10 Academy Award nominations don't do it justice.

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2001)

Remember when Americans joked about Chinese food being satisfying for only 10 minutes? Well, the cultural drama wheel has turned full-circle. In an era where Hollywood movies remain in your brain for only 10 nano seconds after the credit roll, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" never lets go. All the cliches work: classic, sumptuous to look at, a great story, mind-bending action, beautiful music, beauteous women, handsome men, costumes to die for, etc. Beyond Asian (Beijing papers panned it as ersatz), is this the first of many "world" pictures to easily travel across ethnic divides? If so, Hollywood no longer owns the formula.