April 9th, 2017
Life with Kozo Goes On
The Skinny:
LoveHKFilm.com is going on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I’m guessing at least a year, not counting the three-plus months since our last update in December 2016. Sorry, we won’t be around to review the 12 movies starring Louis Koo and Lau Ching-Wan coming out in 2017. Have fun and we’ll see you when we see you.
The Long Version:
How much time have you got? Because you’ll need it if you intend to read this whole thing. If you’re only interested in Asian movies, and not LoveHKFilm.com or the site webmaster, then you should totally skip this.
Last warning.
Okay then. I haven’t written one of these self-indulgent Life with Kozo things in such a long time that I’m not sure that I know how to anymore. Since the last one (I’m not bothering to check when it was), the world has basically gone to Hell. Other things have happened, but the world going to Hell kind out of outweighs everything else.
The world going to Hell is not why I’m shuttering LoveHKFilm.com for a long time - though it certainly doesn’t help. To be fair, I already take super-long breaks between every update. 2016 saw only four updates, with gaps of 2-4 months between each one. Back when the site went online in 2002, I updated the site 3 times a week. I would calculate the percentage drop in update frequency, but high school was a long time ago and I no longer know how to math.
There are numerous reasons for this hiatus. First and foremost is lack of time. When I moved to Hong Kong in 2005, the site’s update frequency changed from (at the time) weekly to bi-weekly. When my responsibilities and commitments to my job and personal life increased, that dropped to “whenever I feel like it.” That plan actually got us 8-18 updates a year, but returns have been diminishing and now they’re ceasing.
I would have updated earlier in 2017 - the review of THE GREAT WALL has been done since January - but I got caught up in my usual first quarter freelance pile-on, which includes working for two film festivals: The Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Udine Far East Film Festival. The work wasn’t that intensive - a long essay, 8 reviews, and numerous film blurbs - but it was squeezed into what would normally be the time that I work on LoveHKfilm.com. Also, since there were real deadlines (i.e., not self-imposed ones) for that work, the pressure was greater.
Also, I now give a huge chunk of my time to this person:
All your time belongs to me
The site’s decline in updates has largely coincided with his arrival, and I’m totally fine with that. Since his birth, I’ve experienced some frustration because my backlog of unwritten reviews keeps growing, but that’s just me looking at that pile of work and wondering how I’m ever going to finish it. I don’t, for one minute, regret any time I’ve spent with my son. My biggest regret over the past three years is actually the ten days in 2014 that I spent at the Udine Far East Film Festival. Of course I had fun, but my son was less than a year old at the time. He started crawling during that week, and I didn’t witness it because I was off watching Asian movies.
Since then I haven’t been back to the fest, though I continue to work for them every year. I personally can’t find a reason to leave my wife and son even for 7-10 days in a single calendar year. Time passes so quickly - he was born in 2013 and is now nearly four years old, and even though the days may be long for him, they pass for me in the blink of an eye. Right now he charges all over the flat, yelling “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” because he wants my attention, and in a few short years he won’t be doing that anymore. He’ll reach that awkward age where his pop is a total buzzkill and he wants to hang out with his buddies somewhere where his mother and I can’t reach him. I get why that has to happen, and I think it’s OK to be a little sad about it.
Also, he’s going to be joined by another little guy soon: His little brother is due any day now, which means that my children now outnumber my website 2 to 1. So the website loses, naturally.
I’m a bit old to be having two kids. I started the site 15 years ago when I was 29, single, and unemployed. I am now none of those things, and the married part is not something I totally expected to happen. I try to think the best of people (until they prove to me that they don’t deserve to be thought of that way), but when it comes to what I think of myself, I trend negative. I remember every negative thing - from critical to mean to cruel - that I’ve heard about myself because I learned at an early age that a person should listen to criticism to improve themselves.
Of course, you shouldn’t believe every lousy thing you hear about yourself but that was a lesson I learned waaaaay too late in life. Eventually, I got to the point where I thought that I probably wouldn’t get married or have kids because, well, those things happen to good people and not people with shitty EQ, poor social skills, and few talents to brag about. But I met someone who sees something good in me, and I now have everything in life that I thought I would never have.
