I realize there are some people out there who would question the sanity of leaving temperate Atlanta in January for a weekend vacation in Minneapolis. There are some people who would find travelling a thousand miles to see a movie a little strange. To me though, the opportunity to see one of my favorite films of all time, Treasure Hunt, on the big screen was more than enough to make such a trip worthwhile, but when you add a showing of Peace Hotel and the chance to meet some of the great people at Asian Media Access (the group which makes these film showings possible) then what's a few days of eighteen degress below zero wind chill?

Well, it's COLD, that's what it is! But I digress.

Pat Seeley, a friend and fellow CYFanatic, had long held it over my head that in her twin home towns of St Paul and Minneapolis a group called Asian Media Access was delighting audiences every weekend with showings of some of Hong Kong's best films via their "Cinema With Passion" series. Every Friday and Saturday night at midnight, plus a bonus showing on Saturday mornings, she was given the chance to see such classics as the A Better Tomorrow series, the God of Gamblers series and films from other stars as well. Since she had not let any opportunity to let this fact go by without stabbing me in the heart with it, I knew it was inevitable that one day I would just have to go up there and see it for myself. While Atlanta is quite a bit warmer temperature-wise, such a group as AMA doesn't exist to heat up our Southern Saturday nights with some truly great cinema.

So when I opened my email one day to see "aw, come on, Treasure Hunt is playing this Friday" what could I do but pack every pair of woolen socks I owned and hop on the next 727 up there?


The intrepid Pat met me at the airport Friday afteroon and showed me around the Twin Cities as we waited for the midnight showing of Treasure Hunt at the Riverview Theatre. The Riverview is a great 1950's retro building which has been restored to its original chic. A huge screen, spacious seating and a congenial atmosphere make it a wonderful place to watch movies. Cynthia Lee of Asian Media Access gave us a warm welcome and finally, after a journey of 1000 miles, I was sitting in a seat waiting for one of my favorite Chow Yun-Fat movies to begin.

Having come relatively late to appreciation of Hong Kong films in general, the only other CYF film I had ever seen in the theatre was Anna and The King. By the time I discovered CYF via The Replacement Killers, even The Corruptor had long vanished. While I've seen a lot of HK movies since then, it's always been in my living room; and for those who haven't had a chance to experience the wonders of HK cinema in the theatre, let me tell you: it's definitely not the same at home. When you see these films as they were meant to be seen, huge and glowing up there as you sit mesmerized in the dark, they are incredible.

Maybe, as Pat says, I need to get out more but for me just to see the Golden Princess logo appear on the screen was exciting. Since I've waxed enthusiastic about Treasure Hunt elsewhere I'll spare everyone my enthusiasm for the movie itself, but the experience was extraordinary and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Kindly overlooking the fact that I came out of the theatre still sniffling into my handkerchief, Cynthia and Bryan Worra, also of Asian Media Access, showed me their flyers (very professionally done, I might add) and gave me a pointer to their website. It's worth exploring - take a look at it for yourself at http://www.amamedia.org. It gives you not only a rundown on their "Cinema With Passion" series, but also some information on their organization, their goals as a group and volunteer opportunities.

The wonderful thing about these film showings is they are orchestrated by people who both know and love HK cinema. It's not done by some faceless group of people who are worried about boxoffice numbers, but by people who genuinely are interested in both the films they show and the audiences who turn out to see them. The fact they show such recent films as Running Out Of Time and Tricky Master as well as Once Upon A Time In China II and Dreadful Melody means there is something for almost every taste in HK cinema. And then of course there's CYF's films.

I was very impressed. Even more so when I found that they have three theatres in their cooperative effort. While we never made it to the Plaza Maplewood Theatre, Saturday morning Pat and I were there somewhat promptly for the showing of Peace Hotel at the Oak Street Cinema. Bryan was again in attendance wearing that spiffy coat of his. (Cynthia lucked out as I had forgotten my camera the evening before so she did not have to endure the ignominy of being featured on this page, but next time I'm up there I will make sure I remedy that situation.)

If you've never been a fan of Peace Hotel, please - if you ever get the opportunity to see it on the big screen, do so. You will change your mind about this one. I had always enjoyed the film, but after seeing it in a theatrical setting I have to say that it has moved up quite a bit in my estimation. The impact of the imagery is so much stronger that even Pat, who had never particularly cared for the film before, changed her opinion of it. It really is a different movie when seen as it was originally intended.

I had always suspected that I was really missing out by not seeing these great HK films in the theatre, but now I know what I've been missing. It's not easy to get a group like Asian Media Access together and it's not easy to get the rights to show these films, or to find proper venues, or to get the word out to potential audiences. If you live in the Midwest USA go to Minneapolis/St Paul and support AMA (but you might want to wait until the spring thaw, which I am told occurs sometime in May!). If you like Hong Kong cinema at all, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor, trust me. Plus they have great popcorn!

I really want to thank Cynthia and Bryan again for their warm welcome, to all of Asian Media Access for giving HK film enthusiasts such a great opportunity and of course many thanks to Pat for not only allowing me to stay at her house but refraining from laughing at me when my teeth started to chatter when it was a balmy 3 degrees outside. At least it was 3 degrees above zero.





go to site info page nbsp; return to main index





email the page maintainer