By Cheryl Eddy

BY NOW MOST local film fans are aware of the Four Star Theatre's plight. The Richmond District landmark's lease is up next May, and as of this writing, the future of one of San Francisco's cinematic treasures is in doubt. The nightmarish thought of a city without a Four Star – where owner Frank Lee programs new releases and krazy kung fu klassics with equal relish – makes supporting the theater's eighth annual Asian Film Festival of paramount importance. This year's fest is probably Lee's best ever, with a stellar mix of mostly genre films hailing from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand, and the United States.

Reason number one (of, oh, about a million) to keep the Four Star open well into the next millennium: it's the only spot in town (and one of very, very few in the country) to catch brand-new films from Hong Kong. Fittingly, several H.K. selections make their U.S. debuts as part of the festival; crowd pleasers all, they run the gamut from romance to action and feature performances by all manner of megastars, including Cecilia Cheung, Eric Tsang, Lau Ching Wan, and Anthony Wong.

If you caught the blockbuster Infernal Affairs at the 2003 San Francisco International Film Festival (or have been following its path through the Hollywood-remake rumor mill, which currently has Martin Scorsese slated to direct stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon), you already know the cloth whereof Colour of the Truth is constructed. If not, imagine all the factors that make a Hollywood cops-and-robbers flick exciting: gun battles, chase scenes, vicious villains, last-minute double crosses. Now double up on everything (especially gore and plot twists), toss in some dirty jokes, and cast eternally cool Wong as top cop Huang Jiang, who may or may not have committed the rooftop double murder that sets Colour of the Truth's revenge plot in motion.

It's all the same to vengeful Cola (Raymond Wong), the so-nicknamed son of undercover cop 7-Up (Lau Ching Wan), one of the murder victims in question. Cola joins the force and rises quickly in the ranks, driven by his secret goal of taking Huang down. Cola's plan is complicated when he's assigned to work with Huang and finds him to be a rather outstanding person. What's more, the high-stakes case they're working on – involving a ponytailed gangster boss, a ruthless crook who goes by "Cyclops," and a huge stolen stash of cocaine – may somehow also be entangled in Cola's past, especially when the son of Huang's possible other rooftop victim (Jordan Chan) emerges, spouting Bible verses and aiming to cement Cola's loyalty to the dark side. All told, Colour of the Truth is a welcome stylistic departure from low-comedy maestro Wong Jing (who codirects with Marco Mak); gun-fu devotees would do well not to miss it.

The Wong Jing we know and sometimes love returns to familiar form with Sex and the Beauties, which draws its title and themes of single-gal tomfoolery from Sex and the City but also comes bearing superglued body parts, spontaneous break dancing, and fright wigs all its own. Psychoanalyst Selina (Carina Lau) is soured on love; her mother (Cheng Pei-pei in a cameo) has just been married for the eighth time. Selina's circle of friends, including erotica writer Philadelphia, extreme sportswoman Danger, and tough gal Tank Lady, are also romantically challenged. The many subplots revolve around the transformation of feisty punk rocker Yuki (Cecilia Cheung) into a cold-hearted swan; Selina's new patient, a weeping wise guy; and, naturally, a slew of generally ridiculous suitors. Sex and the Beauties – which is virtually sex free – comes off like the cinematic equivalent of a fruity cocktail that's been overloaded with too many ingredients. Still, if you can stomach a repulsive snot joke that gets repeated a few too many times, the film ends up being largely enjoyable.

Goofy comedy reaches high-concept nirvana in Edmond Pang's Men Suddenly in Black, which is styled exactly like an espionage thriller (dramatic music, judiciously employed slo-mo, etc.). However, the mission impossible in question is adultery, to be carried out by four sad-sack husbands (including ringleader Eric Tsang) sworn to this most top-secret of pursuits. Naturally, it's easier to make light of infidelity when the would-be cheaters are such bumbling idiots. "Do you want to be a wanker ... or a fucker?" Tsang asks his cohorts, drill sergeant-style; after it's established that everyone wants to be a fucker, the mayhem begins. The highlight is probably a last-minute escape from a brothel that's about to be raided by cops, complete with a back-alley battle fought with water hoses and camera flashes layered over with gunshot sound effects. It should be mentioned that Men Suddenly in Black is saved from being completely sexist by the quartet's equally conniving wives, whom the men constantly underestimate to great comic effect.

Far more serious-minded romantic pursuits color Derek Yee's Lost in Time. Cheung – who also appears in Sex and the Beauties as a character nicknamed "Stained Teeth" – downshifts to play a woman overwhelmed first by grief, then financial woes, after her bus driver boyfriend dies in a traffic accident. She inherits both his bus (which she repairs and begins driving herself) and his young son; amid a sea of troubles, the only bright spot is her friendship with sad-faced Hale (Lau Ching Wan, who's played many a tough guy but proves equally adept at acting opposite a preschool-aged costar). Lost in Time is a pleasant surprise, a sweet and deeply felt drama that dips only a few toes (two words: orphanage scene) into the swamp of overly maudlin sentiments. Also worth a mention in the same breath is period romance The Foliage, which comes not from Hong Kong but mainland China and is wrapped in a notably less flashy package. However, it does star the Angelina Jolie-lipped Shu Qi, recently seen stateside as human cargo in The Transporter, as well as imports like Millennium Mambo. Hair wrapped tightly in braids, she's a comely revolutionary who unexpectedly finds love while working the countryside during the Cultural Revolution.

Direct intelligence from Lee himself: just added to the program is Throw Down, an action drama about judo fighters directed by reliably great Johnnie To (Fulltime Killer, Running on Karma). Lee, who says he's "keeping [his] fingers crossed" about the Four Star's future, is hopefully anticipating a meeting with the property owners – a church that bought the site in 2001 and would like to move in – as well as merchant and neighborhood groups. He has the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation in his corner and says he's also received a lot of support from the local Chinese media, as well as throngs of loyal Four Star patrons. The man behind the Four Star encourages folks to write to their local supervisors, stressing the importance of independently owned theaters. Also, while you're at the festival, be sure to sign the pro-Four Star petition; check for updates online at save4star.net.

'Four Star Asian Film Festival' runs Thurs/12 through Aug. 22, Four Star Theatre, 2200 Clement, S.F. Tickets ($6-$10) may be purchased at the box office or by calling (415) 666-3488, faxing (415) 386-3718, or e-mailing here. For a full schedule go to www.4starmovietheatre.net. For show times see Film listings.