And yet, having a family means new problems and worries. My first son will soon have a younger sibling, and I don’t know how that will affect him. Up until now, he’s been the prince of the family - the first child in his generation and accustomed to being the center of attention. He’s going to have competition now, and I don’t know how he’ll take it. He’s pretty naughty right now and I worry what will happen to him as he grows older.
I could default to the “He’ll grow out of it” cliché, but I have my doubts. If he inherited his father’s EQ (and some evidence points to “yes”), then he may be in for tough times. These issues are nothing compared to what other people in the world face - our problems are first world problems, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean I should ignore him so I can satisfy childish pursuits like watching movies. Anyways, in spending time with him and trying to see the world through his eyes, I experience childish things all the time. It’s just that I now do it for someone else instead of myself.
I don’t expect that much from my son. I just hope that he can take care of himself, and not let others sway him into thinking or doing things that could hurt him. At the same time, I don’t want him to be the kind of person who uses people to get ahead, or makes others suffer for his mistakes. Basically, I want him to be a good person - and not that type that feels the need to tell everyone on social media, “I’m a good person!” That’s not honesty - that’s PR. And the last thing I want my son to need is PR.
Actually, maybe I do expect a lot from him.
If you’ve read my old Life with Kozo articles or any of the few interviews I’ve given over the years, you’ll know that I credit this website with everything that I have in my life. Taking the time to put together this HTML monstrosity gave me enough cred to get writing gigs, and got me some recognition from people who work in or around Hong Kong film. It’s also led to lots of negative crap, e.g., the people who’ve tried to use the site for their own gain. You take the bad with the good, and while I’ve made some very good friends as a result of the site, I’ve also had plenty of negative experiences.
The site also led to my job at YesAsia.com, which got me moved out to Hong Kong. However, I never intended to move here - it was just something that happened to me. In general, I’m just not a person who pursues stuff. Besides the fact that I like stability and tend to avoid change, I always figure there’s someone out there who wants something more than I do, so I should just let them have it. This attitude isn’t a very helpful one - it’s better to have a goal than not to have one, and my lack of purpose with LoveHKFilm is one of its biggest problems.
There are some things I would like for the site. I’d like better technology, better design, and a more comprehensive database but all that takes time and money, and the site doesn’t support that kind of investment. Once upon a time, when the site had lots of traffic and was updated frequently, I got a serious overture for financing. I ended up letting the opportunity pass, which was probably smart for reasons I shouldn’t talk about, but my main reason for saying “no” was simply that the interested parties wanted the site to be something that it wasn’t.
Ultimately, I have no desire to see LoveHKFilm.com change beyond what it is. It can still get me a lot of stuff; I’ve received plenty of opportunities for closer relationships with filmmakers and distributors. I could probably get set visits if I wanted to, and tickets to premieres and other events if I pushed. But I really don’t need those things. For some movie bloggers and critics, that’s really the endgame: Being close to the magic of movies. While being close to the stars and the filmmakers can be intoxicating, I’ve never felt that comfortable with it. In the end, it just isn’t that appealing to me.
What appeals to me is keeping the site going in the way that I want, which means having a review of nearly every new Hong Kong movie on the site, and having those reviews be informative, insightful, and fun. But it’s become harder to do those things. Not only do I lack time to see every new Hong Kong movie and write about it in a timely manner, but “informative, insightful, and fun” can’t be measured. I’d like to think the writing is good, and when I read some of my reviews later, I do enjoy them. Other reviews, however, are shit-tier quality and I cringe when I realize that I wrote such rubbish.
When writing, it’s tough to be objective about if it’s working or not. Sometimes you think it is, but in reality you’re making excuses to finish one piece just so you can move onto the next. So I end up tearing up what I wrote and starting over, or tabling that review while I write another. The time spent per review ends up ballooning - what used to take me an hour has grown to 4-8 hours, depending on the complexity or importance of the film. That I’m not always pleased with the results makes that process more frustrating in hindsight. I want LoveHKFilm.com to be a website that I’m proud of, but when the writing is poor or incomplete, and the database riddled with missing films, the effort feels wasted.
