Blog Archives

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

(from , dir: )
Posted on August 1, 2013 by Justin

It’s all coming up kaiju this year!

Inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s epic monsterpiece Pacific Rim and the upcoming 2014 Hollywood Godzilla reboot, I decided to set aside a few evenings and run through the Godzilla “Millennium Era” films and see what it’s all about really. Prior to these, I had only ever seen the classic 1954 film that started it all, and Madman have just released (and kindly sent us a review copy of) a box set, covering the … (read more)

Comments Off on Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

The Front Line (2011)

(from , dir: )
Posted on June 3, 2013 by Justin

South Korean director Jang Hoon followed up his 2010 hit Secret Reunion (a fun spy-vs-spy thriller that sold 5.5 million tickets, coming in second for that year’s box office) with this, his third feature: a gigantic war film set during the 1953 ceasefire at the end of the Korean War.

Kang Eun-pyo (Shin Ha-kyun, who’s donned warpaint before in JSA and Welcome to Dongmakgol) and Kim Soo-hyeok (Go Soo) were soldiers together early in the war. Outgunned, they found … (read more)

Comments Off on The Front Line (2011)

Ace Attorney (2012)

(from , dir: )
Posted on May 25, 2013 by Samson

Regular visitors to our website would know that we just love Takashi Miike. And why wouldn’t you? From his early crazy films like Ichi the Killer and Gozu, to commercial films like Crows Zero and Ninja Kids!!!, to the more recent critically acclaimed films like 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, he has just proven himself to be one of the most prolific, imaginative and skillful directors working in the world today. Just how many … (read more)

Comments Off on Ace Attorney (2012)

Wu Dang (2012)

(from /, dir: )
Posted on April 23, 2013 by Justin

An entertaining, family-friendly mishmash of martial arts picture and Indiana Jones-style treasure hunt, Wu Dang shows off some serious talent both in front of and behind the camera, coupled with a stunning setting way up amongst the Taoist temples in the Wudang Mountains.

Vincent Zhao returns to the role of leading man after 2010’s True Legend, which was his first cinema appearance in quite some time, after spending most of the decade prior in television in Hong Kong and … (read more)

Comments Off on Wu Dang (2012)

Nightfall (2012)

(from , dir: )
Posted on April 20, 2013 by Alan

Wong Yuen Yeung (Nick Cheung) gets a get-outta-jail card after doing 20 years for the rape and murder of a teenage girl called Yi Wan. He comes across Tsui Suet (Janice Man), a classical pianist who looks the spit of Yi Wan, and, like wow, crazy, she has the same father, Tsui Hon Lam (Michael Wong). So naturally Yeung follows her to her luxury home in the hills she shares with her parents and goes all creepily stalker, spying on … (read more)

Comments Off on Nightfall (2012)

The Thieves (2012)

(from , dir: )
Posted on March 31, 2013 by John Snadden

One of the most enjoyable times I spent in the cinema last year was watching the big-budget, star-studded, South Korean caper flick, The Thieves — where the energy, humour and all-round film-making smarts were a joy to experience.

Sold nearly everywhere as an Asian version of Hollywood’s Oceans franchise – well, that’s called marketing. As I saw it, The Thieves was a surprisingly effective counterpoint to the lethargic, middle-aged preening of director Soderbergh and his precious stars.

A nifty theft … (read more)

Comments Off on The Thieves (2012)

This Girl is Badass (2011)

(from , dir: )
Posted on February 14, 2013 by Justin

Retitled from Jukkalan, after its lead character, to the rather more bombastic This Girl is Badass, this film is omnipresent Thai comedian Petchai Wongkumlao’s (a.k.a Mum Jokmok) seventh movie as director, writer and actor. We don’t get all that much Thai cinema here in Oz, but even casual viewers of the nation’s output — like me — will recognise him as Tony Jaa’s offsider in the modern martial arts classic Ong Bak, open-faced, wide-eyed and occasionally very … (read more)

Comments Off on This Girl is Badass (2011)

Smuggler (2011)

(from , dir: )
Posted on January 30, 2013 by Justin

Failed — or at least distracted — actor Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) spends his days dismally holed up in front of a slot machine, a poster child for what we in Australia would call pokies addiction. Quiet and vulnerable, he is manipulated into taking a job he can’t turn down and joins a team of smugglers for the Yakuza: moving a truck full of things that need to pass unnoticed, often things that are suspiciously man-shaped.… (read more)

Comments Off on Smuggler (2011)