Blog Archives

Smuggler (2011)

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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)

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The Last Tycoon (2012)

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Posted on January 28, 2013 by Elizabeth Kerr

Many moons ago, pro-exploitation producer-director Wong Jing and actor Chow Yun-fat hit box office and entertainment pay dirt when they teamed up for God of Gamblers. That film’s pulpy action comedy was a silly delight, and proved Wong, something of a Roger Corman for Hong Kong, had the ability to crank out popular hits that didn’t always involve jiggling boobies. It lightened up Chow’s image among niche viewers outside Hong Kong (he was best known to that point for … (read more)

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Lethal Hostage (2012)

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Posted on January 22, 2013 by John Snadden

With a title which sounds more like a low-budget straight-to-DVD feature, mainland director Cheng Er has created a major film which deserves an audience outside China. Lethal Hostage is an inventive and meticulously crafted crime drama set on the China-Burma border.

The story opens with a father who has just been released from jail meeting his only daughter {May Wang) who he hasn’t seen for over ten years. As a child, the daughter was kidnapped by a drug dealer (Sun … (read more)

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The 33D Invader (2011)

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Posted on December 28, 2012 by Rhys

As Michael Douglas approaches 70 and we wave goodbye to the golden-era of Hollywood’s erotic-thrillers, the recent local release of The 33D Invader reminds us that Hong Kong’s Category III films still exceed typical fringe exploitation budgets, and live on in the realm of mainstream Cantonese film. Cash Chin’s latest, distributed by Madman, contributes to his legacy as one of the premier filmmakers of the genre. Whilst it’s unlikely that Chin’s films will be retrospectively revered like those of more … (read more)

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Tai Chi Hero (2012)

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Posted on November 5, 2012 by Justin

So, a month or so after Tai Chi 0 hit cinemas, its sequel has arrived: Tai Chi Hero, filmed back-to-back with its predecessor on a shared budget. Accordingly, most of what Rhys says in his review of the first film holds true for this one: it’s a 3D action-comedy-adventure film with a steampunk feel to the art direction, solid action choreography from action legend Sammo Hung, and some modern CGI crammed in for today’s effects-hungry audience.… (read more)

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Battle Royale – Director’s Cut (2000)

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Posted on October 25, 2012 by Kit

If the popularity of The Hunger Games (2012) has sparked thousands of socially-networked Gen-X grumblings about the film just being a sappy version of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale (as in the “do you know what they call Hunger Games in France/Japan” meme or just superficial nit-picking), there’s at least the consolation that a new fascination with teenage death games has led to Battle Royale re-entering the cultural consciousness, even if only as a point of comparison. This isn’t such … (read more)

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Tai Chi 0 (2012)

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Posted on October 15, 2012 by Rhys

Tai Chi 0, the latest offering from actor-turned-director, Stephen Fung, is a throwback to period kung fu comedies from the early nineties. The film’s style steps away from the swordplay movies re-popularized in the west, towards the more simplistic kung fu genre. Avoiding supernatural themes, the film embraces an en vogue steampunk style; this time, hostility towards industrialization represents the typical anti-European sentiment familiar to the genre. Unfortunately, Tai Chi 0 is overcrowded by some CG comic book and … (read more)

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Unbowed (2011)

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Posted on October 13, 2012 by Elizabeth Kerr
A professor runs afoul of Korea’s intensely partisan and nepotistic judicial system when he’s accused of assaulting a judge. With the help of an alcoholic, partially washed-up labour lawyer, the professor unravels a conspiracy worthy of a John Grisham thriller.
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