Blog Archives

Gorgeous (1999)

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Posted on July 15, 2017 by Andrew

The whimsical opening music of Gorgeous accompanies the narration of a romantic legend, while the camera pans across a dazzling night sky. This is promptly followed by a CGI fish burp gag. It’s not a movie to be taken seriously, but still ultimately wants to be a fairytale romance at heart. I can’t believe I watched this with my brothers back in the day without squirming.

Innocent, starry-eyed, Taiwanese girl Bu (Shu Qi) strikes out for the big city with … (read more)

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The Shinjuku Incident (2009)

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Posted on April 26, 2009 by Justin

Jackie Chan has been making forays into more dramatic acting in the last few years — there were early attempts like Crime Story and Thunderbolt, and in the last few years we’ve had New Police Story and The Myth as well. But these have still been identifiably Jackie Chan movies — grueling stunts, inventive high-impact fight choreography, Jackie front-and-centre as the hero.

I didn’t think it very likely that we’d get one of those from director Derek Yee, though. … (read more)

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A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Alan

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)

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Main Hoon Na (2004)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Eugene

Woot. A back to school hijinks caper. Does not sound like something that’s too inspiring does it?

Well if Bollywood can come up with an amazing film about cricket then surely one must be prepared to be surprised by even the most staid formulas of old.

Of course, with that kind of telegraphing, is it really any surprise to say Main Hoon Na is a surprisingly great film to watch and enjoy? Well I hope not because if you saw … (read more)

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Kama Sutra (1997)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Alison

The word that springs to mind when talking about this film is “lush”. Sets, costumes, cast, locations, all are opulent and beautiful. I could wax lyrical in much more detail, but I’m afraid I’d use up my store of adjectives, and be reduced to reviews of two sentences for the rest of the year.

The film is set in 16th century India, and tells the story of two friends, Maya and Tara. Tara is the daughter of a prince, while … (read more)

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Devdas (2002)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Eugene

You watch Devdas and you hear it’s the most expensive film made and you can see where the money’s gone. It is one of the most opulent films I have seen in a long time. No longer do we care about the masses, but instead we focus on the big people who live big lives in big mansions – who love big and lose big.

Basically everything about Devdas is big.

The movie has an operatic air about it where … (read more)

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Chinese Gods (1976)

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Posted on May 21, 2006 by Angus

Weird. This is a real oddity. A feature length animation released during the Shaw Brothers heyday, the 1970s. Unlike Japan, Hong Kong isn’t known for its booming animation industry. This is one of the very few (and the earliest) to have been made; it’s rushed, rough and a tad incomprehensible — and also quite a bit of fun.

The filmmakers have clearly used the creative freedom of animation to explore some of the more fantastical elements of Chinese mythology that … (read more)

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Last Hero in China (1993)

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Posted on January 25, 2006 by Angus

Jet Li left the Once Upon A Time In China series after part three, but in Last Hero In China (his next film) he was imaginatively cast as Wong Fei Hung again. It begins like another episode of the series, but it doesn’t take long for Wong Jing’s signature stupidity to kick in. The film doesn’t really flow; it’s just a series of extended set pieces loosely tied together. The best of these by far is the strikingly surreal rope … (read more)

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