Like us on Facebook!
Recent Reviews
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
- Midnight (2021)
- Magnificent Warriors (1987)
- Odd Couple (1979)
- Three (2016)
- Dreadnaught (1981)
- Decision to Leave (2022)
- Once Upon a Time in China & America (1997)
- Bad Guy
- Dali & Cocky Prince
- A Korean Odyssey
- Special Delivery (2022)
- Hwarang
- My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho
- Strong Girl Bong Soon
Recent Articles
Elsewhere on the Web
Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
The Reel Anime Festival 2010 is finally here! Thanks to Madman, I have the opportunity to preview for you the exhilarating Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance and spectacular Summer Wars. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, which I reviewed earlier this year, will also be screening. So this is a great opportunity to catch some of the best recent animes on the big screen, and I urge you not to miss it.
Evangelion 2.0 is the second … (read more)
Comments Off on Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Summer Wars (2009)
The Reel Anime Festival 2010 is finally here! Thanks to the good guys at Madman, I have the opportunity to preview for you the spectacular Summer Wars and exhilarating Evangelion 2.0: You Can(not) Advance. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, which I reviewed earlier this year, will also be screening. So this is a great opportunity to catch some of the best recent animes on the big screen, and I urge you not to miss it.
Summer Wars… (read more)
Comments Off on Summer Wars (2009)
Ocean Waves (1993)
For all lovers of Asian films and anime, the mention of the name Studio Ghibli should automatically bring up in their minds colourful images of mythical creatures, epic battles and magical adventures. So I must begin this review by telling you this: while Ocean Waves was in fact made by Studio Ghibli, it features none of the above. So please don’t expect it to resemble a Miyazaki classic, or you will be very, very disappointed. What this well-made little film … (read more)
Comments Off on Ocean Waves (1993)
Aftershock (2010)
With a very good trailer and well publicised production from China’s number one film-maker, Aftershock is the most eagerly awaited mainland release this year. It opens with the recreation of the Tangshan earthquake in North East China in 1976, when nearly a quarter of a million people died. Aftershock follows the lives of a family torn apart by this natural disaster.
Director Feng Xiaogang has made some of the best and most successful genre films of the past decade. His … (read more)
Comments Off on Aftershock (2010)
Chaw (2009)
Chaw is an surprising little film to come out of Korea. It’s not a historical drama, nor a modern thriller, nor a huge piece of CGI-assisted melodrama like Haeundae, my last Korean film experience. It’s a proper monstrous-animal B-movie, and much of the buzz surrounding the film has compared it to Spielberg’s Jaws or the Aussie cult classic Razorback, also starring a gigantic boar. I cain’t think of another recent Korean film that’s gone for this particular genre, … (read more)
Comments Off on Chaw (2009)
Vengeance (2009)
I didn’t think I would see a better Cantonese film this year than Soi Cheang’s Accident – then along came Johnnie To’s Vengeance, a remarkable crime drama which ultimately transcends the genre.
A Hong Kong / France co-production, Vengeance is set mainly in Macau and stars French actor/singer Johnny Hallyday. Initially, Alain Delon was to be the lead but he pulled out and was replaced by Hallyday.
The opening twenty minutes are superb and announce to the audience that … (read more)
Comments Off on Vengeance (2009)
Red Cliff (2009)
When Cantonese director John Woo left Hong Kong for Hollywood in the mid-1990s, many people expected him to become one of the giants of world cinema. His American movies turned out to be, at best, problematic and his talent for combining strong human drama and rip-roaring action sequences was never fully realised. His most recent Hollywood film was Paycheck, I doubt in the history of American movies has a more apt title ever been given.
Two years ago, Woo … (read more)
Comments Off on Red Cliff (2009)
Jing: King of Bandits – Seventh Heaven (2004)
Jing: King of Bandits is an anime series about the adventures of a young bandit called Jing. Known for its fun and humour, the series is liked by many, although it is not as popular or well-known as many other animes. Jing: King of Bandits – Seventh Heaven is an original video animation (OVA) that tells of another one of Jing’s adventures.
Jing, a bandit boy wonder, together with Kir, his wisecracking parrot sidekick, have been arrested and sent to … (read more)
Comments Off on Jing: King of Bandits – Seventh Heaven (2004)