Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

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Posted on June 1, 2011 by Alan

Way back in my misspent youth (spent watching telly, mostly), there was one of those midday movies on the box that captured my imagination. Titled Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders, the film was, to my young mind, cheeky, fun, spooky, and a tantalising glimpse into a world I had never thought of: the China of over a thousand years ago.

Years later I stumbled across Barry Hughart’s terrific and delightful trilogy of novels of a China ‘that never … (read more)

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MIFF 2011: First Glance

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Justin

The Melbourne International FIlm Festival (21 July to 7 August this year) have unveiled the “First Glance” at their program and, as usual, films from Asia are well-represented. Here’s a short rundown — you should check their website for full details. Note that there’ll be more on the way soon… the full program is released in July, and we’ll post an update with any further announcements then!

MIFF have an “Accent on Asia” track this year, and so … (read more)

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The Yellow Sea (2010)

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Posted on May 29, 2011 by James

Na Hong-jin’s second film confirms that he is the number one crime-action auteur to emerge from Asia in recent memory. I like his films more than Park Chan-wook’s head-scratchingly abstract work since Oldboy and also Kim Ji-woon’s fun but sadly empty and pointless excursions post-A Tale of Two Sisters. Na’s first film, The Chaser, is a taut, horrific thriller with great momentum and some shocking surprises. It starred two very good but nonprominent Korean actors, Kim and … (read more)

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The Chasing World (2008)

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Posted on May 24, 2011 by Justin

The Chasing World was a surprise. I was expecting something more predictable, a day-glo world of gory creature effects and shouting, perhaps something like Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. What I got was an efficiently-constructed, fun little film which runs somewhat like a mashup of modern Doctor Who, Fukasaku’s Battle Royale and that nightmare where you’re somewhere familiar, running from hundreds of identical masked assailants, and you don’t know why. You know the one.

Our lead character … (read more)

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Black Butler (2008)

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Posted on May 22, 2011 by Deni

Genre is a funny thing. On the one hand, it gives you a ballpark for your expectations. Science fiction? Space ships and aliens. Horror? Dark scary places and the liberal splashing about of blood. Gundam? Bloody big robots. But on the other hand, genre can also confine and confuse in the face of reality, and looking at genre definitions across cultures can make things even harder. Black Butler (known to the early uptakers as Kuroshitsuji) originally ran in a … (read more)

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Paradise Kiss (2005)

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Posted on May 18, 2011 by Tom

It’s a less then well-known fact that reviewers sometimes don’t get to choose what they are to review. More often than not it’s a curse, having to watch such terrible fare as Space Adventure Cobra. But every so often there is a surprise like Air Gear, Elemental Gelade or in this case Paradise Kiss.

Paradise Kiss follows Yukari Hayasaka, a young high school student who is floating through high school and life; not striving to be the … (read more)

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Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (2009)

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Posted on May 15, 2011 by Tom

There is a history in anime of the adaptation of TV series to movies. Often these films are new stories in the same world, like the Cowboy Bebop movie. Other films closely adapt the plot of the original, taking out a lot of the filler that sometimes creeps in during a series like the Evangelion movies. And then there is Eureka Seven.

Renton is the pilot of a mecha called Nirvash, named after a childhood pet, aboard … (read more)

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A Million (2009)

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Posted on May 9, 2011 by Alison

What would you do for a million dollars? Among the things I wouldn’t do is take part in a reality show – I think I’d rather eat my own toenails, or anyone else’s toenails for that matter. But unlike cranky folk like me, there’s a lot of people who’d like nothing better than to spend several weeks exposing their every breath to millions of viewers. Even when the ‘reality’ involves spending 7 days in the Australian outback, in an arduous … (read more)

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