Here is my take on Chinese music and movies. My tastes only, no apologies. If you're onto something that I've missed, please let me know. I have not been able to update this page for ages, but have finally just given up and moved the whole thing to another page, and now it seems fine.
KUNGFU AND CHINESE FILMS (with some Korean and Japanese films thrown in)
Starters:
**Any Donnie Yen film. especially Bodyguards and Assassins, Yip Man, Yip Man 2, Yip Man 3, Yip Man 4 (he manages to make Wing Chun look cool), Sha Po Lang (SPL), Hero (his brief appearance is one of the best fight scenes ever), Wang Feihong II, Iron Monkey, Ballistic Kiss if you’re a fan. I think Donnie Yen is the best martial arts actor ever. Aside from being really, really fast and having the ability to show any style to its best, he is photogenic and has a natural acting style that make the non-fighting moments real. He has made some stinkers, of course, but keeps getting better and better (probably as he gains more control over the movies in which he participates). His action choreography is quickly becoming the best, particularly the respect that he shows to traditional styles and his balance of practicality and beauty. Here is a complete filmography (thanks to hkmdb.com): Drunken Tai Chi (1984), Mismatched Couples (1985), Tiger Cage (1988), The Last Conflict (1988), In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), Tiger Cage II (1990), The Holy Virgin Versus the Evil Dead (1991), Crystal Hunt (1991), Cheetah on Fire (1992), Dragon Inn (1992), Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), Heroes Among Heroes (1993), Butterfly Sword (1993), Iron Monkey (1993), Circus Kids (1994, Wing Chun (1994), Asian Cop - High Voltage (1995), The Saint of Gamblers (1995), Satan Returns (1996), Iron Monkey 2 (1996), Black Rose II (1997), Legend of the Wolf (1997), Shanghai Affairs (1998), Ballistic Kiss (1998), Black City (1999), Hero (2002), The Twins Effect II (2004), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Love On the Rocks (2004), SPL (2005, I've seen it recently with the new title Kill Zone), Seven Swords (2005), Dragon Tiger Gate (2006), Flash Point (2007), An Empress and the Warriors (2008), Painted Skin (2008), Ip Man (2008), All's Well Ends Well 2009 (2009), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009), The Founding of a Republic (2009), 14 Blades (2010), Ip Man 2 (2010), Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010), The Lost Bladesman (2011), Swordsmen (2011), Vanguard (2011), All's Well Ends Well 2011 (2011), The Monkey King (2012), Ip Man 2 (2012), Special ID (2013), Iceman (2013), Together (2013), Last of the Best (2013), The Monkey King (2014), Kung Fu Jungle, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II (2014), Ip Man 3 (2015), An Inspector Calls (2015), Yip Man 3 (2016).
Jet Li's films, especially the Shaolin films, the Wang Feihong films, the Fong Saiyuk films, ** Fist of Legend, The One, The Tai Chi Master, Hero, Fearless. Here is a complete filmography (thanks to hkmdb.com): Shaolin Temple (1982), This Is Kung Fu (1983), Kids from Shaolin (1984), Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986), Born to Defence (1988), Dragon Fight (1989), Once Upon a Time in China (1991), Lucky Way (1992), Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), The Master (1992), Swordsman 2 (1992), Fong Sai Yuk II (1993), The Tai-Chi Master (1993), Last Hero in China (1993), Once Upon a Time in China III (1993), Kung Fu Cult Master (1993), Fong Sai Yuk (1993), Fist of Legend (1994), The Bodyguard from Beijing (1994), The New Legend of Shaolin (1994), High Risk (1995), My Father Is a Hero (1995), Black Mask (1996), The Scripture with No Words (1996), Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997), Hitman (1998), Hero (2002), Fearless (2006), The Warlords (2007), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), The Founding of a Republic (2009), Ocean Paradise (2010), The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), The Sorcerer And The White Snake (2011), Tai Chi (2011), Badges of Fury (2013).