So, it’s good to take a long break now, with a new child coming and the other needing more attention. I can spend more time with them and know that I’m not wasting an absolute second of my life. When I work on LoveHKFilm.com, I do ask myself if the time is being spent on something worthwhile or necessary. Not that any film criticism is necessary - let’s be honest, none of it is - but LoveHKFilm.com’s time has passed. The site’s technology is so awful, and so many parts of the site have been abandoned - the blogs being the largest example. Site formatting is inconsistent, and design and layout sorely needs updating. I could go on and on.
The more I write about this, the more it sounds like I should close the site permanently. It would free me from the work and the doubts. Also, I’m sure it would satisfy some detractors, just as closing permanently would probably make a few people unhappy. I’ve never actually been able to figure out who reads this thing, in large part because I haven’t actively cultivated a community. One has kind of sprung up around it on the forum and the Facebook page, but I can’t always tell who’s there because they like the site and who’s there because they have something to promote. I like to keep a low profile so social media is absolutely not for me.
So yeah, all things considered, I should probably dump the site AND delete my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I’m an old man now and the world has left me behind.
But I still like writing. Whether or not I’m any good at it, I do enjoy it. The site was initially a means of writing practice for me, so the fact that it’s led to all this 15 years later is a real surprise. I do owe the site a lot so I don’t want to simply abandon it because I’ve changed, or because my priorities have changed. My wife would also feel sad if the site just died, so I’ll probably think of some way to save it.
But I need to take a break because I have too much to take care of now, and no time to think about how to improve things. Maybe I’ll need to consider changing review format, or trying to write shorter, less detailed reviews, or even getting rid of the jokes. Site readers probably expect a certain style in my writing, but maybe I have to change it completely to move forward. The site also has to be compressed and streamlined. Maybe the actor filmographies have to go, or the site needs to be converted to a blog. I dunno, I’ll think about it.
I do intend to keep up on Hong Kong movies. I can’t see as many as I used to, but I’ll still catch what I can. The filmmakers and genres have changed, but Hong Kong Cinema is special to me, and I’d like to see what happens as it grows and evolves. I’ll probably keep writing notes about each and every Hong Kong movie I see. I’ve got notes stashed for more films than I care to count already, so if I feel like writing reviews about anything down the line I’ve already got the raw materials to start. Hopefully within a few months I’ll be tinkering with some writing. I might write some reviews for YesAsia.com, if they need it. We’ll see how it goes.
While I wrote this blog entry, my son ran into the room over fifteen times yelling “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”
If you got this far into this blog, thanks for your patience and tolerance - not just for this single post but also for the site itself. In the age of instant news and hot takes, what we did here was increasingly backwards, and we just couldn’t keep up with the more dedicated, media-savvy critics that are popping up everywhere. If personal reasons weren’t the reason for this break, then our inability to keep up with the Joneses should have been. There are now seventy zillion ways to watch movies, and also to read, watch, or listen to criticism about them, so one less voice out there is no big deal. The world continues to turn, the sun continues to rise, and tomorrow is another day. We’ll be fine.
Even if the world recently went to Hell.
The movie theater is behind us
April 10th, 2017 at 4:16 am
Kozo. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings about your life, family, and this site. Life goes by very quickly as you are finding out, and reading about how spending time with your family, is a priority for you, is pretty damn cool! This site is one of my very favorites and have been visiting it for around 10 years plus now. Even with limited updates, I am fine with that, as there is such a wealth of information in all of the older reviews, that have led me to some fantastic Hong Kong films over the years. You have done a tremendous job with the site, and whatever you decided to do, know that you have touched many people with it for the positive!
April 10th, 2017 at 10:57 am
I totally agree with Jeff!
I love reading older reviews, I discovered many smaller movies that way and I am deeply grateful for it.
Kozo, I don’t think your loyal readers care if you update the site every two or six months as long as it does not die. If it has to be once a year then be it.
As for the appearance of the website, I am not in IT so I don’t know how much work it represents. One thing for sure, I couldn’t care less about it. What matters in the end are the words, the insights, the content of the reviews.
