Blog Archives

Initial D Fourth Stage – Collection One (2004)

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Posted on June 5, 2012 by Tom

Oh, hi there. You probably came here to read a review for Initial D Fourth Stage, but before you get to it maybe you should begin by reading the review for the first stage. It’s okay, I’ll be here fine-tuning my ’93 Ford station wagon into a beastly road racer. That’s my girl, purr for me, purr. … (read more)

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Headshot (2012)

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Posted on June 3, 2012 by Elizabeth Kerr
Headshot

Headshot screens at the Sydney Film Festival on June 13 & 14. Check the festival schedule for times.

Pen-ek Ratanaruang has always been a bit of a philosopher. When he burst onto the scene with the high octane comedy of errors crime caper 6ixtynin9 it looked like he was setting himself up to be the next Tarantino/Rodriguez/Park-type urban thriller auteur. That didn’t happen. Last Life in the Universe and Invisible Waves and Nymph happened, and it looked like he was … (read more)

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Chronicle of My Mother (2011)

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Posted on May 29, 2012 by Elizabeth Kerr
Chronicle of my Mother

Familial duty and responsibility to one’s parents makes Chronicle of My Mother a film that will resonate with Asian audiences far more than for the rest of us. And yes, the title is going to make most people think they’re about to see a Japanese version of Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother, but the two films have little in common other than the titular parental unit. In Harada Masato’s (Inugami) lyrical and poetic meditation on family, … (read more)

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Initial D First Stage – Collection One (1998)

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Posted on May 25, 2012 by Tom

Despite being a fan of anime, from its late-nineties breakthrough into the mainstream, with Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, I never got into Intitial D on its early release. With the change in rights from Tokyopop to Funimation, the Initial D series is being released and in some cases re-released in specific stage formats (first, second, third stages etc.) I finally decided to give the D a chance and see what the hubbub was all about.

Takumi Fujiwara is a … (read more)

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Starry Starry Night (2011)

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Posted on May 15, 2012 by John Snadden

Hardly ever do the diverse elements of film production blend so seamlessly and appeal to such a wide audience as they do in Starry Starry Night, a recent Taiwan-China co-production. Based on a childrens’ picture book by world-famous Taiwanese artist Jimmy Liao and directed by Taiwan’s Tom Lin, this is one of the best films of the year.

“Coming of age” movies is a sub-genre in most film cultures, mainly because the often painful and confusing time between childhood … (read more)

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Underwater Love (2011)

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Posted on May 13, 2012 by Deni

I almost wasn’t going to review this film – what I have to say about it is hardly the kind of thing that is going to make you want to see it (at least, that’s what I’m assuming). But then again, I thought, in the interests of full disclosure, why not talk about it? After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? As so many of the reviews around seem to attest.

I wouldn’t go so far as … (read more)

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Sector 7 (2011)

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Posted on May 12, 2012 by Deni

The blockbuster horror movie, much like the blockbuster action movie, is a genre from which you can, and most certainly should, expect certain things. And, yes that does mean taking the good (things lurking around in the dark, people dying horribly and spectacular man-monster showdowns preferably involving explosions and/or heavy machinery) with the bad (contrived plot devices, stereotyped characters, average dialogue and predictable developments). When you know what you’re in for and the good balances out the bad, well, surely … (read more)

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Trishna (2011)

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Posted on May 8, 2012 by Justin

Trishna opens nationwide on May 10, 2012 — check your local cinema for details.

Trishna is a contemporary adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles from English director Michael Winterbottom, with quite a change of scenery. It transplants the story to India, swapping industrial England for rural Rajasthan and urban Mumbai as India modernises.

Freida Pinto (who made her film debut in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire) plays Trishna, a young woman living in with her family in … (read more)

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