Wu Jing's movies (Legendary Assassin, SPL, Invisible Target, Fatal Move (but just for the last fight), Tai Chi (really old), New Shaolin. (He really enjoys being evil, but he does a decent good guy as well). Here is a complete filmography (thanks to hkmdb.com): Tai Chi II (1996), The Legend of Zu (2001), Drunken Monkey (2003), SPL (2005), Fatal Contact (2006), Twins Mission (2007), Invisible Target (2007), Kung Fu Dunk (2008), Fatal Move (2008), Legendary Assassin (2008), L for Love L for Lies (2008), Howling Arrow (2009), Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg (2009), City Under Siege (2010), Love Tactics (2010), Wind Blast (2010), Tieqiao San (2010), Just Another Pandora's Box (2010), New Shaolin (2011), Bu'er Shentan (2013), Zhanlang (2013), SPL II (2013). (I have to admit I haven't seen a lot of these, and would particularly love to find Kungfu Cyborg)
The Shaw brothers' digital re-release in Mandarin with English subtitiles of the classics with Ti Long, Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan-tai, David Chiang, Gordon Liu and others, such as *The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, *Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber, The Blood Brothers, *Shaolin Temple, Shaolin Intruders, Heroes Two, Clans of Intrigue, Shaolin Mantis, Na Cha the Great, Have Sword Will Travel, The Heroic Ones, Killer Clans, The Magic Blade, The Teahouse, Big Brother Cheng, Executioners from Shaolin, Eight Diagrams Pole Fighter, Water Margin, One Armed Swordsman, Iron Bodyguard, The Boxer from Shantung, Flying Guillotine, Flying Guillotine 2, The Savage 5, Crippled Avengers.
Nicholas Tse, Andy On, and Zhang Zhen prove that you can be good looking and a good actor, and do both action and non-action movies well. They bring intensity and class to any movie they are in.
Nicholas Tse (Tse Tingfung) Here is a complete filmography (thanks to hkmdb.com) Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998), The Mirror (1999), A Man Called Hero (1999), Metade Fumaca (1999), Gen-X Cops (1999), Street Angels (1999), Twelve Nights (2000), Time and Tide (2000), Winner Takes All (2000), Master Q 2001 (2001) , Comic King (2001), 2002 (2001), My School Mate, the Barbarian (2001), Demi-Haunted (2002), Tiramisu (2002), The Medallion (2003), Goddess of Mercy (2003), Love Under the Sun (2003), Enter the Phoenix (2004), Moving Targets (2004, New Police Story (2004), The Promise (2005), A Chinese Tall Story (2005), Dragon Tiger Gate (2006), McDull, the Alumni (2006), The Heavenly Kings (2006), Rob-B-Hood (2006), Magic & Me (2006), Legend of Twins Dragon (2007), Invisible Target (2007), Storm Rider - Clash of Evils (2008), Beast Stalker (2008), The Storm Warriors (2009), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009), Hot Summer Days (2010), Stool Pigeon (2010), Shaolin (2011), Treasure Inn (2011), The Viral Factor (2012), The Bullet Vanishes (2012), The Midas Touch (2013), As the Light Goes Out (2014), From Vegas to Macau (2014), But Always (2014), 12 Golden Ducks (2015)
Andy On (An Zhijie) Here is a complete filmography (thanks to hkmdb.com) Black Mask II (2002), Looking for Mister Perfect (2003), Star Runner (2003), Itchy Heart (2004), The White Dragon (2004), New Police Story (2004), Dragon Squad (2005), Election 2 (2006), Lethal Angels (2006), Dating a Vampire (2006), Nothing Is Impossible (2006), Fatal Contact (2006), Invisible Target (2007), Mad Detective (2007), Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008), Forgive and Forget (2008), La Lingerie (2008), True Legend (2010), Crossing Hennessy (2010), Bad Blood (2010), Black Ransom (2010), Shanghai (2010), The Lost Bladesman (2011), White Vengeance (2011), Mural (2011), Naked Soldier (2012), The Viral Factor (2012), Cold War (2012), Angel Warriors (2013), Special ID (2013), Unbeatable (2013), That Demon Within (2014), As the Light Goes Out (2014), Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (2014), Zombie Fight Club (2014). I need to track a lot of these down.