I have been an avid reader for a while, although I caught the train in the middle of it’s long journey. I will keep stoping by from time to time to see how it goes.
Take good care of your children.
À bientôt sur le site
April 10th, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Hi Kozo.
Wow, it feels like the end of era.
I am glad the site has brought good things to your life. Thank you for all the heart and effort you put into the site over the years. I want to you know that, intentionally or not, you created something that was meaningful to some of us beyond being a review site (though a damn fine one it was all the same). Your humor got us through some tough times: SARS. The loss of Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. Edison Chen’s entire existence in the entertainment world.
You mentioned some used the site for their own gains. Frankly, this applies to me as well. Back when the forums were still active (and Twitter wasn’t a thing), I used the LoveHKFilm community as my social outlet. As a shy, socially awkward, and immature person, LoveHKFilm provided a safe and relatively judgement-free environment for me to let my freak flag fly. I am grateful and proud to have been part of the LoveHKFilm community even if my contributions amounted to less than 0.01%.
Hopefully, you’ll be back someday (if not, that’s fine too. As per your title, life goes on). Until then, happy trails to you dear webmaster.
p.s. If you do come back, maybe it’s time to get a LoveHKFilm Snapchat account? Apparently that’s all the rage with the kiddies these days.
April 10th, 2017 at 2:46 pm
再見!!
April 11th, 2017 at 3:03 am
Needless to say, this site is something you can and should feel proud of. You’ve created something very important to a lot of people. I come here often to read/re-read reviews. Usually after I see a movie for the first time (I’m not always quick at watching the latest stuff), this is the first place I go. After I read a review, I’ll often look at the director and/or actors’ other works and read some of your past reviews. What an amazing resource.
Blessings to you and to your future endeavors.
April 11th, 2017 at 3:31 am
Just wanted to chime in as well, the work you’ve put in here is tremendous and has meant alot. Been visiting your site since, well i don’t even know,a long time! I used to vote on best movie votes and have always found your insight a good compass when checking up on movies. And it still is a great archive when to look up older movies and read a bit about them. I’m not as exclusively into HK movies these days as I once were, but this site has always meant alot. I hope it will continue in some capacity further down the road, but until then we can look up movies we’ve missed out on still and check out what your thoughts were on them, man I have long to-watch-lists of movies still that are based on writing on this site, so there is still catching up to do!
Take care of your family, thank you for everything and see you later!
April 11th, 2017 at 5:53 pm
Let me say thank you for all the good (and sometimes out of curiosity bad) movies your reviews made me watch and which I wouldn’t have seen without this website. With 1600+ movies in my collection HK and China cinema is present with over 250 movies. And most of these have been checked here before I bought them.
I would be very sad to see the site go away completely, but as a father of two myself I fully understand that you are missing time and motive for extensive reviews and website work. Maybe it would be an idea for you to write shorter reviews as you mentioned and also you could just publish single reviews when you have them ready instead of doing big updates? This way you could keep the site alive without the need of planning in too much time for it, just a little bit whenever you feel like it.
Whatever you will do, thank you again for all the work you put into this website and your reviews!
April 11th, 2017 at 6:43 pm
This is the most adorable thing i’ve read all week, and tbh your mention about FEFF in 2014 is non-surprising as listening back to our recorded conversation at the time, you were always more excited about your life developments than what was happening on the ground around us. I’ve been an avid reader for over 7 years now, that’s pretty crazy, and I’m glad you’re continuing on with whats important to you Ross. I’ll always be a fan of yours and Kevins’ writing, and hope everything works out well for you in the future, and indeed if you take the time now and then to write whenever the fancy takes you then your fan audience will always be appreciative. I love seeing the photos you post up of fatherhood and think it’s an amazing thing to aspire to for myself in the future, it’s great to see friends now experiencing these joys and knowing what i’ve got to look forward to.
April 12th, 2017 at 2:12 am
I just want to say, that even though I found this site only recently, I have been hugely appreciative of your work here. While I’ve always known about some Hong Kong films, I’ve never really delved deeper into them. Finding your site, reading reviews, finding your recommendations lists, the best of the 80s/90s/00s lists, etc, etc has helped me grow a deep love for Hong Kong Cinema.
