Chicken and Duck Talk (1988)

Michael Hui, the comic behind The Private Eyes, owns a grubby Cantonese roast duck restaurant, and a gleaming fried chicken chain opens across the street. That is the whole premise, and it lands as a sharp, very funny look at a city where old family shops were losing ground to franchises and shiny frontage. Hui co-wrote it with director Clifton Ko, and his stingy, scheming, oddly lovable owner is one of the great comic performances of the decade. A good first comedy for anyone who finds Stephen Chow too frantic.