Sammo Hung has acted, been action director, directed, and whatever for years and years. He is now an elder statesman, and his presence in a film indicates that there will be some cool and dignified fighting. Here is a list of just the acting in last ten years. Dragon Squad (2005), SPL (2005), Twins Mission (2007), Legend of Twins Dragon (2007), Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008), Fatal Move (2008), Wushu (2008), Kung Fu Chefs (2009), Ip Man 2 (2010), 14 Blades (2010), Tieqiao San (2010), The Legend Is Born - Ip Man (2010), Choy Lee Fut (2011), A Simple Life (2011), Road Less Traveled (2011), Naked Soldier (2012), The Last Tycoon (2012), Dark Tales - Nie Xiaoqian Prequel (2012), Princess and Seven Kung Fu Masters (2013), Rise of the Legend (2014, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (2014).
Any Kurosawa samurai film.
More sword or fighting movies:
*New Shaolin (Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Wu Jing, Jackie Chan, 2010)
* Red Cliff and Red Cliff 2 (made as one long movie, is not a movie and a followup. Tony Leung plus a huge cast of everyone who is anybody.)
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (Philip Ng and Andy On, 2014).
Brotherhood of Blades (2014).
*Ong Bak and Tom-Yum Goong (ok, not Chinese, but amazing choreography. Not Ong Bak 2 or 3.)
* The Warrior (Musa in Korean), Korean and Chinese mix.
* Versus, a Japanese samurai zombie comedy gun film. An absolute must see.
All the old Zatoihi films with Shintaro Katsu.
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon
Mismatched Couples, break dancing with Donnie Yen and Kenny Perez. No, really.
Shaolin soccer
Samurai Fiction, very stylish.
Taboo (Japanese)
The Skyhawk, classic series of films.
Swordsmen in Double Flag Town. A classic.
The Blade (Tsui Hark's remake of One Armed Swordsman)
Tripping (has swords and zombies, but is basically a chick flick)
Empire of Silver.
Warlords.
Be a Man! Samurai School (Japanese, even more 'B movie' than Versus, but lots of fun)
Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles. Humour and fighting.
Stylish gun, action, or cop/triad movies:
* Johnny To films: *PTU, Vengence, Mad Detective, Election, Election 2, Throw Down, Breaking News, Exiled, Triangle, The Sparrow. PTU has more movies, produced by Johnny To but not directed by him. They are Tactical Unit: The Code (2008), Tactical Unit: Partners (2008), and Tactical Unit: Comrades in Arms (practically a comedy, 2009)
* Infernal Affairs, Infernal Affairs II, Infernal Affairs III. Still hasn't been beaten as the ultimate undercovercop /triad film, and there are a lot of those.
* Invisible Target (Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, the rest all good)
The Bullet Vanishes (NIcholas Tse and Liu Qingyun, two of the best actors, capable of more than action films)
Jiang Hu,
Mad Detective,
Time and Tide,
Black Ransom,
Detective Dee (spontaneous combustion, need I say more?) Andy Lau in the Tang dynasty.
John Woo gun films such as: Red Cliff, The Killer, Hardboiled, A Better Tomorrow 1, 2, and 3, (Bullet in the Head, but only if you're a fan).
Kung Fu Dunk, basketball, kungfu and Jay Zhou.
People's Hero (Ti Lung and a very young Tony Leung).
Fatal Move,
Tokyo Raiders. Japan and China, fun.
Running out of time. Hong Kong, buddy film with a bit of a twist. #2 is ok, but not as good.
Expect the Unexpected (also a cop buddy film with a twist),
The Returner, Japan, science fiction and guns with a heart
House of Flying Daggers (I can't list this way high, but the cinematography is beautiful)
Jay Chou in The Green Hornet. Not an Asian film, but using an Asian superstar deserves an honourable mention. Completely silly.
Overheard and Overheard 2.
