Origin – Spirits Of The Past (2006)

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Posted on July 15, 2007 by Andy

Japan’s Gonzo Studio is best known for its anime featuring slick production values and embracing the fusion of traditional 2D animation with 3D CG elements. Gonzo’s prolific output has centered around sci-fi actioners like Kiddy Grade or Yukikaze but has showed a willingness to branch out into genre mashing with the Weimar Republic meets airships of Last Exile or Speed Grapher’s neon decadent near-future monster bash. In its fifteen year production history, somewhat surprisingly, Origin is Gonzo’s first foray in … (read more)

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Sanshiro Sugata 2 (1945)

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Posted on July 14, 2007 by Justin

After his successful direction of his first film Sanshiro Sugata, and subsequent rise through the ranks of Toho assistant directors in the 1940s, Akira Kurosawa was pressured to make a sequel. The result was 1945’s Sanshiro Sugata II, set five years after the original film and picking up Sugata’s tale as he faces challenges from practitioners of other styles of martial arts.

The film begins with a sequence that mirrors the opening of the first film: Sugata saves … (read more)

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The Host (2006)

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Posted on July 8, 2007 by Alan

This is Bong Joon-ho’s third feature film, following Barking Dogs Never Bite and the wonderful Memories of Murder. Korean film watchers will know that The Host broke box office records in Korea, surpassing the previous record set by Taegukgi two years ago.

Of course The Host has all the signifiers of ‘blockbuster’ about it. A big cast in a large budgeted monster flick. But such simple facts belie the often intimate and subversive nature of the film.

It has … (read more)

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SPL (2005)

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Posted on July 1, 2007 by Justin

If you’re a regular reader of sites with an interest in Asian cinema on the net, you probably already know all about Sha Po Lang (SPL). You’ve read all four very positive reviews on twitchfilm, you’ve read Grady’s review at Kaiju Shakedown, and you know what’s what. A modern Hong Kong film, starring three very well-respected martial arts stars from different backgrounds, with a gritty, crime setting and a lot of neon lights and breaking glass. A … (read more)

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Eye In The Sky (2007)

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Posted on July 1, 2007 by Justin

I sat down to watch Eye in the Sky at the 2007 Sydney Film Festival and overheard a conversation behind me from two older ladies, who’d evidently set up base camp in the State Theatre and were watching their way through the entire Festival program. “Where’s this one from?”, one asked. “Hong Kong.” “Oh, so there’ll be lots of flying around, then?”

Sigh. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has a lot to answer for. There’s no flying around at all… (read more)

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The Soong Sisters (1997)

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Posted on June 17, 2007 by John Snadden

Of all the films I saw in 1997, The Soong Sisters was my favourite movie of that year. It soon became the most awarded Chinese film of the late 1990s.

A Hong Kong-China co-production and distributed by the Golden Harvest company, The Soong Sisters is a biopic of three Chinese-born and American-educated young women, who each played an important part in modern Chinese history. It’s a triumph of ensemble acting and superb direction which weaves these three lives together.

Michelle … (read more)

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Ashes of Time (1994)

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Posted on June 17, 2007 by John Snadden

As I see it, there have only been two rolled gold masterpieces of the Cantonese cinema since the late 1980s: John Woo’s bloodstained Vietnam odyssey Bullet in the Head and Wong Ka-Wai’s Ashes of Time. Both were produced within three years of each other and are poles apart in content and style, but they remain shining examples of a film industry at its peak.

Ashes of Time is based on a popular Chinese martial arts novel The Eagle Shooting … (read more)

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Tokyo Drifter (1966)

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Posted on June 10, 2007 by Alison

I’ll declare myself right away, at the risk of making some enemies: Tokyo Drifter is what Cowboy Bebop aspires to be. Since I’m in Adelaide, a safe distance from Deni’s wrath, I’ll continue.

First, the hero, Tetsu the Phoenix: lordy lordy, what a man. Powder blue suit, white buckskin shoes, and the ultra-cool demeanour of one who knows he’s got the entire female population in the palm of his hand and doesn’t care. A matinee idol with the high cheekbones, … (read more)

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