Your reviews are also incredibly well written. The mix of love for the films, humor, and insight is really refreshing.
Thank you so much. It’s because of you, your site, and the others that have helped along the way, that I truly love Hong Kong cinema now.
April 12th, 2017 at 6:49 pm
I’ve been a frequent visitor to your site from the beginning and have always been impressed with the style, depth and fairness of your movie reviews. Your passion for Hong Kong film has been the inspiration for watching movies that I would otherwise have overlooked, and I am grateful that you took the time and effort to point them out to me. Being a working mother, I understand your need to scale back the site in order to spend more time with your family, but I must say that I would miss LoveHKFilm.com if it disappeared entirely. Whatever happens, it’s been a great ride in cyberspace, Kozo, and for that I thank you. Be well and happy.
April 14th, 2017 at 3:05 am
I have been following LoveHKFilm, if not from the beginning, then very close to it. It expanded a whole new world of cinema to me. Of all the movie review sites that I have visited over the years, this is one of the very few that I regularly return it.
Wish you all the best and when you ever feel the urge to write, please do, as there is an appreciative audience waiting for you.
One more thing, how about a 2016 22st Love HK Film Awards before your break!
April 14th, 2017 at 2:28 pm
I’ve been visiting this site for the past 10 years and although it makes me sad to see it go on an indefinite hiatus I am still thankful for the countless hours of entertainment and knowledge that you have gifted us. Good luck with the second child and I wish you nothing but happiness and good fortune moving forward! The Raptors will crush the Warriors in the finals.
All the best,
Dominic from Canada
April 16th, 2017 at 1:52 am
I’ll never accept your good-bye…it feels too finite, but if this is a “see you later” I would like to say that I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability of this post. I saw a lot of myself in your reflections of your life. I also appreciate your willingness to not only advertise my skinny blog that mostly covers well-worn films that even in America aren’t really all that obscure anymore due to the aforementioned technological mediums that have bathed the globe. You were always more than willing to accept the reviews I submitted without pulling a Thomas Weisser on me. When my last review appeared and I shared my uneasiness with how the Chinese appeared in decidedly everyone’s favorite cult action film — you didn’t run to my defense but instead answered pollsters’ frustrations with me and my review diplomatically. It was an effort that not even I rose to: I got a few angry replies on my blog and ignored them all which is not always my nature. I have zero desire to have children of my own but I admire your assessment of personal life and realizing what’s really important in it. I truly wish you and your family the best. All’s I ask in return is that if you never touch the site again in any way, shape, form or fashion you: Leave it up for interested parties and you never delete your Twitter account so we can somewhat keep-up with the goings-on in your life which I truly wish you and your blossoming family the best in.
April 17th, 2017 at 11:34 am
Kozo,My siblings and I have been reading your reviews since high school (10+ years ago, when you still made fun of Ekin). There’s been endless times my brother would say ” I wonder what Kozo would say about this movie”. Or I will say “Another Wong Jing movie, poor Kozo has to sit through to review”. I just had twins (first time mom) and the amount of work is indescribable. Like you said, they are babies once, treasure your time with them. And honestly Hong Kong movies are so few the past years and they are not even good. I don’t think I’ve watched a Hong Kong movie past year 2005. They are not like how they were in the 90’s. Anyways, good luck.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:42 pm
Selfishly I would like this to go on and on and on. Why not? I loved every review you’ve written since I accidentally discovered this site 7 years ago. It’s been my de facto go to site whenever I catch a HK movie being played in my presence! What am I gonna do now when I have the urgings to read a review whilst the movie being played? Haha..
Alas… Maybe there’s truth to the saying all good things must come to an end. Take charge in your next phase and thanks for the moments.
FCY, Singapore
April 21st, 2017 at 10:23 pm
Thank you for everything! Enjoy your time with your family and sons!! Looking forward to your return… see you soon.
April 22nd, 2017 at 8:49 pm
This site opened my eyes to a completely new world of cinema back when I first visited it in 2003. Ever since then, much like your input into this site, my visits have become sparse and far in-between. But somehow, I always find myself coming back. Whether it’s to see what’s new in HK cinema or to peruse a plethora of rich and in-depth reviews on movies I just haven’t gotten around to seeing yet.