More Asian films, loosely defining guns or action:
The Ring and Ring 2. Japan, spooky films (quote from my little brother: AAAAAGHHGHGHGGHGNGNGNGHGHH)
Any Tony Leung film (Leung Chiu-wai, not Leung Ka-fai, though he is good too). Doesn't just to action films, but can. Mad, Mad 83 (1983), The Temptation (1983), Young Cops (1985), Fascinating Affairs (1985), The Lunatics (1986), Love Unto Waste (1986), People's Hero (1987), Happy Go Lucky (1987), I Love Maria (1988), My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989), Seven Warriors (1989), City of Sadness (1989), Days of Being Wild (1990), Bullet in the Head (1990), Royal Scoundrel (1991), Fantasy Romance (1991), The Banquet (1991), A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991), The Tigers (1991), Don't Fool Me (1991), The Great Pretenders (1991), The Days of Being Dumb (1992), Three Summers (1992), Lucky Encounter (1992), Hard Boiled (1992), The Magic Crane (1993), End of the Road (1993), The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993), He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father! (1993), Butterfly Sword (1993), Two of a Kind (1993), Tom, Dick and Hairy (1993), Hero from Beyond the Boundary of Time (1993), Come Fly the Dragon (1993), The Returning (1994), Always Be the Winners (1994), Ashes of Time (1994), Chungking Express (1994), Heaven Can't Wait (1995), Tomorrow (1995), Mack the Knife (1995), War of the Under World (1996), Blind Romance (1996), 97 Aces Go Places (1997), Happy Together (1997), Chinese Midnight Express (1997), Your Place or Mine! (1998), The Longest Nite (1998), Timeless Romance (1998), Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Gorgeous (1999), Buenos Aires - Zero Degree (1999), Healing Hearts (2000), In the Mood for Love (2000), Tokyo Raiders (2000), Love Me, Love My Money (2001), Fighting for Love (2001), Hero (2002), Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002), Infernal Affairs (2002), Cause - Birth of Hero (2002), Sound of Colors (2003), My Lucky Star (2003), Infernal Affairs III (2003), 1:99 Shorts (2003), Super Model (2004), 2046 (2004), Seoul Raiders (2005), Confession of Pain (2006), Lust, Caution (2007), Red Cliff (2008), Red Cliff: Part 2 (2009), The Founding of a Republic (2009, The Great Magician (2012), The Silent War (2012), Five Demon Traps (2012), The Grandmaster (2013)
Beat Takeshi films. *Fireworks, *Sonatine, Zatoichi, Brother, Battle Royale. Japan. (Beat Takeshi is brilliant. Twisted, but brilliant. His lastest films have been more twisted than brilliant, and have kinda creeped me out.)
The foreign duck, the native duck, and God in a coin locker (yes, that is the title).
Star Runner, HK. Very cheesy but I think worth it for the last fight scene.
Life Without Principle
The Great Magician (Tony Leung comedy)
TV series available in DVD format
* Jingwumen. Donnie Yen, very young and very good. Hours of viewing pleasure. WARNING: addictive.
Shuihuchuan. Knows as 'The Heroes of the Marshes," "Water Margin," "The 108 Heroes". Hours and hours of wicked fighting interspersed with high drama (but don't doze off in the drama if you want to know why they are fighting). Very high production values. I heard it is available in dubbed in English, but I've never seen that.
Ghengis Khan. Horses, wide sky, what more could you want? The costumes are fabulous, the acting is good, and although it is confusing with a huge cast and long names, it is really good. I don't know how authentic it all is.
Huo Yuanjia. An old series.
Cowboy Beebop. A Japanese anime tv series from 1998.
So totally 'B' that they are worth watching:
The Holy Virgin Versus the Evil Dead. Donnie Yen had to start somewhere.
Story of Ricky
The Streetfighter, there are 3 that I know of, so bad you have to watch all three.
Don't go out of your way to find, but not too bad:
The Treasure Hunter, A disappointing film.
A Man called Hero, interesting anime look.
Gen X Cops, light, ok if you're into young guys with interesting hair.
Fulltime Killer, lacks a certain something, but alright.
Warriors of Heaven and Earth.
Seven Swords (not quite up to the hype).
Playboy Cops
Don't need to bother with:
The Kungfu Master (the movie supposed to be about Dong Haichua. Bagua Zongshi in Chinese. Really disappointing).
Kungfu in Japan,
Kung Fu Master is My Grandma! (there is one scene when granny is in bed and the camera shoots up her nose for an eternity, and that is not the worst of it).
Born to Defense,
Cradle 2 the Grave.
Dr. Wai and the Scriptures with No Words. After a great start in the business Jet Li had to go down before going up.
Roaring Tiger Bluffing Dragon, boring.
