Like us on Facebook!
Recent Reviews
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
- Midnight (2021)
- Magnificent Warriors (1987)
- Odd Couple (1979)
- Three (2016)
- Dreadnaught (1981)
- Decision to Leave (2022)
- Once Upon a Time in China & America (1997)
- Bad Guy
- Dali & Cocky Prince
- A Korean Odyssey
- Special Delivery (2022)
- Hwarang
- My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho
- Strong Girl Bong Soon
Recent Articles
Elsewhere on the Web
Blog Archives
Fearless (2005)
This is apparently to be Jet Li’s final martial arts film, a fact which saddens the whole of martial arts fandom. So there was a lot riding on this one: would Jet the martial artist go out with a bang, or with a whimper?
Well, fortunately for all of us, it’s a definite bang. Jet, no in his mid-forties, may have slowed down a little, but he’s still got the effortless grace and balance that made him a star. Watching … (read more)
Comments Off on Fearless (2005)
Everlasting Regret (2005)
If the idea of one of those ponderous European romantic dramas – only Asian! – appeals to you, then look no further than Stanley Kwan’s disappointing latest effort. A woman leads her life (which is, naturally, only ever defined in terms of her relationships with men) set against the background of this event and that event; and if it sounds like I am failing to pay proper respect to the impact of World War 2 and the Cultural Revolution on … (read more)
Comments Off on Everlasting Regret (2005)
The Emperor and the Assassin (1999)
It’s by Chen Kaige, who made Farewell, My Concubine, so you know it will be huge and detailed. It stars Gong Li and Zhang Feng Yi, both mainland megastars, so you know it’s big budget. And it garnered lots of attention internationally, so you know it translates well. But for my money, it’s a bit too big, and a bit too overblown, although given that it’s one of the biggest stories in Chinese history that’s understandable. Just don’t watch … (read more)
Comments Off on The Emperor and the Assassin (1999)
Ermo (1994)
Since the institution of economic reforms beginning in the late 1970s, China has been a country that has seen a lot of change; even now more so than ever before. As more private enterprises have been allowed to flourish, the country has found itself in quite a dramatic transition from traditional Maoism to the materialist values of capitalism. While Ermo may comically tell a simple tale of a family from a small Chinese town, it finds itself deep within this … (read more)
Comments Off on Ermo (1994)
South of the Clouds (2004)
The “road movie” is not a literal genre like, say, detective fiction, but more of a metaphysical concept of a journey and its destination. In fact, it almost always begins being defined by its illusory or even mythological destination and ends being defined only by the journey – transcending its physical state into something more emotional and spiritual. This concept has held the fascination of many filmmakers, particularly recently with Korean director Song Il-gon with such films as Flower Island… (read more)
Comments Off on South of the Clouds (2004)
Hua Yao Bride In Shangri-la (2005)
Aside from the occasional films that slip below or through the government radar, Chinese cinema appears to often suffer from the same nationalistic self-obsession that gripped Australian cinema in the 1980s, where it seemed every film needed to exalt national identity through rural tales of sheep dogs, criminals, horses, criminals on horses, etc. Rural China is not just a common backdrop for Chinese films but its cultural exponents are a crucial focus for many of its stories. Hua Yao Bride … (read more)
Comments Off on Hua Yao Bride In Shangri-la (2005)
Seven Swords (2005)
Seven Swords is another enormous film from Hong Kong’s prolific master producer/director Tsui Hark, whose Once Upon a Time in China and Chinese Ghost Story series are regarded as classics of HK film. This film brings together a lot of talent: Tsui Hark as director, Keung Kwok Man as director of photography, Japanese composer Kenji Kawai (best known for Ghost in the Shell) and a trio of big names in action choreography — veteran martial arts director Lau Kar … (read more)
Comments Off on Seven Swords (2005)
The World (2004)
I would’ve thought it impossible that such a beautiful movie could be produced in such an inescapably tacky setting. But after all this is the work of perhaps the most important film maker of China’s “sixth generation”, Jia Zhang-ke. Jia released his Cultural Revolution masterpiece Platform in 2000, and with the contemporary The World he may even have outdone himself. In any case, the two movies stand as a magnificent, if sobering, portrait of modern China.
World Park is a … (read more)
Comments Off on The World (2004)