Zatoichi at Large (1972)

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Posted on February 26, 2006 by Mat

After the rather pitiful Zatoichi in Desperation I was worried that the Zatoichi franchise could be lost forever. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy writing a scathing review – in fact they’re easier to write, it’s just that you have to watch the film in the first place. Thus I had fairly low expectations when I began watching Zatoichi at Large. Thankfully it isn’t as bad as Zatoichi in Desperation. What am I saying?! It completely annihilates … (read more)

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Men Suddenly In Black (2003)

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Posted on February 25, 2006 by Ben Jennings

Men Suddenly in Black is a one-joke yet consistently funny spoof of Hong Kong gangster movies. I should probably make it clear from the outset that I have virtually no standards when it comes to the send-up comedy genre, as I find the jokes that don’t work frequently funnier than the ones that do. So if you load your movie with transparently stupid references to other movies and genre conventions, you’re unlikely to get an entirely bad review out of … (read more)

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…ing (2003)

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Posted on February 25, 2006 by Christian

On paper, a film mixing a terminally-ill main character with “first love, coming-of-age drama” might conjure all manner of images involving you reaching for a box of tissues. However, this proves to not be the case at all for …ing — a solid directorial debut for Lee Eon-hee, writer of Take Care of My Cat. While the film is certainly equipped with some emotional big guns, it chooses not to focus on any one aspect, balancing the serious tones … (read more)

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Nowhere to Hide (1999)

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Posted on February 19, 2006 by Alison

I sat down to this one with Mark’s comments ringing in my ears (or at least on my retinas, said comments being encapsulated in an email). And you know how it is when somebody waxes lyrical about a film: first you get excited, then you get dubious, and finally you get a bit blase. So there I was, curling up with a highly-recommended Korean actioner and two cats ( my film review colleagues) preparing to be disappointed.

And man, it … (read more)

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The Gingko Bed (1996)

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Posted on February 19, 2006 by James

Before renewing their association quite emphatically with the hit blockbuster Shiri, director Kang Je-gyu and actor Han Seok-kyu made The Gingko Bed together, a special-effects driven fantasy-horror movie that made a splash at the local box office and a healthy contribution to Korea’s emerging commercial cinema. Since 1996 both Kang (Taegukgi) and Han (The President’s Last Bang) have become superstars of their professions, marking The Gingko Bed as a film of high interest to their … (read more)

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Koma (2004)

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Posted on February 12, 2006 by Ben Jennings

Koma is a slick and enjoyable thriller from Hong Kong, very much in the same vein as the current crop of Japanese and Korean cute-girls-in-danger horror movies, but actually made a little more interesting by its lack of supernatural elements. Which is not to say it isn’t just as delightfully ridiculous.

At the beginning, rich spoiled brat Chi Ching (Angelica Lee) witnesses the aftermath of a horrible crime. Extremely drunk after a friend’s wedding reception, Ching finds a woman who … (read more)

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Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)

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Posted on February 12, 2006 by Mat

It’s a crying shame when a well-loved film series becomes so formulaic that each successive film brings nothing fresh or original to the story line or character development of the series. Unfortunately, it seems that Zatoichi in Desperation has steered the Zatoichi franchise down this path of fruitless repetition. Having said this, Zatoichi in Desperation cannot be called a terrible film: it’s just a bad film, as there are a handful of good scenes which make the film watchable.

It … (read more)

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Tony Takitani (2004)

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Posted on February 11, 2006 by Deni

Quietly surreal in quality, populated by characters that redefine the words ‘quirky’ and ‘dysfunctional’, the internationally popular and highly critically acclaimed works of Japanese author Haruki Murakami are wondrous and fascinating and inarguably unique. But by the very same token, one probably would never have really considered any Murakami novel suitable for translation to film, if the idea ever even occurred to start with.

In taking Tony Takitani (a short story written almost a decade ago and printed in English … (read more)

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