nix (at) beyondhollywood.com : Editor, Webmaster, and Contributing Writer at BH. Likes: Movie news, opinions, suggestions. Dislikes: Emails about how much I suck for making fun of your favoritest movie/comic book/actor/director in the whole wide world. Thank you, have a nice day.

Art of Revenge (2002) Movie Review

After her husband of 7 years leaves her because, as he tells his best friend, he wants to screw hot chicks (or something to that effect), career woman Lara (Joyce Hyser) puts everything on hold to go about the “art of revenge”. And that, I’m afraid, is as substantial as “Art of...

August 24th, 2003 | Read More

Wild Card (2003) Movie Review

It behooves me not to take everything I see in movies at face value, but if police work in South Korea is anything remotely similar to what’s portrayed in their cop movies, then I’m afraid your average American city would swallow up a Korean cop in a matter of seconds. “Wild Card”...

August 23rd, 2003 | Read More

My Dream Girl (2003) Movie Review

So excuse me if I thought I was watching a movie when I put on “My Dream Girl”, and not listening to a musical CD. Apparently my definition of movie, and that of the filmmakers, is completely different. I expected to find images moving onscreen to form a coherent story, whereas the filmmakers...

August 23rd, 2003 | Read More

Chasing Papi (2003) Movie Review

It’s probably no surprise to hear me say that “Chasing Papi” is light fluff. It’s harmless, thankfully quick (at 75 minutes of running time sans closing credits), and nearly all the faces that show up onscreen are, if I may be so shallow for a moment, quite pleasing on the eyes....

August 23rd, 2003 | Read More

Out for a Kill (2003) Movie Review

Seagal’s latest DTV opus, “Out for a Kill”, proves once and for all that every conceivable Generic Action Movie title has been taken. Having squandered eye-catching titles like “Hard to Kill” and “Marked for Death”, Seagal is now left with the completely generic-sounding...

August 22nd, 2003 | Read More

Identity (2002) Movie Review

“Identity” is a lot smarter than “Basic”, although the two movies essentially pride themselves on being Head Trip films and thus, fooling the audience with their cleverness. Whereas “Basic” really has no other reason to exist other than to fool the audience, “Identity”...

August 21st, 2003 | Read More

Attila (2001) Mini-Series TV Review

After Attila the Hun has raided her village, slaughtered her people, and made her into a slave, a young woman name N’Kara falls madly in love with him, and vice versa. Your guess is as good as mine when they realized they were right for each other. Maybe it was when she saw him cut the throat of...

August 20th, 2003 | Read More

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) Movie Review

Here’s what I think happened. The original writers of “Freddy vs. Jason” realized very early on that their movie was going to be a combination of insider camp and over-the-top mayhem. After all, when you’re doing a movie called “Freddy versus Jason”, there’s...

August 19th, 2003 | Read More

Drunken Monkey (2003) Movie Review

I must confess that when it comes to Old School Hong Kong martial arts period films, I’m not privy to a lot of background. For instance, I am familiar with exactly zero actors in the new movie “Drunken Monkey”, even though from everything I’ve read these are well known names within...

August 17th, 2003 | Read More

Johnny English (2004) Movie Review

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why spy parodies aren’t as funny as they should be. After all, when you’re freed of the responsibility of coming up with a half-decent plot, shouldn’t your entire time be spent coming up with jokes and gags? As was the case with “Agent...

August 17th, 2003 | Read More

Gladiator (2000) Movie Review

Gladiator is a swords and sandals movie about revenge. Plain and simple. You killed my family, now I’m going to kill you. Director Ridley Scott (”Kingdom of Heaven”) has a very good handle on the action scenes as well as the quiet, conspiracy scenes that I do not particularly care for....

August 14th, 2003 | Read More

Demonium (2001) Movie Review

I knew I was in trouble when the first 12 minutes of “Demonium”, an Italian horror film, involved these scenes: a very unattractive woman having sex with her lover over the opening credits, then the lover exchanging silly greetings with people in business suits at his “office”,...

August 14th, 2003 | Read More

Desert Heat aka Coyote Moon (1999) Movie Review

I999’s “Desert Heat” went through a title change before anyone even knew it existed. While the new title (”Desert Heat” replacing “Coyote Moon”) may be justified to the distributors for whatever reason, they fail to realize that the change also makes the movie’s...

August 14th, 2003 | Read More

Shogun Assassin (1980) Movie Review

Shogun Assassin is actually a series of movies made in the 1970s masquerading as an American release. Shogun Assassin was originally called Lone Wolf and Cub: (Enter Secondary Title Here), and I believe there were 6 or 7 feature-length installments in the series. The movies all centers around a skilled...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

S.W.A.T. (2003) Movie Review

“SWAT” is one of those movies so unconcern with appearing intelligent or original that you just have to tip your hat to it. Mind you, viewers shouldn’t be too appreciative of the movie’s lack of realism, since everything that takes place in “SWAT”, from its clich’...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

Sopyonje (1993) Movie Review

What makes “Sopyonje” stand out is its unflinching look and interpretation of a Korea under assault — not assault from foreign attacks or invaders, but from something just as deadly: cultural imperialism. It is impossible to gauge the low-level intensity of the acting, the directing,...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

Shiri (1999) Movie Review

“Shiri” has the distinction of being my first South Korean movie ever. The movie gained notoriety as the most expensive movie ever made in South Korean history (this was in 1999) and topped the box office of 1999 throughout the year. It’s a good action movie, in the vein of Hollywood...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

Versus (2000) Movie Review

What “Versus” gives in place of a storyline is this: apparently there is a portal to some unknown dimension that promises good things for those who can open, and then enter, it. To achieve this end, an apparently unsavory fellow has hired some Yakuza thugs to help a convict escape. Everyone...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

Seven Samurai (1954) Movie Review

When watching “Seven Samurai,” one must remember two things: The first is that Asian cinema has been at a great disadvantage to their western counterparts. At a time when Asia was still trying to come out of the shadow of World War II, America and other Western powers were already a dominant...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More

Chilsu and Mansu (1994) Movie Review

“Chilsu and Mansu” is a familiar movie. Taken in context as a South Korean movie, made at a time when the country itself was going through a tremendous upheaval, the movie might be better than I give it credit for. At the time the movie was made and released, South Korea was, quite literally,...

August 11th, 2003 | Read More