Blog Archives

It is always interesting when folks see a film and call it ‘hard to classify’. Such was some of the pre-buzz I had heard about Jang Chul-soo’s debut film Bedevilled. Of course, not all films present themselves as classifiable genre flicks. But while some do so awkwardly (Cowboys and Aliens, anyone?), others deliberately skirt with and deconstruct genre conventions, and Bedevilled certainly does that. In fact, while the title resonates throughout the plot, it could be seen to … (read more)

Way back in my misspent youth (spent watching telly, mostly), there was one of those midday movies on the box that captured my imagination. Titled Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders, the film was, to my young mind, cheeky, fun, spooky, and a tantalising glimpse into a world I had never thought of: the China of over a thousand years ago.

Years later I stumbled across Barry Hughart’s terrific and delightful trilogy of novels of a China ‘that never … (read more)

Recently I watched Monsters, Gareth Edwards’ reasonably low-budget sci-fi and romance flick. Getting over the being-bashed-on-the-head subtext about racial inequality and the U.S.’ view of the poor and foreigners alike as ‘alien’, the film has a very gorgeous sense of cinematography. The landscapes are verdant, the cityscapes alive, rusted, and full of movement. Edwards’ film captures beautiful moments with economy and subtlety.

Why mention this? Because unfortunately the very next film I watched, immediately afterwards, was this film, Ip … (read more)

Years ago, I saw Takashi Miike’s Gozu. When the film finished a certain reviewer behind me laughed for about a minute, then drew breath and exclaimed “What the f*ck was that all about?”

That’s Miike for you. And so welcome to Yatterman, a film that’s kind of like inserting that weird popping candy into your eyeballs. But not, as it happens, a WTF flick for the right reasons.

Yatterman was originally a ’70s anime on the telly that … (read more)

There’s an awful lot of biffo in ‘Death Trance’, which is to be expected from the Yuki Shimomura, the action director of the barking mad Versus making his directorial debut here.

And that’s pretty much the point of the film — there’s not too much interference from that pesky plot stuff. In fact, at one point, Grave, the vaguely androgynous anti-hero of the film, gets an explanation of back story from Ryuen (Takamasa Suga), the temple monk sent after him … (read more)

This is Bong Joon-ho’s third feature film, following Barking Dogs Never Bite and the wonderful Memories of Murder. Korean film watchers will know that The Host broke box office records in Korea, surpassing the previous record set by Taegukgi two years ago.

Of course The Host has all the signifiers of ‘blockbuster’ about it. A big cast in a large budgeted monster flick. But such simple facts belie the often intimate and subversive nature of the film.

It has … (read more)

About half way through Battle of Wits I put the movie on pause, tottered over to the kitchen, put on the kettle and idly set my thoughts to punning on the title. (For the record, I came up with Rattle of Zits, Cattle of Nits, and Tattle of Gits. Nervously Noel Coward brilliance, I do not think …) Cup of tea in hand, I sat outside on the balcony and read for a while.

You get the gist, dear reader: … (read more)

Back in my wayward youth – not all that dissimilar to my wayward adulthood – I recall watching numerous horror anthology films on late night Saturday TV. Those were the days. Corkers like the original Tales from the Crypt with Peter Cushing and, um, Joan Collins, and Trilogy of Terror, the well known trio of films all starring Karen Black, one of which featured a particularly nasty African Zuni fetish doll that comes to life and wreaks merry havoc.… (read more)