Weighing in as the most expensive film in Thai history, and made with financial support from the Thai Royal Family itself, “The Legend of Suriyothai” is a historical epic from the old school. Helmed by Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, “Suriyothai” is a stunning film of immense scope,...

Most of us, at one point or another, have known a girl like Vicky — pretty, smart and hailing from a good family, yet somehow aimless and self-destructive. Despite all the opportunities given to her, she always seems to make the wrong decision. She gets involved with all the wrong people for all...

It’s tough for me to approach a Takashi Miike film without certain preconceived notions that may color my view. I’m not really a fan of his work, and generally find them to be puerile and not particularly entertaining. He simply loads the screen with blood, guts and other inappropriate bodily...

It’s rare these days to find a horror film that strays even a little bit outside of genre conventions; it’s even worse with the teen slasher subgenre. Dark corridors, scared teens, thunder and lightning, and a knife wielding slasher all figure prominently into the story. Unfortunately, the...

Abstract – adj. Having an intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on narrative content or pictorial representation. Artwork that falls into the category of ‘you either get it or you don’t’ is often classified as abstract. To...

Hong Kong period action films have long been notorious for over-the-top combat sequences involving plenty of wire-fu and head-spinning camera moves. Japanese period pieces, on the other hand, tend to be more uptight and somber productions punctuated by lightning quick swordplay and the now ubiquitous...

When people think of the hot spots of the Asian film industry, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea comes to mind. However, recent years have seen an increase in output from smaller nations in the region, such as Vietnam, which made its presence known in the late `90s with films like “Cyclo”...

Every bustling city has a forgotten class of people, those that work behind the scenes keeping the machine running. These are also the people that the normal denizens don’t see and don’t want to see. I’m talking about laborers and menial service providers like cab drivers, street cleaners...

Amongst the innumerable film directors that have come and gone over the roughly 100 years of motion picture history, there have always been a few who have stood out for being mavericks. Directors such as Samuel Fuller, Orson Welles, Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah made names for themselves by going against...

Ahhhh, the vagaries of stardom. Plenty of money, private jets, fast cars, an entourage of “Yes” men doing your bidding, and millions of screaming fans. However, fans sometimes become a star’s worst enemy. We’ve all seen news reports of obsessed fans stalking and sometimes harming...

As the scope of special effects technology widens, there really isn’t much that a person can imagine that can’t be replicated on screen. This freedom of expression has had both positive and negative effects on modern movies. On the positive side, there’s more eye candy and it’s...

Generally speaking, blending genres is a good idea, and while it requires a delicate touch to pull off, when properly handled the result is a film that appeals to the viewer on several levels, as well as being more rewarding as a result of the blending. However, when handled in a ham-fisted fashion,...

The itinerant blind swordsman/masseur/compulsive gambler Zatoichi is something of a cinematic institution in Japan. The meek, blind masseuse defending the helpless from evil (using a samurai sword hidden in his walking stick with preternatural skill) and putting the smack down at the local gambling...

It seems like 2004 will be known as ‘The Year of the Virtual Movie Set.’ “Immortel” is one of four films that are garnering notice this year for being almost entirely filmed on blue/green screen with the majority of the on-screen visuals added digitally in post production (the...

One of the traits of Hong Kong action films that set them apart from their Hollywood counterparts is an attempt to imbue a sense of deep emotional conviction to the main characters, some sort of latent internal conflict that eventually boils over and leaves the characters with a sense of self doubt and...