One of the things that drew me to this site wasn’t just the excellence of your reviews, but your quirky humor and self-deprecating style of writing. While that hasn’t changed, it’s evolved from echoing a lack of confidence back then to a witty and even sardonic tone today, rooted in the surety of who you have become. Like you point out, this website has had a lot to do with your evolution over the years.
You should be enormously proud of what it is that you’ve accomplished here. I, as well as many others, will be eternally grateful for the work you did over the years. You opened up a new horizon for me with the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of enjoyment that I have received from HK films (and consequently even pan-Asian films) over the years. If it weren’t for this website, the tiny spark of interest in a wider cinematographic world would have in all likelihood been inundated and overwhelmed by your typical Hollywood tripe. My sincerest Thank You for that!
I want to conclude by wishing you and your burgeoning family nothing but the best! I’ll still be visiting this website on a haphazard basis, waiting (selfishly) for your return. Until then, Cheers!
April 26th, 2017 at 11:48 pm
Been a fan since the beginning. It is sad to see it stop, but I understand, and somehow, I still think that it’ll come back eventually (just let me dream). But please, please don’t close the site. This is the most complete resource on hk films on the internet, especially the actor filmography. It is my go-to source whenever I play six degrees of HK actors with my friends.
Anyway, wish you all the best and we’ll be waiting for your return.
April 27th, 2017 at 11:34 pm
Kozo excellent site you have compiled all these years of Hong Kong cinema. Family is first and its and excellent decision you have made. Hope to see this website revive sometime in a near future, but for now hope you live your family life to the fullest!
April 28th, 2017 at 1:21 am
I discovered HK film while researching the film Protege. Your film omnisience and writing craft made it a no brainer that I was being treated to the work of the #1 Protege of Nigel Andrews. Irony no longer in doubt as Serendipity’s Sister. I thank you for all your efforts!
April 29th, 2017 at 12:15 am
I’ve been reading your reviews for over ten years now, and have always found them helpful and entertaining. I think I can safely say that your recommendations have had more impact on my HK viewing habits than any other source. As an international fan, it’s hard to tell which films are actually worth my time (especially these days). The bigger ones always get a lot of press, but it’s the smaller, more local fare that’s far more interesting. So thank you for introducing me to so many films I otherwise would have missed. Best of luck to you and your family.
May 4th, 2017 at 11:54 am
Chiming in to tell you I had a lot of time and it was well spent reading about you. Thank you for everything. Will be waiting for the next update soon
May 11th, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Back in 2003 when I was working in the cinema industry, I needed to read your reviews for work purposes. A few years later I moved on out of the that line but your site still remains in my top 10 bookmarks. I remember I used to get new stuff almost weekly (back then HK had so much more films) and like some of the people who commented here, this is the first place I go to after I watch any HK film. Because the after-film credits don’t complete the film; www.lovehkfilm.com does! The review methods and structures are just awesome. Sometimes I wish you guys also reviewed Hollywood stuff. Dropping a note to give you a HUGE thank you for the contents of this site. Your son is going to be as tall as you one day so don’t let that day come too soon. God bless.
May 24th, 2017 at 9:33 pm
Love your reviews. So honest and real, it’s very refreshing and gives real perspective and articulation to my inner voice when I watch a film. All the best to you and your family, hopefully you’ll come back!
May 25th, 2017 at 10:44 am
It is great that you are focusing on the important things in your life and placing family first. I just wanted to say thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into your reviews and this website. I have always enjoyed your writing style and humour. I love reading your reviews and I find myself re-reading reviews for my favourite movies simply because your writing style makes me laugh. I have been following this website for over ten years and I find that you have such a wealth of information on it. You are my go-to source for reviews and I trust your analysis for whether a movie is good or not.
I was happy with a handful of updates a year and even without updates this site is such a treasure trove of Asian cinematic information.
For selfish reasons, I hope to see the site active again in the future. But for now, thank you for all the laughs and details you have provided in the past 15 years. This site has been wonderful.
