Kaante (2002)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Ching Yee

Is it a remake of Reservoir Dogs? Does it rip off The Usual Suspects? All of the above! Considering that Reservoir Dogs was inspired by Ringo Lam’s City on Fire and The Usual Suspects was inspired by Kurasawa’s Rashomon, it’s no surprise that this baby is a mixed kettle of fish. You can even throw in some Martin Scorsese and John Woo in there too. The director claimed that Kaante was also ‘inspired’ by several well known … (read more)

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Indian Summer (2001)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by James

If you can only take one memory with you when you die, what will it be? Jun-ha believes it will be the memory of a few summer days he spent with Shin-young, when both felt, perhaps for the first time, unashamedly happy and free.

Indian Summer is a courtroom drama that like other recent Korean films mobilises a unification metaphor in the service of a story about a problematic relationship. In films such as Bungee Jumping of Their Own, … (read more)

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Hum Tum (2004)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Helen

Hum Tum. Him and Her. Man and Woman. Yash Chopra’s Hum Tum is a classic battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy. The story of cartoonist Karan (Saif Ali Khan) and student/businesswoman Rhea (Rani Mukerji) unfolds over a nine year period in which both characters and their relationship grow and become something the actors succeed in making you actually care about.

Karan and Rhea meet as students on a flight to New York, pack more into a six hour stopover in Amsterdam en route … (read more)

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Il Mare (2000)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Alison

Il Mare is the sort of soft, gentle romance that you should watch on a rainy day: it’ll pass the long melancholy hours easily, and make you feel warm and fuzzy instead of bored and grumpy.

It’s a rare example of the “time travel postal romance” genre, although don’t let that put you off. Although this sounds like a classic chick flick, and could be considered that way, I know many blokes who confess to enjoying this one enormously, and … (read more)

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Honesty (2003)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Jonathan

I respect Wong Jing. He has given me memories that, for better or worse, I know I will carry with me FOREVER. Jet Li’s cock-fu in Last Hero in China. Chow Yun-fat threatening to “cut it off” in God of Gamblers. Jacky Cheung at the urinal in High Risk. The missing penis in Naked Killer. Actually, all of Naked Killer.

All that said, I have absolutely no respect for either the quality or the quantity … (read more)

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Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (2002)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Mat

The Gundam name has been around since 1979 with the original series, Mobile Suit Gundam. This series has in turn spawned a number of sequels, with each series maintaining a core theme of big human-controlled robots, known as Gundam, that deliver hurt on a large scale. Each new series brings with it new characters, stories and timelines, making each independent of the others. The latest incarnation of the Gundam universe is known as Mobile Suit Gundam Seed.

The … (read more)

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Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Mat

If I said that Godzilla vs Megaguirus was a terrible film, I’m sure not that many people would disagree. The thing is, I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the Godzilla sequels, which, whilst not deserving critical acclaim, are still enjoyable. Unfortunately, this film is not one of them. Instead, it is a painful 106 minutes that I will never get back. The film suffers from four critical flaws that make it an atrocity. These flaws are: predictability, dreadful … (read more)

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