Yes, PLEASE give as many Chinese movie recommendations as possible (in pinyin, please), and if possible, noting which do and do not have subtitles. I scour the DVD shops for Chinese films with English subtitles and it's not always easy to find new ones I haven't seen. Actually, I'll watch just about anything that has the subtitles because I'm desperate (I even watched My Long March last week!). But really nice to know which ones are good, and even better if I can ask for a specific one.

Thank you, Echo

OK, I got Brenden's: 阳光灿烂的日子 and echo's 4. keep em rolling kids...

In case you're checking US shops for Echo's recommendations: "甜蜜蜜" is also known as "Comrades: Almost A Love Story." 摇啊摇，摇到外婆桥 is Zhang Yimou's "Shanghai Triad;" 周渔的火车 is "Zhou Yu's Train."

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I really enjoyed "The Grandmaster" (一代宗师), the latest Wong Kar-wai movie. A wonderful mixture of kung-fu and lacrimae rerum that works much better than it has any right to. I saw the mainland cut; not sure how it will change in its travels, but I'm told that it's being recut/already has been recut for international release.

Feng Xiaogang's early comedies are a lot of fun: 甲方乙方 is a little bit corny, but it's basically a funny, good-hearted little movie. 大腕儿 ("Big Shot's Funeral") falls apart at the end but is one of the smartest and most self-aware comedies to come out of China -- and it features Donald Sutherland in possibly the best turn ever by a foreign actor in a Chinese movie. The subtitles are excellent, too.

Zhang Yimou is kind of hard to pin down. His more recent movies have been pretty mercilessly mocked -- mostly deservedly so, though 满城尽带黄金甲/Curse of the Golden Flower is a lot more interesting when viewed through the prism of Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai -- but "To Live" (活着) really is a great movie. An improvement on the book, in some parts. His comedy 有话好好儿说 ("Be Cool") is almost completely forgotten, but has some great moments in it, and is a nice snapshot of Beijing at a point in time that now feels very distant. (For more Beijing nostalgia, the old TV series "The Editing Room" -- 编辑部的故事 -- is about as good as it gets.)

"Crazy Stone" (疯狂的石头) is a feather-light comedy, but is very well-made and is probably the closest we'll ever get to a Mainland Chinese heist movie under the current censorship regime. It also features a lot of Chongqing dialect, which I find adorably doofy.

@murrayjames,

Strangely, your comment has just stirred Echo to yet another round of expressing her feelings on that film. On behalf of the rest of the office, I thank you for that.

On a separate note, I _would_ challenge anyone in the anti-Liu camp to watch the 2000 Hong Kong flick "Needing You" (孤男寡女 also sometimes also listed as 需要你), which is basically a Hong Kong version of Working Girl and thus further evidence that Andy is the Harrison Ford of China. The only downside was the casting of Sammi Cheung instead of Zhang Baizhi, but otherwise a very solid flick, and good listening practice in the mandarin version too.

Surely that should be Zhāng Bózhī, no? AKA Cecilia Cheung? 名不正则言不顺, yo.

你们是真的棒极了！ this is wonderful! such a good way to learn. i'm going to watch everyone of these (starting with 阳光灿烂的日子 which i have now).

谢谢谢谢谢谢！！！

@trevelyan,

Challenge accepted! Speaking of Hong Kong films, I watched Chungking Express recently and I loved it. Is there a Mandarin version of it? If so I'd love to watch it. Either way, I massively recommend it to anyone who just wants to watch a good Chinese movie!