Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Alison

I think the best word for this action film is probably “sumptuous”: costumes, locations, sets, characters, all rich and detailed. Another word, sadly, is “gristly”: the sound effects were particularly, well, effective. They conveyed quite realistically the sound of human meaty bits being torn asunder: one could almost discern the difference between bone-crunching and ligament-tearing noises. Not that one wished to, of course.

One might also wish to close one’s eyes during the opening sequence, unless one has a very … (read more)

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The Bride With White Hair 2 (1993)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Alison

The Bride With White Hair is one of the guaranteed classics of Asian cinema. The Bride With White Hair 2, alas, is not.

I soooo wanted to be able to say something good about this. Really. But there’s precious little good to say. All the glories of the first film have turned to dust and ashes and second-rate burlesque here. The sweeping epic beauty of the original, which could make us forgive the occasional scenery-chewing (such as Francis’ star … (read more)

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The Bride with White Hair (1993)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Alison

This is simply one of the finest films ever made, in my not so humble opinion. Read on, and I’ll tell you why.

First up, the director and producer were both determined that this would be a special swordplay movie, unlike the usual genre fare. Raymond Wong’s Mandarin Pictures is known for turning out well-crafted films, and this one was lovingly tended by all those working on it. No time or expense was to be spared in bringing this novel … (read more)

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Breaking News (2004)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Jonathan

Johnnie To confuses me. I have never been able to satisfactorily account for why I enjoy his films so much, and I don’t like that. It has always seemed to me that he strikes a very uneasy balance between visual style and dramatic substance; those devices (plot and character-related) To employs to lend weight to the emotional side of his films are usually very conventional, but somehow he always manages to obscure this until I think about it afterwards, which … (read more)

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Boiling Point (1990)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Jason

Boiling Point is every Kitano fan’s dream; the humour, the action, the violence, the style, and the narrative, all scream trademark Kitano.

Boiling Point is narratively well crafted. Kitano has done what he always does, which is to create a film with heavy investment in extreme contrast. Often it is the contrast between ultra-violence and humour, or between dynamism and stillness, but in Boiling Point, character contrast is most explicit. The passive characters that make up the film’s baseball … (read more)

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Blue Gender: The Warrior (2004)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Andy

Blue Gender: The Warrior falls squarely into the "fish out of post-apocalyptic water" genre. Yugi, who has been asleep for twenty-two years, is awakened to discover himself in a war zone with giant bugs. As is the case with late arrivals, he spends much of his time proclaiming that, ‘things can’t be all bad’ before wandering into dangerous situations with said bugs. Naturally the Blue offer no concessions to Yugi, keen to employ their strategy of tearing humans in two, … (read more)

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Blood Rain (2005)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Deni

Blood Rain was introduced at the Brisbane International Film Festival as a cross-genre film, and it turned out to be an accurate assessment. A little bit period film, a little bit classic detective thriller, a little bit slasher film, a little bit rock and roll. Okay, not so much with the rock and roll (unless you count the numerous and nasty ways people die), but this mix bag of genres is far from confused, taking features from each and making … (read more)

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Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by John Snadden

Taiwanese director T.F.Mou may not be a prolific film-maker but he is definitely a controversial one. Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre is the follow-up film to his grisly 1988 docudrama Man Behind The Sun .

Working with a larger budget and a broader historical canvas, Mou recreates the horrors behind the rape of Nanking in 1937 by the invading Japanese army. The total destruction of Nanking was seen by the Japanese government as being crucial in breaking the spirit of … (read more)

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