain age, those who keep going ought to be like Zhang Yu and Chen Jianbin — tensile, with broad range — not the kind who only ever play “Silly Root.” To be fair, The Island’s lukewarm word of mouth wasn’t because of that character; the director simply tried to cram in too much. I still prefer Heipi in Crazy Stone and Gao Ming in Get on the Bus.

My biggest disappointments among domestic films were Shadow and Youth. A work reflects its maker; once a director’s inner life changes, it’s nearly impossible to recreate the old feeling.

My favorite foreign film was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. At 60, Frances McDormand is every bit the steely, soft‑outside‑hard‑inside presence she was as the police chief in Fargo. The rest were mostly popcorn fare — I went for the spectacle (Ready Player One), the star power (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), and the costumes (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

It’s funny: I used to enjoy writing reviews. After seeing the scene in Hidden Man where Jiang Wen mocks critics, I somehow couldn’t write them anymore. Fortunately I had already jotted down my takes on Wrath of Silence, Dying to Survive, Youth as the “self‑high” of the ’60s generation, and the chivalric code that closes Hidden Man.

I can proudly say I did my part for China’s 2018 box office.

Published at: Feb 17, 2019 · Modified at: Oct 26, 2025