Blog Archives

Inseparable (2011)

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Posted on April 30, 2012 by Deni

Sometimes I wonder if I read film titles too literally. Take Inseparable by Chinese-American director Dayyan Eng (Waiting Alone, Bus 44) for example. Who is inseparable? What is? Is Eng talking about the couple in the film, or the main character and his new and slightly loopy friend? Or maybe he means to imply that the main character is inseparable from the experiences that make him human, or that all of us are inseparable from the systems within … (read more)

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Yakuza Weapon (2011)

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Posted on April 28, 2012 by Deni

I only had a vague understanding of what I could expect with this film. Anyone in any way familiar with Ryuhei Kitamura and his unofficial muse Tak Sakaguchi should at least have an inkling of what they’re in for. Or, conversely, if you’re familiar with the cult films coming out of Nikkatsu’s production company Sushi Typhoon (responsible for such gems as Alien vs Ninja and Mutant Girls Squad), again, there should have been no surprise. In fact, what ultimately … (read more)

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The Viral Factor (2012)

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Posted on April 28, 2012 by Deni

I guess I’m terminally optimistic. I expect an action movie to not be that hard to understand. I mean, there’s a basic formula, right? You need a good guy, and a bad guy, and you need something for them to fight over. The good guy needs to be the hero (technically) so usually it’s a case of the good guy trying to stop the bad guy from doing bad things, whether that be on a personal scale (like Liam Neeson … (read more)

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Bleach 4: Hell Verse (2010)

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Posted on April 24, 2012 by Deni

The Original Video Animation, or OVA (or, alternatively, OAV depending on your tomayto-tomahto standpoint) has gone the way of the Dodo. It’s dead. Defunct. It has rejected cumbersome technologies and eliminated redundant markets and evolved into the Movie; as in Naruto the Movie, or One Piece the Movie, or for the purposes of this review, Bleach the Movie – Hell Verse (also known as Hell Chapter), to be exact.

It used to be that your typical … (read more)

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Cinema Asia (2007)

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Posted on April 22, 2012 by Justin
Cinema Asia is a series covering some of the history and the state today (well, in 2007 when it was made) of five cinema industries in Asia: China, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Iran. Each episode takes a look at the the background of each national cinema, the things that make it unique, and cuts together interviews with actors, critics and prominent directors.
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The Lady (2011)

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Posted on April 10, 2012 by Elizabeth Kerr

Before you flip out, no, I haven’t forgotten what the name of this website is, nor has it slipped my mind the general region from which the films reviewed here originate. That said, the chances of any Asian filmmakers tackling the thorny subject of activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the political stalemate in Burma (or Myanmar) are low. Asian film industries have limited resources and focus first and foremost on their own markets (India excepted). Add to that the … (read more)

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Outrage (2010)

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Posted on April 2, 2012 by Justin

The last film I saw from Japanese powerhouse director Takeshi Kitano was his wonderful update of Zatoichi in 2003. Since then, he’s made a trio of more personal films that some have described as his ‘surrealist autobiographical’ trilogy: Takeshis’, Glory to the Filmmaker! and Achilles and the Tortoise. This film marks his return to more commercial territory, the yakuza film, in which scheming mob bosses and ambitious young thugs do battle on the street.

Kitano plays Otomo, a … (read more)

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Corpse Princess – Collection One (2008)

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Posted on March 21, 2012 by Tom

Ouri Kagami is an orphan at a temple in Japan. He’s been there for most of his life, having been found as a young boy by one of the monks at the temple — Keisei Tagami, who later in life is seen by Ouri as a brother figure. A lecherous pervert of a brother figure, but a brother figure none the less. After many years at the temple, Ouri decides that it’s time to move away and start a new … (read more)

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