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
Three: Going Home (2002)
The brief for the segments included in the original Three (three countries, three directors, three films, geddit?) was simply that it be something to do with ghosts. The Korean and Thai segments both took this literally, and crafted straighforward ghost films. Peter Chan Ho Sun, however, took this opportunity to create a multi-layered offering combining ghost movie, thriller, medical drama, love story, and tragedy, all wrapped together in a beautiful Chris Doyle package. Don’t just take my word for it, … (read more)
Comments Off on Three: Going Home (2002)
The Three Swordsmen (1994)
Terrible. Just terrible. Impossible to understand, unless you think the massive conspiracy mentioned in the synopsis sabotaged the film-making. Even for a fan of Brigitte and Andy and Elvis, this one was really hard-going. Don’t risk it.… (read more)
Comments Off on The Three Swordsmen (1994)
The Quiet Family (1998)
Squeamish about corpses? Want to do something about it? Well, watch The Quiet Family and you’ll see enough to cure you for life. Either that or you’ll lock yourself in your bedroom and refuse to come out.
The genre is black comedy, and it is really quite black. If you can’t laugh at Mother, Father, Uncle, and Son trundling a pair of suicide-pact lovers into the woods in wheelbarrows, then I suggest you steer clear. If you’re revolted at the … (read more)
Comments Off on The Quiet Family (1998)
The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
“I don’t believe it – a man with balls as big as his, and he’s spooked.”
Such is the danger of the Very Bad Place that professional assassin Golgo 13 finds himself after contract-killing the son of a billionaire oil tycoon. Sort of an amalgam of James Bond, 1970s exploitation flicks, Eurotrash/Heavy Metal, and the coolest abstract storytelling imaginable in the early-1980s, Golgo 13 is a welcome antidote for those wishing to get away from politically correct or aesthetically laborious … (read more)
Comments Off on The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
The General’s Son (1990)
The late-1980s and early-1990s were bleak times for the Korean film industry. Market liberalisation had just opened the industry’s doors to Hollywood film companies, who quickly set up local offices and established a rival system of distribution. Audiences for local productions were in decline, with spectators favouring big budget entertainment from America, as well as Hong Kong martial arts and action movies, over films made closer to home.
Korean filmmakers needed to devise ways of combating the encroachment of foreign … (read more)
Comments Off on The General’s Son (1990)
The Beast And The Beauty (2005)
I like Ryoo Seung-bom – he’s a very talented actor, and he has an engaging charm in the right role. In Arahan, for example, his gormlessly likeable character made it clear he wasn’t the standard Saviour Of The World, regardless of his special skills. And in Crying Fist, he gave a damn fine showing as a bundle of unresolved tensions always on the verge of exploding.
But you’d never call him handsome. True, he’s not a beast, but … (read more)
Comments Off on The Beast And The Beauty (2005)
The 14 Amazons (1972)
The 14 Amazons is one of those films in which Shaw Brothers pulled out all the stops: it’s got a huge cast, quite a bit of location shooting, an epic story and some huge melee battle scenes. Though many would assume from the title that it’s got either a strong feminist or exploitative slant, it’s got neither: instead, it’s a straight tale of heroism and determination that just happens to be centered around a family of women.
Their menfolk are … (read more)
Comments Off on The 14 Amazons (1972)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Like any good gothic fairytale A Tale of Two Sisters is positively loaded with meaning. I was reminded most specifically of the work of author Angela Carter, whose work often involved the deconstruction of fairy tales in a gothic framework, where blood, death, sleep and sexuality — most specifically sexual awakening — are entwined.
The film is based partly on the Korean folk tale ‘Rose Flower, Red Lotus’, but, from what I can gather, where that tale is a mostly … (read more)
Comments Off on A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)