30th Hong Kong International Film Festival

Posted on May 1, 2006 by Deni

Johnny To and the art of non-disclosure

Day 1: Well the 30th Hong Kong International Film Festival started off with a bang on opening night, although it might be a little more appropriate to say it started off with a grind, considering that one of the two films on show was the premiere of Johhny To’s latest offering, the sequel to last year’s gritty gangster hit Election. Now, that might sound like a criticism but when it comes to … (read more)

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Art of Fighting (2006)

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Posted on May 1, 2006 by James

Every year a few more high school fighting movies emerge from Korea, but few are as likably conventional and entertaining as Art of Fighting. Often bogged down in weighty social commentary, historical context, and orgasmic explosions of brutal violence, movies like Friend and Once Upon a Time in High School tend to go places that audiences may not always expect or welcome. Breaking tradition with films like these, Art of Fighting remains focused on concluding its simple set-up, which … (read more)

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Eko Eko Azarak (1995)

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Posted on May 1, 2006 by Alison

If this film was an ad in the personals, it would read something like this:

LESBIAN SCHOOLGIRLS SEEKING SATAN needs recruits: intending applicants must bring their own sharp implements.

Of course, the whole film’s not like that. Not quite. For starters, there’s only one lesbian schoolgirl. But someone is seeking Satan, and there are plenty of sharp implements used to great effect on the students. In fact, the whole thing feels comfortingly like one of those 90s films of the … (read more)

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The Art Of Seduction (2005)

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Posted on May 1, 2006 by Eugene

Rom-coms have such a tried and true formula to them that when one tries to move away from the genre tropes and distinguish itself under its own merits, some kudos must be given to the attempt. A shame then that Art of Seduction plays quite true to form, and what little it does do to separate itself from the multitudes actually sucks the fun out of it and makes it a chore to watch.

Art of Seduction suffers from being … (read more)

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Inu Yasha (2000)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Alison

Inu Yasha is strangely addictive. I stumbled on it by accident, ambling through the aisles looking for some anime that didn’t feature either stonkin’ great robots or panties. Now, it’s one of my guilty pleasures.

Probably this has something to do with the variety. After all, there’s a quest, for shards of the Sacred Jewel. There’s action aplenty, as the growing band fights multitudinous demons along the way. There’s Kagome’s double life, as she struggles with her schoolwork then dashes … (read more)

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Parasite Dolls (2004)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Andy

What’s the opposite of nostalgia? Parasite Dolls is like stepping back in time — but in a bad way. Making the whole thing just that little bit more inexplicalbe is the quality of the team. When you have three creators who have director, screenwriting and character design credits on Patlabor TV, Lain and Samurai Champloo, you expect better. There is an overwhelming urge to keep them back after class and sternly inform them you expected better.

Parasite Dolls… (read more)

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Kill! (1968)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Justin

This film’s a great bit of fun for fans of Japanese cinema, particularly the chambara genre — swordplay films set in period Japan. Kill! is a comedic take on the genre’s conventions, loosely based on the same source material as Akira Kurosawa’s film Sanjuro (Shugoro Yamamoto’s novel Peaceful Days).

Our two lead characters are the simple farmer who wants desperately to become a samurai, Hanji (played by Etsushi Takahashi), and a worldly samurai-turned-yakuza named Genta (played by Tatsuya Nakadai). … (read more)

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Ikiru (1952)

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Posted on April 30, 2006 by Ben Jennings

You know the story. The terminally ill protagonist is going to spend the final months of his life on a quest for redemption, right? Well, sort of. The thing that distinguishes Ikiru from its countless imitators (I reviewed one of its more distant descendants, the South Korean Short Time, a few months ago) is that the main character, Watanabe, is not such a bad guy to start with. Yes, he is a bureaucrat who has spent his entire life … (read more)

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