Hong Kong favorite Michael Hui produced, co-wrote and stars in this rollicking comedy about warring restaurants. Hui runs a gloriously grungy BBQ duck joint where, though roaches are doing the backstroke in the soup and the staff spit-cleans the chopsticks, customers still line up for his fresh, lovingly hand-roasted ducks. He rules his world like a Chinese Jack Benny, brazenly exploiting his sad-sack staff (which includes his basset-faced real-life brother, Ricky) and too cheap to buy his devoted wife a birthday present. His little empire crumbles when, across the street, a new restaurant opens-Danny's Chicken Tornado, a sparkling, super-efficient American-style fast-food place. Danny lures away Hui's customers with slick TV commercials, free giveaways, and a crisply uniformed staff as polite and programmed as Moonies. Chicken and Duck Talk details Hui's efforts to catch up, using his own hilariously low-budget gimmicks. One of the movie's real pleasures is the down-to-earth way it presents Hong Kong's urban clutter and nutty intensity. It'll also make you as hungry for duck as Tampopo made you for noodles. --Tod Booth