Not Forgotten (2000)

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Posted on September 4, 2003 by Alison

Not Forgotten is a moving portrayal of a group of aging war veterans dealing with a number of issues. The most obvious is the brutality of war, and this is dealt with first and in a fairly simple way. By now everyone should be aware that war is an obscenity: taking young healthy men and sending them away to try and kill strangers while being bombed from a distance is a situation in which no-one wins. It is refreshing that … (read more)

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The B word

Posted on September 4, 2003 by Mark Morrison

Plenty of folks dig the stuff I dig. If I say “I saw a rocking Hong Kong action film!”, or “I checked out this outta control anime!”, or “I watched a kickass Korean flick!”, then people wanna hear about it. If they hear there’s a cool new one, they’re queuing around the block quicker than you can say Melbourne International Film Festival.

But, if I drop the words “I saw a funky Bollywood flick!” into the conversation, suddenly people get … (read more)

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Straight From The Heart (1999)

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Posted on September 4, 2003 by Alison

What can you say about 3 hours of musical melodrama? “Ick” might be the response of some of you. “Yippee!” might come from others. Me, I can say that I survived, but it was a close thing.

This was my first Bollywood experience, and I hadn’t realised that it was so melodramatic. One minute the characters were emoting their eyeballs out, the next they were singing and dancing with joint-cracking vigour. And while some of the singing was quite beautiful, … (read more)

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Dil Chahta Hai (Heart’s Desire) (2001)

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Posted on August 31, 2003 by Mark Morrison

Bollywood is now the only film culture in the world to resist Hollywood, and if Heart’s Desire (aka Dil Chahta Hai) is anything to go by, it will resist it for some time yet. This was 2001’s biggest Bollywood film, and its easy mix of appealing characters and lightweight melodrama will appeal to anyone with any sense of fun.

Watching it I was reminded of the Hollywood of the 1940s, where movies simply aimed to please. The major difference … (read more)

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Let’s Sing Along (2001)

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Posted on August 31, 2003 by Mark Morrison

Karaoke comedy. It’s a new genre. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but it’s damn amusing to anyone who’s ever been trapped in an interminable karaoke party, which, judging by the laffs from the audience when I checked this number, is pretty much everyone in Hong Kong.

The story and the jokes in Let’s Sing Along are both standard. Nerdy office worker Chu Wai Tak (Anita Mui) has the talent to be the Queen of Karaoke, but is too nervous … (read more)

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La Brassiere (2001)

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Posted on August 31, 2003 by Mark Morrison

Lau Ching Wan has returned to films after a one year hiatus, and somehow got himself onto a project which involves him sharing scenes with about a dozen pretty women in their undergarments. Hard work for some.

Johnny (Lau Ching Wan) and Wayne (Louis Koo) are hired as the first male bra designers for Sis, the firm run by Samantha (Carina Lau). Their mission: to design the world’s best bra, much to the mockery of current head designer Lena (Gigi … (read more)

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Khushi (2003)

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Posted on August 31, 2003 by Mark Morrison

One of the interesting things about delving into a new film culture is seeing how they approach different genres. One of the disappointing things is finding out that maybe that culture’s treatment of those genres is not to your tastes.

So, while I stand by my enthusiasm for Bollywood dramas and epics, it’s going to be cold day in Calcutta before I line up for another Bollywood teen comedy.

How bad was bad? Pretty bad. We’re talking mugging on a … (read more)

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You Shoot I Shoot (2002)

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Posted on August 28, 2003 by Mark Morrison

The film gives a knowing nod to the ice cool school of hired killer flicks from Le Samourai to The Killer, and then promptly drills it right between the eyes – even the hitman’s mother-in-law has someone she wants wacked. Edmund Pang directs his own screenplay with first-time director energy, simultaneously skewering almost every crime film ever made as well as the whole film-making process. The gags roll as often as the heads, thanks to the perfect comic timing … (read more)

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