It's different. An Asian-American man, played by this film's screenwriter, Spencer Nakasako, flies from San Francisco to Hong Kong to deliver a briefcase to the Big Boss (Lo Wai). Eager to visit the port city before China reclaims it from Britain in 1997, the man encounters a hooker, a cabdriver, a geriatric "sex dancing" teacher and a butcher who interrupts his duck killing to deliver the sage aphorism that is the title.

Director Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing) lets the camera run wild through the streets, catching glimpses of people pulled apart by the explosive mix of capitalism and communism. Wang satirizes both isms unmercifully. The Big Boss is a cutthroat who nonetheless must save face when he learns that his mistress, sharply acted by Wang's wife, Cora Miao, is having a lesbian affair with his daughter. Wang uses all the resources of filmmaking to shock us into recognition of displacement in the modern world. Even when it drives you crazy, this pointedly witty film cuts to the quick.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”