Blog Archives

When Marnie Was There (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on May 10, 2015 by Justin


Studio Ghibli’s latest animated feature, When Marnie Was There, is released in cinemas across Australia on the 14th of May, 2015. See cinema websites for screening details.

Animator and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi came to prominence in 2010 when he directed Arrietty for Studio Ghibli, becoming (at 37) the youngest director of a Ghibli feature film. He’s worked with Ghibli for a lot longer though: Wikipedia lists him as an animator on Princess Mononoke in 1997 and a host of … (read more)

Comments Off on When Marnie Was There (2014)

Helios (2015)

(from /, dir: /)
Posted on May 8, 2015 by John Snadden

After experiencing the boorish and juvenile jingoism of Wu Jing’s Wolf Warrior, I was looking forward to the new big budget HK movie, Helios… although I was a bit wary of the fact that its release date had been put back three times in the past six months. From directors Sunny Luk and Longman Leung (Cold War), Helios starts well but fades quickly.

The film opens with the theft of a South Korean manufactured nuclear dirty … (read more)

Comments Off on Helios (2015)

Coming Home (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on February 8, 2015 by John Snadden

Coming Home is the latest Zhang Yimou-Gong Li screen collaboration, and it reminds me of their great films from the 1990s. In Coming Home Gong Li once again shows that she is one of the world’s most gifted actors.

Director Zhang Yimou’s recent film-making has kept him busy, but mainly in a workmanlike way. International hits such as the Grand Guignol of Curse of the Golden Flower and the arthouse-wuxia pics Hero and House of Flying Daggers have kept his … (read more)

Comments Off on Coming Home (2014)

Dukhtar (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on November 26, 2014 by Yee-Yin

Dukhtar is the debut feature length film for writer-director Afia Nathaniel, an independent Pakistani filmmaker. Unfolding in the heart of Pakistani tribal lands, the film revolves around the harrowing and brave escape of a mother and her child as they flee the clutches of local warlords, in the face of the impending marriage of her 10-year-old daughter to a local chieftain. The mother, Allah Rakhi (Samiya Mumtaz), was once a child bride herself. Married off to Daulat Khan (Asif Khan), … (read more)

Comments Off on Dukhtar (2014)

Snow on the Blades (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on November 23, 2014 by Justin

Snow on the Blades is a contemplative, elegant drama set at the end of Japan’s feudal era, spanning the decline of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 1860s and the dawning of the Meiji period thereafter.

The story follows one Shimura Kingo (Kiichi Nakai), a young man whose family are samurai in service to Ii Naosuke, chief minister to the Shogun. A master swordsman, he has recently married and has been elevated to the position of chief bodyguard to the minister, … (read more)

Comments Off on Snow on the Blades (2014)

Brotherhood of Blades (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on November 13, 2014 by John Snadden

Brotherhood of Blades is one of the best Chinese martial-arts films to have graced our cinema screens for quite some time. The movie boasts a volatile mix of quasi 17th century Chinese history, political paranoia and deadly palace conspiracies. With an individual emphasis on ornate film sets, power-crazed eunuchs, sadistic secret police and a trio of Ming Dynasty elite killers, there’s much here reminiscent of the best of the Shaw Brothers’ swordplay films.

The movie’s main focus is on the … (read more)

Comments Off on Brotherhood of Blades (2014)

Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

(from /, dir: )
Posted on November 11, 2014 by Justin

Donnie Yen returns to the big screen in Kung Fu Jungle, in the well-worn guise of a skilled martial artist brought low, doggedly chasing down a brilliant but broken adversary. Not that he’s been away for long; arguably the last big action star standing from Hong Kong’s golden years, he’s been working harder than ever, turning in a couple of huge films every year since the early 2000s, often as action choreographer as well.

In this film, director Teddy … (read more)

Comments Off on Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

Lupin III (2014)

(from , dir: )
Posted on November 2, 2014 by Deni

Art thief adventure series Lupin III and frenetic cult director Ryuhei Kitamura (Godzilla: Final Wars, Versus) seems like it could be a match made in heaven. Kitamura is known for his energetic, reality defying, somewhat gaggy but exceedingly enjoyable action movies, and Lupin is known for his energetic, law-enforcement defying, seemingly impossible but somehow charming art heists. The combination in this 2014 live action movie makes for a moderately fun crime thriller that is never too serious … (read more)

Comments Off on Lupin III (2014)