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A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987)
The creative partnership of director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark came unstuck during this sequel to the 1986 smash hit A Better Tomorrow. The result is a somewhat schizophrenic picture which manages to quadruple the body count of the original film, but at some cost to the plot and soul. The first problem Woo faced was the fact that a popular character had been killed off last time – no problem, the old identical twin routine saves the … (read more)
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A Better Tomorrow (1986)
This is where legends were made.
Little known director John Woo was hired to direct a gangster film, but had the idea that it would use the warrior code of a swordplay film, exchanging the swords for guns. In the role of the lead killer he cast television drama star Chow Yun Fat, against the wishes of the studio, but Yun Fat had exactly the right ‘everyman’ qualities that Woo was looking for. He plays Mark Gor, the close buddy … (read more)
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Metropolis (2001)
This Metropolis isn’t the Fritz Lang version but it did give inspiration to Tezuka Osamu (Astroboy) to write his own version. And now we have the final product of Tezuka’s efforts and although he is no longer here to see his vision, I’m sure he would have approved.
It is only fitting that Rintaro was given this monumental task to bringing Tezuka’s work to life. A veteran director of many anime classics – he directed one of my … (read more)
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Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)
This driven anime rips steel through flesh in the first few moments and doesn’t let up for the next 47. God bless it.
The first fully digital animation from Production IG, Blood the Last Vampire is a stylistic experiment in using 3D rendered backgrounds with 2D characters. A camera pass is rendered through the backgrounds and the animation and lighting is matched – the result not only works, it is crisp and gorgeous, particularly on DVD (albeit a dark, brooding … (read more)
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Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Bend it Like Beckham, directed by Gurinder Chadha: It was fun. It was heartwarming. It was moving. It was well-crafted. And before your eyes glaze over from my use of the word “heartwarming”, and you start imagining something with a moral and a happy ending, well, I could make it worse by saying that Bend it Like Beckham has both, or I could make it better (I hope) by saying that the substantial entertainment value of this film vastly … (read more)
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Wound (Zakhm) (1998)
The title means “Wound”, and it’s well-chosen. The wound referred to is not only a personal one, but a national one. Although the excuse is religion, there’s little evidence of a religious basis to the mounting hatred that drives this feud that threatens to turn into civil war. Angry militants on both sides slaughter innocent civilians on both sides, which, as with all conflicts of this nature, only inflames the hatred.
The calm at the centre of this storm is … (read more)
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Red Beard (1965)
Thank god for Toshirô Mifune. Heretical as it may be, I can’t say I’m a big fan of this one. This loose and only fitfully engaging drama marks a frustrating end to one of the great director/star collaborations in the cinema, and appropriately Mifune is by far the best thing about it.
Mifune plays the title character, one of those doctor types you see quite a lot in fiction who is both grizzly and deeply humane, and is never less … (read more)
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Wayward Cloud (2005)
Ah, Tsai! You wonderfully sick individual. Tsai Ming-liang’s latest offering is an occasionally hilarious, frustrating, uncomfortable (in the good way and the bad way) and just slightly disappointing romantic freakshow. With musical numbers!
Starring the utterly fearless Lee Kang-sheng as a “star” of semi-professional porn, The Wayward Cloud tells one of those stories about two all-but-mute loners (Lee and Chen Shiang-chyi) with an obvious mutual attraction who slowly and uncertainly find their way together. These sorts of stories tend to … (read more)
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