May 31st, 2017 at 11:47 am
What you have done was immensely important and it will endure. You have been a guide to me through the vast world of HK cinema, and your research and information-filled reviews (brilliantly written, whatever you may modestly say) are models of how to talk intelligently and excitingly about this tradition.
Kozo, we owe you everything. You have earned a long stretch of family leave and time to pursue your writing in other venues. We all appreciate everything you’ve done!
David
June 2nd, 2017 at 5:26 am
Family and friends should certainly come first and if you are lucky enough to find both you should concentrate on that.
I gather that you feel that this site has become somewhat dated, but I urge you to at least keep paying the hosting fee and retain the content. Remember, it is the content that counts. I take pronouncements about “the Internet never forgetting” with a large pile of salt. Content disappears off the net all of the time and even with the way-back machine being around, I think that there is a risk that in a hundred years, this period will be considered a dark age of civilization because nobody can find out anything about it. Even the material you think might be dated is part of history.
All things have their ebb and flow. I used to collect VCDs and DVDs so the reviews came rather early and then I had to wait for them to come out. Now all of the shops have gone and I refuse to look for illegal streaming sites. But now, in my small city of Edmonton, there is a theatre where new releases play and often finish their runs even before the good folks over at Kongcast get a chance to publish the reviews in their podcasts. Their reviews and yours often fill in the blanks for me.
Plus, when a sequel comes out, your reviews provide needed background for me, for example the latest in the Love In a Puff series.
Finally, a basic cable channel called “Omni” usually plays HK films once a week and sometimes they are a few years old. So, the site continues to fill a purpose, even if it is not being updated and more.
But meanwhile, don’t miss a single school concert or soccer game
Finally, thank you for posting that you have gone silent. A nice bit of web etiquette that is often lacking.
June 9th, 2017 at 9:55 pm
I’ve never commented or participated in any of the votes but I just wanted to post to say thank you for all the effort you’ve put into this site over the years. I found it while googling reviews for a film back in 2010 and checked in periodically for updates and the end of the year awards. Your website has become a guide to HK cinema for me! Congratulations on your second son and I wish you the best!
June 10th, 2017 at 12:27 am
Hi Kozo, your site means a lot to me. I discovered and tracked HK movies with it in the 2000s, and rented movies based on your recommendations. I still return for your reviews, which I find funny and coming from an authentic place. You have built something big here (it’s big to me), and I think it’s important that you at least keep it running so other people can refer to your reviews. I hope you’ll reap from the long tail of content. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your words over the years.
June 14th, 2017 at 5:18 pm
I stumbled onto your site when i was fourteen years old. I am now a grown adult at twenty-eight, outfitted with a career in sales, contemplating marriage and property ownership. Your site is the sole reason i stayed so connected to my heritage and culture despite being born and raised out of Canada.
Thank you for putting in the effort all these years and though it will be sad to see this site under hiatus until further notice, I am glad that you’ve got your priorities set in place.
Most importantly much appreciation for illustrating a brief ’skinny’ to the genesis of lovehk’s humble beginnings and rewards this endeavor has brought you. The context illustrated here certainly serves as a great inspiration for an individual aspiring to put his hobby/interest out there into
the ether someday.
All the best.
June 23rd, 2017 at 3:14 am
thank you for sharing this post and the site with us =) it’s old but gold!
July 1st, 2017 at 12:20 am
This comment was way overdue but I remember my HK craze as middle-schooler going into high school. This site brought me great memories and great recommendations. I even bought the Blade based on your choices, which was regrettable since it wasn’t my type at all. Thanks for the laughs and thank you for having a good source material to reference from.
July 3rd, 2017 at 8:24 am
Hey Ross! Wow, 15 years huh? Those were the days! Before this site’s creation I would return to a better HK every year as a teen during my birthday and summer holidays. The cinema would be my second home. My cousins weren’t always feeling 100% about my film choices but I was young on these mean streets. Seriously, they were six strong guys who were good to have around when things got dangerous and the cops weren’t there to round up the bad guys.