Gen Y Cops, slightly different mix of young guys with interesting hair just doesn't cut it this time out.
Running on Karma, I just can't get past the costume.
Unleashed, Jet Li isn't really much of an actor, good as he is at the action.
Bulletproof Monk, Chow Yunfat sleepwalks his way through this one.
War. How can you miss with both Jason Statham and Jet Li?
Matrix Reloaded (its not Asian or kungfu, but is so bad I think a warning is needed).
The Moss (very violent without much point).
Tactical Unit: No Way Out (exceeded my tolerance for violence, 2008) All the other Tactical Unit films of Johnnie To are great.
Korean movies. They're just not like Chinese movies, so I've started a separate list. These are all excellent films.
*The Man from Nowhere (2010 top box office in Korea)
*City of Violence (or The Violent City)
The Sword with No Name (how the Koreans manage to combine sword flicks with chick flicks is just amazing)
The Warrior (Musa in Korean), Korean and Chinese mix.
Attack the Gas Station!
*Bittersweet Life (gets better at each viewing).
*Friend
*Guns and Talks
Old Boy
A Dirty Carnival
Public Enemy
Champion
Maljik High School, 1978
A Better Tomorrow (Korean remake)
Crying Fist
Spin Kick (how they can make martial arts films into chick flicks is amazing)
Dalma, and Dalma 2
*Volcano High (just watched this again on a big screen, one of the best ever)
My Wife is a Gangster (there are a few of these)
My Sassy Girl (ok, this isn't an action movie, but it is really funny)
Antique (not an action movie, but fun)
Phone (same really scary feel as Ring, but not a copy. Really creeped my out)
Typhoon. very intense
Welcome to Dongmakgol
No Mercy for the Rude
Big Bang
Soo (pretty intense, but is so much of a blood bath that you end up just laughing)
Lifting King Kong (not an action movie, but fun)
My Brother (not an action movie, but with some fights. Excellent actors).
Good non-action films, Chinese society (a far from comprehensive list)
* Missing Gun
* On the Beat
* Beijing Bicycle
* Postman in the mountain
* In the Heart of the Sun
The Founding of a Republic (worth watching just to play spot the stars)
The Parking Lot Attendant
And the Spring Comes
Sailfish
Secret
Days of Being Little Kings
Little Red Flowers
The Little Chinese Seamstress
Lan Yu
Comrades Almost a Love Story
East Palace, West Palace
Shower
Public Toilet
Green Tea
Cala, My Dog
Not One Less
Pretty Big Feet
The Blue Kite
To Live!
Devils on the Doorstep
Artisan Pickpocket (Xiao Wu), Platform, The World (director Jia Zhangke is an acquired taste)
Yellow River (quite old, but still relevant)
Crazy Stone
God Man Dog (Taiwan)
Aftershock
*Wang Kar Wai films, you'll be intrigued or you'll hate them, but you won't be bored - Chung King Express, Fallen Angels, Ashes of Time, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046. These can be confusing at times since he makes up his films as he goes. Hong Kong, not China.
A couple of Vietnamese movies that are really good are Scent of Green Papaya, and Cyclo.
Websites
Hong Kong Movie Data Base is a fun not-for-profit site all about Asian movies. It is a data base with all kinds of information and commentaries supplied by the readership.
a Donnie Yen fansite (never updated)
a site with a lot of links to Donnie Yen fansites. In Japanese but with enough English for you to find fun things.
some stories about Donnie Yen when he was young in Beijing. some nostalgic photos of the old Beijing Sports College.
Cinespot is a website about Hong Kong cinema, so you don't have to take my word for it on any of these films.
CHINESE MUSIC I have taken most off the list, just too boring. These few listed are still worth listening to, but really you should just get The Gereg by The Hu, who are from Mongolia. They are also amazing live.
Dao Lang (from the NW of China, mix of modern and traditional)
Hanggai band (Beijing band from the steppes of Mongolia, cool and traditional at the same time). Do not get Big Brass Band, a really awful disc, but their other discs are pretty good. They are fun live, should you happen to have the change.
Zhou Jielun, aka Jay Chou (has a wide range, considers himself hiphop) His website is www.jaychou.com. He has moved into acting, and rocks in The Green Hornet, 2010.