Blog Archives

A Bittersweet Life (2005)

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Posted on May 9, 2007 by Deni

There’s something about knowing at the start how things are going to end that makes some films harder, not easier, to watch. A Bittersweet Life is definitely one of those films. Borrowing with a fresh bent slick staples of the gangster film genre traditionally more characteristic of Hong Kong and some Japanese cinema, director Kim Jee-woon, already well known for films like The Quiet Family and Tale of Two Sisters, deftly renders an action film that has all the … (read more)

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Godzilla: Son of Godzilla (1967)

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Posted on May 9, 2007 by Mat

Well those wacky Japanese scientists are at it again. As can be gleaned from the synopsis above, weather experiments are being conducted. These weather experiments consist of being able to make it snow on a tropical island. Why? Well, that’s never really explained, but be assured that there is a definite useful purpose behind this research. In any case, it seems that the equipment to be used in the experiments has a high probability of going awry and blanketing the … (read more)

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Koi Aap Sa (2005)

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Posted on May 6, 2007 by Ching Yee

Oooh boy. Where do I begin? I’m a Bollywood fan-girl but my love and appreciation reached its limit here.

Taking inspiration from 1998 superhit, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Koi Aap Sa makes no pretence about its admiration for the former film, even thanking the director Karan Johar in the opening credits. I have no problem with that except it unsuccessfully tries to channel everything from the narrative to music (is it just a coincidence that the actress who plays … (read more)

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Island of Greed (1997)

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Posted on May 6, 2007 by John Snadden

The producer/director team of Johnny and Michael Mak have been responsible for some of Hong Kong’s best known and roughest crime movies. Titles like The Long Arm of the Law and To Be Number One were often based on actual people and events. The sexploitation classic Sex and Zen was also a Mak release.

In Island of Greed, the Mak brothers turn their cameras towards crime and corruption in Taiwan, with a factional retelling of the 1995 general election … (read more)

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Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990)

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Posted on May 6, 2007 by Deni

There’s something indelibly 80’s about well known Madhouse Studio director Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s anime. I don’t know; maybe it’s the tendency towards big hair, or maybe it’s just that it was during the 80’s (well, actually more like the early 90’s) that titles like Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, and this three part series, Cyber City Oedo 808, were among the few anime titles available here in Australia. It’s therefore hard not to look back on those VHS … (read more)

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Branded To Kill (1967)

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Posted on April 30, 2007 by James

Seijun Suzuki’s recent movies are beautiful to look at but make little narrative sense and seem to lack formal unity. By their end, films like Pistol Opera tend to lose the viewer in a mish-mash of colour, camera movement and choppy editing, with character, plot and theme long since discarded. If the style was more sophisticated, in the sense that a formal system was revealed up front and sustained throughout, there’d be fewer issues with the jettisoning of story elements. … (read more)

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Tomie (1999)

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Posted on April 29, 2007 by Alison

Thought Japanese schoolgirls were cute? Think again. This one leaves a trail of corpses in her wake, although strictly speaking, it’s not her fault: boys get so enamoured of her that they fight over her. And die, of course. Thinning the competition, that’s the ticket.

This was a surprisingly enjoyable flick, given that it was made on a fairly low budget with bugger-all special effects. This is mainly due to the actress playing Tomie: the talented Miho Kanno, star of … (read more)

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Tetsuo (The Iron Man) (1989)

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Posted on April 29, 2007 by Alison

I have an absolute argument-winner: the next time someone tries to dispute that Japanese filmmakers are weird, I can show them Tetsuo. Then, after I’ve revived them and stopped them gibbering, they’ll have to admit that yes, I’m right, and yes, Japanese filmmakers come from another planet. The film damn near sucked out my brain like a whelk.

If you make it as far as the salaryman being pursued through the train station by a secretary who’s unnacountably turning … (read more)

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