NOVEMBER 3-16

The Hong Kong film industry is big on sequels, so why not a sequel to the Biograph’s successful HK Film Fest? The conversation piece in this selection is Ringo Lam’s City on Fire, the 1987 Chow Yun-Fat vehicle from which Quentin Tarantino allegedly borrowed the scenario for Reservoir Dogs. Chow Yun-Fat also stars in Lam’s Full Contact, in which an attempt to hijack an ammunition truck goes wrong, and in Once a Thief, the fest’s only film directed by John Woo, the genre’s poetic master. Also included are a wide variety of kung fu flicks, stretching as far back as 1978’s Drunken Master, the rather crude (in both production values and humor) action comedy that established the career of Jackie Chan. The latter films include period pieces such as Wong Jing’s Last Hero in China, another elaboration on the legend of Wong Fei-Hong, the righteous early-20th-century herbalist/martial-arts teacher, and contemporary fare like Johnny To’s The Heroic Trio (pictured), in which three superheroines battle horror-movie villains on blatantly artificial, color-coordinated sets. Festival schedules available at the Biograph; see Showtimes for this week’s listings. At the Biograph, 2819 M St. NW. (202) 333-2696. (Mark Jenkins)