Bleach 4: Hell Verse (2010)

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Posted on April 24, 2012 by Deni

The Original Video Animation, or OVA (or, alternatively, OAV depending on your tomayto-tomahto standpoint) has gone the way of the Dodo. It’s dead. Defunct. It has rejected cumbersome technologies and eliminated redundant markets and evolved into the Movie; as in Naruto the Movie, or One Piece the Movie, or for the purposes of this review, Bleach the Movie – Hell Verse (also known as Hell Chapter), to be exact.

It used to be that your typical … (read more)

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Cinema Asia (2007)

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Posted on April 22, 2012 by Justin
Cinema Asia is a series covering some of the history and the state today (well, in 2007 when it was made) of five cinema industries in Asia: China, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Iran. Each episode takes a look at the the background of each national cinema, the things that make it unique, and cuts together interviews with actors, critics and prominent directors.
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Japanese Cinema Week in Sydney

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Deni

Lucky, lucky Sydneysiders! From the 16th to the 20th of April, you can be front and centre for the fabulous Japan Foundation’s Japanese Cinema Week, and as a long-time Japanese cinema fan who happens to live in Brisbane, I am so green with jealousy.

Three of the films are already booked out (Big Man Japan, Ozu’s Floating Weeds and Ghibli’s Ocean Waves) but there are plenty of brilliant films left, including Ghibli’s Porco Rosso and Only … (read more)

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The Lady (2011)

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Posted on April 10, 2012 by Elizabeth Kerr

Before you flip out, no, I haven’t forgotten what the name of this website is, nor has it slipped my mind the general region from which the films reviewed here originate. That said, the chances of any Asian filmmakers tackling the thorny subject of activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the political stalemate in Burma (or Myanmar) are low. Asian film industries have limited resources and focus first and foremost on their own markets (India excepted). Add to that the … (read more)

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Asian cinema on the Gold Coast in April

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Deni

You should already know this, but I don’t mind restating the awesome – the Gold Coast is, this month, the place to be. Why? Well, if you’re an Asian cinephile living in our (usually) sunny state and you don’t have tickets to the Gold Coast Film Festival already in your inbox, you’re going to kick yourself, because you’ll be missing out on some seriously fantastic films.

The GCFF program is featuring a wide range of films for all tastes. For … (read more)

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Outrage (2010)

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Posted on April 2, 2012 by Justin

The last film I saw from Japanese powerhouse director Takeshi Kitano was his wonderful update of Zatoichi in 2003. Since then, he’s made a trio of more personal films that some have described as his ‘surrealist autobiographical’ trilogy: Takeshis’, Glory to the Filmmaker! and Achilles and the Tortoise. This film marks his return to more commercial territory, the yakuza film, in which scheming mob bosses and ambitious young thugs do battle on the street.

Kitano plays Otomo, a … (read more)

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Bordwell’s “Planet Hong Kong”

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Justin

So, I’m one of the teeming millions that picked up the new iPad last week, and its amazing screen propelled me into looking for books to read on it. If you’re in the same situation, I hugely recommend picking up the PDF version of David Bordwell’s excellent book Planet Hong Kong — if you haven’t seen the original version, it’s a wonderful overview of HK cinema by film theorist, professor, prodigious blogger and HK cinema fan David Bordwell.

The original … (read more)

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Corpse Princess – Collection One (2008)

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Posted on March 21, 2012 by Tom

Ouri Kagami is an orphan at a temple in Japan. He’s been there for most of his life, having been found as a young boy by one of the monks at the temple — Keisei Tagami, who later in life is seen by Ouri as a brother figure. A lecherous pervert of a brother figure, but a brother figure none the less. After many years at the temple, Ouri decides that it’s time to move away and start a new … (read more)

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