Sky of Love (2003)

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Posted on November 26, 2003 by Eugene

There I am walking into what is obviously a romance by myself with my ‘Kill All Humans’ hat on ready to fall asleep after a particularly lethargic day at work. Which is a pretty strong indicator of the strength of the film when I can say Sky of Love is actually worthwhile seeing.

The plot follows two people who live in very different worlds who meet by accident via short wave radio and, with the help of the anonyminity of … (read more)

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New Blood (2002)

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Posted on November 22, 2003 by Eugene

Well first of all, I’d just like to say that I am sorely disappointed that this film had such a limited season that by the time most of you in Sydney who read this, you won’t be able to catch it. Because it really isn’t that bad a horror film.

In all honesty the movie isn’t the most diverse in its thrills but when you walk into a horror film you are hoping for a good scare and this movie … (read more)

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Tears of the Black Tiger (2000)

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Posted on November 20, 2003 by Mark Morrison

You know those Thai movie posters?

The hand painted ones?

Where the men are impossibly manly, the women are incredibly gorgeous, and the colours are ridiculously lurid?

Tears of the Black Tiger is a whole movie like that:

That man, that woman, those colours. Man, those colours!

The Black Tiger is the most feared bandit around, a cool-handed killer who can ricochet a bullet ten times around a kitchen before shooting his man in the head. He rides with Mahesuan, … (read more)

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City of SARS (2003)

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Posted on October 26, 2003 by Eugene

Well it was bound to happen. SARS was the biggest thing to come out of South East Asia last year with Hong Kong one of the hardest places hit. It is of little surprise then that we see a film from our favourite little cottage industry focussing on the nebulous disease.

As a result, we have City of SARS. City of SARS is basically made up of three different stories or parables told within the period of the worst … (read more)

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Monday (2000)

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Posted on October 23, 2003 by Alison

What can you say about a film that starts with a funeral? Well, almost starts with a funeral: our hero (an unassuming salaryman) wakes up in a hotel room, discovers that it’s Monday instead of the Saturday he was expecting, and tries to remember his weekend.

While this might be a familiar experience for some of you, what he gradually pieces together of his action-packed 60 hours would not be familiar. It starts with the funeral, at which, in the … (read more)

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Rouge (1987)

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Posted on October 23, 2003 by Alison

My copy of this film has no subtitles, but it doesn’t really matter. Leslie and Anita have two of the most expressive faces in the acting biz, and two of the best voices as well, both singing and speaking. So the drama and the emotion come through achingly clearly without understanding the dialogue.

Of course, having already seen it I know what the story is, which does help. But it’s a fairly simple story, albeit one drenched with emotion. Anita … (read more)

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Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)

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Posted on October 16, 2003 by James

The last comment above might also read “people shed more tears in this film than any other….”

Just about everyone cries at some point in this melodrama spanning twenty years of a teacher’s life, which concentrates specifically on her career-long involvement with her first class of pupils: twelve little kids with twenty-four innocent eyes between them.

Charming sensei Oishi (Takamine) forms a bond with her students largely through a rather malicious act on their behalf. One day at the beach, … (read more)

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Happy Together (1997)

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Posted on October 8, 2003 by Mark Morrison

This is the sixth film from Hong Kong arthouse director Wong Kar-Wai, and the one that netted him the Best Director award at Cannes in 1997. Wong takes two of Hong Kong cinema’s most handsome leading men to South America for a story of love lost and love endured. The script is partially based on The Buenos Aires Affair, by author Manuel Puig, whose non-linear narrative techniques were a seminal inspiration to Wong’s development as a film-maker and storyteller.… (read more)

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