Karas (2005)

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Posted on April 14, 2007 by Deni

There’s a fine line between the real world and the spirit world, or at least there is in Japan, apparently. Karas, by classics production studio Tatsunoko, seems to have borrowed from the same source as Takashi Miike’s recent kid’s flick, The Great Youkai War, populating its realms somewhere on the edge of general consensus reality with figures and creatures more familiar in mythology than anime’s mecha Halls of Fame. And as in Youkai War, someone with a … (read more)

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An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty (1984)

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Posted on April 11, 2007 by Justin

An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty is another in the Shaw Brothers’ studio’s proud tradition of period-setting erotic dramas with dodgy English titles, following on from 1972’s Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan. Like the latter, though, it really is just a bit more complicated than you’d think: this movie has a number of attributes that set it apart from the rest of the pack.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It is what it says it is on the … (read more)

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Untold Scandal (2003)

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Posted on April 11, 2007 by James

Well, it had to happen: Bae Yong-joon (‘Yongsama’ to some), star of TV dramas like the phenomenally successful ‘Winter Sonata’, has graduated to the big screen. And what has he brought with him? Charm? Magnetism? Sex appeal? “No!” I hear you roar, it can’t be! And perhaps it is not, but E J-yong’s Untold Scandal, a revision of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liasions Dangereuses set during Korea’s Chosun Dynasty in the late-1880s, demands all those qualities from its … (read more)

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The City of Lost Souls (2000)

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Posted on April 10, 2007 by Alan

The camera hovers beneath the water of a toilet in which two recently curled out hot ones are still floating. Through the, ahh, murk, we watch as a man is quickly dispatched by a Yakuza killer for hire.

Nice one. Welcome to the maniacal world of Miike, to whom the phrase ‘inventive camera angles’ barely does any kind of justice. And let’s not get started on weird plot twists and oddball scenarios.

OK, let’s. We get murderous games of ping … (read more)

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Fullmetal Alchemist – The Conqueror of Shamballa (2005)

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Posted on April 8, 2007 by Andy

It’s always a tough gig spinning off a movie from a loved TV series. Sure your production values are up and those action sequences suddenly get the necessary frames to make them look really sweet. But there’s a trade-off. Immediately you have lost the episodic slow burn of the series that built to a carefully crafted conclusion. The cast you have developed over 50 odd episodes must be prioritized with some members allowed to wave in a ‘where are they … (read more)

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The Myth (2005)

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Posted on March 30, 2007 by Justin

Well, we’re a little late with this one, and we’re terribly sorry — a new Jackie Chan film should be an event, exploding on to the screen with jawdropping stunts and inspired action choreography. With ceiling fans, clock towers and pachinko parlours. Instead, my copy of The Myth has sat on my shelf a while, looking sorrowfully at me while I passed it over in favour watching of Shaw Brothers classics.

But no more. I picked it up the other … (read more)

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Millennium Mambo (2001)

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Posted on March 26, 2007 by James

I first saw Millennium Mambo on my birthday at MIFF in 2002. As an admirer of all Hou’s films, it was a screening I was tremendously excited about. A couple of hours later, I was confused and left wondering what had happened to Hou’s distinctive film style of yesteryear? My first impression was thus one of resistance. Somehow, Mambo hadn’t met my expectations. It was like opening a present and finding something I didn’t like but putting on a gracious … (read more)

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The Lady Is The Boss (1983)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Justin

Lau Kar Leung brings Hung Fist kung-fu to the disco in 1983’s The Lady Is The Boss, one of his most uneven films with the Shaw Brothers studio. The basic premise is excellent: an old-fashioned kung-fu instructor clashes with the young American-educated daughter of the school’s founder, who arrives in Hong Kong to take over the school’s management. Unfortunately, some truly woeful over-acting and cheesy comedy make most of the film fairly difficult to watch, even when interspersed with … (read more)

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