Duelist (2005)

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Posted on March 4, 2007 by Alison

It’s rare to see a film that fetishises the male lead as this one does. Plenty of films do it for the female lead, by giving her lighting and camera angles that make her more alluring, or writing a character free of flaws yet still intriguing. But this time, it’s the man: an assassin known only as “Sad Eyes”.

This might sound odd, but if you watch the film you’ll see what I mean. A mysterious character clad all in … (read more)

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Offside (2006)

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Posted on March 4, 2007 by James

For almost ten years Australian football supporters have held a grudge against Iran, who qualified for the World Cup in 1998 at the expense of the Socceroos after mounting a thrilling two goal come back late in the second playoff match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I was one of those supporters. Even when Australia finally qualified for the World Cup again in 2006, I still shuddered at the bad memories from that awful evening (the first Iranian goal was … (read more)

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Devdas (2002)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Eugene

You watch Devdas and you hear it’s the most expensive film made and you can see where the money’s gone. It is one of the most opulent films I have seen in a long time. No longer do we care about the masses, but instead we focus on the big people who live big lives in big mansions – who love big and lose big.

Basically everything about Devdas is big.

The movie has an operatic air about it where … (read more)

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Demon City Shinjuku (1993)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Eugene

What do you do when its been 10 years since an inexplicable horror has descended upon a sizable part of Tokyo city and made its own? What recourse do you have when that same monster has spent the last 10 years building up the power and resources to visit the same calamity upon the entire world? What options are left when the greatest diplomat in the world, on the verge of solving the world’s greatest conflicts, is attacked and is … (read more)

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Death Duel (1977)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Justin

Oh, look, it’s another brightly-coloured Chu Yuan fantasy swordplay film, like the squillions of other ones he made for Shaw Brothers — except that this one has a number of features that make it a little different, and a bit of a surprise as well. Made in 1977, this film stars Derek Yee (David Chiang’s younger brother, and director of 2004’s great One Nite in Mongkok) as Third Master, reputedly the number one swordsman in the world. His stature … (read more)

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City Hunter (1992)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Alison

What can I say about City Hunter that hasn’t already been said? It stars Jackie Chan, although he’s forced by Wong Jing to be rather more of a buffoon than is strictly necessary. There’s Chingamy Yau, Joey Wong, and a couple of other glamorous babes, as should be expected in a Wong Jing flick. There’s a cruise ship, lots of rich people, and Richard Norton leading a posse of bad white guys (well, mostly white). Leon Lai Ming shows up … (read more)

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Election (2005)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Ben Jennings

This is one of those movies that just gets better and better the more you think about it. Johnnie To has actively sought to bring a realistic representation of the triad to the screen, to subvert the glamourised manner with which the Hong Kong cinema (To included) has portrayed its local gang culture, and lay bare its true nature. These kind of revisionist gangster movies have always been the best, and Election reminded me of The Godfather Part 2 and … (read more)

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The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Ben Jennings

A German/Mongolian co-production, The Cave of the Yellow Dog is, like its predecessor The Story of the Weeping Camel, a fairly cynical moneymaking exercise which should probably offend me a little more than it does. Using a whisper thin version of the classic rebellious-kid-adopts-animal storyline as a way to indulge the audience in the everyday lives of nomadic Mongolian sheep herders, the movie is aimed with merciless precision at the middlebrow arthouse audience, and should hit its target squarely.… (read more)

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