After running out of time I’d fly back home feeling blue cause of the lack of HK films showing here. I would eventually convince my Tiger Mom the second time around to get a PC with net access to help my studies. But after leaving me alone I’d procrastinate by searching about the HK film scene and as fate would have it, it had to be lovehkfilm I would settle on and visit regularly throughout the years.
As I got older I would finally tone down the horseplay and find my summer love who would tick all my dream girl boxes and marry. Now I have my own heroic duo (more like the crying duo) but not twins unfortunately. I like to think I’m their Mr.Cool but as long as I’m there for them, that’s what matters. I wish you, your family and the new addition on the way all the best.
I want to thank you and your contributers for all the quality material written over the years. Whether informative or just for the laughs or the lulz, I’ve enjoyed them all. Reading back its been an entertaining ride. Anyway I better wrap this up before a war heats up with the wife and she duels and sends my backside to kungfuland for not helping out.
Thanks once again.
The Legend of Kozo never dies, it just updates whenever.
July 7th, 2017 at 10:47 am
Dear Kozo,
I discovered your site 12 years ago due to a love for Asian (initially Hong Kong and then others) movies. Looking for Movie that would feed my passion for Chow Yuen Fatt and John Woo. Which then segued into discovering other HK movie genres. Having read your reviews on your website for many years but never contributed, I would like to thank you for all the time you have put in. Being of similar age to you with also similarly new-found responsibilities, I empathise with you. Though I do not know you personally, from your writing and your indicated actions, I trust you will do your best as a father to your children, as we all hope to be. I wish you and your family well, and hope that you will some day return to writing for the website.
Many thanks for the many reviews,
Adrian
July 12th, 2017 at 9:25 am
Still love this website FULL STOP…. I have been reading your reviews for ages and it is sad to see this website slow down but hey everyone has their own life to attend to. take care buddy. god bless..
July 15th, 2017 at 6:13 am
I’m a very emotional guy.
November 26th, 2017 at 11:55 am
I JUST HAVE TO SAY that this site was one of the avenues of asian cinema which I have doted on over and over again over the past 7 years. I am so grateful for the work you’ve done for our community and I really wish you, your children and family all the best! Thank you for your contributions and please know that it’s enriched the lives of so many.
- From Canada
November 29th, 2017 at 3:44 pm
This was my go to site for reviews of movies I would like to watch. I have to say the reviews are pretty accurate- meaning usually the movies that you say are skip, are also usually skips on my list. I’m really going to miss this site and reading your reviews. I don’t think I would have watched as many HK movies if it wasn’t for this site. Enjoy your time with your family, because that’s definitely more important than the website. If you ever want to take on people to do reviews for movies, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a couple here or there to keep the site running (if ever that come across your mind).
December 2nd, 2017 at 4:18 pm
Well done Kozo. So many great reviews over the years. I’ve really enjoyed reading your writing and insight into HK films. I’ve been looking at this on and off for 10+ years. I really like your Top HK Films Lists! Enjoy the time with the kids! Thanks again Kozo.
December 4th, 2017 at 12:38 pm
It’s as good a time to quite as any… the HK cinema golden age is long gone and the new stuff just isn’t the same. This will remain one of the Web’s best sources for that stuff.
March 13th, 2018 at 2:00 pm
Hello, Kozo, honestly I only come to these site time to time when I’m in my need of good HK films. Your reviews always help me to decide what to watch next. Wish you good health always
August 20th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Kozo,
I remember finding your site when I was in high school. A local TV station would broadcast HK films every Saturday, and for quite a while those films were the highlight of my week. Your reviews were perfect companion pieces to what I had just watched—they gave me insight into the films themselves, their cultural context, and your large archive of reviews gave me a general sense of what else was worth watching.
It’s been years since I’ve visited this site, until today when I caught an HK film and instinctively knew where to go for more information. I don’t watch as many HK films anymore, but they were a big influence when I was developing my love for the medium. I now work in film distribution. On a weird, tangential level I think your site helped push me to where I am today.
Thank you so much for growing this site over the years. Whatever happens from this point on, know that your reviews are a valuable reference point. Please consider keeping this site online so that others can develop a greater appreciation of HK film. And good luck with raising a family—I wish you many happy experiences together!